Operation Snowman on the Street is activated (02-19-2025--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 thepetekalinarshow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free, write to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:29] A judge, a federal judge, yesterday declined to block Elon Musk's doge from accessing government data or firing federal employees. All right, I'll get to that in a minute, but Robert has been waiting a long time for some reason. Hello, Robert. Welcome to the program.

[00:00:54] Pete, I've been waiting a long time for a good reason. It's snowing here in Birkdale. That's where I am right now. All right, Robert. What's the mood? What's the mood in Huntersville?

[00:01:12] Yeah, it's a little bit of a good deal. We're a little bit surprised to see the snow happen, but I feel like we're, I think I can speak for all of us, that we're confident we can handle it. It's just a light dusting, that's what I would call it. And so, but it's pretty. But before I hand it back to you, Pete, which is what I would normally do, I would say, I would normally say back to you, Pete, but I do have a quick question.

[00:01:40] I read a tweet within the last hour or so from President Trump kind of assessing the current situation with Zelensky and Ukraine, and he started it by saying that Zelensky is kind of a second-rate comedian and went through some reasons, in essence, saying that Zelensky invited this latest invasion by Putin.

[00:02:07] And I just wonder, what are your thoughts as to whether Zelensky and Ukraine did indeed invite this latest incursion by Russia? So I think, well, the first part of it, a second-rate comedian, I feel like that might be true, because wasn't he like a, he was like a late-night talk show host or something like that before he ran for office, right?

[00:02:31] He was like the Ukrainian Jon Stewart of The Daily Show, I think. So that might be a reference to what Trump is talking about. So I cannot confirm or deny. Look, humor is a very personal thing. You may find something funny that I do not, vice versa. So I'm not going to judge what Trump's sense of humor is. But we do know that he likes to make fun of people. He has for years, so that's nothing new.

[00:02:58] Now, regarding this idea that Ukraine invited Russia, I don't think that's accurate. But on the other hand, I know there is a school of thought out there that says the expansion of NATO and the attempts by Ukraine to cozy up and to get NATO status to be included in NATO,

[00:03:24] that was always seen as a red line for the Russians. They did not want NATO on their doorstep, on their border. But I think, you know, Putin would have found any other reason he could have, but yeah, I mean, that's the, yeah, he's a, Putin is a bad actor and will find any rationalization to do whatever it is he wants to do. He did it in Georgia, he did it in Crimea, right? So I don't know why this would be any different. Why, what do you think?

[00:03:50] Well, I think, yes, I agree that, I think it's hard to make a case that Zelensky and his country invited the invasion. Yeah. And yes, that's the only, that's the only reason that I've heard is that since Ukraine has at least subtly, or maybe more than subtly,

[00:04:15] posted a desire to join NATO, then Russia views that as a, I guess they would say a huge threat, although I'm not sure that's really a valid argument. The only thing I guess I'm hoping, Pete, is that I do hope that Trump is the one who can end this thing. And it may not end, it probably will not end the way that Zelensky wants it by, he probably will have to give up maybe all the territory that he's already ceded.

[00:04:43] But I do hope that Trump can end it, hopefully in a better way than Biden ended Afghanistan. Yeah, because what's the alternative? World War III? Like, this is the problem. When you're a nuclear superpower and you're muscling your next door neighbors, like, what is, what's the, what is the recourse there?

[00:05:05] Ukraine has done, I think, a really good job of keeping the Russians at bay, but the Russians already took back a whole chunk of the land. And so they're not going to turn that back over. And I can disagree with them doing it, but now how do I enforce that? I mean, like, what's the, like, what's the alternative? More, you know, more sanctions on the Russians? More penalties? Right?

[00:05:31] Like, I don't know where the off-ramp is, and I don't think it's realistic for people to say that Russia's going to be expelled from the conquered territory they've taken. You know, I don't see that. I don't like it, but I don't, I don't see how that's, I don't see how that's an option. Well, I guess these talks are just kind of starting with Rubio there and the, it's kind of, we'll see.

[00:05:58] I think, I think the other leaders in the party, like Lindsey Graham and Foon and Speaker Johnson, it'll be interesting to see how they weigh in and how they may even shape this final agreement. Yeah. Well, and look, Donald Trump has proven to everybody, I think by this point, that he will completely reverse himself. Right? And so he may turn around and say terrible things about Vladimir Putin next and be all in on Ukraine.

[00:06:25] I don't know. Like, well, we'll see what happens. And so everybody that loses their mind over everything that he says, it's like, well, just, you know, give him a week. And he very well may reverse course and say something else. If he wants to, he wants to get the war ended. So whatever he does to make that happen, he's going, he's going to see as worth it. You know, whatever he, whatever he says, whatever he has to say, or whatever he's going to say, I just want the deal. I want a deal done. And if it means that he's got to bring Zelensky to the table, he's got to browbeat Zelensky.

[00:06:55] He's got to get it through to Zelensky through his head that you're not getting your land back. And no matter how we feel about that, that is the reality. You're not going to get the land back because the world is not going to go to war with Russia and create World War III in order to get your land back. I don't see that happening. Correct. And of course, neither, neither us nor Russia wants anything like that.

[00:07:21] I think there's going to have to be some way to allow Zelensky to save face. And someone like Rubio could probably be helpful in that regard. Well, and maybe that's what this is. Like, this is the way Zelensky gets to save face, is that Trump trashes him. And then, you know, he comes along and trashes Trump and works out some other deal and says, see, we didn't need you. Who cares? Deal gets done. And, you know, a million and a half casualties later, war ends.

[00:07:51] But, you know, I don't know. Like I said, I'm I'm no expert on Ukraine or the Donbass region. I spent all of my time becoming an expert on deep water submersibles a couple of months ago. And so that's just, you know, if I had known then, I would have spent more time on the Ukraine stuff. Robert, I appreciate the call, sir. Thanks for the report from Huntersville. Compelling and rich. So, yeah, I don't know what the play is.

[00:08:19] I saw some people talking about, you know, Trump's comments. But like, once again, Trump says a lot of stuff. He tweets a lot of stuff. And everybody that's like hanging on his every social media post. And allowing that to dictate how they feel on any given day. Guys, like what do the kids say? Touch grass. Right. Just walk away from it. Just let whatever's happening happen. Right.

[00:08:45] And we don't know what's happening. I don't need to know what's happening. Because me knowing like every intricacy of the the negotiation process of whatever's unfolding there is way beyond my expertise. And I may be the only person on social media to admit that there are a lot of experts out there on Ukraine and Russian history. You can go find them. They know all of the answers to how to fix it.

[00:09:15] So I am not one of those experts. 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. 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.

[00:09:41] You can check it out at check dot ground dot news slash Pete. 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. See for yourself. Check dot ground dot news slash Pete.

[00:10:07] Subscribe through that link and you'll get 15 percent 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. Yes, I'm just I'm I'm I'm looking at the the transom here. I'm looking at some of the. Some of the reports that I'm seeing.

[00:10:39] Yeah, so apparently there are some flakes out there. Also some snow. Yeah, no, it stopped outside the window. Sorry, there was I saw like four. They were like. Like like cloud dandruff. Yeah, now it's gone. It stopped here in West Charlotte, though. So, I mean, that's obviously not representative of the entire area.

[00:11:08] I have a snow sighting here from Chris, who says in East Charlotte at Idlewild and W.T. Harris. Chris reports in that he saw 10 snowflakes. So that's good. Thank you for the information, Chris. Yes. I believe we have Terry here as well. Terry is also reporting here from Monroe. Terry, welcome to the program. Yes, sir.

[00:11:38] The mood here is surprise. Surprise. Yeah. I mean, we were expecting raindrops until tomorrow morning. But it's snowing. That must be terrifying, Terry. I haven't brought out the snow shovels just yet. But we're optimistic.

[00:12:11] And back to me. Yes. Back to you, Pete. Thank you. All right, Terry. I appreciate that. Compelling and rich. Yes. So apparently there is. And I got another message here from Russ, who says it might be time to panic. I spotted a few flakes in Gaston County about an hour ago. And now I'm seeing some flakes and some sleet coming down in the university area. Back to you, Pete.

[00:12:38] For real, though, coming down pretty good near I-77 and Clanton Road. Interesting. Remain calm. Just keep our heads about us. All right. As Pat McCrory warned, don't put on your stupid hat. Okay. Guys, it's still like 38 degrees or something.

[00:13:05] It's like, it's, you know, I understand how it's got to be, you know, cold up in the atmosphere or up above us, you know, and that's the temperature that's going to dictate what it is. But it ain't going to last long when it lands on the streets. Right. Hello, we got salty roads. We're going to be fine. This is all okay. All right. Remain calm. All right. Next up here is, who do we have?

[00:13:34] This is Jerry. Jerry in South Park. Jerry, what's the mood? I can't believe it. It's almost whiteout conditions here in South Park. There's probably three, maybe four snowflakes per billion parts of air. That sounds terrifying as well, Jerry. How are you managing to stay alive? I'm driving with one eye closed. That does sound safe.

[00:14:06] Bye. All right. Back to you, Pete. Right. That's how you're. Okay. I think we lost Jerry there. Jerry, stay safe. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. You're supposed to remember professionals when we are doing this kind of Operation Storm Panic coverage. Um, you have to lock out the, the report by saying back to you, Pete. Otherwise, I don't know when your report is actually over. Here's a great idea.

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[00:15:59] I didn't want to have to do this, people. But here we are. In case you have never heard how this works. We deputize, well, everybody. I mean, it's budgetary. You're not going to get paid anything. But we deputize everybody to do our Man on the Street. But you can't call it Man on the Street anymore, so they started calling it Person on the Street. But then, of course, it made for an uncomfortable acronym, a POS. So we're going snowman on the Street.

[00:16:30] And it's not, it's a, it's the universal human kind of not man, like gender thing. Anyway, the purpose here is to have you do what basically all news organizations do, which is to send people out, stand someplace, and tell me what's happening with the weather. And so you're going to be filing a report for us at WBT. Okay? And I'm going to toss it to you, and I'm going to throw it to you with the question, what's the mood?

[00:16:59] You will then file your report. You give me the report. And this is very important. You have to say, back to you, Pete. Otherwise, I don't know you're done. So you have to say, back to you, Pete. Now, if you want to work in some gnat sound, like an ice scraper, a chainsaw, or maybe walking through the snow, something like that, that always adds to the richness of the audio. Also, if I have a follow-up question for you,

[00:17:27] I'm going to ask you the question, and then you, this is very important, you say, great question, Pete. Because all reporters in the field always say that, great question, Pete. Now, usually it's because the reporter has sent the question in ahead of time, so they know it's a great question because they wrote it themselves. But anyway, you're going to say, great question, Pete. And then you answer the question. And then you lock it out. Again, back to you, Pete. Okay?

[00:17:56] That's how we do snowman on the street. All right, so let's head on out now to read in Matthews. Read in Matthews reporting live. Read, what's the mood? Yes, Pete, the mood is absolute sheer terror. I saw one snowflake actually land on top of another one, and we're running for the hills. And?

[00:18:27] Read? Yep, I'm here. You got to toss it back. Read, oh my gosh. All right, read, back to you, Pete. You got to say, back to you, Pete. I don't know you're done. All right, well, stay safe, read. All right, next up here, we have, this is, I believe, James is reporting live from near the Bojangles Coliseum. So that's East Charlotte. James, what's the mood?

[00:18:59] It's horrifying out here, Pete. This is James. We're on Woodland Drive right off the Eastway. And my neighborhood is directly across from the Bojangles Arena. But, even though we have flurries coming down that just won't stop, this message is mainly for Pam to jam, Warner, because, as you know, we have accidents here on the stretch of the Indianapolis Raceway

[00:19:28] from Sardis Road to downtown every day, even in clear conditions. And, I'm just terrified of what's going to be happening out there in the next little bit because this has been going off for 20 minutes now. It just won't stop. And so, I wanted to call, give her a preemptive update so she can keep a watchful eye out on the stretch because these amateur drivers get out here that are apparently on their way to the raceway someday.

[00:19:58] But they're just not there yet and they're going to get out there today and I hate to think of what's going to come. Back to you, Pete. Compelling and rich. Thank you, James. Stay safe out there. A harrowing tale from the Bojangles area. Bojangles Arena area, I should say. All right, next we go to Doug Doug in Chester. Doug in Chester. Doug, what's the mood? Oh, baby, it's coming down

[00:20:28] in Chester. I'll tell you, I ain't seen so many snowflakes since the Democratic National Convention there. I'll tell you, back to you. All right, thank you, Doug. Compelling and rich. I appreciate that report. Stay safe. A harrowing tale indeed. All right, we got James, we got Doug. Next up here, I believe we have, this is Ralph out in Union County. Ralph, Ralph,

[00:20:58] what's the mood? Well, there is panic, sheer, sheer panic out here. I see one snowflake coming out of the Minister of Dees at Union County. Now I'm on the toll road. It's just like a mass blizzard. As I was getting on the toll road, I seen the store clerks putting signs out, no milk, no bread, no eggs. I mean, people are just in sheer fear

[00:21:27] of getting stuck in their home for probably a good week. Let's go back to you, Pete. Now, Ralph, do we know if there are particular recipes that those ingredients would be beneficial? Yes, milk bread back in the Depression. A lot of people had to just eat milk, get a bowl of milk and put their bread in. Maybe some cheese,

[00:21:56] if you had some cheese and a little broccoli. But, I mean, it's just the piggly wiggly. I just see people just screaming out in the parking lot of the piggly wiggly when they see your signs. Back to you, Pete. All right, thank you, Ralph. compelling and rich. Just for the record there, we are not going to reimburse you for that toll road expense. Okay, just want to make that clear. All right, I hope you had a happy holiday season, but tell me if something like this happened at

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[00:23:25] createavideo.com. Remain calm. The flurry that swept through earlier has passed. It left nothing in its wake. Remain calm. That being said, if you're not scared, I'm not doing my job as a media person, and so we have implemented Operation Snowman on the Street. You are deputized to file reports. We are not paying you, but we are amassing the largest field reporting crew

[00:23:55] in North Carolina today. You can be part of it, as long as you don't ask me for money. All you need to do is call 704-570-1110. I'm going to toss it to you from your location. I'm going to ask you what the mood is. You're going to give your report, and then you're going to lock it out, and I cannot stress the importance of this enough. You've got to lock it out. Back to you, Pete. All right, those are the rules. Now, if I ask

[00:24:24] you a question because your report has been so compelling and rich, then you have to start your answer with great question, Pete. And then you lock it out after you're done answering the question. All right? And you, too, can be an Operation Snow Panic or Storm Panic Snow Mageddon 2025 take two snowman on the street. So now we go

[00:24:53] over to Tim near Huntersville. Tim. Hey, Pete. What's the mood in Huntersville? Well, Pete, the roads are barely impassable. I just left Huntersville going southbound on 77, and I can barely progress about maybe an eighth of a mile per hour. It's so bad out here. We have cars that's been abandoned on the street. Oh, gosh. Cars that's flipped over against the guardrail, and cars in flames in the ditches.

[00:25:23] I'm going to continue to try to progress southbound. The only people I see now that are able to make it any farther south is myself and the illegal aliens that's trying to deport themselves. They're trying to reach the southern border to deport themselves. Back to you, Pete. Tim, thank you for the report. I do have a question for you, though. Have you tried the toll lane? Are you able to get into the toll lane? No, Pete, I don't have any

[00:25:53] money for tolls, and I'm not running a tag on my truck, so they can't collect the tolls through the mail. Great question, Pete. And... Back to you, Pete. All right, great, Tim. Thank you. That is a fantastic report. Compelling and rich. Let me go over to... This is Amy in China Grove. Amy, what's the mood? Right.

[00:26:23] What's the... It's snowing. It's snowing. Everybody's excited. School was already out with remote learning for today, so there's no traffic, but there is still bread and milk at the grocery store I just left there. Beer was getting a little bit slim. Hmm. But we're going to be okay. Back to you, Pete. Thank you, Amy. Compelling and rich. By the way, the other thing

[00:26:53] you could use, the eggs, bread, and milk is for, obviously, French toast. That's the good news for today. Let's go to John. John is in Matthews. John. John, what's the mood in Matthews? How are you doing? John, what's the Yeah, there's a lot of tension out here. I just pulled into the Exxon station in Matthews off 74, and everybody's kind of excited. I did see a couple flakes, and as I

[00:27:21] pulled in, I passed this massive junk truck with a huge plow in front, and I noticed as I'm coming around and leaving, I did see a flake, and in fact, two flakes hit his windshield, and he immediately started his engine. So, things are progressing. Back to you, Pete. Thank you, John. John, with that live report from Matthews, compelling and rich. That's what we are, that's what we are

[00:27:51] always aiming for here. Obviously, very, a very serious situation here in the Charlotte area, what with all of the lack of snow occurring right now. We now have a report from the Speedway area. CG, CG. Hi. CG, what's the mood? Oh, well, there was a little excitement. We had about 14 flakes. So excited. So it sounds like it's picking up. And the trucks were ready to go.

[00:28:21] They're everywhere. But I'm a little disappointed. I just, at 67 years old, want to see enough snow to make a snow angel. And it's not happening, but I can smell it. So we're hoping. Back to Pete. All right. Thank you, CJ. Compelling and rich. It's a fantastic report. I believe we have time for a final report of the hour here. We shall go now over to, this is from the university area where

[00:28:51] George is standing by. George, what's the mood? Yep. That, that, it's very tense here in the university. Very tense for everybody that hasn't just moved in from New Jersey and New York. However, it is a snow NATO here in the university area. Well, actually, Pete, it just stopped. Back to you. Oh, wow. Just dodged a bullet there. So close. It really is scary.

[00:29:20] It really is scary sometimes. By the way, it's always good if you can work in the analogy of it sounded like a freight train. Just a reporter tip there. 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 thepetecalendorshow.com. Again, thank you so much for listening and

[00:29:49] don't break anything while I'm gone.