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Erika and I chat with a local hero, Noel Pichardo, a former Rhode Island police officer, to unpack why he calls Flock-style vehicle tracking a mass surveillance tool and why he believes the public should have been told before a single camera went up.

We get specific about how modern ALPR and vehicle recognition systems work, why “we’ll end crime” is a dangerous promise, and how private surveillance vendors create profit incentives that don’t always align with civil rights. Noel walks us through the moment he saw the cameras return, the uncomfortable questions he asked, and the decision to put his name on the record so residents would take the threat to privacy seriously.

Then we talk about what many people never see: the internal cost of dissent. Suspensions, escalating discipline, pressure to sign an NDA, and the professional isolation that comes when an institution treats honesty as disloyalty. We discussed some documented abuse risks, including officers using surveillance tools to stalk partners, and why real accountability has to include transparency, audits, and community oversight at the local level.

If you care about privacy rights, police accountability, and how surveillance technology spreads city by city, listen through and share this with someone who still thinks “if you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve got nothing to hide.” Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what your community should demand before adopting tools like this.

If you like our podcast and would like to share your ideas or even be a guest speaker, please reach out to us. Matt@unitestatesofptsd.com

https://youtu.be/f1P-g3Hkvjg?si=qVQIuoS9hCkUOmb_

https://ij.org/police-have-reportedly-used-license-plate-readers-to-stalk-romantic-interests-at-least-14-times-in-recent-years/

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/automatic-license-plate-readers-legal-status-and-policy-recommendations

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die
License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4

Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.


Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help.
Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.


Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback.
Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

Send us Fan Mail

Matt provides and update on the status of the Men's Retreat and the lack of accountability. We talk about the excuses, the missing paperwork, the pattern of complaints, and why “no official membership” is not a real barrier to removing unsafe participants. We continue to look into what community safety should look like in any nonprofit or trauma-adjacent space This could be accomplished by a code of conduct, an orientation that sets expectations, real consequences, and leaders trained to handle risk rather than bury it. We also share practical tools for holding your ground, including documentation, escalation paths, and when it makes sense to involve outside oversight.

Then we pivot into a relationship dynamic we keep seeing: the weaponization of therapy language. We break down why “my therapist said you’re X” can be manipulative, how ethical therapists think about one-sided stories, and how to respond in a way that brings the conversation back to ownership and honest boundaries. If you’ve ever felt pressured by borrowed authority, this will give you words for what’s happening and a clearer next step.

If this was useful, subscribe, share it with someone who’s navigating a messy institution or a confusing relationship, and leave a review so more people can find us. What’s one red flag you now refuse to ignore?

Feel free to contact us. Ericka and I would love to hear from you.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die
License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4

Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.


Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help.
Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.


Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback.
Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

Send us Fan Mail

Erika gives and update on what is happening on the ground in Phoenix, where extreme heat makes shade and hydration a matter of life and death, and where the gap between need and available shelter beds turns “public order” policies into survival crises. We also unpack how mutual aid gets targeted, why lawsuits matter, and what it means when a city’s response leans on policing instead of housing.

We then explore another stated where criminalization of homelessness as a pipeline into the carceral system. Louisiana’s House Bill 211 becomes a stark example, with escalating fines, the threat of prison time, and the possibility of forced labor for being unhoused. We also dig into how definitions of homelessness get narrowed to shrink the numbers on paper while real people lose access to services. From property seizures during sweeps to the economics of private prisons and ICE detention, we connect policy choices to incentives, profits, and human rights.

We then look at why so few people have the moral courage and professional responsibility, especially in veterinary medicine through a One Health lens that links human, animal, and environmental wellbeing. We share what it’s like trying to advocate for colleagues and veterinary students in Gaza, what “leadership” looks like when organizations stay quiet, and why sustained activism matters, including lessons from the documentary How to Survive a Plague. If this hit a nerve, subscribe, share the episode, and leave a review so more people can find the show and join the conversation.

We talk briefly about what racism and privilege looks like in connection with the World Cup

Finally we would like to thank Sammy Obeid for being such a brilliant comedian and educator.

Scotland Fans Donate Nearly $30K to Providence Charities amid World Cup Group Stage

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Thousands Scotland Supporters March in Providence, RI ⚽️

Texas Screwworm Resource Website | New World Screwworm Resources

Shows | Sammy Obeid

Thousands Could Be Forced Into Unpaid Labor in Louisiana Under New Bill - Newsweek

2nd lawsuit filed against Phoenix's new ordinance on homeless services in parks

https://animalwag.org/

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/460a/9d62bcdfe3564a67a7b2c87bd7b41c9196aa.pdf

https://truthout.org/articles/social-work-institutions-have-remained-silent-on-palestine-that-must-end/

#endgenocide #homelessness #systemfail #sammyobeid #worldcup

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die
License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4

Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.


Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help.
Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.


Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback.
Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

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Matt opens up about a follow up to his experience with a Men's Group. The group sent out an all user email with all of the attendees home addresses to each other. Matt talks about why this is concerning as two things happened. The first being that there is no valid form that was signed to authorize this to happen. We talk about contact information would reasonable be defined as phone and email, in this type of setting. Second, a complaint filed against someone for inappropriate behavior with the agency acknowledging a safety risk and commitment to the victim to protect would also prevent this from happening in theory. But it didn't. Matt talks candidly over the difficulty accepting the reality of victimization and the cultural norms of protecting the wrong people. This leads into a conversation Erika brings up about the restrictions of feeding the hungry in Arizona and how the Phoenix is not punishing people, with the treat of prison time and fines for helping the needy. Erika approaches this from a macro lens of how larger systems continue to oppress the population.

If this conversation hits home, subscribe, share it with someone who cares about safety and justice, and leave a review so more people can find us.

GOP Arizona Attorney General debate gets heated and ugly

ASU booted group that feeds homeless outside campus building

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die
License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4

Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.


Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help.
Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.


Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback.
Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

Send us Fan Mail

Matt reflects on a retreat and discussed the pro's and con's of peer led support groups. This is the first episode is a mini series topic about when therapy is weaponized.

Matt talks about the effectiveness of peer groups, in terms of creating a mutual safe space that lacks professional power differentials. Matt and Erika discuss how this can be an asset to people who are in need of this space. We also explore mutual aid and reciprocity.

However, when people enter this for the wrong reasons the damage can be severe. Matt briefly touches on a sexual predator who was using the men's groups as his personal grooming grounds. They also discuss how professionals who change roles can sometimes be too connected to ego and not enough to the process. We also look at when therapeutic colloquialisms like "tell me how you feel" or "I invite you to" sound great on TV, but may not elicit a deeper connection.

We look at difference between knowledge and skill and how sometimes this can be a quagmire of uncertainty.

After Erika and I recorded, it was brought to my attention that the person I referenced was arrested and accused of operating a massage parlor which was alleged to be a prostitution ring.

Unlicensed Coventry massage therapist charged with prostitution, police say

Subscribe for more honest conversations about PTSD, mental health, and community care, then share this with someone who’s searching for safe support and leave a review with your biggest peer support green flag. What’s the one boundary every group should enforce?

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die
License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4

Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.


Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help.
Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.


Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback.
Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com

Send us Fan Mail

Ali shares her story of growing up with a parent who struggles with addiction and behaviors associated with it. Ali candidly talks about how she learned to cope and how difficult it was for her to come to terms with some of her mother's behaviors. We discuss the unique and powerful bond from child to mother and how we can compartmentalize to protect our own sanity. Ali describes one of her coping skills as controlling food. She shares her story of programs did not help as much as they could have. Erika also discloses some of her own history with disordered eating.

Thank everyone for listening. Please forgive the lack of music as my hard drive crashed and I am re-buidling the format.

Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/hartzmann/no-time-to-die
License code: S4CEQWLNQXVZUMU4

Artwork and logo design by Misty Rae.


Special thanks to Joanna Roux for editing help.
Special thanks to the listeners and all the wonderful people who helped listen to and provide feedback on the episode's prerelease.


Please feel free to email Matt topics or suggestions, questions or feedback.
Matt@unitedstatesofPTSD.com