Podcast 482

The Story Less Travelled. As the pay for play media continues to chatter about what Donald Trump did this week, or Bernie Sanders’ predictions about democrat super delegates switching allegiance to him, maybe it’s time to take a look at The Story Less Travelled. Some percolating stories and issues people really aren’t talking about because they’re arguing about how tabloids post stories, how Internet rumors get started, how Donald Trump is going to make US allies pay ‘us’ for security, or why Bernie Sanders’ thinks Detroit became a hell hole in the last fifty years. There are real things happening in the world, most of which are reported on but not occupying very much attention, because too many pundits, talk hosts, talking heads, editors and managers are doing the bidding of political parties, candidates and their minders. What happens if Saudi Arabia decides to switch their alliance to China and Asia, which will account for the lion’s share of growth in energy consumption over the next ten years? What happens when economic instability due to massive debt and low profits comes home to roost in the banking system? How do you feel about academics going around saying the days of 4 percent and greater economic growth are over, and the solution is a world wide socialism-lite system, with more government and higher taxes? How will future presidents – the people filling your television screen with nonsense right now, and getting accolades from talkers, pundits and so called experts for it – confront a collapsing China, a Europe embroiled in a guerrilla war with thousands of ISIS fighters, and an economic depression. Maybe we should be talking about The Story Less Travelled more than what they want us to talk about. Sponsored by X Government Cars, Brush Studio in the West End, Saint Louis Park and by Hydrus. (Editor’s Note: This is not a ‘transcript’. Each podcast, which is original content in itself, also is accompanied by a short blog about the podcast. This blog is also original content, not a repetition of what is in the podcast, but a discussion of some of the ideasĀ in the podcast. If you want to know what’s in the podcast, listen to it.)

Podcast 480

Brussels Attack & Foreign Policy. After putting off a Foreign Policy podcast two or three times this week, news coverage of the Brussels attack was so bad, it was time. Thus, the Brussels Attack & Foreign Policy Podcast. While this isn’t a discussion about media, one can’t resist complaining about the terrible coverage of this terror attack in the heart of Europe this week. If it wasn’t news anchors and talking heads trying to explain away defense and foreign policy issues with fairy tales and quips, it was the obligatory ‘False Flag Attack’ video on YouTube, within twenty four hours. Meanwhile, a talk show host who rails about “The Sheeple” being stupid and uninformed, endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign with the statement, “He’s dumbing down his language so people will understand it”. The ‘truth’? It’s the international bankers (and other usual suspects) trying to bring in a one-world-government. According to the latest talk radio sell-out, Trump understands this because he understands banking. Hogwash. The main cable news channels are filled with hogwash. The Internet is filled with Hogwash from talk show and political charlatans to You Tube videos detailing ‘proof’ the illuminati is trying to take over the world. How do we know? Because a mind controlled sex slave says she heard Reagan and Clinton talking about it one time at the White House. Meanwhile voters in the United States are in the process of picking the delegates who will choose each party’s nominees for president, and we will choose a president, congress and one third of the senate in the fall. When it comes to foreign affairs, there are no easy choices and no simple solutions. People are deeply uninformed about foreign policy, poorly educated on history, and unprepared to analyze the consequences of rhetorical flourishes on the subject from political candidates. Watching more Fox News and CNN, or more videos on the illuminati take over and satanic sex rituals of the reptilian aliens on You Tube, no matter how slick, or the latest unrelated facts strung together with ominous black and white photos ‘proving’ the latest terror attack was ‘people in our government who want to make you think…(fill in the blank)’ isn’t going to help you make an informed decision. What happens when our presidents and congress make mistakes? Hint: What killed the Republican party wasn’t Donald Trump or Ron Paul. It was the invasion of Iraq and its aftermath. So yeah. Your vote for president is pretty important. Sponsored by Brush Studio, X Government Cars and Hydrus.

Podcast 441

Shopping, Trump, Lies & Liquor. Welcome back from the big Thanksgiving weekend. The weeks starts with the National Retail Federation, AKA The Propaganda Ministry for the Big Box Retailers. If they’re not making up stories about how many people will shop the day after Thanksgiving, they’re blaming lackluster retail numbers on … wait for it … The Internet and specifically Amazon.com. This is the latest nonsense cooked up to convince lawmakers ‘something has to be done’, and that something is regulation of the Internet, so people will continue to shop at obsolete brick and mortar retailers located inside something called ‘The Mall’. Do we have data that shows the Internet is killing the Mall? Not really. Meanwhile ‘Black Friday’ is more and more an example of all that is wrong in America, and provides a great ‘look at the fat Americans fighting over flat screen TV’s’ story often seen in the foreign media. Maybe people aren’t shopping because they don’t believe the fairy tail about our growing economy, or because the new job only pays half what the old job pays, or because there’s a double digit health insurance premium. Yeah, right. We’re going to ‘spend the savings on two dollar gasoline’ at the mall. You know, like a tax cut. Meanwhile, Political Information Lag produced a lot of surprises at the Thanksgiving table as relatives discovered each other were rooting for Trump, or Bernie Sanders. Both candidates are outside the ‘establishment’ Republican and Democrat story line. Everyone HATES Washington and they HATE mainstream media charlatans who lie to them, while they work for candidates like Hillary Clinton. Once real people actually start voting, we’ll see whether anti-establishmentarianism is a ‘thing’, or not. Jeb! shouldn’t hold his breath tho. Meanwhile the City of Edina’s liquor store apparently can’t complete with ‘cut throat’ discount liquor stores (that actually have a responsibility to their stock holders to make money; how quaint.) Thus, the Mayor of Edina wants a liquor store tax, to make up the loss. “It’s a good business, and we’re going to stay in it”. Why are municipalities in the business of selling liquor? Bottom line, if government can’t even make money selling liquor apparently its incompetence knows no bounds. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and X Government Trucks.