Missouri Storm Chaser Steven Coy-Podcast 634

First Road Trip of the summer in effect! I’ve been very interested in Storm Chasing as a sub culture for a while. Lots of storm chasers these days. Steven Coy is just 21 years old, but already an experienced storm chaser. We join Steven in his hometown of Stover Missouri, and on his family’s farm which turns out to be a great place to chase a storm. In Missouri Storm Chaser Steven Coy-Podcast 634.

Storm Chasing Ground Zero

As Wall Street is to finance, Hollywood is to the film industry, Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma are to storm chasing. OU student and avid chaser Steven Coy is deceptively young. I say deceptively because his experience and knowledge become obvious in this podcast.

An Interview and a Storm to Chase

Steven Coy talks about his interest in storm chasing. His heroes. Missouri Storm Chasers FaceBook page is over eighty thousand strong these days. No hype on the FB page. Just good content to let people know about potential threats. Stover is in a ‘blind spot’ for radars at regional centers. Storm chasers like Coy perform a service for locals.

They Call Him The Weatherman

It is Saturday. Mobile Podcast Command is parked at the local storage facility on the west side of Stover, Missouri. Steven and his mom show up for the interview. After, the Coys invite me out to the family homestead a few miles outside of town. Not wanting to impose, I decline. A few minutes later they are back. In Missouri Storm Chaser Steven Coy-Podcast 634.

Chasing On Foot

Ok, off 6 miles down the road. Then a gravel road. Then a rutted driveway. A few hundred feet more. Twenty minutes later we are out by the shed. Here on the back 40, or the front 40 if you take Steven’s mom’s word for it. A vista from which to chase “on foot” as Steven says. This is where he takes a lot of photographs.

Coy Delivers

With a practiced eye and a little help from an extensive radar application on his phone, Coy precisely predicts the path of the storm. It will come right to us he says. When the storm hits, right on schedule, we head for the horse barn to take cover and take pictures. Steven measures wind velocity at 78.5 miles per hour. I thought the building was about to come down. He calls it in to the weather service. They sound skeptical. Later we hear about damage in a nearby town consistent with that windspeed.

I get an education about the nature of these thunderstorms, what causes tornados and how they form. When the storm clears, it’s time to wrap it up. From here it’s onto Oklahoma, and more hail. Thanks to Steven and the Coy family for making sure I was safe during the storm. There’s a lot of unwarranted criticism these days of young people. Steven Coy is one young person doing what he loves and learning everyday. By the way, Steven’s mom days if you leave their house hungry, it’s your own damn fault!

Sponsored by X Government Cars and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Missouri Storm Chaser Steven Coy-Podcast 634

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Has United States Been Socialist For A Long Time? Podcast 625

Has United States Been Socialist For A Long Time? Podcast 625

We hear a lot of words used to describe various political factions in the US. Most will say the US economic system is capitalist but is this just an illusion? Are we socialist? Have we been socialist for a long time? It seems to me, we have. In Has United States Been Socialist For A Long Time? Podcast 625.

Socialism Is Everywhere

Just because a country’s economic system is socialist, does not mean it’s a tyranny. Denmark and Canada aren’t dictatorships. Singapore is a Socialist Market Economy. Places where ‘the people’ own or control the means of production. Most socialist countries these days enjoy democratic political systems.

Government and Non Profits Dominate State Economies

Americans think of themselves as capitalists. The thing is, the top three employers in my state are public institutions. Americans depend on social security, medicare, or medicaid ‘entitlements’. Home buyers get tax subsidies. We enjoy many tax deferred investment options. Farmers get subsidies. Public workers get pensions. All kinds of grants for education exist. Then there are the business subsidies and government contracts. Some popular business personalities receive billions in subsidies from the government. We’ll talk about it in Has United States Been Socialist For A Long Time? Podcast 625.

Both Parties Support Socialism

Democrats complain about light rail projects running through their backyards, but support government programs because ‘It’s the right thing to do’. Republicans complain about big government unless it’s the military, support for their businesses, home mortgage tax credit, social security and 401K programs.

The Right Thing To Do

It’s true that many of these programs date back to the depression in the 1930’s. Also true that creation of these programs came with the best intentions. Whether we like it or not, government is deeply involved in our lives. Of course, what the government giveth, the government takeaway. We’ll talk about it in Has United States Been Socialist For A Long Time? Podcast 625.

Classic Liberalism Is Forgotten

Republicans and Democrats argue the same side of the coin. Both are collectivists. Neither adhere to Classic Liberalism, a philosophy of limited government with the sole purpose of securing a maximum amount of individual liberty, property rights and free markets. While no political scientist would argue the US is Socialist maybe we should consider the possibility we are and have been for some time.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and X Government Cars

Has United States Been Socialist For A Long Time? Podcast 625

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Getting Your News Groove Back-Podcast 621

Social Media Rules

More of us get our news from social media these days. Problem is most of the ‘news’ on social media doesn’t adhere to standards. Might feel better informed, but it’s hard to tell the difference between writing to a standard and propaganda. In Getting Your News Groove Back-Podcast 621.

Internet Never Lies

People are in the habit of posting, sharing, liking and commenting on stories that support their point of view. People apparently believe anything published on the Internet that looks credible and comes from a site they visit often. We are floating on a sea of bad information.

Garbage In Garbage Out

News stories not written to standard assert things that turn out to be false. What’s worse, this kind of information poisons the discourse. Thoughts, insights and ideas based on bad information form into concrete assumptions and conclusions. Those conclusions drive people’s ideas about the world.

Propaganda and Manipulation

In Getting Your News Groove Back-Podcast 621 I’ll provide some examples of story-lines that have not been proven. Most of the time these stories reinforce the right versus left thinking that ruins friendships and family ties. It’s what makes social media so angry and vitriolic.

There are standards. When you know the standards you can determine whether a writer lives up to those standards. Without standards we’re susceptible to a steady stream of propaganda and manipulation. It’s up to us to learn the standards and choose what we post, share, like and comment on accordingly.

Context and Perspective

A steady diet of Social Media, 24 Hour Cable News and Talk Radio is like junk food for the mind. This ruins a person’s ability to discern whether assertions are true or just opinion. When all we do is read stuff online, watch You Tube videos and listen to cable news and talk radio we lose the context of major stories. We don’t get the details to be able to master the issues. Getting Your News Groove Back-Podcast 621  explains how to do that.

Getting Your News Groove Back-Podcast 621

Sponsored by X Government Cars 

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