Podcast 186

4 Percent Economic Growth? Ebola. Hamas. Aliens. Updates on all the big stories for your weekend, from the Bob Davis Podcasts. The Podcasting world welcomes Jason Lewis and Jessie Ventura to its ranks. Both broadcasters can’t find a home with traditional ‘over-the-air’ radio stations, so are moving to podcasts. This means more and more talk listeners will be using their home computers, portables, iPads, iPhones and other devices to get good talk radio, not the radio. Good for us Podcasters, bad for the rapidly imploding world of broadcast, especially what passes for talk radio in broadcast radio. The economic news is good, and while it is celebrated, there are some caveats everyone should know about. And, inflation is back, despite people like Professor Paul Krugman denying it. Ebola continues to spread, and while authorities caution that the disease has to be in an advanced stage and you have to have very close contact with the infected to get it, they’re restricting flights in and out of the areas of Africa infected. On the US Southwestern border, Scabies, TB and Chicken Pox are emerging among the illegal aliens being held, and moved all over the United States. In the Middle East, the Israeli left is furious with John Kerry, and now President Obama, who is doubling down on what many on the left in Israel and the US believe was a terrible mistake by the US Secretary of State; A cease fire agreement which seemed to grant all the advantages to HAMAS in Gaza, and not Israel. Is this another foreign policy debacle brewing, as the Israeli left – big supporters of Obama – now consider the US President to have switched sides. While unions fight for higher minimum wages for Retail and Fast Food Workers, look out … robots and machines are taking their places at the biggest companies. And, over 3500 days without  a major hurricane in Florida, and the great lakes are inverting — with very low water temperatures for this time of year. What happened to Global Warming? Sponsored by Baklund R & D. 

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Podcast 185

Gentrification. A walk through Uptown Minneapolis on a Saturday night. What used to be a bohemian hipster paradise is lousy with 1 percenters. How Uptown was, when it changed, how it changed and what it is like now. Share memories of the Uptown Punks, the run down houses, the Port Arthur, Vonns, The Uptown Bar, Uptown diner, the Rainbow, and the beginnings of the changes in Uptown; Calhoun Square. Sure the people in the neighborhoods wanted a little more vibrant business district, but did they get more than they bargained for? Do government tax breaks, zoning laws, ‘affordable housing’ initiatives, light rail help, or hurt a neighborhood? Sure there are a lot of twenty somethings coming to the bars, and packing in roommates in the expensive new apartments, but what happens when millennials start families? Will they be able to afford houses in Uptown? Minneapolis leads the nation in gentrification; when wealthier residents and businesses pushing out middle and lower middle class businesses and residents. Moreover, tax increases to provide the tax breaks and special deals to get those expensive condos and rental apartments built means residents of the city of Minneapolis pay more, whether it is a carrot cake and coffee at a trendy cafe, or groceries. It’s no secret Minneapolis has one of the most progressive governments in the United States. Are the goals of progressives being met when the 99 percent has to move to cheaper suburbs, and the one percent moves into their old neighborhoods? And yes, I keep calling it ‘regentrification’ but it is in fact, gentrification. Sponsored by X Government Cars. Cover photo art courtesy of Mitch Rossow.

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Podcast 184

Ebola! Midweek updates! Ebola is sweeping Africa. With modern Air Travel could the disease ‘spread like a forest fire’ in the United States? What is a mosquito killer? Does it carry a virus? As the Israeli assault on Gaza continues, US Secretary of State John Kerry has caused an international incident with a poorly thought out cease fire proposal. Is this another Foreign Policy disaster? People have asked for comments on the banking system and Dodd Frank. According to Richard Rahn, the one to watch is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. If they get their way all of your financial data may soon be shared with all nations of the world. Last week a major Coronal Mass Ejection nearly hit the earth. This week some analysts are warning the electro magnetic pulse from such an explosion on the sun, or a nuclear device detonated over the continental United States would do untold damage to the country’s electrical infrastructure. The feminists are after Comic-Con saying ogling of scantily clad women representing adventure and science fiction characters has to stop! And Michele Bachmann is in the headlines again, or not. Sponsored by Baklund R & D.

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