Podcast 313

Heroes. What are they, and why are we so hungry for them? In the wake of Brian Williams’ admission and subsequent ‘self imposed hiatus’ from the NBC Nightly News maybe its time to examine what it is about modern society that drives people to embellish and to make themselves heroes, and apparently allows us to accept them at face value. That is, until they are brought down. Are we wired to create and accept heroes? In Greek Mythology Heroes were actually gods. Some believe society is based on hero worship. Our modern media is a brain; a dream machine that mirrors the human consciousness, whether ‘it’ knows it does this, or not. As Brian Williams falls from his perch, new heroes are being created 24/7 by the ‘Borg’. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes; Entertainers who become demigods; Elvis and Michael Jackson, sports ‘heroes’. Movie stars like Grace Kelly and Marilyn Monroe who live forever. More dangerously, people who are supposed to tell us ‘the truth’, like Brian Williams and people we choose lead us, like the President. All are flawed, because they are human beings. Yet we think of them – in their glory – as untouchable; Heroes, demigods. Sometimes actual heroes, like Chris Kyle, are built up, and torn down. Other times it’s just this week’s hero, like Brian Williams. The mechanism that raises them up, continually tears them down, blurring the lines of reality and the dream. Are we asking for this? Is it surprising, considering the myth making that ‘makes’ the hero, that a fair degree of embellishment goes into the myth? Is it getting worse? After nearly 8 years of struggle, is it possible Americans have begun to conclude they are on their own and the struggle is internal? If that’s true, how do we slay our dragons? How might that change the hero creation machine? Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and by Depotstar. 

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Podcast 312

The IRS Needs More Money? Another update podcast from the newsroom at the Bob Davis Podcasts. The head of the IRS was back on the hill recently crying for more money, saying the agency uses computer programs from the dark ages and can’t do what it is supposed to do, collect taxes, because it has too many things to do. Does the IRS have too much to do, and too little money to do it? Or, is it another VA; another poster child for the failure of big government. Meanwhile, you have a less than one percent chance of being audited, unless you make over a million dollars, or cause red flags (in those archaic computer programs) to be activated. Perhaps it is time to talk about a new head of the agency. Or maybe even a new method of taxation that does away with this agency. Should we pursue tax reform under President Obama or make it a campaign issue in 2016. What proof is there that anyone with an R in front of their on the ballot is going to actually ‘reform’ taxation policy? Colorado’s legalization of Marijuana has caused so many millions of dollars in taxes to be collected that a state law might require it be returned, much to the chagrin of republicans and democrats in the legislature. Guess what? They want to pass a law so they can keep it all … for education. Two shootings that involved police officers in Hennepin county this week provoked some to question how people who were either convicted felons, or known to be unstable (and thus afoul of the law) managed to get guns. While the gun control movement in the US thinks the solution is to pass a law that says people like that can’t have guns…yet they always seem to get them. Fifty Shades of Grey sex toys have hit the shelves … at Target. The company says the Fifty Shades marketing package which contains blindfolds – among other things – will be placed in an adult area of the store, but one pic surfaced of the Fifty Shades stuff next to children’s tooth brushes. Surprisingly, China will have the most robots in use in their manufacturing sector by 2017. Who will make the Robots? Swiss, German and Japanese companies. Expect thousands to be laid off in China’s automotive and technology sectors. Science may have figured out how to reverse the effects of aging and how to end the common cold. Sponsored by My Complete Basement Systems and by Depotstar. 

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Podcast 311

Brian Williams and Truth. An Update Podcast that takes a foreign policy turn. As NBC News Anchor Brian Williams tries to maintain some credibility in the wake of his admission that he ‘conflated’ a helicopter he was in with another that received RPG and small arms ground fire in Iraq in 2003, veterans and viewers are furious with Williams. In a week in which a man was burned alive in a cage, and buried, Americans are concerned with the antics of a perfumed television presenter. Why do we expect integrity from television news? Much less journalism. For years, the line between entertainment and journalism has been blurring. Perhaps now people see it for what it really is. Meanwhile back on the ranch in the middle east, suicide bombings, and decapitations of hostages and prisoners aren’t apparently enough, so IS decided to put a captured Jordanian pilot in a cage, soak him in gasoline, burn him, then bury the cage with a bulldozer. Incredibly enough this provoked a theological discussion of whether such burnings are justified under Islamic Law. It was decided such barbarity is not acceptable, but the fact that it was even submitted as a theological question is instructive. What is to be done about the Islamic State? The Kurds will only go so far in defending Kurdish Iraq. The Jordanians are understandably angry, but are already asking for bullets, fuel, guns and American Forward Air Controllers in order to attack IS. Is America ready to send troops? The President has correctly described the IS as a death cult, with an Army. It seems, though, as if the United States is underestimating the Islamic State, which some say has a much deeper and stronger appeal to a base of young people world wide, and in the region. Eliminating it may take more than airstrikes and advisors. Now the question is what is he going to do about it? And in the Ukraine – a far more serious matter to the security of Western Europe – Russia is being presented with a peace offer this weekend, which may actually give Putin everything he wants. The end of sanctions in return for allowing Eastern Ukraine provinces self determination, and self government within Ukraine. This allows Russia to reactivate the separatists at any time as well as denying Kiev vital natural resources from these regions. It’s a win for Putin because it allows him to destabilize Kiev at will. Finally, what are the foreign policy ideas of the potential candidates for president in 2016? What are your concerns? Sponsored by X Government Cars and by Depotstar. 

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