Podcast 296

MYSOTU. What started as a courtesy to Congress by President Washington has morphed into an irritating media spectacle, bordering on – no wait, it has become – obscene. It is time for every American to use whatever media you can, to deliver your own State of The Union Message. Line some chairs up, invite friends over, have the postal worker down the block join you, so you can use him as an example during your speech, make sure everyone wears a suit, add klieg lights and cameras for effect. If you have a teleprompter or two laying around, throw them in as well. (Editor’s Note: I invited congress to join me, but they had other things to do, so my State of The Union Address is delivered from the Broadcast Bunker.) The media machine cannot be without a story, and beheadings are getting old, so the new story line is the President is pugnaciously at least, thumbing his nose at Congress. Somehow this is viewed as new behavior, though he has been doing it all along. The results? President Obama lost the House and then the Senate is a series of historically bad election cycles for The President’s party, yet analysts think somehow, now that Republicans are in charge in Congress, he’ll get different results. Moreover, the President’s restless flying around the country and making speeches, offering candy and popcorn to the masses is now considered something called Populism. If you are a media commentator and you say the word ‘Populist’ and another word like, ‘Electorate’ in the same sentence, people think you’re smart. Populism? What’s that. Nothing, really. Nothing that can be defined as a real political philosophy or ‘policy’ per se. Using the standard definitions, your dog could be a ‘Populist’, and probably a pretty good one. The ‘Populist’ President wants to raise taxes on the rich, give it back to the middle class, if the middle class sops perform tricks and jump through rings of fire to get tax ‘credits’. Thanks! Meanwhile, he wants to increase spending by something like 7 percent, to add to an already massive public debt, the largest ever accrued in one administration in history. But hey, we got a baseball cap and a beer can insulator, right? Republicans? They’re going to fix it all so it works, don’t you know that? What it comes down to is Statist, versus Non Statist, and there are an awful lot of Statists in Washington right now. The good news? The Bob Davis Podcasts SOTU is mercifully short. The post SOTU party awaits. Sponsored by X Government Cars

Podcast 295

Nighttime Winter Walk. Warm days in the upper midwest mean warm nights. A good night to get out for a walk and talk. As the week progresses, the news will get heavier as coverage of the State of The Union message gets rolling, along with Davos, and financial concerns starting to take center stage. So, this is a great opportunity to take a walk and talk about some of the less controversial stories. Did you know that January 19th is officially the saddest day of the year? Why? What does a person do to combat this oppressive depression? In the UK, a five year old child was not able to attend a friend’s birthday party. No, the parents did not RSVP but they were surprised to find a professional bill for ‘services rendered’, due to the fact that they did not RSVP and their child did not attend, when he was scheduled to. Now the parents are being sued. In Wisconsin, legislators are ready to reintroduce the 70 mph speed limit, which is a good thing because no one drives 65, anywhere in the state, and least of all in 94, or 90-94, or any of the state highways. What Wisconsin needs though, is a law that requires residents of the badger state to get the hell out of the left lane if they want to go slow. A friend’s dinner suggestion of a ‘satellite internet’ was greeted by The Bob Davis Podcasts with skepticism. Lo and Behold, Mr Elon Musk plans to introduce a ‘space internet’, and eventually carry the signal all the way to Mars. If it works better than the Podcast’s current ISP, and can feature better customer service, it’s a lock. The number one movie in the country right now is ‘American Sniper’, the story of the late Chris Kyle. Michael Moore called him a coward on twitter, and a firestorm has ensued. Research shows quite a lot of controversy about characterizations of snipers in general. Moore got hammered in social media, while Actress Jane Fonda was hammered in Frederick Maryland, by Vietnam Vets who will never forget the picture of Fonda posing for the cameras on a North Vietnamese Anti Aircraft gun, during her trip to the enemy’s country during the Vietnam War. Fonda now says the photo was a huge mistake she has had to live with her whole life, but she still says the trip to Communist North Vietnam was ‘incredible’. Finally, some words about a recent podcast about the Tea Party, and a heads up on some speaking engagements for Bob Davis in the near future. Sponsored by Mycompletebasement.com

Podcast 294

Dry Cycle. The update turns into a discussion of the fallibility of media, even your favorite cable news channel. This weekend, Fox News had to correct itself and apologize profusely for reporting there are ‘no go’ zones in Europe, where non muslims fear to tread, and the police won’t enter. Everyone was talking about it all weekend after Fox anchors and guests apparently got it wrong. These are neighborhoods in England and suburbs in France that are about as forbidding as LA’s Compton, or Chicago’s South Side. While Europe has been more lenient allowing Sharia Law, it does not mean muslim ‘enclaves’ have sprouted, even though allowing a separate law for Muslims in a modern, western democracy is not a good idea. That said, the President and the Pope continue to support limits on free speech. President Obama even went so far as to say he doesn’t consider terrorism a existential threat, which it most certainly is, then said Europe has to do a better job ‘integrating’ its Muslims. Maybe he fell for the No Go story too. This provokes a whole conversation about how to wean yourself from cable news and talk radio, develop multiple sources of information, deal in facts, avoid the emotion spewing out of talk radio and fox news, and use your tools to find and develop deeper knowledge on key subjects. The need to fill the airwaves, pushes under financed and poorly managed outlets to spew out incorrect information, relying on ping ponging viewers back and forth between the latest outrage and the latest breaking news. The good news? That kind of media’s glory days are behind it, as it gives way to on demand audio (podcasts), You Tube, NetFlix and future on demand video services. A recent survey reports that most millennials don’t ever watch broadcast television, seldom watch cable news channels, and download virtually all their entertainment and information. In an on demand world, the daily outrage may not work as well, as people seek out information, rather than people screaming at each other. The latest example? NASA says 2014 was the hottest year on record? Do you know by how much? Do you know what the margin of error is in that estimate? The answer might surprise you. Finally, Arizona and other states are passing laws which require high school seniors to pass citizenship exams in order to graduate. Good idea? Sponsored by Baklund R&D