Podcast 235

Walk and Talk. Review of last week’s Ebola and political news, on an evening neighborhood walk, during a perfect fall night in the Upper Midwest. What’s the first thing you thought about when you woke up today? How about the difference in being born during this time, or perhaps 1418? (Editor’s Note: Yes, this is the first thing I thought about when I woke up the day I did this podcast. Who knows where that came from!). The 1400’s? Probably not a great era to be born in no matter what your station in life; Peasant, or Royal. Life expectancy? Between 20 and 35 years. Probably the best place to live? A united China, at the dawn of the Ming Dynasty, in that era. 1400’s was also the peak of the North American Indians. While we can be concerned about the medieval things that happen in our time; Beheadings, the spread of Ebola and the fear associated with both, all other measurements of life these days compared to say, 1418 are much more desirable. Speaking of Ebola. At the suggestion of Republican Senator John McCain, President Obama has appointed an Ebola Czar. Now everyone is upset that the Ebola Czar isn’t a General. Really? How can moderate Republicans like McCain go around talking about ‘smaller government’ when their best suggestion on how to handle Ebola is more government? How did that work out with The Department of Homeland Security after 9/11. The President oversees the Defense Department, NIH, the CDC and has a Surgeon General. What about Obama being the Ebola Czar since he’s responsible. Minnesota’s Republican Senate Candidate Mike McFadden finally hits a home run by advocating a travel ban, while Senator Al Franken wants to think about it some more. Meanwhile, the President tells America not to ‘panic’. Who’s in charge? According to the New York Times, President Obama is privately ‘livid’ that apparently no one is. Message to the President: “Pssst…Sir…uh…You’re in charge!”. Additional thoughts on the President’s no drama process. Maybe he just doesn’t want to do what anyone else wants to do, and uses ‘process’ as an excuse. Philosophically, he doesn’t believe the US is exceptional, blames European Colonialism for the problems of the world, and hews pretty much to the progressive belief in expanding government … particularly the Federal Government, and actually the executive branch of the federal government. Houston, we have a problem. We have a bad president, and if we can make it to January 20th 2017, we’ll have a new one. Hopefully someone who has had executive experience as Governor and not another former Senator, and please no more community organizers! Finally, the political ‘moneyballers’ continue to predict a Republican Wave, for the election on November 4th, 2014 and then take back the prediction. What’s the difference between political scientists, television personalities and writers who know how to use excel? Political scientists concentrate on real voting data, historically, and use poll data sparingly. We won’t know what will happen in this election, until at least November 4th, 2014 — late into the evening. Sponsored by XGovernmentcars! 

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Podcast 232

Obama and Ebola. As another health worker is reported to have contracted the Ebola virus, the President cancels a fundraiser to hold an emergency meeting with his ‘Ebola Team’ to make sure ‘it doesn’t happen again’. The meeting raises yet more questions, even as it raises the stakes for an embattled President. As predicted weeks ago by The Bob Davis Podcasts, Ebola now dominates news coverage, in the fantasy 24/7 news cycle. And, in the Magic Kingdom of the News Media, whatever steps taken to combat problems like Ebola, the feeble economic recovery, or a threat like ISIS just have to work…unless they don’t. Still, questions not answered continue to multiply. Why did Amber Vinson – the third person with Ebola in the US and second health worker to contract the disease at the hospital in Dallas – get on a plane and fly to Cleveland, from Dallas, and back … with all the stops in between. That seems like a lot of ‘contact tracking’ for the ‘experts’ at the CDC to do. Are charges about containment procedures being ignored at the Dallas hospital true, and if so, does that mean we should be monitoring more than a little over a hundred people from there? What does ‘self monitoring’ mean? And, why was a person who was supposedly being monitored flying around the country? Moreover, experts keep saying we don’t have enough data to know if the Ebola Virus can be spread more easily than what ‘experts’ say, or whether it could mutate into a form more easily transmitted. Finally, if this is what happens when one terminal Ebola patient shows up at a hospital, what happens when 3 show up? What about 10? What about 100. How many ‘SWAT Teams’ of ‘pros from Dovwer’ does the CDC have? To add insult to injury, if you’re concerned about the response to Ebola infection in the US (such as refusing a travel ban for people coming from West Africa, which Columbia and the tiny Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia’s have done) you’re panicking? Then there are the markets, dropping because of concern about economic slow downs in Europe and China. Oh yeah, let’s not forget ISIS which is not cooperating with Obama’s strategy to ‘degrade and destroy’ them. If this really is the Democrats ‘October Surprise’ its not working well. As polls show more momentum with Republicans on the issues those surveyed care most about, it suggests voters that decide who to vote for at the last minute could pick Republican candidates. The only bright spot is cheaper gasoline, as Saudi Arabia pumps like crazy, hoping to force American oil companies to slow or stop production, which is reportedly not profitable below about 90 dollars a barrel. Just a word of caution; A drop in the price of commodities is really not a good sign when every major central bank in the world is pumping cash into the banking systems. Will these problems go away? Or cascade into catastrophe? Only time will tell. Sponsored by Baklund Research and Development. 

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Podcast 230

Gone Girl. “Gone Girl” is the movie everyone is going to see these days. The new movie has an unexpected story line about The Media. Did the writer(s), director and producer(s) know they were making a movie about media’s effects on our society? Or did they think – as many contemporary commentators think – the movie is about rape and murder? In a movie about a crime, you never see the inside of a courtroom, a prosecutor or Grand Jury. Even the lawyer acts like a Public Relations man. The ‘case’ is tried in the court of the media, and the media can be manipulated if you are smart enough and have enough money. It doesn’t matter how you become famous, only that you are. Notoriety can make you enough money to pay smart expensive lawyers and PR people who can ‘manage’, ‘spin’, ‘lie’ and create a story line. What ‘Gone Girl’ really says is there are two realities in our society; two separate spheres. There is a fantasy world created by the media where there is no right or wrong, no up or down, right or left, and no absolutes. Everything can be adjusted, walked back, changed, realigned and consequences are dependent on how savvy the protagonist, or victim is when it comes to media. Then there is in fact, the real world. A world where real things happen to real people. A world where hostages heads are cut off, where people get diseases and die, where policy decisions result in catastrophe, where airstrikes alone don’t stop the enemy, where the economy doesn’t get much better, where real people are worried and afraid. In one world people react to things said on television, magazines, talk radio, newspapers, social media and blogs. In the other world, real people act, and there are real consequences. Which world are you living in? Right now media coverage of the 2014 election cycle clearly illustrates the existence of these two worlds. If you’re running for office you’re supposed to follow the majority party’s playbook. Questioning US Border Security, asking whether there should be some kind of quarantine in place for West African arrivals to the US, questioning whether the President is protected, questioning whether the economy is ‘recovering’ is ‘alarmism’, or spreading ‘fear’. On November 4th, 2014 a very real thing will take place. There will be an election, and real people will go to their polling place and vote. One side will win the right to govern and the other side will lose. As the opposition party in the current US Government, republican candidates have a duty to question the competence and leadership of the president and his party, in any language they choose. In one world questioning the competence of our leaders is not acceptable. In the other, it’s essential. Sponsored by X Government Cars and Depotstar. 

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