Podcast 251

Boycott Black Friday. Updates for your midweek from The Bob Davis Podcasts. Observations from the most recent speaking engagement at the Liberty Tea Party Patriots meeting in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, caps final discussion of Election 2014. If CNN and MSNBC ratings (getting beat by the Weather Channel) are any indication, most people have moved on, or are ready to move on. We’ll save discussion of what could, should, might happen until after the new congress is sworn in, after January 7th, 2015. Meanwhile it has started again. ‘It’, is the incessant need of the media to dissect and predict the ‘outcome’ of Black Friday sales numbers, and what they mean for the greater ‘economy’, or the indication of the ‘mood of the consumer’. Can we please give it a rest? Every time a retail chain announces it will be open on Thanksgiving day, more coverage ensues. Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday. Yes, the Pilgrims prayed, but these days it’s more about Turkey, Football, three bean salad and the cheese ball than anything else. If people want to go shopping, let them, but we should boycott Black Friday, and Black Thursday Night, and Black Saturday and Black Sunday just to stymie the National Retailers Propaganda wing and the news channels crowing. Meanwhile, women no longer want to be thin. They want booty. Big Booty. According to French Sociologists its about economic security. In tough times men are drawn to the hips and buttox of women, and psychologically they want to comply, to the extent that sales of padded panties, botox buttox injections and implants are skyrocketing. Sir Mix A Lot is a prophet! The President has a new executive order initiative; In a deal with China, the US pledges to cut carbon emissions (again) 25 to 30 percent lower than 2005 levels, and China pledges to (wait for it), work on the problem. Question: Does President Obama ever actually get anything in a negotiation? You’ve seen the movie ‘Birds’, right? The Alfred Hitchcock Thriller Classic? Double Crested Cormorants – 800 of them – are holding up demolition of the old Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge. Authorities have decided to spend 33 million dollars (forty thousand dollars per bird) to move them. Just blow the bridge. They’ll move. Does news like this make you want to go underground? A developer has turned an old SAC Missile Silo into a luxury ‘doomsday bunker’. Several 1800 square foot apartments, swimming pool, recreation space, and special forces trained armed guards make your ‘Walking Dead Scenario’ sweet! A new lost gospel says Jesus was married, had two kids and was connected to Elite Romans. And finally, the Mormons are finally saying Joseph Smith had as many as forty wives. His first wife only knew about four of them and she was not pleased. Sponsored by Xgovernment Cars and by Depotstar.

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Podcast 238

Economic Doom. Inflation, Deflation, Disinflation. Is the economy booming, or crashing? In the fantasy world created by the media, there are only winners or losers. The reality is somewhere in between. What is inflation, deflation and disinflation? Do we have inflation in the United States, or not? Despite the Federal Reserve pumping trillions into the banking system in America, we’ve seen only slow growth at best; Not enough growth to bring out self-mothballed workers from the ranks of those who have given up looking for work. Yet, we are told the US is reaching ‘full employment’, and that the economy is ‘roaring’ back. With only 76 percent of our industrial capacity utilized, a significant amount of that capacity in the oil, and mining sectors, the concern is disinflation, and perhaps deflation. In the Euro Zone, the ECB is worried about Deflation. In China they’re worried about a slow down. In Japan, huge inflows of cash from the central bank and government has produced mixed results. Yet, with a new set of economic numbers this month, economists, reporters and political cheerleaders are saying the US economy is ‘set to grow’ and we’re back to the Rosy Scenario. When things don’t pan out as they predict, it will be ‘unexpected’ or ‘surprising’. Reporting like this is devoid of context, and grossly misinforms the public, leaving them confused and angry when they can’t get a higher paying, better job. For instance, the much vaunted consumer is constantly told he accounts for 70 percent of the US Economy. Not true. We are being told new housing construction is up. In fact its apartment houses. We’re told the housing market is back, but a closer look reveals many cash buyers who are buying homes to rent out. A recent drop in housing sales is attributed to cash buyers pulling out of the market because homes are ‘too expensive for cash buyers’. Inflation and Deflation have both been associated with stagnant growth in various countries, sometimes disaster. We’re told ‘cheaper gas’ gives consumers the where-with-all to spend, and yet gasoline has only been somewhat less expensive for about a month. (Editors Note: Yeah gas is cheaper, but I’m not taking the money I’ve ‘saved’ on a shopping spree.) With Europe and China and other parts of the world in a seeming synchronized slow down, oil and commodities dropping, the markets moving and up and down wildly, suddenly some are alarmed and concerned. Is it possible that years of government borrowing and spending, and central bank intervention in markets have added so much malinvestment, the chickens are finally coming home to roost? Why do governments and big debtors love in inflation, and fear deflation? The takeaway is, it’s time to start thinking about what we expect these sclerotic and expensive governments to actually do, and start demanding they operate with as little debt as possible, and that our money be based on something stable like, uh…Gold or Silver. The reason? When governments can print their way out of debt, citizens actually pay the cost in higher taxes and inflation. Sponsored by Depotstar.

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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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