Travel Stories-Regional Differences Across America-2018 Primer-Podcast 703

These days the we see the US from a bird’s eye view. Americans eat the same kind of food. Listen to the same kind of music. Dress the same. Look the same. Right? Not really. Find out why in Travel Stories-Regional Differences Across America-2018 Primer-Podcast 703.

Media Says We’re One People

One people, one culture. That’s what they say on TV. Furthermore, news ratings depend on selling the myth that we’re all the same. We’re supposed to be nine or eleven ‘nations’ of North America. Or as ‘The Fourth Turning’ says, behavior can be predicted by our generation, or where we are from.

Except that isn’t true. Never has been.

Travel Teaches How Real Differences Work

I’ve been up and down both coasts. Crisscrossed the midwest. Toured the west from the Mile High City to Las Cruces. I’ve been up and down Skyline Drive and the birthplace of country music in Bristol. I can tell you from experience there are some real differences in Americans. It’s what makes this country great. In Travel Stories-Regional Differences Across America-2018 Primer-Podcast 703.

Big Assed States

First of all, these fifty states are geographically imposing. Even the so called ‘little’ states in New England are big. Each of them have regional differences that can play out politically in some significant ways.

Different Places Different People

Moreover the personality of these states depends on the settlers. When did they come? Who were they? Why did they come? Where did they come from. What ideas and culture did they bring with them?

Regional Differences

One of the things I hear a lot these days is, “Why can’t they get it done?”. Or, why is a state so ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’. Look closer and you might be surprised. Whatever ‘IT’ is. Part of the reason are the regional differences that might surprise you. Find out about them in Travel Stories-Regional Differences Across America-2018 Primer-Podcast 703.

Northern Minnesota Democrats who support 2nd Amendment rights. Conservative residents of Mountain West states like Colorado that supported legalizing marijuana. West Virginia republicans who want trade protection and aid for coal mines.

These differences are especially relevant when it comes to congressional districts.

All Politics Really Is Local

In conclusion, 2018 is an election year. All of congress. One third of the senate. State Legislatures and Governors. Judges and special elections. The pundits, the media, and the parties will try to make it about national issues. More often though, when it comes to so called off-year cycles, all politics is local.

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating and Ciro3D motorcycle products and accessories

Travel Stories-Regional Differences Across America-2018 Primer-Podcast 703

Warning! Media BS Reaching Dangerous Levels-Podcast 641

Back in the studio after a long trip. When you drive over long distances there’s lots to think about. Of course, just because I am on the road doesn’t mean I disconnect from day to day news. Fact is, I would much rather talk about travel and adventure. Sharing some stories from the road and looking at some of the latest news in Warning! Media BS Reaching Dangerous Levels-Podcast 641.

Gasoline on The Fire

That’s right. Warning! Danger Will Robinson! We’re going to talk about the latest news in this podcast. Especially relevant, the stuff people share on social media. Charlatans and paid agents blowing on the already hot conflagration that is supposedly our body politic in this country.

Join Us For The Congressional Baseball Game

Last month I didn’t even know there was a congressional baseball game. Nor did I care. In the wake of a tragic shooting we’re still being treated to commentary and articles that simply rehash the same things written and said about every shooting. Next, they’ll be televising the congressional baseball game like it’s the All Star game. Time to call them all out in Warning! Media BS Reaching Dangerous Levels-Podcast 641.

Feeling Sorry For Day To Day Commentators Who Have To Fill The Airwaves With Nonsense

These days I get the feeling most of what we see and hear that passes for ‘news’ isn’t memorable at all. More commentary written by people who don’t know anything, telling you what to think and what to do. Once these articles are shared all they do is fan the flames of discord, serving none of us and no purpose.

Civil War? Really?

Not content analyzing the latest mass shooting event, commentators are now telling Americans to be prepared for an inevitable civil war. I just came from touring Missouri and Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, West Virginia and Ohio. These are all states where small towns proudly display highway markers denoting deaths and destruction dating back to the Civil War from 1860 to 1865. Seems like every southern town has memorial parks and places of remembrance, well maintained and marked. Considering the bloodletting of the civil war years, it is irresponsible to compare these times to those dark days.

Who’s Fault Is it?

We’re responsible for this, because we’re the ones that keep reading, liking and sharing this crap. The right thinks anything not written and posted by their favorite sites is fake news, and the left thinks anything from the right’s favorite sites is fake news. While people actually know very little about the issues, they’re up on all the latest agitprop from their favorite mouthpiece.

Maybe There Is A Planet Out There To Collide With Earth

Considering all this, sometimes I wonder whether some event will intervene and somehow bring us all back down to earth. Or not. A pandemic, perhaps a visit from aliens. The United States is in trouble, and we’d better wake up from this slumber pretty soon or it will turn into a nightmare of biblical proportions. (Editor’s Note: I refer to the Governor of New York being killed in the 1930’s in an Attempt on FDR’s life. It was Anton Cermak the Mayor of Chicago.)

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Warning! Media BS Reaching Dangerous Levels-Podcast 641

Podcast 375

Where’s My ObamaNet? FCC Commissioner Tom Wheeler wants to expand a program that dates back to at least the Bush Administration, which became known as the ‘Obama Phone’. Originally the program was intended to make sure older people with no communication could get phone lines, then it was expanded to include cell phones, and was made famous during the 2012 election cycle. Now the FCC wants to expand the program to include free broadband Internet! Surprise! We all pay extra on our phone bills to fund this program, now we’re paying so people who don’t work, can get free or low-cost Internet. When is it time to draw the line? Warning! This podcast includes a freewheeling discussion of technology it all its many forms, economic growth, dystopia, Paul Krugman, Solar Power, Wind Power, the smell of cigarettes and Martinis on a warm summer night, the sound of planes landing, and more! Big argument in the tech world after The New York Times Astrologer in Chief, Paul Krugman claimed the technology revolution has produced no economic growth. Is that true? Then there is the bizarre reaction to Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Machines, Robotics and Additive Manufacturing (to name a few new technologies) threatening to eliminate jobs. Most of the time, it’s disbelief, followed by the darkest predictions about the future. And yet, technology revolutions throughout history while tumultuous, result in economic growth and more jobs. Why does the future have to be so bleak? What if the future is so bright, you’ll have to wear shades? Now, you might have to wear shades because you live next door to a giant solar farm — subsidized by the state and federal governments — while solar produces less than one percent of our power and pollutes the Earth. Why is it, news coverage of the spread of ‘friendly’ solar power doesn’t include stories about the pollution in creating, and eventually disposing of panels, and batteries? Sponsored by Baklund R&D