Podcast 435

How Tough Are You? How tough do you have to be? A new era is coming socially, economically, and politically. A selection of news stories about technology shows how quickly our world is giving way to something new. Socially our ideas about morality, fairness and even the nature of reality are evolving. Economically old systems are transitioning to new, even as industry and ideas minted at the turn of the twentieth century can still be dominant, new ideas in manufacturing, media, communications and the tools we use to do our work are beginning to take hold and to forge their own reality. Politically new issues, new ways to communicate and new kinds of candidates are emerging and wreaking havoc with ‘the process’. These are significant changes that make the world unfamiliar to people who became adults just twenty or so years ago. Our individual success, and our success as a country may depend on how tough we are and whether we adapt to these changes well enough not just to survive, but to thrive. It’s clear these days, that the new world will look nothing like the old. Even assumptions so called ‘experts’ make about the future are turning out to be not be so accurate. Rapid change can be disruptive and confusing to say the least. Especially when people have to live through it. With 64 percent of the working age population out of the work force in the United States, and the new jobs most vulnerable to new technology tough days might be ahead and we will have to be tough to deal with it. What is ‘tough’? What does it mean to be ‘tough’? We hear a lot about the difficulties individuals have these days, but we aren’t hearing enough examples of real toughness, and they’re out there. Maybe it’s time we started thinking that way as a nation? Sponsored by Pride of Homes and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

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Podcast 361

Baltimore. Riots in Baltimore overtake the national consciousness. Despite not wanting to talk about a story with facts that may change minute by minute, sometimes the ‘elephant in the room’ is the best conversation. What are the facts about the 25 year old Baltimore citizen who died in police custody? Did outrage cause the riot or was it outside agitators. While many blame Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, was she cautious because she did not want to make the same mistake the mayor and police chief of Ferguson, Missouri made when they deployed ‘militarized’ police? Meanwhile, the President can’t resist ‘weighing in’, suggesting that the whole nation has to do some soul searching. Maybe President Obama is the one who should do some soul searching. With so much government to be upset about in this country, disrespect for government and law is becoming a feature of life today. In some places, under extreme circumstances, it reaches a breaking point. Besides, there is little President Obama can do about Baltimore, even though he is just an hour away. It’s a city, and state problem. As nearly two thousand national guard deploy to the city streets (and not for the first time in history, either) calm appears to have been restored, for now. Will free college, minimum wage laws and more programs solve this problem? How much is race a problem in a city with a majority black population, mayor, police commissioner, and police force? And specifically, how much is race a factor in the death of Freddie Gray, the young man who died? Or, is it a problem of criminals pushing for and maybe winning a double standard for law enforcement. These questions remain to be answered. One thing is clear; As Baltimore burned, the President and the Washington Press corps, sipped champagne and fiddled at the Correspondent’s dinner, where both politico and news reporter feed each other’s ego. Politicians are out of touch, either running for high office to enrich themselves, and the media doesn’t report fact as much as it pursues the lurid, and tragic. The wake of the weak politician and selfish media is despair, frustration and anger. The dark side of America is the only America it sees. Who’s fault is it? Think about it. We’re at a low point in politics and leadership in this country. It seems more and more that we are on the verge of a seminal and unpleasant event, after which nothing is ever the same. And our leaders don’t seem to be interested in doing anything about it. Sponsored by Baklund R&D. (Editor’s Note: In this podcast I refer to Jon Baklund’s Webinar and have the date wrong. It is June 2nd, 2015).

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Podcast 353 – Sunny Lohmann

Live From Napa California. The road trip continues through California, stopping in Napa to do a podcast with Sunny Lohmann. A breathless romp through pop culture and current events. A road rage incident in the sun drenched wine drinking paradise, provokes a question about rage. What is the difference between Meme and Mime? As the tax deadline approaches, both Bob and Sunny struggle with their tax issues. Is it better to rush to file on the deadline, or file an extension? Some stories about the trip up to San Francisco and Napa using the Pacific Coast Highway, and the story of the Nepenthe in Big Sur, California. This was the weekend Secretary of State John Kerry tried to defend the so called Iran ‘deal’ that the Supreme Leader in Iran says isn’t a deal. The President defended the Secretary by citing his status as a Vietnam Veteran. What is the reality in Iran, and the reality of the Iranian political system? With the negative comments about the US from Iran, is this the new model for US Foreign Relations? If the Iran ‘deal’ collapses, the President can now say he tried. As Sunny says, it’s amazing that the President will talk to the Iranian leadership, and Raul Castro, but not Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. What is the effect of environmentalism is California? According to Sunny, environmentalism and recycling is a religion in the Golden State. Two Midwesterners talk about the difference between services in the Midwest and California. Sunny reacts to the White House picture of President Obama waving at the bottom of the arc of a rainbow as he boarded Air Force 1. Is this good for the President, or not? As we come to the end of an era in America, will the right be able to actually present an agenda? What will the real issues of 2016’s election be? Is the country asleep right now? And, if we are at the end of an era, what’s next? One additional bit of advice from a woman who moved from Minnesota to California with her husband and new baby. Sponsored by X Government Cars. 

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