Podcast 273

Cuba Libre! President Obama decides to normalize relations with Cuba’s Communist Regime, and forgets to ask Congress. As with all major news stories, the media leaves out key details, like the fact that several laws have to be repealed in order to actually ‘normalize’ relations with Cuba. Among the requirements, the end of the Castro Regime. Pesky laws don’t stop Obama from giving away the store to get ‘a win’. Besides, decisions to cut diplomatic relations with Cuba were made ‘before we were born’. Now you understand why the President doesn’t like the US Constitution. He doesn’t think you have to follow laws that were made before he was born. Notice also the Cuba story has now wiped the horrible school massacre in Pakistan by Taliban — the Taliban we’re supposed to be defeating in Afghanistan — off of your TV’s. Furthermore, there will be no discussion now about whether the Australia-Iranian -Sex-Offender-Terrorist had contact with IS, or whether the Canadian Parliament shooter had contact with IS (which both apparently did). Americans should be wary of these kinds of attacks which will be called ‘Lone Wolf’ attacks, but won’t be. Especially at schools. It is now reported that the North Koreans are behind the Sony Pictures Hack. After the ‘hackers’ (AKA the North Korean regime) made terroristic threats, Sony Pictures has courageously pulled the debut of the movie ‘The Interview’ which depicts two reporters, who get an interview with North Korean ‘leader’ Kim Jong Un, only to be tasked by the CIA to assassinate Un. Meanwhile, the US has suffered its first Cyber Attack Defeat. What’s the President — who’s actual real job as CINC is to protect the American People and companies from threats like this — going to do? Maybe he’ll normalize relations with the ‘Hermit Kingdom’ as well, but only if the Communist Pope helps him. Sigh. One thing is for sure, Little Jong Un sure is sensitive to ridicule, and thus our greatest weapon is in fact, intense and unrelenting ridicule. Rather than pulling the movie, Sony should announce it will make the darkest, most depressing and realistic portrayal of the moral sink known as Camp 22 (The North Korean death camps) and release it world wide. Don’t expect any more movies to be made telling the truth about tyrants, ever in Hollywood. Especially China or Russia. Correction, the moral sink is Hollywood. What a morass of hopeless cowards they are. Retch. Of course the news media runs a close second. Got a story about a high school kid that made 72 million dollars in the stock market. Great! Run It! Fact Check? Dammit, we want eyeballs. Readers. Clicks! Oops, New York Magazine’s Jessica Pressler fell for a high school rumor and got burned because she didn’t fact check. The kid’s parents forced the freshman to come clean. No, he didn’t make any money. Zero. Meanwhile, TIME magazine has just told their reporters and writers that if they aren’t popular on the Internet, they will be fired. And you wanted facts! (Editor’s Note: I think I refer to New York magazine as New Yorker magazine in this podcast, but what the hell. Why let a fact get in the way.) Sponsored by X Government Cars. 

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Podcast 263

Nashville. Live from a hotel room in Music City. White Line Fever. Over eating on Thanksgiving and not enough sleep finally pushes The Bob Davis Podcasts to splurge for a hotel room in the heart of Tennessee, after a speed run through the Blue Ridge Mountains, across the Smokies. (Editor’s Note: We checked with the General Manager and the expenses have been approved.) The next leg of the trip will be north through Southern Illinois. In the meantime, throughout the holiday news stories have been brewing but our minds have been on other concerns; Family. Football. Eating. Sleeping. As we return to the new work week what stories will be making headlines? It was odd to hear protesters shouting, “No Peace, No Justice and no more Black Fridays” this weekend since the Bob Davis Podcasts advocated boycotting Black Friday weeks before the current spate of protests erupted. But not for the same reasons. Expect all sorts of hype from the National Retailers about what a great year it was in spite of the madness. Early estimates indicate lower numbers this year, but don’t expect to hear that. Black Friday has become nothing more than an excuse for publicly traded retailers to hype their stocks before the end of the fourth quarter. As the new congress prepares to be sworn in (one more election; a run off in Louisiana), get ready for the media to really push the ‘Republicans are Obstructionists’ story line, with full cooperation from the White House. Is that how it will be? Expect changes in Democratic Party leadership, and perhaps some changes on the Republican side too. Meanwhile the ‘shakeup’ at the White House turns out to be cosmetic as President Obama dumps Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, but his inner circle remains untouched as predicted by The Bob Davis Podcasts. With ISIS grabbing headlines (stoning homosexuals and threatening to behead women tend to do that), Russia continues destabilizing the Ukraine. New concerns about Russian pressure of Latvia, Estonia and Finland concern EU leaders. What about that NATO ‘Quick Reaction Force’ announced at the G8 meeting this year? Turns out NATO does not have the equipment or the budget. And you wonder how European countries are able to provide such lavish benefits to their people; They’re not spending it on defense. The United States still stands as the primary defense for Europe, and this could make the Russia Story very big in 2015. New numbers released this weekend say that Minnesota’s voter turn out in the 2014 election cycle hit lows not seen since 1986. And still, Republicans were unable to win state-wide offices. Is it the party? The Candidates? Or the Voters? Finally, another polar vortex dropping temperatures in the Upper Midwest, as The Bob Davis Podcasts makes its way north. Sponsored by Depotstar. [Powerpress]

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Podcast 250

Election Aftermath. How did the mainstream media do in covering election 2014? What are the primary issues for voters. What happens now? It was announced recently that the Weather Channel Morning Show beat Cable News Networks CNN and MSNBC, hands down, during an election year. Fox News regularly ‘crushes’ rival CNN, and the lesser MSNBC. Broadcast networks covered the midyear elections in 2014, in an effort to compete with cable news services. Based on the reviews from viewers and ‘observers’ of the business and coverage on election night, none of them did a very good job. There was more coverage than ever, but the networks now place political operatives and ‘ideologues’ next to journalists, blurring the lines between opinion and fact. Add to this the increasing need for news networks to employ whatever means necessary to ‘predict’ the outcome of political races. Statistics and polls are never accurate; The only question is whether sample sizes and calculations are reliable. Ideologues may try, but they cannot ‘predict’ the future with a percentage, like a weatherman predicting the chance of rain at 12 noon. The media now blames the polls. One political science professor wants an ‘investigation’ of the ‘the polls’. The polls showed tight races, and while there were a few surprises, results were generally within the margin of error, which for some polls was a perfectly respectable plus or minus 4 points. You could certainly predict the Republican Party would have an historic election, but you couldn’t make that prediction based on polling data. Now, we’re told the polls were biased in favor of Republicans. In 2012, it was the other way around. The problem isn’t the polls, it’s the media’s incessant and unreasonable need to predict, cajole, call races and set the tone. People are getting sick of it, especially when social media, and the Internet provide real time election results without commentary. Who needs CNN, MSNBC and Fox News, and talk radio — all of which will take half an hour to tell you what you can determine in 5 minutes looking at a website that runs all the results as the polls close? What happened in 2014? What emerges from exit polls is a blurry black and white; You can sense shades but not color. You can see form, but you can’t make out anything specific. People are concerned about the Economy, the roll out of ACA and leadership questions concerning the handling of ISIS and Syria, and lastly, Ebola. Is it partisan to suggest the Democratic agenda and campaign tactics focused on issues at the bottom of the list for most voters? Minnesotans wonder why the Minnesota GOP and virtually all the statewide candidates lost a once in a lifetime opportunity to turn out the votes and unseat a democrat governor, and Senator Al Franken, while neighboring Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker seemed to be able to turn out his supporters to win. Is the President still relevant? Will the Republicans come up with an agenda that shows what they’re for, rather than what they’re against? All this in Podcast 250, while shoveling snow! (Editors Note: And maybe a train too!) Sponsored by Baklund R&D. 

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