Podcast 247

Republicans Win! Election 2014 coverage. The final installment from Election Control deep inside the Broadcast Bunker. A minute by minute account of the election results on November 4th 2014. Starting out the podcast skeptical of big Republican wins and finally witnessing an historic ‘wave’ election. The GOP won 8-9 seats in the US Senate taking control of the upper house, more than 12 seats in the House, and 31 gubernatorial contests; The Governor’s races alone are headlines. Wisconsin’s Governor Walker won a tough race leading a number of significant Republican holds, with Governor’s mansion pick ups in 3 traditionally Democrat states; Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts. In Minnesota the news isn’t so good. While the Republicans won back control of the State House of Representatives, they lost big statewide races including Governor and the US Senate. Stewart Mills, the Republican favored to win in the 8th District lost his bid to unseat Congressman Nolan. (Editor’s Note: The big issue for me was whether predictions of Republicans winning 6 or more seats in the US Senate would come true. I did not feel the polls warranted that prediction, as close races in Kansas, North Carolina and Colorado could have gone either way, but in fact, the polls were pretty close this time. I said a Republican wave was certainly possible. I would rather be surprised, than be disappointed, so I was a little surprised, and you can hear it happen as the podcast progresses through the evening. All predictions, correct and incorrect aside, this is why we have elections; so we can see what happens.) With historic wins by the Republicans in the midyear, the question now is whether President Obama will seek to conciliate and compromise with the new congress, with a much stronger Republican majority than the 113th Congress. What tack will the Republican Senate take with the President on Immigration, Obamacare, Judges, Foreign Policy as well as House investigations on a variety of subjects? Will a Republican Senate seek compromise with the President. If it does, will this endanger a Republican victory in 2016? How will democrats across the country react to this huge victory by Republicans? Is the victory based on low turnout by Democrats, or high turnout by Republicans? Were these votes a repudiation of President Obama, or based on local issues? To be fair, Republican wins are so broad based — Governor’s, House and Senate — its hard not to see it as a statement of disapproval of the President’s policies and leadership by voters. Will President Obama dig in his heels and fight a move to the center? Only time will tell. Sponsored by Baklund R&D.

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Podcast 243

Halloween 1. The first of two podcasts for Halloween, 2014. Some developing stories catching Bob Davis’ interest as the media zeroes in on Election 2014 coverage. Now we’re scolding people for the Halloween costumes they’re wearing. Admittedly, most of today’s adults have never grown up and thus feel compelled to wear costumes for any and all occasions, whenever there is an opportunity. Yet now, the scolds are telling people Ebola Hazmat suits are ‘in bad taste’, those dressing up as ISIS terrorists ‘could be shot by police if ISIS terrorists were to dress up as ISIS terrorists’ (Editor’s Note: That one is really a stretch, but I did not make it up.) and Halloween displays with ‘severed heads’ are also in bad taste. Not to mention the criticism of young women’s increasingly sexy costumes as inappropriate, which if you are a single male is decidedly NOT inappropriate, but anyway. Hey people! It’s Halloween. It’s an offensive ‘holiday’ anyway. Can we give it a rest for 24 hours, and let people have some fun before they die of Ebola, or in a terror attack …or not? Meanwhile in the real world, the Centers For Disease Control has subtly let America know that Ebola can be transmitted through ‘water droplets’, which means yes, sneezing and coughing by an infected person could potentially infect someone else, and there would be no touching or ‘direct contact with bodily fluids’. Maybe this is why the US Military is quarantining personnel coming back from Ebola stricken areas in West Africa, for 21 days, no exceptions. A doctor in the Minneapolis and Saint Paul area writes in the Minneapolis Tribune this week, that in his experience symptoms are often difficult for doctors to connect with diseases, and people can be symptomatic before they have fevers, and not know it. Tom Combs also says there isn’t enough data yet to conclusively say that a quarantine isn’t just safe, and smart policy. He also says, people need to understand Quarantine is not punishment, nor incarceration. Quarantine is a way contain a disease and prevent its spread. Meanwhile, states are getting out in front of our intellectual-and-reluctant-to-act President. Louisiana sent letters to attendees to a topical disease forum in New Orleans, disinviting those who had been in West Africa in the last week, citing the need to protect the citizens of Louisiana. Hey! Some good economic news came out just in time for the election! How about that? 3.5 percent GDP growth in the 3rd Quarter. Most of it in the Government and Energy Sector. Oddly enough, Goldman now says that the US has dethroned OPEC and is now the New Oil Order. Falling prices for Gas is good, but this is not so good for investors in oil stocks, or countries that rely on oil revenues. (Editors Note: Take that suckers!) By the way … where’s your old crazy ‘peak oil’ uncle these days? The richest man in the world, Carlos Slim says 60 is the new 40, you shouldn’t retire and that soon people will work only 3 days a week. Machines work work 24/7, we’ll work 11 hour shifts and have more time for retraining and leisure. Finally, when was the last time you took a vacation? Why 5 weeks of vacation may soon become mandatory, and common. Sponsored by Depotstar.

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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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