Jussie Smolett-Fyre Fest-Burning Man-Lies-Reality-Bob Davis Podcast 808

These days they don’t teach kids how to tell what’s real and what is not. Adults don’t know how either. Consequently it’s hard to tell what’s reality and what’s a lie. We’ll talk about it in Jussie Smolett-Fyre Fest-Burning Man-Lies-Reality-Bob Davis Podcast 808.

Jussie Smollett

Most noteworthy is  the latest rush to judgement without critical analysis. The story of Jussie Smollett, actor and musician. Smollett received lots of support from the Speaker of The House of the US Congress and many other prominent democrats after he claimed to be the victim of a racially motivated attack. Growing evidence suggests Smollett’s story of what happened on the night of January 29th 2019 might not be credible.

FYRE Fest

Then there is FYRE Fest. Probably the most successful social media scam in history, FYRE Fest is the subject of two competing documentaries. Especially relevant are questions of credibility for both documentaries. What really happened with FYRE Fest? We may never know.

Are You Cool Enough For Burning Man?

My favorite punching bag is Burning Man. Promoted as a haven for artistic and personal freedom, it is anything but. In reality, Burning Man is a dictatorship. People are told how to act and what they can photograph. Tickets are almost impossible to get unless you’re Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk. Or you can gain the favor of so called local ‘burners’. Are you cool enough for Burning Man?

I’ll pass.

Fly Geyser Off Limits

Meanwhile the ‘non profit’ Burning Man organization purchased the Fly Ranch, home to the incredible Fly Geyser. Regular people used to visit the geyser. Not anymore. Burning Man owns it. You can’t see this wonder of the world unless you pay equality advocates at Burning Man.

Russia Today

Finally there is Russia Today or RT. Long known as a propaganda wing of Russia, people are dismayed to find them being deleted from the social media platform everyone loves to hate; FaceBook. Did we forget what the word ‘propaganda’ means?

FoxxConn and Festivals Lies and Damn Lies

In conclusion it doesn’t matter if it’s some silly festival or a Foxxconn plant in Wisconsin. Influentials only pretend to be ‘authentic’ and ‘truthful’.

I guess Grandpa was right. You can’t believe everything you read.

Actually, you can’t believe anything.

Sponsored by Reliafund Payment Processors and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Jussie Smolett-Fyre Fest-Burning Man-Lies-Reality-Bob Davis Podcast 808

 

 

 

 

Minnesota Road Trip-Progressives-History-Politics-Duluth 2018-Podcast 727

These days one of the things you learn on a road trip is how big the United States is. Then, how big individual states are. Finally the traveler discovers how each state is different. In Minnesota Road Trip-Progressives-History-Politics-Duluth 2018-Podcast 727.

Get Off The Interstate

Most noteworthy is what happens when you get off the Interstate and onto the back roads. That’s when you really see how it is.

Covering Politics In 2018

2018 is an election year. I said I would cover the Minnesota political scene this year. The first stop is the Minnesota State Republican Convention. Duluth. On the shores of Lake Superior.

Minnesota History

Furthermore some of the state’s old hands don’t know Minnesota’s unique social and political history. We’ll discover it together in Minnesota Road Trip-Progressives-History-Politics-Duluth 2018-Podcast 727.

Town Hall Is In Our Blood

Sure, we know our pioneer history. Especially relevant is the unique history of political grass roots and town hall style representation.

Minnesota’s first settlers were New Englanders and New Yorkers. They brought town halls with them. Later immigrants from Scandinavia, Germany and Ireland formed the bedrock of so called ‘progressive‘ politics in the state. Therefore, those ideas are still with us.

Yes Republicans Were Progressives and Populists Too

In addition while some people assume progressive politics these days is only the political left, republicans too have a long history of progressivism. Find out in Minnesota Road Trip-Progressives-History-Politics-Duluth 2018-Podcast 727.

Tim Pawlenty Tries To Derail Caucus Process

Will the grassroots system survive in Minnesota? Former republican Governor Tim Pawlenty isn’t attending because he’ll be clinking crystal with rich guys at the Minneapolis Club. Pawlenty’s operatives will push the convention to refuse to endorse a candidate for governor. This is the main issue in Duluth this weekend.

Do We Really Want To Dump The Town Hall?

Moreover populists and progressives go back to the roots of Minnesota Republicans and democrats. Probably a big part of that process has been town hall style politics in the caucus system. Most of all do we really want to get rid of it?

Surprises In This Podcast

In conclusion as I researched this podcast I learned a few surprising facts. I think you will too.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: Two things. First, it’s not 35W heading to Duluth, it’s just 35 North. Being a Twin Citiean, I have to get on 35W before 35 North. Second, for some reason I thought the State DFL convention – the democrats – was being held in Rochester, Minnesota the week after the Republican Convention in Duluth. Once again those sneaky democrats have managed to slip out of my grasp. It’s in the 40’s in Duluth and the 80’s in Rochester. Given the quality of the speeches in Duluth this weekend, I wish I had gone to Rochester!)

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Minnesota Road Trip-Progressives-History-Politics-Duluth 2018-Podcast 727

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Podcast 545-Bob Davis Podcast Radio Show-42

Podcast 545-Bob Davis Podcast Radio Show-42. It’s labor day weekend, and as people head to the lake or to the State Fair, Podcast 545-Bob Davis Podcast Radio Show-42 is almost an hour of brand new content for the trip, and for your extra long holiday weekend. We start with a review of the week’s political landscape. Despite better national presidential preference numbers for Trump, state by state polls have not tightened appreciably in key electoral vote-rich states. Hillary Clinton continues to pace Barack Obama’s averages from the 2012 presidential election. Of course the state by state averages can change so we’ll revisit this polling at the end of September and again just before the election at the end of October. Meanwhile, neither of the two mainline presidential candidates is talking about permanently reducing the size, scope and power of governments, federal, state or local. In Minneapolis and Saint Paul we have had yet another example of government overreach in the form of an unelected body of Dark Lords known as the Met Council. After the Minnesota House decided not to fund the controversial South West Light Rail Project, which Minneapolis’ richest and most liberal precincts fiercely oppose, the Met Council decided to issue their own bonds to the tune of more than a hundred million dollars, and ask metro counties under its control to issue tens of millions in debt as well, all to end run the legislature and green light the project. Much has been made of the republican’s distaste for the council, but when they had a chance to drive a stake through its heart earlier this year, the legislature rearranged some of the terms of the councilmen and women, and some of the funding. A local mayor found a way to kill the Met Council last summer by empowering local municipalities to say no to them. Yep, local towns and cities – by state law – cannot say no to the Met Council. This law can be changed by the legislature. Why haven’t they done it? This is just one example of government overreach. In this Labor Day weekend’s radio show the dangers and costs of too much and too powerful government; something neither of the mainline candidates and their parties are going to do anything about. One wants to hand out free education and health care, and the other wants to spend billions to build a wall. Both will increase the size, scope, cost and power of the federal and state governments. This is a discussion we aren’t having now because we’re too busy arguing about whether one of the candidates should go to jail and whether the other one is a fascist. Meanwhile the advocacy media just keeps on covering politics like sports, and people keep watching and listening, all the while complaining about it. This podcast closes with something fun, a throw back podcast to the Minnesota State Fair from the early 80’s; an audio montage done then, just for fun. It’s amazing how much the fair and the people have changed. Sponsored by Brush Studio in the West End and Hydrus Performance.