Podcast 447

Ted Cruz In Saint Paul. This podcast takes you inside a political event in Saint Paul on a cold winter night. From heading out in Mobile Podcast Command Unit 8, to making coffee in Mobile Podcast Command, parked with the media trucks, to trying to sneak into restricted meetings, interviews with Cruz Minnesota Organizer Mandy Benz, State Representative Cindy Pugh, an unidentified (by her choice) Cruz advance planner, to 2nd District Congressional Candidate and old friend Jason Lewis, put headphones on and follow me. The brand new media story line is that Texas Senator and candidate for the Republican presidential nomination Ted Cruz is running second to Donald Trump and therefore ‘could be the guy’. Two months ago the Senator sent his father, this time he came in person, with reporters clustered around the door he was supposed to walk through, while technicians set up cameras on a riser in the back of the small Harriet Island indoor pavilion. As people filled the room, a giant screen showed campaign videos complete with all your favorite national talk show hosts talking about how great Ted Cruz will be when he becomes president. An introduction from a local preacher, more videos, and finally the main event…Senator Cruz throwing ‘red meat’.  Boy, can he sling it! From rescinding Obama’s executive orders, to ‘utterly destroying ISIS’, this crowd loved it. Cruz’ strategy is to organize and concentrate on winning the Iowa caucuses, and use that momentum to win in enough key Super Tuesday states in the mid south, out west and along the eastern seaboard to gain the momentum to win the nomination, and the presidency. Can he do it? Or is he the new flavor of the month. We’ll know when people start to vote in roughly a month. Sponsored by X Government Trucks and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul

Podcast 272

Christmas Insanity. Stories we are missing because of all the reporting on Congress, Oil, Australia and … Christmas. Suddenly we have to be told how to ‘deal’ with the Christmas Holiday, by practicing ‘abundance without attachment’. In english, that means we should not criticize commercialism, or judge materialism, but be unattached to money and just enjoy ‘the experience’. (Editor’s Note: I am well acquainted with the concept of practicing non attachment, but I don’t think it has anything to do with the rash of lazy journalism regarding spending money during the ‘holiday season’.) The biggest problem is expectations, being generating because of all the emotional stimuli in commercials and these incessantly cheerful all christmas all the time radio stations. Maybe the bad reporting comes from the fact that this is the worst time of the year to be doing issues or news based media, since people are checking out. Nothing is wrong with materialism, even the love of money. What’s wrong is the media’s obsession with predicting economic performance based on individual sales days like black Friday and Cyber Monday. The whole season becomes an economic bellwether? The truth is, its only since about the 1930’s in the US that Christmas per se, has become this macro holiday, with all its attendant markers for the wider economy. The best Christmas gift so far? The Sony Hackers. Revealing how Hollywood is actually the rapacious capitalist, rather than Wall Street. Anyone want to see if millionaire Senator Elizabeth Warren will take on greedy Hollywood execs? Why is it always Wall Street Banks, or dirty industrial companies. Eew. Do we still value people who actually make things? Or do we care more about the perfumed princes and princesses of Hollywood and the whales, global warming, public-private partnerships to preserve water and other nonsense. MSNBC’s days may be numbered. A new digital service called MSNBC Shift will be testing programming for the ailing progressive mouthpiece no one is listening to. Don’t rule out a completely new approach’ sports or entertainment. While Fox enjoys huge audience numbers, they sit astride a delivery channel (cable television) that may actually have an expiration date. Remember when Global Warming enthusiasts said warming causes tornadoes? The US had fewer tornadoes in the last three years, since they started measuring these things back in the 1950’s. And finally, the dumbest story of the week; “Scientists” say the warmer it is, the less you make. 54 degrees is the optimal temperature for productivity. Sigh. Sponsored by Baklund R & D

Podcast 266

Rolling Stone’s Debacle. This weekend Rolling Stone Magazine admitted it did not properly fact-check a story about an alleged gang rape on the campus of the University of Virginia. So now we have a clear example of media bias in action and it goes way beyond fact checking. The editors liked the story, so they never pushed the reporter to interview the accused, or confirm the stories of the friends of the woman who claimed she was gang raped at a frat party. So, it took the Washington Post to go down to UVA and run down the particulars in the story. As this was going on, Rolling Stone defended its reporter, and anyone who questioned the woman’s story was pilloried. What did the Washington Post uncover? The discrepancies are so numerous, Rolling Stone had to issue an apology this weekend. ‘Narrative journalism’, combined with bias and shoddy editing is the order of the day in most of today’s news shops. Now the media, UVA, Fraternities, the alleged perpetrators, the victim, not to mention real cases of rape have all been thrown into question as the result of an editor and reporter, and magazine that did not do their job. And what can we say about the media? Charlatans, hustlers, think tank spokespersons, operatives are booked as guests on all the major news shows, round table shout fests, and empty suits abound. An informed populace/electorate is the one necessary ingredient for democracy, and we do not have it. America is being so poorly served by its so called media, its no wonder people cannot reason, don’t know the facts, scream and yell at each other, throw labels onto each other that are meaningless, and are deeply confused about how any process works, because they are uninformed. Who’s fault is it? What can be done about it? Have we reached the stage where the rule of the mob has become a reality? Unfortunately, it sure looks like it. Meanwhile, Mary Landrieu has lost her bid for a fourth term in the US Senate representing Louisiana, giving the GOP one more seat in the Senate, and an historic majority in the House. Wait until after January 7th for the fireworks to start when the 117th Congress is sworn in. The President has acid reflux, as does the rest of the country due to his policies. The media ballyhooed the latest unemployment numbers, but once you look under the hood, they don’t look so good. Surprise! We have yet to produce one month with over 375,000 new jobs, which is what the country needs to fully recover. It never ceases to amaze what the media thinks is ‘good’ versus what is factually needed. Sponsored by Baklund R&D. (Correction: I keep referring to the current congress as “the 116th Congress” in this podcast, and the next as the “117th Congress”. Getting a little ahead of myself; The current Congress is the 113th, and the incoming congress is the 114th.)