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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Podcast 216

Climate Change. A few thousand ‘protesters’ crowd into the streets of lower Manhattan and it looks like the Puerto Rican Day Parade and Street Fair on Upper 3rd Avenue, when millions of people hit the streets. But alas, it is only Al Gore, Leo DiCaprio and Robert F Kennedy Jr to add more hot air to the already wheezing planet’s atmosphere. Listen to how they react when reporters ask them about their SUV’s and Cell Phones and ‘Carbon Usage’. For Thee, not me, they say. When do draconian laws being pushed by the environmental movement begin to hurt the people the movement says it is trying to help. Slow, or no economic growth threatens the security of the world, farmers can’t get grain to market because oil has to be shipped on rail roads owned by Warren Buffett, and the scion of the rich family that became powerful politically because of corruption, blames the Koch Brothers for all that ails our fair nation. A slash-and-burn-walk-and-talk podcast in reaction to listening to Al Gore and Robert F Kennedy Jr NOT answer questions asked by reporters about their behavior, and the hypocrisy of the so called ‘Global Warming’ movement. Yes, there is a question about the 17 year slow-down in warming, the dire warnings issued more than twenty years ago about the post apocalyptic environment we would be living in (we’re not), and no, scientists do not agree, the ‘debate’ is not over…isn’t that what science is supposed to be about? And then there is the garbage problem; Protesters left tons of their garbage in the streets of Gotham after the ‘protest’. Leo, Al and Bobby were apparently too busy climbing into their SUV’s, heading off to their yachts, or to the next champagne fueled charity event to bother cleaning up after themselves. Meanwhile, China is the largest producer of carbon ‘pollution’. Think they’ll protest there? Yes we have Climate Change. The trees are already changing colors in the upper midwest, and we know a long, cold winter awaits. Sponsored by Sedation and Implant Dentistry of Saint Paul. 

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Podcast 214

North Dakota. The final On-The-Road podcast takes us through Montana to North Dakota. When you travel, especially in a car, you get philosophical. Subscribers to the Bob Davis Podcasts suggested a trip to Williston, for a first hand look at what ‘Fracking’ has wrought. One does not have to go to Williston to see the effects of development and economic growth in North Dakota. Everything is new. Kicking off some musing about the different ways the American West Developed, how the West uses its resources for economic growth. The sheer geographic size and scope of Western States is truly impressive, not to mention innovation and opportunity from the coffee stands and whitewater outfitters in Moab, Utah to brand new service stations, franchises, apartment buildings, hotels and office buildings in North Dakota. While North Dakota leads the nation in economic growth and energy development, it is just one state. The whole trip through the so called ‘Mountain West’ definitely leaves a visual impression, but it also serves as a reminder of just how majestic the United States is, and how much potential there really is. From trains, to smaller cities all over the west, in states so large you wouldn’t even know there is growth and development, and innovation everywhere. One can’t help but wonder how much more potential for growth would exist if people enjoyed an easier path to following their dreams. The Minneapolis Tribune and New York Times don’t like North Dakota’s oil boom, but then again, the establishment ‘back east’ has never been comfortable with the diverse economic interests ‘Out West’ that have struggled with development, exploitation of natural resources, agriculture and ranching issues, for over one hundred years. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. 

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