Podcast 285

Summer Sound. With the temperature several degrees below zero, and the snow blowing in the upper midwest, winter has set in. Just staying warm in a streak of sub zero weather can be a challenge physically. Eventually the cold starts to wear people’s spirits down. What can be more uplifting than summer? So, The Bob Davis Podcasts delivers a therapeutic dose of heat, humidity, sun, water, boats, fireworks, thunderstorms and a warm summer rain. Summer in the Upper Midwestern United States is the best in the world. What goes through the mind of a person in a deep freeze? Walking on grass barefoot? Weekends at the lake with friends and family? Boating? White clouds and blue sky? Walking through the forest, or searching through the brush for firewood? What about the sound of screen door? The wind through the trees. A bonfire? Of course the high point of summer is usually the Fourth of July, which means fireworks. Lots of fireworks. It always seems like the fireworks bring the the tornado sirens, thunder and the rain. Winter has its own kind of silent beauty, and Minnesotans know if you get out in it, you start to appreciate it. But, its strange how silent it can be in winter when you think about how loud the bugs actually are, all summer. Whether it is a walk through the short, velvet summer night, or sitting in a city park on a Saturday, the bugs are always present, as well as the birds. And a loon or two. And a barking dog. Sound from summer may depress you, or it may just get you through the tough parts. (Editor’s note: Obviously in putting this together, I listened to it a few times, and my mood is already improved!) A few years ago The Bob Davis Podcasts posted a summer sound podcast, using some older technology. This new summer sound podcast includes mostly new sounds as well as some of the old favorites from summer’s past, and uses newer technology so it sounds better. Get out a pair of headphones, find a chair, or lie down, turn up the volume and be enveloped by your old friend summer. Remember, it’s only five and a half months away! Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and Depotstar. 

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Podcast 284

Polar Vortex 2015. Perhaps we should start off by saying, “Previously on Polar Vortex”. It happens just about every year around this time in the Upper Midwest. It gets real cold. We call it winter. A few weeks of below zero temperatures with little relief. It’s been colder. Where are the cavalcade of ‘economists’ (astrologists) predicting the inevitably dour economic effects of the ‘polar vortex’? Surprise! Now that a Republican majority is about to take office ‘economic experts’ are optimistic! Touting 5 percent GDP growth, lackluster employment statistics and a host of other debatable ‘facts’, some formerly doom and gloom analysts are finding  rose colored glasses not used since the Bush administration. As a new Congress is about to be sworn in, scolds to tell Republicans, “It’s time to govern”! Isn’t ‘governing’ something both parties and all branches of government engage in? Not just a majority and not just one branch of the government? Freedom Works has declared Speaker Boehner ‘must go’, and thus the factional battles in the new Congress begin. Freedom Works instructs you to write, call or email your congressman and demand the speaker be retired! (Editor’s Note: A waste of time, since interns answer the phones, review emails and open letters, even writing replies. If you want to get your congressman to pay attention to you, you have to control votes or money, and preferably both. If you want to write, call or email, go right ahead, but don’t fool yourself. Until you’re organized, you’re nothing to them.) Next we have the ‘Restore America’ crowd. ‘Restore’ in this case means turning back the hands of time to 1950, everywhere in America. Uh…no thanks, there were no smart phones. Want to bet this will be Jeb Bush’s campaign slogan in 2016? What America needs isn’t ‘restoration’, but new ideas that meet the challenges of new technology and a world that doesn’t look anything like 1950. Now there is one place in the world where it is, in fact, still 1950. North Korea. Here’s a question; What if the Sony Hack wasn’t the work of North Korea’s ‘army’ of hackers? The FBI’s contention – and the President’s – is under fire from tech security companies. If it wasn’t the North Koreans and the President ordered a retaliation, this could be the first major Obama Screw Up of 2015. Stay tuned. Back home in the land of ten thousand lakes, and taxes, Minnesotans should prepare themselves for a gas tax increase. Democratic Governor Dayton has decided that while cheap gas acts ‘like a tax cut’, it just isn’t expensive enough for the dancing peasants, so we need an increase in the gas tax. Or something like that. Minnesotans need new trains, and bike trails and bridges are falling down, right? Not really, but it works every time. Meanwhile, Kurt Daudt, Republican Speaker of The House says there will be “give and take” this session. Sigh. And a final parting shot at ‘morning people’ and their arrogance. Nocturnal People Rule! Sponsored by X Government Cars, and Depotstar.  

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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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