Podcast 474

Gonzo Talk. No prep. No notes. No editing. These are the rules of Gonzo Talk. I’ve done it before, under different names. I kind of like ‘Gonzo Talk’. This is the way I used to do podcasts, but after nearly 500 podcasts you evolve. It seems weird now, to do Gonzo Talk since I have become comfortable with a little more planning, or what I like to call a controlled burn. I know what I want to say, and rather than pussy foot around, I am able to get right to it because I have put some thought into it beforehand. Not so with Gonzo Talk. You start talking and you keep talking until the podcast is over. What comes up, is what comes up. What is said, is what is said. No editing. We start talking about different coffee makers, progressing to Minnesota’s establishment ‘republican’ effort to get rid of the state’s caucus system, and in view of Iowa’s Pride over their caucus system it seems a little statist. What a surprise. Progressing through the primary and caucus wins this weekend for Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Isn’t it funny how the two candidates winning are most decidedly not establishment candidates. The only candidate that has more potential than Trump to freak the fuddy duddies out in the republican establishment, is Senator Ted Cruz. Just this last week Mister Loser himself suggested breaking the rules he backed to defend himself against Ron Paul at the RNC in 2012. Now Romney is pulling the aw shucks I don’t know nuthin, mister routine. After creating a process that has resulted in unmitigated disaster for establishment republicans, now they want to flush the whole primary process and contest the convention, thus nominating old Milque Toast himself, Mitt Romney. What about sealing off Washington, and forming a new government in Council Bluffs, Iowa? We don’t tell Washington they’re not in charge anymore. We just let them think they’re running things! Wait! Isn’t that kind of the way it is? Or maybe the way it will be? The people are speaking and they are not speaking establishment, on either side of the supposed political spectrum. Of course the tone deaf establishment, democrat and republican, isn’t listening. Why should we listen to them? Hey! I kind of like Gonzo Talk! Sponsored by Brush Studio and Pride of Homes and Luke Team Real Estate.

Podcast 218

It’s complicated. Why are ‘simple’ solutions advocated for complicated problems, and what happens when those ‘simple’ solutions don’t work? With airstrikes beginning against ISIS, apparently many in the US expect ISIS to be ‘destroyed’. Really? Fact is, things are hardly as simple as the commentariat would have us believe. Every crisis contains layers of political, diplomatic, military, corporate, social and other special interests that have to be considered. Then there is the corporate and independent media, and social media. ‘On The Ground’, inside any breaking story, are other, similar layers to be considered by policy makers. Demanding the simple solution plays well on the shout-fests that pass for ‘news’ these days, but seldom play in the real world; One of the reasons we are underwhelmed when things go wrong. People seem to think there was a time when things were easily resolved. Was there? The American Civil War? Prohibition? World War II? The Cold War? When was it ever easy or simple? We’re still getting used to the new complexities of a multi polar – chaotic – world, made more confusing by many new technical innovations with increasingly positive and negative effects. While there are simple solutions to problems every now and then, one has to understand the details to sell those ‘simple’ solutions and selling it can be complicated. History always seems easier when it is written than when it actually plays out. Today, people demand solutions, but they don’t want to know the details. Is this a willful ignorance? A willful refusal to participate or learn? Is it ‘the media’s fault’? Or, is it our fault? Either we pitch in and become informed, or we accept what our elected leaders do. We expect flawless performance from our technology and our leaders and are shocked when it fails. We might be living through a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change our government to be more responsive to individuals, but we’re not going to do it through ignorance and apathy. Sponsored by Autonomous Cad

Podcast 206

Boardwalk Empire and the 1920’s. A new guilty pleasure and obsession is HBO’s award winning ‘Boardwalk Empire’. 1920’s America was a time of great upheaval, social change and prosperity. Innovations like Radio, telephones, automobiles, commercial flight, electricity and mass production enabled some to make enormous sums, but also created a burgeoning middle class. As the nation’s wealth doubled, the Jazz Age began. Prohibition, depressed crop prices, waning unions and progressivism, the shift of population from small towns to cities gives this era real bite. What’s not to like about the 1920’s. ‘Boardwalk Empire’ is doing a great job showing the good – and the bad – from 1920’s America. If your image of the 1920’s is crowds milling around Wall Street in October of 1929, you’re really thinking about the 1930’s. In fact the 1920’s was an era throughly embraced by its young people, for its raw growth, music and opportunity. But it was also an America that had not been fully transformed by a national ‘image’, a time when cities were smaller (Chicago only could claim 2.5 million citizens), and every place still still claim some level of ‘uniqueness’. Even train travel as we know it today was still relatively new. Still ahead was the depression, the run up to World War II, and the post war world. Behind the 192o’s was World War I. It was a time of peace and prosperity. Generally speaking, good times. How does this era compare to the 1920’s? What kinds of discoveries, innovations and developments are on the horizon to explode, and transform our world – for the better – if and when prosperity returns? Sponsored by Autonomouscad.com