Podcast 273

Cuba Libre! President Obama decides to normalize relations with Cuba’s Communist Regime, and forgets to ask Congress. As with all major news stories, the media leaves out key details, like the fact that several laws have to be repealed in order to actually ‘normalize’ relations with Cuba. Among the requirements, the end of the Castro Regime. Pesky laws don’t stop Obama from giving away the store to get ‘a win’. Besides, decisions to cut diplomatic relations with Cuba were made ‘before we were born’. Now you understand why the President doesn’t like the US Constitution. He doesn’t think you have to follow laws that were made before he was born. Notice also the Cuba story has now wiped the horrible school massacre in Pakistan by Taliban — the Taliban we’re supposed to be defeating in Afghanistan — off of your TV’s. Furthermore, there will be no discussion now about whether the Australia-Iranian -Sex-Offender-Terrorist had contact with IS, or whether the Canadian Parliament shooter had contact with IS (which both apparently did). Americans should be wary of these kinds of attacks which will be called ‘Lone Wolf’ attacks, but won’t be. Especially at schools. It is now reported that the North Koreans are behind the Sony Pictures Hack. After the ‘hackers’ (AKA the North Korean regime) made terroristic threats, Sony Pictures has courageously pulled the debut of the movie ‘The Interview’ which depicts two reporters, who get an interview with North Korean ‘leader’ Kim Jong Un, only to be tasked by the CIA to assassinate Un. Meanwhile, the US has suffered its first Cyber Attack Defeat. What’s the President — who’s actual real job as CINC is to protect the American People and companies from threats like this — going to do? Maybe he’ll normalize relations with the ‘Hermit Kingdom’ as well, but only if the Communist Pope helps him. Sigh. One thing is for sure, Little Jong Un sure is sensitive to ridicule, and thus our greatest weapon is in fact, intense and unrelenting ridicule. Rather than pulling the movie, Sony should announce it will make the darkest, most depressing and realistic portrayal of the moral sink known as Camp 22 (The North Korean death camps) and release it world wide. Don’t expect any more movies to be made telling the truth about tyrants, ever in Hollywood. Especially China or Russia. Correction, the moral sink is Hollywood. What a morass of hopeless cowards they are. Retch. Of course the news media runs a close second. Got a story about a high school kid that made 72 million dollars in the stock market. Great! Run It! Fact Check? Dammit, we want eyeballs. Readers. Clicks! Oops, New York Magazine’s Jessica Pressler fell for a high school rumor and got burned because she didn’t fact check. The kid’s parents forced the freshman to come clean. No, he didn’t make any money. Zero. Meanwhile, TIME magazine has just told their reporters and writers that if they aren’t popular on the Internet, they will be fired. And you wanted facts! (Editor’s Note: I think I refer to New York magazine as New Yorker magazine in this podcast, but what the hell. Why let a fact get in the way.) Sponsored by X Government Cars

Podcast 207

If nothing changes. If nothing changes…nothing changes. Does it feel, sometimes, as if things seem like they are about the change, but they don’t? Sometimes there are long periods of ‘stasis’. Some interpret this as a positive, but it can be negative. While the media thrives on making viewers and listeners think huge changes are right around the corner; Prosperity is just ahead, War is about to break out, Disease threatens us all, then…nothing. With the jobs numbers last week, the the ongoing situation with slow or no economic growth, the slow down in the foreign affairs situation, the political pundits talking about a wave election for republicans one week, and no wave the next, Mitt Romney making noises again, and Hillary Clinton talking about running, it sure feels like 2008, or 1999? The world is on the verge of great era. Advances in manufacturing, communications, robotics, autonomous agents, software, medical science, even physics may be forming the building blocks of a world those of us born in the 20th century will not recognize. But getting there means huge changes, and getting through those changes will not be easy. We are living through a low ‘stasis’ point. Our leaders, republican and democrat, do not know what to do. We don’t know what to do. Everyone seems to be looking to someone else to solve problems, and yet problems never seem to get solved. The language remains the same; systemic problems in the labor force, a collapse – or boom – on wall street, republicans are against democrats and so on. A change agent is coming. Call it a black swan event, singularity, or whatever you want. We can’t know what and when it will be, but a catalyst that begins a period of upheaval and change is inevitable. Take what you hear on the day to day news with a grain of salt, and look for that catalyst. Sponsored by Baklund R&D

Podcast 105

Thrilled to have John Tamny join me for a discussion about economic issues. John is editor of RealClearMarkets.com and editor of political economics at Forbes. In Part 1, we talk about how the US economy is doing, the Federal Reserve, Sound Money, Dollar Strength, Free Trade, Economic Freedom and more. You want talk programming with substance, and a free market view?  Podcast 105 is your podcast. Download Podcast 106 for part two. Sponsored by Tim Utz for Minnesota House of Representatives in Minnesota House district 41B.