ORly Radio Show 69 - Blue Moon Edition

ORly Radio Show 69 - Blue Moon Edition

Welcome to ORly Radio Show 69 for Friday July 31st, 2015 - where we dismantle the current events for your edutainment through mostly rational conversations that make you go ‘Oh Really’! I’m your host Andy Cowen with my usual suspect, Mike!

Errata From Last Week: We make mistakes. Please, if you find one, pause the podcast, and send us a note. orlyradiopodcast@gmail.com or phone it in 470-222-6759  

RANT Segments / QUICK Headlines:

A blue moon, at least according to the modern definition of the term, has nothing to do with color. It simply means a second full moon in the same calendar month.

-BREAK- GSoW - PSA

The Good:

  1. The government of Sri Lanka announced this week that Google’s Project Loon will provide "affordable high-speed" internet coverage for the entire country, beamed from balloons floating in the atmosphere. Neither the Sri Lankan government or Google has set a concrete timetable, but foreign minister Mangala Samaraweera made mention of the country being covered in “a few months.” The country of Sri Lanka covers 24,954 square miles, with a population a little more than 22 million. Loon’s latest iteration is called the Nighthawk, a collaboration between the Loon team and aerospace designer Raven Aerostar. The Nighthawks will be outfitted with LTE antennas to send data to mobile phones, and capable of transmission from balloon to balloon and to telecommunication stations on the ground. The balloons are slated to stay in the air for 100 days at a time. - http://www.popsci.com/google-set-provide-entire-country-wi-fi

  2. Mark Zuckerberg announced the completion of Aquila, Facebook’s first full-scale aircraft designed to deliver wireless internet with lasers, as a part of their project with Internet.org. Aquila is solar-powered, weighs “less than a car,” and has the wingspan of a Boeing 737, - http://www.popsci.com/heres-look-facebooks-internet-drone

-BREAK- Burden of Proof

The Bad:

  1. 911 dispatcher, Matthew Sanchez, with the Albuquerque Fire Department has been reassigned after hanging up on a frustrated caller attending to a dying gunshot victim, NBC News reports. In a released audio recording, the dispatcher can be heard saying “I’m not going to deal with this, okay?” in response to the caller’s vulgar language before ending the phone call. 17-year-old Jaydon Chavez-Silver, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.- http://gawker.com/deal-with-it-yourself-911-operator-hangs-up-on-calle-1720740307

-BREAK- Voicemail

The Ugly:

  1. Samuel DuBose, 43, was killed on 19 July by a single shot to the head fired by University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing during a routine traffic stop, in which DuBose was pulled over for not having a front license plate. - http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jul/29/cincinnati-police-shooting-samuel-dubose

Entertainment/Reviews/(Nit)Picks

Andy’s: Ernest Cline’s “Armada” http://amzn.to/1UdZbPe and Kim Stanley Robinson “Aurora” http://amzn.to/1UdZhq9

Michael’s: Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Series http://amzn.to/1MYKtY8

Acknowledgements:

Music: "Rocket and Pamgaea” by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com)
PSA: Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia - GSoW https://www.facebook.com/GSoWproject

That’s it for tonight! We will be back next Friday at 9:30pm eastern. In the mean time, the conversations continue on the web. Head over to ORLYRADIO.com that O R L Y Radio.com for all the links - right at the top - and do watch us LIVE and chat in IRC.

If you have liked what we do here, you can help keep the lights on you can follow the “Help Us” link on the webpage or over to http://patreon.com/cowen .

If that’s too rich for ya, contribute to the show with topic ideas, corrections, advertising offers, unclaimed lottery tickets, hate mail, and unsolicited advice by emailing us at ORLYRADIOPODCAST@gmail.com, leaving a voicemail at 470-222-ORLY (6759), posting and voting on stories on sub-reddit, leaving us a glowing review on whatever platform you found us on, and of course like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+, and subscribe to the YouTube channel.

We can’t thank you enough for spending some time with us. Until next time this has been OrlyRadio, part of the Cowen Services Network.

ORly Radio Show 66 - Alexa, When will the GOP Eat Itself?

ORly Radio Show 66 - Alexa, When will the GOP Eat Itself?  

Welcome to ORly Radio Show 66 for Friday July 10th, 2015 - where we dismantle the current events for your edutainment through mostly rational conversations that make you go ‘Oh Really’! I’m your host Andy Cowen with my usual suspect David!

Errata From Last Week: The Oklahoma bakers (Sweet Cakes By Melissa) that were fined $135,000 for damages by the court were actually fined for sharing their address on Facebook to encourage harassment, not for discrimination. http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/07/10/persecuted-anti-gay-bakers-lied-forced-to-pay-135000-for-sharing-lesbian-couples-address/

We make mistakes. Please, if you find one, pause the podcast, and send us a note. orlyradiopodcast@gmail.com or phone it in 470-222-6759

RANT Segments  QUICK Headlines:

-BREAK- GSoW - PSA

The Good:

  1. Florida Supreme Court rejects gerrymandered congressional districts http://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2015/07/10/florida-supreme-court-rejects-gerrymandered-congressional-districts http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/09/us-usa-florida-redistricting-idUSKCN0PJ22820150709

-BREAK- Logical Fallacy: Special Pleading

The Bad:

  1. US jets intercepted Russian bombers off the California and Alaska coasts on July 4 http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-jets-intercepted-russian-bombers-off-the-california-and-alaska-coasts-on-july-4/ar-AAcDwdA

-BREAK- Voicemail

The Ugly:

  1. Donald Trump… After being a giant racist douchebag and becoming completely unelectable by polite society, is polling at 16% of the GOP primary. This is actually great news politically, but terrible news to know we live with these people…

Entertainment/Reviews/(Nit)Picks

Andy’s:  Amazon Echo. http://amzn.to/1NZYntZ

ORly Radio Show 50 - Budget Smacktacular

ORly Radio Show 50 for Friday March 20th, 2015 - Budget Smacktacular

Hosts: Andy & the Usual Suspects:Don!!!
Music: "Rocket and Pamgaea” by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com)

Errata From Last Week: Mike and Jess are now wedded! I didn’t even cough on them once during the ceremony. WIN!

Top Story: The GOP Budget. What have they wrought on the nation?

(Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/17/us-usa-budget-republicans-idUSKBN0MD1KU20150317  - U.S. House Republicans on Tuesday proposed higher defense spending and deep cuts to social services including healthcare for the poor in an aggressive new budget plan that seeks to eliminate deficits by 2024. The blueprint from House Budget Committee Chairman Tom Price, which has almost no chance of becoming law, prescribes $5.468 trillion in spending cuts and interest savings over 10 years compared to current policies. The document assumes $2 trillion in 10-year savings from full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, the signature healthcare reform law that President Barack Obama has vowed to defend.
Price's plan would cut $913 billion in Medicaid spending by shifting it to a grant program to allow states to tailor the healthcare program for the poor. It would devolve other programs to states through grants, including food stamps and transportation funding. Pell grants for college tuition would also shrink.
Price's plan could struggle to gain the support of deeply divided House Republicans. It seeks to skirt "sequester" spending caps, nominally keeping them in place to please deficit hawks while boosting military spending by adding nearly $40 billion to an off-budget war funding account.
Like previous Republican budgets, Price's plan contains no tax increases. It assumes Congress will enact revenue-neutral reforms to the tax code to reduce rates while ending many tax breaks. But it leaves the details for later.

Price said tax reform and other proposals, including a roll-back of financial regulations enacted in 2010, would unleash stronger economic growth that will help slash deficits by more than $1 trillion through 2025.
While these growth assumptions are baked into Price's budget numbers, they have not been confirmed by the Congressional Budget Office.
(Reporting by David Lawder, Roberta Rampton; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh, Susan Heavey and Tom Brown)

"I was pretty impressed with the creativity here -- I won't call it political gymnastics, but it certainly could be called parliamentary contortionism," said Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), who considers himself both a defense and deficit hawk, and is likely to back the budget. 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/18/bernie-sanders-budget_n_6897566.html


Bernie Sanders Weighs in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gB1efQXFThk

Science / Technology / Politics

Item: New Alzheimer’s treatment fully restores memory function
URLs: http://www.sciencealert.com/new-alzheimer-s-treatment-fully-restores-memory-function
Item: Researchers may have solved origin-of-life conundrum
URLs:http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2015/03/researchers-may-have-solved-origin-life-conundrum

Common origins of RNA, protein and lipid precursors in a cyanosulfidic protometabolism
http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nchem.2202.html

Humanities / Religion/ Politics

Item: San Francisco Saint Mary’s Cathedral Drenches Homeless With Water To Keep Them Away
URLs: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/san-francisco-catholic-church-installs-watering-system-to-drench-homeless-people-as-they-sleep/ http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/03/18/homeless-saint-marys-cathedral-archdiocese-san-francisco-intentionally-drenched-water-sleeping/
Item: Utah passed historic legislation against sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination
URLs: http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/utah-passes-historic-legislation-against-19434/

Politics / Humanities / Politics

Item: Obama orders federal agencies to cut carbon emissions 40% within 10 years
URLs: http://www.vox.com/2015/3/19/8257249/obama-federal-greenhouse-cuts
Item: Oklahoma House passes bill restricting marriage to people of faith
URLs: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2015/03/oklahoma-house-passes-bill-restricting-marriage-to-people-of-faith/

Potpourri / Politics / Flotsam & Jetsam

Item: Someone On a British Airways Plane Took a Shit So Bad That It Had to Turn Around and Come Back Again
URLs: http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/someone-did-a-shit-so-bad-a-british-airways-flight-had-to-turn-around-and-land-475

Entertainment/Reviews/(Nit)Picks

Andy’s: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/artana/tesla-vs-edison
Don’s: Raspberry Pi 2

ORly Radio Show 49 - A Play On Nerds

ORly Radio Show 49 for Wednesday March 11h, 2015 - A Play On Nerds

Hosts: Andy & the Usual Suspects: Mike, David, and Jessica !!!
Music: "Rocket & Pamgaea” by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com)

Special Guests: Jarman Day-Bohn and Steve Bauman from A Play On Nerds Podcast

We’ll talk about the origin of their show and the evolution of their hilarious segments over 35 episodes. Then we will get them to step into our world of outrage politics.

Muppets, Copycat Cinema, Trivia, Brooklyn Band or Smut Search, Movie Trailer Reviews (Patent Pending all Rights Reserved), What’s the Deal with Star Trek?

Science / Technology / Politics

Item: VOX: 7 Scary Facts About Antibiotic Resistant “Superbugs” - We could be doomed and that’s not hyperbole.
URLs:
http://www.vox.com/2015/3/10/8178879/what-is-antibiotic-resistance
Item: Google wants to rank websites based on facts not links
URLs: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22530102.600-google-wants-to-rank-websites-based-on-facts-not-links.html

Humanities / Religion/ Politics

Item: NY elementary school bans homework, tells students to spend time on other pursuits
URLs:
http://kdvr.com/2015/03/05/parents-outraged-after-school-bans-homework-tells-students-to-spend-time-on-other-pursuits/
Item: Isis: Muslim preacher calls for demolition of pyramids and the Sphinx of Giza
URLs: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-muslim-preacher-calls-demolition-pyramids-sphinx-giza-1491363

Politics / Humanities / Politics

Item: Conservatives Now Say They Hate Spock After Obama Praises Character
URLs:
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/03/06/cant-make-this-up-conservatives-now-say-they-hate-spock-after-obama-praises-character/
Item: 47 of 54 US Senators play a dangerous game of chicken with Iran and the POTUS with a condescending letter and tweets to the Iranian leadership.
McCain's breathtaking defense of signing the Iran letter: "I sign lots of letters"
URLs: http://www.vox.com/2015/3/10/8182063/tom-cottons-controversial-letter-to-iran-explained
http://news.yahoo.com/150-000-sign-treason-petition-us-republican-letter-195011270.html
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/republican-unity-shatters-after-backlash-to-iran-letter/
Just being Cheeky?
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-scrambles-the-wake-sabotage-fiasco

Potpourri / Politics / Flotsam & Jetsam

Item: Play Cards Against Humanity Online With Anyone For Free
URLs:
http://toyland.gizmodo.com/you-can-now-play-cards-against-humanity-online-with-any-1690772752
Item: Georgia trash man gets 30 days in jail for 5 a.m. pick up
URLs: http://news.yahoo.com/let-sleep-georgia-trash-man-gets-30-days-213758415.html

Oh, Florida...

Item: Florida, officials ban term 'climate change' - “Deputy General Counsel Larry Morgan was giving us a briefing on what to expect with the new secretary,” Byrd recalled. Morgan gave them “a warning to beware of the words global warming, climate change and sea-level rise, and advised us not to use those words in particular.” In a February press conference, Scott unveiled $106 million in his proposed budget to deal with the effects of rising oceans. But $50 million of that is for a sewage plant in the Keys, and $25 million is for beach restoration, which critics say is hardly a comprehensive plan to protect homes, roads and infrastructure.|
URLs: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/state/florida/article12983720.html
http://fcir.org/2015/03/08/in-florida-officials-ban-term-climate-change/

Item
: An apartment complex near Disney has voided its renter lease agreement that called for tenants to pay $10,000 fines for posting negative reviews on social media.
URLs: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-apartment-reviews-negative-20150310-story.html

Entertainment/Reviews/(Nit)Picks

Andy’s: Kickstarter: Rubber Band Machine Gun! It Arrived. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/11447722/rubber-band-machine-gun-0 
Mike’s
: Sid Meier’s Starships http://store.steampowered.com/app/282210/

Jess
: #HeForShe / heforshe.org / Emma Watson is a goddess

Jarman: Audio Book: Storm on the Horizon: The Zone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Glitzy Gamers Twitch Channel - A Play On Nerds - Skill Focus: Burlesque