ORLY-EP0125A - Racist Climate Change & Hate Groups Vote Too

ORLY-EP0125A - Racist Climate Change & Hate Groups Vote Too  

Welcome to ORLYRADIO #125A recorded Friday September 9th, 2016 - 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 suspects, David O’Connor, Stephen Griffith, Daniel Atherton, and Fred Sims.

Audience Feedback From Previous Shows:

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

From Daniel: “...I just want you to know that your show means a lot to me. It's one of the few ways I stay up to date on current events, especially given that I am abstaining from Facebook. Thank you for putting it on.”

Potpourri: Guests/Rants/Etc:

  1. http://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2015544/serious-antivenom-shortage-face-global-snakebite-crisis

  2. North Korea tested its 5th nuclear warhead, this time a 10 kt yield. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37314927

    1. The world is not happy about it, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37317782

  3. Click Bait: Black Lives Matter UK says climate change is racist.  http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-09-06/black-lives-matter-uk-says-climate-change-racist

  4. Syrian Conflict: U.S. and Russia Agree. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-37324872

  5. Campaigns in Contrast. http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/johnwright/trump_pence_to_speak_at_annual_values_voters_summit_hosted_by_anti_lgbt_hate_group

http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/148/175/b88.gif

This Week in History:

Sources: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history

  1. 1776 - On this day in 1776, the Continental Congress formally declares the name of the new nation to be the “United States” of America. This replaced the term “United Colonies,” which had been in general use.

  2. 1893 - Frances Folsom Cleveland, the wife of President Grover Cleveland, gives birth to a daughter, Esther, in the White House

  3. 1971 - Prisoners riot and seize control of the maximum-security Attica Correctional Facility near Buffalo, New York. Later that day, state police retook most of the prison, but 1,281 convicts occupied an exercise field called D Yard, where they held 39 prison guards and employees hostage for four days. After negotiations stalled, state police and prison officers launched a disastrous raid on September 13, in which 10 hostages and 29 inmates were killed in an indiscriminate hail of gunfire. Eighty-nine others were seriously injured.

Top Hi-story: 1919 - The infamous Boston Police Strike of 1919 begins, causing an uproar around the nation and confirming the growing influence of unions on American life. Using the situation to their advantage, criminals took the opportunity to loot the city.

As society changed in the 20th century, police were expected to act more professionally. Some of their previous practices were no longer countenanced. Explanations such as that later given by the Dallas chief of police in defense of their unorthodox tactics–“Illegality is necessary to preserve legality”–was no longer acceptable to the public. Police forces were brought within the civil service framework and even received training for the first time. Soon, the American Federation of Labor (AFL) began to create local police unions.

When the Boston Police went on strike on September 9, the country’s leading newspapers sounded the alarm bells. Some falsely reported that gangs were running wild and attacking women throughout the city. Others saw it as evidence of the spread of communism. In actuality, the strike prompted a lot of property damage but did not seriously endanger the safety of the community-partly due to the quick response of the government.

Calvin Coolidge, governor of Massachusetts at the time, called out the militia to assist Harvard students and faculty who were acting as a volunteer force. (He later used the incident to boost himself to the presidency.) While the Boston Police Strike proved disastrous for unions in the short term, police were eventually allowed to form unions. However, it is illegal for police to go on strike, and even informal work actions such as the “Blue Flu,” whereby large numbers of police officers call in sick at the same time, are seriously discouraged.

ORLY-EP0121 - DNC Platform Wrap and Back to Normal

ORLY-EP0121 -  DNC Platform Recap, And back to a  “normal” show.

Welcome to ORLYRADIO #121 recorded Friday August 5th, 2016 - 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 suspects, Stephen Griffith, and David O’Connor.

Audience Feedback From Previous Shows:

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

Potpourri: Guests/Rants/Etc:

Democratic Wrap up, takeaways...

  • No real gotchas - if you are liberally and socially progressive, in fact there are some great things on that front. Policing the police, Reforming mandatory sentencing, closing private prisons, and generally being science minded about many things. There was copious pandering, or swaying if if comes to pass, to the Berni-crats. Most of his campaign stump speeches was seen throughout the document. Each section reiterated at least something towards that camp.

  • Race relations, gender disparity, civil rights, voters protections, Native/Indigenous Americans and Tribal law, LGBT (sorry no QIA), fixing the broken immigration system, climate change - all had their paragraphs and positive notes of encouragement.

  • There was a little bit of privatization pandering to religious institutions rather than corporate america, calling on support for AmeriCorps. But on the bright side, strengthening our education systems, including student debt.

  • And while on Education, the platform adds the A to STEM, So Democrats believe in Science,. Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics.

  • The Agriculture industry was mentioned in continuing financial aid, while also backhanding them with increased EPA worker protections. Unions and collective bargaining are heavily supported and eluded to by the platform

  • Families who depend on programs like SNAP and WIC would not have to worry about those social programs being pulled.

  • Generally towing the Obama line and continuing his legacy in every avenue and likely advancing it where he was unable to, like the ACA, the party states on page 34, that they are in favor of universal healthcare, not the stop gap that the Obamacare was. IN this section, both mental health and autism care received recognition as a commitment bullet point. Even planned parenthood was supported. This is a pro-choice platform.

  • The national motto actually made an appearance, E Pluribus Unum, rather than just the Christian Nation crowd that we saw on the GOP side.

  • Gun violence is also a platform line items.

  • They want to audit the Pentagon in an effort to reduce defense spending in a smart manner rather than an arbitrary figure.

  • Though as to the middle east, we will continue to pour dollars and blood into the region to combat isis and reign in Iran’s attempts to eliminate Israel.

  • One thing to really note, in rough numbers, about a third of the document pandered or said very little or repeated itself. Another third was comparisons and what they believe in. The last third, plans on how to accomplish goals. Not set in stone and codified into law, but just like Bernie's platform, there was a way to do it all listed in the platform.

  •  

Science Bitches!  

  1. http://www.thedrive.com/news/3208/uc-irvine-accidentally-invents-a-battery-that-lasts-forever

  2. http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-develop-a-new-vaccine-that-could-reverse-dementia-and-alzheimer-s

  3. http://nber.org/papers/w22170 The Effect of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansions on Financial Well-Being
    We find that the Medicaid expansions significantly reduced the number of unpaid bills and the amount of debt sent to third-party collection agencies among those residing in zip codes with the highest share of low income, uninsured individuals. Our estimates imply a reduction in collection balances of around $600 to $1,000 among those who gain Medicaid coverage due to the ACA. Our findings suggest that the ACA Medicaid expansions had important financial impacts beyond health care use.

  4. http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-36855705 - Adamantium is now a thing.

Law & Order:

  1. http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/08/court-enters-at-least-temporarily-the-fray-over-transgender-rights/ The U.S. Supreme Court stepped into the dispute between a Virginia school board and a transgender student who identifies as a boy.  In June, a federal district court in Virginia ordered the Gloucester County School Board to allow “G.G.” to use the boys’ bathroom at Gloucester High School until the case can be fully litigated.  A federal appeals court turned down the school board’s request to halt the district court’s order, so the school board went to the Supreme Court, where it found more success:  today the Court blocked the district court’s order while the school board seeks Supreme Court review of the dispute.  Today’s action means that “G.G.” will not be able to use the boys’ bathroom when school resumes on September 6; it also suggests that four Justices – the number needed to review a case on the merits – could be willing to take the case on, possibly as soon as this fall.

  2. Transgender woman robs bank, hands out cash, so she can return to jail http://www.lgbtqnation.com/2016/08/transgender-woman-robs-bank-hands-cash-can-return-jail/

Good Ideas:

  1. A Unitarian Universalist church is suing the town of Bedford, Massachusetts for denying a request to install solar panels on its property, arguing that authorities are infringing on the congregation’s right to express their religious belief in clean energy solutions. http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/08/03/3804896/unitarian-universalist-solar-panels-religious-liberty/

  2. A Tesla Semi. Here's Musk at the Tesla Blog, "In addition to consumer vehicles, there are two other types of electric vehicle needed: heavy-duty trucks and high passenger-density urban transport. Both are in the early stages of development at Tesla and should be ready for unveiling next year. We believe the Tesla Semi will deliver a substantial reduction in the cost of cargo transport, while increasing safety and making it really fun to operate."

Bad Ideas:

  1. Giving Trump the football. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O13kaQAg5KE http://www.vox.com/2016/8/3/12367996/donald-trump-nuclear-codes

  2. Nuke Map!  http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

Personal Picks:

Acknowledgements:

Music: "Rocket and Pamgaea” by Kevin MacLeod (www.incompetech.com)