Podcast Episode 19: America like…WTF?

In episode 19, the Hooligans discuss the significance and meaning of Donald Trump’s recent (and surprising) victory in the American presidential election. The cast considers the impact of Trump’s stated policies for Canada, the United States, and how the controversial figure’s rise in the United States is increasing popular support for ultra-right wing political parties in Western Europe (a trend not seen since the 1920s).

Episode 19: America like…WTF?

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast. Also, if you like what you hear please follow us on Word Press to receive notifications on when the blog or podcast is updated.

Notes & Clarifications
1). On the night of the election, Mark Halpern (one of the hosts of Showtime’s Circus) was interviewed on Stephen Colbert’s Election Night Special on November 8^th.  Halpern is one of the managing editors of Bloomberg Politics and a senior political analyst for MSNBC. He and co-host John Heilemann followed both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential election. Halpern argued that Trump’s election was one of the three most disastrous events to befall the United States, e.g. World War II, 9/11 and of course November 9^th, 2016.

2). On November 8^th Donald Trump won the presidency by winning the electoral college; however, for what it’s worth Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, e.g. As of November 11^th Clinton had received 60,467,245 votes (or 47.7%) while Trump received 60,071,650 (47.4%).

Source: http://www.ibtimes.com/latest-popular-vote-results-2016-hillary-clinton-has-almost-400000-more-votes-winner-2445216

Three other candidates won the electoral college but received less of the popular vote, e.g. Clinton had more than Trump (2016), Al Gore had more than George W. Bush (2000), Grover Cleveland received more support than Benjamin Harrison (1888), and Samuel Tilden received more than Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876.

3). Rick made reference to John Cruickshank during the show. Cruickshank is a former contributor to the Toronto Globe and Mail who, during a recent interview on CBC’s The Investigators, discussed the reasons why media’s predictions were wrong. Also, Cruickshank provided some interesting insight as to the significance of Trump’s unexpected victory. Specifically he said the campaign was covered “as if it were a plebiscite on the character of Donald Trump, but it wasn’t, really. It had a lot more to do with the fact that for almost all of the American population, they haven’t had a raise in 40 years.” You can watch the interview by clicking on the link below:

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/americans-vote-out-media-1.3846307

4). During the show Rick made reference to the stagnation of African-American wages since the 1960s, i.e. as a cohort this group actually made more money in the middle of the 20^th century than they do in 2016. The site linked below presents information from a report published in 1965 called “The Negro Family: The Case for National Action.”

Source: http://yourblackworld.net/2013/03/02/the-black-family-is-worse-off-today-than-in-the-1960s-report-shows/

5). There are a series of important elections coming in Europe in 2016 and 2017. The election of Donald Trump, and specifically the way he won, has emboldened and increased support for right-wing political parties in France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Belgium and Italy. The BBC article linked below provides a context for understanding the paradigm shift currently taking place in Western Europe.

Source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36150807

6). During the podcast, Rick couldn’t recall the name of President John F. Kennedy gave to his administration’s time in office. Kennedy called it the “New Frontier.” Kennedy pursued a domestic policy which carried on with liberal social reforms enacted under the President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1930s. In terms of foreign policy, Kennedy encouraged Americans to make a difference in the world by joining the recently formed Peace Corps and to land a man on the moon before the Russians (during the so-called Space Race).

Podcast Episode 18: Remembrance Day With Captain Troy Grant

In episode 18, Rick talks with Major Troy Grant about his experiences in the Canadian armed forces. Over the course of a 25 year career with the army, he served with the 8th Canadian Hussars, 3rd Bn Royal Canadian Regiment, 2nd Bn Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, and the 1st Service Bn. Additionally, he served with the 416 Tactical Fighter Squadron. Major Grant completed tours in both Haiti and Afghanistan (among other places). He received a special distinction following his work in Afghanistan for coordinating the efforts of government and non-government players during Canada’s time in Kandahar. In this interview, Major Grant gives the audience the benefit of his experiences serving Canada and actively working to preserve our institutions.

Episode 18: Remembrance Day With Major Troy Grant

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast. Also, if you like what you hear please follow us on Word Press to receive notifications on when the blog or podcast is updated.

 

Three Girls & A Guy American Election Night Facebook Chat

Read as the cast shares the contents of their Facebook chat conversation on the night of the election.

Jessica Clare: So who’s watching coverage already?

Angelea Marie: Championships from the weekend are archived on wftda so I’m watching roller derby Lol.

Richard James III: I am following. Early lead for Trump

Jessica Clare: I’m doing periodic check ins. I know some people who are following close already and they’ve already got intense anxiety. For mental health reasons I’m for real not following intently till latr

Richard James III: Trump says if he doesn’t win ‘it was all a waste of time; quite selfish of him to say that because he should be proud to represent the needs of his supporters. The election is not about him.

Shooting at California polling station: 1 dead, 3 hurt.

Angelea Marie: Omfg…

Richard James III: I tht Kodos and Kang promised there would be no need for a blood bath…

Angelea Marie: The States is F*****.

Richard James III: Well Canadians killed one another at poll stations…in the 1830s

Angelea Marie: Get with the times America.

Richard James III: Clinton 68, Trump 57

Texas will make things interesting

Jessica Clare: It’s terrifying even that he’s leading at this point. Even if he doesn’t win his strength right now signals some scary stuff. Saw the shooting article :holy s***.

Richard James III: White men are being challenged

It isn’t just political correctness and Academia–it is control of power structures

Jessica Clare: Yep.

Richard James III: Working class though. The wealthy do not care about economic displacement (they have benefitted from globalization).

Angelea Marie: It is terrifying. Makes me not wanna go to Disneyland in May.

Jessica Clare: I’m just trying to pretend it’s not actually possible for him to win. Like, I want to believe the muse of fate just wouldn’t allow it

Richard James III: To be honest though I can appreciate the desperation of this segment of American society, ie. this segment has been struggling with secondary effects of economic dislocation more than any other (specifically suicide rates of white men much higher than any other demographic since 2008).

The frustration is palpable

Jessica Clare: And frankly I think their frustration leads naturally to Trump over Clinton. I wouldn’t feel like she’d alleviate the situation in their place.

If that makes sense. Sorry, my brain is seriously sleep-deprived right now 😳

Richard James III: If she becomes president she will be confronted with some existential and paradigm issues akin to what FDR faced in the 1930s depression era (crisis of capitalism and democracy)

Jessica Clare: Oh whatever happens tonight the madness doesn’t end tonight. If she gets in she’s in for a fucking rough term

Richard James III: Well the drama certainly won’t end tonight. I am concerned for the safety of both candidates to be honest

Jessica Clare: Did you read about Trump saying he’ll demand a recount if he doesn’t win?

Richard James III: Yes but only under certain conditions

Angelea Marie: Yeah I heard about that. What a poor loser. And that’s who the republicans have chosen to represent them.

Richard James III: Specifically, if the electoral college numbers are close he will try to challenge the result; if there is a clear victory he will accept the result

Jessica Clare: Oh okay that’s more reasonable than I assumed

Richard James III: That’s the thing, really, is we are often guilty of believing (unqualified) our assumptions about our opponent. So it makes intuitive sense just to assume Trump is going to be an ass about things.

Jessica Clare: To be fair, even if it’s technically a logical misstep…it’s not like he hasn’t set a precedent of whiny petulant behaviour. You’re right though, assumptions are a huge part of what’s made this election so caustic.

Richard James III: Totally understand

I guess though a person can be ‘whiny’ one time and ‘reasonable’ the next.

We shall see I guess.

What are the numbers at now? I am watching Oilers playing Pittsburgh.

Jessica Clare: Haha I suppose they can! And 125 trump to 97 Clinton. He’s halfway home

Richard James III: What ‘big’ state did he get…Texas?

Angelea Marie: That’s just sickening. Ugh.

Richard James III: It is democracy heh.

Jessica Clare: Yep. Texas.

Richard James III: That is no surprise

Jessica Clare: NERP.

Richard James III: This gets interesting once Florida is decided.

Angelea Marie: Need Florida to win, I hear.

Richard James III: Yes and Ohio, Pennsylvania too or equivalents.

Jessica Clare: T 125 C 104. Closing the gap a bit. God this is gonna be a tight race.

Richard James III: There’s a certain part of me that wants to see Trump win.

Angelea Marie: Yeah the sadistic part.

Richard James III: The reptilian part of my brain, the limbic system.

Angelea Marie:

😜

Richard James III: When I was a kid I remember helping my dad build a porch.

He asked me for a hammer while he was kneeling over.

I grabbed the hammer and this thought popped in my head, ‘I want to hit him on the head.’

I wasn’t mad….it just sort of appeared out of nowhere—that is the limbic system.

You all have experiences like that at all….?

Angelea Marie: Yes I’ve had random weird thoughts like that before.

Richard James III: For instance….

Angelea Marie: Oh you want an example? I don’t have one off the top of my head but I remember it happening to me as a kid and hoping it didn’t mean I was a psycho Lol.

Sometimes my brain wanders off to “what if” tragic events – like someone driving into me with my kids in the car. Then I indulge myself in imagining what I’d do to someone if my kids got hurt.

Richard James III: ‘Indulge.” Hehheheh.

Angelea Marie: Lol it is an indulgence. It’s an acknowledgment of that animal side that all humans have. Logically, I know it doesn’t make it okay to hurt someone else because they’ve hurt me.

Richard James III: Human nature is funny. We are both beautiful and terrible at the same time.

Angelea Marie:

Two sides to the same coin.

Richard James III

Angelea Marie: A jar of krill Lol. That’s a good comic.

Richard James III: THAT is an awesome comic strip.

Jessica Clare: Oh man step away for supper come back to very compelling thoughts on the limbic system and one of my all time favourite comics.

Richard James III: We aim to please. He won Virginia. Protest votes in Virginia cost Clinton that state.

Jessica Clare: A lot of the time when I’m walking on bridges I have a weird urge I have to resist to jump off it–ABSOLUTELY NOT because of any emotional compulsion but because I always think I’d love to splash into the water below. And I have to like, rationally remind myself I wouldn’t like the trip down. That limbic too?

Jessica Clare: Yeah?

Richard James III: Yes i think so. I want to ‘go splash.’ Baha.

Jessica Clare: Yeah! It’s awful man:P

Angelea Marie: I think a lot of the trouble we humans get into is because we go “hmm I wonder what would happen if..?” or sometimes because we just skip that step altogether Lol.

Richard James III: I agree with you Lea. How have we managed to survive on this planet for 200,000/6,000 years?

Jessica Clare: Hahaha I think that’s entirely true.

Richard James III: The Peso was going up with Clinton’s early lead.

Angelea Marie: 200,000/6,000 😂😂😂

Richard James III: Now it is plummeting

Angelea Marie: Good observation Rick.

Jessica Clare: Haha oh good gravy.

Richard James III: Asian stocks tumbling.

Jessica Clare: Okay I’ve got a friend who’s anticipating riots if Trump doesn’t win. Thoughts?

Angelea Marie: Wouldn’t surprise me at all.

Richard James III: Riots are possible with either side winning.

Angelea Marie: His supporters have already turned up with guns at the polls. I agree Rick.

Richard James III: I feel like Aragorn on top of the wall just before the Battle of Helm’s Deep breaks out…calm. Then one of you two let loose an arrow.

Jessica Clare: I’m trying to calm her down. I don’t see like a huge, united riot, like country wide. But there will be violent fallout I think for the next several weeks

Richard James III: And BAM the battle starts. It will be France in 2005 all over again.

Angelea Marie: It’ll be like Vancouver when we lose a hockey game…..

Richard James III: Or that.

Angelea Marie: A huge united riot would be akin to civil war and I don’t think ‘Murica is there yet. Close though.

Richard James III: I ran a survey election of my own. Clinton winning by quite abit. I think though someone voted 30 times.

Angelea Marie: Too bad the rest of the world can’t vote in this U.S. Election. Trump wouldn’t stand a chance.

Richard James III: I want Germans to have a vote.

Angelea Marie: Heck, let’s just get this New World Order happening already.

Richard James III: Don’t blame me. I voted for Kodos.

Jessica Clare: Bahaha this might be a step in this direction.

Richard James III:

Angelea Marie: Shiver me timbers.

Jessica Clare: Aww see now who could say NO to voting for that face?

Angelea Marie

😂

Richard James III: https://pandesite.wordpress.com/2016/10/09/elections-101-kang-and-kodos-on-clinton-and-trump/

I wrote this a month or so ago. I have had about 70 views (40 of them in the last three days).

Elections 101: Kang and Kodos on Clinton and Trump

Richard James III: Traffic coming to the site/podcast through Internet searches and not FB. Someone searched and found the site by entering the following search phrase, e.g. Kodos and Kang take me to Clinton!

Jessica Clare: Hahah that’s awesome.

Richard James III: Grrrr, found a typo. I got the election date wrong. Fixed that mofo. Gah I hate when I do that. You might find this encouraging: the same Republican surge took place early in the previous two elections but Obama was elected. My wife made this observation. She’s so smart: S-M-R-T.

Jessica Clare: *and she dances will the house goes up in flame * Clinton won new Mexico. I’m guessing that’s minority voters showing up

Richard James III: They clawed their way over the wall.

Just occurred to me: maybe Obama wasn’t the anti-Christ after all…

Jessica Clare: Bahaha it just occurred now he might not be? So…you thought he was before?

Richard James III: I am being tongue ‘n cheek. Republicans kept saying Obama was. I think, wouldn’t it be clever, if Satan aka the anti-Christ was brought in by the religious right? Aka Trump.

Angelea Marie: Isn’t that how it always works?

Richard James III: And I am being figurative.

Jessica Clare: Haha oh I gotcha, I was bugging yous

Richard James III: I do not believe in such a thing as anti-Christs. I am invoking a corollary of Jean Paul Sartre who said “hell is other people” and would observe now “Trump is other people therefore the anti-Christ.” Seems logical to me.

Jessica Clare: Haha it’s PERFECT logic.

Angelea Marie: Trump is a sweet potato in a wig.

Jessica Clare: BAHAHAHA I love that. Except for the fact I love sweet potatoes…

I do not love Trump.

Richard James III: Sweet potatoes are good for you.

Ergo, Trump is good for you.

Angelea Marie: He’s only useful in his true form – sweet potato. He won’t be of use to us as President.

Richard James III: Trump won in Ohio.

Jessica Clare: Haha I’m just picturing an actual sweet potato in the white house, giving out orders.

Richard James III: And over 200,000 third party votes in Florida. Prob cost Clinton the state.

Jessica Clare: But now I’m not laughing so much.

Richard James III: CBC Headline: Strong Trump showing so far has markets ‘increasingly worried.’

Angelea Marie: If we don’t have laughter, we’ll have nothing if Trump gets in.

Jessica Clare: God you know I sincerely didn’t even think of the economic ramifications. Like short term.

Angelea Marie: I didn’t either. I didn’t think ‘Murica was actually that stupid to let it happen.

Richard James III: Well, the worth of markets and currency are fundamentally tied to consumer confidence. So it makes sense they either go up or down based on perception.

That is the short-term.

Over the long-term if Trump plays around with various trade agreements we’ll see some global shifts in the economy which will quite possibly be painful to Canadians.

Canadians who supported the idea of a Trump presidency are pretty short-sighted, in that, if he raises those tariff walls he promised to raise then farmers, producers, etc. can kiss America good-bye as a market.

Want to know something interesting?

Jessica Clare: Always.

Richard James III: Thanks Obi Wan.

The erection of tariff walls preceded both world wars in the 20th century.

Sweet, huh? Protectionism. We have a serious case of historical amnesia.

Angelea Marie: Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Jessica Clare: Oh good lord we certainly do. And are.

I was reading today though apparently Trump opposes the TPP?

I didn’t have time to dig into the article properly but does that sound familiar?

Richard James III: I believe he does oppose it.

Yes. For good reason he opposes it largely because of the state-investor arbitration component I think.

Richard James III: This state-investor component gives corporations inordinate amounts of power in the countries they operate in, e.g. if a government passes laws to protect either labor or the environment and these laws hurt profit margins, for instance, a corporation can appeal to the TPP investor-state provision and actually sue a government.

This ostensibly means governments (nation states) do not actually have full sovereignty and power has shifted to these transnational companies. The state-investor arbitration disputes that do take place are largely overseen by the very lawyers who drafted them in the first place. Zero transparency. Quite shady really.

Jessica Clare: And so he opposes it on the grounds of…not wanting to give up that control to other nations big companies?

Richard James III: I should think so, yes. That’s why most people oppose it (or the educated).

The blue collar workers oppose it because agreements like the TPP do mean more jobs….just not in America.

Or Canada.

These agreements make it easier for jobs and factories and such to be moved to China, India, etc. In the 1990s when globalization was really coming into its own, national governments in America and Canada, etc. tied human rights, pensions, and such to allowing corporations to move to the Far East; however, over time those rights and pensions/benefits for Chinese workers are being ignored.

Apple is one of the worst violators, e.g. not giving workers pensions for creating their iCrap. This despite the fact workers are actually owed pensions by law/agreements. Those same workers are killing themselves due to terrible working conditions and exploitation. There are “suicide nets” installed on tall Apple factory buildings in Shanghai. It is a pretty messed up situation, really.

Richard James III: The only thing, in my honest opinion, keeping North America’s economy going is in fact deregulation and the extension of cheap credit.

We are meeting our material needs, and maintaining our standard of living, not through high paying jobs (those jobs in the manufacturing sector are largely gone) but through access to cheap credit. We are “pretending” in a sense that our economy is strong; it is not strong by many measures.

Richard James III:

Jessica Clare: And it’s amazing that that’s the case because we’ve already seen that facade collapse in recent history.

Richard James III: The 1920s.

This is regrettable, the Democrats losing, from an economic standpoint.

Clinton was on record saying she was going to bring back Glass-Steagall. This was the act FDR passed into law preventing stock brokers from being so free wheeling with the economy.

Bill Clinton repealed it back in the 1990s.

Wonder if Trump would re-introduce it….kinda doubt it.

Angelea Marie:

Richard James III: That a sweet potato?

Jessica Clare: Hahahaha that is MAGIC.

Angelea Marie: That is a sweet potato with Trump hair Lol.

Richard James III: How you find such an exquisite picture?

Angelea Marie: I made it Lol.

Richard James III: Heheheh. Thats a lot of effort. You and Alaine are meme creators.

Angelea Marie: It wasn’t too much effort. I’ve had a lot of practice with photoshop making derby posters and memes so I’m getting quicker.

Richard James III: You’ve found your calling.

Jess next time you come into town try to make time so we can get together for our “dinner” and a movie. *wink wink*

Angelea Marie: Lol I’m a Jill of all trades. Yes! That would be fun.

Look what I found at Value Village:

Angelea Marie: it’s in my bathroom so all my guests can have something to read when they visit the can 😜😂

Angelea Marie:

Richard James III: His autobiography is quite good. Hitchens. Not the mammoth’s.

Angelea Marie: They have a choice though, I’m not unreasonable. I’ll get around to my to-read list one day.. 😅

Richard James III: You read all the books I lent you yet?

Jessica Clare: Haha we’ll have to very expressly plan our “dinner and a movie” night. I’ll drive out for it, but it’ll have to be the main reason I’m driving.

Angelea Marie: *crickets*

Hence, I’ll get around to my to-read list one day.. 😳

Richard James III: Take care of my babies

Angelea Marie: They are on my bookshelf, scolding me daily for not having read them all yet.

Richard James III: 191 Clinton, 187 Chump.

Angelea Marie: Omfg.

Richard James III: Like little chicks

The books want their momma to puke/give them food. Feed them… Wow. On the news an African American pundit said something very powerful just now

Angelea Marie: Deets.

Richard James III: Trump’s support represents the last gasp of white supremacy in the United States.

Angelea Marie: I like it. Hopefully it cuts as close to the bone as it’s expressing.

Richard James III: Apparently Trump supporters believe Michelle Obama is a man. Hehe.

And the Obamas kidnapped their kids.

Duning-Kruger Effect much?

Angelea Marie: Brutal. People are stupid.

Jessica Clare: In fairness Michelle Obamas arms are friggin JACKED. They’re impressively and enviously masculine.

Richard James III: These are rumors being bandied about at Trump rallies.

Jessica Clare: Heh oh obviously! I’m just kidding around.

Richard James III: There are rumors Trump gropes beautiful women and….oh wait.

Angelea Marie: You should see my arms now, from working at the stables doing farm chores. It’s ridiculous!

Richard James III: Michelle Obama is a beautiful woman in every sense.

Angelea Marie: Class act.

Jessica Clare: Oh my god of course she is. She’s incredible.

Let’s be clear, I was totally kidding. I absolutely admire that woman. Beautiful inside and out.

Richard James III: No takie-backsies, Jess.

Jessica Clare: Now what scares me about that pundits comment is that this may be the “last grasps” of white supremacy….but it’s a tight grip now. Race relations are not going to calm in the states for a long time.

Richard James III: The Canada Immigration website just crashed apparently. Heheheh.

Jessica Clare: Hahaha oh my god it actually has.

Richard James III: No but the balance of power–in terms of demographics–is shifting inexorably in favor to non-whites or at least the historically marginalized.

Angelea Marie: No, it’ll take several years for this fall-out to settle. But the tide is definitely turning.

Richard James III: 2020. Next cycle.

Angelea Marie: White people aren’t going to calm their collective tits in a scant four years.

Richard James III: Dont need to. They won’t have the same bloc voting power is what I am saying.

Jessica Clare: Yeah I doubt they will…but in that time I suspect minority voters will activate more.

Richard James III: This will change the face of state legislatures and the fed.

Jessica Clare: Yeah? You thinking like district lines will get redrawn?

Richard James III: Gerrymandering?

I don’t know. I suspect so. The Supreme Court will become an obstructionist institution with a Trump presidency which means effective attempts at maintaining the status quo will be made.

Never understood why the Americans allowed their Judiciary to become affected by partisan politics; it should be politically neutral.

Jessica Clare: Oh absolutely it should….the extent of lobbyist influence in the entire system is mind-boggling.

10:26pm You named the conversation: P & E: Apocalypse 2016.

10:26pm You changed the conversation picture.

Richard James III: There are hundreds of lobbyists for every individual member of Congress.

Angelea Marie: Agreed. They need to start wearing suits like the NASCAR people.

Richard James III: Heh. I would support such a law.

Jessica Clare: Me too. Haha imagine it.

Nice group name change btw.

Richard James III: *curtsey*

curtsy even

Jessica Clare:

Jessica Clare: Dat you

Richard James III: I embrace my femininity. But I would wear a blue dress. Blue is my color.

Jessica Clare: That is a blue dress!

Richard James III: The events of tonight remind me of a quote from Adolf Hitler. He hated democracy and observed why he hated it, i.e. winning elections was like moving a magnet over a dunghill to find what would stick.

Jessica Clare: Well it looks kinda periwinkle there…

Richard James III: That is a pink dress!

Jessica Clare: Are you colourblind?! Haha.

Richard James III: The magnet is the politician’s promise and whatever sticks to it are the pieces (voters) of dung which want those promises kept.

Periwinkle is not blue.

Jessica Clare: Jesus that’s a stark metaphor isn’t it?

And it’s closer to blue than pink, brah

Angelea Marie: It’s blue. Lol.

Richard James III: Actually periwinkle is part of the blue and violet family.

I am just as justified in saying it is purple-ish as you are saying it is blue.

Google it.

baha

Jessica Clare: Okay we’re totes say the same thing here re:colour.

Richard James III: Speak Engrish?

Jessica Clare: Haha my point is that dress ain’t pink.

Richard James III: Hey, wanna come to Japan?

*classic avoidance*

Jessica Clare: Bahaha umm maybe?

Richard James III: I am taking a group to Japan in July. I will stay away from Hiroshima though if Trump is president.

Someone get Alaine in here already.

Jessica Clare: Oh in July? Ain’t enough time to save for me. That’s a good idea though.

And right?? Is she still part of the group?

Richard James III: She doesn’t get notifications.

Jessica Clare: Ahhh so.

Richard James III: Washington went to Clinton (210), Iowa to Trump (228).

I am binge eating tonight with this whole election thing.

Jessica Clare: Oh yeah? What’s on the menu?

Richard James III: 5 pieces of pizza, bag of M and Ms, two cokes, box of cracker chips, and two bowls of mini wheats.

Jessica Clare: Holy monkeys you weren’t kidding!

Richard James III: to be fair I work out a lot so i need lotsa calories…but i could eat much better sources of energy to be sure.

Jessica Clare:

Richard James III: hehehehe.

Jessica Clare: Haha hey man I ain’t judging. I do that sometimes and I definitely don’t work out like you:P

Richard James III: I ain’t judging.

Jessica Clare: I’m having chocolate tonight. And frankly I’m on the verge of regaining the classic “sqvishy radio announcer” body for a bit before I get used to early mornings again and can figure out an afternoon workout regimen of some kind.

So, may as well embrace it!

Jessica Clare:

Richard James III: I wish you lived closer. We could be workout buddies every so often.

Jessica Clare: I would love that.

Richard James III: I am quite liking learning how to fight. Best cardio workouts ever and super low impact compared to running a 23 km Spartan Beast race up and down a mountain.

My toe nails are still black from the race I ran in early August.

I have to admit I am really disappointed but perhaps not surprised by this election.

This election was not a plebiscite on principles (“What kind of America do we want?”) but a mandate for Trump on job creation. Economics seems to “trump” everything–especially when the economy isn’t doing all that well for a significant segment of the American population.

Richard James III: Kind of an interesting development, really. Even white people on the left are changing patterns abit. They’re joining movements like Occupy and the people who typically belong to these protest movements against power–the poor, people of color–are now joined by economically dislocated whites who were born into the middle class but who cannot really expect to have the same standard of living as their parents given prevailing economic realities.

Richard James III: Here’s a curious thought: what kind of relationship will a Republican dominated Congress have with Trump? He isn’t really a Republican, not really.

Jessica Clare: That might be the thing I’m most interested to watch in the next while. Trump has consistently flaunted convention through his campaign. How far will he try to push the “conventions” (legalities) of the role of president? And how will other party members, legislators, congress etc react, and will they be able to reel him in to keep him operating within the legal confines of his role?

Richard James III: He cannot rule by fiat. The Constitution was designed to prevent such a thing from happening by incorporating checks and balances. The Senate provides a powerful counter-balance to the office of the president.

He’ll need to be able to build consensus. Curious if he’s capable of such a thing.

Jessica Clare: Exactly the question. I imagine he’ll try to avoid those checks and balances at least on occasion. I don’t think he considers himself a person who has to be responsible to anyone

Richard James III: He can’t “skip” or “avoid” them.

If America was like Colombia, sure. He could do it. There’s enough corruption and complicity and virtually zero civic virtue in that country.

But not really possible in America. Too many people genuinely love and believe in democracy (despite the lobbies).

I am confident the American government can survive a man with as big an ego as Trump.

Jessica Clare: I also am confident. I’ve been saying for some time I take comfort in thinking that if trump wins (and I’m going to bed soon thinking he’s got it), then it won’t be long before he’s in trouble, possibly facing impeachment for trying to skirt the system and getting called on it.

Richard James III: Getting into trouble.

Yeah, his temperament tends to mean trouble or controversy finds him.

Jessica Clare: Oh but he has the best temperament remember? 😛

Anyway I hate to say it but I’m outta gas. Gotta call it a night sadly

Richard James III: Okay, Gnite. I’ll man the wall. Natha daga thia!

Jessica Clare: And we may die as one of them whether we want to or not.

Richard James III: G’nite, Aragorn.

Errr, Legolas.

Oh wait, I’m Legolas.

Jessica Clare: Haha goodnight elf-man

Richard James III: Nite, home girl.

Angelea Marie: Missed quite a bit while I was getting things done around the house and ready for tomorrow! And alas, I too must call it a night.

Richard James III: Alas, fair thee well. I am the late night warrior.

Angelea Marie: Greet thee on the morn, late night warrior. Guard thy post.

Richard James III: I shalt to the death….or until sleep takes me…waiting on the final, final result.

I want to go to bed having truly earned my nightmares.

Angelea Marie: Lol then fight to the bitter end!

Richard James III: Anon and anon. Take thy face hence, you egg.

Angelea Marie

😂 good night, chicken leg.

Richard James III:

Alaine Berjian:

Alaine Berjian: Ummm I went to bed at seven and I woke up to this.

Wtf guys 😭

Richard James III: Alaine!

The world ended.

Alaine Berjian: I’m super sick and this isn’t making me feel any better.

Richard James III: Step 1 to survive the next 24 hours

Alaine Berjian: Oh no!

Richard James III: 1). You need a young priest and an old priest.

2). Team up with people who are slower than you or bruise easily.

Alaine Berjian: Why??

Richard James III: The world ended. Trump won.

I am dying here and want to go to bed but want to know the final results.

Schadenfreude

Alaine Berjian: We don’t know yet. The dead people haven’t voted yet!!!

Richard James III: Good point. They’re an overlooked segment of the American polity. What did Trump promise them?

Alaine Berjian: There’s still a shred of hope that I’m going to cling to 😱

Richard James III: I think the keyword there is “shred”-ed.

Well I am heading to bed, Alaine. Watch the wall for me.

Alaine Berjian: Lmao will do

“And so my watch begins….”

12:18am

Richard James III: baha. night.

___________________________________________________

The conversation picks up again early the next day.

Jessica Clare: Welp, friends, it’s been a slice. I look forward to riding out the end of days with you.

Richard James III: Remember that podcast we shot on what we would do if the end was coming….? I’ma come visit you all one at a time.

Jessica Clare: Haha deal.

Angelea Marie: Guess we get to watch America burn.

Richard James III: Heh. It won’t be all that bad.

There will be some awesome meme creation over the next four years.

Jessica Clare: Heh. This is true.

You hear he’s been congratulated by Putin?

Haha that’s a great sign 😛

Richard James III: Alaine made an appearance last night btw.

*points at the corpse*

Episode 17: Freedom Fooders: Building Stronger Communities

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In episode 17, Jess and Rick interview Kirby Criddle. Criddle is one of three founding members of the Freedom Fooders—a grass roots initiative attempting to address the problem of food insecurity in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The Freedom Fooders build food boxes placing them in various neighborhoods where need is perceived to be the greatest. The initiative has inspired similar actions in cities throughout Western Canada.

Episode 17: Freedom Fooders: Building Stronger Communities

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast. Also, if you like what you hear please follow us on Word Press to receive notifications on when the blog or podcast is updated.

Notes & Clarifications
1). During the podcast, the topic of safe injection sites were discussed. These sites are controversial because they offer a counter-intuitive solution to the problem of illicit drug use. The previous Conservative government opposed safe injection sites partly for economic reasons and partly ethical reasons. Specifically, Rona Ambrose, the former federal Minister of Health, argued essential resources were being diverted from treatment and prevention while drug use was being legitimated by Insite (the name of the safe injection program in Vancouver).

Conventional treatment and prevention services are essential; however, by adding safe injection sites people already addicted are provided safe needles (preventing HIV and hepatitis infections) and access to emergency services otherwise unavailable to people who struggle with addictions. According to a Maclean’s article published on July 20, 2015, Vancouver was in the midst of a health crisis that Dr. Thomas Kerr of the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS called “the most explosive epidemic of HIV infection that had been observed outside of sub-Saharan Africa.” Since Insite (the name of the safe injection program) was established in 2003, British Columbia has gone from having the highest infection rate in Canada to among the lowest. Dr. Kerr observed, “In the immediate area around Insite, the 40-block area around the facility, there’s been a 35% decline in overdose deaths. And people who use Insite on a regular basis are 30% more likely to enter addiction treatment.”

Source: http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/the-scientists-are-in-insite-works.
2). Additionally, during the podcast the topic of how Medicine Hat is dealing with homelessness was discussed. Instead of just ignoring the homeless, the municipality of Medicine Hat is dealing with the issue head on. Mayor Ted Clugson led an initiative to provide homes (not just shelter) for people. He argued that it made “financial sense…You can actually save money by giving somebody some dignity and giving them a place to live.” During the initiative, Medicine Hat has provided living spaces for at least 885 people (nearly 1,000 people out of a city population of 61,000).

According to a paper published by the Canadian Observatory on Homelessness called The State of Homelessness in Canada (2014), finding housing for homeless people in the short-term will cost municipal, provincial and federal level governments a lot of money; however, in the long-term instead of spending 7 billion a year on emergency shelters, social services, health care, and law enforcement and judicial costs, ending homelessness through a “comprehensive housing strategy would cost much less: 3.75 billion in 2015-16 and 44 billion over a decade [rather than 70 billion].”

Source: http://o.canada.com/news/national/ending-homelessness-in-canada-581832.

Quit Watching the Train Wreck

Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to the Republican nomination.

Yoda Kennedy

Take the Trump test. Turn to CNN and see whether or not they’re discussing the controversial Republican presidential candidate right now.

I’ll wait.

My family’s been taking the “test” for several months now and 98% of the time, there he is, the “Donald” in all his orange glory being discussed; it doesn’t matter what time of the day or night. There he is (inescapable like gravity). By comparison the coverage Clinton’s campaign receives is negligible. You hear the odd thing about emails, secret speeches given to Wall Street, or the magic word “Benghazi” creep up now and again, etc. but other than that you don’t hear a lot about her.

Why does Trump get so much coverage and Clinton so little?

Click bait. If it bleeds, it leads. Trump is strangely alluring—sort of like a car crash where you just want to see the burning wreck for its own sake; and his campaign, arguably, has been one car wreck after the next, e.g. calling Latinos rapists, saying he’ll ban Muslims, cajoling war heroes, picking fights with parents of Muslim American war veterans, refusing to make his tax returns public, encouraging the beating of critics attending his rallies, impulsive tweet after tweet after tweet, his “locker room” conversation with “Access Hollywood’s” Billy Bush about a certain inability to control himself around beautiful women, and then his recent promise to sue 11 “beautiful women” who came out saying he’d groped them—just like he said he couldn’t help from doing; nevertheless, we keep watching and waiting to see if the latest controversy is the final one…and it never is.

I can’t seem to look away; and that’s the problem with Trump and why he won’t just go away—we keep looking, we keep listening; the fire is too pretty; my Freudian Thanatos impulse too strong. Mr. Trump gets stronger every time we watch the, to borrow one of his very, very favorite words, “disaster.” This reminds me of the god Aries as portrayed in an animated “Wonder Woman” movie. When people fight Aries, the god of war, he gets stronger; once people quit fighting and seek peace he gets weaker. Trump is like Aries: the more we watch the stronger he and his brand becomes.

I looked at November 8^th as a sort of emancipation day. Even Canadians support him; they tend to be of the conservative variety; and the liberals I know vilify him. I’m tired of hearing Canadians and Americans talk about the guy. For my part I think I’ve written about six articles looking at the Trump phenomenon. I’m done. This is the final one. I’m moving on to bashing Trudeau or giving my qualified support to Saskatchewan’s premier, Brad Wall. Wall is the only one of the three civic leaders I’ve actually met. I took a class to the Regina Legislature a number of years ago and he took time out of his busy day to meet with us. He was magnanimous, funny and friendly. I have never actually voted for the guy but I know he has the province’s best interests in mind. I just wish he was a little closer to the center is all.

So, Trump is going to lose the election. I have little doubt of that. But he isn’t going to go away. He’ll keep pushing forward the idea he lost—not because of his many personal defects—but because the election was rigged. I think he’s going to lose the election more because of his “busy hands” and impulsive nature than anything else. Nevertheless, he isn’t going anywhere after November 8^th.  He’s going to rile his followers up in an effort to build his brand out of the wreckage he’s left behind on the democratic and political landscape of the United States. Worse still there’s talk about him starting his own television channel after the election. I thought Oprah’s channel was bad, Trump’s will be worse.

Even though he’s not going anywhere, there’s a solution: quit watching. Turn away. Tune out. I’m not advising people remain fundamentally ignorant of the goings-on in the world. Just remain ignorant of Trump is all. Ignore him and don’t give into the temptation to look at the burning wreck. When you quit watching, just like when you quit fighting Aries, he loses his power and his capacity to influence.

Episode 16: Why You Should Support Trump

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In episode 16, the Hooligans welcome their first guest speaker (Lane S. who is a statistician based in Kansas) to the podcast. Rick and Jess hoped Lane might be able to shed some light on why so many people support Trump. Lane argues Trump’s candidacy is more or less a reaction of Middle-America to decades of graft and corruption in Washington, D.C. Whatever side of the political spectrum you reside on, you’ll find some of the things Lane has to say revealing to say the least.

Episode 16: Why You Should Support Trump

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast. Also, if you like what you hear please follow us on Word Press to receive notifications on when the blog or podcast is updated.

Notes & Clarifications
1). In the podcast, Lane asserted 94 million Americans are currently not looking for work. This would be an extraordinary number of unemployed people considering the population of the United States is approximately 320 million. The figure above (94 million unemployed) is used by Donald Trump. According to the Bureau of Labor, approximately 92 to 93 million Americans aged 16 to infinity were not participating in the labor force as of July 2015. This number needs to be unpacked, i.e. it includes a number of people not actively looking for work (17.5 million retired Americans 65 or older). The number likewise includes high school, graduate and professional school students. Also, it includes people with disabilities, stay at home parents, and every adult attending school full-time. The official number of unemployed Americans is 8.3 million (but according to Political Fact, a watch-dog website, depending upon the criteria you use the number of unemployed could be as high as 21 million). So a more realistic number might well be somewhere between 8.3  to 21 million unemployed.

2). Lane observed 68,000 crimes had been perpetrated in Texas alone by illegal immigrants in Texas since Obama was elected in 2008. According to Political Fact figure is accurate (and depending upon how you interpret some of the statistics) and might be more or less an understatement of the problem facing the American judicial system by illegals.

3). Rick claimed that 7 out of every 10 jobs created in any modern economy are technology related. He was unable to find the source where he came across this information. He did recall learning this statistic while completing his education degree back in the 1990s. Nonetheless, listeners are counselled to take this stat with a grain of salt until a source can be found affirming it.

4). Lane observed he had some problems with free trade but no problems really with “fair” trade. This led to a discussion of some examples of “unfair” trade which has resulted from free trade agreements. Specifically, the topic of Apple Corporation’s exploitation of cheap Chinese labor in Shang-hai came up. Follow this link to a discussion on Apple’s problematic alliance with the Chinese government. Ultimately, when you purchase Apple products you are directly contributing to the misery of tens of thousands of workers in China.

5). During the podcast, Rick couldn’t remember the name of the legal instrument used by corporations to sue national governments. This tool is called an Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS). Every major free trade agreement, e.g. NAFTA, etc. has an ISDS clause empowering corporations to sue national governments whenever a government’s policies or laws might threaten shareholder profits. Critics of ISDS have raised concerns about its unpredictability, how it contributes to a lack of transparency, and the apparent lack of impartiality on the part of arbitrators; that is, the same lawyers who craft the agreements also preside as judges (arbitrators) during conflict resolution.

6). Lane referred to an apocryphal story of Donald Trump helping a married couple out by paying hospital bills, mortgage, etc. for helping him with some car troubles. The story is fictional and has made the rounds in different forms with different celebrities helping the couple. A similar story has circulated about stars like Vin Diesel or Will Ferrell moving to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to escape the hurly-burly of Los Angeles. Click here to see the Snope’s fact check page on this story.

7). Rick mis-spoke when he said nuclear deterrence has worked for six years. He meant to say six decades.

8). Rick couldn’t remember the location of one Al Qaida led terror attack on an American embassy from a country starting with the letter “t” (that country was Tanzania and it took place in 1998).

9). Lane mentioned an attack on the American embassy in Iran in 1973. He meant to say an attack came during the 1979 Iranian uprising.

Part 1: Donald Trump: The Problem of Relying on Men Instead of Principles
Part 2: Donald Trump: Why Reasonable People Vote for Him
Part 3: Donald Trump: Where’s It All Heading
Trump Makes Promises He Can’t Keep
Podcast (audio): Why You Should Vote for Trump

Episode 15: 9/11

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In episode 15, the Hooligans open the discussion by discussing the comedy of Bo Burnham. Then they move on to talk about how Western civilization is still being impacted by the events of 9/11. The discussion segues into a brief discussion of Colin Kaepernick and his supporters and detractors.

Episode 15: 9/11

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast.

Notes & Clarifications
1). The first attempt to bring down the World Trade Center came in 1993. A truck bomb was placed in the parkade of the North Tower. The idea was to bring the North Tower down crashing against the South Tower. The blast failed in its ultimate objective but did lead to the death of six while injuring hundreds.

2). In the podcast, Rick observed that the United States asked Turkey in 1993 for permission to use Turkish air bases to fly bombing missions against neighboring Iraq. The Turkish government put the question to its people in the form of a plebiscite. The Turkish people decided not to allow the Americans to use their air bases. Paul Wolfowitiz, Deputy Defense Secretary for the United States, responded publicly that the Turkish decision demonstrated how democracy in Turkey had failed. The absurdity of a genuine plebiscite not reflecting the popular will was obviously lost on the Deputy Defense Secretary. To use Noam Chomsky’s words from the book Failed States (page 133), Wolfowitz “took the most extreme position. He berated the Turkish military for not compelling the government to follow Washington’s orders, and demanded that military leaders apologize and say, ‘We made a mistake’ by overruling virtually unanimous public opinion [as expressed in the  referendum].”

3). In the segment discussing the significance of Colin Kaepernick’s symbolic sitting or kneeling before football games during the singing of the American anthem, Rick and Jess discussed the existence of other individuals who have historically challenged group mentalities, popular wisdom or tribalism. One such individual, Eugene Debs, made highly unpopular antiwar speeches during World War I at great personal risk. Debs and others like him have made a point of keeping dialogue open during times of tension so people would be reminded patriotism doesn’t consist so much in just supporting one’s government or troops without any qualification; rather, the idea behind patriotism is to use it as a motivation to preserve a people from both the real dangers posed from without and the very real dangers posed to the people from within. For more on this see Chris Hedges book Death of the Liberal Class pages 60-80.

4). During the podcast, Jess talked about the idea of measuring a country’s greatness. Rick followed that up by stating America actually measured quite low by comparison compared to other countries with respect to infant mortality, literacy rates, and access to healthcare. With this in mind, the United States is the 5th worst country when it comes to infant mortality, literacy 22nd best, and healthcare outcomes 37th overall.

Episode 14: Memes, Candidates & Viral Videos

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In episode 14, the Hooligans return after a bit of a break to discuss the power of the meme to shape public understanding, an update on the American presidential election, and viral videos which are rather silly and amusing.

Episode 14: Memes, Candidates & Viral Videos

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast.

Notes & Clarifications
1). In the podcast, Rick observed that Richard Dawkins published his book The Selfish Gene in 1979. This is an error since Dawkins released this book in 1976.

2). Robert McNamara served as the secretary of state during the Johnson administration when he argued for the use of so-called “surgical nuclear strikes.” You can read more on this in Michael Maclear’s book Vietnam: The Ten Thousand Day War.

3). As promised below you’ll find a link to all the videos (audio tracks) featured in the podcast:

Rick’s Picks
Epic Rap Battle: Einstein vs. Hawking (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn7-fVtT16k)
Epic Rap Battle: Ghenghis Kahn vs. Easter Bunny (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA4tLCGcTG4
Keyboard Cat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J—aiyznGQ)
Bomb Pranks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAqgXhblr-w)

Jessica’s Picks
Star Trek “Let It Snow”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2Nz2LPnNq8)
Little Girl Experiences Ice for First Time
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_T9dfpKXwY)
Screaming Goats: Ed! Help!
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9Iq6LA7sZI)
#Morethanmean: Men Read Real Hate-Tweets to Female Sportscasters
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tU-D-m2JY8)

Episode 13: Science & Religion

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In episode 13, the Hooligans discuss the recent under-reported protests in Washington, D.C. while also attempting to tackle the question as to whether or not science is compatible with religion.

Episode 13: Science & Religion

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast.

Notes & Clarifications
1). The Democracy Spring’s website can be accessed by clicking here.

2). Peter Abelard (1079-1142 AD) was a highly influential philosopher during the medieval period. His work led to a greater acceptance of the authority of Aristotle and Plato by the Catholic Church. He laid down four basic rules for argument and investigation which seem pretty modern: firstly, we must use systematic doubt and question everything; secondly, we need to learn the difference between statements of rational proof and those merely of persuasion; thirdly, be precise in your use of words and expect the same precision from others; and finally, watch for error (even in the Bible). Although Abelard claimed his attacks on authority were aimed only at finding the truth, the Church did not appreciate his efforts; nonetheless, his methodology was eventually adopted by ecclesiastical authorities several decades after his death in 1142.

3). In the podcast, Rick made reference to an early Christian heresy where Jesus switched bodies with Simon of Cyrene before being crucified. This idea formed part of one of the various Gnostic heresies. You can read more about it in Bart D. Ehrman’s book The Last Gospel of Judas Iscariot (page 110).

 

Episode 7.5: Chris Hedges and the “Empire of Illusion”

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In this episode, Rick introduces the audience to a book written by Chris Hedges called Empire of Illusion. Originally published in 2009, Hedge’s book provides readers with insights in to the political, cultural and economic decay of the United States. Canadians take note because, to borrow a French aphorism, when America gets a sniffle Canada catches a cold.

Episode 7.5: Chris Hedges and the Illusion of Empire

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast.

Notes & Clarifications
1). In the show, Rick makes reference to an interview Chris Hedges gives with CBC’s The Current. Here is the link to the page hosting the interview. The actual link to open the interview is located at left just under Hedge’s picture by the heading “Listen.” Feel free to leave a note on what you thought of either this podcast or Hedge’s interview.

2). Click here to open the http://www.amazon.ca page to purchase Hedge’s book Empire of Illusion. The other book of his I would recommend reading is The Death of the Liberal Class.

Episode 7: Talking Tolkien & Hope

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In episode seven, the Hooligans discuss whether or not fantasy as a literary genre is still relevant to the 21st century: can we learn anything about our own world by dwelling in imaginary ones?

Episode 7: Talking Tolkien & Hope

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast.

Notes & Clarifications
1). Eucatastrophe in fantasy is a literary term coined by J. R. R. Tolkien referring to a sudden turn of events at the end of a story ensuring the protagonist does not meet some untimely end.

2). We just wanted to point out Jessica’s pronunciation of the word “damned” as “damn-ed” was awesome.

3). Thank you to WingNut Films and New Line Cinema for graciously allowing us to use two audio clips from Peter’s Jackson’s film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.

Episode 6: Canada & the Syrian Refugee Crisis

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In episode six, the cast talks about Canada’s actions to help alleviate the Syrian refugee crisis, problems with the West’s perception of Muslims, and Canadian xenophobia.

Episode 6: Canada & the Syrian Refugee Crisis

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast.

Notes & Clarifications
1). Rick observed Canada has a dubious history when it comes to the treatment of refugees/immigrants. To avoid the appearance of histrionics please visit the following site for a brief but comprehensive presentation of Canada’s less than exemplary treatment of new arrivals: http://ccrweb.ca/sites/ccrweb.ca/files/static-files/canadarefugeeshistory.htm.

2). Support for ISIS is fairly negligible outside of areas where this organization has direct control. The following is a link to a poll conducted by the Pew Research Council on attitudes towards IS in the Middle East: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/11/17/in-nations-with-significant-muslim-populations-much-disdain-for-isis/.

 

Podcast Episode 5: Meet the Cabinet and Don’t Be So “Lugubrious”

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In episode five, the cast talks words, members of Parliament, and factoids.

Episode 5: Meet the Cabinet and Don’t Be So “Lugubrious”

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast.

Episode Corrections & Clarifications 
1. During conversation sometimes cast members speak off the cuff and run the risk of hyperbole, e.g. Rick jokingly observed most of the cabinet members from the Conservatives likely came from business backgrounds (not that this should be a bad thing). At a glance the Conservatives appear to draw from a larger pool of career politicians (people who have belonged to the party as a youth and worked for the party through their 20s). The Liberals, by comparison, appear to draw upon a lot of people from banking and business (kind of ironic considering the context of the situation). Nonetheless, Rick regrets oversimplifying about the diverse group of people who worked for the previous Cabinet. With that said, if one compares the 13 highest profile ministries of the previous Conservative and current Liberal cabinets we see the following backgrounds:

Conservatives: career politician x 4, lawyer x 5, science background x 2, teacher, and a journalist.

Liberals: academic x 2, lawyer x 3, science background x 4, business/banking x 3, military.

2. Bones on average renew themselves every seven to ten years.

Podcast Episode 4: Talking Meat and Remembrance Day

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In episode four, join the cast as they present a different take on Remembrance Day while also addressing some important issues related to the eating of meat.

Episode 4: Talking Meat and Remembrance Day

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast.

Episode Corrections & Clarifications 
1. In 1932 Europe was caught in the throes of the Great Depression; it became evident Germany could not meet its reparations payments. The major countries of Europe met in 1932 at the Lausanne Conference and agreed to suspend payments indefinitely. In 1952 the London Debt Agreement was reached whereby it was determined if/when Germany was ever reunited it would repay its war debts as set out in the Treaty of Versailles (1919). Germany began reparation payments in 1996 and made their final payment in 2010.

2. J. R. R. Tolkien fought at the Battle of the Somme which took place between July 1 and November 1, 1916, between the armies of France, England and Germany. The British suffered approximately 420,000 casualties, the French around 200,000 while the Germans suffered about 465,000. Tolkien lost two good friends at the battle (Robert Gilson and Geoffrey Bache Smith). According to the Lord of the Rings Wiki (http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme), Tolkien’s involvement at the Somme lasted from July to October 1916. He served as a battalion signalling officer to the 11th Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. The was in the Battle of Thiepval Ridge helping to capture the Regina Trench from the Germans. The wretched conditions of the trenches and areas of battle along with stress caused Tolkien to come down with trench fever and trench foot which put him out of the war permanently.

Podcast Episode 3: Talking Halloween and Climate Change Denial

Peasants & Emperors is a podcast presenting topics related to democracy, science, culture, women’s issues, current events and critical thinking. A new podcast is produced and available for listening/download approximately every two weeks.

In episode three, join the cast as they discuss some issues surrounding Halloween and climate change denial. Also, this episode introduces two new segments to the show’s format.

Episode 3: Talking Halloween and Climate Change Denial

Click on the hyperlink above to download and listen to the podcast. Feel free to leave a comment or question in the comments section below. One of the cast members will respond.

Thanks in advance for listening and check back regularly for updates to the site and podcast.

Episode Corrections & Clarifications 
1. During the episode Alaine wondered what percentage of people currently alive have Genghis Khan’s DNA. According to this study cited on National Geographic Online (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/02/0214_030214_genghis.html) the great Khan has at least 16 million living descendants based on this study.

2. During the “Big Question” segment, Rick cited the World Wide Fund for Nature’s Blue Report on the extinction situation confronting marine wildlife. He observed marine populations had declined by 50%; however, the study establishes this decline is only 49% from 1970 to 2012. Rick also oversimplified the situation confronting sea cucumbers; that being, he generalized saying 98% of sea cucumbers were gone (implying a global problem). In reality, this figure only applies to sea cucumbers in the Galapagos region. He also made an error when he said upwards of 50-70% of ocean life depended upon the coral reefs; this figure is actually much lower (in the 25% range). Please see http://www.wwf.org.uk/about_wwf/press_centre/?unewsid=7673.

3). We depend upon plankton for 70% of our oxygen; a question was posed during the program about how a changing ph balance might impact plankton. The following article covers the topic in technical detail (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.12582/full). This article establishes a clear relationship between increasing ph and die off of corepods (plankton). The Wiley Online Library publishes articles in concert with various international and scholarly societies. The WOL is connected to a publishing company called John Wiley & Sons.

While looking for studies relevant to ocean acidification and plankton, Rick came across this webpage http://www.nipccreport.org/articles/2012/aug/28aug2012a3.html. The page belongs to the so-called Non-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC). The NIPCC site presents claims inconsistent with the predictions made by models reflecting the scientific consensus, i.e. the scientific consensus (as reflected in the Wiley article above) establishes a demonstrated and negative impact of increased ocean ph on plankton based on predicted levels of CO2 later in the 21st century. The NIPCC “study,” however, claims there’s no discernible impact on plankton if you increase ocean ph by the predicted levels.

Curious to a fault, Rick decided to find out who the NIPCC was exactly; it turns out the NIPCC is an arm of the Heartland Institute (HI). The HI is not a scientific institution but a conservative public policy think tank funded by energy companies like ExxonMobil in order to deny climate change. The HI has also worked for Philip Morris (and the tobacco industry) to lobby governments to not ban smoking and to deny that secondhand smoke is harmful. The Heartland Institute’s purpose is to confuse the public with respect to science for the express purpose of enabling corporations to maintain the status-quo, i.e. new regulatory regimes or laws potentially increase the cost of doing business (and this is the ultimate evil to a corporation and its stake-holders); therefore, corporations use organizations like Heartland as instruments of propaganda.

4). Rick observed a significant “die off” of jelly fish due to changes in temperature near Fiji. In reality the die off took place in waters around rocky islands which form part of Palau. Fiji and Palau are separated by 5,500 kms. Here’s a link to an article describing the 1998 die off of jellies near Palau (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jellyfish_Lake).

5. In the show it was observed Fred Singer worked on the Manhattan Project. This was incorrect. Scientist Fred Seitz, also a climate change denier, worked on the MP. Fred Singer actually worked with the American navy during World War II. After being discharged from the navy he began working on rockets after the war. Both Seitz and Singer were science deniers and both received money and funding from corporations to challenge the scientific consensus on the risks associated with tobacco, climate change, etc. For more please see Naomi Oreste’s book Merchants of Doubt or Kerryn Higss Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet.

6. In the show, Rick mentioned we surpassed the 400 ppm CO2 in 2014. This benchmark was surpassed in 2013. The graphic to the left shows the dramatic increase in CO2 levels with the advent of the coal fueled Industrial Revolution (beginning in England in the late 1700s). For some additional context please visit the NASA sanctioned web site: http://climate.nasa.gov/climate_resources/24/.

7. During the cultural appropriation segment, Jess mentioned that the cast was white and therefore couldn’t understand what it’s like to not be a part of the dominant culture or to see themselves misrepresented in a mocking way. Lea would like to clarify that she self-identifies as Metis, but due to family circumstances she grew up experiencing white privilege and fully acknowledges the advantages she’s had. However she would like to note that it does hurt her to see a culture that is her heritage misrepresented and appropriated.