Brian Gongol Show on WHO Radio - July 27, 2019
Please note: These show notes may be in various stages of completion -- ranging from brainstormed notes through to well-polished monologues. Please excuse anything that may seem rough around the edges, as it may only be a first draft of a thought and not be fully representative of what was said on the air.
Breaking news to watch
- Hong Kong protests
Segment 1: (11 min)
BUT FIRST: The opening essay
Segment 2: (8 min)
Totally Unnecessary Debate of the Day
The moral of the story:
Segment 3: (14 min)
Make money
Economist | Fast Co | WSJ | CB
- Q2 GDP growth: 2.1% annualized rate (preliminary estimate)
- Trade-war bailout for farmers
The deceleration in real GDP in the second quarter reflected downturns in inventory investment, exports, and nonresidential fixed investment. These downturns were partly offset by accelerations in PCE and federal government spending.
Segment 4: (5 min)
Website reminder
The moral of the story:
Segment 5: (11 min)
Have fun
Billionaire dropped out of the sky on Erie for TV show "Broke Billionaire"
- Weird stunt
- Who starts with just $100 even for a weekend?
- Interesting premise
- Perpetuates the entrepreneur myth
- Real focus should be on the system, not just one guy
Segment 6: (8 min)
Technology Three | The week in technology
Wired | Slashdot | CNet | ZD | Engad | Digg | TechRepublic | ArsTech | Tw/sci list | Tw/designandtech list
- Equifax data breach settlement: $700 million | Terms
- $5 billion Facebook penalty
- T-Mobile/Sprint merger is approved by DOJ, but states still object
Your role in cyberwar
- Senate report on election attacks
- Mueller tries to warn us
Russia Targeted Elections Systems in All 50 States
According to former Special Counsel Robert Mueller, Russian interference is still happening “as we sit here.”
A report from the Senate Intelligence Committee Thursday concluded all 50 states were targeted in 2016 and ahead of the 2018 election.
However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell blocked a House-passed bill that would authorize $775 million to improve state election systems while Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, called inaction by Congress a “disgrace.”
The moral of the story:
Segment 7: (14 min)
The moral of the story:
Segment 8: (5 min)
Stop the deliberate ignorance
I condemn the President's remarks.
— Brian Gongol (@briangongol) July 27, 2019
I don't need to stand in partisan solidarity with Rep. Cummings to stand in civic solidarity with him, and with the people of Maryland, as fellow Americans. https://t.co/0HdHlrC9Sq
- If the President wishes to avail himself of the Constitution, he has a responsibility to "recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient"
- But he's also ordered that he "shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed"
- This isn't about Constitutional duties, though. He's had two and a half years to show us that he cares about those duties.
As delivered
The President this morning decided to tweet. He tweeted -- and I quote:
"Why is so much money sent to the Elijah Cummings['] district when it is considered the worst[-]run and most dangerous anywhere in the United States. No human being would want to live there. Where is all this money going? How much is stolen? Investigate this corrupt mess immediately!"
The words of the President, tweeted today.
I just don't know what else to say other than: I condemn the President's remarks.
I don't need to stand in partisan solidarity with a person like Representative Cummings in order to stand in civic solidarity with him as an American, and with the people of Maryland. We are fellow Americans. We don't call each other names. We don't say, "no human being would want to live there." We don't say those things about each other and to each other. That is not how we live.
We have disagreements. We can have things that we disagree about. Things that we think need to be improved. We have lots of different ways that we can believe life ought to be lived. But if the President wishes to avail himself of the Constitutional remedies available to him, he has a responsibility, and I quote, to:
"Recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient."
That's the job of the President to Congress. He reports to Congress. If he thinks something is wrong with this district or any other district in America, "he shall recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient". But he's also ordered that he shall, and I quote,
"Take care that the laws be faithfully executed."
If the President thinks that some places are badly-run and dangerous, "he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed." This stuff isn't about Constitutional duties, though.
He's had two and a half years to show us that he cares about his Constitutional duties. He has had plenty of time to show us that he cares about doing the job he is assigned by the law.
This tweet isn't doing his job. There is no other way to say it.
So I condemn the President's remarks, because I don't have to have partisan solidarity to have civic solidarity with my fellow Americans -- and that includes you.
Unsorted and leftovers:
This week
Hot (social) topics
Google Trends | Yahoo | Y-today | Yahoo Buzz | MSN | MSN UK | Alexa | Delicio | Lycos | Technorati | AOL | Google | Dogpile | Ask (wkly) | CBS | Bloglines | NYTLede | Twitter
By the numbers
Clean up after yourself
Cyber-bullying on the rise with girls
Mind your business
Quote of the Week
Iowa news
DSM | RadI | CID | DVN | ALO | SUX | DBQ | BUR | FOD | MCW | IC | DI | ISU | UNI
Contrary to popular opinion
Hyperbole is going to kill us all
What's the big idea?
21st Century conservatism
Cities and the people
Tw/cities | CityLab | StrongTowns
Curiosity, competence, and humility
Have a little empathy
How are you feeling?
NIH | CDC | BBC | CNN | WebMD | Harvard
Inbox zero
Tin Foil Hat Award
Yay Capitalism Prize
Capitalist solution of the week
Kickers
This day in history
HistCh | Infoplease | LoC | HistNet | NYT | Yahoo
One year ago
Five years ago
Ten years ago
Programming notes
Live read: iHeartRadio app
iHeartRadio app
Live read: Contests
Live read: Smart speakers (hour 1)
Smart speakers
Live read: Smart speakers (hour 2)
Smart speakers
Calendar events to highlight
Recap
♫ Listen to the full episode from July 27, 2019 here
① The coverage of the Congressional hearings with Robert Mueller as witness mainly came across as coverage about "performance", not about the subject of the hearings itself. If we don't get our act together, this "telling a story about the story" instead of just telling the story...well, it's going to break us.
② "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is a bizarre new film from Quentin Tarantino. So which is his best film?
③ The growth rate in the GDP slipped last quarter, and one of the main things propping it up has been government spending -- according to the government itself. That's a problem.
④ Upcoming station events
⑤ A new TV series is going to follow a "broke billionaire" around Erie, PA. Maybe it'll make good television, but it's not the way we need to think about breathing new life into the economies of Rust Belt communities -- and elsewhere.
⑥ There's usually a character in Quentin Tarantino films -- one in every movie -- who will stick out to you, once you know to look for them. It's the one I always like best, and in many cases, the only one I find likeable at all.
⑦ Technology Three: Equifax settlement, mobile merger, and the missing device
⑧ The President's tweets about Rep. Elijah Cummings and his Maryland district were totally out of line and deserve brisk condemnation.