Episodes

Introduction Subsidized self reliance is an oxymoron, a self-cancelling phrase. Like civil war, or jumbo shrimp. In yet another triumph of doublethink (from Orwell’s 1984 ), over reason and integrity, it is being sold as bein...

Introduction Yes, hate speech, barring encouragement to physically harm others, is free speech. Otherwise, why have a First Amendment at all? That’s the subject of today’s 10-minute podcast. Continuing “I disapprove of what y...

Introduction The term “loyal opposition” was born in the parliamentary government system, meaning that those out of power, while still having many disagreements with the party in power, were still loyal to their country and t...

Introduction Career politicians serve themselves. Citizen politicians serve the citizens. The country’s successful founding depended on, and anticipated the continuation of, citizen politicians to serve the country. Today we ...

Introduction Laying out and following a sure path to a successful life is simple, hard, and oh-so-well well worth it. Politicians and government are preaching, promising and rewarding the opposite. For their benefit, and to o...

Introduction Quoting my 18-year-old son, Joshua, after his third day of digging ditches, burying conduit and wires for a CenturyLink contractor this summer prior to attending college in the fall. He was recapping part of his ...

Introduction In politics and life, we are all-too-often taught that we live in a world with a fixed amount of resources, a pie for example, and that if we want some it must come from someone else’s portion, leaving them …

Introduction Some people call it your True North. No matter; the questions are Do you have one? If you have one, what is it? Why is that your True North/Moral Compass? Do you follow it? That’s the subject of today’s …

Introduction Don’t blame the other party, whether we are using the word party to mean political party, or simply another entity, like another person. The responsibility is always with us, never “them.” That’s the subject of t...

Introduction Character is 75% of life and leadership. Competence is the other 75%. And no, assessments of life and leadership do not have to add up to 100%. In fact, they rarely should. Note that I did not ask, “Does …

Introduction Many of us have heard of the need to make a “ Leap of Faith ” in order to go from the evidence that we can take in with our senses and process with our brains in order to …

Introduction Most regions in the world have their favorite source for starches, that complex carbohydrate that supplies nutrition and needed calories. Leading favorites include potatoes, rice and yams; there are many more, bu...

Introduction The real and inherent danger of privilege is in giving others power over you, declaring that power, that privilege, to be unfair, then demanding compensation in the form of cash, preferential job or schooling tre...

Introduction Tariffs are a tax on consumers and businesses, and damage economies. When it costs more to import something, like appliances or smart phones, prices naturally rise. And the price of similar domestically produced ...

Introduction “Beat L-A!” “I love Tom Brady!” “My two favorite teams are the Broncos and whoever is playing the Raiders.” That is acceptable–even healthy–partisanship. I am a Broncos fan because of an accident of history. My s...

Introduction Life is simple. And hard. And well worth it. Let’s start with the good living part. Start with being grateful for everything. Have a moral compass. Always be personally responsible for everything in your life. Be...

Introduction “Medicare for All” is an intentional misnomer used to disguise free, single-payer insurance as the popular Medicare plan that so many are currently using for health insurance. Most parts of real Medicare require ...

Introduction Dignity, like self-esteem, cannot be conferred; it must come from within. There is a lot of talk from some quarters supporting giving people what they want in areas like healthcare, education and housing, as well...

Introduction What is more important, how well we live or how we live in comparison to others? If we have a life with decent food and clothing, access to healthcare, comfortable housing including heating and AC, transportation...

Introduction When I was in grade school my classmates and I sang “Old Folks at Home” (also known as “ Swanee River “; that’s how I knew it.) Swanee River is a minstrel song written by Stephen Foster in 1851. …

Summary “My mind is made up; don’t confuse me with the facts.” Do you know anyone whose mind was changed about the person or party they support as a result of the Mueller report? After two years years of investigation …

Summary That was the evening ritual as announced each night by “Auntoy”, my stepmother’s mother. Auntoy (her real name was Florence Pauly Carroll–but I don’t think I knew that until years later) was the savior of my youth. To...

Summary Barack Obama is ½ black, as is Tiger Woods. Both are seen as simply black. All-white Rachel Dolezal was elected president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP in 2014. Despite her darkening makeup, she was obviously ve...

Summary There is surprising controversy about wanting only legal immigrants, and then only those who want to assimilate into our culture. I see both as non-negotiable, but many do not. Some even want the opposite. I want to s...