November 22, 2020 marks 57 years since the assassination of the 35th President, John F. Kennedy. Yet key documents remain hidden from the public including 300 pages of files on George Joannides, a CIA operative who managed the Cuban student group DRE that Oswald tried to join. And most historians and scholars are reluctant to write the history as so many of the facts of the assassination are as murky as they were over 50 years ago. The passage of time has not cleared up the morass of the Kennedy...
Nov 22, 2020•35 min•Season 5Ep. 15
A popular conspiracy theory in right wing circles is that Vice President elect Kamala Harris will soon take over from an incapacitated President elect Joe Biden. When you repeat such a theory you are giving it oxygen some argue, even if your intent is to dismantle and reject it. In today's podcast I will explain how this myth has materialized, its roots in American History and why it is never likely to come to pass.
Nov 17, 2020•23 min•Season 5Ep. 14
Pfizer and its' German partner Biontech, announced on Monday November 9, 2020 that their vaccine has a 90% effectiveness rate in preventing Covid 19. This announcement is the first ray of hope that the Covid 19 pandemic which began in China and has swept the globe in 2020 can be stopped, vanquished and extinguished. Public euphoria was best summed up in the stock market as the Dow Jones surged 1300 points on the news reaching new highs. Pfizer will seek emergency use approval from America"s FDA ...
Nov 10, 2020•20 min•Season 5Ep. 13
President Trump, in his 16 minute electoral fraud diatribe from the White House Briefing Room, Thursday November 5 has launched a Conspiracy Theory of a stolen election, before the American people and a global audience. His obvious motivation was anger at seeing his early lead in the election returns slip away in favor of Joe Biden. He has let the conspiracy genie out of the bottle publicly giving his 70 million voters a rallying cry, much like Hillary Clinton's supporters slogan " Resist". His ...
Nov 07, 2020•23 min•Season 5Ep. 12
72 years ago today, November 2, 1948, President Harry Truman defied all expectations and won re-election, when the national polls had him down 6.5% versus Governor Tom Dewey. His come from behind win was a shock to the nation. Not only did he confound the pundits, but the Democrats recaptured the Congress with healthy majorities. How did he do it ? Are there lessons to be learned for Donald Trump and Joe Biden in tomorrow's election ?
Nov 03, 2020•23 min•Season 5Ep. 11
The gray wolf, one of America's iconic symbols of the Old West, is to lose its' endangered species status. The Trump Administration argues that 45 years of protection has seen its numbers grow six fold to 6000. But conservationists contend that the wolf is not firmly re-established in America. The Pro and Anti wolf lobbies bring a visceral passion to the subject that some have compared to the Abortion campaign. Will the opponents succeed in overturning this delisting action ?
Nov 01, 2020•19 min•Season 5Ep. 10
2020 has been marked by extreme political polarization in the United States, and civilian unrest in most American cities. 56% of Americans polled expect political violence to follow the November 3rd presidential election regardless of who wins. While we have seen political violence in our past - 4 Presidents were assassinated and 18 out of the 45 Presidents were threatened with assassination - our elections and their results have been peaceful. Until 2020.
Oct 28, 2020•23 min•Season 5Ep. 9
Gun sales in June surged to 3.9 million weapons, an 80% increase over the same month last year. More than 20 million new firearms have been purchased in 2020, fueled by national apprehension over the pandemic, unemployment, economic uncertainty, racial tension and political uncertainty. With more than 400 million weapons already in circulation in this country, there are enough firearms for every man, woman and child and then some. Are people fearful of losing police protection and turning to sel...
Oct 23, 2020•22 min•Season 5Ep. 8
San Francisco is looking to re-name 44 of its' 114 schools. The move was prompted by a review of existing names for slavery links, genocide perpetrators, colonialists, white supremacists etc. 9 US Presidents' names would be stripped from our schools including, Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt. Even Senator Dianne Feinstein would lose her place of honor and our Spanish Colonial historic roots expunged. But San Francisco's schools are still closed to in person learning and many, even in woke San ...
Oct 19, 2020•20 min•Season 5Ep. 7
JFK took on anti-Catholic bigotry upfront in the 1960 presidential campaign, speaking before a conference of Protestant Pastors in Houston, Texas, September 12 regarding his Catholic Faith. Kennedy went on to win the Presidency, albeit narrowly with 112,000 votes. He reminded the clerics of the No Religious Test provision of the US Constitution (Article VI, Clause 3) and further spoke of his own WWII heroism in the South Pacific. We thought that the concept of Catholics being viewed as "Other" h...
Oct 14, 2020•15 min•Season 5Ep. 6
The Wolverine Watchmen, a Michigan based militia group, plotted to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer, try her for treason, storm the State Capitol in Lansing with 200 men and foment a civil war. The FBI arrested the 13 plotters several days ago and charged them with terrorism, conspiracy to kidnap and weapons charges after tracking them on Social Media. Michigan has been a hotbed of militia activity for many years; even Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols the Oklahoma City bombers who killed 168 pe...
Oct 12, 2020•20 min•Season 5Ep. 5
Wednesday night's VP debate was more anticipated than past vice presidential meet ups for a host of reasons. After last week's acrimonious shouting match that was disastrous for both Biden and Trump, Mike Pence had to steady the SS Trump which was taking on water; mission accomplished. Kamala Harris, however, had to introduce herself to the American people as a potential President while demonstrating her policy chops. Pence was in his element and confidently played his hand with aplomb, but with...
Oct 08, 2020•23 min•Season 5Ep. 4
The quickening pace of the destruction of California's forests by wildfire is staggering. In the last 3 months four million acres of our 33 million acres of forest have burned. That's 12%. From 2000 to 2019 4 million acres burned and before that it took 66 years - 1933 to 1999- to burn 4 million acres. The exponential increase in the burn rate is an existential threat to the Golden State. Yet we still do not have an overarching strategic plan to bring the wildfire menace under control. The same ...
Oct 06, 2020•18 min•Season 5Ep. 3
Who are the Proud Boys and why did Joe Biden and Chris Wallace give them oxygen at the Presidential debate ? A right wing group the Anti-Defamation League calls Alt-Lite, with a Disney film inspired name wasn't deserving of mention. But they are now part of the 2020 presidential campaign. What do they believe ? What is White Supremacy ? And what about Executive Order #13950 Combatting Race and Sex Stereotyping, dated 9/22/2020. Listen to today's podcast for answers.
Oct 03, 2020•21 min•Season 5Ep. 2
Deceit and Dirty Money is Jim Herlihy's debut novel written in the late 1990's - a simpler and gentler time before 911, Global financial crises, cell phones, the internet and electric cars. Set in San Francisco, this financial thriller with classic San Francisco Noir overtones, satirizes the City's social elite. Jim also gives an insider's explanation of the writing process and how he developed his unique voice and writing style.
Sep 29, 2020•27 min•Season 5Ep. 1
California experienced its' smallest net population growth in 2019 - 87,000 or 0.2%, the smallest net increase since 1900. The 2020 net increase is likely to be even smaller. Are the unaffordable housing costs, high taxes and high cost of living, to say nothing about wildfire air pollution and last in the nation Covid re-opening finally starting to bite ? A host of online websites offer one stop shopping Exit California packages. Are we reaching a breaking point ? Meanwhile Texans warn newly tra...
Sep 28, 2020•23 min•Season 4Ep. 20
A new Meet the Author series kicks off today at The San Francisco Experience. David Eugene Perry's debut novel is set in Orvieto, Italy. With a tip of the hat to Dan Brown, this mystery thriller weaves together an intricate plot of murder, intrigue and suspense which threatens to bring down the Catholic Church. The protagonists, Lee and Adriano are a gay couple from San Francisco on sabbatical in Orvieto, 75 miles North of Rome. But instead of a relaxing re-charge of batteries, they are ensnared...
Sep 22, 2020•29 min•Season 4Ep. 19
San Francisco's homeless population numbers approximately 24,000. It breaks down into three discrete segments, namely one third mentally ill, one third economic casualties and one third drug users and addicts. Today's podcast focuses on the drug users and addicts. The City Journal and Erica Sandberg in particular has written a detailed account of the Harm Reduction drug culture in San Francisco. Her chilling account of how they facilitate drug use and abuse among the homeless on our streets is s...
Sep 20, 2020•16 min•Season 4Ep. 18
Gonzaga University's Institute of Hate Studies, located in Spokane, Washington is a center focused on understanding the roots of Hate in the public square and working to eradicate it. The ADL's Pyramid of Hate is a graphic visual depiction of the five progressive steps of hate culminating in Genocide. During the 20th Century, 21 genocides were perpetrated with 14 of them in the last four decades of the century, when most of us were alive. (Mount Holyoke College). Hate speech in particular is one...
Sep 15, 2020•26 min•Season 4Ep. 17
The 3700 California prison inmates who volunteer to be firefighters as we wage war on the Wildfires, will be eligible to have their records expunged as a result of their service. Governor Gavin Newsom signed the legislation into law yesterday. It's an important step for former inmates to obtain a professional certification as an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) the pre-requisite to apply for a civilian firefighter job. the 3700 inmate firefighters make up 26% of those on the frontlines of the ...
Sep 13, 2020•9 min•Season 4Ep. 16
San Francisco's skies turned the color of Irish Single Malt Whiskey, even down to that hint of smokiness on Wednesday morning. The deep orange/amber twilight persisted most of Wednesday forcing everyone to turn on their headlights and don N95 surgical masks against the ash that swirled in the air. As if the Coronavirus were not enough. Massive wildfires, 100 miles to the North East of San Francisco exploded to life during overnight wind storms. The resulting mountains of smoke poured into the Ba...
Sep 11, 2020•22 min•Season 4Ep. 15
Over the last 6 weeks, five major police departments have lost their Chiefs, in large measure because of a breakdown of trust between the Mayor and Chief. Most police chiefs serve at the pleasure of the Mayor and their ongoing working relationship is critical to the morale of the rank and file police officers and to the safety of the community. Trust, confidence and sharing of goals are key to a successful working relationship. In the five cases we cite, the Mayor became beholden to the street p...
Sep 10, 2020•20 min•Season 4Ep. 14
The recent murder of right wing Patriot Prayer member Jay Danielson by Antifa activist Michael Reinoehl on the streets of Portland, was a dangerous escalation in the street protests of this Summer. Reinoehl was subsequently killed by US Marshals in a gunfight near the Washington state capital Olympia. Does this mark the start of right versus left street killings ? The Southern Poverty Law Center tracks 52 right wing groups in Washington, Oregon and Idaho, but not Antifa. What's wrong with that p...
Sep 08, 2020•20 min•Season 4Ep. 13
Michael Reinoehl, the confessed murderer of Patriot Prayer member Aaorn Jay Danielson, in Portland Saturday, August 29, has died in a gunfight with a law enforcement Task Force led by US Marhalls, close to Olympia, Washington, Thursday, September 3, 2020. In a series of fast moving events Thursday, Reinoehl acknowledeged that he shot Danielson in self defense, in an interview with Vice News. When the Task Force attempted to arrest him on a murder warrant, a gunfight ensued and he was killed. The...
Sep 04, 2020•15 min•Season 4Ep. 12
Aaron Danielson a 39 year old Trump supporter and Patriot Prayer was shot and killed by Michael Reinoehl, 48, years old and a self described 100% Antifa follower. The killing brings into sharp contrast the ideological battle lines of a divided country against the backdrop of 90 nights of continual protests in Portland, Oregon. Will this murder enflame the political debate or could it serve as a timeout for both sides to stop and take stock ? Portland's fraught racial history and the profusion of...
Sep 01, 2020•21 min•Season 4Ep. 11
11,000 dry lightning strikes hit the Golden State overnight August 16 and 17, igniting 347 wildfires. Here in Wine Country, 50 miles North of San Francisco, the fires continue to burn two weeks later, sending massive columns of smoke and ash South to San Francisco and the Bay Area. 2020 marks the fourth straight year the Wine Country has suffered the consequences of massive wildfires. Governor Gavin Newsom says this is what climate change looks like. But is that a cop out ? Mismanagement of Cali...
Aug 30, 2020•21 min•Season 4Ep. 11
Qanon is a right wing conspiracy movement with a formidable Social Media presence on Twitter, Facebook and several bulletin board sites like 4Chan, 8Chan and 8kun . Its' theories have been embraced by many Republicans and 14 current Congressional candidates have prominently espoused their views. One, Marjorie Taylor Greene won the Republican primary in Georgia's 14th district, a safe Republican seat with the endorsement of President Trump and is likely to win in November. But Republican Minority...
Aug 25, 2020•20 min•Season 4Ep. 10
Kamala Harris and Facebook. 4 conspiracy theories quickly emerged after her selection. In today’s episode we will look at each one, and while trying not to give them oxygen, debunk them
Aug 23, 2020•24 min•Season 4Ep. 9
6 months into the pandemic,transmission rates are dropping and our changed behaviors wearing masks and socially distancing are making a difference. But the Fog of War on Covid 19 at least initially meant that many mistakes were made and lives lost unnecessarily.
Aug 21, 2020•19 min•Season 4Ep. 8
An illegal alien felon shot and killed a father and his two sons in a working class residential neighborhood of San Francisco in June 2008. District Attorney charged Edwin Ramos with three counts of murder but declined to seek the death penalty despite pleas from the widow and Senator Dianne Feinstein. The controversial case brings together three of Harris’ vulnerabilities - death penalty, sanctuary cities and referring to ICE agents as equivalent to KKK.
Aug 16, 2020•11 min•Season 4Ep. 7
