SHOW AUDIO: kpft_2015-02-04_2200, Greg Abbott, Libertarians, Vaccination, Post-mortem photos, ISIS, Elephants

Link is usually posted within about 72 hours of show broadcast.

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show (every Wednesday night from 10-11PM CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer and discussion partner is Egberto Willies (@EgbertoWillies). Listen live on the radio or on the internet from anywhere in the world! When the show is live, we take calls at 713-526-5738. (Long distance charges may apply.)  For the purposes of this show, I operate on two mottoes:

• You’re entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts;
• An educated electorate is a prerequisite for a democracy.

GUESTS: (More complete biographical info on my guests are below Source links.) CALLERS

POSSIBLE TOPICS:

• Gov. Greg Abbott
• ISIS, Jordan and war
• Vaccinations: Ready for some new Darwin Awards?

NOTE: This post is subject to update before and after the show. ______________________________________________________________________
Some of the links used for this show are BELOW the break: SOURCES (Below the break) Not all topics discussed on tonight’s show:

• Gov. Greg Abbott:

  • ‘More we must do’: Full text of Greg Abbott’s inaugural speech, Posted on January 20, 2015 | By Brian M. Rosenthal (HOUSTON CHRONICLE)

  • Gov.-elect Abbott: End local bans on bags, fracking, tree-cutting, 10:25 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015 | Austin American-Statesman

  • New Texas Governor Adds To Tension Between State, City Governments, [Includes Full Transcript] By Wade Goodwyn, Originally published on Fri January 16, 2015 8:01 am (APR.org, Alabama Public Radio)
  • Gov. Abbott to Declare Feb. 2 ‘Chris Kyle Day’ in Texas, The Official Blog of Fox News Channel
• Chris Christie sidesteps vaccine science, CNN‎ – 1 day ago: Washington (CNN) The straight talking governor is suddenly mealy-mouthed over measles.          
• US opposition to paying ransoms goes back to at least 1801 and the Barbary pirates (“Shores of Tripoli”).
  • Barbary pirates – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates – HowStuffWorks:[EXCERPT] Just before Jefferson’s inauguration in 1801, the pasha (Turkish ruler) of Tripoli released the crew members of two recently captured American ships on the condition that the U.S. increase its tribute. If America refused, the Barbary States would declare war on the United States. Jefferson ordered a naval expedition to the Mediterranean, resulting in the First Barbary War (1801-1805). In the war, Tunis and Algiers broke their alliance with Tripoli. For four years, the U.S. fought with Tripoli and Morocco. The battles were mostly naval, including Lt. Stephen Decatur’s daring raid on the Tripoli harbor to demolish a captured American ship, removing it from enemy hands.
  • America and the Barbary Pirates – American Memory (memory.loc.gov): EXCERPT: Then the enemies were pirates and piracy. The focus of the United States and a proposed international coalition was the Barbary Pirates of North Africa.
  • Paying Ransoms: What the Barbary Pirates Teach Us about ISIS, by Lionel Beehner, August 29, 2014 (The National Interest Magazine)
  • 1837 Hard Times Tokens: Millions for Defense, Not One Cent for Tribute: [EXCERPT] “No, no, not a sixpence, sir!” replied Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to France’s demand for tribute. Pinckney, along with Elbridge Gerry and John Marshall, was sent to France in 1797 by President John Adams to try to negotiate an end to French attacks on American ships. As news of the French demand spread throughout America, “Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute” eventually became the public rallying cry as anti-French feelings grew. But, contrary to what some Hard Times token and historical references say, it was not Charles Pinckney who first spoke the famous phrase.”

SOURCES WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO OTHER DISCUSSION:

• ThinkwingRadio: Feb. 12, 2014, 10-11PM, KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). TOPIC: How Badly Are Budget Cuts Damaging Our Research Infrastructure?
• FDA Drug Approvals Snapshot:  http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/InformationOnDrugs/ucm412998.htm
• In Defense of Basic Science Funding: Today’s Scientific Discovery Is Tomorrow’s Medical Advance, by Marc Tessier-Lavigne (The Rockefeller University, New York) Cite this article as Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med 2013;3:a019554
• By The Numbers: Search NIH Grant Data By Institution Houston’s prestigious Baylor College of Medicine is one of the institutions that highlighted that has had “notable declines” in NIH funding in recent years

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