THINKWING RADIO MOVED TO MONDAYS @ 9-10 PM, BEGINNING 4/13/2015.

SHOW AUDIO: 

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

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.)

Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show (every Monday night from 9-10PM CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer and discussion partner is Egberto Willies (@EgbertoWillies).

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.)

OPEN FORUM

POSSIBLE TOPICS: Texas & Local Elections, DAYLIGHTSAVING TIME, THE DECLINE AND FALL OF SEARS & ROEBUCK, , Syria: Boots on the ground, Turkey: Re-electing the strongman, Russia: A plane goes down in Sinai, and more

SOURCES WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO OTHER DISCUSSION:

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• ELECTION DAY IS TUESDAY, NOV.3. EARLY VOTING Is OVER! Voting information in Harris County can be found at http://harrisvotes.com/
  • Polling locations:
    •  Voting Info for Harris County Residents can be found at harrisvotes.com/
    • Early voting info for anywhere in Texas can be found at VoteTexas.gov
  • Generic Sample ballots available
  • ‘My’ ballot is only 1 page. Yours probably is also.
  • The entire Houston city government is up for election!
  • You can check to see if you’re registered by going to http://www.hctax.net/Voter/Search or the Texas Secretary of State https://team1.sos.state.tx.us/voterws/viw/faces/SearchSelectionVoter.jsp
• Also, it’s time to enroll or re-enroll in your Obamacare. (Healthcare.gov)
• Russian passenger aircraft crashes in Sinai after “coming apart” in mid-air.
• China ends “Two-Child Policy”
  • How China’s One-Child Policy Backfired Disastrously: The three-decade old rule was officially rescinded this week. But its toll will haunt China for years to come, By Simon Worrall, National Geographic, PUBLISHED October 30, 2015
• Daylight Savings Time: Use it or lose it?
• Turkey Votes for the Strongman: Erdogan benefits from anxiety about Syria’s furies and terrorism, (Wall Street Journal)
• Walmart removes “Made in USA” logos from website after government inquiry, by Phil Wahba (@philwahba), October 20, 2015, 5:30 PM EST
• What does the phrase “Black Lives Matter” mean?
• SEARS: Inevitable decline or victim of vulture capitalism?
  • Sears, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Sears (officially Sears, Roebuck & Company) is a chain of American department stores. The company was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck in 1886; it was previously based in the Sears Tower in Chicago, and is currently headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It began as a mail order catalog company, and began opening retail locations in 1925.
  • Kmart: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: While the company was in bankruptcy, a significant amount of Kmart’s outstanding debt was purchased by ESL Investments; a hedge fund controlled by Edward Lampert. Lampert worked to accelerate the bankruptcy process, and on May 6, 2003 Kmart emerged from bankruptcy protection as Kmart Holdings Corporation. On June 10, 2003, it began trading on the NASDAQ with the ticker symbol KMRT with Lampert as chairman and ESL Investments controlling 53% of the new company.^[28] Lampert dismissed concerns that the smaller company would be at a disadvantage stating “The focus that a lot of people have in retail revolves around sales, but sales without profit do not allow a business to be successful in the long term.”^[29] He began to improve the company’s balance sheet by reducing inventory, cutting costs, and closing underperforming stores. By the fourth quarter of 2003, Kmart posted its first profitable quarter in three years, although it has since returned to an operating loss.On November 17, 2004, Kmart announced its intention to purchase Sears. As a part of the merger, the Kmart Holdings Corporation would change its name to Sears Holdings Corporation. The new corporation announced that it would continue to operate stores under both the Sears and Kmart brands.^[30]
    • The End of Retail: Troubles at Sears are just the latest sign that big-box chains may never recover from the Great Recession. By Matthew Yglesias, January 2012 (Slate.com)How Kmart Blew It,By Chana R. Schoenberger, (FORBES.com) 1/18/2002 @ 11:58AM
• Movie theaters: How can they transform into more effective competitors against in-home video?Paired seating (lose some space, gain some patrons?\Ever been inside a hospital? Talking, laughing, equipment noise, reverb … Makes it impossible to rest.
  • Hospital Zones: “Quiet Please”
  • Ushers to discourage noise patrons

ALSO:

• INVASIVE SPECIES:
  • The True Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Never Truly Ate the South

  • How We Created a Monster In the American Southwest: The salt cedar is often seen as an un-killable invader. But are humans the real reason this unwanted plant is thriving?, By Candace Hughes, (smithsonian.com) October 9, 2015

• The Possibility of a National Flood Control Network
  • Downhill flow can generate hydroelectric power, to help compensate for uphill pumping.
  • Arid low-lying areas may benefit from becoming ‘reservoirs’ for water being held pending regional needs.
• Dealing With The Megadrought in the Western United States
  • ARTICLES & SOURCES
  • What should California do about its drought? As California suffers a historic drought, residents measure the damage and consider possible solutions, August 26, 2014 by Inside Story Team @AJInsideStoryAM
  • California first to feel hydro-power crunch of drought, By ELLEN KNICKMEYER (Associated Press( March 21, 2015
  • Why California’s drought means higher utility bills. California’s drought has already cost utility ratepayers $1.4 billion and boosted emissions of carbon dioxide. Hydropower is the third priority behind drinking water for people and water for crops, By Ellen Knickmeyer, Associated Press [March 21, 2015]
  • Who owns outer space?, By Yasmin Ali, Science reporter (25 September 2015) BBC.com (From the section Science & Environment)
  • Is Space Mining Legal?: A controversial bill would give companies the right to own natural resources in space, and it may pass in the Senate by the end of September, By Sarah Fecht Posted September 23, 2015 (Popular Science Magazine) “Mining for lunar water could make it up to 90 percent cheaper to colonize the moon. And extracting platinum and other minerals from asteroids could propel mankind to travel beyond low Earth orbit. At least two companies—Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries—are openly planning to mine asteroids. The former has already launched a simple test vehicle into low Earth orbit, with more planned.”
  • Precession, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  • 

  • Nutation, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    

    Rotation (green), precession (blue) and nutation in obliquity (red) of a planet

TONIGHT’S GUEST: OPEN FORUM

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