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Welcome to Thinkwing Radio with Mike Honig (@ThinkwingRadio), a listener call-in show  airing live every Monday night from 9-10 PM (CT) on KPFT-FM 90.1 (Houston). My engineer is Bob Gartner.

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.

SIGNOFF QUOTE: “In 1791 when the 2^nd Amendment went into effect, firing 10 shots without reloading required carrying 10 guns.” ~ Mike Honig, 2014

POSSIBLE TOPICS:

• TEXAS: REGISTER TO VOTE FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION
  • To vote in November 8th’s presidential elections, you have to be registered by October 8th. It will be here before you know it, so make sure YOU are registered!
  • HarrisVotes.com or VoteTexas.gov.
• Never saw this coming (SARCASM)
  • 19-Year-Old at Vegas Rally Said He Wanted to Kill Trump, Feds Say, by Tim Stelloh (NBCNews.com) Jun 20 2016, 6:41 pm ET
    • [Michael Steven Sandford], who has a United Kingdom driver’s license, approached a Las Vegas police officer during a rally at the Treasure Island Casino pretending to ask for an autograph, the complaint says. After noticing the gun was in an unlocked position, [Michael Steven] Sandford grabbed the officer’s holster and the gun’s handle with both hands, the complaint says. Sandford “reasoned it would be the easiest way to acquire a gun to shoot Trump,” the complaint says, adding that he “further stated that if he were on the street tomorrow, he would try this again.”
    • [Michael Steven Sandford said] he had been in the U.S. for more than a year and lived in Hoboken, New Jersey, before traveling to Southern California on June 16 “to kill Trump,”
• In other gun news…
  • Senate blocks gun measures offered in wake of Orlando shooting, Donovan Slack, USA TODAY 6:47 p.m. EDT June 20, 2016
    • The first that was rejected was sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. It called for research on the causes of mass shootings and increases funding for the background check system, although it would not have expanded the types of gun sales that require them;
    • Senators then rejected an amendment sponsored by Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., which would have expanded background check requirements to include private sales and sales over the Internet.
    • The third vote blocked action on an amendment sponsored by Cornyn that would allow federal law enforcement officials to delay gun sales to suspected terrorists, including those on watch and no-fly lists, for three days and then halt the sales, but only after proving probable cause before a judge.
    • The final vote scheduled was on an amendment sponsored by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that would allow the attorney general to halt sales to suspected terrorists and allow individuals to appeal to the Department of Justice if they are denied a firearm.
  • Senate votes down gun control proposals, By Karoun Demirjian (Washington Post) June 20 at 7:00 PM
    • there are substantive differences between the proposals offered by both sides – all of which required 60 votes to advance in the Senate.
    • The Senate voted 47 to 53 to reject a measure from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) to let the attorney general deny firearms and explosives to any suspected terrorists. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota was the sole Democrat to vote against … Republican Sens. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire and Mark Kirk of Illinois, …, voted for it.
    • The Senate, on a 53 to 47 vote, also rejected a Republican alternative from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), that would allow authorities to delay a gun sale to a terrorism suspect for three days or longer if a judge ruled during that time that there is probable cause to deny the firearm outright.
    • Two Democrats, Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana, backed the measure. But three Republicans – Sens. Jeff Flake of Arizona, Kirk and Susan Collins of Maine voted against Cornyn’s amendment.
    • Republicans argued Feinstein’s proposal doesn’t do enough to protect against situations where someone mistakenly on a terror watch list, or mistakenly suspected of links to terror groups, would be denied their Second Amendment rights.
    • Democrats countered that the time limitations in Cornyn’s alternative would make it functionally impossible to actually prevent suspicious individuals from purchasing firearms.
    • A handful of Republicans have also voiced their own criticism of Cornyn’s legislation. On Monday, Ayotte said that she would support the procedural votes on both the Cornyn and Feinstein measures – not because she thought either posed a satisfactory solution, but “to get to this debate, because I want a result,” she said.
    • Ayotte was working with Collins over the last week to try to come up with a compromise proposal. That proposal would prevent people on two subsets of the FBI’s database of suspected terrorists – the “No Fly List” and the “Selectee List” – from buying guns and alert the FBI if someone on those lists in the previous five years tried to purchase weapons.
    • Democrats said that Collins’ proposal was too narrow and would allow too many potential terrorists to fall through the cracks.
    • The Senate also rejected, on a 44 to 56 vote, a measure from Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) that would expand background checks for anyone trying to purchase a firearm, including at a gun show or online.
    • It was a more expansive version of a [2013] compromise measure from Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) that sought to expand background checks after the mass shooting at the Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Conn. Their proposal never earned enough support to pass, but 54 senators supported it in 2013, and 48 senators backed it in the wake of the San Bernardino attack last year.
    • Both Manchin and Toomey refused to back Murphy’s more expansive measure. Democratic Sens. Heitkamp and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) – who is also running the Senate Democrats’ campaign operation this year – also voted against Murphy’s proposal.
    • Republicans objected to the breadth of the Murphy-Booker-Schumer proposal, which would require a background check for almost any sale or transfer of a firearm. Kirk was the only Republican to back the measure.
    • Most Republicans backed an alternative from Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) that would only increase funding for the government to run background checks without expanding them. It failed on a 53 to 47 vote.
    • Democrats also objected to Grassley’s amendment they said it could give people involuntarily committed to a psychiatric institution for a mental illness the right to buy a gun once they are released.
    • Republican Sens. Kirk and Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) voted against the proposal; Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) voted for it.
    • The Obama administration on Monday said it supported the Feinstein and Murphy-Booker-Schumer amendments.
    • A federal ban on assault-style weapons expired in 2004, and while restoring it remains a part of the pro-gun control agenda, like-minded lawmakers aren’t demanding legislation be considered as forcefully as they are pushing for measures to expand background checks and keep suspected terrorists from purchasing firearms.
• Boeing, Russian Firm Said Near $4 Billion Deal to Save 747, by Julie Johnsson (Bloomberg News) June 19, 2016 — 11:00 PM CDT (Updated on June 20, 2016 — 8:45 AM CDT)
  • Boeing Co. is nearing a $4 billion deal with Russia’s largest air-freight company that would help extend the life of the iconic, hump-nosed 747 jumbo jet amid waning demand for four-engine aircraft, people close to the transaction said.
  • The U.S. planemaker is in advanced talks with AirBridgeCargo Airlines and its Moscow-based parent, Volga-Dnepr Group, to convert a year-old commitment into more than 10 firm orders for 747-8 freighters,
• [Maine Gov. Paul] LePage orders study of health effects of ethanol emissions: The governor tells the DEP and CDC to cooperate on a study of the health impacts of the gasoline additive., by STAFF (Portland Press Herald) 6/20/2016
  • Paul R. LePage has issued an executive order for state agencies to study the health effects of emissions produced by the combustion of gasoline that contains ethanol, a widely used additive.
  • In addition, LePage directed all state agencies to implement a purchasing preference for gasoline blended with 5 percent or less of ethanol, provided the cost is comparable to gas blended with a higher concentration of ethanol.
  • The governor said in a statement Monday that he issued the order because of federal mandates that have spurred increased production and use of ethanol as a fuel additive to combat air pollution. “It’s important that with the increased use of ethanol-mixed gasoline that we understand the environmental and health risks associated with it,” LePage said.
  • LePage’s statement did not specify why he sought the study at this time.
• “Brexit”: Should UK leave the EU, and what might be the consequences?
  • Good Riddance to Great Britain, By Thomas von der Dunk, (c) 2016, [Chicago Tribune] Foreign Policy
    • Older, idealistic notions of a political union as a means to uphold internal European … Over the course of its 40 years as an EU member, London has consistently supported efforts to further enlarge the Union, for states ranging from Turkey to Ukraine. The result has been, in effect, a subtle form of sabotage: The bigger the EU, the looser it, by necessity, has had to become. As territorial expansion makes the Union more diverse, it makes substantive deepening – the famous “ever closer union” – increasingly impossible, until we are left with a sort of hollowed-out shell of what the European Union was intended to be.
    • For British governments, and for the Conservative Party in charge of the current iteration especially, the EU was never intended to be more than a distribution outlet for British exports – nowadays, mostly financial products. This vision of Europe as mainly a trade market is also shared by a lot of contemporary Dutch politicians.
    • It is unhealthy for the EU to have a member state that is constantly talking about how awful it is – how much it hates all that it stands for, and that, in fact, embraces the idea that it is fundamentally out of sync philosophically with the rest of the Union’s member states. Thus, far from being the last straw for a struggling polity, a Brexit might be just what Brussels needs to reverse course and to gain back the necessary support of its own citizens again.
• Anton Yelchin’s Family Could Be Awarded Millions In Lawsuit — Lawyer Says, Mon, June 20, 2016 3:27pm EDT by gabriellaginsberg
  • In the wake of Anton Yelchin’s tragic death, we’ve learned that a gear issue in the actor’s Jeep may have led to his car accident. … Anton’s car was involved in a 2015 recall for gear shift problems, and since the vehicle was never fixed, it’s likely that the issue led to his death. As a result, Mychal explains to com that Anton’s family has a legal right to sue for damages. “Under product liability, consumers who have been injured as a result of car-related defect may have a legal claim to damages,” Mychal says. “Here, the family may sue the car manufacturer, parts manufacturer and/or dealership for wrongful death caused by the gear shifter problem in the recalled Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo.” It’s certainly something to think about. “Damages will be in the millions — and the family will most likely be awarded millions of dollars in the lawsuit,” Mychal says
• How Have Young Women Been Affected by Texas’ 6-Month-Old Abortion Restrictions?, By Ashley Lopez (kut.org, Austin) Jun 2, 2016
  • It’s been six months since a law went into effect that changes the rules for judicial bypasses – that’s when a judge allows a minor to have an abortion without getting consent or notifying an adult.
  • These bypasses are mostly sought by young women who fear abuse or can’t locate a parent or guardian. Advocates say this legal tool is vital to the young women who use it. But, since a law passed last year, it’s been harder than ever to get them.
  • Susan Hays is the legal director of Jane’s Due Process, an organization that gets its name from the pseudonym commonly used to refer to the girls seeking judicial bypasses.
  • we are finding out there six months later is that it wasn’t the legal changes that were mattering to the Janes. It’s that things were stirred up politically.”
  • Hays said the anti-abortion movement has a lot of power right now, and that is affecting how judges rule. In fact, some judges are campaigning on this issue.
  • Hays pointed out that HB 3994 gave judges like this more power, including giving them more time to rule on judicial bypass cases. It used to be that if the judge didn’t meet the deadline, the case was deemed granted. Now, if it doesn’t meet the deadline, it’s deemed a “nay.”
  • “And so if a judge does nothing, if a judge just doesn’t want to touch it with a 10-foot pole because you know, abortion, the Jane automatically loses, and we don’t even have a hearing transcript to take up on appeal,” she said.
  • John Seago with Texas Right to Life helped craft this law. He said when he started looking into the judicial bypass system, there wasn’t a lot of data.
  • “What we had, though, were these stories, from judges, from guardian ad litems. We would hear anonymous stories from these different kind of angles of the abuse of this system. And, unfortunately, the way that we kind of saw it happening was that it was not protecting minors, it was actually being used as a loophole for the abortion industry. So, that was very concerning.”
  • Advocates at Jane’s Due Process said this isn’t a loophole, but a way to help women who’ve been left behind by other public policies. They say nine out of 10 times a child involves a parent when they get an abortion, and those who don’t usually have a pretty good reason.
• Differences between Liberals, Conservatives, Libertarians and neo-Conservatives
  • Left–right politics, From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
    • History of the terms: The terms “left” and “right” appeared during the French Revolution of 1789 when members of the National Assembly divided into supporters of the king to the president’s right and supporters of the revolution to his left. One deputy, the Baron de Gauville, explained, “We began to recognize each other: those who were loyal to religion and the king took up positions to the right of the chair so as to avoid the shouts, oaths, and indecencies that enjoyed free rein in the opposing camp.” However the Right opposed the seating arrangement because they believed that deputies should support private or general interests but should not form factions or political parties. The contemporary press occasionally used the terms “left” and “right” to refer to the opposing sides.^[9]
  • Greens and Libertarians: The yin and yang of our political future, by Dan Sullivan (originally appearing in Green Revolution, Volume 49, No. 2, summer, 1992)
    • … Libertarians tend to be logical and analytical. They are confident that their principles will create an ideal society, even though they have no consensus of what that society would be like. Greens, on the other hand, tend to be more intuitive and imaginative. They have clear images of what kind of society they want, but are fuzzy about the principles on which that society would be based.
    • Ironically, Libertarians tend to be more utopian and uncompromising about their political positions, and are often unable to focus on politically winnable proposals to make the system more consistent with their overall goals. Greens on the other hand, embrace immediate proposals with ease, but are often unable to show how those proposals fit in to their ultimate goals.
    • The most difficult differences to reconcile, however, stem from baggage that members of each party have brought with them from their former political affiliations. Most Libertarians are overly hostile to government and cling to the fiction that virtually all private fortunes are legitimately earned. Most Greens are overly hostile to free enterprise and cling to the fiction that harmony and balance can be achieved through increased government intervention.
    • Amongst published researchers, there is agreement that the Left includes anarchists, communists, socialists, progressives, anti-capitalists, anti-imperialists, anti-racists, democratic socialists, greens, left-libertarians, social democrats, and social liberals.^[5][6][7]
    • Researchers have also said that the Right includes capitalists, conservatives, monarchists, nationalists, neoconservatives, neoliberals, reactionaries, imperialists, right-libertarians, social authoritarians, religious fundamentalists, and traditionalists.^[8]

• Payday Lenders
  • Usury: noun the illegal action or practice of lending money at unreasonably high rates of interest. Archaic interest at unreasonably high rates.
  • Interest Caps
  • ‘Choice’
  • Are the many high-interest payday lenders a direct result of bank deregulation and the attendant fees and penalties that came with them?
  • How this Missouri man wound up paying $50K in interest after taking $2,500 in payday loans: ws/20onFHy pic.twitter.com/8krVicitx1
• Time for a return of the 2 ½ contingency war strategy?
  •  Will we ever see a return of the “Peacetime Army”?
  • Threat from Russian and Chinese warplanes mounts – USA Today

o How much do the Saudis own in U.S. Treasuries? After four decades, it’s no longer a secret, by Michael Hiltzik (LA Times) 5-16-2016

• The Treasury Department on Monday opened the curtain on one of our longest-lasting, and strangest, state secrets: how much U.S. debt does Saudi Arabia own?
• The Treasury Department on Monday opened the curtain on one of our longest-lasting, and strangest, state secrets: how much U.S. debt does Saudi Arabia own?
• The answer, as of March, is $116.8 billion. That may sound like a lot, but it places the Saudis only at 13th on the list of major foreign holders of treasuries. Leading the roll among the foreign holders of $6.3 trillion in securities are mainland China ($1.245 trillion) and Japan ($1.137 trillion).

o Government Debt in the United States – Debt Clock:  (www.usgovernmentdebt.us/): Total Federal Government Debt in 2016. At the end of FY 2016 the gross US federal government debt is estimated to be $19.3 trillion, according to the FY17 Federal Budget.

o India to ‘divert rivers’ to tackle drought, By Navin Singh Khadka Environment reporter, (BBC World Service) 16 May 2016

• India is set to divert water from its rivers to deal with a severe drought… [affecting] At least 330 million people are … affected by drought in India.
• The drought is taking place as a heat wave extends across much of India, with temperatures in excess of 40C (~104^oF).
• The Inter Linking of Rivers (ILR) has 30 links planned for water-transfer, 14 of them fed by Himalayan glaciers in the north of the country and 16 in peninsular India.
• Environmentalists have opposed the project, arguing it will invite ecological disaster but the [Indian] Supreme Court has ordered its implementation.
• Of its 29 states, nearly half were reported to have suffered from severe water crisis this dry season.
• The federal government in Delhi has had to send trains carrying water to the worst affected places.

 

 SOURCES WHICH MAY BE RELEVANT TO OTHER DISCUSSION:

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• The Next Step in Animal Welfare? Breed a Better Chicken, by Maryn McKenna, (nationalgeographic.com) March 24, 2016
  • A … program … announced last week by the Global Animal Partnership, a nonprofit that works with farmers and retailers to improve animal welfare, asks chicken farmers to change the breeds of the birds they are raising to a more hardy, slower-growing breed. …
  • So what the new GAP standard asks producers and retailers to do is to switch to broilers that have been bred to grow more slowly and in a more balanced manner: gaining no more than 50 grams of weight per day, which translates to a bird that lives 56-62 days instead of 35-42.
  • To investigate whether the change was feasible, GAP commissioned a working group of major chicken producers… , and involved Whole Foods, which evaluates all its meat purchases using the 5-step GAP scale. “All of our suppliers were interested…’” [said] Theo Weening, Whole Foods’ global meat buyer… “Some of them had long histories in the chicken industry, and they remembered when chickens were slower-growing and had more flavor. So when GAP came up with the standard, I went back to the suppliers, and they said, let’s work together, instead of having one guy make it to the finish line first.”
• What Are Cats Trying to Tell Us? Science Will Explain, By Carrie Arnold [National Geographic] PUBLISHED March 28, 2016
  • Nearly all New York State pet owners talk to their pets like they’re fellow humans, according to a recent poll.  Many believe their dogs and cats can respond with barks or meows that communicate hunger, fear, or simply the need to pee.  But do the animals tawk back in a Brooklyn accent? That’s the sort of thing Swedish cat lover and phonetics researcher Suzanne Schötz is working to find out. After executing this strategy on every government program except the military and corporate welfare, is it now the turn of the Supreme Court?
• The Science of Meow: Study to Look at How Cats Talk: A new project is underway to decode kitty communication—and figure out if cats really like all that baby talk.
  • What Are Cats Trying to Tell Us? Science Will Explain
    [National Geographic Society]:

• The dos and don’ts of open carry, By Robert Arnold – Investigative Reporter (click2houston.com) Posted: 9:37 AM, December 31, 2015 Updated: 10:04 AM, December 31, 2015
• TERMINOLOGIES: Words Matter
  • The term “Conservative” is so inaccurate as currently used by the Media, the Media and all of us really need to rethink their classifications and terminology.
  • There are Liberals/Progressives and there are Conservatives. Both of those are fine and serve a useful purpose in civil opposition to each other.
  • Today’s “Conservatives” are conservative in name only

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