Radio Free Oz: Is There A Brain Under That Squirrel? Week Of 5-2-2011
Mon, 02 May 2011 11:30:36
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Is There A Brain Under That Squirrel? Week Of 5-2-2011
Once again I find myself without my other half. David is recuperating from a dose of the crud, brought on by Whidbey Island's coldest and wettest spring. So I rant and rave on my lonesome; although it's hardly lonesome when I conjure up all the Ozinears on the other end of the podcast line.
This show kicks off with a look at America through the lens of Kevin Phillip's criteria for an empire in decline; the rise of fundamental religions, the blurring of the line between church and state, the effort to replace science with faith, the proliferation of foreign wars (often cloaked in religious symbolism) and a rapid increase in national and personal debt. Well, Bucko, this certainly is us.
I do a quick take on the week in review. Haley Barbour bows out of the race for the Republican nomination-all belly, no fire. The President trots out his birth certificate to prove he's not a crypto Kenyan anti-imperialist schooled in an Indonesian madrasa. In all fairness, we should require The Donald to take off his toupee to prove there's a human brain under that $5000 squirrel.
Lest we forget, Afghanistan grinds on. To set the scene, I play Oh, Afghanistan an RFO collage from a year ago when Wikileaks released the tape of the TV journalist being wasted by a U.S. Helicopter, operating on faulty intelligence. And, of course, we're paying for this imperial nightmare. The average, single tax payer making fifty grand a year throws $1700 of their taxes into the war chest, and couples shell out almost $5000 to keep the folly rolling. I play Jack Knauer's Johnny Got His Gun to complete the segment on a proper note.
On to talk about hard times on the home front. Average Janes and Joes are choosing between eating or paying the rent; a Michigan State Senator introduces a bill to force children on welfare to buy their clothiers at thrift stores and CETI closes down for lack of funds, just before we got that formula for cold fusion in a bottle from outer space.
Enough trolling the woe for now. Please remember to press the Big Green Button on the left over there that keeps us on the Web. I'll be back next week with David in tow. And remember, we're going to get through this thing together.