Rethinking Politics

67: Bail Reform, Domestic Abuse. & Justice

What does Chrystal Kizer have in common with Darrel Brooks? Not much honestly. One killed her trafficker when she was seventeen, the other was a repeat offender who ran over and killed several people while injuring many others. But they are both getting attention because their cases are glaring examples of serious flaws in our current criminal justice system.In this episode we look at these cases as well as several others to see how we can get more justice from the criminal justice system.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Logan Weaver on Unsplash

66: The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict

After three days of deliberations, the jury found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts. Which for the most part, puts an end to this case. But the political fallout from this case has just started. So in this episode we discuss what should be straightforward facts of the case that are constantly confused and how so many are drawing their own conclusions based on political ideology rather than reality. We also cover what self defense actually means, and how it applies in this case. 

 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: CNN

65: The Rittenhouse Trial, Herd Immunity, & Higher Education.

With the jury still deliberating and the nation holding its breath, we discuss the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. We also discuss the CDC's change in goal posts for Covid 19 and the newly announced University of Austin. 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News via AP, Pool

Resources:

https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2021-11-12/cdc-shifts-pandemic-goals-away-from-reaching-herd-immunity 

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/new-data-on-covid-19-transmission-by-vaccinated-individuals 

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1027198500/the-potential-implications-of-not-tracking-breakthrough-cases 

https://usafacts.org/visualizations/covid-vaccine-tracker-states/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ND-COVID-Vaccine&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4b2MBhD2ARIsAIrcB-TLIIfaZ5B2sj3xtfdbaDm28j9KBm8-HxkSvNHdDlViaQth_LZAptUaArBkEALw_wcB 

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/covid-cases.html?name=styln-coronavirus®ion=TOP_BANNER&block=storyline_menu_recirc&action=click&pgtype=Interactive&variant=1_Show&is_new=false 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/effectiveness/work.html

 

64: Infrastructure, Vaccine Mandate, & The Republican Resurgence

We are less than halfway through, yet November has already been a crazy month for politics. The House finally passed the Infrastructure Bill that Biden had been struggling to get through, OSHA finally released the Vaccine Mandate for businesses, and the November 2nd elections were a Republican tidal wave. In this episode, we take a look at these developments and offer our analysis of where all of this is going. We also discuss the factions within both parties and specifically what a future Republican Tyranny could look like. 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Hayley Tschetter on Wikimedia Commons

Resources:
Data referenced regarding Covid Vaccine hesitancy -
https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.07.20.21260795v1.full.pdf

63: Singapore & Other Market Economies

In this episode Brad and Dan take a look at an argument that is frequently used in favor of central planning as opposed to an unrestricted market. That argument is this: look at all of the well off and successful socialist modern utopia like Singapore and Sweden, they are much better off than the US using a free market system. To answer this we use a couple of data sets to analyze the differences in the economies of several different nations and consider the causes of their prosperity.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Mike Enerio on Unsplash

https://www.heritage.org/index/ranking https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/economic-freedom

62: Stagflation & The Shipping Crisis

We are back!!! We began by catching up on a few current events we've missed. We go through everything from Trump's media company to Joe Rogen duking it out with CNN. Then we get to the meat of the episode where we discussed the current "stagflation" and supply chain issues with shipping.

 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Dominik Lückmann on Unsplash

https://cei.org/blog/why-dont-u-s-ports-operate-24-7-ask-the-unions/

https://fee.org/articles/biden-thanks-unions-for-promising-to-help-solve-a-supply-chain-mess-they-created/?utm_source=zapier&fbclid=IwAR08vL2z_i1aYrJgmK0IlWP4XNeav_6A8HkkKhT_rOljDC5fwRKPDZtaaig

https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-dockworker-pay-20150301-story.html

61: Afghanistan & Those Left Behind

Whether or not we should have left Afghanistan, we certainly should not have left in the way that we did. And we especially should not be actively trying to stop those who want to get out like the US state department has done. In this episode, we discuss some of the stories of those who have escaped, the massive failure of the bureaucracy to allow others to get out, and some of the heinous acts the State Department may have committed to prevent private efforts to help.

 

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod

Referenced Articles & Resources

https://www.cnn.com/2021/09/22/politics/lawmakers-storm-out-afghanistan-briefing/index.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2021/08/25/us/politics/eviction-rental-assistance.amp.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/left-behind-afghanistan-immigrant-visas-11631473668https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnews.com/politics/blinken-americans-stranded-afghanistan-withdrawal.amp

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/us-visas/immigrate/special-immg-visa-afghans-employed-us-gov.html

60: The Rise of China?

If you're listening to any of the most popular political commentaries today, you've probably heard about the rising threat of modern China. In this episode, we take a look at recent events in the Chinese economy like Evergrande and how their system will affect their power as a player in the international scene in the future.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Hanny Naibaho on Unsplash

 

59: The Vaccine Mandate & Why It Has Anything To Do With OSHA

Everyone is familiar with Biden's proposed vaccine mandate and the arguments about the pros and cons are already pretty well laid out. So today we discuss how we got to this point. How haver we reached a place where an organization like OSHA is issuing vaccine mandates and the CDC creates rental policy? We then discuss what is so dangerous about this bureaucratic system and some of the alternatives.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Pop & Zebra on Unsplash

58: Is Abortion Murder?

With the new Texas abortion law going into effect, abortion is once again a hot topic. In this episode, we look at this new Texas law and the history of Roe v. Wade. While we cover the constitutional questions, we focus on the moral questions beyond the political rhetoric and explore where the legal system could develop these ideas further.

Music: Beauty Flow by Kevin Macleod
Photo: Camylla Battani on Unsplash