This week on Curmudgeon's Corner, Sam and Ivan go lightning mode for the whole show, just covering a wide variety of random topics. Everything from some gripes about iOS, to the viral "me too" explosion, to Trump's ability to be empathetic, to the situation in Kurdistan, to our thoughts on a 35 year old Star Trek movie, to healthcare, to geoengineering, to variety in podcast listening... and much much more! We're all over the place this week, so there will almost certainly be something you enjoy!

Show Details:

Recorded 2017-10-20

Length this week - 2:02:35

(0:00:15-0:24:39) Lightning the First

Slow week?

iOS 11 Do not disturb while driving

Ivan's jetlag

Movie: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

SelectaVision

(0:25:59-1:05:29) Lightning the Second

Bipartisan healthcare proposal

OJ is out

Feedback

If there is a war

Sexual harassment

Workplace bias

(1:07:30-1:46:34) Lightning the Third

Flameless cremation

US in Niger

Trump's condolence call

General Kelly

Bump stocks again

Wifi encryption breach

California fires

Kaspersky

Patreon update!

Geoengineering

(1:48:05-2:02:16) Lightning the Fourth

Catalonia

Kurdistan

Somalia

Podcast listening

 

The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is "The Oh of Pleasure" (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is "Celestial Soda Pop" (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album "Deep Breakfast" (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

On this week's Curmudgeon's Corner, Sam and Ivan talk about Hong Kong, the Republicans who are starting to worry about Trump, Trump's executive actions on healthcare and Iran, and Harvey Weinstein. Oh. And Sam gets locked in his office. Fun times!

Show Details:

Recorded 2017-10-14

Length this week - 1:58:02

(0:01:05-0:23:08) But First

Agenda

Ivan in Hong Kong

Trump Puerto Rico comments

(0:24:24-1:03:55) Worried Republicans

Trump-Tillerson IQ challenge

Corker comments

Alex Interlude #1

Republicans containing Trump

Robert Reich post

Roy Moore

Breaking the wall

Trump understanding things

Downward spiral

Trump attacks on the press

Pence alternative

Fitness for duty

Alex Interlude #2

(1:05:04-1:32:44) Executive Actions

Birth control requirements

ACA Subsidies

Expanding low quality plans

3 in Three Interlude

Tradeoffs

Alex Interlude #3

Iran false start

Locking the door

Iran Deal

(1:35:28-1:52:31) Weinstein

More and more stories

Blaming the victim

Blocking the story

Impact of Trump

The Pence rule

Locked in

 

The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is "The Oh of Pleasure" (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is "Celestial Soda Pop" (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album "Deep Breakfast" (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

This week on Curmudgeon's Corner Sam and Ivan talk about the Las Vegas massacre, the Catalonian independence referendum, and the ongoing drama within the Trump administration... with this week's highlight of course being Tillerson calling Trump a moron. Before all of those topics though, updates from Ivan on the recovery from the recent natural disasters in both Mexico City and Puerto Rico.

Show Details:

Recorded 2017-10-05

Length this week - 2:09:59

(0:00:15-0:08:07) But First

Agenda

Mexico City Update

(0:08:46-0:47:21) Puerto Rico Update

How bad is it?

Bou rescue flight

Mass Migration

Still worried?

Death tolls

Mayor of San Juan

Trump's visit

(0:48:41-1:29:19) Las Vegas

A smaller scale event

Mass shootings vs individual shootings

The usual nothing on gun control?

Long term trends and divisions

The Vegas shooter and his plans

Victim stories

Amount of carnage

(1:29:56-1:49:43) Catalonia

Background

US Civil War comparison

Why not a legal mechanism

Problems with referendums

Predictions?

Implications for Europe

(1:50:59-2:09:39) Trump Administration Drama

Fucking Moron

Non-Denial Denial

Cabinet Suicide Pact

25th Amendment again

Mutiny on a nuke order?

Chaos presidency

Tax proposal

 

The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is "The Oh of Pleasure" (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is "Celestial Soda Pop" (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album "Deep Breakfast" (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

On this week's Curmudgeon's Corner, Ed joins Sam for a discussion on the disaster response in Puerto Rico, the tax reform debate, and the hubbub over NFL players kneeling for the anthem. In addition to those major topics, they also discuss the Trump administrations ongoing approach to Obamacare, energy usage trends, Secretary Price's private plane flights, a movie Sam saw, and more!

Show Details:

Recorded 2017-09-30

Length this week - 1:35:00

(0:00:15-0:07:12) But First

No Ivan

Agenda

Friendly Skies

(0:07:49-0:25:07) Puerto Rico

What is an island?

Situation getting worse

USNS Comfort

Military help?

Less attention

(0:25:48-0:48:46) Taxes

Obamacare Repeal done?

Simplification and reform

Cutting taxes

Sustainable growth

Wealth Distribution

Bipartisan approach possible?

Partisan gridlock

(0:49:55-1:06:36) Kneeling

What kneeling represents

What is being protested

Where is the right place?

Non-violence

Trump's intentions

Time for legislation?

(1:08:36-1:34:40) Potpourri

Obamacare sabotage

Obamacare fixes?

Julia Louis-Dreyfus cancer

Energy usage trends

Movie: An Inconvenient Sequel (2017)

Approaches to climate change

Artificial barriers to solar

Secretary Price flights

Deficit spending

 

The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is "The Oh of Pleasure" (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is "Celestial Soda Pop" (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album "Deep Breakfast" (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

This week on Curmudgeon's Corner, Sam and Ivan talk about Hurricane Maria, the Mexican earthquake, and all the latest Manafort news. Then they move onto a lightning round, with shorter bits on Trump at the UN, Trump vs ESPN, North Korea, Cassini, the Clinton Book, and more!

Show Details:

Recorded 2017-09-21

Length this week - 2:04:19

(0:00:40-0:11:28) But First

Agenda

Time zone challenges

Naps

(0:12:05-0:42:08) Natural Disasters

Hurricane Maria

Mexican Earthquake

Back to the hurricane

(0:42:47-1:11:13) Manafort

Four Stories

Manafort's history

Meuller's strategy

(1:12:33-2:03:59) Lightning Round

Movie: Cars 3 (2017)

Trump at the UN

North Korea

Trump and ESPN

Cassini

Clinton Book

iPhone Repair

Healthcare comes at you fast

 

The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is "The Oh of Pleasure" (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is "Celestial Soda Pop" (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album "Deep Breakfast" (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

On Curmudgeon's Corner this week, Sam and Ivan review the impacts of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, and compare to what Katrina looked like 12 years ago. Then they dive into politics, looking at Trumps latests dalliances with the Democrats and what should or should not be read into that, followed by a discussion on the latest efforts on healthcare from both the Republican and Democratic side. Then at the end, a discussion of this week's Apple announcements.

Show Details:

Recorded 2017-09-16

Length this week - 2:15:01

Turning 46

Agenda

Concorde

Irma in Florida

Irma in the Islands

Harvey and Irma vs Katrina

Weathering the storm

Nursing Home deaths

Making Deals

Schadenfreude

Transactional Trump

Is Trump Republican?

Democrats too happy?

Will this turn the R's?

He told you!

Equifax Tidbit

Bernie Plan

Graham-Cassidy

Fixing ACA?

Give Trump a win?

Apple Watch

AppleTV

iPhone 8

iPhone X

 

The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is "The Oh of Pleasure" (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is "Celestial Soda Pop" (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album "Deep Breakfast" (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

The week on Curmudgeon's Corner, Sam and Ivan talk about Ivan's evacuation from Florida in anticipation of Hurricane Irma, more general thoughts on Hurricane Irma as it approaches Florida, Trump's recent moves that are making Congressional Republicans upset, Information Warfare in the age of Facebook and Twitter, and finally the Equifax data breach.

Show Details:

Recorded 2017-09-09

Length this week - 1:54:32

(0:00:30-0:40:39) Hurricane Irma

Agenda

Ivan's Evacuation

Irma's size

pre-Florida Irma damage

Forecast uncertainty

Florida vs Texas

Evacuation decisions

Hurricanes and climate change

Preparations

One location vs another

(0:41:15-1:06:07) Trump vs Republicans

Pivot!

DACA

Debt Limit

Congressional reaction

Possibilities for centrist policies

Trump the Democrat?

Trusting Trump

Lack of understanding

Independant Trump?

(1:08:05-1:34:56) Facebook and Russians

Eric interlude

What Russians bought

Facebook reach per dollar

Facebook disclosure

Information warfare

Information bubbles

Reporting rules

(1:36:06-1:54:13) Equifax

Taking security seriously

Equifax data and impact

Privacy is dead

Informed consent?

Security is too annoying

 

The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is "The Oh of Pleasure" (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is "Celestial Soda Pop" (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album "Deep Breakfast" (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

On Curmudgeon's Corner this week guest cohost Ed joins Sam to discuss Hurricane Harvey, the pardon of Sheriff Joe, Schneiderman teaming up with Mueller, gerrymandering, and partisan sorting as their bigger topics. But they also touch on Sam wearing a suit for the first time in over a decade, the speakers at the event he went to, and the possibility of just paying Democrats to move to red states.

Show Details:

Recorded 2017-08-31

Length this week - 1:59:04

(0:01:30-0:29:19) But First

Agenda

Ed's athletics

Sam in a suit

Dem fundraiser speakers

Addition vs subtraction

(0:29:55-1:01:38) Hurricane Harvey

The damage

Nobody predicted?

Evacuation decisions

Planning for foods

Reactions to climate change

Trump's visit

Asian flooding

(1:02:47-1:26:00) Trump Stuff

Sheriff Joe

Schneiderman and Mueller

Moscow Trump Tower

(1:26:39-1:58:44) Gerrymandering and Such

The basics

Pennsylvania

Hard to change

But I like mine

Partisan sorting

Pay people to move?

Realignment

 

The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is "The Oh of Pleasure" (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is "Celestial Soda Pop" (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album "Deep Breakfast" (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

This week on Curmudgeon's Corner Sam and Ivan's main topics are the Republican Civil War that is brewing, and various Trump administration mini-scandals from the last week. But they also spend some time on the solar eclipse, MacBook Pros, Powerball, the military transgender ban, if Trump will have a primary challenger in 2020, the recent Navy crashes, Trump's Arizona speech, and more!

Show Details:

Recorded 2017-08-24

Length this week - 2:12:05

(0:00:36-0:28:02) But First

Agenda

Sam and the Eclipse

Ode to Macbook Pro

Powerball

(0:28:46-1:01:15) Republican Civil War

McConnell article

Cracks in the wall

Obstruction of Congress

Approval ratings

Trump agenda

Congressional agenda

(1:02:58-1:35:57) Mini-Scandals

Carl Icahn

Ryan Zinke

Louise Linton

Steven Mnuchin

Secret Service

Ben Carson

(1:36:36-2:11:45) Lightning Round

Movie: The Jungle Book (1967)

Military Transgender Ban

2020 primary challenge for Trump?

Navy Crashes

Trump's Arizona speech

Unstable Trump

 

The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is "The Oh of Pleasure" (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is "Celestial Soda Pop" (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album "Deep Breakfast" (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.

On this week's Curmudgeon's Corner, guest host Brandy joins Sam to talk about this week's news. The main topics for the week are of course the events in Charlottesville, everybody's reactions to Charlottesville, the reactions to the reactions to Charlottesville, and the debate over Nazis and free speech. In addition, they also discuss Bannon's departure, what that means to the administration, if we're heading toward an invocation of the 25th amendment, Bannon's "war"... and if the left should double down on their base or try to reach the Obama voters who flipped to Trump in 2016... and a few other things too.

Show Details:

Recorded 2017-08-19

Length this week - 2:26:15

(0:00:17-0:20:30) But First

Agenda

Intro to Brandy

Base vs Middle

Why Fire District?

(0:21:15-1:14:42) Charlottesville

What happened?

Why is this different?

Motivating resistance

Has Trump done damage?

Trump's reactions

Trump racist himself?

Why is anyone surprised?

Trump vs Pence

What can R's do?

What's next?

Provoking violence

(1:15:48-2:03:00) Free Speech and Nazis

Disclaimer

Why Charlottesville isn't a good example

Sam and Ivan conversation

Sam gets extreme on free speech

What about politicians and war?

Who gets to decide?

Judging entire groups

Actual speech vs symbols and code words

What about private speech, newspapers, websites?

Limits on government

How big is the threat?

Old doesn't mean good

(2:04:08-2:25:55) Bannon Out

Chaos or Improvement?

Kelly in control?

Trump and his Staff

Controlling Trump

25th Amendment

Bannon declaring war

Everything messy

 

The Curmudgeon's Corner theme music is generously provided by Ray Lynch.

Our intro is "The Oh of Pleasure" (Amazon MP3 link)

Our outro is "Celestial Soda Pop" (Amazon MP3 link)

Both are from the album "Deep Breakfast" (iTunes link)

Please buy his music and support his GoFundMe.