My Soapbox

In this episode I contemplate the utter stupidity of those who would follow Donald Trump’s advice to ingest or inject household cleaners like Lysol and Clorox to help treat Coronavirus Covid-19. This alone should render him both insane and un-electable. Should he win in 2020, I may officially give up hope in the American people. If people insist on being stupid about things and pushing conspiracy theories to undermine credible authorities like Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Surgeon General, the World Health Organization and numerous others, then that electorate will get 4 more years of exactly what they want - a reality television show host who is a serial liar and narcissist. If the dangerous, irresponsible, blame-game playing, non critical thinking and unconscionable way things have been handled by this administration during this crisis is not proof enough of Donald Trump’s utter incompetence I don’t know what would be. Also discussed is the promise of a drug Remdesivir for treating Covid-19, and my belief we need to put our entertainments, sports, and other non-essential activities aside and just settle in to give all of our human energy and ingenuity to overcoming or at least getting this crisis to a reasonably manageable level as soon as possible so the human community can move forward.

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In this episide, I discuss some of my issues with Donald Trump's handling of the Covid-19 situation by not responding soon enough to the crisis, and then scapegoating the World Health Organization (WHO) by charging them with the exact same criticisms leveled at him of mismanaging the crisis, and his subsequent decision to stop funding the World Health Organization. I talk about the hypocrisy of Trump wanting to "hold others accountable" while at the same time deflecting blame from himself and avoiding accountability by dismissing Glen Fine as the top watchdog for the Covid-19 2 trillion dollar stimulus package.  With this, I also cover House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's brilliant and concise public letter to her Democratic collegues in which she charged President Trump with missteps in handling the coronavirus pandemic that "caused unnecessary death and economic disaster" in the United States.  Also discussed is the fact that Covid-19 is not just an "elderly" disease, but actually hits obese individuals, including younger people in their 20s, and that some 42 percent of American adults, nearly 80 million people are obese - a prevalence rate far exceeding those of other countries hit hard by the virus such as China and Italy.  Also discussed is Trump's distrubing tacit or no-so-tacit endorsement of public state protests against the lockdown orders by governors, the selfishness, impatience, and entitlement of the American people, and some of the problems with tradeoffs and balancing quality of life and human flourishing with slowing the rapid spread of Covid-19. 

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In this episode, I discuss some of the church service we had today at the church where I work as a musician. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the social distancing guidelines, we put on an outdoor Easter Sunday service in which church members arrived and sat in their vehicles to see and hear the service. I talk about what I consider to be the true meaning of Easter Sunday in the Christian sense - that it comes down to the ego - to the self and the preservation of the self in an imaginary "otherworldly realm" after we die in exchange for believing in the "necessary sacrifice" of God's son to "pay the price" for human beings being "bad people" or at least sinful people, which makes no sense in light of the reality of both ego and free will being illusory.  

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In this podcast episode I explosively react to the unconscionable removal by Donald Trump of acting Pentagon Inspector General Glen Fine as the top watchdog for the Covid-19 2 trillion dollar stimulus package. It seems clear to me Mr. Trump has something to hide as he refuses once again to be held accountable and considers any oversight “an insult” after demonstrating himself to be time and again a lying narcissist who believes the rules don’t apply to him. Unfortunately they don’t seem to apply to him when the bought-and-paid for Republican Senate didn’t finish the job of removing Trump from office after his impeachment. The fact those who CAN hold Trump accountable refuses to do brings me to the conclusion they are having their palms greased in the most unconscionable display of human greed, narcissism, and out of control egotism in American history as far as I can tell.

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In this episode I discuss the latest but certainly not the greatest of the Covid-19 outbreak, Trumps’ predictable change of mind and refusing to wear a face mask in public per the most recent advice of the CDC. I also speak of Trumps’ poor leadership by leaving quarantine and shelter in place orders to the local and state governments, and some funny Covid-19 jokes for much-needed levity in this time of world crisis. I also reflect about the passing of long time radio color commentator Ed Farmer of the Chicago White Sox on April 1, 2020.

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In this episode I look again at the Coronavirus Covid-19 situation and some of the ways how it has completely changed the game if you will of how we are now living our lives in essential quarantine within our homes. I also discuss the latest harrowing statistics and why it is I believe this will go on for months - not weeks, and with that, why even the “pushed back” date of April 30 to relax social distancing will almost certainly not be nearly enough time.

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In this episode I express some of my thoughts on the increasingly relevant ethical question on how to best balance our economic concerns with public/world health concerns, my opinion that human life is not expendable, and ask the question who are we to judge who is “expendable” and who is not. I also talk about the new economic stimulus package of 2 TRILLION dollars which is to be injected into the US economy if it passes in the House of Representatives, and how if we do not take advantage of this opportunity and stay home until we can get a handle on this Covid-19 crisis, there is no telling where we will be a year from now.

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In this episode I reflect again on some of my feelings on the Coronavirus pandemic and Donald Trump’s alarming change of mind to wind down the social distancing campaign for the sake of the economy while downplaying the gravity and seriousness of this global pandemic. Donald Trump seems to believe we can both get the economy back to business while battling Coronavirus at the same time and that is not quite true. Short term sacrifices can lead to longer term benefits but premature termination of the social distancing campaign could be disastrous to our health care system and to the health of our country and world according to expert medical advice even up to the Surgeon General of the United States who emphatically urges social distancing. Also discussed is how the state governors such as Illinois Governor Pitzker have had to take the lead on handling this crisis in the absence of direction from Trump and the Federal Government. I also discuss some of the religious “explanations” for this health crisis, the contradiction of believing prayer and God are enough to heal illness while relying on doctors and medicine at the same time, etc.

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In this episode I reflect on several different topics including the new Coronavirus pandemic and it’s already far-reaching consequences, why just believing something without backup and/or evidence does not make it true or factual, remembrances of my dad on what would have been his 71st birthday today, the illusion of the self and therefore the illusion of life after death, etc.

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In this espisode I reflect on the latest podcast episode on Sean Carrol's "Mindscape" podcast in which he speaks with Laurie Paul, professor of philosophy and cognitive science at Yale University.  In this episide in which they speak about transformative experiences, they talk among other things about why such decisions which may lead to transfomative experiences such as getting married or having children are so difficult to make because we cannot predict the outcome of these decisions and how they will change who we are. In this episode I speak again about the illusion of the concept of a single, stable sense of self, and also talk about how it is we can at times perhaps be TOO open minded. From my vantage point, NOT all things are on the table, and I believe there are some things that are not going to change, such as the fundamental principles of stasis (consciousness) and change, as well as the non-dual nature of reality. 

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