Talking iPINIONS

Episode 38: PSA: Cigarettes Worse than Plastics? Hail, Wangari Maathai!

It is self-evident that smoking cigarettes is far more hazardous to your health than drinking alcohol. But America’s ill-fated attempt to prohibit drinking means it will never attempt to prohibit smoking.
Yet, smoking has become variously illegal and taboo in so many places, smokers must be experiencing what life was like for drinkers during Prohibition. But you need only look at the way cigarette litter competes with plastic debris – everywhere from sidewalks to coral reefs – to know that the absence of smoke does not mean the absence of smokers. And too often their hazards manifest in the wildfires their cigarette butts ignite.
This is why the planting-trees initiatives Nobel Laureate Wangarai Maathai pioneered remains necessary to help us breathe in so many respects.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  15 min 07 sec

Episode 37: Pentagon Papers at 50 re Afghanistan (Trump, Orwell, Carlson, and Race?)

Revelations in the Pentagon Papers about the Vietnam War gave Americans just cause to distrust their government like never before. But then came, among other things, Watergate, Iran Contra, WMDs, and, coming full circle, the “Afghanistan Papers.”
Nevertheless, no amount of cynicism could have prepared any American for the distrust former President Trump caused every time he opened his mouth. But then came, among other things, revelations in Bob Woodward’s book about Covid-19. Because they gave Americans just cause to believe the man was a genocidal megalomaniac and government officials little more than his kakistocratic flunkies.
Yet, remarkably, instead of being treated like a pariah from sea to shining sea, millions of Americans treat him variously like a cult leader and a de-facto president of the United States.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  27 min 49 sec

Episode 36: Online Comments and the Fate of Democracy

Nothing reflects the fracturing of democracy and erosion of civil society quite like political debate on Cable TV; nothing that is, except the comments section on most news and social-media sites.
It is truly a remarkable thing to witness people – who speak the same language – become utterly incomprehensible to each other. And the funny, sad, and ominous thing is that the key to understanding in each case is being in a Republican or Democratic echo chamber – that now defines and reinforces partisan views on everything from abortion to sports.
I’d say Americans would be well-advised to learn from the Babylonians – who got too big for their britches with their Tower of Babel, or from the Romans – who bit off more than they could chew with their hegemonic empire. But the forces conspiring to test the fate of democracy are so unique that nothing compares. So, with a Civil War II looming, I can only say God help America.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  27 min 10 sec

Episode 35: Mickelson Is Golf’s Oldest Champion, But He’s No Tiger

It seemed the whole wide world of sports was cheering for Phil Mickelson to win the recent PGA Championship. But I don’t mind admitting that I was also thinking about Tiger Woods. Remember him…?
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  12 min 18 sec

Episode 34: Apple Is the Apple of China’s Eye on Its Citizens

It’s a curious thing to see corporations like Apple defiantly champion civil liberties in America only to obediently help government authorities squash them in China. But that is precisely what they’ve been doing for decades without any hint of compunction or hypocrisy.
Yet what is truly remarkable is that those corporations can credibly assert that they are only following down the primrose path the US government set in its dealings with China. In other words, it’s not just US corporations but the government itself that is continually bending over backwards to do business with China on its terms.
Is it any wonder, then, that China is telegraphing its intent to wield the kind of power and influence throughout the twenty-first century that America wielded throughout the twentieth - only with a decidedly autocratic style?
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  28 min 58 sec

Episode 33: Biden’s Foreign Policy ‘A-Team’ Is Failing Him

Truth be told, Joe Biden couldn’t do worse on the foreign policy front than Donald Trump if he tried. As it happened, though, he practically cured all the damage  Trump’s policies caused by signing a series of Executive Orders during his first days in office.
For a foreign policy team hailed as the best in decades, however, there have been some surprising errors – of commission and omission.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  33 min 11 sec

Episode 32: LeBron Is Good, but He’ll Never Be Great. Dr. J Says So

Every basketball fan worth their salt has debated picks for all-time NBA greats. And no doubt 99.9 percent of them have included LeBron James on their team. That’s why Dr. J was branded everything from hater to heretic for daring to exclude LeBron from his.
As it happens, though, I agree with Dr. J. But, as Paul Harvey might say, listen now for the rest of the story.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  17 min 54 sec

Episode 31: Earth Day 2021

The inconvenient truth is that, despite increasing alarms, Earth is not hanging in the balance. This was thrown into reassuring relief just last year. That’s when only a few months of Covid lockdown resulted in clean air and water not seen in years.
This is why I’ve always championed environmental efforts that focus more on respecting, protecting, and conserving Mother Nature than on new technologies to combat climate change. Not to mention the manifest truth that the best way to reduce pollution is to reduce poverty.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  26 min 50 sec

Episode 30: UPDATE: Jury Finds Cop Who Killed George Floyd Guilty

When the judge read the verdict, it seemed all of America exhaled a collective breath of relief. But, within hours, reports of another white cop killing yet another Black man made that relief all too brief.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  9 min 38 sec

Episode 29: American Menace: White Cops Killing Black Men

The infamous killing of George Floyd shocked the world. But it just reflected the reality of the relationship between white cops and Black men in America.
Most Americans see that reality, vent outrage, and demand better training for white cops to save Black lives. I see that reality, vent outrage, and implore Black men to do what is necessary to save their own lives.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  30 min 59 sec

Episode 28: NCAA Basketball Displayed More Sexism Than Talent (#BoycottBeijingOlympics?)

The men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments played out over the past few weeks. But chances are the only “March Madness” you watched of the women’s stemmed from a viral video showing how the NCAA was treating them like second-class athletes.
Most notably, it showed the food and training facility the NCAA provided for the women, which looked like they were hastily arranged for migrants at a border camp. This, especially when it then showed the food and training facility the NCAA provided for the men, which looked like a buffet on a five-star cruise liner and a LA fitness room, respectively.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  24 min 55 sec

Episode 27: My Good Friday Sermon

If Easter rituals bore you to distraction, you’re not alone. Pope Francis is holding ceremonies to mark Holy Week in a practically empty St. Peter’s Square for the second consecutive year. You might think this merely reflects travel and other Covid-19 restrictions. But it’s also a metaphor for growing disillusionment with organized religion worldwide.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:   9 min 49 sec

Episode 26: Armageddon Bargain Between (White) Evangelicals and Jews

Would you embrace someone who vows as an article of faith that you must convert to his religion or perish in Hell? Why do you suppose so many Jews do?
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  12 min 48 sec

Episode 25: Dissing the Grammys (and Other Award Shows)

Chris Rock once famously joked that only gays and women watch the Oscars. That was politically incorrect to be sure, but he had a point – not just about the Oscars but all entertainment award shows. Because, unless you’re interested in their red-carpet fashion shows, none of them give you much reason to watch.
Oh, did I mention credible claims that they’re all rigged…?
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:   19 min 02 sec

Episode 24: Democracy Matron Aung San Suu Kyi Went to Bed with Military Dogs…

Aung San Suu Kyi was once as revered as saintly leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. Therefore, it is a stunning measure of her fall from grace that she is now as reviled as tin-pot dictators like Pol Pot and Idi Amin.
Listeners have accused me of giving away too much in these show notes. So I’ll end by noting that this episode shows how I was damning Suu Kyi when no less a person than former President Barack Obama was still (literally) embracing her.
Contact:
ipinionsj@gmail.com
Length:  22 min 54 sec