Description
Common Sense 250 – Fear the Automatons!
Description: For some reason, Dan is not afraid of North Koreans. There’s obviously something wrong with him. But you knew that already.
Show Notes: None
Common Sense 251 – Self-Inflicted Defensive Wounds
Description: A bombing at the Boston Marathon renews calls for extreme measures to combat terrorism. Can this go too far? If it does, can we ever dial the process back to saner levels?
Show Notes: None
Common Sense 252 – The Emasculated Rulers
Description: The People are supposed to govern the United States. But in so many crucial areas We, The People have virtually no input or control over the direction policy takes. Can this be remedied? Dan wonders…
Common Sense 253 – Probing the President
Description: Dan analyzes the three main scandals currently plaguing the Obama Administration. He breaks them down individually while trying to put them in a historical context.
Show Notes: 1.”Top IRS official didn’t reveal tea party targeting” by Stephen Ohlemacher, Associated Press, May 14, 2013.
2.”Gov’t obtains wide AP phone records in probe” by Mark Sherman for The Associated Press, May 13, 2013.
3.”White House tiptoes around Justice phone record seizure” by Aamer Madhani and Kevin Johnson for the Associated Press, May 14, 2013.
Common Sense 254 – Overdue Conversations
Description: Dan finally gets his wish granted when the President addresses key holes in the entire premise behind the War on Terror. Now what?
Show Notes: 1.“Obama refocuses terror threat to pre-9/11 level” by Robert Burns for the Associated Press, May 25, 2013.
2.”Pivoting From a War Footing, Obama Acts to Curtail Drones” by Peter Baker for The New York Times, May 23, 2013
Common Sense 255 – The Big Long Surveillance Show
Description: One of the largest leaks of classified information ever divulged about U.S. Government clandestine surveillance and monitoring efforts hits the media, confirming many things Dan has said over the years.
Show Notes: 1.”NSA collecting phone records of millions of Verizon customers daily” By Glenn Greenwald for the (UK) Guardian, June 6, 2013.
2.”Obama orders US to draw up overseas target list for cyber-attacks” By Glenn Greenwald for the (UK) Guardian, June 7, 2013.
3.”NSA Prism program taps in to user data of Apple, Google and others” By Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill for the (UK) Guardian, June 7, 2013.
4.”Boundless Informant: the NSA’s secret tool to track global surveillance data”by Glenn Greenwald and Ewen MacAskill for the (UK) Guardian, June 9, 2013.
5.”Edward Snowden: the whistleblower behind the NSA surveillance revelations” by Glenn Greenwald, Ewen MacAskill and Laura Poitras for the (UK) Guardian, June 9, 2013.
6.”NSA Whistleblowers: “All U.S. Citizens” Targeted by Surveillance Program, Not Just Verizon Customers” -Television, aired June 6, 2013. (transcript)
7.”Supreme Court throws out NSA surveillance case” by Declan McCullagh for CNET News, February 26, 2013
8.”Dirty Bomb Blows Liberty” by Al Lewis for The Wall Street Journal, June 8, 2013.
9.”Listening In” by Seymour M. Hersh for The New Yorker, May 29, 2006
Common Sense 256 – Subverting Reform
Description: Recent revelations have made more clear the scope of government surveillance and monitoring of foreigners and citizens. In this show, Dan takes the conversation to the next level.
Show Notes: 1.”A Former President Suggests Self-Censorship; What Does That Mean for America?” by Linda Lewis for Boiling Frogs Media, Friday, 21. June 2013.
2. John F. Kennedy Address on the first Anniversary of the Alliance for Progress March 13, 1962
Common Sense 257 – Monopolizing the Democracy
Description: Dan’s always been a vociferous opponent of the political duopoly in the U.S….now a David Brooks column about the recent Coup in Egypt has Dan drawing comparisons to what Brooks said about Egypt that Dan feels might apply to the U.S. as well.
Show Notes: 1.”Defending the Coup” by David Brooks for The New York Times, July 4, 2013
Common Sense 258 – Snow Storm
Description: The ripples created by Edward Snowden’s leaks continue to impact the U.S. government and electorate. In a show where Dan reads a lot to you he breaks down how the controversial Snowden has already changed things for the better.
Show Notes: 1.”Exclusive: U.S. directs agents to cover up program used to investigate Americans” by John Shiffman and Kristina Cooke for Reuters News Service, Aug 5, 2013
2.”Momentum Builds Against N.S.A. Surveillance” By JONATHAN WEISMAN for The New York Times , July 28, 2013
3.”Members of Congress denied access to basic information about NSA” By Glenn Greenwald for The Guardian, August 4, 2013
4.”Poll Shows Voter Bi-Partisan Split Mirrors House Vote on NSA” by Jared Metzker for Antiwar.com, July 26, 2013
Common Sense 259 – Arab Spring Fever
Description: Egypt’s version of the Arab Spring seems to be on the verge of unraveling. Dan details the unique challenges of Egyptian democracy and the stakes for The West in the struggle for Islamic representative government.
Show Notes: None
Common Sense 260 – An Army of One
Description: Can a U.S. president take his nation into war by himself? The Syrian conflict may prove to be a test case to determine if any checks still exists on the war making authority of the Executive Branch of government.
Show Notes: 1.”Syria: Outrage is Not a Strategy” Michael Yon blog, September 2 , 2013
2.”Obama’s proposal seeks broad war power despite vow of limits” by Michael Doyle for McClatchy News Service, September 1, 2013
3.”Syria: it takes more courage to say there is nothing outsiders can do” by Simon Jenkins for the Guardian Newspaper, August 29, 2013.
Common Sense 261 – Doomed to Mediocrity
Description: Part Deux of the Syrian Red Line affair, plus a few other stories that got Dan thinking.
Show Notes: 1.”Students offered grants if they tweet pro-Israeli propaganda” by Brian Lynfield for the (UK) Independent, August 13, 2013
2.”Israel to pay students to defend it online” by Daniel Estrin for the Associated Press (and The Detroit News), August 14, 2013
3.”Spy Kids” by Charles Stross for Foreign Policy Magazine, August 28, 2013
Common Sense 262 – The Shutdown Sideshow
Description: While all eyes are focused on the temporary politically-motivated partial shutdown of the federal government, Dan laments that a more dangerous societal cancer is festering under the national radar.
Show Notes: None
Common Sense 263 – Press Clippings
Description: The announcement of the creation of a new investigative news outlet involving the founder of eBay has Dan excited.He has to go back into his archives to find SOME of the many audio clips where he’s dreamed of this.
Show Notes: None
Common Sense 264 – Speak No Evil
Description: Banks and Big Business might not be happy with the populist rhetoric they get from far Right and Left candidates in the 2016 presidential race. Dan, of course, likes the head-on clash of ideas. Also Obamacare and NSA spying.
Show Notes: 1.”The sin of omission in Obamacare” By Kathleen Parker for The Washington Post, November 5, 2013.
2.”Wall Street’s nightmare: President Elizabeth Warren” by Ben White and Maggie Haberman for Politico.com, November 11, 2013
3.”David Eckert Appears To Clench His Buttocks; Cops Order Enemas, Colonoscopy, X-Ray For Non-Existent Drugs” by Staff, November 5, 2013.
Common Sense 265 – Old School Whistle-Blowing
Description: William Binney was an NSA official for three decades before he turned his life upside down by becoming one of the most prominent whistle-blowers in the history of U.S. Intelligence. Dan talks to him about surveillance, spying, secrecy and Edward Snowden.
Show Notes: None
Common Sense 266 – Vampiric Memories
Description: A show that was supposed to be about Pope Francis goes wildly off course as emotions from Dan’s younger days are awakened and lead to a diatribe against the outcomes of U.S. interventions in the last century.
Show Notes: None
Common Sense 267 – Magic Lamp Loopholes
Description: 2013 might have been a truly pivotal year if only Dan had thought to have his attorney present when making wishes to genies. Nonetheless, he had two big wishes come true. Sort of.
The complete rulings of the two court cases cited in the episode:
Washington DC Court Case
New York Court Case
Common Sense 268 – Neutral Nets & Reform Bets
Description: President Obama floats some reform ideas for the gathering of data by the NSA and a judge strikes a blow against Net Neutrality. Dan has a few long-winded thoughts on both these subjects.
Show Notes: None
Common Sense 269 – The Challenges of Living Dangerously
Description: The death of actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman has Dan contemplating how society might better handle the vagaries of human nature if we would be honest about what human beings often want.
Show Notes: None
Common Sense 270 – Poking the Bear
Description: Ukraine has erupted in violence as protesters in Kiev oust the country’s leader. Dan thinks U.S. efforts to clandestinely support or encourage one side of the conflict are dangerously short sighted.
Common Sense 271 – Cashing the Doomsday Cheque
Description: In the wake of Russia’s occupation of the Crimea, Dan thinks that NATO has had an “exposure moment”.How can NATO nations be protected without triggering World War 3? Dan has some radical thoughts on the subject.
Show Notes: None
Common Sense 272 – Vlad and Dianne
Description: Russia annexes the Crimea and the intelligence community’s biggest supporter, Sen. Feinstein turns against the CIA. How can Dan choose between these two stories? He doesn’t. He deals with both of them in this episode.
Common Sense 273 – Auctioning the Republic
Description: The Supreme Court says trading campaign contributions for political influence isn’t a bug in the U.S. system, it’s a feature. Dan weighs in on the ramifications of such a decision. Also, Cuban Twitter isn’t so Cuban.
Show Notes: 1. Text of Supreme Court decisionMcCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission
2. “US defends ‘Cuban Twitter’ creation” by Desmond Butler, Jack Gillum and Alberto Arce for the Associated Press, April 3, 2014.
Common Sense 274 – The Wages of Fear
Description: Should police need a warrant to search the cellphones of arrested individuals? The Supreme Court is debating it and Dan is using it as a springboard to discuss the how our fear is affecting the 4th Amendment.
Show Notes: 1. “Supreme Court Considers Limits On Warrantless Cellphone Searches”by Nina Totenberg for NPR News, April 29, 2014
2. Supreme Court: Pennsylvania cops no longer need a warrant to search citizens’ vehicles” by Brett Hambright for the Lancaster Newspapers, May 1, 2014.
3. “Obama Administration Argues Cell Phone Searches to Court” by John Amaruso, for Liberty Voice, April 30, 2014.
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