Category: Billionaires

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Bidenomics Billionaires Climate Climate Lawsuits Climate Reparations Democratic Party Electoral Politics Episode Eruption Health Insurance Medical Marijuana Montana Tonga WSUM

TMI 08/18/2023 – How Betting the Campaign on “Bidenomics” is a Mistake, Montana Agrees It Owes Its Youth for Their Climate Future, Medical Marijuana Lowers Premiums and more

The re-election campaign of President Joe Biden is all in on “Bidenomics” as the core acheivement of the President’s first four years, and that’s backed up by macro-economic indicators. However, that’s only true because the AVERAGE economic outlook has been imporvaed only by how much STAGGERINGLY better the billionaires are doing – most of the rest of us aren’t feeling it.

Then, we look at how last year’s eruption in Tonga is adding to the human-made climate crisis and how Montana’s courts are agreeing with young climate activists: the state OWES them a better climate future.

Finally, we look at how studies are showing the opposite of the doomsayers’ predictions about medical marijuana – it is LOWERING health insurance premiums in those states that have it! All this and more on TMI for Friday, August 18, 2023 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

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Astronomy Big Oil Billionaires Capitalism Climate Corporate Malfeasance Dave Black disinformation Drought Episode Media misinformation NOAA Political Language Science Space WSUM

TMI 02/18/2022 – Dave Black Passes, Southwest Megadrought, How PR Has Gaslit Us All on the Environment, Supercomputer Successfully Simulates Entire Universe, More

Dave Black, founder of WSUM here in Madison, Wisconsin, and one of the key people who helped get TMI on the airwaves, has died less than one year after his retirement. While we shall spend most of this episode on other topics, I refused to go further without honoring the passing of this dedicated media visionary. Thank you for humoring me.

Then, we talk about the dry facts surrounding the drought the southwest United States has been suffering though, including how it can be considered the worst in recorded history by several measures. Next, we examine how the very framework we use on a daily basis to talk about environmental issues has been corrupted for over 50 years now to shift as much of the blame away from corporate responsibility as possible. Finally, we briefly go over how for the first time, computer modeling has been able to successfully simulate the universe from the Big Bang through to its present state. All this and much more on TMI for Friday, February 18, 2022 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

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Billionaires Blue Origin Elon Musk Episode Free Jeff Bezos Josh Wardle Mars Migration New York Times Space SpaceX Wordle WSUM

TMI 02/04/2022 – Wordle Wants to be Free, Reign of the Space Lords, More

From its origins just a few months ago until now, Wordle has become the simple little online game that took over many people’s Facebook newsfeeds and more – just in time for the New York Times to swoop in and buy it from Josh Wardle. Oh, the NYT promises it will remain free… for an introductory period. Mr. Wardle couldn’t rightly turn down the money thrown at him, but wonders why we can’t just have nice free things? Turns out you can – we explain how.

Then, once the domain of governmental achievement, the space race has become the realm of – and plaything of – the hyper-wealthy. These “space lords” all have flowery language to describe their visions of the future, but a quick look at their own past and present shows that we may not enjoy the actual outcomes that result from their designs. We discuss all this and much more on TMI for Friday, February 4, 2022 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

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Astronomy Billionaires Build Back Better Act COVID-19 Democratic Party disinformation Episode Joe Biden Joe Manchin Koch Kyrsten Sinema Obstruction Rotating Villains WSUM

TMI 12/24/2021 – Build Back Better Busted by Big Bad Bureaucrats, Universal Expansion Outpaces Previous Predictions, Koch Hijacks COVID Conversations, More

Right on cue, Senators Sinema and Manchin show President Biden that his supposed ability to know how to get things done in DC is sorely outdated, as his Build Back Better bill gets halted by the latest rotating villains in the Democratic Party. Then, astrophysicists were pretty dang certain they had a firm grasp on how fast the universe was expanding, until new recalculations show the cosmos spreading apart at a rate previously unheard of. Finally, there may be only one Koch brother left alive, but he and his money have been poured into higher education – not a good thing when the goal of these funds is to set up think tanks designed to show that lockdowns, social distancing, masking and more were “a debacle”. All this and more on TMI for Friday, December 24, 2021 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

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Billionaires Episode Germany Global Politics Housing Crisis Landlords Panama Papers Pandora Papers Tax Evasion WSUM

TMI 10/08/2021 – Berlin Renters Claim Victory Against Housing Crisis, an Overview of the Pandora Papers

On today’s episode, we take you to Germany, where an unprecedented victory was scored by a movement of renters seeking to keep the housing crisis in the city of Berlin under control by forcing the government to claim over 200,000 rental units out of the hands of the landlords who have been mercilessly raising rents well above the renters’ ability to pay.

Then, we examine the Pandora Papers, a revelation that makes 2016’s Panama Papers scandal seem tiny as it documents precisely how the richest of the world keep their money from benefitting anyone but themselves, escaping taxation and even validation of the precise amounts of wealth they possess. All this and more on TMI for Friday, October 8, 2021 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

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Billionaires Climate Episode Gabby Petito Global Politics Native Americans Objective News Political Language WSUM

TMI 9/24/2021 – ‘I’ vs. ‘We’ in the Fight Against Climate Change, Billionaire Taxation is Key, More than Gabby: Native Women Need More Attention When They Go Missing, News in Brief

Global Warming’s “tipping points” like Fires, Floods, Permafrost Melt, and other catastrophes appear absolutely unstoppable when framed with the oft-asked “what can _I_ do about it?” We show why this is the WRONG framework to use when tackling climate issues.

Then, we further go into how (MMT be damned) possibly one of the most KEY parts of solving the crisis is the taxation of the Billionaire class. Finally, we shed light on how, while it is perfectly good that Gabby Petito got the attention she did when she was “lost”, so many more Native women are lost with barely a mention in even the most local of media. All this and more on TMI with Aldous Tyler for Friday, September 24, 2021 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media.

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Best of TMI Billionaires Climate Episode Migration WSUM

TMI 08/20/2021 – Best of TMI 2020

Three favorite segments from TMI 2020:

You’ve heard how birds and other animals migrate because of climate, but what about people? We look into how the current rise of ocean levels, persistence of horrific wildfires and battering by terrible storms will be shaping where people choose to live – if they CAN choose to.

Then, billionaires get compared to a lot of naturally occurring niches in the ecosystem: predators, sure or parasites, even. However, I make the case that they are far less natural, as they get their outrageous wealth by essentially consuming their fellow human beings. That makes them cannibals.

Finally, we take a look NOT the solar year we call 2020, but the “cosmic year” – or how long it takes us to orbit around the center of our galaxy, and how things weren’t all that different the last time we were in this position, galactically. All this and more on TMI with Aldous Tyler for Friday, August 20, 2021 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media.

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Amazon Billionaires Capitol Building Attack Conspiracy theories COVID-19 Democratic Party disinformation Donald Trump Election Integrity Episode Fascism Freedom of Speech Freedom of the Press George Floyd GOP January 6 Joe Biden Kamala Harris Media misinformation Mitch McConnell Presidential Politics QAnon union Universal Health Care

TMI 04/02/2021 – Amazon Fights Unionization, American Democracy Stressed by 2020 Election

As efforts by the workforce at Amazon’s Bessemer, Alabama facility to join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union ramp up, Amazon has been engaging in dirty tactics to frighten, intimidate and bully their workers out of voting yes. While these tactics are used far too commonly nationwide against unions. Amazon was using their immense power to involve local police, the postal service and more.

Then, we examine how the tumultuous election of 2020 has strained the very structure of democracy here in the United States, and where these weak points can cause future trouble. All this and more on TMI for Friday April 2, 2021 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

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Billionaires Climate Corporate Malfeasance Donald Trump Episode Joe Biden Universal Health Care WSUM

TMI 03/12/2021 – Trump’s Traps to Trip Biden, Corporate Anti-Climate Spending Exposed, Billionaires Capture the Wealth We Need

Donald Trump promised to “drain the swamp” but conversely filled Washington DC with people loyal not to doing their job the best they can or to a sense of service to the Constitution, but to him and him alone. Finding these people and replacing them has become a major chore for the Biden administration, and we’ll discuss how.

Then: recent investigations into the tax filings of corporations, many of whom TALK about wanting to be greener, show that they give plenty of money to foundations, PACs and politicians whose aims are completely the opposite. Finally, we go over how billionaires could all STILL remain billionaires while having enough money put back into society to fund everything we need: infrastructure renewal, universal health care, ALL of it. They just DON’T WANT TO. All this and more on TMI for Friday, March 12, 2021! Listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!

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Amazon Antitrust Apple Artificial Intelligence Billionaires Carl Gibson Court Packing Election Integrity Episode Facebook Google Media Political Language Presidential Politics Science SCOTUS WSUM

TMI 10/24/2020 – Carl Gibson Packs the Courts, Same Words – Different Meaning, and Hey Google, What’s Antitrust?

On this episode of TMI:

Friend of the program Carl Gibson has a new piece out at the Independent called “The most democratic thing Joe Biden could do is pack the courts” – he joins us to discuss why this vilified idea is a good one.

Then, we talk about how the very same words often seem to have two completely different meanings depending on your political viewpoint – could Artificial Intelligence allow computers to help undo this language gridlock?

Finally, we break down the antitrust case being brought down on Google, and examine how other online giants like Amazon, Facebook and others may not be far behind. All this and more on TMI’s special Saturday edition for October 24, 2020 – listen in for YOUR Cure for the Common Media!