ISIS, Taxes & Strategy

23 November 2015 – The news just doesn’t ever seem to get any easier to watch, does it? With the horror of terrorism and the insanity of our nation quaking in fear at the prospect of extending our hearts to the very people who have fled the terrorists we so despise, it has been a long week. So much for that whole “…home of the brave…” thing, right! Maybe it’s just me but I do find it helps me to be able to cope when I can put it all into political, historical, economic and religious context. Middle East expert Landon Shroder (@LandonShroder on Twitter) is back again this week to help us with that. The on-air interview is just the beginning. There is more than an hour of additional insight in the Extra Mad (extended) podcast version. Having lived in Iraq for a number of years, Landon has lived with this war and his personal experience and expertise is exceptional.

This week, as promised, I am talking about taxes – how they work, what they can do and what they really, truly, factually do not do. I should provide a warning however. If you are into drinking games, please do not take a drink every time I say “drive” or some version thereof. I’ve had alcohol poisoning and the combination of the hospital bill and embarrassment are absolutely not worth it.

This week Will talked about how our enemies strategize to exploit our weaknesses and failures to hurt us. He began by highlighting the history of the British Empire’s maneuvering over slavery, first banning it, then later providing the Confederacy with warships. Will evidenced this as an example of long-game diplomacy. Then he compared that to how DAESH/ISIS/ISIL is doing the same thing when it comes to exploiting the poverty and racism which have harmed working class Muslims in France for decades.

At the top of the show I touch on the recently released Global Terrorism Index and Will covers the latest from…wait for it…Scotland. I know. Just when you thought you were out he pulled you back in – or something like that. (LOL.) We all know that Will’s heart is in Scotland and he watches developments there very closely but, frankly, the politics in Scotland and the UK really have been fascinating, especially these past two years, and I’m glad to have Will to keep me up to date on all the goings-on.

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday we will not be recording a show next week. We will be back bright eyed and fluffy tailed on Monday, 7 December. Carrots & Yams! – Arliss

Paris & ISIS – Backgrounder

21 November 2015 (for 16 November show) – I should begin by apologizing for not having posted here this past Monday. My family experienced a serious (and ongoing) family emergency. My husband and I are fine but I’m reading everything I can find on traumatic brain injury so that I can be of assistance to other family members. As we all learned again this week, be it via media or in person, life can be completely and utterly changed in just a moment.

That being said and in the lee of the attacks in Egypt, Beirut and Paris, Will was left to handle the podcast alone with no notice so he soberly took a look at world events and ran our first interview with Middle East expert, Landon Shroder (@landonshroder on Twitter). When we ran it initially, the first part of the interview was on-air and the rest was available only via the Extra Mad (extended) podcast version. This past week Will ran the full interview on-air.

Will also took a moment to pull some rumor weeds out by the roots. Post-Paris attacks separating fact from fiction is essential and something you can be sure will not be the natural default of the GOP.

For anyone who expected me to be talking about taxes in this podcast, since I said I would last week, that IS my topic for the next show. Thanks in advance for sticking with me.

The upcoming show, for 23 November, will be our second interview with Landon. Given the attacks in Egypt, Beirut and Paris, it seemed (sadly) appropriate. ~~Carrots!~~ Escarole!- Arliss

The “U” in “UK,” Fiscal Spending and Iraq Expert, Landon Shroder

26 October 2015 – This week we were fortunate enough to have Landon Shroder (@LandonShroder on Twitter) join us for the interview. Landon spent seven years living in Iraq representing Royal Dutch Shell, the last five of which as Shell’s head of intelligence and assessment. Now he is writing for Vice News and continuing to cover the region as a journalist. Landon gave us an incisive interview for the broadcast show but the podcast version, below, contains the additional Extra Mad portion of the interview and it is exceptional. Truly.

In his block Will covered the new version of crazy in the UK which is so poorly conceived that it may actually lead to the devolution of the UK itself. It’s called English Votes for English Laws or EVEL (pronounced “evil”). You can make of that acronym what you will. I’m going back to do the first of what will be several segments on basic concepts. This week I’m talking about how fiscal policy comes in to being.

Also, in response to multiple requests from loyal fans, we finally found the problem in the RSS feed we had submitted to Stitcher and to iTunes. We have resubmitted the new information and really should be up on those services soon. To tide you over we have also added in an mp3 download button below each podcast player below so that you can grab the full Extra Mad Hopping Mad from there in the meantime. The encouraging thing is that for the first time we had no major technical crisis during the actual recording process. This is a big step and an even bigger relief for us both. I’m celebrating with carrot cake. Carrots to you and yours! – Arliss

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