Podcasts about Pacific Northwest

//The Wire//2300Z August 3, 2026// //ROUTINE// //BLUF: MASS SHOOTING CONDUCTED IN IDAHO, PREPARED CITIZEN RETURNS FIRE DURING SMALL ARMS ENGAGEMENT. PRESIDENT TRUMP CALLS OFF WEEKEND STRIKES IN IRAN. WILDFIRES DEVASTATE URBAN AREAS IN PACIFIC NORTHWEST.// -----BEGIN TEARLINE------International Events-Middle East: On Saturday, President Trump stated that the weekend strikes had been called off. Throughout the region the status quo remains, and no major targeting efforts were conducted since last week, with the exception of Iran continuing to strike merchant vessels which try to transit the Strait of Hormuz using the unauthorized southern route.-HomeFront-Idaho: On Saturday, an active shooter incident was reported at an In-N-Out restaurant in Twin Falls. At approximately 2:30pm local time, one gunman approached the structure and began shooting at the patrons inside. During the attack, an armed and prepared citizen responded to the shooting and began engaging the shooter. This action prompted the shooter to break off the attack, and take his own life, ending the incident. During the fray, an off duty police officer at the venue also responded to the shooting, and was seriously wounded by a gunshot wound to the arm.Concerning casualties, a total of 3x people were killed during the attack, at least one of which was an employee of the restaurant. Approximately 7x others were wounded, some of which remain in critical condition. The suspect has been identified as Chad Williams, and no information has been released regarding the motive for the attack.Analyst Comment: Based on the videos that have come to light during the shooting, the attacker was very likely not expecting any opposition to arrive for some time, and was likely caught off guard by at least one, possibly two people shooting at him immediately after his attack began. Though this shooting will be scrutinized over the next few weeks, the immediate lesson learned is that both violence of action and some level of training are the most important factors for turning the tide during an active shooter incident.Washington: Over the weekend, wildfires have spread throughout the Pacific Northwest, with an exceptionally dangerous series of fires affecting Spokane. Fire damage has spread to the urban areas at the northwestern side of town, and upwards of 65,000 people remain affected or displaced by the devastation statewide.Analyst Comment: In wildland fire management, one of the most dangerous fire situations are fires that occur at the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI). These are fires which occur on the outskirts of towns, where jurisdictions meet and interagency coordination is more difficult due to varying tactics being used in fighting the fire. In this case, the fires spreading to the urban environment very quickly resulted in the loss of approximately 700 structures in Spokane County.-----END TEARLINE-----Analyst Comments: Though the chances of this theory being correct are slim, there is another possible explanation for the weekend shenanigans in the Middle East, that does not lie in the realm of stock market manipulation or insider trading. It is possible that the long buildup to weekend strikes on the rhetoric front (but not really in terms of staging a lot of aircraft) was intended to make someone or something move.Speaking operationally, the Iranians have been buttoned up for some time now, as they are fighting a defensive war on their home turf. Most Iranian leadership, even down the chain to mid-level management positions, are all expecting decapitation strikes, the targeting of headquarters positions, and other secret bunker complexes and safehouses that are used for command and control. When an adversary is dug-in so substantially, sometimes it's beneficial to "shake the tree", as in, to do something to get the dug-in adversary to either move or communicate with others. If this was the goal, it probably worked and resulted in some intelligence benefit. The Iranians viewed the strikes as imminent, to the point that cities were being evacuated, leave was canceled for ground troops, and key leaders had moved to their more substantial bunker complexes. Movement which the watchful eye of American intelligence agencies could see.Of course, if this theory bears any weight, the overall reasoning for why this took place is still fairly dumb. Normally, these types of information operations are useless unless they are capitalized on immediately, as stale intelligence does not really help the overall strategic situation. What's astronomically more likely than some sort of intelligence collection potential is simply the financial incentives to keep playing financial markets, and hoping that the "we're bombing them"/"they called and want to make a deal" cycle continues to be a viable option for both insider trading, but also to string the war along and buy time for a solution to hopefully materialize.Analyst: S2A1 Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground NomadNet: 5fa68c88be727a0e1a250a75e5e79269 Disclaimer: No LLMs were used in the writing of this report. //END REPORT//

HOUR 3 (08/03) – Gary & Shannon cover the day's biggest stories in #WhatsHappening, including the Idaho In-N-Out shooting, destructive wildfires across the Pacific Northwest, the growing measles outbreak in California, Spider-Man's record-breaking box office debut, and renewed concern over Ariana Grande's health after recent public appearances.During #SwampWatch, they discuss President Trump's latest comments on Iran, Todd Blanche's path toward confirmation, and Joe Manchin's warning to the Democratic Party.The hour wraps with a #Wellness segment on everyday habits that may accelerate aging and a look at whether MySpace could really be making a comeback.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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On this BONUS EPISODE of CASCADE OF HISTORY, Feliks Banel digs for a second time into the “This NOT Just In” archives for three installments from the occasional history series that aired from 2010 to 2016 on KUOW 94.9 FM in Seattle. The premise of “This NOT Just In” was to use archival audio to shed light on forgotten or not fully understood stories from Pacific Northwest history. In this second "This NOT Just In" Archival Revival, we hear about when President Harry Truman killed time at Mount Rainier in 1945 while waiting for the first meeting United Nations to get underway in San Francisco; the sad tale of Bobo the Gorilla and his time in Anacortes, Washington and at the Woodland Park Zoo in the 1950s and 1960s; and the one and only season of Major League Baseball's Seattle Pilots in 1969. This material was originally produced by Feliks Banel with editing and other assistance from KUOW's Jim Gates. “This NOT Just In” was initially awarded a Program Venture Fund grant from KUOW in 2009 which funded production of the first three episodes; KUOW ultimately green-lighted more than 30 additional episodes during the run of the series. The episodes remained online for many years, but most are no longer accessible via the KUOW website – so it seemed like a good time to share them once again as a public service. Links to more information as well as images related to most topics discussed on the show are often available at the CASCADE OF HISTORY Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/cascadeofhistory CASCADE OF HISTORY is broadcast LIVE most Sunday nights at 8pm Pacific Time via flagship station SPACE 101.1 FM in Seattle and gallantly streams everywhere via www.space101fm.org. The radio station broadcasts from studios at historic Magnuson Park – located in the former Master-at-Arms' quarters in the old Sand Point Naval Air Station - on the shores of Lake Washington in Seattle. Subscribe to the CASCADE OF HISTORY podcast via most podcast platforms and never miss regular weekly episodes of Sunday night broadcasts as well as frequent bonus episodes. "LIKE" the Cascade of History Facebook page and get updates and other stories throughout the week, and advance notice of live remote broadcasts taking place in your part of the Old Oregon Country.

Today on America in the MorningTrump Pauses Iran Fighting The U.S. held off on military strikes against Iran overnight as President Trump says a deal may soon be reached, with negotiators hammering out details today.  John Stolnis has more from Washington.   Idaho In-And-Out Burger Shooting A weekend shooting at an In-and-Out Burger in Twin Falls, Idaho left two people dead, one of those a young girl working the drive-thru window, and at least five others hurt.  Correspondent Donna Warder reports the shooter took his own life, and an armed bystander is being credited with distracting the gunman, as those who were in the fast-food eatery spoke about what they witnessed – audio courtesy of KMVT-TV Twin Falls, Idaho.   Pressure On Miller To Leave House A U-S Senator from Ohio is warning about what he calls "erratic and dangerous" behavior from his former son-in-law, who plans to run for re-election in the House.  Correspondent Clayton Neville reports.   California Democrats Endorse Billionaire's Tax The California Democrat Party on Sunday endorsed a November ballot measure to tax billionaires' wealth, bucking Governor Gavin Newsom and the influential labor unions that oppose it.     Europe's Border Dilemma The chaotic events surrounding the mass migration of people from Morocco into a Spanish municipality is now wreaking havoc with the European Union, with border security becoming a top-topic in Europe.  Correspondent Karen Chammas reports the influx of migrants has riled up Spain's far right and caused Italy to temporarily close its borders.   Latest On Guthrie Investigation There continues to be hope that ransom notes released in the Nancy Guthrie investigation will help to break the case.  Correspondent Ed Donahue reports.   Washington Wildfire Worsens When the Washington State winter snowpack came in at a near-record low, officials around the Pacific Northwest warned residents to be ready for an especially bad summer wildfire season. Correspondent Rich Johnson in Seattle reports - that predicting is coming true in disastrous ways.   Vote Planned For Blanche President Donald Trump issues a new threat if two Senate Republicans don't confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general.  Correspondent Donna Warder reports the Senate Judiciary Committee is teeing up a Tuesday vote on Blanche, despite the fact two committee Republicans are still planning to vote “no.”   Israel's Hamas Question Israel still says it has serious concerns over the Hamas agreement with the Board of Peace and President Trump to disarm.  Correspondent Sam Mednick reports that Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, speaking on CNN, says that while Israel hopes this time that Hamas will follow through with what they say, their charter still calls for the destruction of Israel.   RFK, Jr. Talks COVID Response Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Junior was on CNN's State of the Union in what was a fiery interview with the show's host Dana Bash.  Correspondent Clayton Neville reports the interview surrounded accountability for the COVID pandemic. Congresswoman's Car Crash Ohio Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and the driver of the car she was in are in "stable" condition after she was involved in a "hit-and-run" crash on Sunday morning in Toledo on her way to a church service.    Finally   President Trump appears at odds with his US Attorney in Washington, saying he disagrees 100% with the decision of federal prosecutors to drop criminal vandalism charges against a man accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's EV News Briefly for Friday 31 July 2026, everything you need to know in less than 5 minutes if you haven't got time for the full show.Patreon supporters fund this show, get the episodes ad free, as soon as they're ready and are part of the EV News Daily Community. You can be like them by clicking here: https://www.patreon.com/EVNewsDailyMERCEDES LAUNCHES ELECTRIC GLA FIRSTMercedes unveiled the all-electric GLA in Warsaw, breaking from its usual pattern by launching three battery-electric versions first in November, with hybrids following in early 2027. Built on the 800-volt MMA platform, the GLA offers up to 657 km WLTP range, 320 kW charging, and starts at €48,599 as Mercedes' cheapest electric SUV.FERRARI LUCE BEATS 2026 SALES TARGETFerrari's electric Luce hit its 2026 sales target of nearly 500 units within two months of its May launch, despite public backlash, an 8% share price drop, and the departure of marketing chief Enrico Galliera. Demand proved strongest in China, where its 88-unit allocation sold out at roughly $589,000, with Ferrari targeting 2,500 total Luce sales by 2030.RENAULT PROFITS BEAT ON EVS AND CUTSRenault posted a 5.2% operating margin and 9.5% revenue growth in the first half of 2026, beating forecasts through cost cuts and a stronger EV lineup, outperforming Audi and Mercedes-Benz margins for the period. CEO Francois Provost is pushing cheaper EVs like the €19,490 Twingo and €25,000 R5 to defend market share against BYD, Opel and Citroën, while targeting €400 in annual per-vehicle cost savings.WALMART BUILDS OUT US FAST CHARGINGWalmart has opened about 46 high-speed public charging stations with 380 cords across roughly 326 of its 4,600 US stores, ranking second only to Tesla in network expansion during the second quarter. The retailer is leaning on its vast footprint—90% of Americans live within 10 miles of a store—to combine charging dwell time with shopping, potentially lifting store sales by about 5%.CANADA'S FAST CHARGERS OUTPACE DEMANDCanada's DC fast-charger utilization fell to just 9.5% in Q2 2026, down from 11.3% in Q1 and well below the 15-20% operators typically need to break even, trailing the US average of 15.8%. Paren's data, covering nearly 10,000 ports, shows profitability is highly site-specific, prompting calls for demand-led charger siting and better reliability.FORMER VW ENGINEERS CHARGED OVER RIVIAN DEAL TRADESProsecutors charged former Volkswagen engineers Michael Stamp and Michael Plank with insider trading ahead of VW's $5 billion Rivian joint venture announcement in June 2024, which sent Rivian shares up 23%. Stamp allegedly made $250,000 and Plank $50,000, with Plank also accused of tipping a family member who made $12,000, while incriminating searches about insider trading laws feature in the case.IONIQ 3 OPENS UK AND EUROPE ORDERSHyundai's new IONIQ 3 electric hatchback has drawn more customer interest than any previous Hyundai launch, debuting at Goodwood with UK pricing expected under £25,000 and offering up to 308 miles of range from a 61 kWh battery. Built on the E-GMP platform for the European market, the compact IONIQ 3 is not planned for a US launch.KIA COMMITS $649 MILLION TO MEXICO EVSKia will invest $649 million in its Pesquería, Mexico plant to begin producing the EV3 compact SUV starting August 4, marking its first EV production in the country. The move, tied to Mexico's Plan México initiative, is expected to create 500 jobs this year and 1,500 by 2030, while helping Kia navigate USMCA trade rules and tariffs.V2G COULD DWARF MANAGED CHARGING VALUEA General Motors-commissioned E3 study found vehicle-to-grid technology could deliver five to 15 times more value per EV than one-way managed charging, totaling roughly $7 billion nationwide by 2030, with the strongest returns in California, ERCOT, and the Pacific Northwest. GM already has 250,000 bidirectional-capable vehicles on the road and is pushing utilities to speed up V2G tariffs and approvals, including a plan to use 52,000 vehicles to balance PG&E's grid by 2030.SC01 SET FOR UK ARRIVAL IN 2027Small Sports Car Company will bring its China-built SC01 lightweight electric sportscar to the UK, featuring 429 bhp, a 1,365 kg curb weight, a 2.9-second 0-62 mph time, and a 500 km CLTC range. UK demonstration cars arrive in Q4 2026, with right-hand-drive customer cars following from April 2027, though pricing has not yet been announced.

TRACKLIST Lauge & Baba Gnohm with Low Profile - Lös [Valley View] Circulation - Space Medley (Futura City FM Texture [Electronic Groove] Dycide - Balder (MTRL Remix) [Lowless] Akob - Fractal Jungle [Lowless] Strom (UA) - Storm Dance [BAHN- Records] Hobin Rude - Second Breath [Rude Resonance] Navar, Odette - The Slowbeq Paragraph (Silinder Remix) [Proton] Michael Bennett - Shinkansen [Zero Tolerance] Stereo Underground - Souls from the Past [Meanwhile] Solid Stone - Black Market [Phenomena] Cid Inc. & Dmitry Molosh - Aquamarine [Balance] SURFFACE - Atlas (Extended Mix0 [Nightcolours] Cendryma - Meridian Isle [onedotsixtwo] Juanjo Corrales - By Your Side (Retroid Remix) [Morphosis] Cendryma is an English-American Progressive and Melodic House artist, DJ, and producer based in Oregon. His sound blends Trance-inspired energy with deep grooves and cinematic textures, reflecting the moody winters and natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Influenced by legends like Hernan Cattaneo, Sasha, and Guy J, Cendryma crafts immersive tracks with powerful drums and melodic hooks. He began his musical journey in 2007 through Jazz and Pop, evolving into electronic music and launching his career in 2024. Quickly gaining recognition, he joined the London-based UV label alongside artists like Paul Thomas and Greta Meier. Guided by his ethos Music to move you, and to make you move Cendryma creates emotionally resonant dance music that connects deeply with listeners. Whether in the studio or curating releases, he's shaping the future of melodic underground sound.

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Welcome to Caching in the NorthWest! This is THE podcast from the birthplace of geocaching, right here in the great Pacific NorthWest.  It's Thursday at 7PM Pacific and we are going to talk about geocaches and geocachers from here and around the globe. So while you're wondering just where you left your hiking boots to dry, we'll be Caching in the NorthWest. We want you to call in your Geocache Log of the Week! Send an email to feedback@CachingNW.com, call into 253-693-TFTC. Call us with your feedback at (253) 693-TFTC Or visit the website at https://CachingNW.com

This episode of the Doc & Jacques radio variety show features Dr. GiGi Reed and her sisters, Dr. Ulrike Mitchell and Bärbel Bremm-Schuster, discussing their careers, cultural experiences, and family dynamics. Dr. Mitchell, a professor at Brigham Young University, and Bremm-Schuster, a speech pathologist from Germany, reflect on their educational journeys, the joys and challenges of their professions, and cultural contrasts between Germany and the United States. They also share fond memories, explore sisterhood, and highlight their recent adventures in the Pacific Northwest. Hosts: GiGi “Doc” Reed MD, Jacques Kepner; Producers: GiGi “Doc” Reed MD, Jacques Kepner Beginning and end music from freepd.com, in the public domain. The opinions expressed here are those of the individual participants. Curry Coast Community Radio takes no position on issues discussed in this program. If you enjoy this program and want to hear more like it, consider supporting Curry Coast Community Radio. Here’s How.

Salmon are a part of our identity here in the Pacific Northwest, but the population has struggled in recent years. Federal lawmakers think they have a solution. It involves the systematic culling of another northwest staple: pinnipeds, or seals and sea lions. We’ll hear more from KUOW Reporter Cornelius Hocker about this debate. We can only make Seattle Now because listeners support us. Tap here to make a gift and keep Seattle Now in your feed. Got questions about local news or story ideas to share? We want to hear from you! Email us at seattlenow@kuow.org, leave us a voicemail at (206) 616-6746 or leave us feedback online or on the KUOW App.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What an amazing entrepreneurial journey for Mandy Silverman otherwise known as "Mandylicious" and she with help from Danny Silverman made Challah a big business with a new book out, "Twisted" coming out Sept 1, 2026.  How did she take this to the next level on social media getting her a huge audience, selling classes, challah and more into an enterprise! Who knew Challah would turn into a business!  The Always Off Brand is always a Laugh & Learn!    FEEDSPOT TOP 10 Retail Podcast! https://podcast.feedspot.com/retail_podcasts/?feedid=5770554&_src=f2_featured_email GUEST: Mandy Silverman  Website: https://mandylicious-436716.square.site/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandy-silverman-0685b0292/   GUEST: Danny Silverman  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danieljsilverman/ NEW BOOK OUT September 1, 2026 Amazon Pre-Purchase: https://tinyurl.com/58pxue6j QUICKFIRE Info:   Website: https://www.quickfirenow.com/ Email the Show: info@quickfirenow.com  Talk to us on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quickfireproductions Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quickfire__/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@quickfiremarketing LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/company/quickfire-productions-llc/about/ Sports podcast Scott has been doing since 2017, Scott & Tim Sports Show part of Somethin About Nothin:  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/somethin-about-nothin/id1306950451 HOSTS: Summer Jubelirer has been in digital commerce and marketing for over 17 years. After spending many years working for digital and ecommerce agencies working with multi-million dollar brands and running teams of Account Managers, she is now the Amazon Manager at OLLY PBC.   LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/summerjubelirer/   Scott Ohsman has been working with brands for over 30 years in retail, online and has launched over 200 brands on Amazon. Mr. Ohsman has been managing brands on Amazon for 19yrs. Owning his own sales and marketing agency in the Pacific NW, is now VP of Digital Commerce for Quickfire LLC. Producer and Co-Host for the top 5 retail podcast, Always Off Brand. He also produces the Brain Driven Brands Podcast featuring leading Consumer Behaviorist Sarah Levinger. Scott has been a featured speaker at national trade shows and has developed distribution strategies for many top brands. LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-ohsman-861196a6/   Hayley Brucker has been working in retail and with Amazon for years. Hayley has extensive experience in digital advertising, both seller and vendor central on Amazon. Hayley lives in North Carolina.  LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/hayley-brucker-1945bb229/   Huge thanks to Cytrus our show theme music "Office Party" available wherever you get your music. Check them out here: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/cytrusmusic Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cytrusmusic/ Twitter https://twitter.com/cytrusmusic SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/artist/6VrNLN6Thj1iUMsiL4Yt5q?si=MeRsjqYfQiafl0f021kHwg APPLE MUSIC https://music.apple.com/us/artist/cytrus/1462321449   "Always Off Brand" is part of the Quickfire Podcast Network and produced by Quickfire LLC.  

HOUR 3 (07/30) – Gary & Shannon cover the day's biggest stories in #WhatsHappening and #SwampWatch, including the latest on Iran, renewed scrutiny surrounding Gavin Newsom's resurfaced affair, Boyle Heights as schools prepare to reopen, Southern California's returning heatwave, and lightning-fueled wildfires in the Pacific Northwest. They also discuss why more college students are choosing to live in retirement communities and debate whether today's connected vehicles give automakers and lenders too much control after a viral video claimed a Ford Bronco was remotely disabled over a missed payment.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is up, everybody! Welcome back to Episode 391 of the Chasing Daylight Podcast. This week, Joe, Matt, and Dan are bringing the heat with huge announcements, legendary rants, and major championship dreams. The highly anticipated Chasing Daylight Garsen putter grips are officially live, and we're breaking down everything from recent golf news to our upcoming trip to Augusta National!In this episode, we cover:The boys kick off the show announcing that the custom Chasing Daylight Garsen grips are finally live on the website. Matt runs through the latest golf news, including Jackson Koivun's victory and LIV Golf canceling its season-ending team event in Michigan. Matt vents about his frustrating tournament experience at Arroyo, calling out their terrible range setup, confusing routing, and bad customer service. The crew reviews Matt's Pacific Northwest camper van road trip, including a stop to play Liberty Lake and its incredible bunkers. The guys review and ruthlessly roast the new Trout National golf course logo. Dan questions if PGA Frisco is difficult enough to host a Major Championship without significant wind to defend it. The boys celebrate officially scoring Wednesday practice round tickets to The Masters, outlining their game plan to secure merch and walk the entire routing. Tracy takes home the win in this week's live giveaway for a new Garsen grip! Grab your new Garsen grips using code Daylight15 at checkout, and thanks for spending your jewels with us!Make sure you are following the show on Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-chasing-daylight-podcast/id1464725572Special thanks to our show sponsor:Garsen Grips - https://garsengolf.comAnd also our show supporters:Gretsch Golf Academy - https://gretschgolf.com/Las Vegas Golf Superstore - https://www.worldwidegolfshops.com/Rohrs Golf Co - https://rohrsgolf.com/CDP Socials:https://www.instagram.com/chasingdaylightpodcast/https://x.com/CDPGolfShowhttps://www.facebook.com/chasingdaylightpodcasthttps://www.tiktok.com/@chasingdaylightpodcastJoe's HittinGreens Channel on Whatnot:https://www.whatnot.com/s/Cdk2ZpkuJeremy's New Golf Brand:https://www.damngoodputter.com/Follow the Chasing Daylight Crew:Mathew Wangrycht: https://www.instagram.com/1440golf/Joe Keith: https://www.instagram.com/hittingreens/Jeremy Martin: https://www.instagram.com/damngoodputterDan Hodges: https://www.instagram.com/bogey_free_62/Support the show

"When I take on a task, I do it with my whole heart," Elena Rodriguez on how she's traveled through her entire life, but specifically, on starting Alumbra Cellars (Alumbra means "to shine"). Elena's story is right out of a good book that you just can't put down. Her story is one of hard work, tenacity, immigrant grit, and the idea of taking on a job with your whole heart and finding out you really love it. Woven throughout - it's a story of family, celebrating family and the hard work put in, and passed down to each generation. Elena talks about the journey her father took, a farmer through and through, season after season, looking for work before finally settling in the Pacific Northwest. He wasn't a wine drinker, but he had a vision in the vines and a dream to plant grapes. While this interview is somewhat focused on Alumbra Cellars and how it came to be... at the heart is the family that made it happen.

The July 30 edition of Commodity Week features agricultural market analysis from panelists Matt Bennett, Chip Nellinger, and Jason Winter. The discussion centers on the immediate threat of severe heat and dry weather to crop yields in the Dakotas, alongside a sustained regional shift from wheat to corn and soybean acreage. Jason Winter highlights strong ongoing corn demand from the Pacific Northwest and intensified local soybean competition driven by newly constructed processing plants in North Dakota. The analysts concur that while short-term market movements will be dictated by impending weather forecasts, long-term prices will likely remain supported by shrinking global stocks and robust domestic demand. Additionally, geopolitical conflicts in the Black Sea and Middle East are identified as key drivers sustaining elevated energy and fertilizer costs. Consequently, the panel recommends that producers leverage on-farm storage to maintain long-term crop ownership while pragmatically pricing essential harvest sales.Panelists- Matt Bennett, AgMarket.net- Chip Nellinger, Blue Reef Agri-Marketing- Jason Winter, Columbia Grain International ★ Support this podcast ★

Portland's city council just made it harder to identify criminals — on purpose. Eight councilors voted to prohibit police from removing masks during encounters, handing anonymity to anyone who wants to hide their face from law enforcement. No dissent. No debate worth noting. Just a supermajority committed to making Portland's streets more dangerous in the name of protest rights.This is the same city that spent years watching masked rioters torch businesses and assault officers. Now the council has essentially codified that mask as a legal shield. The message to Portland residents is clear: the people you elected aren't interested in accountability — yours or the criminals'.Sean breaks down the vote, the council members behind it, and what this signals for public safety in a city that still hasn't recovered from its last round of anti-police ideology.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily Pacific Northwest news commentary that doesn't pretend this stuff is normal.#Portland #LawAndOrder #PoliceReformGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is burning through staff at a pace that would end most careers — her latest casualty is the mayor's own spokesman, the newest name on a growing list of top aides to exit an administration that can't seem to hold itself together.The analogy is blunt: if you hand the CEO role to someone who has never run anything — no real job, no executive track record, no understanding of what a city of this size actually demands — you get churn. Wilson doesn't know what she needs, so she can't hire for it, and the people who do know eventually leave. That's not a scandal. It's just management reality playing out in slow motion on Seattle's dime.Every departure takes institutional knowledge with it, and every replacement hire — a campaign ally here, an NGO friend there — resets the clock. Seattle isn't being governed; it's being staffed and restaffed while the city's actual problems compound. The blind really are leading the blind at City Hall.CHAPTERS0:00 Seattle mayor's spokesman latest to…2:19 Seattle Mayor's Staff Exodus Grows3:19 Press Secretary Leaves Wilson's City…4:30 World Cup Over, Seattle Still Sliding5:33 Sage Wilson Out at Mayor's Office7:10 Blind Leading the Blind at City Hall8:16 Comms Director Day Forced to Resign9:54 Chris Daniels' Wilson Six-Month Review10:50 Crystal Fincher Hired to Manage Fallout12:18 City Hall: Staff Turnover Is Normal13:00 Starbucks Boycott Comes Back to Haunt…14:37 Witness to a Downtown Seattle Stabbing16:14 Wilson Walks Back Starbucks Boycott17:12 Howard Schultz Slams Seattle's…19:30 Six Months of Staff Churn Under WilsonSubscribe to @reasonablenews for daily coverage of Pacific Northwest politics, Seattle's ongoing decline, and the stories the local press won't touch.#NFRP #Seattle #KatieWilsonGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

At least four San Francisco Grocery Outlet stores have deployed SAFR facial recognition technology to identify repeat shoplifters — and privacy advocates are predictably outraged. This in a city that banned government use of facial recognition back in 2019, while simultaneously watching retailers hemorrhage thousands of dollars a day to brazen, consequence-free theft.The numbers tell the story clearly: a nearby Safeway was losing an estimated $7,000 per day to shoplifting before corporate pulled the plug. One documented offender had 77 known incidents on record. When the stores close, the neighborhood loses its grocery access — but the critics are busy worrying about camera databases. San Francisco's soft-on-crime political culture created this crisis; facial recognition is what fills the vacuum when the will to prosecute simply isn't there.The legal picture is complicated but revealing. Private businesses can still deploy this technology even after SF's 2019 public-sector ban. The EFF has raised misidentification concerns. The SAFR president has pushed back on fears about ICE data-sharing. It's a genuine debate — but it only exists because Sacramento and City Hall spent years refusing to enforce the law. Corporate fights back with cameras because city government checked out a long time ago.CHAPTERS0:00 San Francisco Grocery Outlets Deploy…1:44 SF Grocers Deploy Facial Recognition…2:15 Grocery Outlet Deploys Facial…3:08 We Already Have No Privacy Anywhere3:47 SF Grocery Outlets Build Shoplifter…4:30 Repeat Shoplifter Had 77 Known Incidents5:58 Can Stores Legally Ban Known Shoplifters6:44 SAFR on Data Sharing With Law…7:15 Facial Recognition Misidentifies Black…8:09 Security Cameras Already Dominate…10:10 Soft-on-Crime Laws Leave Stores…12:06 What Happens After Facial Recognition…13:01 Defund the Police Made Shoplifting Worse14:32 Is Crime Finally Trending Down in SFSubscribe to @reasonablenews for daily commentary on Pacific Northwest politics and national stories the mainstream media won't tell you straight.#NFRP #SanFrancisco #FacialRecognitionGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

A King County Superior Court judge ordered Seattle to further rein in nuisance nudity at Denny Blaine Beach Park — and the beach stays open. The ruling sounds like progress until you ask the obvious question: will Seattle actually enforce it?Washington state has no nudity law, which means the only tools on the table are public-lewdness statutes and now a court injunction. Sean walks through the beach layout, documented incidents, and the permanent injunction handed down — and makes the case that none of this needed a lawsuit if the city had just enforced existing law from day one.Under Katie Wilson's Seattle, the pattern is familiar. The same city that lets homeless encampments return after every sweep extends LGBTQ political cover to avoid enforcement — and is now expected to comply with a judge's order while continuing to ignore laws already on the books. Neighbors with million-dollar homes next door are the collateral damage nobody in City Hall is talking about.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily Pacific Northwest news commentary that holds local officials accountable.#NFRP #DennyBlaine #SeattleGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Portland, Oregon is making headlines for all the wrong reasons — Keith Wilson was just hauled into court facing 88 separate retail theft charges, with stores across Multnomah County tallying more than $115,000 in total losses. That's not a crime spree. That's a career. And Portland let it run for case after case after case before anyone intervened.Sean breaks down what it actually takes to get arrested in the Pacific Northwest — apparently something north of 87 prior theft incidents. Security footage existed. Repeat-offender records existed. What didn't exist was the political will to act until the case count became too embarrassing to ignore. Wilson now sits on $300,000 bail, which tells you everything about how dangerous repeat offenders become when cities treat shoplifting as a non-arrest offense.Portland's soft-on-crime experiment has a body count — not always in lives, but in storefronts. Retailers across Oregon, Washington, and California have been quietly closing locations for years because insurance won't cover the losses and employees can't safely intervene. Open-air drug markets absorb stolen merchandise within hours. Wilson's 88-case run is a symptom of a policy failure, not an outlier.Subscribe to @reasonablenews and hit the notification bell — Sean will follow up on this one if it moves.#NFRP #Portland #RetailTheftGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Portland's big idea for solving homelessness — pay homeowners $1,000 to house a homeless stranger in their home — has produced exactly five applications in four months. Mayor Wilson called it one of the "fastest and most cost-effective" housing solutions the city had ever deployed. The market responded accordingly.The program's designers appear to have skipped some obvious questions: who volunteers to absorb the liability, the 12-month availability requirement, and the Allstate call when something goes wrong — for $800 a month? The "removing barriers" rhetoric remains fully intact, the progressive bubble is still pressurized, and the gap between the mayor's "fastest" framing and the program's glacial matching reality is apparently not a contradiction anyone plans to address.Sean breaks down the Willamette Week reporting by Sophie Peel, dismantles the "down on their luck" myth, and explains why Portland's political class keeps pulling the same failed lever when the actual solution — law enforcement and political will — is sitting right there. San Francisco figured this out. Portland hasn't. This program will be discontinued. Sean already wrote the press release.CHAPTERS0:00 Portland's Home-Sharing Program Is a Dud0:32 Five Applications in Four Months1:21 Willamette Week: The $1,000 Room Program2:02 Portland Homeless Need Treatment, Not…3:51 The $1,000 Homeless Roommate Gamble4:47 The Down-on-Their-Luck Myth Debunked5:22 Allstate Won't Cover Your Homeless…6:30 Mayor Wilson's Remove-Barriers Claim…8:25 $800 a Month for a Homeless Roommate9:26 Massive Risk for a $1,000 Payout10:42 No Takers for the City's $1,000 Grant12:10 Mayor Said Fast, Program Takes Months14:30 Portland Lacks Will to Clean Streets17:31 San Francisco Cleans Up, Portland…19:41 Portland: A Whole Lot of NothingSubscribe to @reasonablenews for daily Pacific Northwest politics and news commentary from a perspective the legacy media won't give you.#NFRP #Portland #PortlandHomelessGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Washington's millionaire income tax is heading to a ballot fight. Initiative 645 has been officially certified after more than 500,000 signatures were verified, forcing a statewide vote this November on whether to repeal the capital gains income tax that Governor Bob Ferguson has staked $13 billion in state spending on. Ferguson appeared at Seattle press events to call the repeal a big mistake — but it's hard to take the warning seriously when the people he claims to be protecting are already gone.Jeff Bezos left. Howard Schultz left. Starbucks is reportedly relocating to Tennessee. Washington Democrats passed the income tax on the promise it would stay limited to millionaires, then began laying the groundwork to expand it — and they funded the whole social welfare apparatus on the Climate Commitment Act, which voters already repealed once. The $13 billion isn't at risk because of the initiative. It's at risk because Democrats built it on a foundation voters never consented to.Let's Go Washington argues the problem was never revenue — it was a spending addiction that required new taxes to sustain itself. After years of a Democrat supermajority ramming through policies and then daring voters to undo them, Washington residents are getting a direct vote on whether the experiment continues. Washington state's income tax has been struck down or repealed eleven times. Round twelve is on the November ballot.Sean reads the I-645 certification text, walks through what $13 billion really means for the state's budget math, and explains why he thinks Washington is on California's trajectory — just a few years behind. Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily commentary on Pacific Northwest politics and the stories the mainstream won't cover straight.#NFRP #WashingtonState #BobFergusonGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

A beloved dim sum restaurant in Seattle's Chinatown-International District is scaling back to weekend-only service after ten years — and owner Vince Zhao isn't mincing words: crime drove this. His restaurant sits blocks from 12th and South Jackson, the city's most notorious open-air drug corridor. Seattle scrubbed its downtown for the FIFA World Cup but never touched the International District, and the businesses that stayed through all of it are now paying the price.Sean walks through what Zhao documented firsthand: drug dealing in front of the restaurant while he was out with his son during the World Cup, a homeless complex nearby feeding the street market, and a neighborhood the city has quietly decided can absorb whatever gets pushed out of everywhere else. The contrast with Bellevue — where Sean works commercial appraisal and restaurants are thriving — is impossible to ignore.The pattern Sean keeps returning to: if this were happening in any other ethnic neighborhood, there would be outrage. Instead, Seattle's Chinatown gets a racism framing from city hall instead of a law enforcement response. Katie Wilson and the city council are passing the hot potato while a ten-year institution winds down and China Harbor sits empty up the street.CHAPTERS0:00 Popular dim sum spot in Chinatown…1:23 Chinatown Restaurant Curtails Hours…2:21 Crime at 12th and Jackson Closes…2:53 International District Crime Drives…4:13 Open-Air Drug Market Ruins Chinatown…5:16 Owner Vince Zhao Cuts Weekday…7:23 Filming Drug Dealing During the World…8:10 Crime Killed This Restaurant, Not the…9:05 Daniel Lurie Cleans Up San Francisco…10:05 Seattle Made Chinatown Its Crime…11:10 Empty Dining Rooms Force Weekday…13:17 Bellevue Restaurants Booming While…14:27 Katie Wilson Faces Seattle's Law…16:11 City Fines Businesses While Chinatown…18:36 Seattle's Neglect of Chinatown Is RacismSubscribe to @reasonablenews for daily Pacific Northwest coverage the local media won't touch — hit the notification bell so you don't miss an episode.#NFRP #SeattleChinatown #InternationalDistrictGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Valve co-founder Gabe Newell has reportedly purchased a lavish estate in Florida, and the writing is on the wall: Washington State's aggressive tax push is claiming another billionaire. Newell built Valve — and its $4 billion gaming empire — right in Bellevue, a short drive from where Sean records this show. Now he's joining a growing list of wealth creators who've decided Florida's no-income-tax environment beats Seattle's increasingly hostile climate for the ultra-wealthy.This isn't a coincidence. Jeff Bezos went to Florida. Howard Schultz went to Florida. Jake Burton went to Florida. The pattern is undeniable, and Washington's progressive leadership — championed by figures like Katie Wilson — seems either unwilling or unable to recognize what's happening. The millionaire tax, if it survives the ballot, accelerates this flight even further. And even if voters reject it, something punitive is coming — wealthy residents know it, and they're making their exit plans accordingly.The real tragedy isn't Gabe Newell's real estate decision — it's the brazen indifference from Olympia. The politicians driving this exodus aren't losing sleep over it. They're too busy figuring out how to spend money they increasingly won't have. When the architects of a region's prosperity decide the math no longer works, the consequences don't stay confined to billionaires. Tax bases shrink. Jobs follow wealth. And the city that prided itself on being a tech capital starts looking a lot more like the hollowed-out blue cities it once mocked.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily coverage of Pacific Northwest politics and the policies reshaping Seattle, Bellevue, and Washington State.#Oregon #Education #PublicSchoolsGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Seattle's flagship homelessness agency is effectively finished. The King County Regional Homelessness Authority just had 75% of its budget stripped after a financial scandal exposed gross mismanagement and a near-total absence of basic fiscal controls. King County and the City of Seattle are clawing back $160 million in contracts — not because the model evolved, but because it failed in every measurable way.This is Katie Wilson's legacy: over a billion dollars in regional homelessness spending, rising encampment counts, and now a gutted agency that leadership refuses to officially dissolve. The officials who built this disaster are calling it "realignment." Sean calls it what it is — the homeless industrial complex protecting itself while the people it was supposed to help stay on the streets.With the World Cup coming to Seattle and downtown footage telling its own story, the timing of this collapse couldn't be more embarrassing. The audit findings are damning. The numbers are damning. And the people asking "will this actually work now?" deserve a straight answer — which Sean delivers.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily Pacific Northwest politics and the stories your local press won't tell straight.#Seattle #HomelessCrisis #BigGovFailGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Seattle's downtown is emptying out — and the bill is landing on homeowners. Office vacancy in the city has hit crisis levels, and as commercial property values crater, the tax base quietly shifts onto residential owners already stretched thin. It's a textbook doom loop: businesses leave, assessments fall, and the people who stayed get to pay more.Katie Wilson and the progressive coalition running Seattle have no credible answer. Their policy response has been more regulation, more spending, and more rhetoric about equity — none of which fills empty office towers or halts the death spiral of a city that can't get out of its own way. The tax shift is the inevitable consequence of chasing out the businesses that were supposed to fund it all.Sean breaks down the vacancy numbers, the political deflection, and what this means for homeowners trying to hold on in a city that keeps making it harder to stay.CHAPTERS0:00 Seattle office vacancy crisis shifts…1:30 Seattle Office Vacancy Shifts Tax Burden2:19 Seattle's Payroll Tax Shed 30,000 Jobs3:46 Half of Downtown Seattle Now Vacant5:22 Seattle Eyes Capital Gains Tax Hike6:51 John Scholes on Seattle's Tax Problem8:25 What Seattle Must Do to Recover9:18 Bellevue Up 7% While Seattle Plummets10:43 Oklahoma City Plans America's Tallest…11:57 Amazon and Starbucks Leaving Seattle13:31 Mayor Wilson's Policies Drive…15:55 Empty Offices Push Seattle Rent Higher19:22 Oklahoma City's Affordable American…22:26 Crime Overruns Seattle's Chinatown…25:35 Defund Police and the Rent ReckoningSubscribe to @reasonablenews for daily conservative and libertarian news commentary from the Pacific Northwest. New episodes every weekday.#NFRP #Seattle #KatieWilsonGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Oregon is moving to gut its compulsory school attendance laws — and the reason is exactly as infuriating as it sounds. With nearly a third of all students chronically absent, the Oregon Department of Education isn't cracking down. It's proposing to repeal the state's longstanding attendance mandates entirely, replacing enforcement and truancy consequences with a feel-good "performance growth indicator" framework that treats showing up to school as optional feedback data.Senate Bill 315 would eliminate 11 attendance-related statutes, stripping the fines and sanctions that were meant to keep kids in classrooms. The department calls existing law a "compliance" model that creates "tension" with a more supportive approach. Translation: they've given up. Oklahoma is apparently the role model here — a state that already softened its truancy laws — which tells you everything about where Oregon's education establishment thinks the floor is.Governor Tina Kotek has presided over an Oregon school system posting some of the highest chronic absenteeism rates in the country, a collapse that accelerated after 2020 and never recovered. The bureaucratic answer? Reclassify the problem until it disappears on paper. If 33% of kids won't go to school, the progressive solution is apparently to stop caring whether they show up at all.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily coverage of Pacific Northwest policy disasters, failed governance, and the common-sense takes you won't find anywhere else. Hit the notification bell — we'll see you next episode.#Oregon #Education #PublicSchoolsGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has officially rebranded June away from Pride Month — and five Republican-led states are right behind her. From Tennessee's Nuclear Family Month to Alabama's Strong Families Month to Nebraska's Marriage and Family Month, red states are pushing back against what many conservatives call decades of corporate and political rainbow-washing. This is a coordinated cultural statement, not a fringe move.Sean breaks down the full list of states, what they're declaring instead, and why the mainstream media — especially here in the Pacific Northwest — won't touch this story. The corporate machine behind Pride Month has run unopposed for years. That's changing fast, and the left's response reveals exactly how high the stakes are in this fight over American values.Meanwhile, Seattle marches the other direction, and Sean has thoughts. From the Seattle Times cheerleading a World Cup crowd to the Pacific Northwest's relentless LGBTQ advocacy overreach, the contrast between red-state America and the Puget Sound bubble has never been sharper. Pride as a deadly sin, pronoun culture in Washington, and why "Strong Families Month" is a statement worth making.CHAPTERS0:00 Gov. Sanders Scraps Pride Month in…1:54 Seattle Media Avoids LGBTQ Criticism2:42 Anti-LGBTQ Nations Play Seattle Pride…4:06 MLB Cracks Down on Bible Verse Hats5:33 Pride as a Deadly Sin6:13 Six GOP Governors Counter Pride Month8:57 Sarah Huckabee Sanders Promotes Family…9:48 Tennessee Declares Nuclear Family Month10:30 Alabama Governor Declares Strong…13:14 Rapinoe Skips Patriotism at World Cup14:42 Nebraska Declares Marriage and Family…15:40 LGBTQ Groups Slam GOP June Rebranding18:40 Rep. Andy Ogles Deletes Anti-Gay PostSubscribe to @reasonablenews and hit the notification bell — daily commentary on the stories the Pacific Northwest media won't cover.#MediaBias #MainstreamMedia #CensorshipGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Seattle somehow scheduled a World Cup match between Iran and Egypt — two of the most aggressively anti-LGBTQ governments on earth — directly inside the city's annual Pride week. This wasn't a clerical error. Katie Wilson and Seattle's progressive leadership wanted the rainbow flags flying for the world to see, and now the world is reacting in a way they clearly didn't game out.Both nations have filed formal protests with FIFA demanding all Pride-related activities associated with the match be cancelled. Iran executes people for homosexuality. Egypt will imprison them for up to 12 years. These aren't fringe cultural quirks — they're state law. Seattle's response? Fly more flags and act surprised that poking the bear has consequences.FIFA is now trapped in the middle of Seattle's culture war experiment, caught between progressive city politics and two member nations threatening to turn the entire match into a diplomatic incident. Sean breaks down how this "sheer coincidence" was anything but, what it reveals about Seattle's brand of progressive conformity, and why telling the world to get in line tends to go sideways when the world isn't on your side.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily Pacific Northwest news, Seattle politics, and national stories the mainstream media won't touch — from a perspective that actually makes sense.#Seattle #Crime #WashingtonStateGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

The King County Regional Homelessness Authority just released its point-in-time count — after deliberately delaying it to soften the optics — and the numbers are damning. Unsheltered homelessness is up 21 percent since 2024. Inflow is still outpacing exits. And the region has poured hundreds of millions into permanent housing that isn't solving anything.The reason is simple: you can't house your way out of a drug crisis. When you build beds with no sobriety requirements, you don't fix homelessness — you fund it. Sean breaks down exactly how the KCRHA's incentive structure guarantees failure, why Seattle is a magnet while cities like Houston and Atlanta actually moved the needle, and why the agency's leadership is now trying to spin a 21 percent spike as a sign of progress.The books are cooked, the report was buried, and Katie Wilson's KCRHA has no plan that will work. Calls to disband the agency are getting louder — and after today's numbers, it's hard to argue with them.Subscribe to @reasonablenews and hit the notification bell — Sean covers the Pacific Northwest stories the mainstream media won't touch.#Seattle #Crime #WashingtonStateGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

The King County Regional Homelessness Authority has consumed over a billion taxpayer dollars — and Seattle's homeless population is still climbing. A forensic audit found $4.26 million in overspent funds and $8 million that nobody can account for, including a gift card program with zero real controls. One billion dollars in, the agency's primary achievement is a bureaucratic machine that keeps feeding itself.When Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and King County Executive Girmay Zahilay — hardly right-wing firebrands — publicly declare the KCRHA's own corrective plan "insufficient," the failure is complete. The agency's response to this crisis of accountability was to commission a $900,000 outside consultant. Not reform. Not firings. Another study. Meanwhile the point-in-time count keeps rising, and defenders call slower growth a victory.Sean breaks down the full five-year $1.1 billion budget, the drug addiction elephant in the room nobody in power will touch, and what an Olympia encampment sheltering a trafficked girl reveals about Washington state's collapse into lawlessness.CHAPTERS0:00 Seattle's Doom Loop: $1B Homeless…1:21 King County's $1 Billion Homelessness…2:20 King County's Homeless Authority Faces…3:56 Homelessness Rises Despite Billion in…4:33 Forensic Audit Finds Millions Missing5:20 Leaders Call Corrective Plan Insufficie…6:24 $900K Consultant Hired to Oversee Agency7:36 18,365 Homeless as Addiction Goes…9:39 $1.1 Billion Spent, No Results12:15 Arizona Girl Found at Olympia Jungle15:02 Washington Encampments Breed Crime…16:42 See You Next EpisodeSubscribe to @reasonablenews for daily Pacific Northwest politics and the stories legacy media won't cover.#WashingtonState #GasPrices #TaxesGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Seattle's socialist mayor Katie Wilson just dealt a devastating blow to the city's already-stalled housing pipeline. Wilson's office abruptly pulled support for a plan to cut developer fees by 80% — a two-year relief program designed to kickstart construction on dozens of projects waiting in the wings. The reversal came at the last minute, blindsiding builders who had planned around the discount and were ready to break ground.The fees at the center of this — Mandatory Housing Affordability charges — were supposed to fund affordable units, but the city is now watching MHA revenue collapse from $74 million down to $22 million while construction sits frozen. In place of action, Seattle is heading into another round of stakeholder working groups: the classic stall tactic that guarantees nothing gets built and nobody gets held accountable.This is the progressive housing trap playing out in real time. Democrats promise affordability, but every lever they pull makes it harder and more expensive to build. Block the fee discount because one ally blinks, float a junk-fee ban on landlords, launch a housing accelerator program that can't outrun the market — every move by city hall shrinks the supply and drives prices up. Seattle under Katie Wilson is a textbook case study in why socialist governance cannot deliver on its core promise.CHAPTERS0:00 Seattle's Socialist Mayor Can't Fix…0:52 Why Seattle Housing Costs Keep Rising2:16 Mayor Pauses Developer Fee Break4:35 You Can't Outbuild This Market5:50 Not Everyone Can Afford Seattle6:58 Thirty Projects Left in Limbo7:51 Seattle's Skyline Stops Growing9:25 Fee Holiday Would Drain Housing Fund11:30 Seattle Delays Housing Decision to Fall13:00 How Socialist Policy Fails Renters14:09 Mayor Wilson's Junk Fee Ban16:30 Federal Bill on Corporate Homebuying18:10 Junk Fee Ban Pushes Builders Away20:41 Why Developers Won't Build in SeattleSubscribe to @reasonablenews for daily commentary on Pacific Northwest politics, urban policy, and the stories the mainstream media won't tell you straight.#SanAntonio #MinimumWage #TexasPoliticsGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

Washington State's gas tax is jumping to 56.5 cents per gallon on July 1st — one of the highest in the nation and climbing every single year. While most of America fills up somewhere in the mid-$3 range, Bellevue drivers are staring down prices near $6 a gallon. Oklahoma is paying $2. That gap doesn't happen by accident. That's what you get when you keep electing people like Bob Ferguson to run your state.Governor Ferguson and the Olympia Democrats keep selling these hikes as infrastructure investment, but the pattern writes itself — every year the gas tax goes up, every year the roads are somehow still in desperate need of repair, and every year Senator Marco Liias has a fresh justification ready. Motor Vehicle Fund. Road work. Construction projects. Call it whatever you want. Working families and daily commuters filling up every week know exactly what it is: a tax grab dressed in a hard hat.What makes this especially brutal is how it punishes the people least equipped to absorb it. Gas taxes are among the most regressive in the entire tax code — they don't care how much you earn. The family driving a beat-up Honda to a warehouse job pays the same per gallon as the Eastside tech worker. And this isn't a Washington problem in isolation — California just hiked their gas tax to the highest rate in the country. This is the Blue State Playbook: tax, spend, call it investment, and leave citizens wondering where the money actually went.Subscribe to @reasonablenews for daily coverage of what Pacific Northwest politicians hope you'll stop thinking about. Hit the notification bell so you never miss an episode.#WashingtonState #GasPrices #TaxesGO PREMIUM WITH REASONABLE+ FOR UNCENSORED ACCESS

 TrineDay socials & website Website/Store: https://www.trineday.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/trinedaypress Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trinedaypress Twitter: https://x.com/TrineDay The Journey 193. Corruption 101: It's Everywhere In this Episode, Kris and Todd speak to John Loftus and Dan Luzadder in a continuing bi-weekly discussion about corruption. John Loftus is the author of America's Nazi Secret among several other books, and his new upcoming book My Client's Were Spies about his time as an attorney for sources in the Intelligence Community hoping to get more information about certain events in American history declassified, like he had done with the material on OPERATION PAPERCLIP in the 1980s, which produced an appearance on 60 Minutes in 1982 that was nominated for an Emmy award. America's Nazi Secret: https://trineday.com/products/americas-nazi-secret pre-order My Clients Were Spies: https://trineday.com/products/myclients-were-spies Dan Luzadder is an American journalist and author whose lengthy newspaper career began as a teenaged police reporter in the last days of linotypes. He came of age amid hagiographic newsroom characters who believed shoe leather reporting, tight deadlines and well-placed sources were journalism's divinity. He has written for the New York Daily News and the New York Times, shared a Pulitzer Prize (1983) for general local reporting, won a national public service award from the American Bar Association for exposing corruption in federal courts, and is a member of the Scripps Howard Journalism Hall of Fame. He resides with his wife, Nancy, in the Pacific Northwest. He is the author of The Manchurian Journalist: Lawrence Wright, the CIA and the Corruption of American Journalism. (Trine Day). He is currently at work on a book and investigative documentary series on a cold-case crime spree in Speedway, Indiana in 1978, and is completing a book exploring the American myth of Al Capone. The Manchurian Journalist: Lawrence Wright, the CIA, and the Corruption of American Journalism: https://trineday.com/products/manchurian-journalist-lawrence-wright-the-cia-and-the-corruption-of-american-journalism 

Send us Fan MailThey just landed in Seattle, they've barely had time to shake out their legs, and they're already thinking about one thing: how a U.S. sky race will feel compared to the European skyrunning circuit. We sit down with Daniel Daniel Antonioli & Beñat Albisu for a quick, high-energy pre-race conversation as they get ready to race near Big Creek in the Olympic Mountains for the first time on American soil. We talk travel realities and first impressions of the Pacific Northwest, plus where they're hoping to sneak in a little exploring with only a week in town. Then we get into racing: what it's like to line up against a strong international field, and why an out-and-back skyrace course can create a different kind of pressure and excitement when you're literally watching competitors coming toward you on the climb. Daniel shares why he loves the simple rhythm of one big ascent and one committed descent, and Banat reflects on what it means to race abroad as a 20-year-old following the U23 skyrunning circuit. We also zoom out to season planning, including how athletes choose between major mountain running events when schedules collide, and why ultra-technical courses like Matterhorn Ultraks Extreme can shape training priorities. If you're into trail running, skyrunning, mountain racing tactics, and the culture that makes these races special from Italy to the Basque Country, you'll leave with fresh motivation and a clearer sense of how pros think before the gun goes off. Subscribe or follow, share this with a trail friend, and leave a rating and review if you want more athlete stories and race coverage.Use code SteepStuff for 20% your cart on Sidas.usFollow James on IG - @jameslaurielloFollow the Steep Stuff Podcast on IG - @steepstuff_podFollow Sidas USA on IG - @sidas_usa

Lauren Ridgley is the CEO of Left Hand Agency, a boutique independent full-service media agency based in Portland specializing in CPG brands. Her team plans and buys across the full mix, including retail media networks, paid social, OOH, CTV, programmatic, and paid search, spanning both performance and brand investment. Left Hand isn't a performance-only shop or a digital agency; the team's differentiation is knowing how to balance brand and performance investment for long-term growth, not just short-term response.Before founding Left Hand, Lauren spent years as a marketing director in TV and entertainment. She's deeply versed in the Byron Sharp and Ehrenberg-Bass frameworks around mental and physical availability, and Left Hand has been known to send clients copies of How Brands Grow to make the case.Lauren is a regular voice in industry conversations, having appeared on multiple podcasts and panels, including a past panel with Indie Agency News. She's active in the Pacific Northwest marketing and creative community through NextNW (formerly Portland Ad Fed), and writes the CPG-focused High Five newsletter series.

Two Free AI Resources Every Teacher Should Download Lee Barrett joins Ray to unpack the biggest AI in education news and research. This week, while Dan enjoys the Pacific Northwest, Ray is joined by returning guest Lee Barrett (from CEnet) for a wide-ranging discussion on the latest AI in education news and research. The episode explores why one of the world's leading law schools is restricting technology in first-year classes while embracing AI later in the course, what Anthropic's new Claude for Teachers initiative could mean for educators, and why headlines about AI "writing" university assignments deserve much closer scrutiny. The conversation also dives into five new research papers covering AI-assisted teaching, student feedback, assessment reform, learning analytics, and how students are really using AI in higher education. Along the way, Ray and Lee discuss why assessment - not AI detection - is becoming education's biggest challenge; why productive struggle still matters; and why good teaching remains at the heart of meaningful learning. This week's free resources Show Your Work: Assessment in the Age of AI – a practical collection of ideas for designing assessment in an AI-enabled world. The Science of Learning and Generative AI: A Practical Guide for Secondary Teachers – a research-informed guide from La Trobe University that connects learning science with practical classroom use of AI. News mentioned Chicago Law School's first-year technology changes Anthropic's Claude for Teachers More than 50% of Australian university assignments used AI - and Turnitin's Learning Integrity Insights Report AI in Education Research Reports Generative AI can harm teaching https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=7007339  Artificial intelligence and feedback in university education: effectiveness and student perceptions https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02602938.2026.2697962 Grading in an age of assessment reform: the elephant in the room https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02602938.2026.2694451#d1e187 Interactive learning dashboards: rethinking learning visualisations as engagement tools https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10639-026-14082-1 Illuminating complex student realities of artificial intelligence through an entangled pedagogy framework https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-026-01730-1  Just one of the papers from the excellent https://aiinhe.org/ project  

Originally released as Episode 538 of Bigfoot Society on 9/25/24.For years, Darrell Adams lived beside one of Oregon's most mysterious wilderness areas, where nearly every night brought another unexplained event. Towering vocalizations echoed across the valley. Massive knee impressions appeared in fresh clay. Strange gifts arrived without explanation. Cameras captured unsettling evidence, and one encounter left behind an enormous face print pressed against a bedroom window.In this episode of Bigfoot Society, Darrell takes us deep into the Owl Moon Wilderness near Cottage Grove, Oregon, sharing the experiences that inspired The Owl Moon Lab. From haunting audio recordings and possible habituation to structures, tracks, photographs, and years of documented activity, this conversation explores one of the Pacific Northwest's most compelling Bigfoot hotspots.If you're fascinated by serious eyewitness testimony and ongoing Sasquatch research, this is an episode you won't want to miss.Resources: The Owl Moon Lab by Tobe Johnson - https://amzn.to/3MPsYAE (Amazon Affiliate link)Darrell's Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/@BigfootJustified-k3x

Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with Wednesdays on Whidbey & your host, Diane Wyzga. I'm often asked: “What brought you to Whidbey Island?” It's a standard ice breaker question here. My cheeky response is: A ferry brought me; ferries being a mode of transportation among the Washington islands. Many folks come here, vacation, fall in love, and return to claim their spot. Not me. It wasn't love at first sight. In truth, I washed up on the shores of Whidbey Island. My relationship with this place is more like an arranged marriage than falling-head-over-heels in love. An arranged marriage flips the traditional hook-up, dating, live together, get married sequence. Matchmakers introduce the partners, a wedding occurs, and love and intimacy are expected to develop afterward during marriage. While Hollywood movies often frame relationships around immediate romance, arranged marriages rely on a partnership built on shared foundations where emotional bonds grow over time. It's a pragmatic mindset requiring work and compromise that helps offset early disillusionment when one person's habits rub up against the other's expectations.     Unlike the traditional scenario where attraction might peak during a “honeymoon phase” the gradual growth of friendship, love, and meeting milestones together sets up a long-term companionship supported by those strong ties.   Just like our marriages, traditional or arranged, the place we live shapes our identities, behaviors, and well-being. Places we live—like the tides— direct our attention, movement, social interactions, personal growth and development. The community molds our sense of culture, belonging, what is normal, expected, possible and accepted. In ways large and small place fundamentally influences our daily routines, opportunities, and personality. After almost a decade in this semi-rural place, with all the highs and lows that come with starting anew in unfamiliar surroundings how have I come to love thee, Whidbey? Let me count the ways.   There's the cool Pacific Northwest climate, the landscape of old growth forests, farms and farmer's markets, abundant wildlife (sometimes too abundant in the garden), a slower pace because of narrow, winding 2-lane roads and reduced speed limits, the November to May Rain Festival that turns our attention and activities quietly inward. Ours is a deliberate lifestyle. We don't have malls or the hustle and bustle of city streets, or easy access to stuff one can get over in AmeriKa. Of course, that means we rely on ourselves and each other, especially when the power goes out and the hum of generators fills the night sky. Ours is a deceivingly robust community of varied social fabrics, politics, spirituality, intellects and economics. We support writers, artists, hikers, fisherfolk, entrepreneurs, farmers, poets, seniors, educators, and volunteers. Every meeting and gathering comes with a potluck. Yes, it can take time to find your people in a tight-knit rural place, but it's also a matter of stepping out the door, inviting people to share your front porch, building connections, building trust, learning tolerance for others. By and large people on Whidbey are friendly, welcoming, smart, clever, willing to shed big city ways to make room for patience. Maybe even understanding because we do not see all things the same way.   Ours hosts a plethora of outdoor spaces, free public transport, and the most wonderful library system that is the hub of our social connectedness. Sure the prices are higher than most, we do struggle to make ends meet, healthcare service could be better, and ferry schedule might be sketchy at times; but I knew I belonged when people greeted me by name in the grocery store or ACE Hardware or I was invited to begin teaching story courses for adults. Don't get me wrong. Whidbey Island is not unlike your community. It's not all rainbows and rhubarb pie here. We have our share of folks who behave like dumbshits. But for every person who behaves like a dumbshit there's a dozen who are truly kind and decent. That's the bit to remember because despite the ups and downs a time must come when you agree with yourself to set aside feelings of uncertainty, venture out, expand your horizons, engage with your new found community. As an introvert's introvert the idea of making a coffee date was not in my toolkit; but once I did step out it became easier and I learned that others were just waiting to be invited. This place called Whidbey Island is the place I live; even more important are the people I'm still coming to know who are shaping who I am. “But now that I am in love with a place that doesn't care how I look and if I am happy, happy is how I look and that's all.” *** Question: What is it about the place you live that has charmed and shaped you? *** Weathering ~  by Fleur Adcock "My face catches the wind from the snow line and flushes with a flush that will never wholly settle. Well, that was a metropolitan vanity, wanting to look young forever, to pass. I was never a pre-Raphaelite beauty and only pretty enough to be seen with a man who wanted to be seen with a passable woman. But now that I am in love with a place that doesn't care how I look and if I am happy, happy is how I look and that's all. My hair will grow grey in any case, my nails chip and flake, my waist thicken, and the years work all their usual changes. If my face is to be weather beaten as well, it's little enough lost for a year among the lakes and vales where simply to look out my window at the high pass makes me indifferent to mirrors and to what my soul may wear over its new complexion." You're invited: “Come for the stories - stay for the magic!” Speaking of magic, subscribe & spread this episode  with a generous 5-star review & comment—it helps us all—& join us next time! AND!  Stop by my Quarter Moon Story Arts website during reconstruction, email me [info@quartermoonstoryarts.net] to arrange a no-obligation Discovery Call, and stay current with me as Quarter Moon Story Arts on Substack. Stories From Women Who Walk Production Team Podcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story Arts Music: Mer's Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron Music ALL content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved. Enjoy my work? Share & attribute it to Diane Wyzga of Stories From Women Who Walk podcast with a link back to the original source.

Whether you're curious about the latest Japanese finesse techniques or preparing for your next tournament, this episode delivers practical advice that anglers can immediately apply on the water. Episode Highlights The origin and rapid rise of the Urchin Bait. Why younger anglers are developing innovative techniques with the bait. Selecting the correct size for spotted bass versus largemouth bass. How bait weight affects fall rate and triggering strikes. Best colors to start with, including Green Pumpkin and Shad patterns. Fishing around grass, timber, rock, and suspended fish. Rigging options using single hooks, treble hooks, and weighted systems. Why fluorocarbon line generally outperforms braid for this presentation. Proper storage techniques for TPE soft plastics. Differences between Dice baits and Urchin baits. Creative modifications anglers are making to improve bait performance. Tournament preview for the BAM Super 60 on the Columbia River. Regional fishing insights from Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. Gear & Technique Takeaways Match bait size to the species and conditions. Focus on achieving a slow, natural sink rate. The bait's movement is more important than exact color selection. Strong, stiff tentacles create the best underwater action. Experiment with weighted hooks to fine-tune fall speed. Fluorocarbon helps maintain better bait control and hook-up percentages. Store TPE baits separately to prevent warping and damage. Don't limit the bait to LiveScope fishing—it can be effective around nearly every type of cover. Tournament Talk The crew also previews upcoming BAM Trail events, discussing: Columbia River fishing conditions. Boardman versus Tri-Cities strategies. Local anglers expected to contend. Wind and current considerations. Catch expectations and what it may take to win. Rich Craft's confidence heading into competition. Featured Sponsors Thanks to the companies that support BAM and tournament anglers across the West. BAM Trail Bass Angler Magazine BAM Super 60 Tournament sponsor partners discussed throughout the episode. Why You Should Listen If you've been hearing about Urchin Baits but weren't sure how or when to fish them, this episode breaks everything down—from lure selection and rigging to real-world tournament applications. Joe Mariani and Ty Manarola share the techniques they're using to consistently catch bass, while offering insights into one of the fastest-growing trends in modern bass fishing. Whether you fish clear reservoirs, grass lakes, or river systems, you'll come away with practical tips that can help put more fish in the boat. About BAM Podcasts Bass Angler Magazine's is a bi-monthly podcast series its available free on Simple Cast, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Amazon. Stay tuned as we discuss the latest in bass fishing, lure trends, ways to catch fish, tournament wins and things of interest to bass anglers.BASS ANGLER MAGAZINE (BAM), a veteran owned quarterly print and digital magazine, designed, and printed in the U.S.A. Covering largemouth, smallmouth and spotted bass, Bass Angler was created specifically to help you become a better, more informed bass fisherman. As the industry's most informative bass fishing magazine, we provide you in-depth exclusive new features with the world's top anglers.Subscribe to Bass Angler Magazine print and or digital here

Send us Fan MailA fast sky race can look simple on paper until you add singletrack bottlenecks, an out-and-back with traffic, and a technical finish that punishes sloppy footwork. We sit down with Canadian trail runner Josh Potvin for a quick, focused catch-up before Beast Of Big Creek, starting with what training has looked like from Vancouver and why this has been one of his most consistent years ever.From there, Josh breaks down Quebec Mega Trail: the heat, the ruthless technical sections, and the mindset shift that lets you walk away proud when you execute well even if the placing wasn't the headline goal. We also talk about the Canadian team selection process for short trail, what it takes to put yourself in the conversation, and how results plus timing can shape your season.Then we shift to something new for Josh: joining the Merrell trail running team. He shares what surprised him about the team culture, how support matters when races go sideways, and which Merrell shoes he's been using for long runs, technical trail days, and faster efforts. We close with his Beast Of Big Creek strategy, why steep Pacific Northwest terrain is the perfect prep, plus a real-world look at 100K recovery and turning the legs around for the next block as he eyes Whistler UTMB and an OCC ticket.If you enjoy athlete stories, practical race prep, and honest talk about what actually works, subscribe, share this with a running friend, and leave a quick rating and review.Follow Josh on IG - @jjpotvinUse code SteepStuff for 20% your cart on Sidas.usFollow James on IG - @jameslaurielloFollow the Steep Stuff Podcast on IG - @steepstuff_podFollow Sidas USA on IG - @sidas_usa

Stop Guessing: The Salmon Fishing System That Actually WorksIf you own a boat, have the gear, and still keep coming home empty-handed, this episode is for you. Jamie walks through the exact training she's taught in seminars and private sessions for years -- the same one boaters from all over Washington have used to go from frustrated to consistent. By the end, you'll understand the four-part system that separates the boats that limit out from the ones that go home empty every time.Episode OverviewJamie shares her own rough first season chasing salmon in the San Juan Islands and the local legend who changed everything for herLearn the three types of fishermen and which one might be quietly holding you backA full breakdown of rod, reel, downrigger and terminal tackle setupHow to plan a trip using tides, current and wind apps before you ever leave the dockA real video walkthrough of sending gear down and landing a fishThe four-question review habit that turns one good trip into a repeatable processTimestamps 00:00 - Salmon School announcement and what's ahead 04:00 - Meet Jamie and Scott, welcome to the training 09:00 - Jamie's early struggles finding salmon in the San Juans 12:00 - The three types of fishermen, which one are you 16:00 - Pillar 1, prep your gear like a pro 21:00 - Rod, reel and downrigger setup breakdown 27:00 - Choosing lures, bait and terminal tackle 33:00 - Pillar 2, planning an exceptional day on the water 38:00 - Reading tides, current and wind before you leave the dock 46:00 - Pillar 3, on the water fishing technique walkthrough 57:00 - Pillar 4, process and review, the nine questions that level you upKey TakeawaysFishing success comes down to performance, not luck or the newest lure.Fishing the current change matters more than fishing the tide change.Most anglers skip the review step, and that's exactly what separates the committed rookie from the proficient angler.Prepared anglers catch more fish because they spend more time fishing and less time fixing gear.Sending two different lures down at once helps you figure out what the fish actually want that day.Resources & Links Salmon School, August 9th in Anacortes: https://anglersunlimited.co/salmonschool Want hands-on training with real gear demos, a sonar deep dive with Steve Chamberlin, and a filleting demo from SeaBear? Join us at Salmon School in Anacortes on August 9th. Grab your spot at https://anglersunlimited.co/salmonschoolFishing for a Reason is the Pacific Northwest saltwater fishing education podcast for new anglers and families who want to catch more salmon, halibut, lingcod, shrimp and crab in Washington waters. Hosted by Jamie & Scott Propst from Anglers Unlimited, each episode delivers practical techniques, local knowledge, and expert insights to help you get off the couch and into the fish. Perfect for relocated professionals, military families, and boaters who are just getting into fishing.

Welcome back to Circle Round Summer Camp! We're revisiting our favorite stories about the outdoors. Recorded live at Symphony Hall with Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians and a star-studded cast, this indigenous Pacific Northwest tale follows a wily coyote on a daring rescue. This Circle Round episode originally was released on Feb. 18. 2025. Sign up for our monthly newsletter, "The Lion's Roar", here.

Ted Bundy grew up in Tacoma in the shadow of one of the most toxic smelters in the United States, and he wasn't the only one. Between the 1970s and '80s, the Pacific Northwest was home to a bizarre, outsized cluster of serial killers including Bundy, Gary Ridgeway, Charles Manson and many more. Could there be a connection between lead and arsenic poisoning and the making of a serial killer? My guest is New York Times bestselling author Caroline Fraser, and in her book Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, she explores this possible link, and how toxins like lead were promoted to the American public despite the known dangers. The paperback version of her Edgar Award-winning book just came out in June. The author's website: ⁠https://www.carolinefraser.net/ Free shipping and 365-day returns with Quince! Refresh your wardrobe here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.quince.com/notorious⁠

How you feel on Sunday night tells you something real about your relationship with work. Amy Leneker, the author of Cheers to Monday, calls it one of the most honest assessments we have, and she would know. Seven weeks into medical leave after a panic attack, she sat in a doctor's office, got handed a questionnaire, and could not answer a question about what she did for fun. In this conversation, Amy walks through what she learned from that unraveling and the research that followed. She explains the difference between the stress that helps you perform and the stress that wears you down, and why leaders and their teams so often talk past each other on exactly that point. She shares the zero-to-10 question that opens up a conversation about stress without putting anyone on the spot, her three-step See, Sort, Solve method, and how to separate what you can control from what you cannot. There is a lot in here you can use this week if you lead people. Including one calendar trick involving a standing Friday appointment with Dr. Green. About our guest Amy Leneker is the founder and CEO of the Center for Joyful Work and the author of Cheers to Monday: The Surprisingly Simple Method to Lead and Live with Less Stress and More Joy, published by Wiley in 2026. The book debuted as the number one bestselling business book on the USA Today list. Amy spent more than two decades in leadership, including ten years in the C-suite, before burnout forced a different path. She has studied leadership at Yale, neuroscience at the NeuroLeadership Institute, and stress resilience at Harvard Medical School. She leads an annual national workforce study on stress and joy at work, has trained more than 100,000 people, and hosts the Less Stress, More Joy podcast. She and her family live in the Pacific Northwest. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 Intro and sponsor 02:10 The question in a doctor's office she could not answer 05:05 The signs she ignored for years 05:55 Why your Sunday night mood is honest data 07:10 Turning her own burnout into a literature review 09:35 Eustress and distress, and why leaders and teams talk past each other 11:40 The check engine light and the cost of waiting 13:20 See, sort, solve 15:25 The stress ruler and the zero to 10 question 19:40 Stress and joy are both contagious 20:45 Values that leave you out will burn you out 24:10 Sorting what you can control from what you cannot 26:45 Why the people quickest to offer help are the slowest to ask for it 28:50 Cancel a meeting 30:20 The Dr. Green calendar story 32:35 What leaders get wrong in uncertain moments 34:45 Stress thrives in isolation A QUICK GLIMPSE INTO OUR PODCAST Podcast: Transform Your Workplace, sponsored by Xenium HR Host: Brandon Laws In Brandon's own words: "The Transform Your Workplace podcast is your go-to source for the latest workplace trends, big ideas, and time-tested methods straight from the mouths of industry experts and respected thought-leaders." About Xenium HR Xenium HR is on a mission to transform workplaces by providing expert outsourced HR and payroll services for small and medium-sized businesses. With a people-first approach, Xenium helps organizations create thriving work environments where employees feel valued and supported. From navigating compliance to enhancing workplace culture, Xenium offers tailored solutions that empower growth and simplify HR. Whether managing employee relations, payroll processing, or implementing impactful training programs, Xenium is the trusted partner businesses rely on to elevate their workplace experience. Discover how Xenium can transform your workplace: Learn more Mentioned in this episode: Xenium HR Leadership Cohorts Connect with Amy Leneker: Website LinkedIn Cheers to Monday Connect with Brandon Laws: LinkedIn Instagram About Connect with Xenium HR: Website LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube

This episode brings together an incredible collection of firsthand Bigfoot encounters from across North America. You'll hear reports from the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico, the Navajo Reservation, the forests of Alabama, the mountains of Western North Carolina, the hills of Ohio, and the Pacific Northwest near Monroe, Washington.Witnesses describe terrifying screams in the woods, massive footprints, mysterious tree knocks, rocks and pine cones thrown from unseen sources, overwhelming odors, nighttime campsite disturbances, and close visual encounters with towering hairy figures. One guest shares a childhood experience that stayed with them for decades. Another recounts a frightening encounter that sent an entire group running for safety. Others describe years of unexplained activity around remote homes deep in the mountains.Every story is told directly by the people who experienced it. If you've ever wondered how widespread Bigfoot encounters really are, this episode offers a fascinating look at reports from some of the most active regions in North America.

Send us Fan MailA course can look “runnable” and still scare you a little. That's exactly why Beast of Big Creek is so intriguing, and why I brought back Mercedes Siegle-Gaither for a tight, honest pre-race chat. She'd just been on the route previewing and training, and her take is vivid: long stretches of shady forest on smooth trail, a relentless uphill grind, then a shift above treeline into steeper, rockier skyrunning terrain with wildflowers and big mountain energy on the Olympic Peninsula near Hoodsport.We also get real about the not-so-glam side of endurance sports: coming back from injury. Mercedes talks through finishing an earlier 100-miler while likely dealing with a pulled hamstring, the months-long recovery, and the mental whiplash of seeing old running segments and choosing to let them go for now. Add altitude back into the picture and the body gets humbled fast, but the mindset stays steady: stay calm, keep stacking work, and trust the rebuild.Gravel biking becomes the hero of the summer. We dig into why gravel cycling is such a smart cross-training tool for trail runners and ultrarunners, plus the practical fears that come with it, from cars to learning clipless pedals (including the classic slow-speed flop). We also touch on how fast Beast could be, what out-and-back passing might feel like on a narrow descent off Mount Ellinor, and what races she's lining up next as fitness returns.If you're into trail running, skyrunning, race previews, injury recovery, altitude training, and the Pacific Northwest mountain scene, this one will light you up. Subscribe or follow, share it with a friend training for a comeback, and leave a rating and review so we can keep telling these athlete stories.Follow Mercedes on IG - @theslimcedeUse code SteepStuff for 20% your cart on Sidas.usFollow James on IG - @jameslaurielloFollow the Steep Stuff Podcast on IG - @steepstuff_podFollow Sidas USA on IG - @sidas_usa

A bestselling computer book and a mayor's office may seem worlds apart, but Dan Gookin's path connects them through curiosity, clear communication, and public service. I talk with the DOS for Dummies author and Coeur d'Alene mayor about making technical writing useful, challenging industries that resist new ideas, and finding success by improving work others do poorly. Dan also shares why he entered local politics, how transparency and community engagement built public trust, and why responsible leadership often means asking the questions others overlook. We close by exploring political division, religious freedom, social media algorithms, and the need to reduce online anger without losing the internet's benefits. Highlights: 00:06:48 - Why leaving your comfort zone creates growth. 00:11:07 - How doing something better can become a business. 00:12:39 - Why writing for beginners changed computer publishing. 00:27:06 - How transparency concerns led Dan into politics. 00:37:30 - Why responsiveness helped Dan earn public trust. 00:54:49 - How social media fuels anger and division. About the Guest: Dan Gookin is the mayor-elect of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, having won election in November 2025 after serving on the City Council since 2011. Known as a fiscal conservative, outspoken advocate for government transparency, and a committed budget hawk who asks tough questions, he is often described as “the lone voice of reason” on the council, consistently championing the public and the “little guy” against bureaucracy. Gookin views his public service as protecting individual rights. He prides himself on listening to all perspectives, welcoming alternative viewpoints, remaining open to new information, and never being a rubber-stamp vote. Professionally, Gookin is known as a writer and online trainer. He has been writing about technology since the early days of personal computing, combining his humor with a passion for gadgets to create informative and entertaining books. He authored the groundbreaking DOS For Dummies in 1991—the world's fastest-selling computer book at the time and the title that launched the iconic For Dummies series, now a publishing phenomenon. With more than 170 titles to his credit, over 12 million copies in print, and translations into more than 30 languages, his popular works include PCs and Laptops For Dummies, Android For Dummies, Word For Dummies, and C For Dummies. He maintains two helpful websites, wambooli.com and c-for-dummies.com. He creates online courses for LinkedIn Learning on diverse topics, and in 2020 published Running for Local Office For Dummies. Gookin graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a BA in Communications/Visual Arts and minors in cognitive psychology and theatrical design. He put his creative talents to work as artistic director of the Lake City Playhouse, where he designed sets, lighting, and directed many productions between 1997 and 2002. First and foremost, Dan considers himself a father who raised four boys in Idaho. Gookin resides in Coeur d'Alene with his wife, Brie, along with various children and pets. In his leisure time, he enjoys woodworking, playing the piano, riding his bike, cooking, gardening, and making lists of things he enjoys doing along with occasionally annoying those who think that they're important. Ways to connect with Dan**:** LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-gookin-46995713/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dangookin About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:04 What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't what's in front of you, but rather what you believe? Welcome to Unstoppable Mindset, where inclusion, diversity, and the unexpected meet. I'm your host, Michael Hingston, speaker, author, and advocate for inclusion and possibilities. This podcast explores how the beliefs we carry shape the way we live, lead, and connect with others. Each week, I talk with people who challenge assumptions, face adversity head-on, and show what's possible when we choose curiosity over fear. Together, we focus on mindset, resilience, and the small shifts that lead to meaningful change. Let's get started. Hello there, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Unstoppable Mindset. I am your host, Michael Hingston, and today we get to chat with Dan Gookin. Do you know who Dan Gookin is? Probably not, but you will by the time we're done. But I will tell you one thing about Dan. He was elected mayor of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, in November of 2025. I think Dan, you're the first political person as such that we have had on, which is kind of cool. I'm really honored to to have you here, and and we can spend the the whole time picking on on other politicians, but there's no need to do that. I mean, what good does it do? It's a waste of time. But I want to welcome you to Unstoppable Mindset, and Dan, thanks very much for being here. Dan Gookin  01:44 Thank you, Michael. Thank you for having me on. Michael Hingson  01:46 Well, this will, I think, really be a lot of fun. I'm sorry that you guys aren't getting a lot of snow up there. My brother-in-law has been keeping me posted on the lack of snow, so today here we're expecting a temperature at about 70 degrees. Last week it got up to 39. So I don't know. There's something going on with the climate. Dan Gookin  02:10 Something. Michael Hingson  02:11 Yeah, whatever it is. Speaker 1  02:13 Well, there was a name for that. Michael Hingson  02:15 Yeah, yeah. If if there were enough people, would only believe it. But that's another story. You are right. Well, thanks very much for being here. Why don't we start? Tell me about the early Dan growing up and all that. Speaker 1  02:31 So I grew up in San Diego, California. Good place. I still say San Michael Hingson  02:35 Diego has the best weather in the country. Speaker 1  02:38 They do. It's changed a little bit as everything has, but I escaped from there back in 1991. Went up to Washington State because I was doing some work with Microsoft, and then decided that that was Seattle was another big city. So we kept looking east and finally landed in Idaho in Coeur d'Alene because it's pretty. Michael Hingson  03:01 It's a nice area. So you you did your schooling and all that down in San Diego. Speaker 1  03:06 Yeah, I graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a degree in communication visual arts. That was in 1983. Michael Hingson  03:13 Cool, wow. I've spent many a a day down in San Diego. I lived in Vista for six years, so I'm familiar with the area. Yeah, I liked Vista. Vista was a nice place to be. You Speaker 1  03:24 did a radio show out of Vista. Did you for a while? Yeah, computer call-in show. So that was way back. Michael Hingson  03:32 What did you discuss, or just anything dealing with computers? I Speaker 1  03:36 was editing a magazine, a local computer magazine at the time, and we purchased an hour, and so I would drive from my home in Tierra Santa all the way up to Vista to be in this little tiny radio station, where we would do call-ins. And sometimes people would call in, and I would help them solve their computer problems. And sometimes I had to talk to myself for Michael Hingson  03:57 an hour. And and and did you get answers when you talk to yourself. Speaker 1  04:02 No, but I got really hoarse. Ah, okay. Michael Hingson  04:04 Well, you know, just just checking. Well, that's cool. Well, I guess we could tell everyone that, among other things, Dan is also the author of a number of books, including DOS for Dummies. I still like DOS. Thank you. I I like DOS. I've just always enjoyed it. Although, I have to admit, Windows has progressed a whole lot more. But I always liked DOS. Speaker 1  04:27 Yes, it was good, and and it was its complexity or its a rudeness, I shall say. Yeah, that's a good. Sold the book because you had to type. You had to know the commands in Windows. You can kind of look and point and do all this stuff, but in DOS, you had to know the commands and type the commands, and people wouldn't-they couldn't remember. There were all these options, and so we sold a lot of books doing that. It's still, like I said, I I like it too. I like the command line because it's faster if you know what you have to type. Yeah, it takes less time to type. Than it does to look around, point and shoot with the mouse. Michael Hingson  05:04 Yeah, there are a number of blind people on some list serves that I am part of that every so often something regarding DOS comes up, which is I think kind of cool. Speaker 1  05:15 Yep, hasn't gone away. It's it's still lurking in there somewhere. Michael Hingson  05:19 It is still a kind of the basic underpinning foundation of a lot of Windows, isn't it? Speaker 1  05:25 Well, Windows actually does run on top of it still. If you if you when you start a program in Windows, you're actually issuing a text command. So inside there is a long text command that is issued that gets everything running. It's just that you're configuring that from a graphical perspective, Michael Hingson  05:44 right? Yeah, but but it is still running. DOS essentially runs under Windows, which is which is something that is is relevant. So I guess we could blame that on Bill Gates, Speaker 1  05:57 or credit him. I don't know. Michael Hingson  05:58 Or yeah, yeah, one of the other. Well, so you you graduated, you moved to Seattle. As you said, it is a big city, although you know it's kind of hard to fight Pike's fish market. Speaker 1  06:11 Well, there's there's the fun and charming parts of of Seattle that I really enjoyed. So I mean, I can't say that you know it was a horrible city. The thing I admired about Seattle the most was that Seattle would occasionally not take itself seriously, and I liked that it had a sense of humor and that people there were generally good natured. San Diego was a little bit more uptight, you know, fair weather fans, that kind of stuff, where Seattle was more of a community, and I admired that greatly. Michael Hingson  06:43 And there used to be a lot of rain up there. Speaker 1  06:45 Not as much as people say. That's kind of their reputation. The Pacific Northwest we do have. So I moved from Southern California where you have 360 days of sun a year to Pacific Northwest where you have 180, so it was kind of a shock from that point of view. It's mostly like today; it's overcast. It's just there's no sun, so that's the big difference. Michael Hingson  07:10 And then you moved up to Idaho, and and how many days of sun or not sun are there a year? Speaker 1  07:16 Oh, still about 180. 180. Uh huh. But it's you know so you get used to it after a while, and when the sun comes out, you're all happy, and it's like, look, the sun's out, everything's pretty. Michael Hingson  07:27 Yeah, fair. Yeah. So when you were in San Diego and so on, what did you want to do or be when you grew up? Speaker 1  07:36 So originally, I wanted to be a doctor, and then I had the misfortune of being in a hospital, and I said I don't ever want to be back here, and changed my mind and figured I would be a writer. So for years I started writing and submitting things to magazines, trying to work on books and stuff. I mean I wrote a few books, and they say that you have to get about a million words of junk out before you actually are a good writer. So I I worked on that for a long time, and got to the point where I I actually had a reputation with some of the editors in the magazines who would write me back personal notes instead of the generic you know dismissal, and so that was working really well. But then what happened in 1984 was I wrote something for the local computer flyer, and they liked that, and it got published, and that was what really started the career for tech because tech wanted people who knew how to write, so that was good timing. Michael Hingson  08:35 Yeah, so many technical manuals are just so boring. I really wish people would learn how to write more interesting books. Of course, I say that about textbooks as well. I am of the opinion that having a master's degree in physics and having read many a physics book, the and there are so few of them. The best books are the ones where the authors have put some actual personal stories in to draw people in with human interest parts of the science, and I wish more people would do that. Speaker 1  09:03 And that was my point too. It was like these books are dull and boring. And the problem I had because I was writing computer books at the time, I had a computer book literary agent. There is such a thing, and it's it's backwards in that industry though, because the publisher says what they want a book on, and then they have you write the book on the topic, and so I was doing that for many years. But I did not like the fact that they would edit my books to make them dry, and the editors would actually complain to me and say, "There's too much personality in here. You can't have this. It was like it was like they thought that was a built-in feature of the book, and my protest was, "Well, no. Let's make them interesting. Let's use real life examples. Let's have some personality in there. Let's have some interaction with the with the reader. And they didn't like that until DOS for Dummies came around, and the publisher was willing to change the paradigm. Michael Hingson  09:55 Jeez, yeah, it's so unfortunate. They they think they know. Everything there is to know, and the reality is they don't. Speaker 1  10:04 That's the way it is with just about any industry. You know that I think the corporate mentality is kind of to resist innovation, even in the most innovative industries, until something crazy comes along. And I think that's why in Silicon Valley you had all these startups. You know, if you look, if you trace the lineage of a lot of the big companies, they started at other big companies that were unwilling to do the crazy ideas these guys had, and so they went off. I mean, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak left Hewlett Packard and started up Apple Computer, and I'm pretty sure there's probably been some engineers from Apple Computer who've left and started up their own company and becoming Michael Hingson  10:43 well. And Bill Gates is essentially the same way. It's it's he started out doing something, but he attracted people's attention by some of the other things that he did. Speaker 1  10:53 Yep. Michael Hingson  10:54 And that was was very relevant. But I I hear what you're saying. It makes perfect sense because people just don't like to be innovative and don't like change, and and that's unfortunate that we have so many people that just, as much as they talk about the fact that change is everywhere, they don't like it. Speaker 1  11:10 No, it's well, I think yeah, we we get in our comfort zone, and you don't grow out in the comfort zone. So I like to challenge myself and do interesting things like become mayor, and you know you leave your comfort zone. And what what can I do here, or how can I do this better? Michael Hingson  11:26 Yeah, well, and that makes makes perfect sense. Well, what got you started writing about technology? Just because you were writing that that one article there, or those articles that got interest on the part of a publisher, or what? Speaker 1  11:41 What got me started was that I got paid. Ah, Michael Hingson  11:44 good point. Speaker 1  11:45 You know, they they paid me, and then you know, as as someone who was you know using a computer at the time, and they were called microcomputers, and they were really primitive compared to what we have today. Oh yeah, I I used it to write. So, and the the problem with that was that the the documents, the manuals that we talk about, were so dry and boring, and eventually, all of a sudden, it would dawn on me: it's like, well, this is what it's trying to say. So why don't they just come out and say it this way, or why don't they use an analogy and try to explain it in that manner instead of coming at it from this hardcore technical? And that was what really turned off a lot of people, so it motivated me to want to do it better, and that's kind of what I tell the kids, like my kids. I say you should start up a business. That's really the best way to get successful is start up your own business and become famous like that. And they're well, what business should I start up? I said that the easiest way is to find something that you like, something that's being done poorly, and just do it better. Yeah, and that's really a lot of the the creative, insanely genius stuff that's happened throughout the world is just someone who does something routine but does it better. Michael Hingson  12:52 And that's really the operative part about it, and and the real key. I think you're you're absolutely right. Find something that people aren't doing well, and by the time you get creative enough to figure that out, you're well on your way. Speaker 1  13:05 Yep. So that's that's what I did. Michael Hingson  13:08 Yeah. And so you started going off and and writing a variety of things. What what actually got you to write Dos for Dummies? What specifically? That's first of all, I love the the title of all the Four Dummies books. I think it makes sense. But what got you started in writing DOS for Dummies directly? Speaker 1  13:27 Well, I I knew that there was an appetite out there for beginner computer books, but the publishing industry would not publish beginning computer books because they said beginners don't buy computer books. And I explained to them, well, your problem is you don't write beginner computer books. You write something and you call it, you know, the easy guide to whatever, but the content of it is not written for a beginner. Maybe the first chapter is very condescending and patronizing, and then the rest of it is just technical garbage. So I said you have to keep that tone throughout the entire text. You have to identify who it is you're writing to, as who's a smart person who may just not get it, and explain it to them, and just keep going. And that was the problem. So I I did originally called it the Idiots Guide for DOS, which was based after the Idiots Guide to Volkswagen Repair. My dad had a copy of that, and I thought, well, what a brilliant idea. Michael Hingson  14:20 Yeah. Speaker 1  14:21 And so the publisher saw me speak at a conference, and where I was bemoaning the fact that the books were so boring, and they kept editing out my personality. And then went to to him, and and he's like, "This is great. Your outline that you have for this book is perfect. Except we want to call it DOS for Dummies. I thought, like a lot of other people, that was condescending and patronizing, but that it's an alliteration, so that's what they go with. And then he said to make it a reference. Don't make it a tutorial because, and this is brilliant, these people don't want to learn anything; they just want to do their job. Yeah, that makes sense. So that was and that was it, and we put a lot of humor in it. You know, people would tell me that they'd read the book on the subway, and you know, you'd see someone laughing reading a computer book. That's weird, but there would just be enough humor, and I'd use Mad Magazine as my inspiration. So it was kind of like us versus the nerds, and and that was what really founded the whole thing, and I tell you what, it caught on. I did not think it would. There was no way we were planning on writing a book that would sell, you know, 8 million copies. We were just thinking, well, this is going to be fun. Let's just do this, get it out of our system, and then go back to writing boring books. Michael Hingson  15:36 Made the publisher very happy. Speaker 1  15:39 Oh yeah, they were printing Gold bricks, yeah. Michael Hingson  15:43 That, of course, was the real key. Well, that started a brand, didn't it? Speaker 1  15:47 Oh yeah, they did. There was no intention to do that, but then they they followed that up with Max for Dummies and a bunch of other titles that were just very popular at the time. AOL for Dummies, you know, Windows for Dummies eventually came out, and that was the King for Dummies book. But yeah, they have and they have it on all topics. I've even so as someone who is you know starting in government, I got Robert's Rules for Dummies, which you know you've been to a meeting, you know they follow Robert's Rules, which is very dry and boring, but it's it's important. And Robert's Rules for Dummies is a good example of a For Dummies book because it explains everything carefully. Lots of humor in there, and so there's a lot of them. Wine for Dummies was another one that I really liked. I thought they did a good job. Golf for Dummies. There's a there's on every topic. There's a For Dummies book. Michael Hingson  16:37 How many of them did you write? Speaker 1  16:40 Only wrote the ones with my names on them, but probably about 40 separate titles. So over the years, most of them have been rewrites. So technology changes. So there have been 16 editions of Word for Dummies, and 13 editions of PCs for Dummies. There were four editions of DOS for Dummies. So you're you're always writing new editions, so all totaled 180 separate titles. But individual titles, without not counting multiple editions, right? About 60. Michael Hingson  17:09 Wow. Speaker 1  17:10 Yeah. Yeah, Michael Hingson  17:10 and I can appreciate that that books like Word for Dummies or even iPhones for Dummies has to change over time. Speaker 1  17:19 Yeah. Well, some of them. I mean, I've been doing a kind of a review on on YouTube. I've been doing short videos highlighting some of the goofy images that I put in the books over the years. And way back about 20 years ago, I think I was updating these titles once a year. They would say, "We need a new version of this. We need a new version of this. And at the time, technology was just. I mean, they were cranking out new stuff all the time. Michael Hingson  17:44 So, who's written AI for Dummies? Speaker 1  17:47 I don't know, but that is a title, so I wouldn't be Michael Hingson  17:50 surprised. Speaker 1  17:51 It should write itself, though. You think about Michael Hingson  17:53 it. Yeah, you you know, they they really should do that. It should write itself. Speaker 1  17:56 Someone told me once that they they they wanted to do a manual in my style, so they directed AI to write something in the style of Dan Gukan, and apparently AI can do that. So, am I going to get paid? I don't know. Michael Hingson  18:10 Well, that's another story, of course. Yeah, but still, it it is a it's a it's a great franchise. It's a great brand all the way around, and I know different people have written different different kinds of books like that, but still, the the fact is we need that in the world, and and I agree with you, especially that it's good to put humor and personality into it. And I really wish more people would do that. I really wish that would go into the the textbook world, but it hasn't yet. Speaker 1  18:37 No, that's that, and that's a different planet. I tried to break into that world, and that academia is is it's different. It is weird. Michael Hingson  18:44 Yeah, there are just not that many people who can get away with it like Richard Feynman did with some of the things that he did in physics, and even there, his his books were a little boring at times. But still, Speaker 1  18:56 he was awesome. His of course, his his autobiography is a lot of fun. Michael Hingson  19:00 Yeah, surely you're joking, mr. Fineman. Speaker 1  19:03 Exactly. Michael Hingson  19:04 Adventures of yeah, it is. I I keep it around. I've got an audio copy of it, and every so often I will go back and read parts of it. It's a it's a great book. Speaker 1  19:14 He's kind of an inspiration to me, especially in the area of government. And one of the parts of his book where he was on the panel that was reviewing textbooks for, I think, the state of California, and he noticed that one of the books was blank; it was empty, and he was the only one on the panel who did it. And I kind of echo that often in government because I'm occasionally the only person who actually reads some of the material they provide. Yeah, and and those kind of moments are classic. I love those. You know, when you can say, "Well, as everyone notices, you know, page 14 is blank, and they all madly flip to page 14, like, "Oh my gosh, how did you find this? Well, I, I did my job. I read the thing. Michael Hingson  19:54 I had a roommate in college, and we at that time we were using the Berkeley Physics series. I don't know. Whether that even still exists anymore, but different professors from Berkeley wrote various books, and the guy who wrote the book on waves, I had a roommate who was reading that book, and he searched vigorously to try to find a single misspelling of a word in the whole book. Wow! He finally found one. He said there really was one in the book. Kind of makes you wonder if that was deliberate, but but he actually found one. But it took him most of the quarter we had the book to find it. But but he did. Speaker 1  20:33 Excellent. Yeah, I got to say that's that's an art form. I used to work in a publishing house, and we would pore over books looking for spelling errors and mistakes and punctuation and all this stuff and of course you don't find them until the book's actually printed. Michael Hingson  20:46 Of course not. Yeah, yeah. Now it's it should be easier, but it's not, and they still don't come out until the book is already published and it's out there, and then you find out what isn't right. Speaker 1  20:58 Right. Michael Hingson  21:00 I suppose that gives the publisher an excuse to republish the book and make more money. Speaker 1  21:05 Well, yeah, it depends. It's if it is selling. If it doesn't sell, then obviously the the mistake's going to linger out there. Of course, with digital copies, they can update it right away, but not with a print book. Michael Hingson  21:17 Yeah, nowadays there's so many print books that are done pretty much on demand, so that if you want a copy, unless it's just something where they're selling literally millions a month, the book is available on demand. Although there's a little bit of a lag time to get it, my book Thunderdog, which is the story of Roselle and me in the World Trade Center, is is still selling pretty well, but it is more printed on demand by Thomas Nelson than now Harper Collins. Speaker 1  21:46 Yeah, Michael Hingson  21:47 and I understand that as long as it's available, I'm not going to complain. Speaker 1  21:51 And they and they they prefer to sell it that way as opposed to printing out 5000 copies they have to store somewhere. So Michael Hingson  21:56 right, yeah, they don't have to pay for storage and they just print it, and so it takes an extra week to get somewhere. That's fine. We can cope with that as long as it's available, and then that's all that really matters. Speaker 1  22:08 Yeah. Michael Hingson  22:09 But you've written a lot of books. How come so many? Because they're not all for dummies. Ah, okay. Speaker 1  22:16 Well, it just you know that was my profession, and that's what I did. And so, and I had a good agent who would find me a lot of work, so yeah, they would come up and they would want me to write a book on this or that, and a lot of it was because at the time in that industry I had a name and a reputation. I'm also very fast, so and that that kind of surprises people. In fact, there's some someone who accuses me of having a ghostwriter, which I do not. It's just I've been doing it so long, and you know, when I started, my agent said that he said the more you do this, the faster you'll get, the better you'll get. So, whereas in the original book, the first book I wrote took about six months to to write. I've written books in less than a month. It really depends. It depends on the topic, how well I know the topic, but also I do a lot of organizing with an outline, and so I will will work with an outline almost until it's down to the paragraph level, and then that makes it really easy to write the book, especially a technology book where there's a lot of cross references, and this sequence, you know, assuming someone's reading it front to back is really important, so you got to make sure that you touch upon things and do it in the right order. And then that's so yeah. I just got really good at it, which annoyed a lot of my fellow authors because as I was writing and I would get faster and faster, the contracts would start demanding the books in a more expedient manner, so other authors would complain to me and say, "You know, I have to write this book, and they're only giving me three months to do it. They're blaming me because I can do it in three months, and they figure everyone can do it in three months. So that was fun. Michael Hingson  23:54 Have you had books that someone asked you to write where you really didn't know much of anything about the subject, and you had to spend more time researching it, or you just spend time researching it, but you still did that very quickly. Speaker 1  24:06 Yeah, when I first started, that was pretty much the case. In fact, I talked with a guy who he had written the like the best-selling DBase three book. So DBase was a database way back in DOS, and it was the most popular database program, and he wrote the number one best-selling DBase three book that everyone who used that that program would buy, and he told me that he knew nothing about it when he signed the contract. So the the process of writing the book involved this intense deep dive into finding out what it is the program does, and then working on that. Of course, in those days, the books, the software came with a manual, so it was possible to go through the manual and see what the thing was capable of, and maybe get a few hints about that. But the books were not just a rephrase. The manual; they were a little bit better, the project oriented, whatever. So there was one one book that I did on a program called Super Card for the Macintosh, and it was the it was the there was no documentation, and I could call up the developer and I could ask him. So that was that was a tool I could use if I had access to the developer. I could call them up and I could say, "Okay, so I'm I'm doing this. What can you tell me that's like a secret or that is not obvious? And they love to share that stuff. Sure, I just write it all down, and then that that'll make the book better. If you could get through the the gatekeepers and get into where the nerds were, then you could get a lot of good information, and they were happy to share it. I did a few books on OS two that were like that, where I finally was able to escape into the lab and ask them. And the the guy they were so friendly, and they're like, "Oh, you got to tell him this, this, this, this. You know, we we couldn't put this in the manual. You have to tell him this, and so you write a great book. But of course, OS two, no one used it, so no one bought the book. Michael Hingson  26:05 Yeah, yeah, OS two was not one of those things that everybody loved. If Speaker 2  26:13 you enjoy Unstoppable Mindset and would like to help us continue bringing these conversations to you each week, we've created a way for you to support the show. Your contribution helps us cover production costs and continue sharing stories, insights, and ideas that inspire people to live with purpose and possibility. If supporting the podcast feels right for you, you'll find the link in the show notes. Thank you for being part of the unstoppable mindset community. Michael Hingson  26:46 I remember when I was a student at UC Irvine. I wasn't an information computer science major. I was physics major, but several people took ICS one, two, and three, which was a three quarter course, or well, it was a year course, and the the book they used was Introduction to Computer Programming by Ken Ingram. And what was fun about that was that on the first day of class, the professor would come in and he'd say, "Okay, I want you to read chapter one of information of introduction to computer programming by Ken Ingram. It's the textbook we're going to use. I want you to read that before our next class. And of course, most everyone had not touched the book prior to that. And what he didn't say was that that first chapter took up half the book. Speaker 1  27:40 I like it. Michael Hingson  27:43 Yeah, I know. Wasn't that? And I, I, I heard about it. I, I never did get the book, and I didn't get it transcribed into Braille. But I thought that was cute. Chapter one was half the book. Speaker 1  27:53 No one would have suspected chapter one's an easy chapter. It's four pages. Right, supposed to be right. I think it was like Michael Hingson  28:00 180 pages. It was amazing. Michael Hingson  28:03 I'm not sure whether Ingram had a sense of humor or what, but anyway, there you go. But yeah, that that was kind of kind of amazing. So you you wrote all these books and you continue to do that, but somewhere along the line, you got interested in doing things in politics. What was that all about? Speaker 1  28:25 Well, that was frustrating. Not Michael Hingson  28:28 bad, Speaker 1  28:29 because I. So I think a lot of people are kind of interested. They follow politics. If I call up my mom in San Diego, she has to complain to me about you know the mayor of San Diego and what the city council is doing and and it's it's common it's just I think I think the most most people who are active in in their community know a little bit about politics or whatever and in my case I had just moved from the county here near Courtland and then I'd moved into the city, and I had heard that there was someone was buying up properties in my neighborhood, and I thought that was curious, and I wanted to see if this was something that you know are they going to tear down houses? What are they going to do? So I started researching using the the county website to see who was own who owned these properties, and it was a place called the Lake City Development Corporation, and I thought, well, I need to find out what that is, and it turned out that was an urban renewal agency that was formed by the city of Cortland, and I started reading the statutes and I started reading their minutes and finding out what it is they do, and while on the surface it sounded really fun, there were a lot of curious things that I didn't like. A lot of non-transparent things, a lot of things where you know they're spending public money on what I thought were frivolous things, and so I started asking questions. I started coming to meetings, and they're missing. Was that they pushed back, and so I just something triggered me, and I had a red flag, and I just started going after it. We started, we formed a group of people who were all interested in this, and we would meet regularly and go over what was going on with the government. We'd find issues regarding transparency and spending, and lots of interesting stuff. Never really anything nefarious. Never anything that would. But just a lot of stuff that, as we let the public know about what was going on, they would become outraged and they would say, "Wait a second! They're spending millions of dollars on this, and you know, with property taxes so high, and what is this, and why is it affecting me? And and so I went to the city council meetings here in Portland, and I was frustrated because no one else seemed to get it. And I would look at them, and they would have some issue that would come up, and everyone on the council-there were six members on the council-they would all vote in unison, and no one had asked a question. And I would say, "Well, wait a second, why aren't they asking a question about this, or why aren't they concerned about this, or what about the side effects of this? And so I started writing articles for the paper. I eventually did videos and to speak to various groups and such because I was like, we got to hold government accountable. So I ran for office in ran for the city council in 2007, and I lost. And then I ran in 2009, and I lost, but only by like 29 votes. And then I was done at that point. I really didn't want to do it again because running for office is a pain. Michael Hingson  31:33 Yeah. And Speaker 1  31:34 then they had this huge thing where all of a sudden they were going to redo a park without a public vote, and I wanted a public vote. Lots of people wanted to vote on it, but no, they were going to do it, and they didn't care what the public thought. So they made me run. They made me run a third time, and I won. And I've been on the city council ever since. And then, of course, well, since last November when I got kicked up to the mayor seat, which is where I'm sitting Right now, strange journey. Michael Hingson  32:04 Well, yeah, but on the other hand, there is something to be said for transparency, and there's somebody something to be said for somebody who really wants to look out for what what people want and what people are doing. I I got involved. Well, I've not run for public office, but I've been very much involved in political kinds of things because I've been involved in the blindness world since early 1970s, and the National Federation of the Blind has had for well now, gosh, more than 50 years or around 50 years, what used to be called the March on Washington. Now it's called the Washington Seminar, which is a an event that takes place every year, where several 100 blind people descend on Washington and go off and visit legislators. And the idea is to really get them to understand what the needs of blind people are and try to get them to vote on issues that directly relate to issues concerning us, and sometimes they do. Although it's gotten a lot harder to get things passed, especially in the last eight or nine years. But still, that it it has to be done. But I remember, among other things, I was living in Massachusetts when I first started going, and among other things, we we went and saw the Speaker of the House, who was Tip O'Neill at the time, which was kind of fun. And what an interesting, what a charismatic guy! Didn't matter what party he was with; it was a charismatic guy. And we also visited people like Senator at the time Paul Songis, and what was interesting about him was we we talked about our issues, and it was the end of the day, and then suddenly he said, you know, I'm not going anywhere for the next few minutes. Do you guys have time? And we ended up just talking for about an hour and a half about his view of of and our views of what Massachusetts needed to do, not only for blind people but just in general, it was just fascinating. There weren't very many politicians who would do that. Speaker 1  34:08 That's awesome. Yeah, I liked him. I liked Tungus a lot. Michael Hingson  34:12 Yeah, I wish he'd been able to run for president, but he got cancer, and that's that's unfortunate. Yeah, but because I think that he's one of those people who would do what really needed to be done and do it the right way. Speaker 1  34:26 In other words, the people who never win. Yeah, that's unfortunately Michael Hingson  34:31 really the case, isn't it? Speaker 2  34:33 Yeah, Speaker 1  34:33 yeah. Michael Hingson  34:34 But but you got to do that. Speaker 1  34:36 Yeah. Michael Hingson  34:38 So you you know, but you you hopefully you'll make a big difference, and maybe you'll be able to get people to believe in climate change. Oh, did I say that Speaker 1  34:48 this year? Nah, Michael Hingson  34:53 not unless you predict snow when it actually comes. Speaker 1  34:56 That and that and that's the key. Yeah, Michael Hingson  34:59 yeah. No, I understand, but it but it is fascinating. I you know I I enjoy the concept of politics. I enjoy people who really have a vested interest in making government go well, but it is so unfortunate that we don't see that much of it, which is just too bad. Speaker 1  35:18 There are a lot of good dedicated people out there. I think so. Of course, the the problem is is you know, like they say, politics is sports for the uncoordinated, and it's drama for the ugly. But the the thing is, the people who really do a good job, who are out there doing what you want them to do, they don't get the headlines. It's the noisemakers. It's the extremists. It's the people who are going to have some obnoxious opinion because that that gets everyone's attention. You know, the the guy out there who's doing the job, who's putting in the time, representing the citizens, and making his community a better place. You know, you're never going to read that guy in the paper, unfortunately. Michael Hingson  35:59 Yeah, and that's also part of the problem: is that the media looks for all the drama rather than really looking to to represent the the average citizen and what they truly want and need. Speaker 1  36:10 So those don't the actual the things don't make headlines. In fact, it was a it was really funny. There was a guy who was elected to the state house from this county, and one of his campaign platforms, he was going to repeal all the useless laws, all the things that are still on the books. That you know, just we don't need those laws anymore. They're old. They're outdated, and he did that for about a week, and it doesn't make headlines. So here he is, you know, doing this, doing the job that you think they they would want to do and making government more effective, no one cared. I remember there was one year where we actually we cut property taxes here in the city, and I thought, wow, everyone's going to come up and say thank you. No, no one did. So it's like, what's the motivation? If you go, they say, I want you to be I want you to be my mayor and I want you to work to cut that budget and so you cut the budget and then no one says thank you. Michael Hingson  37:08 We got Tom Steyer here in California who wants to become governor and he's talking about all these things that he's going to do. He's going to get electric utility rates lowered by a significant amount. He's going to encourage and bring competition to the electric grid industry, and he talks about lowering housing costs by building a million homes and doing so many things. And every time I hear his campaign commercials, the thing that I keep asking myself is, haven't we learned anything? And no offense to Donald Trump, but Donald Trump made a lot of promises that we're not seeing. Steyer is making a lot of promises that he has yet to say how he's going to pull any of them off. Speaker 1  37:56 Oh yeah, and that's and that's the thing is you got to. There's so much. There's only so much you can do. But you can you when you campaign, they can say anything. Of course, I know they might as well just say free ice cream and ponies for everyone. Michael Hingson  38:07 Yeah, and and that's almost essentially what's happening. And I'm not saying that he'd be a bad governor. I I haven't researched him enough, but the commercials just don't do anything to make me thrilled because he's not saying how he's going to do any of it, and and that's what I really want to know. Speaker 1  38:25 Yeah, I didn't when I when I ran this campaign, I didn't really promise anything that was sexy at all. I said, you know, I'm going to work on a policy manual. I'm going to increase the amount of information and transparency, and it was like nothing that you want to put on a bumper sticker, but I still won. I mean, there were people who were in the race who were promising this and that, and they were going to do this and all this stuff, and somehow I eked it out. Michael Hingson  38:51 Why do you think you won? Speaker 1  38:52 Name recognition, Michael Hingson  38:54 okay, Speaker 1  38:55 and that's and that's pretty much that's a lot of what politics is is is just the the name recognition. You can win on that. I also do have a reputation. I mean, being on council for 14 years and being often called the lone voice of reason, like I said earlier, I'm the one who asked that obvious question. Yeah, and people are in the audience are going, "Well, thank you. Someone's finally asking what what they wanted to ask, and so there was there was that, and and I also, you know, I I do return my emails. I answer the phone calls. I make sure that I'm I'm available. So you know, and I think that that reputation kind of spread itself around that that I would be responsive. It didn't mean that I actually did anything because the you know the powers are really limited. So if someone wanted you know they want to put in a stop sign somewhere, I'll go visit them, and we'll look at the thing, and we'll look at the traffic data, and all this stuff. But there may not be a stop sign there. Still, I showed enough time that I paid attention to them, and I responded to them, and you know, we'll see what we can do. That's the best you can say. Michael Hingson  39:55 And if it didn't happen that there was a stop sign, but there was a good reason for it. I would suspect that you would be the kind of person who would say, "Here's why it didn't happen. Speaker 1  40:03 Right, exactly, and and to explain that for and a lot of people don't understand things like that because it's easy to get defensive with government because sometimes it can be so colossally stupid. Yeah, but but it's just as long as you have that explanation, and sometimes it's it's really it's refreshing because then they hear the answer and they're good with it, so we have a problem here with there's noise on the freeway because they're expanding the freeway, and a lot of people are upset, so they call city hall, but it's not our project; it's the state highway district. So you know, it's like I can do only what I can do, but it's still you know, if you're the only elected official who bothered to reply to them and told them, you know, I hear what you're saying. I'm going to do whatever we can. Sometimes that makes people happy. They may not be happy in the big picture, but at least they got a response. Michael Hingson  40:48 And when you discover something that's relevant, I'll bet you are the kind of person who would then initiate another letter saying, "Here's why it didn't work, or "Here's why it will work. Speaker 1  40:59 Right, and I do follow up. So I did. In that case, I wrote a letter to the governor and said, "You know, is there anything you can do? And then I forwarded the letter on to the person who had contacted me and said, "Okay, this is the best I can do. Let's let's see what he can do. So yeah, Speaker 1  41:14 yeah. Michael Hingson  41:15 I'm I'm curious. You mentioned that property taxes did get lowered once in Cordellane, but nothing. No one ever did anything with that. How come? Speaker 1  41:23 Well, no. It's just we we did. We we kept them. You got you got them lowered. Michael Hingson  41:27 But but why didn't anybody pay attention to that? Speaker 1  41:30 No. Well, see, I'm sure they paid attention to it. We are only one entity on your property tax bill, so there's there's a few. Ah, good Michael Hingson  41:39 point. Speaker 1  41:39 We might have been the the one who kept it down, but the other ones may have kept it up. And then there's all the the formula is really complex, and so it could be that you know their assess property assessment went up, a lot of other things that would have happened that would have affected it. But like I said, I mean we made a big to do about it, saying hey look we worked, we cut the budget. We kept it flat for all you guys, and then no one said anything. But you know that that's it's discouraging, but it doesn't discourage me from continuing to try because I'll always try. Michael Hingson  42:12 You can only do what you can do, but at least at least you're doing it. Yeah. Now, if you want to live in a state where the taxes are very interesting, move to New Jersey, yeah, where we lived, the the taxes every town, every city had its own property taxes. You could live on a street, yeah, you could live on a street where you had a property tax of some amount, and if you walked across to the other side of the street, the property tax would be twice what yours was because the border runs right down the middle of the street. Speaker 1  42:45 That's crazy. Michael Hingson  42:47 We thought it was. Yeah, we thought it was kind of interesting, but we fortunately never had too horrible of property taxes in Westfield. But still, we heard about some other places that had some some horrible property taxes, but you know it's it's what what you have. Speaker 1  43:07 Yep. Michael Hingson  43:08 So you were in the city council for 14 years. What made you decide that you were going to run for mayor? Because you had to do that. You had to make that decision. Speaker 1  43:17 Yeah, didn't want to. You know, wasn't on my on my dance card to like, oh, next step up is going to be mayor. It was more of there was frustration that I had because the the past couple of mayors, good men, good people, but I always wanted to do more. I mean, being on the council, it was frustrating because I wanted a little more leadership out of the center seat wasn't seeing that, and then I worked earlier last year. I called up a bunch of people to see if they'd be willing to do the job. You know, good strong community members who would be provide the leadership and had the name recognition required to do the job, and no one wanted to do it. So I was like, okay, well, I'll I'll see if I can do it. I still have two years left on my council term, so if I lost, I'd still be part of the process. But there ended up being four people in that race, so it was pretty crowded. Which to me, you know, if if you're running if you run unopposed, it's pretty much a sign that people kind of like the way things are going. They're not they're not upset with you. Generally, if you have one opponent, you're considered that you know oh well good you know I get to compete for for the job or someone else is unhappy. But if you have a lot of opponents, it generally means that the public isn't happy with what's going on and they want to see some change. So there were four people in the race. I won with like 38% of the vote, so that's wow, Michael Hingson  44:45 yeah. Well, but clearly you're different than a lot of people. For example, you're a member of the Kootenay County Republican Central Committee, and yeah, and they sued you for defamation. What was all that about? Speaker 1  44:59 Well. So we had an episode here where the first of all the local Republican Party decided that running partisan races wasn't enough; that they wanted to get involved with nonpartisan races. And in Idaho, a lot of the local offices are nonpartisan. So city council is nonpartisan, school districts are nonpartisan. You know, water district, highway district, all these smaller local offices, and we have a community college here called North Idaho College. And the Senate committee decided that they would start to what they call rating and vetting candidates to determine who was the most conservative. And while a lot of Republicans appreciate that and they want to know who the real conservative is. The central committee realized that it was a way for them to exercise political power, because when people would get their recommendations, that would be the person who would win. And so they got power mad, and in my opinion, they hijacked the trustees of our local community college, and pretty much almost ran the thing into a ground. It was the it's the only college a community college in the history of the country that's ever been put on probation for disaccreditation due to board governance. Normally, when you disaccredit a college, you're disaccrediting it because of financial reasons, or something else, but or academics. Never, never has it happened that the board has been so crazy that the the ACL ACCU whatever it is the accreditation agency for community colleges has said, "What we're gonna we're gonna pull away your credentials, and all your students will not be receiving college credit. So, I mean, what what this board did that was endorsed by the local Republican Party, the extremists on the party, they they fired the president for no reason. They they started running up the bills, increasing the athletics budget. The board meetings were just pure chaos. Employees would leave. The local high schools stopped their their co education programs. It was just crazy. Wow! And and a lot of people didn't really understand what was going on. So I did a YouTube channel called Kootenay Rants, and Kootenay is the name of our county. Michael Hingson  47:20 Kootenay, yeah. I said Kootenay. Sorry about that. Speaker 1  47:22 It's no, it's okay. It's it could be either way. Who knows? Up north, they do say Kootenai, so we don't know. But anyway, this really got under the skin of the central committee because I pinned the blame on what was going on at the college on them, which is was justified, and I would not make anything up. Instead, I would just put in highlights from the meetings and say, "Here's what's happening, and here's the crazy stuff. You know, trustees yelling at members of the audience, making fun of them. You know, interrupting people, saying just weird, strange things. I mean, it just-it was odd. It was so bizarre, and so it was easy for me to make these videos. My background is in communications, and I know video production, so I was able to put together these videos on a YouTube channel, and you know, hundreds of people in the county would start watching them, including the central committee that did not like that I was exposing what I consider to be their corruption and their the the fact that I think they were responsible for this and they didn't like that so they accused me of defamation basically mean tweets because I would tweet about them and their nonsense and it was like they they made a big to do out of it because I was running for re-election for city council, so they came to a city council meeting to serve me, and you know recorded it and put it up on the internet and all this other stuff that that was just crazy. But my insurance company fortunately decided to represent me, and they just they thought the the suit was without merit. They don't say frivolous. They say without merit. Without Michael Hingson  49:04 merit. No, yeah. Speaker 1  49:05 And so yeah. And so eventually, now the suit is over, and I figured I would either win in court or it would be dismissed. But the insurance company settled, and I it was against my wishes. I said no. I said don't settle with these people. But the insurance company did settle, and I made sure that, as part of the settlement, that they would not say that I agreed to it, or that I said I was wrong, or I apologized, or anything. No, the insurance company just didn't want to waste any more money, so they decided to settle. They wrote a check. I don't know what it cost the central committee. As a member of the central committee, it has never been reported to the committee how much money they spent on that? Because it's it's pretty much the the Republican Central Committee of Kootenay County is pretty much a tyranny run by one guy and a personality cult, and there are members of the committee. There are some good Republicans such as myself on the committee who do believe in transparency and limited government and all those Ronald Reagan things. But there are these extremists on there who are just nutballs, and so there's a group of us here called North Idaho Republicans who are working to counter their insanity. And we've done a good job, but we need to do more work, and that's the story of the KCRCC. And they sued me for defamation. Michael Hingson  50:21 That's kind of crazy, though. Nevertheless, Speaker 3  50:23 of course. Michael Hingson  50:24 And it's only kind Speaker 1  50:26 of that. I wasn't laying awake. I mean, occasionally someone would call me up and they would say, "So what's the case? What's the what's happening with a lawsuit? And I'd say, "Well, a lawsuit. I said, "Oh yeah, that's right. They're suing me. I mean, it was never really. I was never obligated for it. Michael Hingson  50:39 Yeah. Well, so just out of curiosity, since the Republicans were doing this, where were the Democrats in all of that? Speaker 1  50:47 Well, we don't really have a lot of Democrats. That's Michael Hingson  50:49 what I was wondering. Yeah, Speaker 1  50:51 and so and and I always used to joke. I would say that the the Democrats, the Kootenai County Democrats, are looking for a new meeting location, and if anyone has a spare closet, got it. You let them know. No, they're they're all they're all very nice people. Michael Hingson  51:05 Yeah, Speaker 1  51:05 but they're they are in an extreme minority, and unfortunately, they they do try. So last time they had a body for every seat up for election, but they don't really come close. And it's a lot of it comes down to name recognition, but you also have a lot of red blue state refugees who come here. You have a lot of COVID refugees who came here, and so Idaho is very red. Kootenay County is very red, and it would take a tremendous amount of effort to to have a Democrat win here. We do have Democrats in the legislature, not a lot, but we do have them, and the the National Democratic Party is unwilling to spend a lot of money here because they know they're going to lose. So that's what I hear from them. But they are they are generally nice people. I mean, like you said, you if you wanted to vote for me here and you're a Democrat, I'd happily accept the vote. It's a nonpartisan position. We don't deal with those big divisive issues that you know that you you see on the news. Yeah, we're pretty much community-minded people, and I appreciate anyone who is. I do fight the KCRCC because I don't see them as community-minded, and that's one of the issues. Michael Hingson  52:18 Yeah. Well, it's it's unfortunate that that people are that way, but I I see it all too often in so many different ways. I mean, we face it with even in the blindness world with so many things where there ought to be major improvements and there ought to be defenses of the civil rights of blind people. For example, some of the rideshare programs don't do a lot to train their drivers about the fact that in reality they're obligated to take blind people with guide dogs, and oh, there's there is a fair amount of that, and it's and and the companies aren't willing to do anything about it, and we have to keep fighting it, which is just too bad. But there's just so many stuff, and there are so many people who just have these hidden agendas, or they just what it really comes down to is we don't want anybody telling us what to do, Speaker 1  53:09 right? Michael Hingson  53:11 And that's what it really comes down to. So, do you find that that religion gets into any of it at all, like with the conservative Christian movement or any of that, Speaker 1  53:24 there well, there's I do not like the politicization of the church. Michael Hingson  53:29 Yeah, Speaker 1  53:30 my favorite quote on that is that politics poisons the purity of the church. So I think we should keep the separation of church and state as much as possible, but there are you know politically motivated, politically active pastors, and I just I I think that's that's not the proper role of religion. I know that that there's kind of a battle going on in the far right about you know how much religion or how much that should should should be involved in politics in the public arena. In fact, there's a little across from the Costco up here. There is a little yard sign in front of some business that says "Vote Bible, and I always think that's kind of. I mean, I understand what the sentiment is, and I would always want to think that the people who we elect are good moral people. You know, Adam said that our Constitution is best suited for a moral people. I don't believe that means that there's morality in the Constitution. I believe there's morality in people, Michael Hingson  54:32 right? Speaker 1  54:33 And we do want people who have good ethics and good morals in public office, and it's very obvious when that doesn't happen. But I do not think. I think the purpose of our Constitution and the First Amendment is to ensure that we all have the the right to enjoy whatever religion we want, and we don't want to pick favorites. And so, what I see with a lot of these people is that they want to pick a favorite. Michael Hingson  54:55 Yeah, Speaker 1  54:56 they they not only want to pick the first religion, but they want. Everyone to go to the same church and the same service and sit in the same pew. Yeah, and that's not going to happen in any church. It's not going to happen in any denomination of any church. And then, and see, that's the other question: is if you know if you're going to insist that this is a Christian nation, it's like okay, but which denomination is it? Catholic? Is it Protestant? Is it Mormon? I mean, I you know you tell me because it's just going to be this incredible knot of worms, which is why I think the genius of the founders was that you know the the clause about religion is is two things: it gives you the freedom to exercise your own religion, and it also restricts the government from declaring that there's a religion. Yeah, and I think the far right kind of misses that when they when they take the message of we like moral people in office, but to dictate the morals to someone else is wrong. Michael Hingson  55:52 You know, I and it was Tolstoy who once said the biggest problem with Christianity is that people don't practice it, and I I see that so often. It's it is so unfortunate, but it is Speaker 1  56:03 there. Yeah. So that is a tough one. Michael Hingson  56:07 So if you could change one thing in the world, what would it be? I'd Speaker 1  56:12 get rid of the internet in a heartbeat. Specifically, social media. I think the the problem with social media is it amplifies our immaturities, and that is a huge issue. the The solution to that is to make the the publishers responsible for the content. So, in other words, Facebook could be sued for anything that someone puts on Facebook, and that would terrify Facebook, but it would terrify them to the point that they would actually regulate themselves and and start dialing back. I mean, I can say 20 years ago or so, when I whenever I was first on Facebook, I would go on there and I would see my kids, and they'd be playing a ball game or they'd be over at a friend's house. You'd see birthdays, vacations. It was just kind of like it was a social thing. You go on there now, and it's politics, and it's like this person deserved to be shot, and it's just-it's so-it's so extreme, and it's so rude. And you know, some of the stuff they said about me is not very nice, but I think that if we're going to solve one problem in the world, we really need to dial back all the animosity that's on the inter

Donna & Steve open the show talking about Steve's recent trip to the Pacific Northwest, Donna watched the Michael biopic and a documentary is coming about the Spanish soccer team for winning the FIFA World Cup.In hour two, we play the Ben Affleck edition of the College of Pop Culture Knowledge, things that annoy us when we go on walks and one of Steve's family members got stuck in a bidet.Finally, Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce make a heartfelt donation, Bon Jovi is back on stage after canceling his last concert and (maybe) we find out the Soup of the Day!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.