The Kentucky Muck Podcast

Episode 15.1: The Pence Rally

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 14:04:00 +0000

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Episode 15: Defining the New Wave (Fascism)

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 20:16:00 +0000

A discussion on Fascism, what it is how to define it by using examples of recent incursions into the Ohio River Valley:

Traditionalist Worker's Party
(From their website) "We in the Traditionalist Worker Party fight for the interests of White Americans, a people who for decades have been abandoned by the System and actively attacked by globalists and traitorous politicians.

Only by securing a Homeland for our national community, run for and by our people with true self-determination, can we truly have a future for our blood and our culture. We are unapologetically nationalists, fighting to secure the existence of our people and a future for White children."

American Vanguard
(From their website) "An America based on the immutable truths of Blood and Soil. A multicultural nation is no nation at all, but a collection of smaller ethnic nations ruled over by an overbearing tyrannical state. Our America is to be a nation exclusively for the White American peoples who out of the barren hills, empty plains, and vast mountains forged the most powerful nation to ever have existed; it is logical that America must be once again built from the ground up to recapture the glory an Aryan nation deserves. Vanguard America stands indomitably opposed to the tyranny of globalism and capitalism, a system under which nations are stripped of their heritage and their people are turned into nothing more than units of cheap, expendable labor. Vanguard America, and our nationalist allies across the Western world, see a world of nations ruled by their own people, for their own people."

Turning Point USA.
(From their website)"Turning Point USA educates students about the importance of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government. Through non-partisan debate, dialogue, and discussion, Turning Point USA believes that every young person can be enlightened to true free market values."

A word on the seeming contradictions of these groups:

Fascism was a fuzzy totalitarianism, a collage of different philosophical and political ideas, a beehive of contradictions. - Umberto Eco, "Ur-Fascism" 1995

A word to "liberal listeners" about free speech and tolerance

MARCH 4 TRUMP IN KY

A word of caution for all active and would-be radicals: beware your social media footprint.
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Episode 14: Swamp Fill 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 19:41:00 +0000

Spy ships 30 miles from Connecticut near New London Naval Base
Russian planes buzz US Warship USS Porter, currently docked off the coast of Romania.
Meanwhile, Trump accuses Putin of "taking" Crimea.

1. McConnell, Democratic Political Strategist:

Fall out from "Nevertheless, she persisted.

2. #TrumpWatch2017 / Filling the Swamp

Supreme Court Run: Neil Gorsuch. Scalia, Part 2 (originalist in US Constitutional law)
Immigration Punt
Labor Sec pick Andrew Puzder, removes himself from consideration. Critic of minimum wage and an enemy of working people everywhere goes down. Currently the CEO of CKE Restaurants (including Hardee's, Carl's Jr)
New Labor pick Andrew Acosta: formerly of the NLRB, Served as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, Where He Defended the Rights of American Muslims,Served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida,Currently the Dean of Florida International University College of Law. Would be Trumps first Hispanic cabinet member.

3. Meanwhile, back in KY

The Blue Live Matter Bill, McKenzie Cantrell, and the labor of politics House Bill 14
The TWP - Traditional Worker's Party -- coming to a pig roast near you.

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Episode 13 Videocast: Kentucky House Bill 1 / Which Side Are You On?

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Wed, 04 Jan 2017 14:06:00 +0000

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Episode 12: Guest Mucker JP Wright sits in

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Fri, 07 Oct 2016 17:32:00 +0000

Muckraker and fellow contrarian JP. Wright joins us to talk about art, music, writing, labor politics, and the election.

Please consider helping support the podcast. Paypal: mickp@gmx.com

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Episode 11.5: Post Debate Breakdown

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 15:05:00 +0000

This is our first attempt at a video podcast, straight from the bunker. It's short, but then again, a run-down and commentary about last night's dog and pony show doesn't need much time.

Apologies for the watermark. We're still looking for some good video conversion software.

Thanks for watching/listening. Look for us again soon.

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Episode 11, "Bloody Bevin and the Patriot's Shuffle", Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Mon, 26 Sep 2016 17:25:00 +0000

#bevinwatch2016

The big story over the last few days is the Kentucky Supreme Court's decision to call the Governor's mid-year budget cuts to higher education illegal. Some consider this a victory, but the fact of the matter is, the new budget cuts are still in place, still perfectly legal.

It's not a victory when there are still a lot of effective and passionate educators and necessary staff people out of a job.

Recently, Bevin has said that he plans on pushing through Right to Work legislation. According to the Governor,governors from states with RtW laws have told him they are better for it. We're going to take yet another look at Right to Work with some information about the impact it has had on Wisconsin.

These two news stories are soft and fuzzy, however, compared his statement at the D. James Kennedy Center for Christian Statesmanship last week, in which he proclaimed that "the blood of patriots" may need to be spilled if Hillary Clinton wins the election. We at the Kentucky Muck Podcast have reached out repeatedly to the Bevin Administration Communications Office asking for clarification on these remarks.

Not surprisingly, we have been roundly ignored.

Feel free to reach out to them yourself. Jessica Ditto, who has been Bevin's main Communications Manager since the campaign, is out of the office indefinitely. Amanda Stamper, however, is not. At least, we are reasonably sure. She hasn't answered either.

Amanda Stamper
502-564-2611
Amanda.Stamper@ky.gov

Jessica Ditto
502-229-0420
Jessica.Ditto@ky.gov

#trump&hillarywatch2016

The election season is nearly over, and the rhetoric has geared up. The first actual presidential debate is scheduled for Monday, September 26th. We at the Ketucky Muck Podcast will be live tweeting the debate (@kymuckmedia). Bring your drink of choice and buckle up.

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RNC 2016 Day One: The Early Report

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Mon, 18 Jul 2016 12:58:00 +0000

The circus is there, right across the lake. From my base of operations in Lakewood, Cleveland looks peaceful.

Fireworks from the opening gala were visible last night. All the reports thus far have been peaceful, but as my brother pointed out to me this morning, it's early in the week.

Of all the places to have the Republican National Convention, Cleveland was probably a good pick on top of being a politically expedient one. The city has a pretty solid reputation for crowd control, and seem to manage it without over-militarizing its police force. Of course, with the RNC in town, it looks like Governor Kasich did allow The Ohio National Guard to have a presence as there are some military looking people around.

Like some of the media fraternity, I did not come prepared with a gas mask and flap jacket. Then again, I have written before on my regular blog, I don't pack well for vacations.

Not that this is a vacation, but I am far better at packing to live on the road for months at a time than I am packing for junkets of any kind. I came armed with audio/video equipment, bourbon, and a genuine desire to tell an accurate story. I can't imagine needing much else, other than maybe a pencil. (I have that, too.)

According to this law professors' blogsite, the "free speech zone" is located along the southern

perimeter of the convention zone, in spite of the legality of such a space being questioned by the ACLU. I know for a fact that some demonstrations are planned for near the actual convention site, but we'll see how far that goes and how peaceful it stays.

The far left are descending on Cleveland to protest what has been described by many, including myself, as the violent homophobic, xenophobic, and racist wave that presumptive GOP Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump has placed himself in front of. Reports have filtered through memeworld that various far right and neo-nazi and white supremacy groups have sworn to "protect" convention goers. Ohio has an open carry law, there will be a lot of people with big guns and questionable marksmanship skills wandering around. Cleveland police asked former Presidential candidate Governor John Kasich to suspend open carry in Cuyahoga County for RNC 2016. Kasich has said that he can't simply suspend a state law.

With the journalists in flap jackets, skinheads with assault rifles, cops trying to tow a moderate line, and the Ohio National Guard providing the heavy fire power -- along with the FBI and Secret Service and probably the NSA, Cleveland is beginning to shape up like the denouement of GANGS OF NEW YORK, with each gang converging on Five Points to duke out which rabble will rule.

Cleveland is a natural choice for the GOP because Ohio is a notorious swing state and Cuyahoga, as the largest county in the state, is the swingiest county of all in this swing state.

The date is also appropriate, though I doubt convention planners had this in mind.. July 18th is the anniversary of the fascist uprising in Spain, which led to Franco's brutal consolidation and rule of Spain. A lot gets made of Trump being compared to Hitler, but people overlook the fact that Hitler, for all the terrible things he did, died in a bunker after the Russians cornered him. Franco's Spain was the model of a successful fascist state -- so successful in fact, that he ruled 40 years and died in office long after Hitler and Mussolini were worm food.

More updates to follow.

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Episode 10: War All The Time

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Fri, 15 Jul 2016 19:13:00 +0000

Episode Notes

1. #Bevinwatch

-UofL Board
- Bevin takes over KY Ethics
- Personal Wars on Public Funds: the Capitol Education Center

2. #Trumpwatch

- Mike Pence the VP pick -- doing to America what he did to Indiana
-The RNC Convention in Cleveland, Ohio.

3. #Clintonwatch

- Sanders abdicates and boards the Clinton train
- the unity whitewash

4. Bastille Day attack in Nice, France.

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Episode 9: Bevin's Board Bounce

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Fri, 17 Jun 2016 23:04:00 +0000

1. #Bevinwatch2016

Bevin’s Board Bounce: Announces the resignation of Ramsey, UofL’s current president, and the summary dismissal of the all the Board of Trustees members appointed by former Gov. Beshear.

Bevin’s inspiration: Piles of poop.

2. Louisville Pride, Orlando, and how to be Cis-supportive

LEO Weekly’s alphabetic error

3. Upcoming Events:

The Kentucky Muck Podcast takes on the RNC (July 18th-21 in Cleveland)
Upcoming interviews
Call for people to share stories: The Fall City Stories Segment. Email me at mick@kentuckymuck.com!

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Episode 8: The Oaks' Day Special

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Fri, 06 May 2016 13:24:00 +0000

Fellow muckraker and brother contrarian JP Wright sits in on this podcast to talk about the Bernie Sanders rally in Louisville, state and local politics, the labor struggle, writing, art, and my dog (not to mention not-very-helpful unofficial Executive Producer Gypsi.

Pretty much, we're going to talk about everything BUT horseflesh.

Be sure to check out JP's music and writing at railroadmusic.org

Be sure to follow us on Twitter - @kentuckymuckmedia and find us on Facebook.

Also, if you like the show, please show your love and like us on iTunes.

We're still looking for people to tell their stories for Fall City Stories. Reach out if you have a story to tell. We're especially interested in talking to anyone directly impacted by Bevin's cut to Kentucky higher ed.

Thanks for listening!

Episode 7: Frankfort Football: political positioning and the assassination of Higher Education

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 18:36:00 +0000

Notes:

1. JCTC 61 staff firings. 100 out of the entire system.

Political football: Daddy Beshear, Baby Beshear, the Democratic Breakdown.

The pension system myth. Why it’s “broke” and why Bevin isn’t fixing it with these cuts.

ARC Payment: Accounts Receivable Conversion

The Cry of the Democratic Party: they broke it and then didn’t buy it.

Special Thanks To:

Diane Calhoun-French, JCTC Provost

Dr. Randy Davis, JCTC Dean of Academic Affairs

Toni Whalen, JCTC Head of Human Resources

For playing hatchet men for the KCTCS Legal Department in Versailles, who really run things, when I was given the bum’s rush after they stalked me on Facebook because they were worried about me actually impacting adjunct’s lives for the better by convincing them to organize.

Social Media shout outs: hashtags for your use when posting about this issue.

#FireBoxFirst

#JCTC

2. More about the FALLS CITY STORIES: TRUE VOICES FROM LOUISVILLE AND THE OHIO VALLEY REGION.

The focus of this segment will be genuine voices from real people who live and work in Louisville, in Kentucky, and in the Ohio River Valley region. I’d like the first few segments to focus on people who’s lives are impacted by the wholesale assassination of community colleges in Kentucky.

Contact me: mick@kentuckymuck.com

Follow me @kentuckymuck_news

Like me on Facebook.

If you're listening on iTunes, please rate us. It will help push us up in search catalog. The podcast is also available through Stitcher and Podbean.

Episode 5: Trump slummin': the rally, the caucus, the chaos

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Thu, 10 Mar 2016 17:20:00 +0000

Podcast 5, Episode Notes

1. Last Tuesday’s rally: the good, the bad, and the ugly.

LMPD standing by to help the Secret Service and Trump’s private security ensure that no protesters would go unmolested.
Shiya Nwaguma speaking out.
Vitriol and Violence dictated by Trump and carried out by the crowd
Lack of organized response by dissenters. This could have been much better organized
Read my regular blog at www.dirtysacredriver.com where I wrote about the experience.

2. The Kentucky Caucus: Intentionally organized chaos?

9 caucus sites for voters that are generally dispersed to 623 different polling locations in the county.
Trump took 17 delegates, with Cruz coming in 2^ndwith 15. Across the country, Cruz took 69 delegates to Trump’s 53.
Rubio and Kasich each took 7 delegates.
According to a tweet from Jefferson Co. GOP chair Jim Stansbury, 34,184 voters came out.
According to the Courier-Journal’s Joe Gerth, Statewide 229,667 ballots cast, or 17.9 percent of total voters.
My experience
Problems with media coverage
Problems with organization?
Democratic Party still seems in denial

3. Statement - My take on Trump.

Thanks for listening! Be sure to rate us on iTunes to help us climb the charts. Also be sure to follow on Facebook and on Twitter @kymuckmedia. Email episode comments and questions to mick@kentuckymuck.com

Episode 4.1 - UPDATE: Monsters at the Gate

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Fri, 12 Feb 2016 15:29:00 +0000

This longer than intended update of a few things mentioned in Episode 4.

The Google Fiber vote went through in Louisville Metro Council, not surprisingly... and local media like WFPL and the Courier-Journal finally decided to include the CWA contract issue instead of creating a false narrative around the "clash of the titans" Time Warner and Google.

Also, a bit on the projected impact of Bevin's crop burning approach to state budgets.

Episode 4: Governemnt Pizza: Louisville Bernie Sanders organizer Daniel Sherrill talks local, state and national politics.

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Thu, 11 Feb 2016 21:51:00 +0000

Daniel Sherrill is campaigning for Senator Bernie Sanders here in Kentucky and I was happy to finally get someone, and to get someone worth talking to, on the show.

Note: Some on Google Fiber and the Louisville Metro Council vote that might attempt to undercut a union contract.

Here's a link to that Bernie Sanders article I wrote for LEO.

Episode 3: Be angry at the sun: Bevin, armchair activism, and me

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Sat, 30 Jan 2016 18:30:00 +0000

Episode 3 notes:

Prior to releasing his budget, Kentucky Governor Bevin:

signed executive orders rescinding the minimum wage increase and ex-felon voting rights signed in by executive order by former Gov. Beshear;
signed executive order removing county clerk names from marriage licenses in a nod to Rowan County marriage inequality advocate Kim Davis;
fired executive director of Kentucky Environmental Quality Commission Arnita Gadson;
fired Kentucky Forestry Director Leah MacSwords.

Bevin's proposed budget:

repeals prevailing wage;
cuts funding to Planned Parenthood;
cuts $500 million from the state workers' health fund;
cuts $112.5 from the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet as part of an across the board 9% cuts, including

the Kentucky Arts Council operating budget and
higher education.

The cuts to higher education include not only a 9% cut to next year's budget, but a 4.5 cut to THIS YEAR'S BUDGET.

K-12 saw an increase and the State Teacher's Retirement Fund is being funded.

And yes, it's good thing. The retirement funds of state teachers and workers needs and deserves to be funded and the ARC (Accounts Receivables Conversion) Payments need to be made. But because a few folks in the state got theirs, and because people in arts advocacy and labor advocacy don't want to wander outside their comfort zones and try an organize a response to Kentucky's Tin Pot Dictator, activists go off and preach to choirs that don't need converting.

Episode 2: Louisville's Compassionate Embrace: William and Kasey

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Sat, 16 Jan 2016 22:50:00 +0000

Episode Notes:

More on Louisville as a "compassionate city."

William lives in a pickup truck near a lumberyard. Last winter, when Louisville saw more snow and below zero days than it new how to handle, he slept in the bed of the truck without a cap or any kind of cover. One day on while working on a construction site, he could hardly stand because his feet hurt. Eventually he walked to three different shelters looking for help and a roof, only to be pushed on to the next. He eventually went to the ER and found out frostbite was going to cost him parts of both his feet. He is 60 years old.

Kasey ended up in town looking for work. Originally from Bonnieville, he was out this past Sunday because the only family he's got who will help him is a sister and her car is broken down. When I spoke to him, he asked if there was a way he could dry out his shoes, because they'd been wet for 3 days.

Next week, we move out into the state some. Thanks for listening

OFFICIAL FIRST FULL LENGTH EPISODE 1.0

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 14:29:00 +0000

For this episode I wanted to focus on an issue that means a lot to me -- higher education. In particular, this episode focuses on the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and how lopsided and detrimental the leadership's lack of stewardship actually is.

Episode 1: A Very Bevin Xmas -- Commentary

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 20:27:00 +0000

This special Christmas Eve edition of The Kentucky Muck Podcast includes intro and outro music and a little commentary about our new "Christian" governor on a day when we're all supposed to think about peace on earth and goodwill towards each other.

Gov. Bevin's early work proves he is interested neither in peace nor in goodwill.

Merry Christmas, all. Please enjoy, and share. We're still working on getting set up in the iTunes library, but will be posting from here for now.

Regards and Happy Holidays,

Mick

Test Feed (Episode .05)

noreply@blogger.com (Mick Parsons) — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 15:36:00 +0000

This is a short news update, without commentary, about recent events in Louisville. This is primarily a test feed, but we will be going live and full force soon.