Month: April 2017

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Opening Arguments - OA59: Make America Great Again! OA Defends Trump

In this highly unlikely episode of Opening Arguments, the guys run through three segments in which they defend President Donald J. Trump.  Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction First, listener T.Sp. asks about the just-invoked "nuclear option," and whether that vote itself could have been filibustered, thus triggering an endless loop of filibusters...  Obviously the answer is no -- but why?  We learn about some arcane Senate procedures and the guys conclude that the Democrats probably would have done the same thing if the situation were reversed. In the main segment, Andrew and Thomas break down the recent use of force by President Trump in Syria.  Does it violate the Constitution?  The War Powers Act of 1973?  Some other law?  (No.)  Yet again, the guys defend President Trump. In the "C" segment, our beloved Yodelin' Trump returns and the guys break down a popular video by Robert Reich that lays out five grounds for impeaching Trump.  How good are they?  Hint: check out the title of this show. Finally, we end with the answer to Thomas Takes the Bar Exam Question #18 about a crazily unconstitutional law regarding clothing.  Remember that TTTBE issues a new question every Friday, followed by the answer on next Tuesday's show.  Don't forget to play along by following our Twitter feed (@Openargs) and/or our Facebook Page and quoting the Tweet or Facebook Post that announces this episode along with your guess and reason(s)! Recent Appearances: Andrew was recently a guest on both the Embrace the Void podcast and The Phil Ferguson Show; links will go up when those shows release. Show Notes & Links
  1. The War Powers Act of 1973 is 50 U.S.C. § 1541 et seq.
  2. ...and the 60-day provision is found in section 1544.
  3. This is the document prepared by President Clinton's lawyers defending the 1994 invasion of Haiti.
  4. Here is the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force post-9/11.
Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/openargs/ And email us at openarguments@gmail.com Direct Download
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The Gist - When Protesters Pull the Fire Alarm

Slate’s Osita Nwanevu defended the actions of Middlebury College students to silence visiting speaker Charles Murray last month. If we consider some opinions to be beyond the pale of acceptability, who’s to say that the students were wrong in putting Murray’s past writings in that category? Nwanevu is an editorial assistant at Slate. 

In the Spiel: If you really think about it, Bill O’Reilly is a lot like Bashar al-Assad.

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Start the Week - Christianity: Luther’s Legacy

On Start the Week Andrew Marr looks back 500 years to the moment Martin Luther challenged the power and authority of the Catholic Church.

Peter Stanford brings to light the character of this lowly born German monk in a new biography.

Prior to Luther, for a thousand years the Catholic Church had been one of the greatest powers on earth, but in her study of the Italian Renaissance the writer Sarah Dunant reveals how bloated, corrupt and complacent it had become. Dunant also explores the role of the Church in the home, in a new exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Madonnas and Miracles, before the Reformation swept away such iconography.

The historian Alec Ryrie charts the rise of the Protestant faith from its rebellious beginnings to the present day, while the sociologist Linda Woodhead asks whether the defining characteristics of Protestant Britain, such as the freedom of the individual, national pride and a strong work ethic are still relevant today.

Producer: Katy Hickman

Image: Boy falling from a window, 1592 (c) Museo degli ex voto del santuario di Madonna dell'Arco.

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More or Less: Behind the Stats - WS More or Less: Could North Korea Wipe out 90% of Americans?

A single nuclear weapon could destroy America?s entire electrical grid, claims a former head of the CIA. The explosion would send out an electromagnetic pulse ? resulting in famine, societal collapse and what one newspaper has called a ?Dark Apocalypse?.

But are hungry squirrels a greater threat to the electrical grid than North Korean weapons? We speak to senior security adviser Sharon Burke and Yoni Applebaum from The Atlantic.

Presenter: Charlotte McDonald Producer: Hannah Sander

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Serious Inquiries Only - SIO31: Why We Ignore Facts, with Sara Gorman

Joining me today is Sara Gorman! Sara is a public health expert and author based in New York. She is the co-founder of Critica, a community committed to making rational decisions about health and security. Critica’s mission is to develop and test new methods of advancing public acceptance of scientific evidence and promoting informed health decision-making. Sara’s first book, Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore the Facts That Will Save Us, was published in September 2016. It looks into the psychology of healthcare decision making and how people draw conclusions about perception of risk. It includes tips for the general public about how to discriminate between valid and invalid science and for public health professionals and doctors on how to communicate with people who don’t believe the best current scientific research. The book and her work have also been cited in articles about how to change people's minds about many other things, including politics. We discuss her book, and the possible lessons we can learn about how to convince people of things they don't necessarily want to believe! Leave us a Voicemail: (916) 750-4746! Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/seriouspod Follow us on Twitter: @seriouspod Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/seriouspod For comments, email thomas@seriouspod.com Questions, Suggestions, Episode ideas? email: haeley@seriouspod.com
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Crimetown - S1 E15: Family Ties

Charles “the Ghost” Kennedy and his sister Gloria took very different paths in life. She became a state senator. He became a drug smuggler. And as his empire starts to crumble, the people close to him suffer the consequences.

For a full list of credits, and for more information about this episode, visit our website at crimetownshow.com.

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PHPUgly - 56:Johnny Apple Seed(er)

Recorded April 6th, 2017

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