Can the actions of a few ignite change in the political and social fabric of our nation? Join me, Jeff Alan Wolf, as I tackle the hard-hitting issues facing our democracy today, from Supreme Court rulings that shape the digital landscape of political discourse to the entangled legal challenges faced by former President Donald Trump. This episode of "A World Gone Mad" I scrutinize the fervor of Democratic engagement, asking if their commitment to activism truly stands up to the heat of Republican passion, and explores the irresponsible comment of Putin's nuclear saber-rattling in an already tense political climate.
Yet, amidst the turmoil, there are beacons of hope and human kindness that remind us of the good in the world. Listen in as I recount the heartening stories of everyday heroes like Bill Mocalewski, whose community banded together in an extraordinary show of support, and Dan Louche, whose tiny home solution has sparked a broader movement for sustainable living. With an invitation to enter our gift card giveaway and a call to action for listeners to share their viewpoints, this episode is a stirring blend of critical analysis and stories that celebrate the indomitable human spirit.
Can the actions of a few ignite change in the political and social fabric of our nation? Join me, Jeff Alan Wolf, as I tackle the hard-hitting issues facing our democracy today, from Supreme Court rulings that shape the digital landscape of political discourse to the entangled legal challenges faced by former President Donald Trump. This episode of "A World Gone Mad" I scrutinize the fervor of Democratic engagement, asking if their commitment to activism truly stands up to the heat of Republican passion, and explores the irresponsible comment of Putin's nuclear saber-rattling in an already tense political climate.
Yet, amidst the turmoil, there are beacons of hope and human kindness that remind us of the good in the world. Listen in as I recount the heartening stories of everyday heroes like Bill Mocalewski, whose community banded together in an extraordinary show of support, and Dan Louche, whose tiny home solution has sparked a broader movement for sustainable living. With an invitation to enter our gift card giveaway and a call to action for listeners to share their viewpoints, this episode is a stirring blend of critical analysis and stories that celebrate the indomitable human spirit.
AWorldGoneMadPodcast@gmail.com
Speaker 1:
I do many things on this podcast. One thing I do not do I do not pull punches. I do not make comments that are safe. I tell the truth. I tell things like I see them. I'm very opinionated. You don't like my opinions Tough. I say the things out loud. You're probably already thinking I'm unfiltered, unspun, a little unhinged, but I offer a lot of common sense. This podcast could make you mad. This podcast can make you smile. Regardless, it will make you think this is a World Gone Mad. Hello, you're listening to a World Gone Mad, season one, episode eight. I'm your host, jeff Allen Wolfe.
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Let's get right to the news stories from nationally and from around the world, and I call this segment Odds and Ends. The Supreme Court ruled Friday that public officials may block people on social media in certain circumstances, tossing aside challenges against local government officials in Michigan and California who block followers who are critical of them on Facebook. Now, in a unanimous opinion written by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court set a clear standard for when public officials are state actors online and when they can have more control over their social media presence. A second opinion dealing with a related dispute was unsigned and there were no noted dissents. Interesting decision. Let's see the ramifications from this and, as I predicted in my earlier episode, the judge rules that District Attorney Fawney Willis can remain on the Trump election subversion case. Judge Scott McAfee is allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fawney Willis to continue on the election subversion case against Donald Trump, but first she'll have to fire special prosecutor Nathan Wade. After an embarrassing two months that put Willis and Wade on trial themselves over their romantic relationship. It's a technical legal win for Willis, since you will have the option to continue along with her full office prosecuting Trump and 14 others. After the ruling, lead prosecuting attorney Nathan Wade resigned an appropriate decision from the judge and from Wade and now we can move forward and finally continue with the Georgia election case against Donald without distractions.
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Another judge denies one of Trump's two motions to dismiss charges in the classified documents case. The judge presiding over the classified documents case in Florida denied Donald Trump's motion to dismiss charges based on unconstitutional vagueness. Judge Cannon noted in her denial that the issue of the potential vagueness at the statute would be better brought with jury instruction, briefing and or other appropriate motions instead of in Trump's motion to dismiss charges. Judge Cannon has yet to rule on Trump's second motion to dismiss. Based on his argument that he had the authority as president to declare documents as his personal records, or on any of his other motions to dismiss the case, the judge hinted she thought that wasn't legally justified either. Time will tell on the ruling about this motion from Donald's legal team.
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And in other news, an appeals court denies Peter Navarro's bid to avoid reporting to prison next week. A federal appeals court on Thursday denied ex-Donald Trump adviser Peter Navarro's bid to avoid reporting to a federal prison to begin serving a four-month sentence for his contempt of Congress conviction. The unanimous decision from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals means Navarro will have to report to a federal prison in Miami by March 19th. Breaking news, as I'm recording this, peter Navarro is now asking the Supreme Court to let him avoid reporting to a federal prison. Get your butt to prison, peter. You are in contempt of Congress and therefore this is your punishment. Deal with it.
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And finally, the silly and irresponsible statement of the week comes from drumroll Putin, who says he's ready to use nuclear weapons if the Russian safety of the country is at stake. But there has never been such a need, he states. As for me, I'm ready to punch my noisy neighbor in the face, but there has never been such a need. What the f-. He was tall yet short, heavy yet thin Way to go out on a limb and make a definitive statement. Putin, the Russian leader, made those comments to Rosya One and Rhea Novosti ahead of the presidential elections this week, where he is in a tough battle to game the presidency again who am I kidding In which he is widely expected to sail through to a fifth term in office. I mean, one opponent of Putin was killed in prison. Another opponent was lost at sea, haha. A third one died in a mysterious car accident. You get my point. All this while Putin's full scale war in Ukraine grinds into a third year. I'm going to take a short break and then, when I get back, my commentary on Democrats Are they really engaged In today's political and social world?
Speaker 1:
Do they really care enough to take a stand? I'll be right back. My commentary this week is my question about Democrats how engaged are they politically and socially with everything going on in the world today? I'm not talking about if they care about this country. I'm not talking about if they believe in democracy. I'm talking about energy, engagement, support and follow through. Now, I don't pretend to know every single Democrat in the world, let alone in the United States, let alone in my state or my city, far from it.
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I do know, however, that most of them not all of them aren't that engaged. Oh yeah, they talk a good game. They go rah, rah, siss, boom bah. They support Biden for the most part. They post on the Facebook groups their angry comments, their upsetting comments about Donald and the MAGA Republican supporters. What are they? Fully engaged and ready to go the distance? I know Donald's supporters are engaged and energized. Most of them not all of them are engaged with their loon ball conspiracies, their ridiculous, over the top, strange, nonsensical comments they make. So, yes, most Republicans are highly engaged. They don't make sense all the time. They argue about the wrong things. They change the subject constantly during a discussion you have with them, but they are in support of the big orange guy, no matter what he does, no matter who he hurts, no matter how many despicable things he says.
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My premise, what I question, however, is if Democrats are as engaged as that Now, I know the Democrats' mental health is perfectly fine versus the MAGA people. I'm not worried about that. I'm questioning other than small bursts of energy, like meteors that are flaring and then dissipate as they drop to the ground. I'm questioning do these Democrats sustain their energy? Do these Democrats stay involved? Do they support other Democrats who believe in what they believe in? Let me give you one example. It's not the best example in the world, but it's a starting point.
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Let's take Facebook groups. I'm on, personally, 32 Facebook groups, primarily Democratic Facebook groups. I'm on other groups that have nothing to do with my political leadings or my podcast, but the 32 Democratic Facebook groups, for the most part, are interesting. All of them allowed me to post and join and post about my podcast. Two of them, however, blocked me and wouldn't let me post, saying I'm posting things that I shouldn't be posting, even though I'm a Democrat and have been my whole life. So I find it odd that fellow Democrats don't embrace another Democrat who thinks like them.
Speaker 1:
I also stayed on these groups about my podcast here's a link to the show et cetera, and I get very little follow through from members of these groups who are Democrats to give a listen, even if they don't like the show, just to listen once. Republicans, on the other hand, friends, people from my past, strangers, who do listen to my show and say they don't like what I say. They disagree with almost everything I say. They rebuttal me left and right in emails. They fine tooth every little nitpicking detail. They send me texts, et cetera, and yet they subscribe to the podcast because they feel I'm fair and they'll continue to listen.
Speaker 1:
The Democrats, on the other hand, don't support their own and if they do, it's in bursts, short little bursts, posted on these Facebook groups. Then you don't see these people again. A different group of members come in and start a post and at first I was annoyed and wondering why is this so? And then I was amused at the people doing this. Now I want to stay clearly. I'm not not attacking Democrats. I'm just saying I wonder will they be there when it comes time for the election and come out in large numbers to stand up for democracy and fight?
Speaker 1:
I have an email to my podcast, I have a toll-free number to the podcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and I get feedback, but not as much feedback as I thought I would get from Democrats, and it's odd to me that this is the case Now. Normally I wouldn't mind, but I do get feedback from Republicans who again, I'll remind you, don't agree with anything I say basically, but like the show and are supporting the show. I do not hear from Democrats as much listening to a Democratic show a fellow Democrat. So are the Democrats engaged? Are they fervently supporting more than a few minutes or a few hours at a time, the things that they like and the things that they believe in? I'm heard right now in 44 states in the United States. I don't say that with ego. I say that the show is successful to this point and apparently there's a lot of listeners out there. We also have well over 4,000 downloads. We're heard in 20 countries. Yet with the email and the 24-hour day, seven-day-a-week phone number, there's no back-and-forth or feedback. So I'm going to monitor this carefully, see how much more involvement Democrats as a whole have in the coming months and as we get closer to the election.
Speaker 1:
Do you agree with what I'm saying? If you don't agree with me, you know how to reach me. I just told you email toll-free number. Use it, especially the Democrats. I'll give that information next and I say the thick plot-ins. I'll be right back.
Speaker 1:
You're listening to a World Gone Mad podcast. If you came across an unusual story, please send it our way or send us your comments, suggestions, what you liked, what you didn't like. Two ways you can do that are email a WorldGarnMad podcast at gmailcom or our toll free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, voicemail, 833-399-9653. And please don't forget if you're listening to our podcast on an app, please hit subscribe. That way you'll be notified when our new episode goes up online. We would love to hear from you. That helps us improve our episodes. Thank you so much. Now back to the show and one of my uplifting stories this week.
Speaker 1:
For years, in the rain or cold, bill Mosalewski walked six miles to work at the local Walmart as a night shift janitor. But that all changed. The day a woman stopped and offered him a ride. Now Christie Conrad learned that, despite being legally blind, he possessed a steadfast determination to trudge in any kind of weather in order to get to work. I picked him up at nine degrees the other mornings at Christie, who also learned that he used to ride a bike until he got hit by a car. But Christie has her own family and couldn't always be there, so she started a Facebook group to seek other volunteers who could give him a lift.
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Mr Bill's village soon attracted over a thousand members who wanted to keep an eye out for the man walking in a camouflage jacket at sunset or sunrise. One group member said it's now like a competition who can give Bill a ride today? There's a lot of good people in this world, all over the place. Bill told Steve Harmon and a CBS news crew who recently visited Cabot, arkansas, to tell the heartwarming story. After seeing the TV news story shared across the world, christie cried, but all happy tears, she says. I hope if anyone takes anything from this, it would be use the golden rule treat others the way you would want to be treated. She wrote on the Mr Bill's Village Facebook page when you see a need, fill it if possible. Chris Puckett, the local owner of Puckett Auto Group, saw a way he could help. He wanted to gift Bill a vehicle but since he's not allowed to drive, the car was donated to Christie. A fitting example of the old adage it takes a village.
Speaker 1:
My second uplifting story this week. This is from Nice News. They're kind enough to let me use their stories and assistant editor Rebecca Brandis wrote the following You've seen this being all the rage in the last couple of years the tiny homes. Remember this man built his mom a tiny home, then founded a company teaching others to make their own.
Speaker 1:
Back in 2009, dan Lush received a concerning phone call from his mom in Lakeland, florida. A recent hurricane had caused leaks in her mobile home and mold was starting to grow. She'd already been experiencing respiratory issues and her son knew if something wasn't done soon she could suffer serious health consequences. Loche lived in Georgia at the time couldn't afford to buy his mom a new home, so he started thinking outside the box, or rather inside the box A software engineer with no contracting experience he decided to build a small domicile in his own driveway that he could take apart somehow transport to his mom. I was coming up with this idea to build some kind of shed that I could disassemble and take down to her. When I told that story to other people, people were like so let me get this straight, you're trying to build a shed that your mom was going to live in. He shared this story with Nice News and I was like no, I promised it was going to be a really nice shed.
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As he was researching his project, he happened to see a PBS show about a 26-year-old woman named Elizabeth Turnbull who built herself a tiny house on a flatbed trailer to live in while attending grad school. That's perfect. Loche recalled thinking. He looked up everything he could about tiny homes, then purchased a trailer, started building, getting some help from his brother along the way. Per Insider, his excited mom, chronicled the construction and furnishing her new home on a blog, calling her son's gift the first step of a wonderful venture. And those words rang true for Loche as well.
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By a 2010, he had founded tiny home builders, teaching others like himself how to create their own mini houses. The company runs both hands-on and online workshops, offers free resources for builders and sells five different plans for houses ranging in size from 12 feet to 32 feet, as well as trailers to build them on. The least expensive house, which includes a 7-foot sleeping loft, a storage loft bathroom with a 36-inch shower, kitchen and large family room, can be built for just $10,000 in materials, according to the website. In addition to showing newbies the ropes, tiny home builders hosts a marketplace where interested buyers and sellers can browse and list tiny homes, and an interactive map of communities, mostly in North America, of locations that people can move to with their tiny houses.
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Since Loche started his journey, the tiny house movement has taken off in a big way. The small living spaces offer sustainable solutions for refugees, individuals experiencing homelessness and those looking to embrace minimalistic lifestyles. But I'll tell you, with my mom living in the house, loche said, after noting the positive financial aspects of tiny homes, the thing that I thought was the most impactful for her was just the simplicity and the joy that it brought her. And that's our Uplifting Stories for this week. And now for some important information. You're listening to a World Gone Mad, episode 8. I want to thank you very much for the support for new people, and people are continuing to support us.
Speaker 1:
I also wanted to explain the giveaway that I was telling you about four or five episodes ago. We're going to extend it one more week. You have one more week to enter. We're going to draw one lucky listener's name. Give them a $25 Amazon gift card. I know the main thing about Amazon is you probably can find something for $25. This is easy money, guys. I say that because we have some entries, not a tremendous amount. Your odds of winning is very high.
Speaker 1:
How do you join in on this giveaway? It's very simple Send me an email to aworldgonmadpodcast at gmailcom. In the email right, amazon, your first name, city, state, country you live in, how you found the podcast, what app are you listening to it from? And your age doesn't have to be exact. Very easy, very simple. Your comments are important and it helps us improve the show. I need to hear from the Democrats more of you. 44 states, 20 countries of the 44 states I know there are a ton of people out there Love to get emails from every single state in the union. Come on, guys, join in, looking forward to hearing from you. This is a World Gone man. I'm Jeff Ellen Wolf. Until next time, stay hopeful.