Dear Friends,
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE PROGRAM, with Jeffrey Weiss, Kathy Byrnes and Ed Fallon:
(02:34) The Olympics are more spectacle than sport;
(11:33) Legacy media’s dramatic collapse;
(16:18) China is becoming the new economic superpower;
(22:05) What the end of START means for nuclear proliferation;
(28:59) With US politics so erratic, Europe looks for friends elsewhere;
(31:52) Trump’s military show of force off the coast of Iran;
(37:40) Warning signs of the onset of authoritarianism;
(42:28) The threat of a stolen election this fall is frighteningly real;
(48:25) Courts’ favorable rulings on wind energy a setback for Trump;
(54:04) Food-scaping for your city’s future, with Kathy Byrnes.
Instead of my usual blog, I’ve got three asks for you:
ONE. Listen to at least one segment of this week’s program. Share it on social media or in an email message to friends. Spread the word. With so-called “Legacy Media” in free-fall and increasingly dominated by large corporate interests, local and independent alternatives are more important than ever. Ours is one of them. Please support it.
TWO. Support local businesses owned and operated by people in your community. I can’t emphasize this enough. The dominance of national chains is a plague on our economy, entrepreneurship, and the land itself.
If you live in the greater Des Moines area, patronize the small, locally-owned businesses that help make this platform possible:
Story County Veterinary Clinic
THREE. Use cash. According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Americans pay $120 billion in credit card interest and fees every year! And according to Macrotrends, PayPal Holdings revenue for 2024 was just under $32 billion — an increase of nearly 7% over 2023.
When you pay in cash, you save money AND you don’t pad Big Bank’s pockets. Furthermore, every credit card transaction you make is monitored. Do you want that level of corporate/government surveillance in your life? I doubt it. Use cash — before they take it away.
Take it away? It’s coming, unless we stop it. Here’s a thoughtful, balanced presentation of the issue: The Death of Cash: Freedom or Control. If you don’t have time to watch it, here’s a quote that stuck out:
“[T]he winners here are going to governments, businesses and tech companies…The losers are individuals and privacy advocates. In a cashless world, every move you make with your money could be monitored, and that raises serious concerns about surveillance and personal freedom.”
Thanks for reading, listening, and taking action.
Ed Fallon
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In addition to our PODCAST, listen to the Fallon Forum on these affiliates:
– KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, Iowa)
– KICI.LP 105.3 FM (Iowa City, Iowa)
– WHIV 102.3 FM (New Orleans, Louisiana)
– KPIP-LP, 94.7 FM (Fayette, Missouri)
– KCEI 90.1 FM (Taos, New Mexico)
– WGOT-LP 100.1 FM (Gainesville, Florida)
– KRFP 90.3 FM (Moscow, Idaho)
– WGRN 94.1 FM (Columbus, Ohio)
— WJLQ 99.7 FM (Muskegon, Michigan)