Parenting Porcupines

Special Episode: The Afternoon Drive with Nicole Sanchez Part 2

Sometimes Kasie Whitener sits in for Fran Halloran on The Afternoon Drive with Keven Cohen on 100.7 The Point, local talk radio in Columbia, S.C. In this episode, she interviews Nicole Sanchez, South Carolina Chair for the Better Ballot SC initiative which promotes ranked choice voting. Learn more about Better Ballot SC here. [https://www.betterballotsc.org] Learn more about the South Carolina Libertarian Party here. [https://sclp.org] Thanks to Parenting Porcupines for letting us use their channels to publish this content.

Special Episode: The Afternoon Drive with Nicole Sanchez Part 1

Sometimes Kasie Whitener sits in for Fran Halloran on The Afternoon Drive with Keven Cohen on 100.7 The Point, local talk radio in Columbia, S.C. In this episode, she interviews Nicole Sanchez, South Carolina Chair for the Better Ballot SC initiative which promotes ranked choice voting.  Learn more about Better Ballot SC here [https://www.betterballotsc.org]. Learn more about the South Carolina Libertarian Party here [https://sclp.org]. Thanks to Parenting Porcupines for letting us use their channels to publish this content.  Check out Part 2 on Episode 65.

Get in the Game!

Photo by Tara Winstead on Pexels.com [https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-calendar-with-written-election-day-8850856/] So it’s been a while since we did a live show and that’s because some crazy shit has gone down in the last few weeks. We went to the Libertarian Party national convention in Reno (Kasie and Jess and Melissa’s husband) which was kind of a shit show and then we all had covid. Well, again, Kasie and Jess. Then, fresh off covid, we had our South Carolina state convention to nominate candidates for political office in this state and lo and behold Jessica Ethridge was nominated to run for Lieutenant Governor on a ticket with journeyman candidate Morgan Bruce Reeves who was looking for a political home and seems to have finally found it with the SCLP. Congrats to Dr. Reeves and Jessica. Check out their website here! [https://www.morganreevesforgovernor.com/] In addition, our own journeyman candidate, Melissa Couture, is throwing her hat in the ring for school board which is a race she didn’t need state party approval for, but is not her first time on the ballot. So congrats, Melissa. This episode we talk to both Jess and Melissa about being candidates, taking the LP message forward, fighting off the stigma of national LP bullshit and finding balance between work, family, and public service. We also talk about elections as voluntary service to your community, not launchpads for international stardom and riches. We talk about the real issues facing voters in our state and how we keep being distracted by the bull shit distracting us from solving real problems as community participants. Finally, we’ll touch on some of the anticipated learning we expect our campaigns will bring and we can circle back to these fears in December. Read more on our blog [https://parentingporcupines.com/2022/06/22/s4-e11-get-in-the-game/]

Greedflation and other stupid shit people say about the economy

Over the last couple of months we have seen an unprecedented shortage in baby formula. It is devastating to see it first hand as I (Jessica) have a cousin whose daughter has Rett Syndrome. She is completely disabled and cannot chew, and  there is a very specific brand of formula that she is able to tolerate and upon which she relies for all of her nutrition. As of this evening she has only 12 days left in her supply. It is sold out at every supplier, and on back order from the manufacturer.   In October 2021 the FDA received a whistleblower complaint [https://delauro.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/icymi-delauro-shares-whistleblower-report-contaminated-infant-formula] regarding conditions in Abbott Laboratories. There was no action until late December, when the investigation was initiated, followed by inspection in January 2022 and recall following in February. Abbott holds about 43% of the market share, according to a 2011 USDA Report [https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2011/september/infant-formula-market/] (most recent data available). Abbott is also has exclusive contracts with many states’ WIC programs and USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP) which provide nutritional services to low-income families.  * Only three major companies control the vast majority of the baby formula market * Roughly 98% of baby formula distributed in the US is manufactured domestically * Due to regulation it is very difficult to import any supply from international providers * The shortage is disproportionately impacting those low-income families relying upon government assistance to provide formula Of course the government’s response to the problem it created was to throw more money at it. This week congress approved a $28 million emergency spending bill to assist low-income families with purchasing baby formula. Because let’s not address the root of the problem, right? This is a perfect example of how regulation can stifle competition and cripple the market. Baby food isn’t the only market that’s being unveiled as crooked, crony, government shenanigans. Supply chain woes caused by covid have revealed broken systems in: * Meat packing * Student loan services providers and college ed (link [https://apnews.com/article/biden-business-education-student-loans-tony-cardenas-2838c08edb677cb468b512a7ec54952a?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP]) – so-called “scam schools” like the Marinello Schools of Beauty were found to be over-charging and under-providing and so $238M in loans to such schools were “forgiven” – meaning the students and the schools are off the hook. But guess who’s on it? Taxpayers. * Big tech * Crypto * And every Libertarian’s favorite, the fed (link [https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/04/fed-raises-rates-by-half-a-percentage-point-the-biggest-hike-in-two-decades-to-fight-inflation.html?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew]) – who “hiked” interest rates by a ½ point in a continuing effort to control the economy. Cuz yeah. Central control of the economy is a real thing, right? right? And those war- and inflation-driven problems in the energy sector (link [https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/03/the-world-could-be-on-the-brink-of-an-energy-crisis-rivaling-the-1970s-says-ihs-markets-yergin.html?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew]) and retail (link [https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/03/ukraine-news-retailers-start-warn-of-business-impact-from-russian-invasion.html?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew]) Thankfully, there’s the Democrats to blame “greedflation” (link [https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/05/12/democratic-conspiracy-theory-on-inflation-makes-things-worse/?utm_campaign=mb&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_source=morning_brew]) or corporations and swiftly prepare legislation that would limit profits. Cuz yeah. That’ll work. ::facepalm:: Read more on our blog [https://parentingporcupines.com/2022/05/19/s4-e10-greedflation-and-other-stupid-shit-people-say-about-the-economy/]

Social Media Hysteria is becoming the new American pastime

In Season 2, episode 2 [https://parentingporcupines.com/2021/01/23/s2-e2-the-crisis-cycle/], way back in January 2021 – holy cow! – we talked about the Crisis Cycle and the way the media has trained us (like monkeys) to get hysterical about specific things for specific reasons. The latest crisis to obsess some digital parts of the USA is the imminent takeover of Twitter by the billionaire Elon Musk. Musk has said he will remove the restrictive censorship policies at the social media platform and work to develop the technology so the service acts more like a public square. So we can unpack that a little, I mean, everyone is talking about it. But let’s also talk about social media in general and how young it is and how we don’t always get the business model or understand the real opportunity or risk of social media.  Then let’s talk about how online outrage seems to be our new favorite thing to do. We love to be caught up in the drama of the celebrities-said-and-then-we-said-and-you-should-be-mad-because. Okay. It’s exhausting. That’s not even all the things that belong in that hyphenated hysterical expression. Here’s a quick where you stand: Have you recently received via text a tiktok video? Are you aware Johnny Depp has been testifying this week? Has anyone ever called your attention to a drama unfolding and you realized, too late, that it was on Facebook? Do you have rules for your own social media usage? What about rules for your kids’ social media usage? What’s the right way to contextualize what they/we are seeing online? How can we get back into the real world and put perspective on the shit happening online? It’s all a business, right, so does knowing the business side of it help? Or does our logical business brain just annoy those social media junkies? (LOL) Read more on our blog [https://parentingporcupines.com/2022/04/28/s4-e9-social-media-hysteria-is-becoming-the-new-american-pastime/]