3-14-2024 & 2-22-2024: Gaza Updates | Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland in MORE Legal Trouble | "A Just Healthcare System" | Review of The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution

Hey friend,

MAN, that week before Spring Break was a wild one—so wild that I was unable to upload the February 22 show and had to cancel the February 29 broadcast!

That said, I’m dropping a big episode of The Unnatural State of Affairs on ya today, including segments from both February 22 and March 14.

---

---

The Unnatural State of Affairs broadcasts live on WMTS 88.3 FM, Thursdays at 8-10 A.M. Tune in to hear the censored talk show segments and DJ session!

---

• Updates on the Potential Genocide in Gaza

  • It ain’t pretty.

• Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland Facing MORE Legal Trouble

  • Tennessee State Rep. Robert Stevens sent a letter to the TN Registry of Election Finance requesting a campaign finance audit of Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland and Smyrna Mayor Mary Esther Reed.

• “A Just Healthcare System” - A Persuasive Speech

  • This one was recorded for the February 22 broadcast on WMTS.

  • I competed in the Persuasion category for Individual Events (IE’s) with this speech at debate tournaments with MTSU’s Debate Team this past school year.

  • We had our last tournament with IE’s for the semester in February at the Tennessee Intercollegiate Forensics Association’s State Championship Tournament. Ya Big Dog got 4th Place in Persuasion out of roughly 15-20 competitors.

    • Also got 2nd Place in Radio Broadcast out of roughly 20-25 competitors!

  • I perform the speech, lightly edited to comply with FCC and WMTS 88.3 FM policies.

• Review of Ryan Grim’s The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution

  • This review was recorded for the February 15 broadcast, but I ended up broadcasting it on February 22 due to time constraints.

  • I read/listened to this book over the winter break.

  • It examines the trials and tribulations of the progressive group of Congressional Representatives known as “The Squad.”

  • It’s a valuable read for any lefties like me who started paying attention to politics after The Squad’s rise to prominence.

---

---

Intro Music Creds:

Title - “Under Your Spell” (Cover, Sped up)

Guitar - Ethan Schmidt (“National Sleep Debt”)

Literally Everything Else - “Big Dog” Jay Duda (JD Alphonze on Spotify)

---

Sources

Updates on the Potential Genocide in Gaza

• “Statistics on the Israeli Genocide in the Gaza Strip (07 October 2023-05 March 2024)” - Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

  • Updated stats

• Iraq Body Count

• “Afghan Civilians” - Brown University’s Costs of War

• “Civilian Death Rates of Post-9/11 Wars vs. The War in Gaza”

• MTSU’s Counseling Services

• “What We Know About the Man Who Self-Immolated in Front of the Israeli Embassy” - Intelligencer

• “This Is What Our Ruling Class Has Decided Will Be Normal” - Crimethinc.

• “Self-Immolation” - Comprehensive Textbook on Suicidology (p. 306)

• “The push to vote 'uncommitted' to Biden in Michigan exceeds goal” - NPR

• “Tennessee Democratic Primary Election Results” - The New York Times

• “Congratulations on your primary win tonight in Tennessee @JoeBiden. Let’s finish the job!” - Tennessee Democratic Party (@tndp) on Twitter

  • “Wow, a withering corpse won the primary in which he was the only candidate on the ballot! What else could've happened!?🤔…” - big dog E (eschmi56) on Twitter

• “Colorado Democratic Primary Election Results” - The New York Times

• “Minnesota Democratic Primary Election Results” - The New York Times

• “Massachusetts Democratic Primary Election Results” - The New York Times

• “2024 Primaries and Caucuses: Hawaii Results” - NPR

• “Administration officials watered down Kamala Harris' Gaza speech before delivery” - NBC News

• “Harris calls for an immediate six-week cease-fire in Gaza” - PBS NewsHour via YouTube

• “Exclusive interview with President Biden following State of the Union address” - MSNBC via YouTube

• The Economist/YouGov Poll | Jan. 21 - 23, 2024 | p. 97

• “Congressman Chuck Fleischmann says ‘Goodbye to Palestine’” - CODEPINK via YouTube

• “Chuck Fleischmann - Contributors 2021 - 2022” - OpenSecrets

Murfreesboro Mayor Shane McFarland Facing MORE Legal Trouble

• “Mayors of Murfreesboro, Smyrna face audit, investigation request by state Rep. Stevens” - Murfreesboro Daily News Journal via AOL

• “Reports for STEVENS, ROBERT” - Tennessee Online Campaign Finance

“A Just Healthcare System”

• “Medicare for All: A Citizen’s Guide” - Abdul El-Sayed and Micah Johnson

• “Mirror, Mirror 2021: Reflecting Poorly” - The Commonwealth Fund

• “Health Insurance Coverage Status and Type of Coverage by State and Age for All Persons: 2021” - U.S. Census

• “The State of U.S. Health Insurance in 2022” - The Commonwealth Fund

• “Universal healthcare as pandemic preparedness: The lives and costs that could have been saved during the COVID-19 pandemic” - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

• “How Much More Than Medicare Do Private Insurers Pay? A Review of the Literature” - Kaiser Family Foundation

• “A Comparison Of Hospital Administrative Costs In Eight Nations: US Costs Exceed All Others By Far” - Health Affairs

• “How affordability of employer coverage varies by family income” - Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker

• “UnitedHealthcare Tried to Deny Coverage to a Chronically Ill Patient. He Fought Back, Exposing the Insurer’s Inner Workings.” - ProPublica

Review of Ryan Grim’s The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution

• The Squad: AOC and the Hope of a Political Revolution - Ryan Grim