RenaissanceOnlineRadio.com

ROR From The Boundary Waters

I had the amazing privilege of a canoe trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area outside of Ely, MN, this past week. While there, I pulled out the recorder and described my trip. It seemed sacrilegious to add my normal intro and close to this recording, so here it is, no processing, just a few edits for misspoken words. In the quiet spots, listen for the stillness around me. Recorded 9/14/2016.

Independence

Breaking a long and unintended hiatus, I present to you the Declaration that led to the original AmerExit.

Happy Independence Day!

Diesels

Diesel technology has been around for well over a century, and, while many people malign it because of their perceptions of its smell or smoke, it's really a great way to make mechanical energy. In this podcast, I discuss what makes the diesel engine different from the gasoline engine, including some basic discussion of design and of diesel performance (on a very elementary level), and even touch very briefly on anesthesia and on life after an EMP attack. 

As always, you can reach us at renaissanceonlineradio@gmail.com and follow us on Twitter at @RenaissanceRDO. Our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/RenaissanceOnlineRadio .

New Life!

Hi folks! I've had the best of intentions to get out to the Faraday cage and record another thought-filled and thought-provoking podcast for my wonderful listeners, but the Busy knob has been turned up to 'leven. (Yes, that's a Spinal Tap reference.)

So, rather than waiting for the time to be right, which didn't appear to be even on the horizon, I took a few minutes, opened the mic, and just talked. Sorry, no research on this one, no deep thoughts (well, maybe a few), just me, off the cuff. 

But at least it's short! :)

CPAC 2016 - The First Two Days

In this episode, I describe my first two days of attending the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, MD, in sight of Washington, DC. Admittedly, this is only going to be of interest to a subset of folks who follow Conservative politics and the current election cycle.

I do beg the indulgence of my listeners for the podcasts associated with CPAC, as I am trying to be minimally political in my posts. I plan to return to "regular programming" as soon as this event is over. :)

And a warm welcome to all of the folks just finding our podcast. As always, your feedback is requested.

CPAC 2016 - An Introduction

Taking the Podcast on the road, I'm just outside of Washington, DC, to attend this year's Conservative Political Action Conference. Loaded with notable speakers, both thinkers and politicians (and, possibly, some thinking politicians), this will be a new experience for me. I intend to share my thoughts each evening on what I heard while here. 

I do want to point out that this foray into political discussion should be self-limiting, and is not intended to be a new direction for the Podcast. So if you don't have any time for political talk, I hope you'll forgive the next few posts and return for more interesting topics after this week. 

Thanks for your indulgence!

Automation, or Why Your Anesthesiologist and Airline Captain Aren't Being Replaced By A Box

On today's podcast, we discuss how automation has its place, but how it is limited, and how it will always be necessary to have human input in critical processes.

One of the stories is about US Airways Flight 1549, the "Miracle on the Hudson."

Another story is about Air France Flight 296, an early and poignant example of the limitations of automation.

As healthcare has become more technology-dependent, talk has circulated of replacing anesthesiologists with machines. I offer some of my thoughts of why this is not likely to happen.

And, finally, I tie it back into general emergency preparedness.

Some Thoughts On Education

I'm often asked about my advice on education, so for 22 minutes, I opine about a number of subtopics and issues regarding education. I also talk about my own experience and views on becoming an anesthesiologist.

Regarding primary and secondary school, I refer you to John Taylor Gatto. This article is a good start: The Six-Lesson School Teacher. Because of his views, I'm more than ever wanting to homeschool my kids.

Trades have been artificially de-emphasized in our society. Who is going to tune your piano or plumb your house? A tradesman. And, in some trades, the experts are dying faster than they are being replaced. So don't just push your kids toward College At Any Cost.

Debt is another huge issue. Average college debt has more than tripled since 1993. I talk a little about why.

And, finally, I talk about why you might want to go down the CRNA road rather than the MD route if you want to work in anesthesia.

And yep, I'm having a little fun with the intro and outro. :)

Anesthesia and Space Flight

NERD ALERT!

Today, we delve into a fairly abstract subject, if you're not associated with NASA, but one that fires my imagination. Given the constraints of time, this is necessarily a superficial treatment of some deeply complex topics, but we discuss how both anesthesia teams and space stations provide life support, and then briefly touch on providing anesthesia IN space.

Even if this isn't a near-and-dear topic to you, you might find some interesting food for your own thoughts.

On Self-defence and Gun Control

A few thoughts on who is (and who is not) responsible for our personal safety. There are so many topics I'd rather talk about, but since this is in the news and on our minds, I wanted to touch on the topic. 

Life. Liberty. Property.

Thank you all for listening and sending feedback.