Email Bill Meyer, Podcasts on BillMeyerShow.com
Past Shows and commentary at BLOG ARCHIVES.
Bill Meyer’s Facebook page: Facebook.com/BillMeyerShow
Follow Bill on Twitter: @BillMeyerShow
MONDAY 2-24-20 PODCASTS 6AM 7AM 8AM
TUESDAY 2-25-20 PODCASTS 6AM 7AM 8AM
WEDNESDAY 2-19-20 PODCASTS 6AM 7AM 8AM
THURSDAY 2-13-20 PODCASTS 6AM 7AM 8AM
FRIDAY 2-21-20 PODCAST 6AM 7AM 8AM
Bill Meyer Show: Friday, February 28, 2020
Bill is taking the day off today to take care of a personal matter. He’ll return next week, Monday, March 2nd, at 6AM for more talk and analysis of the issues facing you. Have a great weekend, and we’ll talk with you Monday.
Bill’s Guests: Thursday, February 27, 2020
6:35: Rick Manning, President of Americans for Limited Government chats with Bill. It’s the Weekly Swamp Update, though, Rick is on the West Coast today.
Get more great content and opinions from Rick, all over at:
7:10: Adam Schwend with Stand With Our Senators PAC, calls the show. This PAC is supporting the Republicans that have walked away from the Capitol in protest of the cap and trade bill that super majority Democrats want to shove down Oregonians’ throats.
Adam Schwend has worked in Oregon politics supporting pro-private property rights and limited government causes since 2003. He served as the Tillamook County Director for the Bush/Cheney ’04 campaign, has run dozens of campaigns for legislative and local candidates, as well as local and state ballot measure campaigns.
In addition to his work in politics, Adam owns a small real estate brokerage on the north Oregon Coast and serves on the Government Affairs Key Committee, Board of Directors and Board of Trustees for the Oregon Association of Realtors and on the Public Policy Steering Committee for the National Association of Realtors.
7:35: Oregon State Representative Kim Wallan chats with Bill. We’ll get Kim’s take on the current situation, where Republican Representatives and Senators are in hiding, in boycott of a new cap and trade bill that urban Democrats want to push through the short session of the Legislature.
8:10: Dr. Jonathan Latham PhD Executive Director of the Bioscience Resource Project in Ithaca, NY chats with Bill today.
Gene Editing is offered up as the revolutionary future of medical treatment. Edit defective genes in a person, then cure the genetic disease. However, Dr. Latham writes that scientists are discovering more gene editing errors than once thought.
READ: Researchers Are Substantially Undercounting Gene-Editing Errors, Concludes a New Paper
Synopsis: New research on mice has found that complex and aberrant DNA insertions are common results of gene-editing. The findings applied across multiple experiments on independent edits from different genome locations.
Even more notable, however, these complex genetic rearrangements at the edit site were only rarely detected by standard analytical methods. The authors called this finding “disturbing”. The research suggests, therefore,
that not only is gene-editing more error-prone than thought, but that many researchers are falsely claiming to have obtained precise edits.
This article is freely available through a Creative Commons license (Version 4.0). We encourage sharing and reposting.
Bill’s Guests: Wednesday, February 26, 2020
6:35: Eric Peters, automotive journalist over at EPAutos.com talks with Bill this morning.
Today, we talk with Eric about ride-sharing like Uber and Lyft and other transportation issues.
READ: Ride-Sharing’s Broken Promises
7:10: Luke Niforatos, Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor for Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) chats with Bill.
It seems that big alcohol and tobacco are getting into the marijuana industry, thereby wiping out any “Mom ‘n’ Pop” growers and producers. This could affect the business in Southern Oregon. We’ll talk about it.
As a part of its ongoing effort to expose the Big Tobacco and other predatory industries rushing to take over the commercial marijuana industry, Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) released a new webpage focused on laying out the many investments made into Big Marijuana from addiction-for-profit conglomerates, as well as highlighting the former federal lawmakers who are now on the marijuana industry’s payroll.
“The corporate marijuana industry that is developing in our country and in Canada wants to paint an image of a small, mom and pop movement, but this is far from the truth,” said Dr. Kevin Sabet, president of SAM and a former senior drug policy advisor to the Obama Administration. “Big Alcohol, Big Tobacco, and Big Pharma are in the process of taking over marijuana. This resource is just one more part of our effort to expose the concerning truth to the public—do we really want another predatory industry?”
The industry profiles page, viewable here, lays out the investments into marijuana by serval titans of Big Tobacco (Altria, Phillip Morris, Imperial Brands, and Pax Labs — the developer of Juul), Big Alcohol (Constellation Brands, Anheuser-Busch, Heineken and Molson Coors), and Big Pharma (Novartis, Purdue Pharma).
According to a recent study, deaths from liver disease and other alcohol-related deaths have doubled over the last twenty years. At the same time, the alcohol industry has begun investing billions into the marijuana industry, as explained on the industry profiles page.
What’s more, the resource exposes the handful of former federal lawmakers who currently draw massive paychecks from the marijuana industry. Chief among these are former House Speaker John Boehner and former Senate Majority and Minority Leader Tom Daschle.
“The fact that former lawmakers, some of whom worked diligently to expand Big Pot’s influence, are now drawing a check because of their work is extremely concerning,” continued Dr. Sabet. “Former House Speaker John Boehner blocked almost all attempts at criminal justice reform while in office and is now poised to collect $20,000,000 should federal legalization pass—the American people should be outraged by this.”
Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) is the nation’s leading nonpartisan, non-profit public health alliance of concerned citizens and professionals who oppose marijuana legalization and support science-backed marijuana policies. SAM and its 30+ state affiliates have successfully prevented marijuana legalization in dozens of state legislatures and at the ballot box.
7:40: Oregon State Representative Duane Stark (R-Grants Pass) calls in to talk with Bill. He’ll give us an update on what’s going on with the Legislature and his take on what is going on with “Cap and Trade,” and the GOP walkout.
8:45: Don Johnson and Pete Jorgensen, members of the Ashland Lions join Bill in studio to tell you why YOU should join them.
Bill’s Guests: Tuesday, February 25, 2020
7:10: Eli Dimitru, a concerned citizen from Freedom 2 Say No 2 Smart Meters chats with Bill.
Today, we’ll hear an update from Eli on what the group’s next cause is that they’re getting behind. See more over at: Freedom2SayNo2SmartMeters.org
7:20: State Senator Herman Baertschiger of Grants Pass, calls in from an unknown location, to give you an update on what’s going on with the Republican walkout, in hopes of killing Senate Bill 1530.
7:35: Kevin Starrett from the Oregon Firearms Federation chats with Bill today.
Kevin was present when 11 Republican State Senators walked out of the chamber yesterday. He’ll tell us about it, and where it may be headed.
8:10: Nik Walenda, legendary high-wire walker and daredevil chats with Bill today.
Soon, Nik will be taking on his most dangerous high-wire walk yet, over the active, Mayasa Volcano in Nicaragua. And, he’s here to tell us about it today.
“Volcano Live! with Nik Wallenda” will air as a live two-hour special on WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, (8:00-10:00 p.m. EDT). This will mark Nik’s longest and highest highwire walk ever attempted and make him the first person to embark on the 1,800-foot-long walk over the famed volcano. The date of Nik’s next highwire special was first announced during ABC’s telecast of “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2020” from Times Square, the same location where Nik last walked the highwire 25 stories above New York City in June.
Check out more about Nik at: NikWalenda.com
Bill’s Guests: Monday, February 24, 2020
6:35: Don Stenberg, former Nebraska Attorney and State Treasurer chats with Bill this morning.
Don has a new book coming out in early May, Eavesdropping on Lucifer. In the book, Lucifer explains to his apprentice how the drastic changes in our culture came about – from abortion on demand to Ten Commandment monuments being removed and religious freedom being restricted. In the end, Lucifer admits and complains that his evil work can be defeated by belief in God’s Son.
Don’s book is scheduled to be released May 5, 2020, but can be pre-ordered on Amazon.com or BarnesandNoble.com.
7:10: Greg Roberts, Mr. Outdoors himself from RogueWeather.com, calls in to bring you the Monday Outdoor Report.
7:35: Pam Ames, Spokesperson for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Southern Oregon talks with Bill.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness Southern Oregon announces they will ask the Jackson County Commissioners at the public hearing scheduled this Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. to propose a 24/7 psychiatric crisis center. We delve into this topic, and other issues regarding mental health problems in the area.
8:10: Dr. Dennis Powers, retired Professor of Business Law, author and local historian joins Bill in studio for today’s edition of Visiting Past & Present.
The Past & Present of Mercy Flights
Dennis Powers
George Milligan in the 1940s was a Medford air traffic controller in the “old, civilian control tower.” In 1949, a close friend of his with polio died during the long drive from the city to Portland for treatment. An ambulance was taking the young man to a saving, iron lung, but he died before getting there. Since polio vaccine wasn’t developed until the mid-1950s, this was the only option for victims with a respiratory system paralyzed by the disease—and the closest one was in Portland.
George decided then to buy a surplus military plane and turn it into an air ambulance, the first such service in the country. With fundraising efforts by schoolchildren, the Boy Scouts, and other community members, Milligan raised enough money to purchase the first Mercy Flights airplane, a twin-engine Cessna known as the “Bamboo Bomber.”
That same year, he created a membership program so that people not only could contribute to Mercy Flights, but also insure that they would be covered if they needed emergency air transportation. A friend, Earl Warren, was the first family subscriber at a membership fee of $2, and he also flew with George for a few years helping to transport people. When Earl Warren had a heart attack, he used his Mercy Flights membership, as well as after later incurring a severe head injury from a fall.
(Under its present annual membership program, Mercy Flights bills the insurance company for services provided and the payments are considered payment in full. If the member does not have insurance, the bill is reduced by 50%.)
Its operations grew each year to where more equipment, personnel, and support were needed to cover the numbers of patients requiring its help. With a board of directors governing the non-profit operation, it does not depend on taxpayer funds but relies instead on its membership fees and billings. Unfortunately in 1985, however, Milligan and three others died, less than a mile from the Medford airport when their airplane lost power.
In 1992 – 1993, Mercy Flights purchased two area ambulance services to include ground services throughout Jackson County. By later agreements, it coordinates land ambulance services in Josephine and Douglas Counties with its air transportation. In 1995, it entered into a contract to provide emergency helicopter services to calls within a 150-mile radius of Medford.
Mercy Flights today employs 200 people, including medically-trained staff and eight, full-time pilots who fly three King Air C-90 airplanes. These powerful twin-engine turboprop airplanes are pressurized to 30,000 feet. Their coverage is of the Western U.S. within 1,000 air miles of Medford in the continental U.S. and primarily used for transporting patients between medical facilities. It staffs its helicopter on a 24/7 day basis. The aircraft and helicopter have on board state-of-the-art, in-flight medical equipment and trained personnel, including a nurse and paramedic with physicians on contract; nineteen ambulances are now available for needed transportation throughout its regional coverage.
By ground ambulance, helicopter, and fixed-wing planes, Mercy Flights covers patients in Southern Oregon and Northern California. It responds to 200-plus emergencies each year by helicopter, most of which are heart attacks, car crashes, and injuries related to hunting or outdoor sports. It is used mostly for critically ill and injured patients where time makes a difference. A helicopter can travel from Medford, for example, to a burn center in Portland in an hour and 15 minutes, while ground ambulance takes five hours.
Mercy Flights has grown from its Spartan beginnings to being a leader in medical transportation. It has flown more than 20,000 patients throughout the Western United States, and its ground ambulance service currently serves 19,000 patients each year—and it’s from this area (with over 18,000 households as members).
Sources: See generally its website: Mercy Flights; Teresa Thomas, “Mercy Flights: 20 years trouble-free,” Mail Tribune, August 26, 2009 at More information; KTVL staff, “Mercy Flights’ fleet grows,” September 27, 2018 at New King Air C-90.