Parallel Barking

Welcome to Season 4 of Parallel Barking!! Thanks for sticking with us.  An intelligence assessment by Ukranian experts found that an Iranian-made attack drone had parts made by at least a dozen US companies (and other Western nations' companies). The technology ranges from smaller semiconductors, GPS modules to larger engines. The options for combating this issue are quite limited, but it's s...

Ah, language, ever evolving, it always manages to spark debate. This time the tea is all about how we interpret the words 'man' and 'woman'.   This is the last episode of season 3 -- thanks everyone for a great year and we'll see you in 2023!

Usually, we think of spring as the season of 'love', but it seems governmental entities have a different idea. Recently the U.S., Indonesia and Singapore all passed new laws protecting or criminalizing people's most intimate activities. Each country handles it differently, sometimes radically.   

The creation of a 'loss and damage' fund was negotiated at the UN COP27 Summit in Egypt at the end of November. The nations who'll benefit from the funds are largely from Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the South Pacific. These countries are projected to be worst-affected by rising sea levels and other weather extremes stemming from emissions created by wealthier countries. But what...

Co-hosts Larry and Arianna discuss the most recent updates on the protests in Iran, the World Cup and how it all connects together. 

China’s top legislative body has updated its gender laws to introduce a new list of moral standards for women. On Sunday, the National People's Congress passed an amendment to the decades-old Women’s Rights and Interests Protection Act to ensure women uphold “family values.” The opening chapter, which summarizes the principles of the revised legislation , notes: “Women should respect and obey nati...

Your hosts Arianna and Larry look at the results of the race and give the low-down. What's up next for US domestic and foreign affairs? For now, it's still up in the air. 

US mid-term elections are done as of 11/8/2022. One of the most important aspects of the apex performance of liberal democracy is the election. It serves as a periodic affirmation of the continued legitimacy of the state apparatus into which representatives are elected. It follows that the preservation of the system must at its core be focused on legitimacy. 

Itaewon has become a popular location to celebrate Halloween since early 2000, so much so that tourists come from all over the world to join in the festivities. This year was no exception because it was the first year after the pandemic, with all restrictions lifted. No one was thinking that this year would have led to such misfortune. 

In occupied Kherson, Yuri Kerpatenko — who was the chief conductor of the Kherson Philharmonic, refused to perform in the celebration of what was being termed the "improvement of peaceful life.” He was then shot in his Kherson home by Russian soldiers. The discovery of his murder was on October 14th, 2022. 

On 10/5/2022, OPEC and non-OPEC producers decided to cut oil production to shore up prices. The price of oil is now $80 a barrel from more than $120 in early June amid growing fears about the prospect of a global economic recession.

Protests ignited by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by the country's morality police. Security forces are using deadly force to suppress protestors and the situation is bleak--shots continually firing between security forces and protestors, children dying in their parents' arms, drivers with vicious bullet wounds all over their bodies, fires and explosions. If protestors go...

The pipelines at this point have leaked a record-breaking amount of methane. Leaks were reported as early as Monday, September 26. While international experts attempt to determine the cause of the leak, debates about the cause swirl around the political world. The pipeline itself is responsible for supplying a large amount of energy to Europe. 

It appears Putin is changing strategies in his war efforts. After confirming Thursday that it will annex about 15% of Ukraine, Russia had an official ceremony in the Kremlin on Friday September 30, to incorporate the regions into "the motherland." At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rallies for international support and speeds his application to NATO.  Will those regions...

As an homage to summer, we give you this story about France using satellite images to find and tax un-registered swimming pools. Thanks to good 'ol machine learning, aerial photos provided by the French Geological and Forestry Service can be used to uncover homeowners' un-declared pools. What will follow? Who knows, but we're gonna talk about it!   

Winnie the Pooh from 100-Acre Wood is getting a horror adaptation with Blood and Honey. The rights to the character, originally created by A.A. Milne, have been owned by Walt Disney since 1966. But in January 2022, the beloved children's book character became public domain and so work began on the horror film. This brings to mind debates on ownership, expectations after creation of a piece of art...

In the midst of the ACLU asking a Montana judge to strike down anti-trans birth certificate rule, which at first required a person to undergo sex-change surgery before being allowed to change their birth certificate, Montana passes a bill that makes it impossible to change your birth certificate regardless. This leads to questions about the use of birth certificates, their functions in everyday li...

This has happened in the past -- an age-old story of technology infiltrating an industry traditionally honed through human physical skill, and the artisans that have spent years painstakingly practicing their craft fearing the end of their reign. It happened when Photography and digital photography made their debut, both being criticized as being too technical and void of emotion to be considered...

Darya Dugina, daughter of ultranationalist Russian idealogue and commentator Aleksandr Dugin, was killed in a Moscow car bomb last week. Russia has sought to pin the blame on Ukraine; however, the lines of guilt are not clear. Others, like author Anders Aslund, say that it is likely that Putin was behind Darya's killing--"why would Ukraine waste resources on such a target."

After the AI bot GPT-3 successfully writes a scientific paper about itself, the scientist behind the whole thing wonders if she opened a Pandora's box. The answer -- of course! And that's what's so awesome about it! Let's chat. 

This discussion is about privacy and what large corporations are doing with our data. Facebook's cooperation in the case raises concerns about surveillance and obligation. Listen-in to see where you land in the debate. 

Since April, Abbott has already dispatched more than 6,500 migrants to Washington D.C. and vows to make NYC's Port Authority Terminal a drop-off location for his ongoing busing strategy. This is a protest, and the Governor has stated as much, saying “Because of President Biden’s continued refusal to acknowledge the crisis caused by his open border policies, the State of Texas has had to take unpre...

Larry and Arianna talk about Elon Musk and the pending deal with Twitter, along with some of his other escapades. 

A couple tried to buy some condoms at a Walgreens but was told by the cashier that he would not complete the transaction. Walgreens refused to pursue disciplinary action because the employee did not transgress any rules. Arianna and Larry discuss the situation. 

Brandy Bottone, 32, said her unborn baby should count as a second passenger in her vehicle after she received a ticket, citing Texas' penal code in the wake of Roe v. Wade's being overturned.