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Financial, Empire, Elites – Audio

MOST RECENT AUDIO

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 05.MAR.2015

Democracy Now

Chomsky on Global Hotspots and the War on Terror — Geopolitical analyst Noam Chomsky discusses some of the world thorniest issues. Segments include ... Israel's counterproductive approach to Iran; US support for illegal Israeli occupations; Ukraine and the West's broken promises to Russia; how US strategy created a world full of terrorists; after decades of the US boot on Cuba's throat, restoring ties is least we can do; as Venezuela struggles to fix economy, US should stop trying to undermine its government.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:25:13

GP comment:  Chomsky can only be trusted so far—he rejects even the possibility of a 9/11 insider conspiracy, is in denial about deep-state machinations, and is utterly silent on the problems of the infinite-growth paradigm and the bankster controlled money system. Here, he even says at one point he can't think of any reason not to trust a pronouncement from the Israeli intelligence service. (OMG, are you kidding??) But overall, in this clip, though he stays inside the envelope, he does address numerous important events and concepts, and does so with proper excoriation. Have a listen.

Original Show Pub Date: 02.Mar.2015

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 05.MAR.2015

Uprising

How Obama and Venezuela's Right Wing and Are Conspiring to Destabilize Venezuela — As most of the world focuses on hot spots like Ukraine and the Middle East, tensions between the US and Venezuela continue to simmer. Miguel Tinker Salas, author of several books on Venezuela, says the US has been engaged in a continual effort to destabilize Venezuela, from the 2002 coup attempt against Hugo Chavez to funding of today's right-wing takeover efforts. He calls the efforts by Western mainstream media to paint Venezuela as a backward, anti-democratic nation are provably wrong, though he admits the government does need to reform in some areas, such as the fuel subsidy that puts gasoline at 1 cent a gallon.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   25:06

GP comment:  Venezuala is guilty not only of taking care of its poor at the expense of its elites but also of fomenting a left shift in other countries in Latin America. They don't play ball with the hegemonic agenda of the US, and that is not acceptable to TPTB.

Original Show Pub Date: 02.Mar.2015

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 04.MAR.2015

Against the Grain

Warfare's Sonic Dimension — In war zones, both combatants and civilians must cope with, and interpret, the sounds of weaponry and military machinery. While often thought of as ancillary to the violence inflicted by bombs and bullets, wartime sounds, argues Martin Daughtry, can become indistinguishable from violence itself; they can enact permanent physical and psychological damage.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   54:51

GP comment:  There are some interesting angles here, but it mostly boils down to "war is loud." And I'm surprised there was no mention of the sound-based crowd-control weapons that have been developed. Finally, if you've never heard it, check out Kate Bush's very on-target Experiment IV.

Original Show Pub Date: 18.Feb.2015

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 02.MAR.2015

Keiser Report

Welcome to the Fee-ocracy — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss our bureaucratic world, from the mountain of derivatives paperwork, which has added nothing to global GDP, to the piles of QE, which have added merely more paper gains to an over-bloated stock market. In the second half, Max interviews David Graeber about his new book, The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy. They talk about the Sovietization of capitalism as more and more paperwork and contracts are required for even the simplest of financial exchanges. Max introduces the concept of a Fee-ocracy, which believes in the ideology of fee-ism, that spinning ever-more contracts and debt will make us all rich, as epitomized by the practice of Quantitative Easing, which is essentially printing paperwork.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:40

GP comment:  They're reaching a bit on the framing, but it's still a good discussion.

Original Show Pub Date: 24.Feb.2015 ~~ Original story title: Sovietization of capitalism (E723)

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 28.FEB.2015

It's Our Money

Bail-In Scenario Puts Deposits at Risk — Ellen Brown and Greg Hunter of USA Watchdog discuss global financial machinations. Topics include how the Swiss banking system is a publicly-owned system and why it survived the recent attack on its peg, as well as whether money-printing done for the public good can work better than money printing done for the banksters' good. Hunter predicts a bank holiday and bail-ins—where depositors hard-cash deposits' will be converted to shares in the bank—will come within Obama's remaining term and that a new war or some sort of false-flag asymmetric attack will likely be paired with the banking ripoff. He says the financial blow-up has not happened yet because TPTB have proven that they are willing to go to extraordinary lengths to keep the system propped up.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   58:43

GP comment:  Hunter sounds like he drinks waaaay to much coffee, but his observations on the money system are apt. We have, however, been hearing about an impending "bank holiday/money reset" event for most of a decade now. Its failure to materialize does not mean it won't eventually happen. But beware of fear promoted by The Powers That Be intentionally leaking misleading info to otherwise good journalists like Hunter.

Original Show Pub Date: 28.Jan.2015 ~~ Original story title: Changes

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FINANCIAL — 27.FEB.2015

Progressive Commentary Hour

Help from the World Bank—War by Other Means — In this audio from his documentary film "War by Other Means," journalist John Pilger explores the gross lack of success the World Bank has had in achieving its stated mission of relieving global poverty. Indeed, he points out that there is a net flow of money FROM countries with World Bank loans TO the countries that fund the World Bank. Topics include the impact on the poor and the Bank’s corrupt Structural Adjustment programs. He cites the Philippines as a stark example of how Bank policies have gone wrong, where 44% of the country’s national budget has gone towards paying off foreign debt.
Download/listen   54:57

GP comment:  This is good, but Pilger stays safely inside the liberal envelope, decrying third-world debt and World Bank policy while failing to even mention the larger money-as-debt problem, banker control of the global money system, the infinite growth paradigm, or the Deep State and its use of proxy organizations like the World Bank.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Feb.2015

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 27.FEB.2015

Red Ice Radio

How the Israel Lobby Took Control of U.S. Foreign Policy and Public Opinion — Jeff Gates is a former counsel to the US Senate Committee on Finance and has served as an adviser to 35 foreign governments. Gates gives his take on how the influence of the Israeli Lobby on the US Congress has given rise to a systemic criminality in geopolitics. The Israeli Zionist enclave is responsible for expanding organized crime to a global scale behind the facade of a sovereign state, in the process victimizing America and waging an unconventional war against the American public through domination of the “in-between domains” of media, pop culture, politics, think tanks and education. Topics include the distinction between Zionists and Jews; "the embedded consensus"; the simple math of campaign contributions; assets and groomed politicians.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:08:14

GP comment:  Gates is careful to state that his views are not anti-Jewish, that Zionists have no real interest in Judaism, only in wealth and power by any means. But he overstates his case when proposing the Zionists as THE central cause of the global kleptocratic system. Has he never heard of banksters?

Original Show Pub Date: 13.Feb.2015

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, EMPIRE — 25.FEB.2015

USA Watchdog

Lawless Leaders Manipulating the World — Financial expert Catherine Austin Fitts says the world is increasingly being changed by our leaders through criminal behavior. Her observations include: the elites are stealing money from retirement funds and similar asset classes; the trend of trading paper money for real assets is helping the rich get richer in the current inflationary environment; the global-trade agenda is being used to deflate overall wages as commodity prices inflate. She adds that the dollar will be defended with covert ops and military action; its fate depends on the outcome. For the future, she predicts increasing financial and political volatily; more warfare; and more media fearmongering to promote public obedience.
Watch  |  Download/listen   38:45

GP comment:  Sounds like Fitts has moved her scenario of "slow burn" to "somewhat-less-slow-but-very-nasty burn."

Original Show Pub Date: 25.Jan.2015 ~~ Original story title: Lawless Leaders Changing the World - Catherine Austin Fitts

CATEGORY:  ENVIRONMENT, EMPIRE — 23.FEB.2015

Living on Earth

FBI Harassing Keystone XL Activists — In October 2014, the FBI began contacting at least a dozen people who had been involved in protests against fracking and tar sands development, including the Keystone XL pipeline. In some instances, the agents visited—unannounced and uninvited—people at their place of employment, even though the people were not suspected of any crime or involvement in planned crimes. Reporter Becky Kramer and attorney Larry Hildes discuss the FBI's tactics and its history of surveillance against political activists.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   10:21

GP comment:  TPTB go to war with entire countries that threaten their agenda. It should come as no surprise that they don't play nice with eco activists.

Original Show Pub Date: 20.Feb.2015 ~~ Original story title: FBI Questions Keystone XL Activists

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 21.FEB.2015

On The Media

Media Double-Standards on the Use of "Terrorists" and "Terrorism" — In the aftermath of the Chapel Hill shootings of three Muslim students, Western media outlets are coming under criticism for using double-standards when it comes to who gets labeled a terrorist and which acts are deemed terrorism. This clip includes several segments.... The Guardian's David Shariatmadari chronicles the fraught history of the word "terrorism." Journalist Rana Sweis reviews how American media coverage of the Chapel Hill shooting has sparked fierce debate in the Middle East. Scott Shane of The New York Times talks about criticism of the language President Obama uses when describing acts of violent extremism. A new Southern Poverty Law Center study aims to get homegrown terrorism, and especially the threat of so-called lone-wolf American terrorists, back on the agenda.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   35:58

GP comment:  As with all mainstream media reports—albeit from one of the better MSM outlets, in this case—the analysis here is a totally inside the envelope. We get standard framing, subtly slipped in—for instance, we hear that media outlets in Muslin countries are largely controlled by governments but that in the West they are not (when in actuality they are totally controlled by elite interests). And while the biases of media are explored, the use of Western media for propaganda—especially when it comes to the matter of terrorism and terrorists—is completely absent. Nonetheless, the topics presented stimulate useful thought.

Original Show Pub Date: 20.Feb.2015 ~~ Safe Words

CATEGORY:  ENVIRONMENT, FINANCIAL — 20.FEB.2015

Radio EcoShock

Want to Fix the Broken System? Think Like a Commoner — One percent of humans control half the world's wealth. This is the result of what author David Bollier calls "the market state"—a tight marriage of billionaires, mega-corporations, and political institutions. A host of problems boil out of this paradigm of power, including unsustainable resource use, rampant pollution as "externalities," and a new economic serfdom. We've been told there is no alternative, but David Bollier says there is, and it's an idea we've been taught to hate: the commons. His most recent book is Think Like a Commoner: A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   30:00

GP comment:  It is essential to have viable alternatives to point to when telling the masses cherished concepts like capitalism and the free market simply do not work. But it is also essential to recognize that the 1% (especially the "1% of the 1% of the 1%") were not just lucky beneficiaries of a poorly designed system. They designed and evolved the system to foster acquisition of the wealth and power they now hold. They will not see that system replaced without a fight—the mother of all fights.

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Feb.2015

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 20.FEB.2015

9-11 Wake-Up Call

Methodical Illusions — Former flight attendant Rebekah Roth talks about some of the flight-related procedural and technical inconsistencies in the official story of 9/11. Topics include ... Flight attendants on supposedly hijacked planes not following standard hijack protocol; the lack of scrambled intercepts; during passenger phone calls to loved ones, lack of background noise consistent with the supposed situations on the planes; lack of plane debris at the Pentagon crash site; eyewitness accounts that a windowless (non-passenger) plane hit the second tower. If passenger planes weren't really what hit the buildings, what did, and where did the passenger planes go? Roth's fictionalized account of these and other issues is found in her new book, Methodical Illusion, recently rated #1 on Amazon for historical fiction.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   30:10

GP comment:  Some of Roth's concerns seem a bit ridiculous, such as a cell phone call supposedly made by a passenger 1 minute before the hijack was known. (Even system clocks can be off by a minute or more.) But overall, she raises important questions and, to my knowledge, is the first flight attendant speaking out in a major way on the obvious problems in the official story of 9/11.

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Feb.2015

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 18.FEB.2015

Corbett Report

Is a US-Russia Throw-Down in Ukraine Inevitable? — Geopolitical analyst Rick Rozoff reviews the context of the US/NATO/EU/IMF takeover of Ukraine, why it is taking place, and where it is ultimately leading. Rozoff warns that war is not a potential outcome but is in fact already taking place, and full-scale US/NATO involvement is virtually unstoppable at this point.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   20:36

GP comment:  Rozoff paints a distressingly bleak picture of the backstory on Ukraine, but he misses the most obvious reason why the US is doing what it's doing: it's part of the "encirclement of Russia" strategy, which must be completed before the final "take over Russia" step can happen. Apparently these neocon maniacs took their childhood Risk marathons way too seriously.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.Feb.2015 ~~ Original story title: Rick Rozoff Warns Ukraine War is Inevitable

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 17.FEB.2015

Democracy Now

Pension Funds Doubling-Down on High-Stakes Wall Street Bets — In a desperate attempt to keep current returns high enough to meet future pension obligations, cities and states have been increasingly investing worker pensions in hedge funds, risky equity funds, and other so-called "alternative investments." Many of the investments are being done in secret while politically connected Wall Streets firms earn millions in investment fees from taxpayers and pension holders. Municipal officials in New Jersey, Illinois, Kentucky, and Rhode Island have faced criticism for how their pension funds are being handled. Journalist David Sirota gives specifics.
Watch  |  Download/listen   7:44

GP comment:  I do pity today's pension fund managers, who are stuck between a rock (municipalities that are under-funding pensions) and a hard, crazy place called Wall Street (which offers the illusion of high returns but the reality of financial chicanery). If we don't enforce the rule of law for financial crimes already committed, why should we expect pension ripoffs and other Wall Street double-dealing to stop?

Original Show Pub Date: 13.Feb.2015 ~~ Original story title: As Public Pensions Shift to Risky Wall Street, Local Politicians Rake in Political Cash

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 14.FEB.2015

CounterSpin

Another HSBC Crime in the World of Big-Bank Baloney — HSBC is a recidivist criminal actor, so how exactly is it still the second-biggest commercial bank in the world? The latest scandal is that HSBC's Geneva bank has been helping millionaires and billionaires illegally shelter money from taxation. Journalist James Henry says the most recent HSBC crime wave is really just part of a larger problem of bad banking behavior that get punished by fines but no jail time for the perpetrators.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   11:52

GP comment:  Yep, as long as prosecutors continue the pattern of no jail time for exectives and fines that are less than the haul from the crimes, criminal behavior on Wall Street will continue. As for why we DID see jail time for executives during the S&L crisis 25 years ago, I speculate that part of the reason was that those particular banking executives were not part of the protected circle of elites, and they were running a business type (Savings & Loans) that was draining revenue from another business type—the ELITE'S business type: big banks.

Original Show Pub Date: 13.Feb.2015

CATEGORY:  HISTORY, FINANCIAL — 14.FEB.2015

Peak Prosperity

Either We Break the Bankster Alliances or They Will Break Us — Nomi Prins reviews the historical circumstances that led to the formation of the big-bank-controlled Federal Reserve; that is, how the financial foxes were put in charge of the public's hen house. She then explains how many rich US elites in the late 1800s/early 1900s thought that keeping money flowing and not being too draconian helped the masses, which in turn helped the elites maintain the system that provided the wealth. But some bankers were not of a mind to play the game this way, and Louis Brandeis warned: "We must break the Money Trust or the Money Trust will break us." Nomi Prins says we are headed into a new era of high banker mischief, vast income gaps, and reckless behavior among leaders and elites. She says we must take heed of Brandeis' warning and take down the banker-corporate-politician-industrial complex.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   52:45

GP comment:  I have passed on a couple of Prins interviews earlier this year, but here she is starting to step outside the envelope and address the bankster power structure as the criminal enterprise that it truly is.

Original Show Pub Date: 31.Jan.2015

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 14.FEB.2015

Unwelcome Guests

Terrorists Against Terror! ... Warmongers, Media, and the Charlie Hebdo Attack — Why has the corporate media put such emphasis on the attack on the satirical French magazine Charlie Hebdo, which killed only a tiny fraction of the number killed in the recent massacre in Nigeria, an event largely ignored by the media? What of the commercially-controlled media's claim that we need moderate Muslims to condemn the attack? Where were the calls for moderate Christians to condemn the Christian extremists whose illegal war killed over a million Iraqis? What lies behind the simplistic official narratives pushed by corporate media? Dissident BBC reporter Tony Gosling examines connections between recent terrorist events and sketches out a highly compelling picture of darker forces at work.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   59:36
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   59:36

GP comment:  Gosling and his interviewer occasionally go too far in their ruminations; for instance, I think the idea that financially troubled Charlie Hebdo might have murdered itself as a publicity stunt to avoid going out of business is plain stupid. The attack as a black-op bitch-slap of France for its recent non-compliance with US geopolitical strategies is a much more compelling angle. Broadly speaking, though, most of the ideas presented in the two hours are fairly on-target.

Original Show Pub Date: 24.Jan.2015 ~~ Original story title: Terrorists Against Terror! (Corporate Media Handling of The Charlie Hebdo Attack)

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FINANCIAL — 13.FEB.2015

Uprising

Jobs in the US, Change in Greece, and Money in Politics — Economics professor Richard Wolff says that the US continues to increase low-paying jobs and lose better-paying middle-class jobs. He also reminds us that US employments statistics are greatly manipulated. He says that Greece serves as an object lesson for the elites—push too far, and the populace will finally push back. As for money dominating politics, he says the problem afflicts both Democrats and Republicans and their agendas. Wolff says our best bet is to reinvigorate the working class through organization and political action independent of the entreched duopoly parties.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   29:47

GP comment:  The elites keep the left and right of the middle class busy pointing fingers at each other (and, occasionally, at other factors like immigrants and terrorists). But the war never really was between left and right or liberals and conservatives. It's between up and down. And the ups are cleaning our clocks—and our bank accounts.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.Feb.2015 ~~ Original story title: Conversation with Richard Wolff: Jobs Report Reality Check, Greece, and Money in Politics

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 13.FEB.2015

Democracy Now

Endless War, Endless War Spin — As Obama talks about a new major cycle of the war on terror—this time against the Islamic State—Norman Solomon of the Institute for Public Accuracy says Obama talks about not being interested in "endless war" but is doing more than any previous president to engage the US in exactly that. Solomon also says Brain Williams' worst lies about war were not his exaggerations of his personal experiences reporting from danger zones but rather his parroting the war propaganda of both the Bush and Obama administrations and his failure to challenge any aspect of the corrupt endless-war agenda. Of course, all the big names in media did the same. Finally, Solomon talks about the case of CIA whistleblower Jeffrey Sterling, who has been persecuted for exposing a dodgy CIA operation to the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Watch A  |  Watch B  |  Watch C
Download/listen   17:18

GP comment:  Solomon is very good here. The title of his book gives some indication of his tone: War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.Feb.2015 ~~ Original story titles ... Endless War? Obama Sends Congress Expansive Anti-ISIS Measure 6 Months After Bombing Began ~~ Brian Williams Suspended for False Iraq Tale, But Media's Real Scandal is the War Lies Spun Daily ~~ Was Jeffrey Sterling Trial a Gov't Effort to Divide Investigative Journalists & Whistleblowers?

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 11.FEB.2015

Uprising

Understanding the Roots of Terrorism—Theirs and Ours — Much of President Obama's record-breaking defense budget proposal will fund proxy wars around the globe. The US is training and arming Sunni tribal groups in Iraq to fight ISIS, and it may soon begin supplying weapons to the Ukrainian military against Russia. Drone strikes continue to take their toll in Yemen and elsewhere. Meanwhile, a jingoistic film called ‘American Sniper’ glorifies killing and demonizes Muslims with virtually no historical context. Chris Hedges says most Americans accept the myth of American rightness and do-goodism while ignoring the obvious parallels in the terrorism practiced by the US and the terrorism practiced by ISIS and their ilk. He says the empire is not only busy abroad but is also quietly pre-positioning suppressive-force capabilities on the home front, in preparation for the inevitable pushback from the masses as their impoverishment worsens.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   27:32

GP comment:  Many excellent points in this one.

Original Show Pub Date: 09.Feb.2015

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 11.FEB.2015

On The Media

US Withholding Thousands More Photos of Detainee Abuse — The horrific images from Abu Ghraib prison still linger in America's consciousness more than a decade after their release. But there are thousands more photos of detainee abuse and torture—some depicting scenes worse than those in the original release—that the government has long concealed from the public, stating that it feared violent repercussions. The ACLU's Jameel Jaffer says the prospect of violence is a faulty argument for government secrecy about its own misconduct.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   8:21

GP comment:  Sunshine is the best disinfectant.

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Feb.2015 ~~ Original story title: Thousands of Secret Torture Photos

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 10.FEB.2015

Keiser Report

Zombie Banks Using Negative Interest Rates to Eat Depositors' Money — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss whether negative savings rates will be applied to retail savers in Europe, where commercial bank customers are already having to pay to park their money. Do banks no longer need to receive deposits or make loans because they are no longer really banks? Then Max interviews filmmaker and author Kerry-anne Mendoza about her new top selling book, Austerity: The Demolition of the Welfare State and the Rise of the Zombie Economy.
Watch A  |  Watch B  |  Download/listen   38:42

GP comment:  The world of banking is getting plain weird. The urgency to keep revenue flowing in spite of the dead weight that should have many of these banks six-feet-under—and the complicity of regulators and central banks—mean there will definitely be another financial crisis in our future.

Original Show Pub Date: 05.Feb.2015 ~~ Original episode titles ... Zombie Banks Eating Human Souls (E715) + Greece, Beware Bureaucrats & Bankers Bearing Bailouts (E716)

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, PRIVACY, HISTORY — 08.FEB.2015

Unwelcome Guests

Legal Restrictions as Convenient Fictions—The Deep State's Consuming Passion for Big Data — This starts with a pair of talks from 31C3—the latest Chaos Computer Congress—by insiders with extensive experience on the subject of mass surveillance. First, NSA expert James Bamford on the relationships between the NSA and the big telecom companies. Then Caspar Bowden discusses the legal basis for the NSA's mass surveillance program, PRISM, particularly as it affects those in the EU. Microsoft summarily dismissed Bowden from his job as head of privacy after he raised privacy issues related to Microsoft's products and services, and he has spent the last 3 years alerting people to the danger.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   1:00:00
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   1:00:00

GP comment:  I have a great deal of respect for these speakers and what they have to say. But, for whatever the reasons, they asciduously avoid or deny the deep issues of (a) the spies now operating with impunity; and (b) the NSA, CIA, and DIA operating in service of the US imperial operation, not national interests. Host Robin Upton summarizes the problem nicely: "Neither speaker seems to have much idea about the deep state, but their talks nevertheless provide useful information."

Original Show Pub Date: 10.Jan.2015

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 06.FEB.2015

The Real World of Money

Andrew Gause: 4 Trillion in Global Debt Coming Due; It's Not Going to Be Pretty — Andrew Gause's topics this time include ... how the bad money chased out the good money; the Greece situation—why the contagion could be huge, but why it will eventually be resolved; the dollar may have a long way to go before it goes south; the Exchange Stabilization Fund—the president's massive slush fund.... that he uses for the benefit of the banksters; give us all your gold, 1934-style; physical possession of precious metals and coins, and possible challenges.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:05:10

GP comment:  The Exchange Stabilization Fund is part of the rigged game on the global exchanges. You wanna go up against that, be my guest.

Original Show Pub Date: 04.Feb.2015

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, EMPIRE — 06.FEB.2015

Guns and Butter

Is the World Beginning to Rebel Against Wall Street Rule? — Webster Tarpley discusses geopolitics and the current global financial situation. Topics include ... Russia vs. the West; the Charlie Hebdo attacks re-framed as the US disciplining France for not supporting US positions on Russia, Libya, and other stratagems; why Greece's rejection of the European bankster paradigm is very significant; why Switzerland's unpegging of its franc has the banksters wringing their hands.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:52

GP comment:  Some of this is a bit speculative, but most of it is very on-target.

Original Show Pub Date: 21.Jan.2015 ~~ Original story title: Russia, Belarus, France, Greece - The World Rebels Against Wall Street Rule, with Webster Griffin Tarpley

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 05.FEB.2015

Democracy Now

Is Ukraine a US-Russia Proxy War? A New Cold War? Will It Go Hot? — The United Nations has raised the death toll from fighting in eastern Ukraine to more than 5,300 people since last April. Another 1.5 million people have been displaced. As fighting intensifies, the Obama administration is now considering directly arming Ukrainian forces against Russian-backed rebels. Washington already supplies non-lethal military equipment to Ukraine, but top officials are reportedly leaning toward sending arms, from rifles to anti-tank weapons. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has accused the West of dragging Russia into a new Cold War—that could turn hot. Stephen Cohen, professor of Russian studies and politics, comments.
Watch  |  Download/listen   27:09

GP comment:  (1) Cohen has a lot of things right here, but how does he manage to not just say 'yes' to the question of whether Russia's response in Ukraine is really about their line in the sand over NATO (US) eastward encroachment? (2) Cohen manages to somehow conclude that when it comes to Ukraine, Obama is either getting bad advice or not paying attention. Um, survey says... third choice: he's a maniac and he's lying. (3) For any progressives who thought the Brookings Institution was a counterbalance to the insanity of the right-wing think tanks, Brookings' hawkish stance on US involvement in Ukraine should make that fallacy obvious.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Feb.2015 ~~ Original story title: Is Ukraine a Proxy Western-Russia War? U.S. Weighs Arming Kiev as Violence Soars

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FINANCIAL — 30.JAN.2015

One Radio Network

Powerful Counterforces and Ugly Days Ahead for the American Empire — Geopolitics analyst Jim Willie discusses world events in the context of the monetary wars that continue to unfold. Topics include ... the three major factions who run the world; dollar losing market share; Germany actively looking for credible ways to exit the Euro Zone; global currency reset is real and in motion; large amounts of gold in Russia and China, but not the US; The Vatican has vast assets going back over a thousand years; oil price is all about derivatives, not supply and demand; Putin kicked the Rothschilds out of Russia a few years ago.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   57:39

GP comment:  A lot of what Willie says sounds dead-on. But he's one of those guys who has "deep sources." IMO, such sources are often going to be operating in the mode of using otherwise bona fide analysts like Willie to spread disinformation. In this case, I'm thinking of Willie's discussion of the powerful "Eastern white hats" that are poised to take down the Western black hats and restore peace and ecological balance to the planet. Uh, huh. Sounds like a classic "external savior meme" to me—that is, we who are worried about totalitarianism and might otherwise rise up can relax and feel reassured that heroic forces will save us.

Original Show Pub Date: 26.Jan.2015 ~~ Original Story Title: Jim Willie - The End of the American Empire---Big, Powerful, Nasty & Ugly Days Ahead

CATEGORY:  ENERGY, FINANCIAL, COLLAPSE — 30.JAN.2015

Peak Prosperity

Gail Tverberg: Beginning of the End For Oil Production — Gail "the Actuary" Tverberg discusses the recent sharp down-trend in the price of oil, the unfolding collapse in the shale-oil industry, and why this is ushering in a permanent turndown in oil production. Sees the global economy caught between the Scylla and Charybdis of too-low or too-high oil prices, with central banking games and Wall Street derivatives the highly combustible factors that will light a brush fire that will burn through the companies in the oil industry and eventually blow up the rest of the financial world too.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   44:20

GP comment:  I found this a bit dense and difficult to stay interested in, but there is some good info here.

Original Show Pub Date: 17.Jan.2015 ~~ Original story title: Gail Tverberg: This Is The Beginning Of The End For Oil Production --- Why the shale collapse is ushering in a permanent turndown

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 28.JAN.2015

Unwelcome Guests

Dispatches from Weimar America — This show features various authors and activists talking about state surveillance and unchecked power in the US. First, Mark Crispin Miller discusses Project Censored's "forbidden bookshelf" project, which aims to republish in electronic form books that governments have tried to suppress. Then Alfred McCoy explains the extent of the surveillance systems underway, saying they far exceed the Snowden disclosures. Naomi Wolf explains why the Snowden story may be something other than what we think it is. Heidi Boghosian talks about the death of democracy", followed by Chris Hedges offering a personal reflection on the psychology of the super-rich. Finally, we get a radio adaptation of "The Strange Case of Phillip Marshall," a CIA insider who publicly questioned the official story of 9-11. He and his family then died in what has been officially called a murder-suicide.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   1:00:00
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   1:00:00

GP comment:  Lots of really good stuff here. On the Snowden question, he made the public aware of (at least part of) the illegal government spying on citizens that's been going on. Now, if the public does not rise up and put a stop to it, then those doing the current illegal spying will know they have carte blanche to do whatever they want in the future. Whether they put Snowden up to it because they wanted the question answered or whether Snowden is a legitimate whistleblower is far less important than whether Big Brother gets the green light.

Original Show Pub Date: 27.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 24.JAN.2015

Democracy Now

Scoring the Fight For Truth—One Loss (Barrett Brown), One Win (Robert MacLean) — Barrett Brown, an activist-journalist has been given a five-year prison term and ordered to pay nearly $900,000 in restitution and fines. His crime? Publishing hacked emails showing bad corporate ethics. Supporters say Brown has been unfairly targeted for investigating the highly secretive world of private intelligence and military contractors. ~~ In July 2003, after being stymied by official channels, federal Air Marshal Robert MacLean revealed to MSNBC that the Department of Homeland Security had decided to stop assigning air marshals to certain long-distance flights in order to save money, despite warnings of a potential plot to hijack US airplanes. Three years later, after admitting to being the story's source, he was fired. Based on this case, the US Supreme Court has upheld 7-2 the right of federal employees to become whistleblowers.
Watch A  |  Watch B  |  Download/listen   22:28

GP comment:  You have to admire Brown's steely sense of humor: After his sentencing on Thursday, Brown released a satirical statement that read, in part: "Good news! The US government decided today that because I did such a good job investigating the cyber-industrial complex, they're now going to send me to investigate the prison-industrial complex."

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Jan.2015 ~~ Original story titles: Barrett Brown Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison After Reporting on Hacked Private Intelligence Firms + In Victory for Gov’t Whistleblowers, Supreme Court Sides with Fired TSA Air Marshal Who Spoke Out

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FINANCIAL — 23.JAN.2015

Legalise Freedom

The Grand Manipulation — Trends forecaster Gerald Celente talks about where things are and where they are going. Topics include ... globally depressed economic activity; wealth concentration; insufficient demand for current production; the bankster takeover; the two different sets of rules for free speech; we're in a permanent War on Terror now, and a more serious global conflict is coming. He thinks the current political parties and leaders are beyond redemption, though he thinks a new, completely unaffiliated party is worth trying. He says four words killed capitalism: Too Big To Fail.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   29:11

GP comment:  Celente has said most of this before, but he's always worth a listen. One point of disagreement: I don't see how a third party makes it when the Republicrat duopoly controls the election rules.

Original Show Pub Date: 16.Jan.2015

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 22.JAN.2015

Democracy Now

Obama's SOTU—Contradictions and Missed Opportunities — Ralph Nader points out some of the many inconsistencies in Obama's State of the Union speech; for instance: Obama stressed civil liberties but was silent on renewal of the odious PATRIOT Act; he said there should be more domestic oil and gas production but also warned of climate change, which would be worsened by that production; Obama stressed workers rights and unions but then emphasized the need to fast track approval of the anti-worker Trans-Pacific Partnership trade act. Nader also criticized Obama for ignoring issues like commercial fraud on Medicare and Medicaid; a DoD audit; and corporate tax evasion.
Watch  |  Download/listen   3:58

GP comment:  And, as Nader points out, Obama—almost unbelievably—talks again about closing down Gitmo, after six years of broken promises on that very issue. No doubt he has a bridge (to tomorrow) he'd like to sell us.

Original Show Pub Date: 21.Jan.2015

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 21.JAN.2015

Class War Films

Let Your Life Be a Friction to Stop the Machine — The folks behind Class War Films are on a mission to expose, explain, attack, and dismantle the myth of American Exceptionalism and the mask of Predatory Capitalism. In less than half an hour, they do an astonishingly good job of just that, from the false egalitarian vocalizations of the Founding Fathers, through the rise of bankster/corporate hegemony, to today's "global war on terror" and useless mainstream-media parrots and squawkers.
Watch  |  Download/listen   22:51

GP comment:  Try to watch this one—cool graphics. From 2012, but still perfectly relevant.

Original Show Pub Date: 2012

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 21.JAN.2015

Guns and Butter

The Deep State and the Paris Attacks — Michel Chossudovsky looks at the circumstances and backstory of the Charlie Hebdo attack, with an eye towards poking holes in the official story. Interesting factors include the "suicide" of a French detective a few hours after being debriefed on the attacks; whether the supposed perpetrators were in some way involved with French intelligence agencies; the hypocrisy of the French government decrying attacks on press freedom while engaging in suppression of reporting themselves. Chossudovsky also talks about state-sponsored terrorism by the major Western powers; the larger geopolitical game as it pertains to France and the US; and the new inquisitorial age, where the general public does not question the need to eliminate those labeled "enemy" at any cost, using any means.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:52

GP comment:  Chossudovsky reaches a bit on some of his speculations, but there are many points that need consideration here, no matter how odious the implications are.

Original Show Pub Date: 14.Jan.2015 ~~ Original story title: "Who Was Behind the Paris Attacks?" with Michel Chossudovsky

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FINANCIAL — 18.JAN.2015

Off-the-Grid News

Cash, Bank Accounts, Homes ... and the World of Government Seizure — Ten years ago, the Supreme Court declared economic development to be a legitimate reason for a government to eminent-domain and repurpose private property. Since then, many states have passed laws forbidding seizure for that reason, but abusive practices are still happening. Phil Applebaum of the Institute for Justice discusses the case of a small Indiana town where the mayor proposed taking over an entire housing neighborhood for an unspecified future development plan. ~~ In part B, Larry Salzman, also of the Institute for Justice, talks about how banking rules apply to cash deposits. If you run a cash-oriented business and think you're safe from scrutiny or seizure if your deposits are always under the $10,000 threshold for banks having to report deposits, think again.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   20:53
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   23:40

GP comment:  This may not be widely applicable—yet. But it's always good to keep an eye on government overreach.

Original Show Pub Date: 15.Jan.2015 & 09.Jan.2015 ~~ Original story titles: How The IRS Can Secretly Drain Your Bank Account + Why Your Home Isn't Safe From Government Seizure

CATEGORY:  COLLAPSE, EMPIRE — 15.JAN.2015

The Lifeboat Hour

Dmitry Orlov on Collapse, US-Russia, Oil, and What We Can Expect in 2015 — WRT the various stages of collapse, Dmitry Orlov vets the US: (1) financial collapse is "baked in"; (2) commercial collapse is slowly unfolding, with a high real-unemployment rate; (3) political collapse is already happening, at least in terms of loss of democracy; (4) unfolding cultural collapse is reflected in the general lack of community in the US and the smoldering dysfunction between race-based groups. He sees an emerging Asian bloc centered on Russia and China cooperation. Orlov also talks about the large jump in numbers of people paying attention to the truth of what's going on via his blog and other alternatives to mainstream media. Other topics include the energy-money game going on between the US, Europe, and Russia; why Grand Chessboard master Zbigniew Brzezinski is punking US interests for his own agenda; and the (non) likelihood of a major conflict between the US and Russia.
Download/listen   53:28

GP comment:  He clearly gives a pro-Russia slant, but his details seem convincing enough.

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Jan.2015

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, SUSTAINABILITY — 15.JAN.2015

Post Carbon Institute

Economics of the Anthropocene — Joshua Farley discusses how the human dominated epoch—the anthropocene—has evolved an economic model that is unsustainable—it's hitting resource and environmental limits—and he outlines the need to shift the basis of the economy from competitiveness to cooperation.
Watch  |  Download/listen   20:49

GP comment:  A reasonable proposition, but Farley seems hurried and slightly out-of-focus here.

Original Show Pub Date: 09.Jan.2015

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 13.JAN.2015

Democracy Now

Circus of Hypocrisy—World Leaders Simultaneously March For and Oppose Press Freedom — In the wake of the Charlie Hebdo attacks, more than a million people marched in Paris, including more than 40 world leaders. But Jeremy Scahill calls the leaders' attendance a "circus of hypocrisy" since those same leaders have waged their own wars against journalists. He recounts numerous examples ranging from media suppression to whistleblower prosecution to outright murder. ~~ Then Scahill moves on to the broader issue of the actions of Western nations doing more to foster terrorism than to suppress it, again giving plentiful examples of counterproductive strategies and tactics.
Watch A  |  Watch B  |  Download/listen   46:56

GP comment:  Scahill is, as usual, on-target. Sometimes I wonder what more he'd say in a quiet one-on-one conversation over a beer.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.Jan.2015

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 12.JAN.2015

On The Media

Charlie Hebdo and the Muck-a-lot Factory — Charlie Hebdo magazine is notorious for its irreverent satirical cartoons, attacking all sides, particularly those who finger-wag their conservative values. In the wake of the murderous attack on Charlie Hebdo, professor Laurence Grove reviews how French culture has held political cartoons in high regard for centuries. ~~ Then Atlantic correspondent Jeffrey Goldberg argues that the ability of journalists and citizens to mock those in power is essential to liberty and democracy.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   8:34
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   4:39

GP comment:  The attack on Charlie Hebdo employees may certainly be just as it's been reported. But I also note the alignment of other possible interests: a media outlet with long-term enemies within TPTB sphere plus the usefulness of the attack for those who prefer to reinforce, not heal, the divide between the West and Islam.

Original Show Pub Date: 09.Jan.2015 ~~ Original story titles: (1) Monty Python But 50 Times As Rude (2) On 'Je Suis Charlie'

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE, ENVIRONMENT — 10.JAN.2015

Project Censored

The Most Underreported Stories of 2014 — Project Censored is out with a new addition of their annual "unreported stories" book. On the empire front, their most-underreported stories include "Top Ten US Aid Recipients All Practice Torture"; "WikiLeaks Revelations on Trans-Pacific Partnership Ignored by Corporate Media"; "Corporate Internet Providers Threaten Net Neutrality"; "Bankers Back on Wall Street Despite Major Crimes"; "The Deep State—Government Without the Consent of the Governed"; "US Media Hypocrisy in Covering Ukraine Crisis." On the environmental front, their top underreported stories include "Ocean Acidification Increasing at Unprecedented Rate"; "Lawsuit Challenges Nuclear Power Industry Immunity from Liability in Nuclear Accidents"; "Agribusiness Attempts to Discredit Scientists Who Reveal Herbicide Health Threats."
Download/listen   59:00

GP comment:  This clip includes an interview with Zara Zimbardo, who recently penned "It Is Easier to Imagine the Zombie Apocalypse Than the End of Capitalism." Catchy title, but we need to be more clever in attacking capitalism. It must be continually distinguished from "free enterprise" and "entrepreneurship" and "effort/reward." Capitalism is not about those things; it means "money rules," and no one but the 1% of the 1% really want that.

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Jan.2015

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 06.JAN.2015

Red Ice Radio

World-View Propaganda — Jay Dyer writes on the deeper themes and messages found in our globalist pseudo-culture, illustrating the connections between philosophy, metaphysics, secret societies, Hollywood, psychological warfare and comparative religion. Dyer explains how philosophies can be engineered and used as forms of psyop—a trap of empiricism that ultimately leads to false presuppositions.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   53:42

GP comment:  Dyer does us a service by presenting the concept that a deep, deep level of propaganda is used to shape the world view of the masses, which then makes it easier for the elites to sell specific-issue propaganda that allows them to maintain their wealth and power. But the discussion here is mostly lost in esoteric topics of philosophy. We would have benefited more from a discussion of how the concepts manifest in today's increasingly totalitarian world, where most people are so propagandized they will actively defend a system that exploits them.

Original Show Pub Date: 29.Dec.2014 ~~ Original story title: Dialectic Enlightenment & The Entertainment Industrial Complex

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 03.JAN.2015

Project Censored

Post-Capitalist Democracy and Independent Media — Hosts Peter Phillips and Mickey Huff spend the hour in conversation with media scholar Robert McChesney. Topics include... the threat to democracy from capitalism in general and corporations in particular; how the Dems and GOP are in lock-step when it comes to militarism and corporate control, as well as on rigging the political system to exclude third-party candidates and ideas; how current policies are slowly clawing back the hard-won middle-class gains of the last century.
Download/listen   59:00

GP comment:  McChesney offers plenty of apt observations, but his overall framing is limited to the issues that might be considered "safe for NPR listeners." For instance, he does not mention at all the problem of the big banks, their control of the money system, and the Ponzi nature of their infinite-growth monetary policy.

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 31.DEC.2014

Moyers and Company

The New Robber Barons — Washington continues to reward wealthy donors and Wall Street at the expense of everyday Americans. Author and historian Steve Fraser says the US political machine has been completely captured by moneyed interests. The situation has plenty of similarities to the robber baron era of a century ago.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:21

GP comment:  Fraser is quite good, though he misses the fact that part of the reason people are hesitant to rock the boat these days is because they are still benefiting from the safety-net programs and wealth accumulated during the past 70 years. As the pile evaporates and more societal benefits are withdrawn or degraded—and living circumstances get more desperate—the complacency of the masses may change.

Original Show Pub Date: 19.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 31.DEC.2014

Keiser Report

2014—Year of the Bubbles — Max and Stacy discuss the financial events of 2014 with guest Mitch Feierstein of Planet Ponzi. Topics include ... wealth confiscation via negative interest rates; inflation vs. deflation; the ruble story vs. the yen story vs. the oil story; the diaper generation—those leaders and analysts who are too young to remember the bond crash of the early 1980s and therefore cannot see the bond apocalypse looming before us. Feierstein's predictions for 2015 include QE4, the collapse of GDP, the end of US dollar hegemony, and big moves up in gold and silver prices.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:04

GP comment:  Negative interest rates are indeed a form of wealth confiscation that people are volunteering for because they recognize that the banksters appear determined to steal whatever planetary wealth isn't already in their coffers. Better to hold on to 99% of your principle and eat some inflation losses than to have the whole amount lost to a bail-in.

Original Show Pub Date: 30.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 30.DEC.2014

Corbett Report

Bail-Ins—Another Global Bankster Coup — Guest Ellen Brown talks with host James Corbett about her article, "The Global Bankers' Coup: Bail-In and the Shadowy Financial Stability Board." Topics include the G20 and their rubber-stamping of the FSB's proposed bail-in rules; what this shadowy body is and how it interlocks with the Bank for International Settlements; and what this means for depositors in the next banking crisis.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   23:13

GP comment:  Two comments: (1) The collapse in oil prices WAS predictable, and the blowback to energy-company stocks and derivatives (and Russia) WAS predictable. In fact, it's pretty obvious that his is just another elite op, and the end game will happen in the financial markets. (2) Brown fails to present credit unions—which are by definition member-owned banks—as a good alternative to the big banks. Perhaps she has a reason, but I'd like to hear it. All that said, this is good listening.

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, EMPIRE — 27.DEC.2014

Peak Prosperity

Oil Prices, US-Russia, and the Global Game Of Tetris — In this 2014 wrap-up edition, David Collum and Chris Martenson discuss how energy and fact-free rhetoric have played into the West's maneuvers in Ukraine and against Russia. Other important 2014 trends include the continuing shift of wealth out of the 99% class; the ill health of many state pension funds; routine market manipulation by the bankster class; the shocking size of the ever-expanding credit bubble; how a future false-flag financial event will be used to steal your bank deposits. Collum says we know that the big financial players and their political minions are pathological liars. Our failure as a society is not bothering to prove their crimes... and hang them from the nearest tree.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:03

GP comment:  They miss the parallel in how oil price depression was used a generation ago to take down the USSR, but otherwise this is quite good.

Original Show Pub Date: 22.Dec.2014 ~~ Original story title: We're Now Stuck In A Global Game Of Tetris

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, EMPIRE, SUSTAINABILITY — 27.DEC.2014

KunstlerCast

John Michael Greer's 2014 Review — John Michael Greer comments on how interlocking systems make specific technological tools far more useful—and in some cases, useable at all. He examines the fracking boom as a financial scheme (that will likely blow up big in 2015) and talks about how society is now experiencing the slow breakdown of infrastructure (such as roads) as governments experience chronic cash-flow problems. Greer predicts a continuing slow move towards a highly unequal, totalitarian society that comes to see science as part of the problem because it enables TPTB to control the impoverished populace.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   44:32

GP comment:  Greer's takeaway joke on why he avoids social media: If a potter makes pots, what does Twitter make? Twits!

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 23.DEC.2014

It's Our Money

Greasing a Collapse—Oil/Gas Industry Debt, Banksters, and Our Crony Government — The recent drop in oil prices may make you feel good at the gas pump, but your dollars at the bank may soon slide right out of your hands to help pay off bankster bets gone bad. Current conditions, circumstances, and collusions suggest possible economic calamity in the not-too-distant future. Ellen Brown speaks with author Michael Snyder, who blogs at “The Coming Economic Collapse,” about the worrying factors, the possible outcomes, and what you should consider doing in the meantime.
Download/listen   57:35

GP comment:  I think the banksters have more control over the system than Snyder gives them credit for, but perfect control is never a sure thing, and he is right to suppose that black swans could be the banksters' undoing. Just remember, though, that "crises" are often manufactured by the banksters. You will know only in hindsight that a crisis was real: If the big banks are still in business after the dust settles, the crisis was likely another con job. The proper metaphor for today's Wall Street is not a casino but rather a rigged numbers game.

Original Show Pub Date: 17.Dec.2014 ~~ Original story title: Greasing a Collapse: Oil Prices and Our Crony Congress

CATEGORY:  SUSTAINABILITY, EMPIRE — 23.DEC.2014

C-Realm Podcast

Pocket Utopias — KMO and author J.P. Harpignies kick the tires on the value of utopian thought and ambition as well as the dangers. KMO and JP agree that the idea of Earth as just the cradle of humanity, a place from which we are meant to leave to establish an interstellar civilization, is a dangerous conceit. Topics include ... the implausibility of deep-space travel by humans; artificial intelligence and cybernetics to extend human lifespans as rather childish goals; eco-villages and "tweaked-up suburbia" as solutions to sustainability; finding the sweet spot between reclusive/epicurean hopelessness and productive activities in the face of overwhelming odds.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:54

GP comment:  This is pretty good, though sci-fi fans will appreciate it more.

Original Show Pub Date: 17.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 23.DEC.2014

Keiser Report

Shakedown—The Bubonic Plague of Finance — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the arrival of the "shakedown times" as our deposits and pension funds are now open to confiscation by any Too Big To Fail bank that loses big bets and winds up in "resolution"—something that used to be known as "bankruptcy." ~~ In the second half, Max interviews Karl Denninger about the likely impact of the oil price collapse on credit markets and the rollback of certain Dodd Frank provisions that protected depositors.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:33

GP comment:  The banksters will not stop, ever, until they have it all—or until they are stopped.

Original Show Pub Date: 18.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, ENERGY — 18.DEC.2014

KunstlerCast

Chris Martenson on Wall Street Games and Fracking Bombs — Chris Martenson guides us through the swamps of financial lingo so we might all develop a clearer notion of the jargon used in financial sectors of the chatter-sphere. Topics include credit default swaps, derivatives, margin calls, shorting and going long. Martenson also talks about the disinformation that comes out of the Fed; and he explains how the financialization of the fracking-based oil/gas industry could eventually cause a spark that lights off a financial wildfire.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   46:33

GP comment:  A lot of esoteric financial trading techniques are discussed here, but it's important evidence of just how insane the Wall Street games are. If we do not rid ourselves this parasitic "over-layer," we will never solve any of the other problems that plague us.

Original Show Pub Date: 04.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, EMPIRE — 17.DEC.2014

Moyers and Company

Democrats Bow Down to Wall Street — Bill Moyers talks to outspoken veteran journalist John R. MacArthur, president and publisher of Harper's Magazine, about the problems with the Obama-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership being negotiated in secret. They also conclude that the Wall Street sellout means working people can no longer count on the Democrats to look out for their interests.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:25

GP comment:  Just as Republicans are the tool of the oil-industrial-polluter-warfare complex, Democrats are the tool of the Wall Street bankster-parasites. Not that either party really objects to the other's agenda on those terms. Sure—it's fight, fight, fight when it comes to social issues, but when it comes to the bankster-dominated corporatocracy, there is one rule that both parties adhere to without exception: Don't fuck with the money.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 15.DEC.2014

CounterSpin

CIA Torture Report Lands with a Dull Thud — Baher Azmy, legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, discusses the recently released Senate report on CIA torture. Topics include the nature of the torture (worse than has been admitted to by the CIA); the lack of repercussions for those who directed the torture strategy; the US torture activities in light of international treaties; the media response to the report; the general lack of accountability of the CIA to the normal power structures of government.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   9:49

GP comment:  The report on CIA toture is a classic rendition of the "mistakes were made" gambit—criticize past behavior without exacting punishment. What's amazing is the ferocious denunciation of even a no-impact report like this by the pro-torture lunatics and their allies in the mainstream media.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 15.DEC.2014

Keiser Report

A Debt Meteor is Headed for Planet Earth — Max Keiser explains why negative interest rates are state-sponsored confiscation and how centripetal force is creating the conditions for a financial blow-up. Whereas TPTB think exponential debt growth is a lever with which they can move the economy, Max thinks it's a meteor that will wipe us out. ~~ In the second half, crowdfunding pioneer Simon Dixon of "Bank to the Future" addresses Max's question: Can crowd-funding and crypto-currencies combine with a grassroots movement to rip out the dark heart of the kleptocractic financier class?
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:42

GP comment:  Rip away, please!

Original Show Pub Date: 13.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 12.DEC.2014

9/11 Wake-Up Call

JFK, the Deep State, and the Darkening Shadow — Author Andrew Kreig talks about the JFK assassination plot as a pivotal point for the shadow government operating in the US—it proved that they could do big things with no consequences.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   29:48

GP comment:  Yes, exactly right. This is why it's the conspiracy refusniks who are the nut-jobs. If the bankster-CIA cabal will kill a president, what won't they do?

Original Show Pub Date: 26.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 10.DEC.2014

Corbett Report

Gladio B and the Battle For Eurasia — Operation Gladio B—the continuation of the old NATO Gladio program—comprises a tangled web of covert operatives, billionaire Imams, drug running, prison breaks, and terror strikes. Its goal: the destabilization of Central Asia and the Caucasus to the advantage of the Western powers, especially the US. In this presentation, James Corbett lifts the lid on Gladio B, discussing the evidence, the key players, and the secret battle for the Eurasian heartland.
Watch  |  Download/listen   50:00

GP comment:  A rather eye-glazing level of detail is necessary to understanding Gladio B, but Corbett does his best to wade through it without getting us lost in the skunkworks.

Original Show Pub Date: 02.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 09.DEC.2014

It's Our Money

It's Not Nice (for Financial Systems) to Ignore Mother Nature! — Ignoring natural laws and limits puts you at certain peril, even when you’re talking about economies and financial systems. So says Jamie Brown Hansen, an international researcher who studies bio-mimicry to understand how economic sustainability can be derived and adapted from ancient systems of nature. If financial systems (such as capitalism) don’t conform to those laws, they ultimately die.
Download/listen   56:57

GP comment:  Ah, the charming, naive brilliance of the young. The people currently running the financial system don't want it to be stable, efficient, and sustainable. They have fought hard to devise a system of "managed instability" that allows them to profit from both the ups and downs in the seemingly chaotic cycles, which are in fact just meta-manipulations. Don't expect any change in their goals or the system until we take it from them. This point is thankfully addressed here in the excellent epilog by Gwen Halsted of the Public Banking Institute.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Dec.2014 ~~ Original story title: Better Listen to Your Mother

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 08.DEC.2014

Peak Prosperity

Dmitry Orlov: Russia's Patience Is Wearing Thin — Having lived in the former USSR before immigrating to the US, Dmitry Orlov has an invaluable perspective on US-Russian geopolitics, as well as the recent wrangling over Ukraine. It's more important than ever to cut through the propaganda to learn what we can about the most feverish geopolitical tensions in recent memory. Topics include ... the amateurishness of Western leadership; attitudes of the masses outside the US; the US leadership facing new rules imposed by reality and the BRICs; as Western anti-Putin propaganda grows, so does Putin's popularity within Russia.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   51:09

GP comment:  Must-listening. Orlov offers a clear-eyed assessment of the game in the Ukraine and the general nonsense the US calls foreign policy.

Original Show Pub Date: 29.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, HISTORY — 05.DEC.2014

The Real World of Money

Banksters, Corporations, the CIA, and the Mainstream Media — Andrew Gause's topics this time include... Senator Elizabeth Warren on reinstating Glass Steagall; the deep connections between centralized corporate media, the CIA, and Wall Street banksters; asset-backed Iraqi dinar will never happen; the fascinating story of Continental Bank of Illinois collapse; the origins of the CIA and what they do politically and financially; the three major rules for financial success; the new debt ceiling is $18 trillion bonded debt vs. $87 trillion of unfunded liabilities for US.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:16:55

GP comment:  As usual, Gause offers several excellent insights on how things really work. He is also "sort of correct" on his assertion that if you live debt-free you are not understanding how to use the system to best advantage in the way the elites do. But if you are not an elite who gets inside info, has deep pockets, and employs a team of financial tricksters to help you navigate the currents, then proceed with caution into the Sea of Debt!

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Dec.2014

CATEGORY:  ELITES — 01.DEC.2014

Radio Parallax

Money—Avarice, Politics and Madness — Douglass Everett talks about recent news item that, collectively, show the broken mindset of the elites and the minions that serve them. Topics include ... comments made by Emil Michael, executive at the Uber car-sharing company, suggesting that his team should resort to dirty tactics to protect its image; wealth/poverty trends among the top 0.1% and the bottom 90%; the prices for modern works of art; job growth in the wrong areas; fake drugs for big profits; black loot for white ivory.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   19:43

GP comment:  I usually avoid "news" stories, but Everett does a nice job of stringing these together to show a pattern.

Original Show Pub Date: 20.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 26.NOV.2014

The Real World of Money

The Inflation Genie Is Out of the Bottle — Andrew Gause explains why the inverted yield curve means that a lot of companies and players are in financial trouble and are trying to borrow furiously to fend off disaster. Meanwhile, the top players (predators) are taking advantage of the weaknesses and are on a buying spree, purchasing all depressed assets and commodities. Gause reviews how the setup for the current harvest started in 2008, explaining who got the Fed-created money, what was done with it then, and what's being done with it now. Other topics this time include ... inflation about to pop; defending yourself against inflation; the Keystone backstory; Baby Boomers continuing to keep their wealth in cash; bail-ins are now official (per the G-20 in Australia this month); ISIS issuing their own gold and silver coin money; Sears' further decline.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   57:49

GP comment:  Remember that when the inflation comes, it's the final phase of the crime. Wall Street banks speculated wildly, reaping vast winnings and getting bailed out on vast losses. Then the Fed made all major financial institutions well again by creating money and parking it in the banks. The final phase is for the printed money to be released, which will unleash inflation, which has the effect of making all us peons pay to fix the imbalance caused by all the money printing, which helped fund the original crime.

Original Show Pub Date: 19.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  HEALTH, EMPIRE — 24.NOV.2014

Radio Parallax

The Psychopath Inside — When UC Irvine neuroscientist James Fallon was studying the brain scans of known psychopaths alongside the brain scan of a "normal" control—himself—he discovered something fascinating and troubling: the scans showed that he too had the brain structure of a psychopath. This forced Fallon to reevaluate what psychopathy means, both in clinical terms and in practical terms. He talks about his odyssey and the conclusions it led him to.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   25:13
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   22:56

GP comment:  This is insightful and entertaining. I do disagree, though, with one of Fallon's conclusions: He says we need "good psychopaths" as enforcers against the "bad psychopaths." I say, if the psychopathic subset of humans were to disappear altogether, I am quite sure this would be a happier planet.

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 22.NOV.2014

On The Media

A Conversation with George Takei — George Takei has taken his fame as Mr. Sulu on Star Trek and used it as a platform from which to speak about important social issues, including marriage equality and redressment for Japanese-American internment during WWII, which he personally experienced. Here he talks about his personal odyssey, the issues, and the fun he's having in his new late-life career as a social-media darling.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   16:35

GP comment:  Solid guy, fun interview.

Original Show Pub Date: 21.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 21.NOV.2014

Democracy Now

No Debate—Antiwar Voices Absent from Corporate TV News Ahead of U.S. Attacks on Iraq and Syria — An analysis of corporate TV news has found that the public was given almost no debate about whether the United States should go to war in Iraq and Syria. The group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting found that of the more than 200 guests, just six voiced opposition to military action. On the high-profile Sunday talk shows, out of 89 guests, there was just one antiwar voice—Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation. Peter Hart of FAIR discusses the issue.
Watch  |  Download/listen   4:00

GP comment:  Controlling the message is not a new concept, it's just that it has never been done so seamlessly or completely. We are not quite in Orwell's world of 1984 yet, but we are getting there.

Original Show Pub Date: 18.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 20.NOV.2014

Guns and Butter

Voting Machines—Computerized Election Theft — Jonathan Simon explains how Republicans have engaged in vote rigging via electronic voting machines over the last 10 years. Exit polls consistently disagree with election results, and Republicans are winning close races at a much higher rate than statistical probability would allow.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:50

GP comment:  Though some important issues are raised, this clip is mostly red meat for blue voters. Election theft started long before electronic voting machines, and while the Republicans may indeed currently have the upper hand in the legerdemain, the Democrats are not without their corrupt ways. Among other things, they sold their soul when they colluded with Republicans to change election rules in a way that de facto excludes valid third-party candidates from the process, ensuring the Democrat-Republican duopoly. And now, as their partner in crimes against democracy executes a doublecross to gain even more advantage, the Democrats cry foul. What nonsense. Any US citizen who still hopes that this mess can be fixed at the ballot box—or that it's "that other party" that is causing all the problems—is not paying attention.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 19.NOV.2014

Global Research News Hour

Dismantling the Pro-War Cult—The Myth of the Soldier as Guarantor of Freedom — The myth of the soldier as the guarantor of a nation's security and freedom has become widespread and reinforced in the imaginations of citizens, particularly in America. Unthinking devotion to all things military has largely trumped public concern over the idea of war as an end unto itself or the effect war has on global stability or the amorality of US involvement in particular conflicts . Two US veterans, Stan Goff and Joshua Key , discuss the problem.
Download/listen   59:30

GP comment:  "He's the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame // His orders come from far away no more // They come from here and there and you and me // And brothers can't you see // This is not the way we put the end to war." -- Donovan, "Universal Soldier"

Original Show Pub Date: 17.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 17.NOV.2014

The Keiser Report

Whistleblower Alayne Fleischmann—JP Morgan's Worst Nightmare — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the trend in some parts of the world where people are showing just how sick they are of a corrupt elite that holds itself above the law. They also look at the headlines of students in India who believe in the right to cheat, and at innocent people in America who plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit. ~~ In the second half Max interviews Alayne Fleischmann, a JP Morgan whistleblower. They talk about fraud in the mortgage backed securities business, the statute of limitations on wire fraud, and what exactly it is that Jamie Dimon wants.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:35

GP comment:  As long as the fines—regardless of whether they are "huge" and "record-breaking"—are less than the profit made from the illegal activities, the banksters will continue acting according to the dictum "crime pays."

Original Show Pub Date: 13.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 15.NOV.2014

The Real World of Money

Big Banks Pay Big Fines But Grab Bigger Piles of Loot — Andrew Gause's topics include.... an analysis of large fines for big banks engaged in currency trading scams; commodity prices have remained stable but the dollar has lost value relative to them; more evidence of gold and silver price fixing worldwide; Obama signs a global warming deal that puts dubious science over the health of the US economy; how the banksters may push back against Russia's new SWIFT system; why wouldn't one buy silver at just $15 an ounce?
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:01:19

GP comment:  It's surprising that a smart guy like Gause, who has a very clear vision of reality when it comes to the way the Ponzi money system works, doesn't seem to grasp that the science of global warming can be correct at the same time the proposed solutions are a scam. Anyway, pay attention to him on monetary issues; ignore him on climate science.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 14.NOV.2014

New Tech City

Robots at War — Can replacing human soldiers with robot warriors save lives and make war more humane? The consensus seems to be that the laws of war are not written in computer code, and modern warfare is not ready for killer robots that "decide" without human input.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   25:01

GP comment:  Let's remember that humans already sometimes act inappropriately on kill decisions. And yes, everyone go watch the Terminator movies again.

Original Show Pub Date: 01.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, ENVIRONMENT — 14.NOV.2014

Nature Bats Last

Higher Learning, Higher Debt, and The System — Guy McPherson talks to Karl Klein. Topics include....the inadequacies of IPCC climate reports; illegal asset forfeiture at the hands of local cops; the problem of limitations of rare-earth metals. Much of the conversation centers on how our higher-learning institutions are not training our students correctly at the same time they foster high levels of post-graduation indebtedness. McPherson contrasts his decision to leave academia with Klein's decision to stay within the system.
Download/listen   1:01:57

GP comment:  A decent general discussion

Original Show Pub Date: 04.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 12.NOV.2014

Time Monk Radio Network

No Struggle, No Progress — Former Blank Panther Larry Pinkney talks about the need for continued struggle against the oppressing elites. The fight, he says, is not one of race or similar characteristic—but rather a challenge of critical thinking so that we may correctly perceive the web of deception, understand the oppressors' tactics, and find common ground with the many who are jointly used and abuse by the elites.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:37:34

GP comment:  Pinkney has the creds to talk this stuff. He's not an overly polished orator, but that seems to give his words more force.

Original Show Pub Date: 07.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 10.NOV.2014

Making Contact

Iraq, Islamic State, Kurdistan, and the Continuing War for Oil — More than a decade after the start of the second Gulf War, the United States has embarked on a bombing campaign targeting Islamic State forces inside Iraq and Syria. But the reasons for the new war keep shifting, from protecting ethnic and religious minorities, to preventing terrorist attacks on the US. As independent producer Reese Erlich reports from Northern Iraq, this latest conflict—and the future of the region—is tightly connected to the oil industry and international politics.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   28:57

GP comment:  What a confused mess over there. It's no wonder most of us Americans tune it out. Still, without the oil under those embattled lands, the continuing US presence would not be what it is.

Original Show Pub Date: 05.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, ENVIRONMENT — 10.NOV.2014

Radio EcoShock

Solving the Problem of Ecocidal Capitalism — Frank Rotering is quite sure that capitalism is killing the planet. In the past, he has advocated a voluntary shrinkage of the industrial economy as a way to reduce pollution and resource pressures and let the planet come back into balance. But he now realizes that few are willing to join that quest, so he has a new strategy based on converting true conservatives of the capitalist class to a non-ecocidal posture.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   27:39

GP comment:  Rotering is an excellent logician, but he seems blind to the emotional traps that keep people locked into unhelpful mindsets. And don't look to the elites—from either side—to take down the system that made them. The only possible solution I see is a public education campaign that carefully distinguishes a market-based economy from a capitalist economy. Capitalists must be separated from entrepreneurs. The latter must be heralded and promoted; the former must be excoriated and squashed for being the financial parasites that they are.

Original Show Pub Date: 22.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 07.NOV.2014

The Keiser Report

Crash, Boom, Pop! — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the psycho-banker murderers and how that act extends to the larger banking community. Then Max interviews Professor Steve Keen and artist Miguel Guerra about their new crowdfunded graphic novel series Crash, Boom, Pop!, where essential economic principles will be fun to learn. They also discuss the metaphorical godzilla in Japanese central banking that is consuming any debt the population throws at it and where this might lead for the final global debt showdown.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:00

GP comment:  Most banksters are not murderers in the direct sense, but make no mistake—their actions do result in deaths.

Original Show Pub Date: 04.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FINANCIAL — 07.NOV.2014

It's Our Money

Meet the Enemy—The Global Banking Cartel — From a surplus in 1974 to paying $1.1 trillion dollars today to borrow the same money it used to print for free, Canada, like most Western nations, is now controlled by and indebted to the global banking cartel. Paul Hellyer, a former Canadian defense minister, describes a harsh reality: a small number of oligarchic elites are well along in their goal of taking complete control of all economies. Hellyer discusses the increasing threat facing democratic institutions in the age of global finance.
Download/listen   58:04

GP comment:  Hellyer is generally correct in his framing of the problem, though he's a little to quick to believe every little "dark truth" he comes across. (For example, he recounts the story of President Clinton telling a reporter that there is a government within the government that he did not control. An accurate framing, but it's highly unlikely that Clinton actually said it.)

Original Show Pub Date: 05.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 07.NOV.2014

Corbett Report

Ottawa Shooting Generates Push for Larger Security State in Canada — Dan Dicks of PressForTruth.ca talks about the recent shooting in Canadian Parliament. He critiques the government’s eagerness to label this a terrorist act to help justify new “anti-terror” legislation, as well as the Canadian public’s general buy-in to this propaganda. Dicks also acknowledges the difficulty of investigating the machinations of government as they pertain to events like this.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   19:39

GP comment:  This is not "the Canadian 9/11," but Canadian Big Brother enthusiasts are not missing the opportunity to advance their agenda.

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Nov.2014 ~~ Original story title: Dan Dicks on The Ottawa Shooting

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 06.NOV.2014

Democracy Now

Is Filming a Police Officer a "Domestic Threat"? — After years of litigation and, recently, four days of proceedings, Antonio Buehler was found not guilty of "failure to obey a lawful order," which he was charged with after filming two officers arresting a woman. Buehler says he was at a gas station in the early morning hours of New Year’s Day in 2012 when he used his phone to take pictures of a woman being arrested and crying out for help. Buehler’s attempt to document what he felt was apparent police abuse ended with his own arrest. Buehler discusses the case, the broader issues, and the group he has co-founded, Peaceful Streets Project, whose members record police and post the videos online, and train others to do the same.
Watch  |  Download/listen   9:45

GP comment:  Cops are often faced with tough tasks, but honorable behavior should not fear the light of public viewing.

Original Show Pub Date: 29.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  AGRICULTURE, FINANCIAL — 06.NOV.2014

Post Carbon Institute

Delicious Development—The Powerful Role of Local Food in Job Creation — Michael Shuman, author of Local Dollars, Local Sense, makes the case that local food enterprises are a great way to get the "local economy" ball rolling in any community. He offers numerous examples of successes and explains some of the creative ways people got it done.
Watch  |  Download/listen   27:21

GP comment:  If you want to not only fight TPTB but also make a difference in your community, here's how.

Original Show Pub Date: 02.Nov.2014

CATEGORY:  SUSTAINABILITY, EMPIRE — 06.NOV.2014

C-Realm Podcast

The Great Grab — KMO recently attended the "Techno-Utopianism and the Fate of the Earth" teach-in, where he met and recorded conversations with Anuradha Mittal of the Oakland Institute and Helena Norberg-Hodge of Local Futures/International Society for Ecology and Culture. Mittal explains how agricultural corporations are pulling off an enormous land-grab in Africa and Asia, with the support of the World Bank, and all the time fallaciously portraying their actions in terms sustainable practices and local wealth enhancement. Norberg-Hodge takes on the idea that humans are so selfish and short-sighted that they deserve to go extinct. This attitude plays into the hands of transnational corporations, who are more than happy to see the blame for climate change, inequality, and injustice fall on individual actors and not to the policies that create a marketplace that favors short-term profits over long-term responsibility.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:54

GP comment:  I think there is ample evidence that human beings, collectively, DO suck. While most individuals exhibit fine characteristics, we are individually and collectively ignorant and/or delusional about how the planet's environmental and political systems really work. The ruling corporate/elite power structure does indeed deserve much blame for reinforcing the delusions, but a study of history shows clearly that the elites and their ruled, easily manipulated masses have been a co-problem for a long time.

Original Show Pub Date: 29.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 02.NOV.2014

Corbett Report

Exactly How Many Trillions Did the Pentagon Lose? — In this episode of the Questions for Corbett series, analyst James Corbett tackles listener questions, including: Do drills by military, police, and other agencies presage troubling events ahead? With reports of missing funds at the Defense Department quoting different numbers in the trillions, just exactly how much money has been lost down the hole in the middle of the Pentagon? Did Prescott Bush agree to sacrifice his personal goals for assurances that his son (and later, his grandson, too) would be president? More...
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:03:10

GP comment:  Mostly good analysis. I actually think Corbett is wrong about whether TPTB like inside jokes when they pull their strings. The Anthony Weiner episode must have had them ROTFL when they came up with it.

Original Show Pub Date: 28.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 30.OCT.2014

Peak Prosperity

Will Our Private Savings Be Sacrificed To Pay Down The Public Debt? — Financial analyst Daniel Amerman discusses "financial repression," where sovereign debts are slowly paid off by siphoning private savings from an unaware populace. He explains the possible methods of dealing with debt—austerity, tax hikes, default, inflating the debt away, and finally, financial repression. The last method is a popular choice because it is done in secret, with no political repercussions. But it's actually just as painful for the population as a whole, as people lose purchasing power and standard of living due to policies that promote ultra-low interest rates and inflation.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   56:03

GP comment:  It's important to understand that the US debt is not intended to be paid back—it can't be. But public oration about the need for us to tighten our belts and make sacrifices and get our financial house in order is part of the elites' con game. But it's not about stealing our money to pay down the debt, it's just about stealing our money, period.

Original Show Pub Date: 18.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 28.OCT.2014

Unwelcome Guests

Once More Unto The Whistle — Scott Bennett, formerly of the US Army 11th Psychological Operations Battalion describes, how he moved from a background in advertising, with a specialist focus on the Muslim mind, to psychological warfare and counterterrorism. During his work on the latter, he became frustrated after noticing how little attention was being paid at the highest levels to tracking terrorist financing, concluding eventually that he was not being employed to be effective but merely to look good. While plenty of details remain obscure in Bennett's story, the larger picture is familiar: a corrupt Deep State establishment that uses the legal system and the commercially-controlled media to obscure its sponsorship of terrorism in the service of endless war and geopolitical hegemony.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   59:36
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   59:36

GP comment:  It's difficult to know how much faith to put in Bennett's story, especially given that the original interview was done by Project Camelot. That said, his presentation is cogent and the implications are perfectly in line with my own observations of the faux war-on-terror pattern.

Original Show Pub Date: 18.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 28.OCT.2014

9-11 Wake-Up Call

Politicians for 9/11 Truth — A brief discussion of research showing that "9/11 conspiracy theorists"—those who say the official story can't be right—now outnumber believers of the official story 2-to-1. ~~ Then an interview with Steve Fournier, a Connecticut attorney who is running for state attorney general on a 9/11 truth platform. Fournier discusses the relevance of his campaign even in the face of likely defeat.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   27:27

GP comment:  Fournier is quite sharp in his presentation. It's unfortunate that the Dem-GOP duopoly has the game so rigged now that a smart, honest person has no chance of winning.

Original Show Pub Date: 22.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 28.OCT.2014

Beard World Order via Traces of Reality

The ISIS Conspiracy ... and Other Lies of the War on Terror — James Corbett, Peter B. Collins, and Guillermo Jimenez have a roundtable discussion about the current state of the so-called War on Terror. They observe that the now-routine introduction of new enemies always, strangely, seems to occur in September. The story framing by the mainstream lackey media is designed to foster public support for endless US occupation of foreign lands. Deep State media memes still constantly inculcate disdain for public discussion of conspiracies. Despite the continuing torrent of propaganda, politicians are avoiding the WoT issue because they know it's a loser with the increasingly less brainwashed populace. The team also notes the falsity of US claims that their actions are due to a concern for the Syrian people or other locals.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   56:15

GP comment:  Mostly polemical, but lotsa fun and on-target.

Original Show Pub Date: 22.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, CORPORATIONS, LABOR ISSUES — 27.OCT.2014

Making Contact

Blowing the Whistle, Paying the Price — Whistleblowers are heroes to many, but the government is increasingly treating them as traitors. In this show, we hear about the whistleblowers you won't see on the nightly news. They’re not named Manning or Snowden; they’re ordinary people who report wrongdoing at their place of employment, and pay the consequences.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   28:56

GP comment:  Such actions do indeed take courage, and wisdom to know when something is important enough that it can't be ignored or overlooked. Bravo to those who step up.

Original Show Pub Date: 15.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 25.OCT.2014

CounterSpin

The Economic Recovery—Just for the Top Earners — In the past few years, as some economic indicators have suggested a recovery is under way, US media have generally responded with celebratory reporting. But according to a recent NBC poll, just 18 percent of Americans say the economy is excellent or good. Economics professor Richard Wolff explains that the economy has been re-geared in a way that everyone but the top 10% now suffers from two factors: they have more debt, and even if they have a job, they are making less than they were. The media portrayal of an economic recovery is really just propaganda in service of a political agenda.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   17:42

GP comment:  Yes, quite right. Included here is an excellent point about the elites' patient, long-term strategy of slowly undermining public support for organizations and issues related to worker rights and economic justice—essentially brainwashing people to stop being in favor of things that are in their own best interest.

Original Show Pub Date: 17.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 23.OCT.2014

Democracy Now

Noam Chomsky Blasts Israel and US — Noam Chomsky recently spoke in the hall of the UN General Assembly at an event sponsored by the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. His topics included the false memes of the Israeli position; Obama's continuation of bad US policy; the media attention to the relatively few Israeli casualties and general avoidance of discussion of Palestinian casualties; Israeli maneuvers to skirt international rulings.
Watch A  |  Watch B  |  Download/listen   50:55

GP comment:  One of the topics Chomsky orates ably on.

Original Show Pub Date: 22.Oct.2014 ~~ Original story titles: In U.N. Speech, Noam Chomsky Blasts United States for Supporting Israel, Blocking Palestinian State + Noam Chomsky at United Nations: It Would Be Nice if the United States Lived up to International Law

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 21.OCT.2014

On The Media

Not In The Supreme Court's Backyard — The Supreme Court has often determined that free speech is sacrosanct. However, when it comes to free speech around the Supreme Court building, apparently the concept does not apply. New York Times Supreme Court correspondent Adam Liptak talks about the court's determination in keeping protesters off its plaza.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   7:48

GP comment:  Bob Garfield sums it up perfectly: "Wuhhhh?" In today's America, TPTB are fine with free speech as long as it's done where they say you can do it and says nothing that truly threatens their power.

Original Show Pub Date: 17.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, FINANCIAL — 17.OCT.2014

The Keiser Report

Rebranding Unearned Income as a Good Thing — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert are joined by politically astute actor Alec Baldwin and comedian/actor Russell Brand for a rollicking conversation about the media, ultra-low interest rates, revolution, and elites. Observations include: The rule of law no longer applies. The wealthy now not only laud their ability to make money without working, they denigration those who must toil to earn a living. Though it's easy to target our anger towards mainstream media's talking heads, they are merely playing roles designed to tap into the disenfranchisement felt by many people.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:48

GP comment:  Fun, with some decent insights.

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Oct.2014 ~~ Original Story Title: Meeting of Megaminds, E665

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 16.OCT.2014

Democracy Now

Can Journalism Keep the Homeland Security-Industrial Complex in Check? — New York Times investigative reporter James Risen is at the center of one of the most significant press freedom cases in decades. In 2006, Risen won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting about warrantless wiretapping of Americans by the National Security Agency. He has since been pursued by both the Bush and Obama administrations in a six-year leak investigation for information he published in his book, State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration. Risen talks about how the story broke and the suppression exerted by the government and the Times, as well as the significance of the continuing efforts by whistleblowers and reporters to expose illegal government activities in the face of unrelenting harassment and prosecution by the government.
Watch A  |  Watch B  |  Download/listen   43:43

GP comment:  There are still a few actual investigative journalists at the major US papers, but they face huge barriers to truth-telling, even from their own organizations.

Original Show Pub Date: 14.Oct.2014 ~~ Original Story Titles: James Risen Prepared to Pay Any Price to Report on War on Terror Amid Crackdown on Whistleblowers; James Risen on NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowden: He Sparked a New National Debate on Surveillance

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 14.OCT.2014

Making Contact

Not My War—The Military Deserters' Dilemma — More than 150,000 people sign up for the US military every year. Their reasons for joining vary widely, from those hoping for financial help through college, to others looking to follow in the footsteps of parents or grandparents. But some who join up become disillusioned with the enterprise of war and ultimately desert. In this radio adaptation of parts of two films, we hear several stories from deserters.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   29:00

GP comment:  More info on the lies told by the government w.r.t. its various wars would have made this piece more convincing.

Original Show Pub Date: 02.Spe.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 10.OCT.2014

C-Realm Podcast

Ferguson Rorschach — KMO talks with freelance writer and blogger Brian Kaller, who grew up in a town next to Ferguson, Missouri, about how the news and images out of Ferguson seemed to provide confirmation for disparate and sometimes contradictory narratives about the forces at work in American culture. Everyone saw what they wanted or expected to see, and few voices showed any hint of doubt, even while their reporting demonstrated near total ignorance of the story’s setting.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:54

GP comment:  This turned out to be surprisingly good—far more than just a rehashing of the Ferguson story through one more person's lens; rather, an apt mapping of media and public responses to the problems in Ferguson to the larger problems in the US.

Original Show Pub Date: 01.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, HISTORY, EMPIRE — 08.OCT.2014

On The Media

Gary Webb and the CIA — In 1996, San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb published a series of articles that connected the CIA, the contra rebels in Nicaragua, and the exploding crack trade in Los Angeles. The story was a tale of deep conspiracy and faced incredible backpressure from the large news outlets of the day. Ryan Devereaux, a reporter at The Intercept, talks about the case.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   9:19

GP comment:  Devereaux's explanation of why the L.A. Times and other went after Webb is missing a key element: the pressure the ruling power structure puts on media outlets when they need a problem to go away. The media outlets that went after Webb no doubt got that pressure when Webb was going after the CIA. Not only was he messing with the spooks, he was messing with their money flow. In the end, Webb is a largely unsung hero, and no one should have any doubt about that.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 07.OCT.2014

Democracy Now

Obama's Orwellian War in Iraq—We Created the Very Threat We Claim to be Fighting — Just as Dick Cheney told us we were facing "war that will not end in our lifetimes," Vice President Joe Biden now warns it will take a "hell of a long fight" for the United States to stop militants from the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Jeremy Scahill explains how this meme is really about ensuring the profits of the military industry, observing that US pronouncements of its latest "enemy" are becoming almost clown-like in their predictability. From the Taliban to Al Qaeda to the Khorsan Group to ISIS—meet the new enemy, same meme as the old enemy.
Watch  |  Download/listen   17:57

GP comment:  This is an excellent polemic. The only thing he doesn't quite say is that the foreign policy strategies are not inept, they are intentional, intended to ensure that we always have an enemy to fight.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 06.OCT.2014

Unwelcome Guests

The Morality Play of Austerity — Three looks at the financial crisis and how "austerity" solutions punish the average Joe and further enrich the elite financier class. First, Professor Mark Blyth, author of Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea looks at the promotion of austerity as a financially necessary measure, uncorrelated to bailouts. Next, Les Leopold, author of How To Make A Million Dollars an Hour—Why Hedge Funds Get Away With Siphoning Off America's Wealth, describes financial chicanery of dubious legality and even less morality. Finally, we hear a stirring speech by Chris Hedges, who sets austerity in the context of a dying empire, and assets that the only consistent position for those of conscience is outright rebellion against the dehumanizing ideology of totalitarianism capitalism.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   1:00:00
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   1:00:00

GP comment:  These are three spot-on speeches that offer a grand tour of the financial parasitism that plagues the planet.

Original Show Pub Date: 20.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 04.OCT.2014

The Real World of Money

Andrew Gause on Wall Street Regulations, Alibaba, Banksters' Reach, more — Andrew Gause explains how the regulatory structure that is supposed to govern the actions of Wall Street can only enforce the regulations that Wall Street agrees to. He also opines that the people who bought in to the Alibaba IPO are probably going to lose money, as people who participate in frothy financial opportunities almost always do. He also says that no matter what the financial scheme, in the US or globally, the US-centric banksters have their hand in it. Other topics include why the Euro is falling against the dollar today; what happens when QE ends; the BRICS nations and their new alternative to the US-managed SWIFT exchange system.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:08:23

GP comment:  That all recent presidents have hired a team of Wall Street executives to be on their cabinet says it all.

Original Show Pub Date: 01.Oct.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 03.OCT.2014

Corbett Report

Has the NY Fed Stolen Ukraine's Gold? — Geopolitical analyst James Corbett discusses whether or not the Federal Reserve has stolen Ukraine's gold reserves—or are just helping out by "storing it" for them during this time of chaos. Other topics in this edition of “Questions For Corbett” include... whether the US constitution was really developed in secret; how WTC-owner Larry Silverstein filed—and won—outrageous lawsuits after 9/11; how censorship in the media actually works.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:09:13

GP comment:  Corbett gets stuck in the muck on the "state vs. individualism" issue and global-warming denial nonsense, but most of his insights on other topics are quite apt.

Original Show Pub Date: 30.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 01.OCT.2014

Progressive Commentary Hour

Policing for Profit — Eric Balaban of the ACLU discusses the reemergence of debtor’s prisons and the social strategy to incarcerate the poor. ~~ Darpana Sheth, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, discusses the rise in civil forfeiture—where the cops take your property without arresting or charging you—as profit-making schemes for local law enforcement.
Download/listen   1:03:13

GP comment:  Gary Null continually over-frames the issues, but the guests are quite good. And these are very important issues.

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 30.SEP.2014

Democracy Now

How the US Concocted a Terror Threat to Justify Syria Strikes — The Obama administration has identified the "Khorasan group" as a new terrorist threat, and one which they say helps justify the military strikes in Syria. One month ago, no one had heard of Khorasan, but now US officials say it poses an imminent threat to the United States. Murtaza Hussain of The Intercept discusses this new phase of propaganda. ~~ Then Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi-American political analyst explains why US military intervention in Syria is making a political solution harder.
Watch A  |  Watch B  |  Download/listen   21:00

GP comment:  TPTB are getting sloppy in their cover stories. Or maybe they just don't care anymore whether a few of us can clearly see what they're really doing.

Original Show Pub Date: 29.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 29.SEP.2014

C-Realm Podcast

March Then Flood — KMO attended two recent events in NYC---the People's Climate March and Flood Wall Street. The first event was a permitted march that respected authority and was timed not to disrupt business. The second was unauthorized and was deliberately disruptive to traffic around the icons of finance capital in lower Manhattan. There were zero arrests at the People's Climate March. There were 102 arrests at Flood Wall Street. KMO shares interviews collected on location at both events.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59.54

GP comment:  I don't usually go for such coverage, but overall, this was an engaging mix of good insights and delusionally hopeful thinking.

Original Show Pub Date: 24.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 26.SEP.2014

The Shortwave Report

World News Round-Up — This week's story topics include .... multiple stories on the US bombing campaign against ISIS; independence for Catalan, Spain; the Ebola epidemic in West Africa; failure of the ice wall to stop Fukushima's radioactive leaks from reaching the Pacific ocean. Israel has admitted that it erroneously blamed Hamas for the killing of the three Israeli teenagers in June, which was the reason Israel gave for its 50-day assault on the Gaza Strip.
Show notes page  |  Download/listen   30:00

GP comment:  Wow. Israel gets to just shrug and say it made a mistake?

Original Show Pub Date: 26.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 24.SEP.2014

Democracy Now

Expanding US Strikes in Syria—A New Phase of "Perpetual War"? — The United States has launched airstrikes in Syria targeting the Islamic State, as well as members of a separate militant organization known as the Khorasan group. Medea Benjamin, founder of CodePink and author of Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control, talks about oil as a key factor in where US military activity occurs and the illegitimacy of the US operation in Syria.
Watch  |  Download/listen   6:50

GP comment:  Are we all awake yet to the rotating/expanding US enemy/ally list?

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 24.SEP.2014

On The Media

Most Americans Fear ISIS — Americans across the political spectrum are supporting Obama's military campaign against ISIS. Marc Lynch, director of the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University, explains how the propaganda machine, not facts, have driven this mania.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   12:11

GP comment:  Most Americans are grossly ignorant of geopolitics and are easily duped by the incessant stream of "news" that is really just a presentation of what the elites want us to think, not what's actually happening.

Original Show Pub Date: 19.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 22.SEP.2014

Unwelcome Guests

Lifting The Money Veil on the CIA's Off-the-Books Funding — Off-the-books funding has routinely funded CIA operations since its inception. Emile De Antonio reviews the history of state-assisted drug trafficking as a funding source for covert operations. He also talks about key deep-state operatives, including George H.W. Bush. ~~ Journalist Craig Unger discusses the failure of the commercially controlled media to report on the collapse of WTC Building 7. ~~ Peter Dale Scott discusses the early history of the CIA and explains how post-WW2-captured funds worked as seed money to make sure that even before there was a CIA there was a black budget available for off-the-books operations.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   59:36
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   59:36

GP comment:  Not quite must-listening, but close. Highly recommended.

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 09.SEP.2014

Democracy Now

US Militarism—Bring da Chaos, Bring da Noise — As President Obama plans a sustained offensive against the Islamic State in Iraq, policy analyst Rami Khouri explains why the plan is counterproductive: "Combining American militarism with Arab dictatorships is probably the stupidest recipe that anybody could possibly come up with to try to fight jihadi movements like al-Qaeda and the Islamic State and others. It was that combination of Arab autocracy and American militarism that actually nurtured and let these movements expand."
Watch  |  Download/listen   17:02

GP comment:  Khouri's reasoning is sound. But this is an inside-the-envelope analysis that does not address the possibility that ISIS has been fomented by the US to create a pretext for reestablishing major operations in Iraq. You may remember me predicting a few years ago that we will never leave Iraq—at least not as long as 20% of the world's petroleum reserves remain under its sands. And now Uncle can point to a big ol' reason for being there.

Original Show Pub Date: 08.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, COLLAPSE — 09.SEP.2014

KunstlerCast

Survive the Coming Economic Collapse — JHK and Piero SanGiorgio, author of Survive the Coming Economic Collapse, discuss how factors like financial chicanery, peak oil, and discontented populations will lead us into an era of economic collapse. Solutions for protecting oneself are explored.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   45:45

GP comment:  Not bad, but he's not Chris Martenson.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 08.SEP.2014

Progressive Commentary Hour

How the Rest of the World Views the US Empire — Americans tend to have a pretty rosy assessment of their country's role in the world, even if they think that internally the country is all screwed up. But Americans' grudging admiration of their country as a benevolent global cop is fallacious. People in other countries have a much darker assessment of the United States and its global agenda. Three guests comment on this issue: Garry Leech of the Center for International Studies; Roman Baudzus, an economist and financial analyst; and Andre Vltchek, a journalist, novelist, filmmaker, and philosopher.
Download/listen   57:20

GP comment:  Three very coherent commentaries on the US as empire.

Original Show Pub Date: 02.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 06.SEP.2014

Corbett Report

The MH17 Crash—Machinations of Empire? — When Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 went down on July 17, 2014, we were immediately inundated with propagandistic reports that tried to convince us that the shootdown could be traced back to the Kremlin. But what was this rush to judgment based on? What have we learned about the crash since then? Why has MH17 completely disappeared from the news cycle? Who really stood to benefit from the disaster? There are many reports that are inconsistent with the official (Western) version of the event, but which of those can be discarded as baseless?
Watch  |  Download/listen   1:07:22

GP comment:  A good analysis, though in the end we are left with more questions than answers. But consider the event as a stratagem: The US creates an event and then blames an adversary for it as part of a prelude to conflict. Hmmm.... We have seen that story in US history many times.

Original Show Pub Date: 27.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FINANCIAL, COLLAPSE — 05.SEP.2014

ExtraEnvironmentalist

Falling Empires — John Michael Greer offers a superb summary of the US as an empire, covering important topics such as .... the US as the first empire that does not call itself one; empire as a means of extracting wealth from outside the empire and transferring it inside the empire; the role of energy in the development of the US empire; the doubletalk of empire; how empires transition to oligarchies and ultimately end; why a new constitutional convention as a path to reclaiming democracy might backfire. ~~ Then Chris Martenson talks about the financial system as the most likely sector to have an empire-threatening catastrophe.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   2:06:35

GP comment:  I have a few minor differences with both Greer and Martenson, but overall, they present a clear and coherent picture of empire and inevitable collapse. Greer may turn out to be right that no one is in charge of the crazy train, but I doubt it. There's too much at stake for those who covet money and power, and the rest of us are mostly just trying to survive our little lives.

Original Show Pub Date: 02.Sep.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 03.SEP.2014

9-11 Wake-Up Call

Israel and 9/11 — Professor Kevin Barrett discusses Saudi and Israeli involvement in 9/11. Topics include: the evidence of Israeli complicity in 9/11; distinguishing between Jews and Zionists; how the US used 9/11 to keep Saudi Arabia in the fold; why the Islamic State is neither Islamic nor a state; 9/11 complicity of elements within the US government.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   29:11
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   29:48

GP comment:  He's a little to cavalier in accepting certain suppositions as fact, but he's mostly on-target and worth hearing.

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 02.SEP.2014

Unwelcome Guests

Fear and Torture in the Post-9/11 United States — Rebecca Gordon is an activist and lecturer at the University of San Francisco. She suggests that US citizens have become habituated to living in fear, a situation promoted through media reports of terrorists and the post 9/11 "security theater." Torture, she says, is not primarily about obtaining information to protect civilians, but rather is a weapon of control to promote fear and to stifle political opposition. She describes how, post-9/11, the public consensus that torture was unconditionally wrong was quickly dismantled.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:00:00

GP comment:  It is the duty of every American citizen to wrap their head around the torture discussion in the first 30 minutes of the clip. The rest of the clip (featuring Bill Durodie) is skippable.

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 01.SEP.2014

Washington Journal

Richard Gage of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth on C-SPAN — Richard Gage, founder of the group Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth discusses their evidence that Building 7 was destroyed by controlled demolition on September 11th. The group is calling for an open investigation into the science and facts of 9/11. Topics include: why modern skyscrapers with high-strength steel supports cannot collapse in free fall without controlled demolition; refutation of various claims by NIST in their analysis (cover-up); and evidence for use of the high-tech demolition explosive thermite.
Watch  |  Download/listen A   39:41

GP comment:  Excellent that this got on C-SPAN. The 9/11 crime is similar to the JFK murder—if left unsolved, it will be another huge helping of impugnity for the corrupt cabal that runs things, which will ultimately lead to true totalitarianism.

Original Show Pub Date: 01.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, EMPIRE — 27.AUG.2014

The Keiser Report

Crime in Modern Times—A Return to Les Miserables — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss how some looters are more equal than others: A black kid gets taken out for stealing cigarettes while a rich white female shoplifter gets a slap on the wrist. And then there is the uber-criminal, Jamie Dimon, who gets to keep secret his mortgage fraud deal with the Department of Justice, with no admission of guilt and no damage to his reputation. ~~ In the second half, Max interviews journalist Matt Taibbi about the injustice that follows the wealth divide and how Ferguson, Missouri plays into that.
Watch  |  Download/listen A   25:45

GP comment:  Over-the-top snarky, but mostly right.

Original Show Pub Date: 26.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 25.AUG.2014

CounterSpin

Risen v. Obama — First Amendment Rights vs. The Iron Fist — Will New York Times reporter James Risen go to jail for refusing to testify against a source? Risen's case is seen by many as a clear-cut example of how the Obama administration's war on whistleblowers is also a war on journalists and journalism. Media watchdog Jeff Cohen talks about the state of the case and the activist pushback.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   10:54

GP comment:  Now the Obama administration is pursuing cases against whistleblowers even when the facts are old and irrelevant to current operations.

Original Show Pub Date: 22.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 22.AUG.2014

C-Realm Podcast

Futures Near and Far — KMO speaks with "military science fiction" novelist Linda Nagata. The themes include eroding civil liberties; cybernetics and nanotechnology; the growing power of defense contractors; and the coercions of empire. As an example of the interstection of fiction and reality, the soldiers in Nagata's novel The Bohr Maker wear powered exoskeletons, which are more advanced versions of systems actually in development by Lockheed Martin.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:55

GP comment:  Insect-bots and super-soldiers and Big Brother cops, oh my! Unfortunately, we are already part-way there.

Original Show Pub Date: 20.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 22.AUG.2014

Dan Carlin---Common Sense

Dan Carlin on the Ferguson/Iraq Trendlines — Dan Carlin examines the larger trends indicated by the violence in Ferguson and Iraq. Topics include the 450-fold increase in federal funding for militarization of local police forces over the last two decades; explosions of violence based on long-standing issues, not a single event; slow normalization of public attitudes (acceptance) towards over-policing; the continuing degradation of right to free speech and assembly; ISIS visuals should be horrifying even to Islamists; US intervention almost always causes problems; Ferguson as a template for a larger global cauldron boiling over.
Download/listen   58:00

GP comment:  Americans are smart enough to know that a US military presence in US cities means bad things. Are they smart enough to see that militarization of local police is little different?

Original Show Pub Date: 20.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 21.AUG.2014

Uprising

Iraq—Meet the New Rebel Boss, Same as the Old Rebel Boss — Freelance foreign correspondent Reese Erlich has traveled widely across the Middle East and has just returned from Iraq. He comments on a number of stories from the area, including the apparent beheading of missing journalist James Foley; the battles for the Mosul Dam and the ISIS-held city of Tikrit in Iraq; what Americans think the US role in the current Iraq mess should be; and the political spin the US puts on their latest rebel allies and enemies, who seem to routinely fall in and out of favor with Uncle.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   12:56

GP comment:  Get this straight—the US will NEVER leave Iraq, regardless of the lies politicians keep offering to the contrary. Well, let me qualify that: The US will never leave Iraq as long as there is oil there.

Original Show Pub Date: 20.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT, FINANCIAL — 20.AUG.2014

Post Carbon Institute

Humans—Are We the Borg? ... Or Merely Delusional? — In an hour and a half, ecological economist Nate Hagens offers up a grand tour of how the human-dominated planet works, or more accurately, mis-works. It all comes down to bad programming—science shows that we humans are predisposed to making bad choices; or at least making choices that bolster short-term, selfish desires at the expense of long-term, altruistic interests. Energy, or an increasing lack thereof relative to our needs, is the hammer that will force us to recognize reality and make increasingly hard choices.
Watch  |  Download/listen   1:30:00

GP comment:  Must listening. And Hagens is kind enough to explain how we "aware humans" can navigate the seemingly impossible mission ahead.

Original Show Pub Date: 29.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FINANCIAL — 18.AUG.2014

The Keiser Report

End of the No-Alternative-To-Dollar Era? — Max Keiser draws a line through numerous data points, including Iraq, IS, American military sales, wars for oil, and free marketeers. The empire is fraying at the edges. ~~ Michael Hudson explains why he thinks the alternatives to the US dollar—like the new BRICs central bank—are quickly undermining the hegemony of the dollar. Other topics include the US financial Ponzi system; Warren Buffett and other corporate raiders taking large publicly held companies back to private ownership; the class war in Europe.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:46

GP comment:  If the dollar does continue to slip—in real terms, not just in rhetoric—we will be living in very interesting times, and it won't be pretty.

Original Show Pub Date: 16.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 18.AUG.2014

On The Media

Changing Rules for Cameras in the Interrogation Room — A new Justice Department policy requires the FBI, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and several other federal law enforcement agencies to videotape interrogations with suspects held in custody. It's a change generally lauded by all sides of the adversarial process. But UCLA law professor Jennifer Mnookin has a couple of concerns.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   6:48

GP comment:  The concern about making sure the camera does not sometimes get turned off is important.

Original Show Pub Date: 15.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  ELITES, COLLAPSE — 16.AUG.2014

Against the Grain

Exit Right—Visions of Super-Soveriegn Enclaves — There are various visions for gated communities of elites who want to escape the restrictions and taxation of the nation-state---an existance outside of the sovereign territory of any country. Historian Raymond Craib talks about visions for various libertarian enclaves, from the failed attempt to build the Republic of Minerva on a coral reef in the South Pacific, to the Seasteading Institute's plan to construct a floating city off San Francisco.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   54:00

GP comment:  On a square-footage basis, at-sea is far more difficult and expensive than on-land. Elites are not prone to self-deprivation, and their resources are not unlimited, so it's highly unlikely they'll ever realize their "mobile offshore base."

Original Show Pub Date: 13.Aug.2014 (originally aired 24.Feb.2014)

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 15.AUG.2014

Democracy Now

US Humanitarianism Only Applies to Oil-Rich Areas — Glenn Greenwald reviews news headlines related to US military action in Iraq over the past two decades, concluding that the premise of humanitarian intervention is an outright sham. Greenwald also provides detail on the far-reaching technical and analytic relationship between the US National Security Agency and its Israeli counterpart regarding mutually agreed upon geographic targets. Then he talks about NPR's recent (horrible/dishonest) reporting on the impact of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
Watch A  |  Watch B
Download/listen   15:27

GP comment:  NPR listeners and Fox News listeners have two things in common: They are convinced they are more informed than anyone else on the planet, and they are both quite wrong.

Original Show Pub Date: 13.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 15.AUG.2014

The Real World of Money

Gause on Derivatives Bubbles, Global Currencies, How to Preserve Your Gold, more — Andrew Gause's topics include.... In 2008 it was a liquidity crisis; today it is an insolvency crisis. Problems from 2008 not only have remained uncorrected but have gotten worse. The $50 trillion Deutsch Bank derivative problem is real. Will it lead to a collapse of the derivatives bubble? Gause explains what derivatives are and how they can affect the entire economy. He talks about fear as a method for keeping inflation at bay. Gause explains why people should not bet that Dollar, Inc. is going away anytime soon—it's the top franchise on the planet. Also discussed is how to avoid losing your gold to a government gold grab.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:08:37

GP comment:  Even if the dollar were to somehow collapse and be replaced by SDRs or some other global currency, such an event would almost certainly be a planned one, for the benefit of the financial harpies at the top. It is very unlikely to be a random event based in chaos that somehow sets the world on a better path.

Original Show Pub Date: 13. Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 12.AUG.2014

Unwelcome Guests

Social Destabilization Tactics, from WWII to the War on Terror — Douglas Valentine, author of The Phoenix Program, discusses the dark impact of the US Central Intelligence Agency. Topics include ... the integration of the War on Drugs, the War on Terror, and domestic control mechanisms aimed at politicians and the populace; how the police state in the US today was rolled out so rapidly after 9-11; the generation of off-the-books funding to support operations outside normal approval chains; the CIA/military complex as the mechanism by which global power is maintained, using all techniques necessary, no matter how Machiavellian.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:36

GP comment:  An excellent if too-brief tour of CIA hegemony in the last 60 years. Interesting how the dark world view of the CIA has even contaminated other agencies like the DEA and NSA.

Original Show Pub Date: 09.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 11.AUG.2014

Corbett Report

Century of Enslavement—The History of The Federal Reserve — War. Poverty. Revolution. They all hinge on economics. And economics rests on one key concept: money. But what is money? How is it created? Who controls it? It is remarkable that, given its central importance in our lives, not one person in a hundred can answer such basic questions about money. James Corbett's new documentary, Century of Enslavement—The History of The Federal Reserve, endeavors to enlighten the public on the machinations of the banksters over the last few centuries, culminating in 1913 in the creation of their main tool, the Federal Reserve.
Watch  |  Download/listen   1:29:57

GP comment:  Corbett is clear, cogent, and well researched on the topic. His film is not quite as engaging as The Money Masters, though it is more up-to-date.

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FUNNY — 11.AUG.2014

Redacted Tonight

How To Save Earth, The World's Dumbest Teenagers, Minimum Wage, more — Comedian Lee Camp and his team offer a humorous review of global events, especially as they relate to the machinations of empire.
Watch  |  Download/listen   28:13

GP comment:  Lee Camp is somewhat amusing, but his presentation feels more like he's reading a script than doing live comedy. Nonetheless, there are some good insights offered here. There are some sight gags that will be lost in the audio-only approach, but not many.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 09.AUG.2014

Democracy Now

"President O'Bombing"—US Airstrikes Begin Anew in Iraq — US military aircraft carried out airstrikes in northern Iraq in an attempt to halt sweeping advances by ISIS. Phyllis Bennis, a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies, discusses the situation.
Watch  |  Download/listen   19:23

GP comment:  Beyond Amy Goodman's priceless "President O'Bombing" slip, this clip is pretty good because the guest puts the latest US insanity in context.

Original Show Pub Date: 08.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 08.AUG.2014

Gary Null Show

Celente: "God Wasn't a Real Estate Agent, and the Bible Isn't a Land Deed" — Gerald Celente discusses the Gaza situation, the disingenuousness of Israel's supporters, and a new global movement among Jews to "take back Judaism from Israel." Other topics include why climate change is an unsolvable problem for the general public; sociopathic behavior among increasing numbers of law enforcement personnel; the militarization of local police departments; America as a fascist state; the US dollar and manipulation of gold and silver prices.
Download/listen   36:43

GP comment:  Fantastic title line ... a la the ridiculous argument that Israel—or anyone—is entitled by God to a certain piece of real estate.

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 07.AUG.2014

Democracy Now

Israel, Hamas, and the West Bank—Self-Defense vs. War Crimes — Human Rights Watch has accused Israeli soldiers of shooting and killing fleeing civilians in Gaza, which is a war crime. HRW Executive Director Kenneth Roth comments on the likelihood of war crimes on the part of both Israel and Hamas. ~~ John Dugard, former UN special rapporteur on human rights in Palestine, discusses Gaza as an occupied territory, which means that Israel’s present assault is simply a way of enforcing the continuation of the occupation, which in turn means the response of the Palestinian militants should be seen as resistance to occupation.
Watch A  |  Watch B  |  Download/listen   31:15

GP comment:  Roth makes two excellent points: (1) Even if Israel's claim of acting in self-defense is valid, they are still bound by the strictures of the Geneva convention. (2) The US should not be supplying weapons to Israel for use in war crimes.

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Aug.2014

CATEGORY:  ENERGY, FINANCIAL, COLLAPSE — 05.AUG.2014

KunstlerCast

The Only Growth Industry Left: The Generation of Hallucinatory Wealth — John Michael Greer discusses a variety of topics related to energy, economy, and collapse, including slow collapse rather than "big, flashy collapse"; people who are chronically unemployed or have been otherwise economically marginalized are already in collapse; just as in the waning years of the Soviet empire, the US mainstream (state) media is full of reports that all is normal and going well; the major profit center of the shale-oil industry is not energy but rather scammy financial instruments. Greer sees the US empire as being in decline in terms of hegemony, with its global competitors getting increasingly bold at undermining the dollar as the global reserve currency. When this gets underway in full, it will result in global military conflict and, ultimately, a drastic decline in the US standard of living.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   54:35

GP comment:  Pretty much right, though he fails to perceive the hidden (bankster) hand that drives national monetary strategies.

Original Show Pub Date: 31.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 05.AUG.2014

Meria Heller Show

Tales from the Forbidden Bookshelf — Book censorship is alive and well in the US, and the new project "Forbidden Bookshelf" is designed to combat that. Mark Crispin Miller talks about some of the books and themes that the project is trying to bring back into the daylight, including hidden CIA operations, the JFK assassination, and 9/11.
Download/listen   53:25

GP comment:  The site is here, though it may be slow to load.

Original Show Pub Date: 29.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 30.JUL.2014

The Lifeboat Hour

Abby Martin on Western Media Self-Censorship — Carolyn Baker interviews the savvy RT anchor Abby Martin. Topics include Ukraine and Martin's outspoken stance on the forces of empire; the mainstream news bias on the Israeli bombing of Gaza; and broader media issues. She points out that Western mainstream outlets do not need to be censored by the corp-gov state—they censor themselves.
Download/listen   58:30

GP comment:  Martin speaks intelligently on these topics.

Original Show Pub Date: 27.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  PRIVACY — 30.JUL.2014

Democracy Now

Global Stop-and-Frisk Program + Mass US Surveillance Targeting Journalists and Lawyers — (A) The Obama administration has expanded the national terrorist watchlist system by approving broad guidelines on who can be targeted. A leaked copy reveals that to be deemed a "terrorist" target, "irrefutable evidence or concrete facts are not necessary." ~~ (B) In a new report, Human Rights Watch and the ACLU warn that government surveillance is crippling US-based journalists and lawyers in their work. Sources are afraid of talking to reporters, as aggressive prosecutions scare government officials into staying silent, even about unclassified issues. Government surveillance is also forcing lawyers to take extraordinary measures to try to protect their clients' right to privacy.
Watch A  |  Download/listen A/B   26:57
Watch B

GP comment:  Curtain descending, people.

Original Show Pub Date: 29.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 28.JUL.2014

On The Media

Silliness and Moral Indignation — How can topical comedians like Jon Stewart, John Oliver, and Stephen Colbert make us laugh at politically hot topics we would not normally discuss in polite company? They do it by combining silliness and moral indignation.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   6:22

GP comment:  Yes, but it's sad that people who can only be nudged by such an approach are still always stuck in their overall limiting framework of thinking.

Original Show Pub Date: 25.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 25.JUL.2014

The Real World of Money

Andrew Gause on MBS Tranching, Hidden Gold, BRIC Bank, Court Complicity in Dollar Inc. — Andrew Gause's topics this time include ... how the too-clever tranching was done for last decade's mortgage-backed securities market schemes (fraud); why the tales of vast hidden stores of gold are too tall to be true; how historical-bond fraud works; why the courts say the emperor DOES have clothes when it comes to people trying to claim gold or silver for their gold certificates and silver certificates; why the new BRIC bank is not a threat to the existing central banking cabal.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   58:33

GP comment:  All branches of US government are in full alignment with the operations of the central bankers. Criticism and ostensibly competitive operations are tolerated as long as they pose no real threat.

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 24.JUL.2014

Democracy Now

MSNBC's Sole Palestinian Voice Takes on Pro-Israeli Bias in US Media — Public outrage recently helped force NBC to reverse a decision to pull veteran journalist Ayman Mohyeldin out of Gaza after he reported on the killing of Palestinian children by Israel. Now, a week later, the sole Palestinian contributor to sister network MSNBC has publicly criticized its coverage of the Israel-Palestine conflict. "We are disgustingly biased when it comes to this issue," Rula Jebreal said, citing a dearth of Palestinian voices and a preponderance of Israeli government officials and supporters in major media coverage. Jebreal discusses her decision to speak out against MSNBC and her broader criticism of the corporate media’s Israel-Palestine coverage.
Watch  |  Download/listen   15:00

GP comment:  The reasons for TPTB's continuing unconditional support for Israel's illicit violence are murky; but the iron grip on US politics and media that heavily biases votes and coverage towards Israel is obvious and disastrous.

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 24.JUL.2014

The Keiser Report

Sub-Prime Car Loans and the Next Bubble — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the emergence of a building bubble in the car loan market. It's a new subprime loan scam that will end in heartache for unqualified borrowers, bank-bailout taxes for the rest of us when the rescue packages get forced on us, and more bonuses for the clever banksters who keep coming up with these schemes.
Watch  |  Download/listen   12:25

GP comment:  In the collapse of the subprime housing bubble, the media aimed the blame at unqualified borrowers. That was ridiculous—whether unlucky, stupid, or greedy, those borrowers took their lumps by losing their houses. The banks, on the other hand, did not take their lumps—the richie riches got a bailout. Will it be the same when the car loan bubble bursts?

Original Show Pub Date: 22.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 19.JUL.2014

Uprising

Why An Israeli Academic Views the Assault on Gaza as "Incremental Genocide" — According to the United Nations, 80 percent of those killed in Gaza have been civilians, due to as a Israeli strikes directly on homes. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated recently that he would never end the occupation of Palestinian territories under any circumstances. Consistent with this extremist position is a sentiment increasingly prevalent in Israeli street protests and social media against Arabs as a whole. From pro-Israel chants of “Death to Arabs,” to tweets and Facebook posts celebrating the bombing of Palestinian civilians, a disturbing trend has emerged calling for a collective end to the Palestinian people. Israeli academic Ilan Pappe, who has referred to Israel’s long-term operations against Gaza as “incremental genocide,” critiques the meme that Israeli crimes are always justified while Palestinian actions are routinely criminalized.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   18:33

GP comment:  Includes some good deep background on the politics of the Israeli occupation.

Original Show Pub Date: 16.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 17.JUL.2014

On The Media

A FOIA Too Far — Jeff Scudder was working in the CIA's Historical Collections Division when he found a trove of documents that were declassified and ready for release to the public but hadn't been due to bureaucratic strife. So he filed a FOIA request. Scudder recounts how this request ultimately resulted in his ousting from the agency.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   6:23

GP comment:  Scudder's actions doesn't even qualify as poking the hornets' nest. Now TPTB are whacking anyone who tries to cast light on even irrelevant parts of the empire's infosphere—even when the protagonist has done it all by-the-book.

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 15.JUL.2014

On The Media

The Real Story Behind the Border Kids — For the past few weeks, there have been a flurry of media reports about a surge in unaccompanied minors who are crossing the US-Mexico border illegally. But the reality of this latest immigration crisis is far more complicated. Bob Ortega, a reporter for The Arizona Republic, explains what's really happening on the border.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   9:51

GP comment:  What a mess. And, as usual, the right wing noise machine cares more about political points than innocent kids.

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 14.JUL.2014

Democracy Now

The Impact of WikiLeaks' Nearly 8 Million Released Documents — Julian Assange reviews of some of the important shifts that have happed as a result of Wikileaks and similar reporting efforts, including the Collateral Murder video, the US decision to leave Afghanistan, and corrupt influence practices by the US in other countries. He also explains why the new supposedly independent media outlet "The Intercept" may prove to be limited by its elite ownership.
Watch  |  Download/listen   16:51

GP comment:  Assange makes an interesting point that the de facto circumstances of his embassy environs, as limited by the threat of arrest if he leaves the building, do not even meet the international standard for fresh air and light for POWs.

Original Show Pub Date: 09.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 12.JUL.2014

CounterSpin

The Unbalanced US Press Response to the Gaza Attacks — Yousef Munayyer of the Jerusalem Fund discusses the conflict in Gaza, where Israeli airstrikes have claimed over 100 Palestinian lives, including those of more than a dozen children. There are no Israeli casualties so far. The fact that US corporate media fail to note Israel's vastly superior power and the disproportionate suffering of Palestinians typifies the way Middle East coverage is distorted.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   11:52

GP comment:  The horribleness of US mainstream media reporting on geopolitical topics is exceeded only by the horribleness—and complete lack of understanding—of its reporting on the monetary system.

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 11.JUL.2014

The Real World of Money

A Brief History of the (Planned) Financial Crisis — Andrew Gause offers a brief review of the financial "crisis" that began in 2008, explaining how the Federal Reserve (mostly) bailed out its member banks to keep their wealth-harvesting machine rolling on. Additional topics include ... tales of huge gold reserves around the world as a way to scare off investment in gold; a million new millionaires (but a million ain't what it used to be); the coming era of wage inflation at all income levels.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:00:41

GP comment:  By 2008, extraordinary sums of money had already been stolen by the elites, and as Gause aptly points out, it's easy to see that the bailouts were simply part of the plan to keep on stealing.

Original Show Pub Date: 09.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  HISTORY, ELITES — 10.JUL.2014

The Corbett Report

The Origins and History of the Council on Foreign Relations — Researcher James Perloff discusses the origins, aims, and influence of The Council on Foreign Relations since its 1921 founding. The CFR is widely recognized by those in the know as one of the most influential organizations in the game of steering power and policy in the US. Perloff explains that the CFR's acknowledged goal is to prepare the American public for a new world order (global governance), and talks about how the CFR is working to accomplish that goal through the control of America’s foreign policy apparatus.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   40:00

GP comment:  Pretty good except the bit at the end where he suddenly starts painting Joseph McCarthy as an ace investigator rather than a rabid capitalist.

Original Show Pub Date: 13.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  SUSTAINABILITY, EMPIRE — 09.JUL.2014

C-Realm Podcast

The Functional Equivalent of a Conspiracy — KMO and Kevin Carson, author of The Desktop Regulatory State: The Countervailing Power of Networks and Super-Empowered Individuals, have a conversation about radical monopolies, car culture, retrofitting the built environment to compensate for peak oil, and how government and corporations “conspire” to criminalize low-cost living. Kevin explains the problem with literal, simplistic conspiracy narratives.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:00:00

GP comment:  Too dismissive of conspiracies and too starry-eyed about techno-Utopian solutions, but still worth a listen.

Original Show Pub Date: 02.Jul.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 01.JUL.2014

Democracy Now

Support Grows for Snowden Asylum in Germany after Merkel Cancels Verizon Contract — Revelations by Edward Snowden about US surveillance continue to shake Germany more than one year after he came forward as an National Security Agency whistleblower. Reports based on Snowden’s leaks revealed vast NSA spying in Germany. Last week the German government canceled its contract with US telecommunications giant Verizon, which has been providing network infrastructure for the German government’s Berlin-Bonn network. Meanwhile, the German Parliament is continuing to conduct an inquiry into spying by the NSA and German secret services. Some German lawmakers are calling on Merkel’s government to grant Snowden asylum. Snowden’s European lawyer, Wolfgang Kaleck, also of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights, talks about the issues.
Watch  |  Download/listen   27:50

GP comment:  More actual pain for the financialists (like the Verizon cancellation) would be helpful.

Original Show Pub Date: 30.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 01.JUL.2014

Guns and Butter

Catherine Austin Fitts on Wealth Harvesting and the Black Budget — Financial guru Catherine Austin Fitts talks explains how she came up with the figure of $40 trillion in wealth stolen from the general public in the last 30 years. Topics include... how they did it; who "they" are; what they are likely using the money for; the Financial Coup d'Etat; privatizing of government budget management; history and organization of the financial system since World War II; the Exchange Stabilization Fund, a weapon managed by the New York Fed; the future world of digital currencies; why the bubbles and financial schemes are far too large to be explained by incompetence or corruption.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:00:00

GP comment:  Lots of great speculation here, though much of it is indeed speculation. And she doesn't have it quite right on the budget stuff—-there's the normal government budget world, in which dutiful accountants, both govvies and contractors, monitor the funds down to the penny. Then there is the world of "off budget" items and black budgets, into which trillions flow.... and go missing.

Original Show Pub Date: 25.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  PRIVACY, EMPIRE — 28.JUN.2014

On The Media

Supreme Court Decision Says Warrants Required for Cell Phone Searches — This week, the Supreme Court ruled on two media technology cases, one that suggests an "internet rebroadcaster" of over-the-air content is going out of business soon, and another that privacy advocates are heralding as a win. The latter decision specifies that police must get a warrant before they search your cell phone. Dahlia Lithwick discusses the impact of these decisions.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   7:28

GP comment:  The decision on cell phone searches is a win, but it does not cover the crap NSA does. Also remember that TPTB never execute their agenda in a straight line—it's a ratcheting effect, and we move inexorably, almost imperceptibly in the wrong direction.

Original Show Pub Date: 27.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 25.JUN.2014

Uprising

Glenn Greenwald on Snowden, NSA, Media, and Orwell — Investigative reporter Glenn Greenwald talks about the impact the NSA-spying information leaked by Edward Snowden has had on the public discourse and on media behavior. Topics include strict application of laws against whistleblowers but not against high officials; the apt parallel of Orwell's 1984 to today's surveillance world; the ridiculous notion that journalists can be objective; legislative measures attempting to curb some aspects of NSA surveillance programs.
Watch  |  Download/listen   27:00

GP comment:  Many talking heads who front for corporate media actually believe the delusional things they say, but many otherwise good reporters are trapped in a system that has little tolerance for reporting truth.

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, EMPIRE — 24.JUN.2014

C-Realm Podcast

Notions of a New Economy — At the CommonBound 2014 gathering, KMO interviews guests on the topic of shifting to a sustainable economy. Guests are NEC president Bob Massie; Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies; and Lauren Hudson of Solidarity NYC. All three conversations touch on technology, messaging, and what constitutes effective action in the movement to foster a just transition to a new economic reality and a political process that works for people, not plutocrats.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:07:57

GP comment:  It's always tempting to dash the ship of good hope on the rocks of reality, but the speakers here do get into some of the knotty issues that go with daunting goals like a "new economy."

Original Show Pub Date: 18.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, CORPORATIONS — 23.JUN.2014

Progressive Commentary Hour

Former World Bankster Exposes Neocon/Neoliberal Agenda — Peter Koenig is a former economist and water resource specialist for the World Bank. He discusses the two sides of the global imperialist agenda: neocon (the "war without end" crowd) and the neoliberal (the Wall Street crowd). Topics include the false paradigm of private-public partnerships; GMOs and corporate control of seeds and food; public pushback against corporate control of water resources; bankster loans and the whipping stick that is "structural adjustment."
Download/listen   1:01:16

GP comment:  A bit rambling, but a decent tour through the global ills wrought by the central-banking-military-industrial complex. And by the way, the differences between "neoliberal" elites and "neocon" elites are just as irrelevant as those between Democrats and Republicans.

Original Show Pub Date: 16.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 20.JUN.2014

Diet Soap Podcast

The Imperial Risk — Margaret Kimberley and Douglas Lain discuss US imperialism. Topics include Ukraine, mainstream media, Obama the uber-imperialist, and capitalism as a game of Risk.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:00:00

GP comment:  Takeaway line: "Democrats or Republicans, you're still going to get imperialism."

Original Show Pub Date: 07.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 19.JUN.2014

The Keiser Report

America—The Walmart of Fraud — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the latest economic theory that more war—and even alien invasions—may be necessary to save our economies. They also look at inventory fraud and shrinkage at Wal-Mart and how applying that to the economy could boost GDP. ~~ Then Max interviews Nomi Prins, a former banker and author of All the Presidents' Bankers. They discuss Tim Geithner's book of lies, the role of bankers in war, and why high-level financial crimes are equivalent to war crimes.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:46

GP comment:  A quoted economist laments that today's wars kill fewer people relative to historical "norms," thus asserting war now gives less boost to the economy. The execrable nature of his notion aside, he's wrong on the facts: today's wars consume vast sums of MONEY, and that is the important thing to TPTB.

Original Show Pub Date: 17.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 18.JUN.2014

Democracy Now

The Last Magazine—One Year After His Death, Michael Hastings Satirizes Corporate Media — In 2010, investigative journalist Michael Hastings' Rolling Stone article on General Stanley McChrystal, the US commander in Afghanistan, sparked a political controversy that led to McChrystal's firing. Then in 2012, Hastings wrote a major piece on the American prisoner of war, Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, a subject that in 2014 has finally roiled into a public storm. A year ago this week, Hastings died in a car crash. Now, another major work from Hastings is upon us: "The Last Magazine," a posthumous, scathing satire of the corporate news media based on Hastings' time at Newsweek.
Watch  |  Download/listen   11:32

GP comment:  Despite the host and guest going out of their way to deny the possibility that Hastings was taken out, he likely was. In today's media world, TPTB will only let you get way with so much.

Original Show Pub Date: 17.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 15.JUN.2014

The Keiser Report

Rubby Dubby—Financial Chumming as Market Manipulation — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert use the fishing metaphor of chumming to explain how financial elites use market manipulation to lure normal investors into the false impression that it's is safe enough to get back into the markets—only to have the next huge move down transfer wealth from the hoi polloi to the elites. ~~ Then Max interviews David Graeber, author of Debt: The First 5000 Years, about how we are all forced to turn into market monsters to make it in the modern economy.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:26

GP comment:  Chum, churn, and harvest—the financial elites are constantly looking for ways to turn other investors upside down and shake the money out of their pockets. Being in the markets is the same as being in the casino. Think you can beat the house in a rigged game?

Original Show Pub Date: 10.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, EMPIRE — 14.JUN.2014

On The Media

Intelligence Community Directive 119 — In April 2014, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence's website quietly posted Intelligence Community Directive 119, the implications of which could be devastating for journalists. Steven Aftergood talks about the effect this directive will have on contact between intelligence officials and the press.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   7:12

GP comment:  To a large extent, supposed leaks and inside info from intelligence sources are not contrary to the wishes of the intelligence establishment, they are part of a carefully woven disinformation tapestry.

Original Show Pub Date: 13.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 07.JUN.2014

CounterSpin

Supreme Court Ruling Kills "Reporters' Privilege" — New York Times reporter James Risen faces incarceration for citing a "reporter's privilege" to protect a source as he refused to testify in a criminal case against an ex-CIA employee. The Supreme Court refused to take his case on June 2nd, letting stand a lower court ruling that found there is no such thing as a reporter's privilege. Trevor Timm of the Freedom of the Press Foundation discusses the impact of the ruling.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   14:42

GP comment:  This is an ominous milestone in the slow but clear descent into to a totalitarian state.

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 06.JUN.2014

EconTalk

Strong Towns, Urban Development, and the Future of American Cities — Charles Marohn, President of the origanization Strong Towns, talks about urban development and what makes a strong town. Topics include how the post-World War II approach to town and city planning has led to debt problems and wasteful infrastructure investments; how changes as small as the width of roads make cities more vibrant; central Detroit today as a model of city growth; the incentive problems associated with how state and federal infrastructure funds are distributed; and Marohn's efforts to change civil engineers' perspective on growth.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:04:29

GP comment:  Marohn has a lot of good thoughts here, but he's still firmly inside the "growth is good" paradigm, which, in the end, must mathematically fail.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.May.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 05.JUN.2014

ExtraEnvironmentalist

The Open Knowledge Society — Even with rapidly emerging innovative methods for distributing information and education, we’re still embedded in the economic relationships created in the 20th century. Michel Bauwens of the P2P Foundation and John Restakis, author of Humanizing the Economy: Co-operatives in the Age of Capital talk about the concept of the partner state and the creation of a new knowledge commons as the basis of society. Can we better distribute knowledge to enable healthy forms of production and consumption as a template for a decentralized and equitable post-growth economy?
Go to page  |  Download/listen   2:01:23

GP comment:  These guys are smart enough to recognize that economic improvement cannot come through better ideas alone; the corrupt, lopsided, capital-driven system we have now must be forced to yield.

Original Show Pub Date: 01.Jun.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 04.JUN.2014

Red Ice Radio

Paul Craig Roberts on the Crisis in Ukraine and the Geopolitical Chess Game — Paul Craig Roberts discusses the neo-cons' broad "US hegemony" war agenda—sometimes referred to as the Wolfowitz doctrine—and how the Ukraine fits into the plan. Who has been the driving force behind the illegitimate takeover of Ukraine? What is the grudge between the West’s elite and Russia about? Washington’s willingness to work with anyone, including criminals, in order to achieve their goals is right out of their standard playbook, but it speaks volumes about their determination to remain the sole global superpower. Roberts explains why he thinks the USA is losing more and more influence around the world as other countries tire of its preponderant influence.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:10:12

GP comment:  Other than the host's implied assertion that bigotry is no longer a driving force in the world and the fact that neither the host nor guest knows how to pronounce "hegemony," this is pretty good. Roberts, for a former insider, is surprisingly blunt.

Original Show Pub Date: 31.May.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 03.JUN.2014

The Keiser Report

Crack—The New Trend in Economic Numbers — The Italian government has announced that it will bolster its sagging economic numbers by including the drug trade and prostitution as part of its official economy. Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert use this as a launch point for a tirade on the ills of how TPTB view financial matters—at the expense of us all.
Watch  |  Download/listen   12:30

GP comment:  Gives new meaning to the "service economy."

Original Show Pub Date: 29.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 30.MAY.2014

Fresh Air

China Turns to Africa for Resources, Jobs, and Future Customers — China's economic engagement in Africa can be measured in dollars—for instance, the $71 million airport expansion contract in Mali, funded by American foreign aid, that went to a Chinese construction firm. More remarkably, it can be measured in people: More than a million Chinese citizens have permanently moved to Africa, buying land, starting businesses, and settling among local populations. Journalist Howard French, who spent years reporting on Africa and China, looks at these trends.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   26:23

GP comment:  Pretty good for NPR, though I still crave more "deep state" analysis on how this sort of thing is playing out.

Original Show Pub Date: 27.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 29.MAY.2014

Democracy Now

Obama Extends Afghanistan Occupation to 2016 — President Obama has that announced the longest war in the history of the United States will last another two-and-a-half years, saying the US will maintain almost 10,000 troops in Afghanistan after its formal combat mission concludes at the end of this year. The United States will eventually withdraw troops until only a small residual force remains after 2016. By then, the war will have lasted more than 15 years. Author Anand Gopal reviews the situation.
Watch  |  Download/listen   17:13

GP comment:  Good job from Gopal, though he stays mostly inside-the-envelope. The US presence in Afghanistan is officially about "getting the Taliban," but in reality it has always been more about keeping the opium trade thriving, fostering energy pipelines, and encircling Iran.

Original Show Pub Date: 28.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 28.MAY.2014

TUC Radio

Reassessing the US-Israel "Special Relationship" - Part 2 - Gareth Porter — Historian, investigative journalist, and author Gareth Porter specializes in US national security policy. He gives a talk on the “manufactured crisis” driving US/Israel military actions against Iran, a continuum of government malfeasance going as far back at least to the George H.W. Bush administration. Porter discusses the false evidence that Iran had a nuclear weapons program—the documents used to prove the existence of the weapons program were fabricated, and those who presented the evidence knew they came from sources that could not be trusted.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   30:00

GP comment:  Some deep cultish politics going on with those who keep pointing to Iran as an uber threat.

Original Show Pub Date: 16.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, HISTORY — 27.MAY.2014

Dan Carlin---Common Sense

The Specter of Dissent — The worst nightmare of the global establishment isn't Islamic terrorism, it's critical-mass levels of domestic dissent. If you were The Powers That Be and that was your worst worry, wouldn't you use every tool you had to forestall it? Dan Carlin offers a review of dissent in the US in the last 50 years, examining the need for active dissent to keep the power structure of the government honest. He also speculates that an upcoming Snowden leak will reveal that the US government considers legitimate political dissent to be domestic terrorism. After this revelation, he thinks the people will not be happy.
Download/listen   1:22:06

GP comment:  Carlin talks about drawing the line at "dangerous dissent." But IMO, allowing dissent, even if it potentially incites revolution, is the price of a self-governing, rule-based society. Allow it, or be captive to the corp-gov totalitarian cabal.

Original Show Pub Date: 24.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 26.MAY.2014

Democracy Now

Guantanamo "Suicides" Cover-Up Unraveling — On the night of June 9, 2006, three prisoners died at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay. The official report said the three men committed suicide, with base commander Rear Admiral Harry Harris describing their deaths as an "act of asymmetrical warfare." But numerous pieces of new evidence, including pages from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, do not fit the official story and suggest that the men may have been tortured to death by the CIA. Investigative journalist Scott Horton discusses the case.
Watch  |  Download/listen   17:59

GP comment:  We should all commit to avoiding 24 and Blacklist and all the other shows the routinely show torture in an acceptable light and show government agents, however flawed, as always on the side of right. Torture is NOT acceptable and government agents are NOT always on the side of right, and chronic exposure to such mental constructs is designed to slowly convert our thinking.

Original Show Pub Date: 21.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 26.MAY.2014

One Radio Network

Globalism, GMOs, Pharmaceuticals, and the Depopulation Agenda — Jon Rappoport's topics include the importance of banning GMOs vs. labeling them; who the players are in the globalist movement; why the globalists are seeking planetary control; mechanisms of controlling people, from cradle to grave; how the medical and food systems are a covert form of warfare to keep the population in check; the de-population agenda as a radical environmental viewpoint. He also talks about the enormous potential within each human, why it has been obscured, and how we can create a different reality.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:01:23

GP comment:  Rappaport has many apt thoughts on how TPTB are running (and ruining) the world—and us. But he badly misses the mark when he ascribes the depopulation agenda of TPTB (real or not) to environmentalism, radical or otherwise, and he shows his ignorance of energy constraints when he talks about desalination as a scalable solution for water shortages.

Original Show Pub Date: 20.May.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 23.MAY.2014

The Real World of Money

The BRIC Bat Won't Break the US Dollar's Legs — Though more and more people are catching on to the tricksy US dollar game, the dollar is still the big gorilla in the room. Andrew Gause does not see any credible threat to dollar hegemony, from the BRICS nations or anywhere else. The “American Plan” is here to stay—for the moment. Other topics include ... the $2.5 trillion slush fund at the Fed; inflation; ongoing near-zero interest rates for banks; emerging capital controls; Quantitative Easing; why the banksters don't monetize the collectible coin market; the status of the MERS mess.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   57:19

GP comment:  It's probably correct that the banksters' dollar empire is too strong to be challenged in the near term, but we can hope...

Original Show Pub Date: 21.May.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, EMPIRE — 22.MAY.2014

Democracy Now

As Credit Suisse Execs Plead Guilty But Avoid Prison, Occupy Protester Gets 3-Month Term — European banking giant Credit Suisse has pleaded guilty to helping American clients avoid paying taxes by concealing assets in illegal, undeclared bank accounts. Credit Suisse will pay about $2.6 billion in penalties but no senior Credit Suisse executives will face jail time. In stark contrast, Occupy Wall Street protester Cecily McMillan has been sentenced to three months in jail and five years of probation. McMillan was arrested in March 2012 in Zuccotti Park and was later convicted of striking an officer with her elbow. McMillan’s case sparked national outcry and pleas for leniency, even from a majority of the jurors who initially found her guilty.
Watch  |  Download/listen   32:14

GP comment:  To paraphrase Leona Helmsley, jail is only for the little people.

Original Show Pub Date: 20.May.2014

CATEGORY:  CORPORATIONS, EMPIRE — 19.MAY.2014

On The Media

Blurred Lines — In Washington, the lines are increasingly blurring between politicians, lobbyists, and the media. Host Bob Garfield meets with a journalist turned lobbyist, the man known as the "doorman to the revolving door," to talk about the industry of DC.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   10:44

GP comment:  It's the corp-gov axis—true fascism.

Original Show Pub Date: 09.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 19.MAY.2014

TUC Radio

Reassessing the US-Israel "Special Relationship" - Part 1 - Keynote — The National Summit to Reassess the US-Israel "Special Relationship" was held in March 2014. It was the most high profile, public response and critique to date of AIPAC, Israel's aggressive lobbying group. Harvard professor Stephen Walt gave the keynote address, asserting that AIPAC pressures US politicians into granting Israel the special status but that it's really not in the interest of either country. US politicians and pundits are starting to get bolder about criticizing Israel's inappropriate actions in Palestine and elsewhere, but AIPAC's interest still dominates US policy.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   30:00

GP comment:  Some interesting points here, but Walt makes it sound as if Israel and AIPAC are somehow separate. Be assured, the Zionist cabal in Israel is very happy with AIPAC's results.

Original Show Pub Date: 09.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 16.MAY.2014

The Real World of Money

Andrew Gause: Massive Inflation Has Begun — Andrew Gause thinks the rise of producer prices and record prices at Christies for artworks both indicate that the banksters' big pile o' money is now being deployed, ushering in an era of "massive inflation." Other topics include ... how the federal government will use Fat Cat (FACTA) legislation and capital controls to shut down tax loopholes and offshore wealth transfers; whether money in the Thrift Savings Account is safe; how the federal debt limit is now a time limit; no significant slowdown in Fed money printing.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:00:00

GP comment:  Inflation has been bad for years now. It's reflected not only in higher prices, especially for basic commodities, but also in smaller products for the same price and items that are more cheaply made.

Original Show Pub Date: 14.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FINANCIAL — 16.MAY.2014

Corbett Repot / Finance and Liberty

Is the West is Engineering Its Own Downfall? — James Corbett details the process by which Russia, China, Iran and other so-called “resistance bloc” nations are being driven into each other’s arms by the increasingly aggressive US-led NATO/IMF community. He explains how this is analogous to similar periods from recent history where an enemy was consciously and deliberately created by Western corporate and financial interests in order to justify the further spending in an ever-escalating takeover of global economic and political systems. Corbett also discusses the financial system, the derivatives bubble, and better ways to hold assets.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   44:31

GP comment:  Good overall, but he probably overestimates the riskiness of the US position.

Original Show Pub Date: 13.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 15.MAY.2014

Progressive Commentary Hour

Russia to US: Nyet Means Nyet — Ray McGovern reviews the history of the last two decades as it pertains to Ukraine and US-Russia politics, pointing out how the US broke its promise not expand NATO eastward after the dissolution of the USSR. Ukraine is a particularly egregious example of US duplicity on this score. McGovern and second guest Peter van Buren both speak to the problem of a captured mainstream media keeping the populace misinformed and on the importance of alternative media. Coleen Rowley talks about the system of sycophancy in US politics and media. Former Marine and spook David MacMichael talks about how US covert operations have been (and are) used for ill purpose.
Download/listen   1:50:00

GP comment:  Rowley think the intelligence agencies suck up to powerful politicians. She's got it backwards.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.May.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 14.MAY.2014

The Keiser Report

The Speculation Game — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the warning from legendary stock market speculator Jesse Livermore that speculation is "not a game for the stupid, the mentally lazy, the person of inferior emotional balance, or the get-rich-quick adventurer. They will die poor." And, yet, has speculation become the economic model for a nation of stupid and mentally lazy speculator-taxpayers? ~~ In the second half, Max interviews Steve Keen. Topics include housing bubbles, surprising honesty from the Bank of England, falling wages, and why Mom 'n' Pop investors are always wrong.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:45

GP comment:  Amazing that a new housing bubble is being blown, and even more amazing that people are buying into it less than a decade after the epic crash of the last one.

Original Show Pub Date: 10.May.2014

CATEGORY:  PRIVACY, EMPIRE — 14.MAY.2014

Democracy Now

NSA Motto: "Collect it All ... Process It All" — Nearly a year after he first met Edward Snowden, journalist Glenn Greenwald continues to unveil new secrets about the National Security Agency and the surveillance state. Here he reveals new details on how the NSA physically intercepts routers, servers and other computer hardware and modifies them to allow clandestine data collection. Other topics include economic espionage by NSA; the meaningless FISA court; attempts to monitor in-flight internet use and phone calls.
Watch  |  Download/listen   48:37

GP comment:  NSA is determined to monitor our every word. Here's one: ppppttttthhhhbbbb! Anyway, excellent report.

Original Show Pub Date: 13.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 10.MAY.2014

A Woman's Perspective

US Laws and Practices, Post-9/11 — Laura Pitter of Human Rights Watch discusses US laws and practices since 9/11 and how public opinion has perceived and influenced these changes. Topics include Guantanamo, torture, mass surveillance, and Snowden.
Download/listen   55:55

GP comment:  Unfortunately, most Americans—or at least those who even think about the subject—seem to have bought into the idea that even though indefinite detention is unpalatable, it's for the best. That's a cowardly position that is totally inconsistent with our founding concepts.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 09.MAY.2014

Gary Null Show

Celente: Back to 'No Foreign Entanglements' — Trends forecaster Gerald Celente's topics this time include the Facebook bubble; the crushing debt of the millennial generation; China vs. the US Asia Pivot and AFRICOM in Nigeria; why the Democrats' faux populist credentials make the perfect cover for their servitude to the multinationals; why we need a policy of no foreign entanglements as part of a plan to rebuild the United States.
Download/listen   15:18

GP comment:  Foreign entanglements are a chronic part of empire. So what he's really saying is, stop being an empire!

Original Show Pub Date: 08.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 08.MAY.2014

Unwelcome Guests

The US Deep State, 1981-2001 — In part 3 of the series, we hear about the operations of the "deep state" since the Reagan era. Topics include the Reagan assassination attempt as a failed coup d'etat; George H. W. Bush as the mastermind of "the enterprise," a multifaceted deep-state rogue operation; how Bill Clinton's mild attempts at balanced policy were undermined by TPTB's exploitation of his inappropriate personal behavior; the Oklahoma City bombing as a deep state operation; Noam Chomsky's clueless rhetoric on 9/11 as (not possibly being) an inside job; the "Alec Station" and the CIA's "Bin Laden Unit"; the attempt to cover up the paper trail revealing who was responsible for the complex series of interventions needed to bring 9/11 to pass.
Go to page A  |  Download/listen A   1:00:00
Go to page B  |  Download/listen B   1:00:00

GP comment:  Lots of good tidbits in here, though as a whole it was less compelling and cohesive that parts 1 or 2.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.May.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 08.MAY.2014

Electric Politics

The Constitution—Caught Between Rhetoric and Reality — Meta-discussions about the US Constitution can be problematic. It seems that the rhetorical values we use in talking about the Constitution are almost perfectly contradicted by the rules laid out in the document itself, or rules we have subsequently dreamt up and improperly ascribed to it. Constitutional law scholar Robert L. Tsai offers historical insight into this revered document and whether it should—or can—be changed via a constitutional convention.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   44:06

GP comment:  It MUST be changed to forbid corporate personhood, corporate rights, and any form of money = free speech. Otherwise, plutocracy will rule.

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 07.MAY.2014

C-Realm Podcast

Beating the Bounds (of the Commons) — KMO welcomes David Bollier to the C-Realm to discus the themes in his book, Think Like a Commoner: A Short Introduction to the Life of the Commons. They review the standard misrepresentation of Garret Hardin’s so-called "Tragedy of the Commons." Mainstream economists routinely say that Hardin proved it's impossible for people to self-manage a shared resource, but Hardin's message was actually the opposite. This chronic mis-memering by academic economists is just them trying to validate their own core preconceptions by projecting them onto the world. Bollier also discusses examples of "enclosure of the commons," such as the patenting of the human genome as corporate intellectual property. Finally, he reviews the reasons why local, integrated, cooperative efforts should, at least in theory, be much more appealing to the masses that assimilation into the predatory-capitalism machine.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:01

GP comment:  Yes, IN THEORY, local self-determinism should be what people are hungry to do. But the pull of the elites' infinite growth/money paradigm is very, very strong. Avert your eyes!

Original Show Pub Date: 31.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 06.MAY.2014

ExtraEnvironmentalist

Locally Invested — As trust is lost in the global financial system and its intermediaries, surplus investment capital seems stranded in ever more risky international asset flows. Are there ways of re-routing investments towards local processes that rebuild communities and food systems? Michael Shuman talks about ways to invest locally, with the potential for better returns on capital and improved community cohesion. He also discusses the emerging revolution in crowdfunding. Then, Carol Peppe Hewitt explains how she fostered a slow money revolution in her North Carolina community, helping put creative but cash-strapped people to work and bolstering the local foodshed.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   2:08:00

GP comment:  Given my axiom that all investing is a parasitic activity, I really wanted to dislike this episode. But I have to admit that the core ideas here are very good, and the concept of local investment exchanges is way, way better than what we get with Wall Street. If nothing else, local investing is a good stepping stone to a world where capital is one day stripped of its underserved power.

Original Show Pub Date: 29.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA — 06.MAY.2014

Meria Heller Show

Operation Hollywood — When a filmmaker wants the cooperation of the US military in making a new movie, the military is more than happy to provide equipment and other goodies that would not otherwise be available. Of course, there is a price—the filmmaker must agree to delete any scene that is unacceptable to the military, typically because it shows the military or a soldier in unfavorable light or raises troubling questions about US policy. David Robb talks about some of the movies that have been affected by this suppression, including Thirteen Days, The Great Santini, Heartbreak Ridge, Forrest Gump, Good Morning Vietnam, Stripes, and Independence Day.
Download/listen   58:04

GP comment:  The important takeaway here is that any time you watch TV or movies, you need to be aware that the rightness of the ruling power structure is usually reinforced, even if subtly. We viewers even imprint our own "goodness bias" onto media—we always want characters to behave according to idealized values, and we want to believe that what we're seeing and hearing is true, that we are not being deceived.

Original Show Pub Date: 27.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 05.MAY.2014

The Keiser Report

Blood for Oil — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss the $1 trillion "humanitarian budget" that supports the ostensible role of the US as a muscle-bound global good guy. Of course, the reality is that the US is a global economic colonialist, with Roman-like bases throughout the empire to enforce the continued financial harvest via the petro-dollar as the global reserve currency. Other topics include, China is about to overtake the US as the world's #1 economy based on purchasing power. ~~ In the second half, Max interviews Nafeez Ahmed about Tony "Blood for Oil" Blair. These days, Blair is saying that his new vision for the Middle East is for the UK to stay engaged because the ME has oil. This is a complete reversal from the Gulf War days, when Prime Minister Blair said the war in Iraq was in no way about oil.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:36

GP comment:  For the elites, it's all about money and energy, and the geopolitical strategy to maximize them. Everything else is just distractions.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.May.2014

CATEGORY:  MEDIA, FINANCIAL — 01.MAY.2014

The Keiser Report

Behind the 'CNN Curtain' — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss living behind the 'CNN Curtain,' where the dollar is still mighty and America has just landed on the moon; that is, a fairytale land that utterly misrepresents America's status in the world. Meanwhile, inside the CNN Curtain, the American worker is earning less than their counterparts around the world. Max and Stacy also discuss the "wealth begets wealth" theory—perhaps it's more that wealth protects itself. ~~ In the second half, Max interviews Chris Cook about a alternative exchange methods, compound interest, obsolescent central banks, fracking, and Russia as King of Gas.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:41

GP comment:  It's not just CNN, it's the whole mainstream media landscape, from Faux News all the way to iNane-P-R.

Original Show Pub Date: 29.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 30.APR.2014

One Radio Network

Charles Hugh Smith on Jobs for the 21st Century — Charles Hugh Smith talks about staying employed in the 21st century. He says workers must evolve and undertake a lifetime of learning to stay employable; but, that said, practical skills are better than higher education and a diploma. Other thoughts include: Jobs that cannot be outsourced—jobs that feature in-person service and place-anchored work—will remain good sources of employment. He sees the richly varied cyber world as providing great opportunity, and when combined with our innate ability to be creative and use failure as a stepping stone to success, we can make a good living. He says it's important to separate your home life (and problems) from your work life and be perceived as a person who is a professional, a person who puts energy, integrity, and accountability into everything they do.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:03:06

GP comment:  Smith is correct to a great extent, but there is a background trend that is making work life ever-more-difficult: As the economic engine based on resource extraction/conversion winds down, the new engine based on human exploitation is ramping up. Because the resource base of the economy is hitting its peak, the uncreative parasites at the top see no other option than starting to consume their seed corn. And for god's sake, if I hear one more otherwise-smart person say that 3D printing is part of the solution, I will hunt them down and slap them.

Original Show Pub Date: 22.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  HISTORY, EMPIRE — 29.APR.2014

Guns and Butter

In America, You're Allowed to Think Anything But Know Nothing — This episode features archival interviews with two preeminent truth researchers who died this year. In the first half, we hear Michael C. Ruppert in his 'From The Wilderness' days discussing the insider trading around 9/11, the missing trillions from the Pentagon budget, and other facts that were incongruous with official pronouncements. In the second half, assassination researcher John Judge talks about the emergence of the Orwellian intelligence state over the second half of the 20th century. The title above is taken from a line he cites.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:50

GP comment:  Only one month after the event, Mike Ruppert was already calling bullshit on the official narrative of 9/11. This interview from October 2001 shows his sharpness as an analyst. We will miss his mind and his honesty. ~~ This is my first exposure to Judge. It is too bad that I have only found him after his is gone.

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 28.APR.2014

Corbett Report

The Anthrax Cover Up — Shortly after 9/11/2001, several members of Congress and the press received letters contaminated with virulent anthrax. Numerous people, including mail workers, were injured or killed. The FBI ultimately blamed the anthrax letters on anthrax researcher Bruce Ivins. But it's not "case closed," as the Feds would have us believe. Dr. Meryl Nass reviews the FBI’s case against Ivins and dissects it point by point, looking at the inconsistencies, omissions, and misconceptions that have allowed the Bureau to sweep this incident under the rug in recent years—and have kept the true perpetrators out of the spotlight of public examination.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   55:43

GP comment:  The anthrax attacks are essential to understand in context—they were the hammer that brought into alignment any objection to the War on Terror and Patriot Act, launching our descent into totalitarian rule. This may seem like an overstatement, but history will prove otherwise.

Original Show Pub Date: 18.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 26.APR.2014

Democracy Now

Silenced Film Explores the Human Toll of Obama's Crackdown on National Security Whistleblowers — How far would you go to tell the truth? That is the question posed by the new documentary, Silenced, which follows three national security whistleblowers who fight to reveal the darkest corners of America's war on terror while enduring the wrath of a government increasingly determined to maintain secrecy at any cost. The three are former Justice Department lawyer Jesselyn Radack, former senior National Security Agency official Thomas Drake, and former CIA officer John Kiriakou. The film's director, James Spione, speaks about the extraordinary lengths the government has gone to in order to wreak havoc on the whistleblowers' personal lives through a sustained campaign of intimidation and harassment.
Watch  |  Download/listen   14:26

GP comment:  Heroes treated like traitors.

Original Show Pub Date: 24.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  HISTORY, EMPIRE — 25.APR.2014

Unwelcome Guests

The US Deep State, 1963-1981 — In the first hour, we hear a reading of a paper by researcher Mark Gorton that details 50 years of the deep state, tracing a thread that begins with the assassination of JFK. The treason of the plotters, he notes, did not stop with that single crime and its immediate cover-up by the Warren commission, but instead runs through the assassinations of RFK and MLK, through the Nixon/Ford/Carter era, through the Iran hostages affair, and on into the modern era. Gorton details how the deep state developed hit squads to remove unwanted witnesses and other problematic people; cemented editorial control over the US commercial media and the public debate space; developed a method of conrolling presidents; and carried out a large number of conspiracies, including false-flag acts of terror. In hour 2, Peter Dale Scott speaks on the US overworld, followed by Webster Tarpley's masterful deconstruction of the Ford presidency, including an analysis of how the Watergate scandal was actually a power coup.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:30
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:30

GP comment:  Wow. Extremely clear and cogent presentation of how the bankster/intelligence-state shadow government has maneuvered over the past 50 years, with 9/11 being only a particularly noteworthy event in a long string of events. This fills in a lot of missing pieces in the puzzle. Must-listening.

Original Show Pub Date: 19.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 24.APR.2014

The Keiser Report

The Wealth-Harvesting Rentier Class — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert explain how the rentier class is rising from the dead to harvest the increasingly-unable-to-afford-a-house middle classers as well as their student-debt-encumbered young.
Watch  |  Download/listen   12:47

GP comment:  It's a little unfair to tar-and-feather all landlords as being part of the parasitic overlord class. But the larger point is, if the system reinforces the principle that having money makes you money, it ensures that most people will be financially exploited.

Original Show Pub Date: 22.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, COOL AND COSMIC — 23.APR.2014

Red Ice Radio

Catherine Austin Fitts on Massive Stealing and the Breakaway Society — Catherine Austin Fitts says The Powers That Be have been stealing from us—$40 trillion and counting, by her estimate. What are they doing with all that money? Her guess is that much of it has been funneled into black programs and secret technology budgets, and offers a number of possibilities implied by such a scenario.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   57:02

GP comment:  Interesting, but the idea that the money is being funneled into a secret breakaway high-tech operation is HIGHLY speculative. Occam's Razor suggests that the reason for the stealing might be as simple as "elite sociopaths love being rich and powerful."

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, MEDIA, ENERGY — 21.APR.2014

C-Realm Podcast

Ilargi on Ukraine, Energy, China, Central Banks, and Media — KMO welcomes Ilargi of The Automatic Earth to talk about the sorry state of watchdog journalism; the unhelpful rhetoric of American politicians and pundits around Vladimir Putin's actions with regard to Ukraine; the media's failure to examine the US role in bringing down the Yanakovish government or the role of energy politics in the region; and the fragility of the Chinese economy given its dependence on a shadow banking system which has provided it with a vital life-line of credit. Highlights include... Russians know Putin and their government are not perfect, but that doesn't mean they want the US to come in or to go back to the days of Yeltsin, who was a tool of Western predatory capitalists and Russian oligarchs. On the topic of media, they discuss the trend towards news stories being written by computer algorithms. KMO offers the insight that most mainstream media stories are written by people BEHAVING like algorithms. On the never-ending stimulus programs and central bank money printing, Ilargi says we're no longer spending our children's futures, we're spending our children's grandchildren's futures.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:00:00

GP comment:  Ilargi is not a smooth speaker, but there are enough nuggets of wisdom in this one to give it a good recommendation.

Original Show Pub Date: 16.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 21.APR.2014

Global Research News Hour

Psychological Barriers to 9-11 Truth — There are major scientific problems with the official explanation of 9/11/2001, leading many people to call for a reinvestigation of the evidence. Most people, however, resist any suggestion that the truth of 9/11 is something other than the official narrative, let alone that rogue elements inside the US government may have actually facilitated the strike for political purposes. Even when people's opinions are provably inconsistent with new evidence, they still seem to feel entitled to those opinions. Laurie Manwell of the University of Guelph discusses research on the general psychological resistance many people in the US have to assertions that are inconsistent with their already-arrived-at conclusions, 9/11 or otherwise. Then Richard Gage of Architects and Engineers for 9/11 Truth talks about his tour across Canada and the opinions on 9/11 he has encountered.
Download/listen   59:04

GP comment:  It is quite astonishing how delusional and misinformed many otherwise intelligent people are.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  HISTORY, EMPIRE — 19.APR.2014

Guns and Butter

Ukrainian Crisis In Historical Context — Webster Tarpley reviews the history of Ukraine, which was formed in nexus between WWI German occupation of the region and the Bolshevik revolution that resulted in the formation of the USSR. Tarpley discusses the parallel of today's situation with Germany in 1917 using the Ukraine region as a strategic pawn against Russia.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:50

GP comment:  This starts out a little overly detailed but overall is adds important historical context to our analysis of the Ukraine situation.

Original Show Pub Date: 16.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 16.APR.2014

Uprising

Jeremy Scahill on JSOC, Drones, and the Dingbat Factory — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill discusses the tragedy of the US drone wars—a tragedy for those who suffer the "collateral damage" of the strikes, and a tragedy for the US because this amoral approach to war creates such antipathy against the country as a whole. He also discusses the outing of JSOC (the Joint Special Operations Command), a previously low-profile DoD outfit that is now globally recognized as another US "wet works" operation. He also laments the inanity of opinion among many in the US—apparently the output of a dingbat factory.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   48:54

GP comment:  Lots of inconvenient and uncomfortable truths in this one.

Original Show Pub Date: 15.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 16.APR.2014

Leid Stories

Smash the Duopoly—The Case for New Political Parties — We in America are free to choose our elected leaders, as long as we don't mind choosing from a field of preselected Democrats and Republicans. The GOP-Dem duopoly has had a stranglehold on Americans’ political choices for way too long, says J. David Gillespie, author of Challengers to Duopoly: Why Third Parties Matter in American Two-Party Politics. Gillespie discusses how two-party politics became the norm; how fledgling parties are targeted for annihilation; how debates and ballot slots are rigorously controlled to exclude third-party persons; and why it’s important that Americans engage in the formation of new parties that reflect their unique concerns.
Download/listen   58:01

GP comment:  The corruptagon that is the Republican-Democrat duopoly is far more vast than a mere agreement to share power and exclude others. However, breaking that hammerlock is one possible avenue to breaking open the power vault and starting to repair the damage these execrable traitors have done to democracy.

Original Show Pub Date: 09.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, ENERGY, HISTORY — 15.APR.2014

Unwelcome Guests

The Supranational Deep State — Charlotte Dennett recounts how her research into the life of her deceased father, a high-level CIA agent, helped her understand how the world works. Studying information obtained using FOIA requests and interviewing people from her father's life, Dennett could see how oil fields and projected pipeline routes in the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia were the very locations that Western nations continually seem to find reasons to foster regime change, engage in military operations, and set up military bases. She concluded that access to energy is the dominant factor in why foreign powers incessantly exploit local religious, ethnic, and political rivalries to achieve the larger strategic goal of securing access to energy reserves.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:36

GP comment:  Yup. No other explanation passes the smell test.

Original Show Pub Date: 05.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 12.APR.2014

The Keiser Report

Where is the Next Generation of Protesters? — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss an article in The Guardian that examines why young people are not protesting against a system that clearly does not have their best interests in mind. The young people point out that the interconnection between corporations and government, combined with the restrictive policies that cause police to deal with any protest as if it were a riot, make protest a risky proposition, from a short-term safety standpoint and from a career standpoint.
Watch  |  Download/listen   12:33

GP comment:  For now, at least, the youngsters are somewhat exaggerating the risk of protest and free speech. Beyond that, though, why is it the younger generation's responsibility to fix this mess? It's the previous two generations that abandoned good citizenship in favor of the perks of empire. Step up, people.

Original Show Pub Date: 10.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 11.APR.2014

Peak Prosperity

The Benefits of Deploying Investment Capital Locally — One can make a strong case that all investing—making money just because you have money—is a parasitic activity on the productive workforce. But if you're not ready to go that far, Michael Shuman's plan is probably more your speed. He suggests that it's waaaaay better to invest in local businesses than to invest in Wall Street or similar markets. Local investing can provide better returns for you personally and it is proven to improve capital retention within a community.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   43:48

GP comment:  And let's not forget about the improved karma.

Original Show Pub Date: 23.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 11.APR.2014

Guns and Butter

Continuity of Government and the Suspension of the US Constitution — Historian Peter Dale Scott explains continuity of government (COG) planning. It's supposed to be a way for the federal government to ensure order and safety during a national emergency, but Scott says that since 2001, as a matter of law, Bush and Obama have kept the US in a quietly declared state of emergency, thus keeping COG in effect. Topics include laws, executive orders, and presidential directives related to COG planning; the National Preparedness Review of 2001—four months before 9-11; shifting COG responsibility from FEMA to the US Army; "The Doomsday Project"; COG vs. the US Constitution.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:00:00

GP comment:  The operations of government—people whose salaries we pay and who are supposed to work in our best interests—are at their most secretive state in the last 100 years.

Original Show Pub Date: 26.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 10.APR.2014

Fresh Air

On a Rigged Wall Street, Milliseconds Make All The Difference — Reporter Michael Lewis explains how the stock market is rigged to maximize the take for Wall Street, big banks, stock exchanges, and high-frequency traders at the expense of ordinary investors. The game is so refined that minimizing the length of the wires connecting individual traders to the exchanges is part of the a business model for the traders and the exchanges.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   37:25

GP comment:  As with the financial system in general, the stock market is structurally designed to vacuum money from the bottom to the top. High frequency trading is simply the most parasitic activity within the parasitic system.

Original Show Pub Date: 01.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 09.APR.2014

NPR

The Drones Are Coming, Whether We Like It Or Not — The Federal Aviation Administration will officially allow commercial use of drones starting next year. Donna Dulo, who is writing a law book about unmanned aviation, says, "We need to look at the safety of these systems... We're going to see an exponential explosion of these aircraft in the skies in the near future—where news happens, where there are police incidents, where we're doing firefighting operations. Facebook wants to put these things in the sky to create a wireless cloud across the globe." Dulo is concerned about the many unanswered questions raised by drones, including privacy issues, collisions, and legal culpability.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   4:04

GP comment:  It's easy enough to scoff at the seemingly ludicrous economics of Amazon.com using drones to deliver packages. But if they cost-shared with someone who was interested in using the drones simultaneously for other purposes—say, surveillance and spying—then it starts to look more plausible. But hey, a mega-corp would NEVER cooperate with the spy agencies, would they?

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 08.APR.2014

Meria Heller Show

Catherine Austin Fitts—We're only 10% of the Way into Their Scheme — Catherine Austin Fitts and Meria Heller discuss the various ills of the bankster-run crime world we live in. Fitts observes that most people live their lives in a way that supports the very people—the corp-gov-bankster cabal—who are draining wealth and energy from them. She estimates the total amount the banksters and elites have harvested via their various schemes to be about $40 trillion. But she thinks we're only about 10% of the way into the transition to the brave new world where all transactions are digital, the remaining middle-class wealth has been harvested, the average American is chipped, and drones surveille the US skies.
Download/listen   53:45

GP comment:  Heller makes a big point of how bad shopping at Walmart is for locally owned businesses but then boast that she shops online as much as possible. The latter is generally not any better for locally owned businesses, though I have to agree it's preferrable to Walmart.

Original Show Pub Date: 06.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE, FINANCIAL — 07.APR.2014

Corbett Report

Global Imperialism, Currency Wars, and Decoupling from the Bankster System — James Corbett talks about the crisis of civilization, as the gaping maw of the global empire starts to turn inward to gobble up its own. Topics include the collapse of the dollar reserve paradigm and the threat it poses to the average man or woman; Putin and Russia's gambit; ways that people can disengage from the military-banker system and avoid being crushed by its machinations and perturbations.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   32:25

GP comment:  BitCoin and other global alternative currencies will always, one way or another, eventually be absorbed, co-opted, or taken down by the establishment financial system. More hope lies in local currencies and true lifestyle change. Have you stopped using your credit card yet? (And remember, even if you get your card from your local bank or credit union, the banksters run the back end and still make their money.)

Original Show Pub Date: 31.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 07.APR.2014

Democracy Now

Supreme Court OK's Billionaires to Buy Elections — In a 5-to-4 decision in the McCutcheon v. FEC case, the US Supreme Court has struck down a long-standing limit on how much individual donors can give to federal candidates, political parties, and political action committees in a two-year election cycle. Without any aggregate limit, wealthy donors can now give millions directly to candidates and parties. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont explains the impact of the landmark decision and outlines his battle plan to remove big money from the electoral process.
Watch  |  Download/listen   13:36

GP comment:  I guess the good news about the decision is that anyone who doubted that we live in a plutocracy can now stop resisting the obvious.

Original Show Pub Date: 03.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 04.APR.2014

The Real World of Money

Andrew Gause on Money Printing and Infrastructure, the SS Trust Fund, Taking Over the Federal Reserve, more — Andrew Gause's topics include ... TPTB are creating lots of new money, but they clearly don't think it should be used for infrastructure in US; why the Social Security Trust Fund doesn’t exist; why China's currency being a reserve currency is unlikely; why we should not dissolve the Federal Reserve System but rather should just have Treasury take it over for the benefit of all taxpayers; the troubles Mr. Putin is having with the banksters.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:00:53

GP comment:  In the end, circumstances may prove him right about investing in collectible coins, but just remember that the premium price commanded by a collectible collapses if everything else collapses.

Original Show Pub Date: 02.Apr.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 03.APR.2014

Guns and Butter

The Deep State, from WWII to Present — Historian Peter Dale Scott discusses the rise of the Deep State—a covert organization with the CIA at its heart that pulls the strings of the world. Topics include the importance of the illicit drug trade to the behavior of the US empire; before there was an Israel there was a Mossad trying to get Israel set up; the "rat lines"—a sort of underground railroad that smuggled both Nazis and Jews out of Germany; the War on Drugs as just another facet of the CIA-controlled drug trade.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:52

GP comment:  Excellent point about the War on Drugs being undertaken to make the illicit side more profitable. More broadly, the machine always seeks to profit off both sides of any duality.

Original Show Pub Date: 19.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 02.APR.2014

Red Ice Radio

Ukraine, Crimea, Russia and the Machinations of the West — Patrick Henningsen of the 21st Century Wire news website explains the history of Crimea and the inaccuracies in the framing of this issue by Western media outlets. Other topics include how the globalists are keeping the US in a permanent state of war; past revolutions and how NGOs do the groundwork; the disinformation surrounding Russia, from anti-gay laws to Russia's desire to expand.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   56:47

GP comment:  Henningsen is very sharp. Another good addition to the insightful analyses of the Ukraine situation.

Original Show Pub Date: 26.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 01.APR.2014

Against the Grain

Nonviolence Before Gandhi — We usually associate nonviolent protest with Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., but nonviolent protest started before that. Historian Micah Alpaugh cites the case of the Parisian masses who during the French Revolution primarily use non-violent methods, engaging in violence only when the royal forces first used violence against them or when all other avenues had been exhausted.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   54:16

GP comment:  The non-violent protest can be very effective. I do note, however, that our best leaders of non-violent protest keep getting assassinated by The Powers That Be, a notably non-non-violent measure.

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 31.MAR.2014

It's Our Money with Ellen Brown

Using Eminent Domain to Stem Big-Bank Foreclosures — Cities around the country have been ravaged by foreclosures following the mortgage loan scandals of recent years. Big banks have been wheeling and dealing these finance contracts, often illegally, to execute fraudulent takings of property or have been profiteering via high servicing fees. But they may now be facing their Achilles Heel, as bold government leaders devise plans to force the banks to the negotiating table by challenging their legitimacy of title. The pioneer of this eminent domain legal strategy, Prof. Robert Hockett of Cornell University, discusses the legal rationale and the probability of its success in Richmond, CA and elsewhere.
Download/listen   59:02

GP comment:  The gambit is a bit complicated, but this clip is very worthwhile. It's time to light the banksters' big pile of fraudulent paper on fire.

Original Show Pub Date: 26.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 29.MAR.2014

Fresh Air

Redeployment' Explores Iraq War's Physical And Psychic Costs — In his short story collection, former Marine Phil Klay takes his experience in Iraq and clarifies it, lucidly tracing the moral, political and psychological curlicues of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   5:30

GP comment:  A brief but important glimpse at the harsh realities created by the US invasion of Iraq.

Original Show Pub Date: 26.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 28.MAR.2014

The Real World of Money

Gause on Gold Games, China and the Dollar, Bubbles/Bursts, Bankster History, more — Andrew Gause's topics this time include ... leveraged asset purchases, bubbles, and bursts; why easy credit is coming back; the physical-gold shell game; why there is no such thing as the free market; the real reason for the 1973 OPEC embargo; the bankster coup during/after the Revolutionary War; why the War of 1812 was once again really all about the banksters; is China's accumulation of gold a preparation for dumping the dollar?
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:02:45

GP comment:  Gause names mining, manufacturing, fishing and farming as the only true ways to produce new wealth. He misses power generation with non-mined sources (solar, wind, wave, etc.).

Original Show Pub Date: 26.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  ANIMAL WELFARE, EMPIRE — 26.MAR.2014

Democracy Now

FBI Goes Non-Linear on Animal Rights Activists — Over the past decade, Ryan Shapiro has become a leading freedom of information activist, unearthing tens of thousands of once-secret documents. His work focuses on how the government infiltrates and monitors political movements, in particular those for animal and environmental rights. Today, he has around 700 Freedom of Information Act requests before the FBI, seeking around 350,000 documents. That tenacity has led the Justice Department to call him the "most prolific" requester there is and claim his dissertation research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology would "irreparably damage national security." Shapiro discusses his methodology in obtaining government documents through FOIA requests, and the details that have emerged therein about the crackdown on animal rights activists.
Watch  |  Download/listen   16:26

GP comment:  The point here is not how you feel about animal cruelty or whether we should eat meat. The essential issue is that the government is now prosecuting minor civil-disobediance crimes with a vengance and suppressing free speech and public information when it threaten's one of their client corporation's bottom lines. Remember, fascism always creeps upon a populace slowly, starting with marginal issues and players.

Original Show Pub Date: 25.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 25.MAR.2014

Uprising

Gideon's Army—The Court System and the Courage of Public Defenders — A 1963 Supreme Court ruling in the case Gideon v. Wainwright resulted in a phrase we know well: "You have to right to an attorney... If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you at no cost to you." Public defenders typically handle hundreds of cases at a time—almost exclusively for poor people—and are chronically overworked and underpaid. Who are the public defenders and why do they keep doing the work they do? A new documentary called Gideon's Army profiles three young public defenders as they struggle to do their job despite overwhelming challenges. Director Dawn Porter talks about the issues in the film.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   18:24

GP comment:  A story about public defenders and the people they represent is not likely to stimulate many of us on the ouside. But a number of the principles discussed here are important to consider as the corp-gov totalitarian state—which includes the prison industry—descends.

Original Show Pub Date: 20.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 23.MAR.2014

Democracy Now

Big Banks, Mortgage Fraud, and the Un-Justice Department — A new internal report says the Justice Department was publicly beating its chest about successes in targeting mortgage fraud while in actuality it was ranking the task as a low priority. The Justice Department's inspector general says despite playing a central role in the nation's continuing financial crisis, mortgage fraud has been deemed either a low priority or not a priority at all. And the fraud continues, as a recently revealed internal Wells Fargo document appears to guide lawyers step-by-step on how to fabricate missing documents to foreclose on homeowners.
Watch  |  Download/listen   15:53

GP comment:  We don't call it the corp-gov axis for nothing. Every story like this should be reviewed using the basic notion that the people who run the corporations and the elected officials and appointees in the federal government work in concert as part of the same planet-raping, people-ravaging criminal enterprise. (Sorry, didn't mean to sugar-coat it.)

Original Show Pub Date: 21.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  HISTORY, FINANCIAL — 23.MAR.2014

Guns & Butter

The Commons, Banking In the Ivory Tower, and Public-Private Partnerships — Channeling founding father Ethan Allen, Jim Hogue offers a standing-ovation-worthy speech that excoriates the execrable, parasitic, traitorous (British) banksters and usurpers of citizens' rights. Also in this clip are worthy speeches from Charlie Eaton and Darwin Bond Graham on Wall Street profits vs. public capital at the University of California, how the murky world of interest rate swaps has affected higher-learning institutions, and the privatization (stealing) of public assets.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   59:52

GP comment:  The "Ethan Allen" speech is funny, riveting, and right-on—a must-hear.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 21.MAR.2014

EconTalk

The Complexity of Accounting for Externalities — Robert Frank of Cornell University talks with host Russ Roberts about the implications of Ronald Coase's views on externalities. Legislating away externalized costs is the preferred approach of the left, and a totally unregulated market is the preferred approach of the right. Both extremes present public policy challenges when one person's actions affect another's rights. Examples discussed include pollution, cigarette smoking, and racism.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   50:08

GP comment:  This is a pretty dry, pedantic discussion. The topic, however, is worthy, and they do manage to illuminate some of the pitfalls of assuming that accounting for externalities is simple.

Original Show Pub Date: 24.Feb.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL, EMPIRE — 20.MAR.2014

C-Realm Podcast

Enclosing Abundance — KMO talks with Kevin Carson, author of The Homebrew Industrial Revolution about the technologies that seem poised to end the dominance of capital-intensive production methodologies and break the stranglehold that capitalists and government minions hold over our lives. Included here are clips from Jeremy Rifkin describing the current state of human affairs as we transition from the Second Industrial Revolution to the Third. Going forward, says Rifkin, capitalism will be a much diminished force in human affairs.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   1:00:00

GP comment:  We'll see. The financial parasites are very, very strong, and the majority of people still rabidly support their existence, even at their own expense. Regardless, this was a very good discussion.

Original Show Pub Date: 12.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 19.MAR.2014

The Keiser Report

The Bad, The Innocent, and the Wall Street Shuffle — Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert's topics include the North Korean's peoples' fawning over Kim Jong Un as the model for the financial media fawning over the markets and Vinnie the Goombah, the financial Mafioso. ~~ Then Chris Whalen talks about a financial system replete with fraud and why the failure to restructure and punish means the fraud problem is still with us. He also talks about the surprisingly stiff whacks the Wall Street fraudsters are taking as the settlement period of the Detroit bankruptcy proceeds.
Watch  |  Download/listen   25:46

GP comment:  Good that Wall Streeters may start suffering some consequences. When we can put their whole racket out of commission, let me know. If ever RICO should be applied somewhere, it's there.

Original Show Pub Date: 15.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 18.MAR.2014

Democracy Now

NSA Adding Malware to Web Sites and Computers — New disclosures from Edward Snowden detail how the NSA is massively expanding its computer hacking worldwide. Software that automatically hacks into computers—known as malware implants—had previously been kept to just a few hundred targets. But the news website The Intercept reports that the NSA is planning to spread the software to millions of computers under an automated system, codenamed Turbine. The Intercept has also revealed the NSA has masqueraded as a fake Facebook server to infect a target's computer and exfiltrate files from a hard drive.
Watch  |  Download/listen   5:27

GP comment:  The news of government privacy violations is so rampant now you would think the US populace would be demanding that it stop. But consider this: In the supermarket parking lot yesterday, I noticed that all it takes is a little rain to make the average person decide it's too much trouble to put their cart in the rack that is only 25 feet away. Don't look for pushback from such a lazy bunch.

Original Show Pub Date: 17.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  FINANCIAL — 17.MAR.2014

ExtraEnvironmentalist

Positive Money — Incorrect narratives of money have misdirected and befuddled our thinking on finance and currency. Ben Dyson explains why journalists, academics, economists and citizens have so much difficulty talking in an intelligent way about our money system, why our monetary system is broken, and how it can be fixed. Then, Brett Scott describes leverage points where activists can disrupt global financial flows to support ecological and social initiatives.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   2:03:19

GP comment:  Understanding and reclaiming the money-creation power is the key to everything.

Original Show Pub Date: 10.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 17.MAR.2014

On The Media

FOIA's Report Card — The Freedom of Information Act has been around since 1966, but according to a new report card, federal agencies haven't yet mastered the art of disclosing. Sean Moulton of the Center for Effective Government, which just released The Access to Information Scorecard 2014, explains this sobering look at government transparency.
Go to page  |  Download/listen   6:43

GP comment:  What the government agencies HAVE mastered is the art of information obfuscation. And it's not ineptitude, it's intentional evasion.

Original Show Pub Date: 14.Mar.2014

CATEGORY:  EMPIRE — 14.MAR.2014

KunstlerCast

Charles Hugh Smith on the Deep State — JHK and Charles Hugh Smith yak about the "deep state"—the overarching ruling apparatus that makes decisions without needing the consent of the people or the elected government. This conglomeration includes the intelligence agencies and parts of the Department of Defense; selected corporations and university research institutions; and the black budget. Smith says many overestimate the power and talent of the deep state, and given sufficient push-back from the sheeple, the Deep State will be willing to "throw Wall Street under the bus."
Go to page  |  Download/listen   35:14

GP comment:  I agree with Smith that those who run the deep state are not all-powerful or infallible, but his estimation that they are incompetent is laughable. He also misunderstands the key element of the deep state: The Wall Street banks and the elites who own them are supernational and they use the US and its dollar as a tool; and when it's time for a new tool, the dollar will be stripped of its preeminent status, and so will the US.

Original Show Pub Date: 11.Mar.2014

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