historicly (private feed for laurent.vimeney@gmail.com): Recent Episodes
Esha
You are listening to Historic.ly: a show where we decolonize history and debunk myths taught in school and on corporate media.
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While everyone is focusing on the elections, we thought we should look at something far more important: The Labor Movement. Because when there is a historically hostile presidency to labor, the only thing that will advance the cause of the working class is a strong labor movement.
I want to take a look at the history of Anticommunism within the US Labor movement from both inside and outside factors with the knowledge this anticommunism often left the United States’ borders and had deep rooted effects that are still present in Labor today.
Slater Mill, located on the Blackstone River, still stands in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. This Mill is famous for being the 1793 birthplace of the Industrial Revolution in the United States. I’ve seen this building countless times and my thoughts on it run the gamut. Mills like Slater, ushered in so much progress but also so much pain. In the struggles of that huge contradiction, workers and their families came together to fight for better lives and were torn apart by the propagandist lies and deceptions, sometimes coming from within, to keep only a handful of mostly white men in power.
John Francis Bray, the American labor activist who also spent time in England as a Chairtist, he said
“If the word had been in use with us a few years since, then every anti-slavery man would have been denounced as a Communist.” (Footnote: Gutman, “Tompkins Square ‘Riot’”)*
As Bray implied, sometimes anticommunism isn’t a direct attack on those who push for or call themselves communists. It houses any anti-labor activity and the attacks on the ideologies under the Socialist umbrella including socialism, anarchism and of course communism.
Many people believe capitalism doesn’t work, however, it works well for the very few,k mainly the top one percent of the population. The system is designed to work in a class system divided into the “haves and have-nots”, and though there have been reforms put in place to create a middle class, these reforms protected the ones who already accumulated a majority of the wealth and created an even larger inequality between the rich and poor.
Capitalism is the perfect system for the white supremacists that require a class system to gain power by funneling the wealth off what the workers, who they exploit, make. Whereas, socialism is a system that puts the workers, the major majority of the population, in power giving them control of means of production that they create themselves. This does not serve those in power and they will do anything to keep themselves in power and continue to profit from the fruits of the workers’ labor.
In order to do this, they deploy tactics that including intimidation, manipulation, deception, outright lies, and even murder. They claim it is actually the “insert name of group that is going against the capitalist here” doing these things to them.
The slave owning colonists figured out that they needed to pit the enslaved, poor whites, and the indigenous people against one another so those groups wouldn’t turn on them. They offered concessions to the poor whites and put them in positions of “middle management” like being the overseer of enslaved people in a field or offering awards for them to act as a police force that would be used to hunt down escaped slaves which were considered property for the slave owner of course. This was the base and still very much the mindset of our current police force.
In these series of episodes and articles, we will look at the red scare and all the tactics used by them.
Please read the accompanying
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Iraq Body Count is a website that has maintained the most thorough list of civilian casualties from the Iraq War. According to Jonathan Steele, writing in The Guardian, IBC "is widely considered as the most reliable database of Iraqi civilian deaths.” It has been featured in the Chilcot report, and other official government websites. But, there is much to the war that most people don’t know about:
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The US began softening-up strikes in 2002, well before the official entry into the war.
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A chilling story of how the US attacked a hospital in 2004 for reporting Morgue Deaths
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The Al-Jazeera bombings and the US bombing of a Reuter’s desk in Baghdad
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Within the first few weeks, they had recorded over 7,500 civilian deaths with more devastation coming
Violence as Communication - Fallujah
Perhaps no city has been hit as hard as Fallujah, Iraq. After the shock and awe campaign that led to the capture of Baghdad, the city of Fallujah had already established its own local government and security forces. There was no need for US forces to be there because they had not met with resistance at all. But, on April 23, 2003, the 82nd Airborne Division occupied the city.
As a result, on April 28 2003, children and parents were marching in protests towards a school. US troops indiscriminately shot them. With that memory still present in amongst the people of Fallujah, on March 31, 2004, four Blackwater mercenaries were killed on a bridge with their bodies mutilated in brutal way. Unfortunately, most of the western media chose to portray them as innocent victims, instead victims of revenge.
The US authorities took this as a challenge to their dominance. Then in late 2004, they began a campaign to conquer Fallujah which was filled with unbelievable atrocities.
According to the Boston Globe:
Under the plans, troops would funnel Fallujans to so-called citizen processing centers on the outskirts of the city to compile a database of their identities through DNA testing and retina scans. Residents would receive badges displaying their home addresses that they must wear at all times. Buses would ferry them into the city, where cars, the deadliest tool of suicide bombers, would be banned.
As well as being conscripted for forced labor:
One idea that has stirred debate among Marine officers would require all men to work, for pay, in military-style battalions. Depending on their skills, they would be assigned jobs in construction, waterworks, or rubble-clearing platoon
Later on, white phosphorous would be used in Fallujah.
In part 1 of our series, we discuss the Iraq war, the implications of the casualties and also we try to form a memorial for the people who lost their lives. We also talk about the digital memory project for the Iraq war.
Iraq Body Count is available on Twitter.
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Perhaps no country has been subjected to the whims of US imperialism as much as Nicaragua. In the 1800s, it was seen a new breeding ground for the Monroe Doctrine, and sent mercenaries over there to fight wars. In the early 1900s, during the quest for colonies, the US marines invaded again, and through the efforts of Agosto Sandino, they were pushed out, not before establishing a foothold in the form of Anastasio Somoza and his sons who ruled the country with an iron fist. Somoza and his allies grew wealthy while most of the peasants starved and impoverished. Somoza, even took blood from the Nicaraguans and sold it to the US.
However, the Sandinistas began their resistance in 1961 to the Somoza dictatorship. It was a David vs Goliath fight. Somoza had bombers from the US, while Sandinistas merely had their guns. Through their determination, the successfully defeated the Somoza dictatorship not before Somoza absconded with over $3 billion of aid.
However, even victory was bittersweet as the US decided to train one of the most horrific militias known to man: the Contras.
No action was deemed off-limits for the Contras. They beheaded children, they gouged out eyes of peasants. As one activist puts it, “The contras don’t win the hearts and minds of the people. They take the arms and limbs”
However, the Sandinista Revolution improved the lives of the Nicaraguan people in unprecedented ways. Within just 5 short months, the literacy rate rose up from the 50s to the 80s. But, they were fighting a brutal civil war with the Contras for the next decade, while under US sanctions.
Being under the axe of imperial sanctions, and tired from the constant civil war, and under the pressure from the US, the Nicaraguan people voted out the Sandinistas for a US-backed leader: Violeta Chamorro.
Once again, the gains from the revolution were rolled back. Literacy went down, many essential services were privatized. But, the Sandinistas did not give up. They continued to organize for the next 16 years and finally, their efforts paid off. Daniel Ortega and the Sandinistas came back to power in 2006.
However, they Sandinistas have been under attack by the US through organizations like the NED that fund the violent opposition including the coup attempt in 2018 where 100s of innocent civilians in Nicaragua were killed. The US put Nicaragua under economic sanctions.
The Sandinistas and Ortega skillfully navigated through this minefield using caution. For example, they did not immediately recognize the one-china policy because of all the factories Taiwan had put in. Only when the opportunity came forward did they do that.
Finally, we walk about Ben and Dan’s experience in the latest Nicaraguan elections and compare it with the US elections. We also discuss the US propaganda campaign against Nicaragua. In the end, Dan says “ God Bless the Sandinistas”
Follow Ben on Twitter
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Other Episodes with Dan Kovalik
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Today, we have the lovely Carl Zha join us again to tell us about the history of Bruce Lee, whose family story is the story of Hong Kong itself!
Show Notes:
3:17 - The Coolie Trade - “Coolie” is a transliteration from a Chinese (and Indian) word. Coolie, in Chinese, means “bitter labor.” In the mid-to-late 1800s the slave trade was abolished in many So…
On Part 2 of Blindingly Unjust, we look at the way the law, public relations, the media interact with each other in order to manufacture consent. We start by examining the kid-gloves in which Sam-Bankman Fried is treated with and then we move on to examine the larger power structures that allows impunity for some and imprisonment for others.
Show Notes
0:50 - Sam Bankman-Fried Scandal
1:30 - Elizabeth Holmes
2:00 - Sam Bankman-Fried admits to running a Ponzi Scheme
10:36 - Coordinated Pump and Dump
12:42 - FTX’s backdoor: The exchange is supposed to be a safe that cannot cracked, but FTX figured out how to “crack” the safe.
14:19 - FTX being embedded with politicians and appearing with Zelensky
15:13 - Old lady being in jail over Christmas
16:38 - Prosecutorial power
17:30 - Arrested over “a 1000-yard stare”: Racial discrimination where a black person was sitting outside.
19:15 - Prosecutor’s office and Police are extremely comingled which is why we cannot get a single conviction
20:50 - The limits of Law - it is an expression of societal power.
23:12 - Bush Vs Gore and Legal fiction
25:42 - The same power circle within the USA
27:38 - China’s meritocracy
30:22 - The way China works vs the Way the USA works
32:50 - Who owns BMW
36:15 - Media driven blood-lust
38:15 - Korean War Posters
43:17 - Who the us fights a war with..
Christopher Dilworth can be found on Twitter
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Justice is often depicted as a blind woman who holds an evenly balanced scale as it is meant to reflect that justice is supposed to be dispensed impartially and to all members of society. Of course, within American hegemony is a popular myth that judiciaries are impartial arbiters of constitution and constitutionality. Today, attorney Christopher Dilworth joins us in a two-part episode to debunk this myth while explaining the history of the US judiciary.
Show Notes
2:10: What do Lawyers do? Nuance-Cuck
3:20 - Law is not a vehicle to change the world.
4:04 - Supreme Court, a bullwark against change
5:30 - Streamlining straight to the Supreme Court
6:54 - Hammer v. Dagenhart
10:56 - IG Farben and Zyklon B with Neal Kayal
13:34 - Atkins v Children’s Hospital: Minimum wage conflicts with Due Process
15:22 - Scalia’s anti-intellectualness
17:17 - “Originalism”
18:15 - Qualified Immunity
20:18 - Civil Asset Forfeiture
22:30 - Police have no constitutional duty to protect and serve
24:14 - Christopher Dilworth’s personal experience with the police
28:20 - Esha’s Experience with the Russian Police
29:24 - Janet’s Story with the Police
37:02 - Legalized Sadism
44:53 - Government’s involvement in bringing drugs - Gary Webb
48:04 - Three Strikes
Christopher Dilworth can be found on Twitter
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The world has a lot of borders, but very few people understand what it means for the ordinary citizen and how it affects their lives. The problem this century is that these borders are not decided by people, in order to best serve them. Instead, there is a multi-tiered system that gives some humans some rights and many corporations a free-for all. Today, journalist Todd Miller, and author of Empire of Borders and Build Bridges and Not Walls, joins us to discuss the meaning of the borders and why we may need a world without borders.
Show Notes
0:43 - The Crisis at the Kenya-Tanzania borders: Tanzanian police are attempting to evict a big swath of the Massai people at the behest of a trophy hunting company.
2:15 - Ending the cliche that the immigration system is broken but working as intended.
4:15 - Orwellian technology at the border
5:50 - Border Patrol Memo from 1994 - “The border was created for mortal danger”
The preknowledge that people would die is built into the system.
7:40 - The border budget exceeded $25 billion in 2020.
10:41 - “ There were a 105,000 contracts given to private companies just by CPB and ice which was $55 billion. The $55 billion given to companies over the 12 year old span was more than the amount given between 1975-2023”
12:25 - The logistics and services by private companies. “In 2022, there were drones, unmanned aerial drones. The CPB has a contractor for predator B drones”
15:30 - Request for proposals for a small drone system equipped with a facial recognition system
16:50 - Does the US government conduct surveillance on people who have never set foot inside the US because of the border technology?
19:00 - The border patrol shot into Mexico and killed someone
23:10 - “The nothing that happens in the other 97 case (where the US border patrol shot into Mexico and killed someone), makes me think that there is impunity”
24:22 - The similarities between the US military installation and border control.
24:52 - There are no borders for corporations: The Guatemala - United Fruit Situation
25:54 - There is already an open border system for certain people, by the accident of where you are born. If you have a US passport, that opens doors for many places that if you are born in other places that is not.
30:08 - El Salvador’s iron fist and an example of the open border system for corporations with the heavy hand of brutality that ensures the corporations always get what they want!
31:20 - The Gadsen Purchase which was a gun-totting push
34:26 - Treaty of Versailles and Sikes-Picot agreement and how they randomly drew borders around the world. “I can’t even see my grandmother”
36:01 - The “border zone” where the constitutional rights are exempt
39:34 - DHS in Portland disappearing people from Bortac
42:22 - A culture of Cruelty with Border Patrol
44:39 - Facade of the enemy
46:30 - An agent with his finger on the holster
46:50 - The “hazing” of the border patrol agents where they get beaten and pepper-sprayed
A CBP trainee dies of a stroke
50:12 - A world without borders
51:13 - 77 Borders around the world since 1989
53:04 - A different world
56:15 - “Open Borders” vs “No Borders”
57:50 - The border between Kenya and Tanzania was not drawn by a single African
1:00:10 - Concerns about the Border
1:03:51 - Impact of Borders on the Environment - The DHS action plan
Check out Todd Miller’s blog “The Border Chronicles”
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It started with protests that was dubbed the Arab Spring, but western sources wants us to believe that protests over housing prices spontaneously erupted into a full-blown civil war. But, this is not the case. In fact, the so-called “moderate rebels” of Syria were armed, trained and funded by the west in a grandmaster plan to destabilize Syria in order to access its natural resources. Today, veteran journalist Vanessa Beeley, who has spent the better part of the last 8 years in Syria, tells us the story that they won’t tell you.
Show Notes:
2:24 - Syria Solidarity Network
3:43 - Wikipedia Vandalism
5:15 - The Syrian Regime Change Coalition
6:15 - Propaganda War in Syria
7:57 - Accusation of Crimes against White Helmets
11:00 - Syrian Pipeline propositions that was rejected
17:01 - A big red flag - No Christmas in areas controlled by “Moderate Rebels”
22:13 - Early Protests with Hate
24:21 - “Smuggle Hope” in Syria
31:02 - Rebranding “rebel groups”
37: 00 - White Helmets
KLA Organ Trafficking
40:00 - Crimes by Moderate Rebels
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Burning Civilians alive
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Civilians held captive in Rebel jails
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Atrocities in Rebel-held jails
45:45 - Western Media narratives turned upside down
48:00 - White Helmets and organ trafficking
UN panel on White Helmets
58:21 - Al Qaeda oil Monopoly
1:15:21 - Amnesty in Syria
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Today, we have Carl Zha from the Silk and Steel Podcast joining us to discuss the Opium wars.
Show Notes
0:00:00 - 0:03:12 - Introductions
0:03:14- 0:05:20 - Opium Beginnings
Originally, opium was ingested orally. However, ingesting it in large quantities lead to death because it stopped breathing. However, after Europeans colonized the New World, they brought back tobacco from the Americas. Particularly, the Spanish and the Portuguese, who brought it to the Philippines and Malaysia, both countries had a significant Chinese diaspora. Later, when the Dutch colonized Indonesia, they, too, brought tobacco. Now, Opium was mixed with tobacco and it could be smoked allowing for consumption in larger amounts without death.
0:05:21- 0:07:08 - Damn British and Opium
Opium, itself, is not grown in china. It is grown outside of China and had to be imported. India grew Opium. In the Late 18th century when the British Colonized India, they forced the farmers in India to grow opium. Their policy of making Indian farmers grow Opium was responsible for many famines.
The British East India Company (BEIC) would license the opium through their opium monopoly. They would sell the opium to individual traders who would carry them into China, because the British want plausible deniability. If someone every questioned them, they would say, “Oh, we are the venerable British East India company. We don't we don't actually believe in the opium trade.”
0:07:08- 0:08:01 - Smoke and Mirrors
The BEIC ships the opium, but the individual parcels will be parceled out and sold to employees of BEIC. A famous opium smuggler is William Jardine, who started as a sergeant under the BEIC. As an employee of the BEIC, he got his own cargo space on their shops which was used to ship opium that he sold to China.
0:08:02- 0:09:48 - China’s Opium Epidemic
Opium was illegal in China and soon the Chinese government realized they had a crisis. Initially, opium was a luxury good because it was not grown in China. However, the innovation of the BEIC flooded the market with cheap opium. Now, laborers could afford it. It blossomed into a full-blown opium crisis.
0:09:49- 0:13:42 - Limits on Foreign Trade
Originally, foreign presence in China was curtailed. It was limited to a few port ciites and the British could only stay for 6 months before having to go to the island of Macau. The British weren’t happy that they could only conduct trade in the city of Canton. The British had to resort to selling opium because originally their product was not competitive.
British had developed a taste for Chinese tea, and they needed silver to trade because China had gone into the Silver standard.
0:13:43 - 0:14:48 - The Magic Formula
Soon, the British hit the magic formula of selling drugs to the Chinese to drain China of it’s silver. The British ran a trade deficit with China prior to the massive operation of opium smuggling. According to some estimates, 50% of the silver mined in the South America is from the 18th and 19th century, ended up in China. The British just decided to sell drugs to drain the silver.
0:14:48 - 0:18:28 Enter Americans
During the founding of the United States, most of the New England old money was made in the opium fortune. There was Astor who has an area in Queens named after him: Astoria. Other families who made their fortune through the Opium Trade:
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The Forbes Family whose descendant John Forbes Kerry was Secretary of State under Obama.
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The Delano Family - FDR’s Grandfather.
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HSBC bank
During a famine in Guangzhau, American traders hid opium under bags of rice. All the Ivy league universities were also heavily invested in the opium trade. That’s how America was founded on: Drugs and Slaves.
0:19:24 - 0:25:47 China Fights Back
Chinese officials tried to tackle the problem by banning opium. The first few bans were ineffective because the British had paid off many officials. In the 1830s, the sends his minister Lin Tse-Hsu’, who is known to be a very honest, upright official to Guangzhou, specifically put a stop to the opium trade.
The British gave up the opium, but they were very indignant. William Jardine returns to London and buys up many newspapers and starts to agitate a media campaign against China in order to start a war. He hobnobs with UK politicians, especially Lord Palmerston, to urge for war with China. There was a lively debate in the British Parliament about morality of going to war with China over opium. But, in the end, they decide to wage war against China for Opium.
0:25:47-0:32:12 The First Opium War
The British sent their troops from India and landed in the port city of Guanzhou. The British had obtained Mysore rockets and their arsenal was significantly better than China’s. While Britain had industrialized, they did so by destroying more advanced industries in India. Britain decided to bombard the Chinese coast and went up to the mouth of the Yangzi river. they decided they're going to apply pressure by raiding other Chinese coastal towns. So the sale of the salt from the South China Sea and bombarding the Chinese coast totally. And if they go that went up to the mouth of Yangzi River near Shanghai. They took over some islands to create big their headquarter for opium smuggling.
And more importantly, they threatened to cut off the north-south traffic at the Grand Canal. At that time, most of the Chinese shipping was along the coast under the Grand Canal to sail from Nanjing to Beijing. Beijing, in 1839, had a population of more than a billion. The plains around Beijing was dry and couldn’t feed the population. The British Navy blockaded the area around Nanjing, threatened to cut off the the rice shipment from from the south to Beijing to basically to starve the population. At this point, China capitulated. They paid large indemnity for the pleasure of being invaded and also recognized Hong Kong as a port.
0:32:12 - 0:36:16 Treaty of Nanking
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China Ceded Hong Kong in Perpetuity
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Indemnity was paid to British ships
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Opening up China for foreign exploitation.
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Chinese law did not apply to British missionaries
Soon, the french began negotiating with the British to allow a little colony in these areas. The city of Shanghai, British, France and even the US got their own concessions. The British and American concession eventually merged into the international Settlement of Shanghai. The colonialism was so bad that there needed to be a Chinatown in Shanghai. The Chinese were restricted to the Chinese city, where the Chinese law would continue to apply. But for the rest of European concessions, British, French, and American laws were applied. British imported Sikh police from British India to police the Shanghai concessions.
0:36:16 -0:38:20 Modern Day Colony in Okinawa
This is eerily similar to Okinawa in modern day Japan. American soldiers can rape people in Okinawa. There is nothing that the Japanese government can do to them. The Japanese government is also a culprit because they don't want American soldiers on the Japanese mainland. So they stick them in Okinawa because, they never treated Okinawans at the same level as the Japanese citizens in Japan. Essentially Okinawa status is like it's a double colony of Japan and United States.
0:38:20 Century of Humiliation
A Chinese person at this time was a second-class citizen in your own country. A very famous scene in a Bruce Lee film illustrates this:
Some Western historians tried to disprove this as an urban myth. But, what they discovered was that there was that the sign actually said “This park is reserved for Europeans only, dogs not allowed.
0:42:00 - 0:45:16 - Second Opium War
The British were not very happy with the settlement for only $21 million. The opium was not fully legalized. So they waited for another opportunity to start another war. This opportunity came during the “Arrow Incident”. British authority had granted all the vessels registered in Hong Kong, British registration. So there was a cargo ship called Arrow. It was used by Chinese smugglers to smuggling opium again, which was captured by the Chinese authorities. The Chinese authorities arrested the crew and executed them for drug smuggling. Because the ship was flying a British flag, the British used this as an excuse to start another war.
In another incident, proselytizing was illegal. A French priest decided to ignore this regulation and went to the interior. He got in trouble with the locals who killed him. The French used this as an excuse to align with the British to form the Anglo-French consortium. Now, the French-Anglo forces used Hong Kong as a launchpad to start another attack on China.
The British just had finished fighting a war in India against the Great Sepoy Mutiny. They had shipped off mutineers to Trinidad, Guyana and other British colonies to work in bonded labor.
0:45:16 -0:49:29 Chinese Coolie Trade
Around the time slavery was formally abolished in many Latin American countries, but there was still a demand for the docile labor force. British and Dutch traders set up shop in Hong Kong. They recruited Chinese peasants They will have these the British and Dutch traders, they will set up shop in Hong Kong and they will Chinese peasants with the promise of jobs overseas. When they went abroad, there conditions were terrible and slave-like. Bruce Lee’s dutch great-grandfather was part of this.
0:50:13 - 0:59:07 The British Loot Beijing
After Britain captured Guangzhou in 1856, they decided it was not enough, so they decided to bring in more pressure. They sailed up to the port of Tianjin, just outside of Beijing where they defeated the Chinese coastal defense. They send in their last remnant force led by the Mongol Prince Sengge Rinchen because they were poorly equipped. At this time, the British decided to send an envoy to negotiate with the Chinese side. But the Mongol Prince, Sengge Rinchen, was so mad at the defeat that he had the British envoy put to death. And now the British were out for revenge. They decided to sack Beijing and the Chines emperor fled the palace.
The British commander Lord Elgin (the son of the famed Elgin marbles) decided to loot the Beijing summer palace and ordered the complete destruction of it. Today, the ruins stands. Everything within the summer palaces was shipped to Britain.
A clause was inserted so that foreign priests could go anywhere in China to proselytize anywhere in China and British ships were allowed to carry indentured Chinese servants to the USA to work.
0:59:07 - 1:05:19 - Opium and the devastation on the Population
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Foreign missionaries said nearly 40% of the adult male population were addicted to opium.
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One doctor said, “There is no slavery to that compared to opium”
Carl Zha tells us a personal anecdote about how opium ruined his grandfather’s family.
1:05:19 -1:14:12 KMT, Opium, CIA and the Cold War
After the communists seized power in China, the United States was sponsoring the remnant KMT troops who escape from southwestern China to northern Myanmar into this place now with nice golden triangle to start opium and heroin production over there.
When the communists took power, opium was outlawed. They burned all the crops and now food such as size could be grown.
Around this time, western pharmaceuticals started to develop more potent forms of opium to market it to the masses such as Heroin and Morphine which was treated as a cough remedy for Children.
1:14:12-1:17:21 Heroin Crisis hits home
Soldiers who were in Vietnam became addicted to opium and it was shipped back home.
1:17:21 -1:23:20 -Getting back Hong Kong
While Hong Kong was leased in perpetuity, areas around Hong Kong was given a 100 year lease which would expire in 1997. At that time, Margaret Thatcher ran many scenarios to see if they could defend Hong Kong against Chinese forces. When she went to negotiate for Hong Kong, the Chinese government cut her off and flatly said no. They ran many scenarios and they realized they could not defend against an actual Chinese military.
In the 1980s, a lot of fear was whipped up by the capitalist class. So, to assuage them, China did One Country Two Policies
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Today, anthropology scholar Elijah Fanon joins us to discuss the rich history of Morocco. A very special episode where we go through over 3000 years of history of a beautiful country.
Show Notes
0:01:11 - The Geography of Morocco
0:02:00 - First Recorded Human life - 300,000 years ago.
0:04:11 - Mitochondrial Eve
0:04:38 - First Sign of Civilization in Morocco
0:05:21 - Amazigh Kingdom of Mauretania - During the Roman Times
0:07:15 - When did Islam Come to Morocco?
0:10:31 - Ibn Khaldoun
0:16:00 - The Fall of the Umayyad Empire
0:17:59:00 - Almoravid Empire
0:20:20- The Red City of Morocco
0:23:48 - Almohad Caliphate: The first non-Arab Caliphate
0:26:10 - The Islamic Golden Age
0:26:29 - The First University - Fatima Al Fihri
0:28:15 - The Koran and the Scientific Method
0:29:00 - The Alaween Dynasty in Morocco and how they kept power for over 500+ years
0:32:00 - The Ottoman Empire
0:34:10 - Sayyida al-Hurra - The Female Pirate of North Africa
0:36:10 - Esha approve of Robbing of Colonizers.
0:36:53 - Pirates and the Slavetrade
0:38:46 - The First Friendship Treaty with the USA
0:41:49 - World War 1 and Morocco
0:46:17 - Rebellion in Fez
0:47:10 - Rif and the Independence Movement
0:48:11 - The Istiqlal Party
0:50:56 - From Black to Gray
0:55:23 - How the King of Morocco Protected all the Jews During Vichy France
0:57:42 - The Birth of the Marxist Leninist Movement in Morocco
1:00:10 - Operation Gladio (Morocco Edition)
1:06:27 - The Arab Spring in Morocco
1:07:04 -Belt and Road Initiative and China in Morocco
1:10:54 - Western Sahara
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With the release of a new cache of documents, there has been a renewed interest amongst the American Public on the truth behind the JFK assassination. Today, we interview film director JFK Assassination and Mrs. Paine, where he painstakingly, over a few years interviews a key witness in the Kennedy Assassination Ruth Paine.
0:00:45 - Introductions and how Max Good funded his film
0:02:55 - Michael Parenti’s Lecture Gangster Nature of our State
0:03:26 - Who is Ruth Paine?
0:04:55 - Lee Harvey Oswald and the Single Bullet Theory
0:07:10 - How Ruth Paine Become Acquainted from Marina Oswald?
0:07:46 - White Russians and White Terror
0:10:02 - George DeMohrenSchildt
0:11:10 - Fairplay for Cuba and Lee Harvey Oswald
0:14:24 - DeMohrenSchildt’s Mysterious suicide
0:15:00 - Oswald’s Weapon and Ruth Paine’s house
0:20:37 - Ruth Paine and the Warren Commission
0:22:12 - Jack Ruby and the Oswald Murder
0:26:26 - Ruth Paine’s Connection with Allen Dulles
0:28:29 - JFK, Bay of Pigs and the CIA
0:30:30 - The Role of the Secret Service during the Kennedy Assasination
0:31:33 - Vincent Salandria and the JFK Investigation
40:00 - The Gangster Nature of our State
44:12 - Conspiracy Theory and Class Power
46:34 - Fidel Castro’s Speech on the Kennedy Assassination
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Today, we have Author Aaron Good, join us to talk about the driving force behind the US foreign policy for the past 100 years. He talks about who the actors are, what actually occurs and what the end result is, in this extremely informative interview.
0:00:49 - Aaron Good’s transition from working on the Obama Campaign to writing the book “American Exception”
0:03:36 - The impact of JFK and the unspeakable
0:04:41 - The US Empire being a mass criminal enterprise
0:05:31 - Political Scientist with a skewed “Democracy Scale”
0:05:59 - Hegemony
0:06:29 - US Hegemony
07:26:15 - Deep Politics
09:36:01 - Parapolitics
10:56:31 - Management of Savagery
11:23:23 - Putin’s Observation about lack of change in US policy across Presidents
15:04 - Pax American Speech
17:42 - The Nixon Ouster in a Different Light
18:32 - “Every President since Reagan has basically been Reagan”
19:27 - National Security State operates on a permanent state of exception
21:11 - “Rules-Based International Order”
22:19 - Propaganda and the National Security State
26:03 - What is the “East India Company Point of View”?
30:50- What is Higher Immorality?
31:55 - Conundrum of Human Civilization
The State Department Leak on Afghanistan
Thread on Morales
39:56 - Concept of Permanent War
42:12 - Aerospace crisis
45:00 - The Dollar Gap
47:37 - Who Killed JFK?
51:00 - A Brief History of Every US War Since then
59:00 - the Trump Card for the Dollar Hegemony
You can find Aaron Good on Twitter
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Last month, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni drew some waves when she (rightfully) criticized French Colonialism in Africa. She drew particular attention to the CFA Franc Zone.
While her critique was rightful, there is much to be said about her motivations.
Today, we are joined by Ndongo Samba Sylla, author of “Africa’s Last Colonial Currency” to talk to us about the brutal history of the CFA Franc and how it purposefully impoverishes Africa.
Show Notes
0:41 - Colony within a nation:
“Neoliberalism is another iteration of colonial logic, at least economically speaking”
5:14 - President Mitterand in 1957, “Without Africa, France would have no history in the 21st century”
6:48 - CFA Frank with two monetary zones
9:11 - Who liberated France?
10:11 - CFA Franc was born out of the devaluation of the French Franc
12:12 - Sham Decolonialisation
13:40 - Guinea
15:45 - Sekou Toure
17:34 - Fundamental Principles of the CFA system
21:06 - The third pillar “Guarantee of convertability”
- Central banks are obliged to deposit with the central bank 50% of their exchange reserves.
30:00 - Military Agreement with Relation to the CFA Frank
32:15 - Thomas Sankara Example
36:28 - French Interventions of Africa
38:53 - What is going on in Mali?
44:51 - Struggle against Monetary Repression
“Instant Misery Fund” = IMF
47:03 - Secrecy behind the CFA institutions
50:20 - France is a “Guaranteer”! What does it mean?
- Africans provided loans to the French Government.
56:03 - Myths surrounding the CFA Franc
What do you think about the CFA Franc Zone?
You can follow Ndongo Samba Sylla on Twitter
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In today’s episode we have Alexander Buzgalin from the Moscow State University to talk to us about the history of Russia, Ukraine and the economic implications of this war.
We apologize for the delay, I am currently in Russia reporting about the war in Donbass, and our internet connection has been spotty. We have worked out the kinks, and we will be back to our regular schedule. We apologize for the delay.
Show notes:
1:22 - Poland-Russian War from 1650
6:58 - The Russian Revolution
10:58 - Donbass, the heart of Russia
14:05 - The Truth about World War 2 - Europe vs Soviet Union
18:02 - General Plan Ost
23:02. - The Break up of the Soviet Union
27:02 - Rehabilitation of Banderites
31:20 - Two stages of Reform in Ukraine
39:20 - 2008 and Ukraine
46:50 - Maidan
55:56 - Punishing Russia for…
"Of course for United States and NATO, this is terrible challenge and they must punish or so-called punish Russia. And to show to everybody, you must be our slaves or you will be punished or you are punished with Russi
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We have come a full circle. When we first started our podcast back in 2018, Lula was in prison because of a judicial coup called “Lavajato.” Bolsonaro was the leading candidate. We were trying to understand the coup effort sponsored by the US state department against Lula De Silva.
Before he went to prison, Lula gave a very inspiring speech, where he said “ The elites can kill one rose, two roses, or a hundred roses, but they cannot stop the arrival of spring and ours is a fight for spring.”
Four years later, it looks like spring is in the air and to understand what happened, we are doing a special super episode, where we go through all our interviews with Brian Mier from BrasilWire where we talk about the judicial coup from start to finish.
This super episode is based on three earlier episodes:
To support Brian Mier and independent journalism, please visit his patreon.
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Sorry for the delay in posting. Esha is in Russia and is just getting settled. We will resume our scheduled posting next week.
Today, we have Booker Omole, the head of the Communist Party of Kenya to discuss with us everything related to theory: Dialectical & Historical Materialism, Hegels, Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Gramsci. We also learn about why we need to have a party that has an educated citizenry that is capable of fighting for its rights, and how to turn your citizenry with the stellar secondary education program.
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At the turn of the 19th century and early 20th century, people all over the world were demanding the rights given to them in theory on old documents, be put into practice. There was unprecedented activity in unions, unemployment collectives, and civil rights organizations. All of them demanding a voice in the government. Edward Bernays realized the “problem of Democracy” early on:
The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organised habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country.
And we have been under this type of conscious manipulation of society since the time of Edward Bernays. Today, Fran from Mango Press joins us to discuss propaganda and Democracy.
Show Notes
:00 - Intro
3:43 - When a non-war is a war for PR purpose
8:20 - Edward Bernays and WW1 propaganda
11:34 - Bernays creating first PR firm
13:34 - Cleaning up the politicians
17:09 - Big Tobacco and Psychoanalysis
22:26 - Controlling with PR
24:23 - Birth of the Department Store
25:31 - PR in WW2
26:30 - PRing Guatemala into a Coup
45:16 - The Regime Change Playbook
48:09 - Protecting the Order of Things
50:53 - Inventing Reality
53:15 - Inventing Reality in Ukraine
1:02:00 - Goodbyes
Extras:
Watch my lecture on Real Progressives about our responsibility on Propaganda
Check out Mangopress on their telegram and their website
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Critical theory as it's been canonized within the Western Academy, is a tradition that comes out of a group of thinkers affiliated with what's called the Frankfurt School. It purported to offer a kind of radical critique of capitalism, consumer society and issues of contemporary society and how they are controlled. However, once again proving Gramsci true, instead, the Frankfurt School has been blunted by its funding sources, used by the CIA and in the end, while prevasive in Western academia, offers no real study on “how the world works” and of course, it critiques Actually Existing Socialism (AES) more than it critiques capitalist or even fascist regimes. On top of it, it has a very reactionary bend to it. Today, Gabrielle Rockhill, philosopher and critique of critical Theory joins us to talk to us about what’s wrong with Western Academia.
Gabrielle’s Writings
The CIA & The Frankfurt's School of Anti-Communism
CIA reads French Theory: Intellectual Disarming of the Left
Foucault - Faux Radical
Foucault, the Anti-Communism, the Global Theory Industry
Show Notes
1:38 - What is critical theory?
3:55 - Critical and revolutionary for the reinvention of the critique in the age of idealogical realignment
4:15 - Theory in the Marxist Sense vs Theory in the Liberal Sense
7:45 - Divorcing Critical Theory from Political Action
9:49 - Tiktok
11:42 - Political Science for Imperialism
13:51 - The Parcelization of Academia in the West
15:00 - Common sense assumptions without Proofs
22:13 - Frankfurt School at Inception
27:44 - The Foundations, Corporations and the Institute for Social Research
34:55 - Infiltration of Unions
41:47: Anything But Socialism
43:00 - Esha uses the opening to rail on Timothy Snyder and Anne Applebaum
54:23 - The War Propaganda and Academia
1:02:00 - Marxism in the West
Gabrielle Rockhill can be found on twitter.
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We have studied many events in human history, we have delved a little bit into humanity before history, but today, we decided to learn more about time and space itself. Sean Johnson, a professor of Astronomy from the University of Michigan joins us to talk to us about the history of the universe. We answer questions like “How did our solar system form?” and “What is a galaxy?” and how big is the universe? It is the episode that answers questions about Life, Universe and Everything and we end with pet irritants on science fiction movies.
Historic.ly is an entirely listener supported publication. This means we can talk about anything without worrying about offending our corporate overlords. But, we need your help! Please become a paid subscriber!
Show Notes
2:47 - Sean Johnson explains why Astronomy
4:03- What is a Solar System?
5:06 - What came first? Solar System or Galaxy?
7:04 - What is dark matter?
11:07 - The Sun fuses Hydrogen
13:00 - How are exo-planets and how are they discovered?
15:37 - Nasa’s Next Generation Telescope and what can be seen
21:00 - Galaxies and spiral arms.
23:00 - Quasars and Pulsars
28:00 - How do we know the universe is so big?
31:00 - Seeing into the center of the Galaxy
34:00 - Is the universe quiet?
35:00 - Gravitational Waves - Ripples in space-time
43:00 - Neutrinos
49:00 - What do we know what we need for life?
50:00 - Pet Sci-Fi movie fails
Check out Astrobites
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Today, on our podcast, The Rising Sons of Japan with Tim Shorrock.
Summary of Podcast Episode
Since the murder of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, there has been many hagiographies that distort his historical role and his rise to power, in the process of doing so, they also end up distorting the history of post war Japan.
Today, we have Tim Shorrock, self described “Writer, guitar player, author (SPIES FOR HIRE). Working on investigative memoir of US intervention in Korea & Japan after WWII.”
Tim Shorrock has previously published article in He has written articles for several magazines, including Harper's, Mother Jones, The Nation, and Salon. He also appeared on a previous episode of historicly to talk about COIN
Show Notes for the Podcast Episode -
0:45 - Unconditional Surrender
2:23 - US had complete control of the occupation. For the first few years, they forbade fascists and the working class flourished.
6:09 - The Corporate Empire strikes back
10:09 - Start of US Military Buildup in Japan
13:00 - Korean War as a boon for industrialists in both US and Japan
19:19 - Shinzo Abe’s Grandfather, class A War Criminal
21:00 - Japan’s One Party rule The Liberal Democratic Party
22:17 - Secret Treaties with US
23:24 - Protest so Massive, they could not guarantee Eisenhower’s Safety
26:00 - Article 9, why Neocons and Class A War Criminals Hate it.
34:00 - Japanese investments in Occupied Korea
35:00 - Power of US military in Japan
40:51 - Okinawa
48:00 - Nixon, Japan, Taiwan and China.
You can find Tim Shorrock on twitter.
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Most of us have heard about the great heroic Salt March of Mahatma Gandhiji, and the boycott of British fabrics, but very few of us have heard of the Great Indian Naval Mutiny, an event which gave a great scare to the British colonial powers and helped chart the course for Independence. Today, we have Pramod Kapoor, author of 1946 Royal Indian Navy Mutiny; Last War of Independence to talk to us about this revolutionary event.
Show Notes
1:19 - “In popular history, it became almost a footnote.”
1:47 - The 1965 play in Bengal and example of how it has been edited out of history
4:32 - The Sailors who Mutineed
5:49 - The Racism, and the terrible conditions.
8:57: Who is Subash Chandra Bose? How did his strategy differ from Gandhi?
10:57 - Subash Chandra Bose’s influence upon the Soldiers
15:00 - Bombay Jewels and ‘Seditious Slogans’ and Agitation by Communist Party of India
19:00 - The news spreading and other ships joining the Mutiny
21:00 - Why didn’t the spark flame?
24:00 - The Trial after the Mutiny: A Muslim, A Sikh and a Hindu
26:00 - The negotiations
32:00 - How the ratings were betrayed
36:00 - Esha and Mr. Pramod Kapoor discuss “what might have been?” and come up with vastly different conclusions
40:00 - Mr. Pramod Kapoor’s upcoming projects - Indians in the Western Front in WW1.
If you want to learn more about Mr. Pramod Kapoor, please follow him on twitter.
To obtain a copy of this book click here
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During the cold war, the CIA was obsessed with mind-control. There vision was creating a something like a Cylon from Battlestar Galactica. And so, they began a division called the MK-ULTRA, within MK-ULTRA, they conducted many gruesome experiments on human beings around the world. Some of it came to light during the church hearings. Some of it came to light because of diligent researchers who use the freedom of information act, and others through leaks. We still don’t know the breadth and depth of the project. But, Kit Klarenberg discovered two of the most gruesome projects: one in Denmark and the other in West Germany.
In Denmark, they took young orphans and subjected them to torture-like tactics to see how they would react.
In West Germany, the project was much darker and much more cruel. Doctor Helmut Kentler thought it would be a good idea to put orphans under the care of pedophiles and this project went on for nearly 30 years.
Shownotes
1:20 - Introductions: Why primary government sources are important and Kit’s research methodology.
4:41 - Background on two CIA projects MK-Ultra and QK-Hilltop which was to study mindcontrol.
6:12 - CIA inspector General’s Report
6:53 - “People who couldn’t fight back” - The Danish Study
9:12 - 50 years later at an American film Festival: Three identical Strangers
11:33 - Shredding documents
13:00 - KUBARK Manual
15:00 - Sydney Gottlieb
18:12 - CIA quest for Cylons
20:00 - MKULTRA cited purpose vs true purpose
24:15 - What is the missing information that we can never know?
27:13 - The Wrong Germany Won
29:04 - Helmut Kentler and the Orphan experiments
36:43 - The Green Party Involvement
40:00 - Fritz H.
Learn more here
46:34 - Psuedoscience about Fascism and Sexual Liberation
51:00 - Next Investigations
Kit Klarenberg is a journalist and he can be found on twitter.
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The conservatives complain about godlessness, reactionaries think god punishes America for its godlessness, progressives think that America is too religious. But, wherever one might be on the spectrum, they each are unhappy about how religion manifests itself in America.
Today, we have Justin Clark from Red Reviews Podcast here to talk about the history of Atheism, secularism and other types of godlessness in America. He also talks about the cult of Reason and all the other problems associated with the Godless.
5:46 - Who is Robert Ingersoll?
10:04 - Eugene Debs relationship with Robert Ingersoll
12:40 - How Robert Ingersoll Helped Eugene Debs in the Pullman Strike
13:00 - Robert Ingersoll’s Politics
20:00 - Justin’s Critique of the Secular Movement
23:31 - Atheism’s Golden Age from 2004-2016
26:00 - Why Esha thinks New Atheism always represented racism
28:00 - Sam Harris’s Golden Girls’ Trust Fund
Statistician William Briggs Explains the Fraud of Sam Harris’ PHD
30:00 - The Good and Bad of Christopher Hitchens
The trial of Henry Kissinger
35:00 - Justin on Why he left the Cult of Reason
40:42 - Biological Determinism and its connection to Cult of Reason
42:00 - The Bell Curve as an Example of Biological Determinism
47:00 - Bell Curve and its affect on Policy during the Clinton Years
48:00 - The Cult of Stefan Molyneux
51:52 - Beware of Scientism
53:00 - Skeptical Inquirer Pedaling Overpopulation Myths
59:00 - Skeptics not so skeptical of National Security Narratives
1:07:00 - Verifying Historical Narratives using Primary Sources
1:17:00 - Changing Narratives and Peppery Dishes by Trotsky
1:19:00 - Lew Wallace, the author of Ben Hur and his fiction about Robert Ingersoll
1:28:00 - Seven Years in Tibet and the convenient lie
1:35:00 - Justin’s next project regarding Eugene Debs and the Soviet Union
Follow Justin on Instagram and Tiktok
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Editor’s note: Apologies for the delay. I had a seizure and I was in the hospital. During the seizure I also broke my nose. We will resume with our regular weekly content. We also plan on including some bonus content for the weeks we missed. We apologize.
And now, let's get right back to my conversation with Asad Zaman. Enjoy.
Audio chapters
4:11 - Mercantilism
8:10 - Fascism is not something in and of itself, rather it's something to fill in the vacuum left by the wreckage of the self-regulating market
10:58 - The ideology and religion of greed
12:22 - Jane Austen- The poorest AMONG THE ARISTOCRACY (the movie Ever After)
15:43 - The importance of history to the study of economics.
22:28 - Those who benefit most from of capitalism want us to focus on the imaginary, not history.
24:08 - Entanglement- The methodology of Polanyi (history shapes our ideas which shapes history)
29:17 - "Government is bad", but the self-regulating market requires even more government to suppress the protestations of those suffering at the hand of the self-regulating market
34:47 - Average people serve as gatekeepers for the exploiters (protecting privilege)
39:21 - What do I tell my kids?
48:43 - Goodbyes
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Today Jeffrey Epstein talks with Asad Zaman about the 2001 edition of Karl Polanyi's 1944 book, The Great Transformation. Professor Zaman is a PhD economist based in Pakistan, with many lectures, papers, and posts on the topic.
The Great Transformation reveals, essentially, that what we think to be a foundation of our economy and society is, in fact, an illusion. Specifically, Polanyi calls capitalism and its free or "self-regulating" market "a stark Utopia". By definition, a Utopia (an imagined place where everything is perfect) is impossible to achieve. However, the attempt to achieve it – to eliminate literally all market regulation – can result only in the complete destruction of all human life and the land they live on. This is evidenced by our increasingly likely extinction at the hands of a human-created ecological crisis, caused largely by unprecedented and still-growing levels of inequality and the mass exploitation of all natural resources, including most human beings.
Here's Polanyi, on the first page of the first chapter:
Our thesis is that the idea of a self-adjusting market implied a stark utopia. Such an institution could not exist for any length of time without annihilating the human and natural substance of society; it would have physically destroyed man and transformed his surroundings into a wilderness.
Unfortunately, the only way to maintain the fiction of the self-regulating market, is to continue the mass exploitation of the poor. Instead of treating human beings as the infinitely precious and unique beings they are, they are rather treated as mere interchangeable and disposable cogs to run the Unending Greed Machines; most often under terrible conditions. Polanyi calls this grave maltreatment the commodification of labor.
The only way to get human beings to submit to these terrible conditions, is to threaten them with an even more terrible condition: starvation and death. As quoted in the book, starvation "can tame even the wildest beast". Not even the strongest man can overcome it.
How is this starvation made possible? By eliminating the possibility of self sufficiency. A major tool to do this was the invention of the concept of the private ownership of land. This justified the ejection of all former occupants, who must now, for example, in modern society, purchase our food at a distant store. We have to drive to that store, and the food, plus the car and its gas, must all be paid for with money, which in turn can only be obtained by laboring at the Greed Machines. What this all means is that the commodification of labor also requires the commodification of the land.
Those being potentially annihilated by the destruction of the self-regulating market resist that destruction. This results in what Polanyi calls the double movement. This is the ideological battle that has raged for centuries, where one side tries to eliminate all market regulation, while the other tries to protect itself by imposing some. When the amount of regulations are only enough to moderately reduce that destruction, as is unfortunately most often the case, then the resistance can only perpetuate and further enable the pursuit of that stark Utopia.
What underlies and justifies this horror is the most dominant religion in the world, which is greed. Without Polanyi's book and his work, this religion, and its byproducts of inequality and mass exploitation, are made to appear normal, inevitable, and unstoppable – in other words, natural. The truth that Polanyi's history reveals (and as is reinforced by my recent interview with Wesley Wiles)is that inequality, exploitation, and greed are not "unfortunate, but necessary", they're deliberate choices. Those who benefit most from the self-regulating market have incentive to deceive the rest of us into thinking that these terrible things are indeed natural. This is the role played by neoclassical economics: to provide that official, neutral, and natural-sounding justification.
The core problem in our society is not "capitalism" or "the free market", per se, but rather the mass exploitation of the poor. Therefore, the core solution is to empower the poor. The nature of this empowerment is simple: provide them with what they desperately need: like healthcare, education, a job, un-poisoned water, and a world that doesn't threaten to collapse around them. These things all serve to empower the poor which ultimately reduces inequality – of both wealth and income.
We will annihilate the fiction of the self-regulating market or it will annihilate us. There is no gray area. We will provide for those on the bottom or we will go extinct. The first step is to emancipate ourselves from the chains of false history and false economics, and from the idea that everything horrible is "unfortunate, but necessary". Only then can we take a step back and start thinking of alternatives.
As a final note, you'll hear some of Professor Zaman's thoughts on the potential form a sustainable future society might take. These are not ideas from the book but his own, in an attempt to start a discussion on one of the greatest questions of our time: how do we resist and annihilate the self-regulating market, and what can and will society be like when we do? Perhaps you have some ideas of your own. Let's start that discussion.
Chapters
9:27 - Hellos
10:35 - The commodification of labor - what it really means
14:41 - The fantasy of power, to vent the frustration of being powerless
17:01 - The self-regulating market is a fiction and a stark Utopia. The double movement
19:41 - Movies- Don't Look Up and Encanto
22:45 - How do you resist the self-regulating market and beat it, instead of perpetuate it?
26:30 - Whatever the answer, it starts with you
29:33 - Peace is a balance of power, but only in a belligerent world
38:20 - Peace is controlled violence - violence by, not against, the powerful
40:19 - Individual imbalance of power, fiction of nation states
44:38 - Corporations are more powerful than nation states
46:56 - The gold standard was the glue that held the world together but for a terrible reason (and mercantilism)
54:48 - Fascism is not something in and of itself, rather it's something to fill in the vacuum left by the wreckage of the self-regulating market
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Today's part two of my two-part conversation with Jackson Winter, on the 2001 edition of Karl Polanyi's 1944 book, The Great Transformation. This is also part two of a larger four-part series on the book. Jackson is co-writer and editor for PEGS Institute, which is a project to demystify and explain some commonly misunderstood realities of the modern world. Here's their YouTube channel.
(A list of the "audio chapters" in this episode can be found at the bottom of this post. A link to all four parts in the series can be found in Part 1
I'll summarize the book in next week's introduction. Even experienced MMTers can't know this stuff. You think you understand the foundation of our economy and society, but you don't. As described in The Great Transformation, there's another foundation underneath it.
(Before we start the interview, I'm making an announcement at the request of a patron, and that is: the podcast Pod Save America, which is hosted by former Obama staffers, has millions of followers, many of who like to think of themselves as progressives. Unfortunately, although the hosts say many smart things, they still live solidly in a pay-for, scarcity, zero-sum world. Please consider contacting the hosts via Twitter and urging them to interview an MMT guest such as Stephanie Kelton, Warren Mosler, Bill Mitchell, and Randy Wray. The Twitter handles for the podcast and its hosts can be found in the show notes, and in the social media shares for this episode. Thanks for your help in spreading the word!
Here at the Twitter handles for Pod Save America and its hosts: Dan Pfiffer: [@danpfeiffer], Jon Favreau: [@jonfavs], Tommy Vietor: [@tvietor08], Jon Lovett: [@jonlovett])
And now, let's get right back to my conversation with Jackson Winter. Enjoy.
Audio chapters
4:31 - Choosing to commodify other humans is a gamble that you won't become one of them
7:37 - The gold standard was the glue that held the (belligerent and greedy) world together
13:53 - Individual balance of power
17:41 - Fascism is a consequence of the neglect and deprivation of neoliberalism
20:41 - Thinking of a better economic and political system (and if we should)
27:17 - Unregulated versus regulated teenager
29:58 - Childhood memories and how we change
31:59 - Protecting privilege, at all levels
38:35 - We are all doing tiny little evils (because it's necessary in order to survive), that add up to a lot of evil.
43:22 - Haute finance and arms dealers (I win capitalism)
46:15 - My upcoming online course with Asad Zaman
48:11 - Closing thoughts
50:41 - Polanyi was a proto-MMTer
52:48 - Goodbyes
Other updates:
Sorry for the delays. Our editor Esha Krishnaswamy fell on the subway platform and broke her nose.
She is out of the hospital now, but unfortunately her insurance does not cover fixing her broken nose. So we are going to have to crowd source this. If you have already not become paid subscriber, please become one:
You can also do a one off donation via paypal
or
Venmo
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This month, we will have four special episodes hosted by our correspondent,Jeffrey Esptein. Today, he will talk author Jackson Winter about the 2001 edition of the Karl Polyani book, “The Great Transformation” Jackson is co-writer and editor for PEGS Institute, which is a project to demystify and explain some commonly misunderstood realities of the modern world.
The Great Transformation is the centuries-long history of how our current rentier capitalism came to be, and what preceded it. It reveals that much of what we believe to be inevitable and unchangeable, or natural about our society is, in fact, a deliberate choice. Those who most benefit from this system (the rentiers, those who collect rent) would like nothing more than for the rest of us (those who pay rent) to believe this system and their unending greed to be natural, inevitable, unchangeable and, indeed, best for everyone.
This is part 1 of 4 of
Audio chapters
8:20 - Jackson introduces himself
10:13 - Journey to the book and other reading
12:59 - First impressions
17:12 - Interview postponed
17:52 - Speenhamland
20:38 - Unemployed versus unemployable
26:43 - Speenhamland’s place in history
31:11 - Threaten starvation – tame even the strongest beast (natural)
32:46 - The problem is not the Industrial Revolution but self-gain (greed, hedonism)
34:19 - "Anti-government"
40:14 - Commodification
43:23 - George W. Bush, Satanic mill
44:06 - Commodification of labor
47:49 - Every level commodities the level below (venting their frustrations)
51:39 - Cultural hegemony, the Queen of England
54:19 - Death to the few versus death to the many
Check out our previous works with Jeffrey Epstein and follow him on twitter for the latest news on Monetary Theory.
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While mainstream media is running a propaganda Blitz on Ukraine, where they seem to frame it as “Russian aggression” against Ukrainians, Ukraine was already invaded 8 years ago. The movie Ukraine on Fire goes through the armed coup, planned at the US Embassy with then Under Secretary Victoria Nuland, where they picked the leaders, and the army and launched the country into an eight-year-long civil-war with the eastern regions of Ukraine.
Today, we interview Igor Lopatonok, the director of this amazing documentary.
0:54 - Igor introduces himself.
1:00 - Censorship of “Ukraine on Fire”
2:35: Old Soviet films into color
5:00 - Igor was banned in Ukraine.
6:22 - The TV network was hit by grenade
9:43 - Victor Yushchenko and the Orange Revolution
12:07 - Brief history of Ukraine
13:15 - How Ukraine United With Russia in 1654
15:25 - Stepan Bandera and his Mythology
17:24 - “Subhuman” and other horrific comments by the leadership.
17:41 - Poroshenko Speech
18:06 - Ukraine suffering for 8 years
19:20 - Taking down Lenin Statues
19:54 - Ukraine becoming a client state
20:55 - Victoria Nyland and Geoffrey Pyatt
21:33 - Why did the US dislike Yanukovich? The trade Deals
25:00 - Mechanics of a coup: “Civil Society”
27:00 - How did the organizers of Maidan get people to come to protest?
29:00 - So how do they choreograph a coup?
30:00 - The west’s constructed reality about Ukraine
36:07 - Igor’s optimism about American People’s critical thinking skills is tempered by Esha’s pessimism.
37:00 - The Scientific truth about Maidan
38:00 - Victoria Nuland’s organizing Maidan
40:00 - Temporary President during the coup
41:00 - Obama Sanctioning Ukrainians for Sovereignty
45:00 - Script for a coup-change
48:00 - US Senators in agitating Maidan
49:00 - Ukrainians training other color revolutionaries
50:00 - Difference between what Yanukovich vs Tokayev’s actions that led to different outcomes.
52:00 - Sanctions …. the Wife of Medvedychek
53:00 - Violence we haven’t heard about for 8 years (From the Ukrainian Government and their paramilitaries)
55:00 - Sanctions working?
1:01:01 - India, China and Pakistan
1:03:01 - Where to find all the documentary Ukraine on Fire
The documentary is currently available on a number of platforms, including Apple TV Vimeo, Amazon and Rumble
You can find Igor The documentary is currently available on a number of platforms, including Apple TV Vimeo, Amazon and Rumble
You can find Igor Lopatonok on twitter.
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Propaganda is a word thrown around, but very few people understand the nature of the indoctrination within the. United States. David Swanson of “World Beyond War” says:
When we imagine that the U.S. military only occasionally and slightly influences U.S. movies, we are extremely badly deceived. The actual impact is on thousands of movies made, and thousands of others never made. And television shows of every variety. The military guests and celebrations of the U.S. military on game shows and cooking shows are no more spontaneous or civilian in origin than the ceremonies glorifying members of the U.S. military at professional sports games–ceremonies that have been paid for and choreographed by U.S. tax dollars and the U.S. military. The “entertainment” content carefully shaped by the “entertainment” offices of the Pentagon and the CIA doesn’t just insidiously prepare people to react differently to news about war and peace in the world. To a huge extent it substitutes a different reality for people who learn very little actual news about the world at all.
The alliance between the military and Hollywood is the main reason that we have lots of big blockbuster movies on certain topics and few if any on others. Studios have written scripts and hired top actors for movies on things like Iran-Contra that have never seen the light of day because of a Pentagon rejection.
Today, we interview award winning researchers Tom Secker and Matthew Alford who have spent decades trying to uncover the shady relationship between Hollywood, the Pentagon, the CIA and the Department of Defense. In fact, very little gets made without approving eyes our national security state.
This is a must listen-to interview with Award Winning researchers Tom Secker and Matthew Alford about their new Documentary film “Theaters of War”
1:00 - 3:00 - How extensive is the DOD input?
3:00 - 5:30 - FOIA request runaround
5:30 - 6:00 - What is not made? and Why?
6:00 - 8:00 Why does Hollywood go to the military?
8:00 - 11:30 - “Countermeasures” not made because opposed US interests
11:30 - 14:30 - Selling the military to the audience
14:30 - 16:20 - Deleted scenes from “Independence Day”
16:20 - 24:00 Matthew visits US and the Lawrence Suid Files
24:00 - 28:40 - The “2 Hour Infomercial” & how the word “propaganda” is never mentioned
28:40 - 29:55 - Tom’s a “vexatious requester”
29:55 - 33:15 - Pentagon’s PR move after “Jarhead” and “Full Metal Jacket” came out
33:15 - 36:30 - “Lone Survivor” - War crimes whitewashed
36:30 - 39:00 - They’re tired of looking like the bad guys
39:00 - 43:30 - Opting against nukes in remakes for environmental disasters
43:30 - 45:25 - Mid 70’s is when DoD got more involved in films and shows
45:25 - 48:25 - Zero Dark 30 tried to make a case for “torture good”
48:25 - 51:45 - Jack Ryan series
51:45 - 53:00 - DoD creating their own hyper-reality
53:00 - 53:40 - Iron Man was anti-war in comics but pro-war in movies
53:40 - 1:00:00 - Why would actors sign on?
1:00:00 - 1:01:03 - Serbian movie “Dara of Jasenovac” vs “The Courier” reviews
1:01:00 - 1:04:50 - Stop watching “Transformers”. Watch “The Boys” instead
1:04:50 - 1:06:00 - Take Culture Action - Disengage or engage critically
1:06:00 - End - “Theatre of War” release and what Matthew and Tom are up to next
To learn more visit: Spy Culture
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Editor’s note: We apologize for the lateness of this interview. This months, one of us had extensive health issues and another had a very urgent personal issue that had to be dealt with. We sincerely apologize, and we add extra episodes in the upcoming months.
Today, we have Miguel Arjona Sanchez, Professor of Constitutional Law, join us for the second time to discuss the true history of the Euro and all the problems that stem with it.
Don’t forget to also listen to our first interview with Miguel.
Show Notes
1:00 - 2:35 What is money. Miguel describes society’s relationships to money.
2:35 - 5:55 What happened when Spain went to the Euro. How the Euro (Gold Standard) hurts some of the countries more than others.
5:55 - 7:20 Iberian Union - would have been a union between Spain and Portugal
7:20 - 9:20 How Portugal got integrated into the EU.
9:20 - 15:25 Notional inequality of the EU and how the created a “Frankenstein Currency”
15:25 - 18:00 The EU is not a democracy. The union is suppose to be a temporary stop but people in power are comfortable so the future is not clear.
18:00 - 18:35 The EU is transforming Europe into America/Destroying European model
18:35 - 22:20 Why are the cracks in the EU (Poland and Hungary) happening?
22:20 - 23:45 Greek Debt Crisis
23:45 - 24:45 US view of the Euro
24:45 - 26:20 Spain’s economy after 2009
26:20 - 27:30 How healthcare changed in Spain under the EU.
27:30 - 29:00 Germany’s economy issues under EU.
29:00 - 31:05 Austerity policies were issued to try to “pay the debt”.
31:05 - 32:45 France’s Military Complex helps their economy in the EU.
33:15 - 35:40 How China’s Belt Road Initiative will hit the EU (predictions).
35:40 - 36:50 The EU is more concerned with relations with Russia and how Americas
actions and sanctions will play out on them.
36:50 - 38:05 Southern Europe has its own issues.
38:05 - 38:45 Is there a better way possible?
38:45 - 40:00 Scarcity policies - EU repeating what happened to the Weimar Republic.
40:00 - 44:00 Capitalism, the Western Elites and WW2
44:00 - 45:35 The need to stop socialism/communism for the capitalists.
45:35 - 47:15 Need to move away from capitalism to socialism.
47:15 - 48:50 American economy and how liberalism and socialism could work together.
48:50 - 53:50 Why is there a far-right resurgence in Spain?
53:50 - 54:30 Spain’s economy of tourism.
54:30 - 55:46 Miguel talks about his projects on the Euro and the Job Guarantee in Europe and Financial Globalization.
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Tonight, I will be giving a presentation on Propaganda with the Real Progressives. Please register. It is free (I think)
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Today, John Dinges joins us for the second time to talk about the Condor years in Chile. Operation Condor was unprecedented in its repression. It involved kidnapping, killing, torture, repression, secret prisons and renditions mostly to protect repressive regimes like those of Pinochet.
Check out our first interview with John Dinges
Show Notes
2:18 - The English edition is coming out
6:10 - Operation Condor
8:23 - Uruguay hit list Edward Koch (former Mayor)
12:37 - How did they coordinate other agencies?
15:50 - General Carlos Prats
18:22 - Who killed Carlos Prats and Letilier?
19:58 - FBI “solving” the Orlando Letelier
25:27 - Mechanics of Condor
30:30 - Comparisons between US War on Terror and Operation Condor
34:00 - Pinochet in London and his Extradition hearing
38:00 - Pinochet was neutralized as a political force
44:00 - Victims and the lost Generation
To learn more about John Dinges, please visit his website.
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It is time to shatter the myth that Canada is more progressive than the US. For the most part, Canada and US behave more like partners in crime. Especially, in the foreign policy realm, they both alternate playing good cop and bad cop. Today, Aidan Jonah from The Canada Files joins us to talk about the interaction between Canada and US on imperialism and foreign policy.
Show Notes
4:00 - Canada - How is Canada more progressive? How is it 100% aligned with US foreign policy.
5:19 - Canada’s diplomatic support to America’s Coup-Mongering
6:00 - Creation of Canada’s own NED
8:30 - Canada’s Fund for Global Initiatives and Global Affairs Canada
10:00 - Canada’s Official Diplomatic Group Openly Funding Oppositions
14:00 - Does Canada’s Foreign Policy Change regardless of Who is in Charge?
16:40 - Canada’s role against Evo Morales
19:45 - Canada stepping in where USA can’t.
20:00 - The Lima Group: Their functions and Canada’s role within the Lima group
21:00 - Canada lose security council to Norway - Why
28:00 - Skycom and Huawei
30:15 - Canada’s Cold War - Chrystia Freeland and her open support of Ukrainian Fascists
33:00 - Canada’s Tibet Lobby
44:00 - Dark Money Lobbying on Foreign policy
To help support Canada Files
Check out our latest episode of Latenight’s with Lenin
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Robert Skavrla, the assistant editor of Diabolique Magazine joins to to discuss his findings about the FBI initiative known as Cointel pro, and we get to see how deep the rabbit hole goes.
0:48 - Robert Skvarla how he got involved in this project
2:12 - Diabolique Magazine and Movies
2:36 - John Wayne and his fascists.
3:45 - The John Wayne Conspiracy
5:04 - The Ronald Reagan Connection
6:30 - What is Cointel Pro?
7:30 - Opposition to Civil right’s movement
40% of Klan members were federal agents or federal informants
12:31 - FBI Astroturfing “leftist magazines”
13:00 - FBI’s publicity campaign against Student Protest Movement
17:50 - The Strange history of Rolling Stones Magazine
19:00 - FBI doxing people: When you don’t need a state actor to get threathen lives.
22:00 - Esha directly asks “why was the FBI so racist”
22:40 - FBI interpreted all change to status quo as “threat to national security”
26:00 - The Rambo Connection
30:00 - How the FBI got people fired from their jobs for.... protests about school lunches
31:00 - FBI and the Weatherman underground
33:00 - Why the FBI wanted to push weather underground
39:00 - The Ceasar Chavez Assasination attempt
42:00 - Driving a Journalist Crazy
46:00 - Winds of Change and how the CIA wrote it.
50:00 - Privatized Surveillance
53:00 - How do you keep sane?
55:00 - FBI and use of Violence
56:00 - How did they destroy the Black Panthers?
57:00 - The Post Office’s own Police
1:00:00 - The Secret Place to Find many good leftist books that maybe out of print (FBI reading room)
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Today, we have anthropologist Chris Knight here to talk to us about his book Blood Relations and also more importantly, teach us about the history of what makes us Human.
0:50 - Anthropology is a study of what it means to be human.
1:50 - Human ability to “look into the eyes”
3:00 - Minds vs Brains
4:00 - Are they asking the wrong question?
6:29 - Humans are the babysitting ape!
10:00 - Grandmother Hypothesis and Menopause
11:43 - Anthropology was colonialism in disguise
13:11 - The Human Revolution
14:30 - Language: The Great Leap Forward
16:50 - “Everything that defines us as human is an African invention”
18:00 - The first art is cosmetics
21:20 - Deconstructing Chomsky’s theory of language
28:00 - Communal meat eating
29:00 - The sex strike
38:00 - Synching Menstruation
40:00 - The Moon, the Lion and Love
50:00 - Cooking allowed for bigger brains
52:00 - Blood Taboos
57:00 - The Dark Moon and Songs
1:00:00 - Rainbow Snake
1:11:00 - Comprehension and Power
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Would you walk 5000 miles and 5000 miles more for a free Vietnam? Well, Ho Chi Minh walked all the way from China to Vietnam in the 1940s. Today, we have popular Youtuber Luna Oi join us to talk about the history of Vietnam from Colonization to Liberation
Show notes
1:40 - Luna introduces herself
2:20 - France Colonizing Vietnam
3:00 - Comparing who looted the most British vs French and the word “loot”
5:50 - Rubber exploitation in Vietnam
8:00 - Ho Chi Minh and “The Path which led him to Lenin”
11:00 - American historians who misquote Ho Chi Minh
23:00 - The name “Ho Chi Minh”
24:40 - Ho Chi Minh’s walk back home
25:45 - Vietnam after WW2
30:00 - The King and Vietnam
35:00 - Ngo Dinh Diem - Vietnam’s Guaido
45:00 - Hear the romantic story of how Luna’s mom and dad met (again involves a walk of a proverbial thousand miles)
54:43 - When did US Start bombing Vietnam?
1:03:00 - Tet Offensive
Watch Colin Powell’s own Confession on his crimes in Vietnam
Ears for Beers
1:08:00 - Vo Thi Thang
1:10:00 - Debunking the “Vietnamese Victims of Communism” myths
1:13:00 - Christmas Bombing
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Join us Today at 10:00 pm Eastern Time to see Lenin Debunk “The Theory of Marginal Returns” that they still teach in all Econ 101 videos
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Editor’s note: I wish to do this episode justice because not merely because it is a monument that glorifies the worst the world has to offer. Not merely because, despite the empty phrase-mongering of “Never Again”, this monument glorifies people who perpetuated the worst of the holocaust. In fact, some of the people for whom there are monuments in the “tribute to liberty” were so brutal that members of the Gestapo wrote to Himmler telling him how horrified they were. None of this should have happened.
The real horror hit me after I used Yandex to do a Russian-language name search of Roman Shukheyvich. My roommate heard me scream when I saw the first image of his horror. I cannot post the image because it is too horrific, but I will post a monument to the victims of this horror.
No one should have been able to raise enough of a lobby to get the government of Canada to fund the “Tribute to Liberty” and after the truth came out, they should not have been able to, so brazenly, in public raise enough money to build the memorial anyways.
Thanks to my adhd, where I am extremely bad at estimating the time it takes to do certain tasks such as build a guide to all those who are memorialized in the Tribute to Liberty monument, the release of this episode kept on getting delayed.
I finally realized that the reason why Canadians “ignorantly” commemorated complete monsters is because most westerners aren’t taught about World War 2 in its fullest.
There is a logical reason why any capitalist, imperialist country would not want to teach their people about the economics of fascism.
Coupled with this ignorance of the economics of fascism, in order to make the west’s actions seem justifiable in the cold war, the eastern campaign is fully ignored. Now, people will never be able to draw the obvious connection between “anti-communist exiles” and “pro-democracy dissidents” and genocidal Nazis.
However, there are a lot of bricks in this monument and it cannot be all accomplished in a day. However, I believe these bricks do tell us a lot about the US, Canada, and their actions in the past 100 years and who they consider allies and why.
The month of December will be dedicated to exposing the true nature of as many brings and monuments as possible with our “Featured Victims of Communism”
Show notes
00:45 - Dan introduces himself and explains how he became involved in Canadian politics.
02:00 - Dan talks about his rock band
04:00 - Dan and Esha discuss all the wild accusations on twitter about being funded by “Putin/Assad” (we wish).
5:39 - Chrystia Freeland
7:00 - The Newspapers role in enticing Young Ukrainians to join the Waffen SS.
Click here for a scanned copy of the newspaper. The original language is Ukrainian.
9:00 - Who were the Waffen SS Galicia?
10:00 - Himmler gets a letter from Wehrmacht Leiutenent about the cruelty of the OUN and UPA
12:00 - How did the member of the Waffen SS end up in Canada?
14:00 - On going Captive nations propaganda and world tour to rehabilitate fascists. Captive Nations week and annual fascist
22:00 - ‘Tribute To Liberty’ Monument
28:00 - The Edmontun Hate Crimes
35:00 - Why did David Frum fund this monument?
45:00 - We go through some of the more offensive bricks.
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In the USA, there is a myth that “America stands for freedom across the world” and in my years of research for this podcast and blog, I have yet to find such an example. I have found many examples where the US fights to preserve capitalism at all cost. Unfortunately, a large portion of the US population has been satiated by the supply of relatively cheap goods into the US and because relatively cheap goods keep coming regularly, they do not have to “think” too much about the state of the world. In fact, it is better for the US government, if most people do not think too much about the state of the world. Because once someone starts thinking, they will investigate and the more people investigate, the less they like.
By design, most Americans do not think about the state of the world. They are relatively happy imbibing these myths that have been fed to them since childhood. But because of the education system, most Americans are trained to question as little as possible. On top of it, because most Americans are paid “just not enough,” they will be working long hours where they won’t have too much time to think. Because of the US cult of “rugged individualism,” most Americans will not be able to fight back when their rights are violated.
Most Americans can’t fight back because you can’t fight what you don’t know. Operation Gladio is one of those unique operations that will disturb anyone. It breaks the myth that the US stands for “Freedom across the world” because the US aligned with the worst of the world (Nazis) to fight Democracy in Italy. Operation Gladio is one of the few very well documented events that even the worst sceptic cannot find “loopholes” to argue why the US was “actually doing the right thing.”
With that, air this second episode with the hope that it will spark even one person’s curiosity to learn more about the state of the world and the “Gangster Nature of the our state” as Michael Parenti would put it.
A better world is possible, but we cannot fix what we don’t know.
Show notes:
1:00 - Italian Partisans and World War 2
2:00 - Tom from Mango Press explains the connection between Gladio and the current situation in Xinjiang
08:13 - Operation Gladio was a blueprint for all the blood and gore that followed in the 21 century
10:41 - This is the interview that is referenced
15:00 - CIA’s medical experiments
22:00 -Partisans and how they work
26:00 - Communism Victimizing Mussolini
33:00 - The Myth of America
35:58 - Excerpt from a John Pilger documentary about the “Jakarta Method”
37:00 - The train station bombings
40:00 - “Strategy of Tension”
48:00 - The Stay behind Sabotage
50:00 - where can you find old stashed NATO weapons?
52:00 - The Vatican involvement
55:27 - 1978
58:00 - PM Moro and his assasination
1:09:00 - Banco Ambrosia and the Vatican Connection
1:19:00 - Strategy for the stay behind
1:25:00 - What we don’t know
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Today, in a special episode, the folks at Mango Chat and John from the Discourse Podcast joins us to talk about Operation Gladio.
Show Notes:
0:30 - What is The Discourse Podcast?
3:30 - At least we can convince our moms!
7:00 - Why Operation Gladio shatters people’s world views?
7:28 - How it Began? The 1930s
9:00 - Clerical Fascism
11:29 - The Dulles Brothers and the Stay behind Network
15:28 - Frank Wisner
17:26 - US Myth vs US reality
24:00 - Debate on Truman’s role in all of this
28:17 - The Cuban Equation (Yes… this is very confusing)
32:00 - Rat Lines
36:00 - The JFK Connection
38:00 - The Dulles Brothers
42:00 - The Long Thread of Dulles Brothers to Cuba to JFK
48:00 - Christ Loses to Communism in Italy
1:04:00 - The Scum of the Earth
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This is a two-part interview. Please check out part 1.
US Occupation
0:40 - Afghanistan Literacy Rate after 20 years of US occupation
4:00 - Sangkar blows the whistle on US corruption
11:35 - Warlord Central
One of the most outrageous cases in regards to the power of the warlords in Afghanistan
US-trained police and the outrageous case of child rape
18:35 - Ashraf Ghani
Ashraf Ghani and his world bank
22:00 - Warlords and Neopotism
30:00 - Ashraf Ghani’s alliance with Dostum
The outrageous conduct of his VP
32:00 - Dostum’s Ethnic Cleansing with US Blessing
40:00 - What is to be Done in Afghanistan?
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The US media seems suddenly concerned about all the women in Afghanistan right now. However, life has been hell for women in Afghanistan for the past thirty years, but most American media outlets did not deem it important enough to cover. Today, we have Sangar Paykhar from the Afghan Eye here to explain the history of the past thirty years of Afghanistan and what an economy filled with warlords looks like.
You can follow Sangar on Twitter and the Afghan Eye
Shownotes:
0:46 - Sangar explains how he began the independent media outlet the Afghan Eye
5:13 - The history of Afghanistan from 1973-1992
9:26 - The origins of the Mujahideen
12:55 - The collapse of the 1992 Government
14:01 - The Destruction of Kabul in 1992
18:08 - How bad was it to have warlords in charge?
20:00 - Who are the Taliban?
28:25 - Life under Warlord rule
30:00 - How did the Taliban defeat the Warlords?
33:01- Who is Hamid Karzai?
39:05 - The Bonn Conference in 2001 where the warlords were put in charge
44:00 - How many warlords do you need in your cabinet?
49:00 - The Other Warlords - Ahmed Shah Massoud’s failson
Late nights with Lenin: Tonight at 10pm
We learn about how a Boogaloo Boy became a Lenin Boy.
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Check out Part 1 of our episode with Angelo Guiliano
Today, Brian Berletic from the New Atlas joins us to talk about China, Thailand, Myanmar and how the US government diabolical plan to sabotage any efforts and climate change and keep these countries poor.
0:30 - Brian Berletic’s many handles
4:34 - “Pro-Democracy”
Who is Thaksin Shinawatra?
6:34 - Netiwit C: Thailand’s Joshua Wong
7:31 - The First Color Revolution Myanmar in 1988
8:20 - The history of Encircling China
10:39 - How Aung San Suu Kyi came to prominence?
11:27 - How to steal a state?
14:00 - The British method: Divide and Conquer
15:00 - Who was Aung San Suu Kyi’s Cabinet members?
20:00 - How Aung San Suu Kyi’s elections were foreign held and foreign advised?
27:00 - Containing China: The 50 year plan
37:00 - Hyperloop vs High Speed trains
39:00 - The Terrorism to stop development
46:00 - Why is the opposition bombing schools and Chinese factories?
49:00 - Coup vs Sovreignty
52:00 - Censorship by Western Media
This Week’s Youtube Videos:
Debunking Corporate Propaganda for Afghanistan
Making Fun of Libertarians
Don’t Fetishize Co-Ops
More Libertarian Debunking
Debunking US Media Lies about DPRK
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When most people think of the Nation of Islam, a black liberation movement started by Elijah Mohammed, they do not think of Iran. Conversely, when they think of Iran, they do not think of black liberation movements. Today, we have Setareh Sadeqi here to talk to us about the history of the Nation of Islam and how it is tied with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Show notes:
1:41 - The Storming of the US Embassy in 1979 and Ayatollah Khomeini’s orders to free all Black Americans and women held hostage
3:10 - The Shah of Iran and his Yesmen
6:14 - Iranian Constitution and the Duty towards the oppressed
14:40 - Addressing Critiques of the Nation of Islam
18:14 - Similarities between Khomeini’s ideals and Hindu belief in Karma
24:18 - Nation of Islam and the Assassination of Malcolm X
30:14 - The Nation of Islam and controversies regarding Anti-semitism
33:16 - Genocidal speech by US politicians against Iran
34:50 - Hilarious Promo by Robert rifting on Patrick Liller
37:31 - Other misconceptions about the Nation of Islam
45:13 - Nation of Islam evolution between 1960s-1970s
51:29 - Rhetoric of Nation of Islam
54:39 - The common enemy between Nation of Islam and Iran:
58:27 - US nuclear discussion with the Shah
You can find Setarah on twitter
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For years, Aung San Suu Kyi has been in the US media as a “pro-democracy” candidate who has been persecuted by a “military junta.” But, what if there is a darker side to her story?
Today, Angelo Guiliano from the New Atlas joins us to discuss the true story of Aung San Suu Kyi and how she was manufactured in a regime-change laboratory.
Show Notes
1:41 - Angelo’s experience in Hong Kong
2:17 - Hong Kong’s National Security Law
3:39 - What is a Color Revolution?
7:23 - Paying protesters in HK
8:28 - The Color Revolution model in Myanmar
11:29 - Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?
17:00 - Sean Turnel
21:24 - The Libya Model
27:00 - Green Concern Trolling
30:00 - What caused the february incidents?
35:00 - To do coup with Sergei Popovich
39:21. - Role of Myanmar Military
46:34 - Belt and Road initiative
58:11 - Problem with Western Ignorance
1:08:11 - Economic Sabotage by NDU
1:14:28 - China & Myanmar and BRI
Angelo Giuliano is a Swiss Citizen, journalist and activist who has spent the past 25 years in Hong Kong. He co-hosts a show on The New Atlas with Brian Berletic.
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Today, we have Taiwanese rapper Xiangxu here to talk to us about the past 100 years of Taiwanese history in our part 2.
Check out part 1 here
1:15 - KMT activities in the USA
2:39 - Taipei Credit Affair
5:48 - Origins of the DPP
8:50 - Rise of separatism
13:30 - Provincial Government of Taiwan
16:49 - 1996 Elections in Taiwan
28:00 - Identity Issues in Taiwan
30:27 - 2004 Elections
35:03 - KMT vs DPP on the Youth
38:36 - Sunflower movement
40:00 - Taiwan Today
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Today, we have Taiwanese rapper Xiangxu here to talk to us about the past 100 years of Taiwanese history.
1:00 - What is Taiwan?
4:38 - Dutch East Indies Company’s role in Taiwan
7:00 - How Japan Annexed Taiwan under the Qing Dynasty.
10:33 - Kominka Movement: Japanesization of Taiwan
15:12 - Chinese Civil War
17:00 - KMT’s rise to power in Taiwan
18:00 - The Retrocession Process
20:13 - The 228 incident
23:24 - Taiwan’s Martial Law period which lasted for 37 years
29:33 - KMT’s White Terror
32:33 - How the US government stopped the PLA from uniting Taiwan
40:18 - “Almost colonial government”
48:00 - China and Taiwan and a conundrum
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Today’s podcast episode that you listen on audio, Nemanja Lukic talks about the past 100 years of imperialism and explains how it is indeed the Highest Stage of Capitalism.
02:08 - Core & Periphery Theory
6:47 - Transnational Anti-systemic movement Against Imperialism
14:02 - Post WW2 System of international order
18:36 - “Decolonization” and Recolonization, in different forms
25:30 - Neoliberalism as part of the World Order
35:13 - NATO collaboration to tear down Yugoslavia
42:28 - Imperial Sabotage of a United Yugoslavia
44:00 - Tito’s India Visit
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In the west, we see much concern trolling about “pro-Democracy dissidents” who are allegedly “mistreated” in countries Russia and Iran. However, we hear little about the country that lies in between Russia and Iran, which not unlike Lithuania, is being run by a single family: The Aliyevs.
Today,We have Mammad Azizov, a former political prisoner from Azerbaijan and current editor at Ishchinin Sesi (Worker's Voice) platform talk to us about the 200 year history of his country.
Show Notes
00:00:30 - The Basics about Azerbaijan
00:01:55 - The Height of Azerbaijan’s President and how he is the tallest leader in the world.
00:02:30 - Azerbaijan under the Tsar
00:08:48 - The Baku Massacre and the Valentine’s day vow of love between Azerbaijanis, Armenians and Georgians
00:12:40 - Otkober revolution in Baku and the British attempted coup
00:20:20 - How the British and Americans tried to restore feudalism
00:36:00 - The Baku Industrial Music Concert in 1922
00:40:25 - Why Hitler wanted Baku? World War 2 in Azerbaijan and how the worker’s helped defeat Hitler.
00:50:17 - Why Krushchev was mistaken on his co-existence with Capitalism. How life would be different if JFK was not shot.
00:55:00 - Fall of the USSR, the Shock Doctrine and Capitalism
1:02:00 - The Dutch Disease and Oil
1:05:30 - The Conflict with Armenia and who is behind it?
1:12:00 - Impoverishment, deindustrialization and corruption
1:25:00 - What it to be done and what is to be learned?
Mammad Azizov on twitter
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A few weeks ago, there was a ruckus around the world (mostly with the western press) when Belarus arrested a “dissident” Roman Protasevich. The US/EU was the first to concern troll about “freedom” and “human rights” when all purposes, he had participated in a fascist militia in Ukraine.
However, in neighboring Lithuania, something much more sinister is going on. The entire country is controlled by a single family (Landbergis). They have been creating a myth of Lithuanian history that does not exist and part of this includes glorifying Nazis such as General Jonas Norieka.
Today, Stanislav Thomas, a Jewish Lithuanian attorney, who has been litigating human rights cases since 2002 in the EU and the Un. He has been persecuted for breaking the statue of General Jonas Norieka speaks to us about the history of Lithuania and his plight.
We talk about the US aid to Lithuania, the Lavajato type coups against
Show Notes
1:58 - Stanislav speaks about how he defends human rights cases
8:08 - The Fall of the USSR and the Shock Doctrine in Lithuania
11:37 - Landbergis Family Cartel and how they looted Lithuania
17:45 - No Free Press in Lithuania
23:45 - Lavajato .. Lithuanian Version
25:00 - World War 2 in Lithuania
30:00 - Who is General Storm?
36:21 - Holocaust profiteers and what happened to them
44:19 - Nazi Glorification in Lithuania
52:00 - The Lithuanian Maidan (a situation very similar to what happened in Ukraine in 2014).. who was behind it?
58:00 - Anti-semitism in Lithuania
What better way to rein in the summer than to give the gift of history? Please become a paid subscriber.
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Audio Podcast Episode
Our show focuses on decolonial history but how did the early colonizers get ordinary people to colonize various lands? Today, we have Sam Haselby here to discuss the history of American Nationalism, the Christian Doctrine and finally he makes his case about why Ivy League’s should be abolished.
4:16 - The history of religion in the USA vs Europe
8:51 - Debunking the myth of the Puritans vs reality
10:32 - American Bible Society, Propaganda and colonization
11:00 - The Yale University Connection with Nationalism
16:28 - Timothy Dwight: The President of Yale and Christian Nationalism
25:00 - Constitutional Delusions of the American people
30:30 - Sam discusses his theory on the Constitution being a sacred text
33:40 - The Fight for Power between the capitalists and the planters in Early America
37:16 - “Brahman capitalism” and the connection with the capitalists of London
39:15 - Commodity insurance and the shipping industry
41:04 - How the Early American protestants were anti-catholic
46:04 - The Large Anti-Mission movement in the USA
51:00 - Understanding the Andrew Jackson Presidency in that light
54:00 - the Real Cause of the Civil War
Sam Haselby’s book “The Origins of American Religious Nationalism” is available on Amazon
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Starting soon after the Russian revolution, we saw the advent of the suburbs. These suburbs served a counter-revolutionary purpose. They were deliberate effort by the government to prevent a similar kind of popular uprising. This was done primarily and essentially by dangling a nice home in the faces of white people, and by keeping black and brown people out via redlining and discriminatory ordinances. So not only was this country built long ago on the backs and with the blood of black and brown people, that virulent racism continues today in active policy, all around the country.
A Federally Designed Program of Social ControlThe segregation of the suburbs was not an accident. It was a deliberate decision at every level of government intended to stave off the spread into the US of Europe’s worker uprisings and the spread of socialism by granting the racial privilege of land ownership to the same European immigrants that only a few years before were associated with public nuisance. The “Own Your Own Campaign”, started in 1916 by the National Association of Real Estate Boards (NAREB) and taken over by the Department of Labor in 1917 was the mechanism used to do this. Through this campaign, the government produced propaganda aimed at the white working class declaring it a patriotic duty to purchase a single-family home rather than renting. Under Secretary of Treasury Herbert Hoover, the federal government went further, using popular household magazines to warn potential homeowners of the problems of “racial strife” and declining property values in integrated communities. These publications, paid for by the federal government, drove interest in racial covenants that contractually bound segregation to the land in perpetuity.
Working with the Department of Commerce, NAREB enforced the implantation of racial covenants by refusing certification to realtors who would not include racial covenants in their suburban subdivisions. The NAREB’s worked to make the threat of property value decline a reality; realtors would tell homeowners that Black families were moving into the neighborhoods, then hire Black folks to act as potential home buyers in that neighborhood, creating a slew of panic selling, artificially lowing home sales so the realtors could purchase it at a low price.The federal government then acted to subsidize white flights through the Home Owners Loan Corporation and the Federal Housing Administration. These federal agencies would only provide loans and underwrite a mortgage for white people who were looking to buy in other all white neighborhoods/suburbs. Black people couldn't get approved for mortgages in their communities or in the suburbs. White people couldn't even get approved for mortgages in existing integrated communities. Without this access to these federal financial resources, homeownership was prohibitively expensive.
Through these programs, the federal government created a subsidized housing market for suburban land exclusively for white people and used this market to de-ethnicize and assimilate European immigrants into “white” identity, using racial privilege to create a white middle class that acts as a protective buffer between the ruling class and the most exploited among us, preventing true systemic reform. Through this market, white families have since been able to acrue generational wealth that has been by design denied to Black families. Further, because interest on mortgages is deductible on income taxes, white homeowners have received an annual federal subsidy that has likewise been denied to Black families. The result is the continued success of the marginalization of Black Americans unleashed by Jim Crow laws, almost 70 years after Brown ended legal race-based segregation. Until we address this legacy, abolish single-family residential zoning, and rid ourselves of half acre or more minimum lots, we will not be able to pull white supremacy in the 21st century out by its roots. The longer we resist and insist on retaining our racial privilege in the form of property on large exclusive residential lots the longer we remain complicit in the perpetuation of white supremacy.
Podcast by (the non-billionaire, non-pedophile, non-dead) Jeff Epstein: You can find Jeff at Activists MMT here
Music by Wreck Tech, who can be found on SoundCloud and Spotify.
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Bill Gates has a curated reputation of being a philanthropist who helps many people in the third world countries. However, not all is as good as it seems. Today, we have Bobby Malhotra join us to talk about the extremely disturbing implications of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Show Notes:
1:00 - Bobby introduces himself
5:36 - Bill Gates motives are not that philanthropic.
5:55 - “The idea of philanthropy is an outdated model and not an honest model.”
7:28 - History of overpopulation with Malthius and Galton
8:21 - “Eugenics is of noble birth. Eugenicists believe not everyone is of equal value. Many of these elites also follow these assumption that those who are not of noble birth are called useless eaters”
9:22 - Eugenics is also racially motivated.
11:00 - IBM’s role in Eugenics:
14:00 - Barcoding human being with IBM with Nazi Germany
16:00 - Bill Gates’ parents and their connection with IBM
18:00 - How Mary Gates Gave Bill Gates the big deal with IBM
20:00 - Anti-trust issues with Microsoft
21:00 - The publicity nightmare with the anti-trust lawsuit and the opportunistic reason for starting the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
24:00 - The Foundation was investing in tobacco, oil and weapons company
28:33 - Mutilitation
30:00 - Too many Black People
34:00 - Polio Vaccine scandal where 500,000 people who were paralyzed
38:00 - Jeffrey Epstein Connection
40:00 - Bill Gates at the Munich Security Conference and on Pandemics
At the Munich Security Conference in 2017: Bill Gates draws an already very dark picture of the future. He is talking about genetically modified pathogens, bioweapons, population reduction of 30 Million people in one year due to respiratory diseases — Hegelian Dialectic.
43:45 - “Pandemic Scenario” - (to learn more visit)
PDF to Pandemic Scenario Report
44:00 - Bill Gates Prior Relationship to Fauci
51:00 - Bill Gates is his own country in the WHO
Bobby Rajesh Malhotra’s Scientific Work
Corman-Drosten Review Report
Contact Bobby Rajesh Malhotra
Telegram
Medium
Substack
Other Interviews
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Today, we have civil-rights activist, apartheid activist, professor and author of the book Afropessimism joining us to talk about the paradigm of racial slavery and Afropessimism. People who approach racial slavery as just an event in the past will experience Frank Wilderson III’s book, Afropessimism, as a violation. In his own words, they will encounter “Afropessimism as though they are being mugged rather than enlightened; that is because they can’t imagine a plantation in the here and now.”
Set in Minneapolis, New York and Johannesburg, Afropessimism was released on April . This was two months before the streets of Minneapolis were set ablaze as a result of the video-recorded lynching of a Black man, George Floyd, whose brutal murder was beamed on to our screens and played on repeat across the world. At that time, the author could not have known that a harrowing scene around the corner would fit into the book’s agenda like a hand into a glove.
In 1991, Wilderson, who grew up in Minneapolis, was the second African-American to be elected into the official ranks of the ANC. (The first was Madie Hall Xuma, who was the president of the ANC women’s league in 1943.)
The excerpt for out latest podcast episode was taken from this three part interview. Please check it out.
Wilderson is professor and chair of the African-American studies department at the University of California, Irvine. He is a poet, filmmaker and the multi-award-winning author of Incognegro: A Memoir of Exile and Apartheid (2008) and Red, White & Black: Cinema and the Structure of US Antagonisms (2010).
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Today, we are joined by Temur, from Baiju Billa Bong podcast, to tell us about the history of Hui Muslims from the time of Genghis Khan to today. We talk about a little of everything that affects the Hui community in China.
1:24 - Double the discrimination in Australia.
4:00 - Hui Muslims descend from Arab, Persian or Turkish traders
5:32 - Traders from Afghanistan
6:36 - The Rebellion against the Yuan Dynasty (Kublai Khan)
7:00 - The First Ming Emperor and Temur’s Ancestor, the rebellion
9:50 - Exile to Manchuria
14:00 - Xinjiang and Turkic Muslims during the 1500s
17:00 - Hui and Uighur relations during the Qing dynasty
The Entrance of the South Mosque in Shenyang
21:22 - Transition between Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty
23:00 - Islam with Chinese characteristics
24:00 - Walls and gates …
26:00 - Gulen and his creepy
30:00 - Korean Muslims who are related to Hui
34:00 - Hui muslims “adopting” Han children during the 19th century famine.
36:00 - Boxer Rebellion and the Hui Army
37:00 - Temur’s family under Japanese occupation
39:00 - Unit 731 in Manchu area
40:00 - Cultural Revolution
45:00 - The First CIA-sponsored regime-change operation in 1950s
48:00 - Understanding western propaganda
51:00 - Olympics time bombing
1:03 - Pedophile English teachers in Asia
1:06 - India vs China … where India went wrong - TLDR. not enough authoritarianism
1:16 - Imported Tech bro culture
1:25 - The Ramen Noodle Cartel
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To understand the inner works of Auschwitz, please check out our article: The Language of Evil.
In 1939, Gustav Kleinmann, a Jewish upholster from Vienna, and his sixteen-year-old son Fritz were arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Germany. Imprisoned in the Buchenwald concentration camp, they miraculously survived the Nazis’ murderous brutality.Then Gustav learned he was being sent to Auschwitz—and certain death.For Fritz, letting his father go was unthinkable. Desperate to remain together, Fritz made an incredible choice: he insisted he must go too. To the Nazis, one death camp was the same as another, and so the boy was allowed to follow.Throughout the six years of horror they witnessed and immeasurable suffering they endured as victims of the camps, one constant kept them alive: their love and hope for the future.
Based on the secret diary that Gustav kept as well as meticulous archival research and interviews with members of the Kleinmann family, including Fritz’s younger brother Kurt, sent to the United States at age eleven to escape the war, The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz is Gustav and Fritz’s story—an extraordinary account of courage, loyalty, survival, and love that is unforgettable
Jeremy Dronfield is a biographer, historian, novelist and former archaeologist. Besides The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz, his recent non-fiction titles include national bestseller Beyond the Call. He lives in England.
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Today, Brain Mier join from Brasil Wire joins us to discuss the topic of Lavajato, Jair Bolsonaro, Lula Da Silva and Brazil.
If you have not already listened to it, please listen to our previous episodes with Brian Mier: Getting your Hands Dirty in the Car Wash and Judge, Jury Executioner. In part 3, we hear about the latest updates.
Recently, Lula Da Silva has been cleared of all the charges that impeded his ability to run in the 2018 election that catapulted Jair Bolsonaro into power.
Show Notes
3:00 - What are Us Interests? And why we should oppose those “interests”?
5:00 - Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and how it has been a tool of imperialism.
9:30 - A Wikileaks Cable from the State Department about Lavajato
Two large urban centers with proven judicial support for illicit financing cases, in particular Sao Paulo, Campo Grande, or Curitiba, should be selected as the location for this type of training.
10:46 - What is the Washington Consensus?
11:57 - Why did the FCPA Fines Petrobras and not Haliburton?
17:00 - How Lula’s Government cured extreme poverty in Brazil?
19:00 - Esha and Brian talk about the 2003 World Social Forum
21:00 - Time Magazine Person of the Year Sergio Moro
28:20 - Lula’s Trial and how the Judge gave Prosecutor instructions
33:00 - Fernando Hadad and why He could not defeat Bolosnaro
41:00 - Esha needing to do relaxation exercises after hearing about the Obama administration conduct
49:00 - Wondering how this could have been avoided?
53:00 - “Die a hero or live and be a villain?”
60:00 - “Authoritarianism”
70:00 - Advice for journalists and the left.
To support Brian Mier and independent journalism, please visit his patreon.
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Today we interview journalist Tim Shorrock to talk to us about privatized military intelligence, US counter-insurgency methods and his article in The Baffler called Making COIN: The Modern History of an Unstoppable Bad Idea
Tim talks about his Cold-War upbringing in Japan and Korea during the aftermath of World War II, the Korean war and through Vietnam, explaining how it gave him an honest “introduction to American politics and American foreign policy” which led him to a career in freelance journalism with a focus on Asian Studies.
Show Notes
4:25-8:15
Private companies are profiting at every level from military spending. In recent years we have seen an unprecedented merging of the military and private finance, “the integration of national security and business.”
“The privatizing of intelligence took off in the 1990’s.”
The Peace Dividend
Following the Cold War, as austerity and neoliberal budget-cuts were implemented, a wave of people previously employed in intelligence went on to work in the private sector with government contractors.
In the latter years of the Clinton administration, we began to see an increase of private military contractors being used to collect intelligence in places like Bosnia and Serbia.
Tim explains that after 9/11, under the false pretense of national security, billions were spent on increased military budgets, making contractors “essential parts of US military and intelligence operations”.
As the Bush doctrine continued, the Washington consensus increasingly encouraged “the contracting of strategic operations.”
8:15-13:05
COIN
Counter-insurgency methods of the US: “the people become the enemy.”
Tim illustrates how a Vietnamese uprising against the US backed Diem dictatorship resulted in massive gains for the National Liberation Front (Viet Cong) and how the liberal Kennedy administration’s “hearts and minds” approach, cloaked in the language of evil, only made the violence worse:
“part of the idea began to be to separate the people from the guerillas and they would build these camps for the villagers that became, essentially, concentration camps (strategic hamlets)”
Many of these violent counter-insurgency methods being used by the Americans were inherited from British Imperialists who had developed these strategies in earlier suppression campaigns against Communists in Malaya in the 1950’s.
Related: Listen to our interview with Stuart Schrader on the History of the Modern Police
13:05 - 19:26
In the first year of the Obama administration, they tried the “hearts and minds” strategy in Afghanistan.
“When McMaster was a General in Iraq, he got key press from liberals”
The US and their personally-picked government provides neoliberal and privatized “social services”
American contractors never built the project that they were supposed to build.
Inspector General nominated by congress in regards to contractors. That group has done multiple reports about corruption.
“Counter-insurgency is a form of warfare where you adopt various economic and political programs in addition to going after and killing people”.
19:26 – 24:46
David Kilcullen’s used to work for Australian special forces.
He assisted in the “Jakarta Method” and the death squads Suharto dictatorship in Indonesia.
Kilcullen’s called the death squads “armed social work.” He advocated for “global counter-insurgency” (massive death squads of people opposing US corporate theft)
Counter-insurgency is death squads under the larger guise of “winning the hearts and minds.”
Michelle Flournoy saw counter-insurgency as, “a way that Democrats can be tough, and be hawkish and look smart.”
Just another form of warfare.
25:36-29:00
Mehdi Hassan from the Intercepted had David Kilcullen on as a guest within the last year.
29:00-34:32
The intercept sent the original document to the NSA which got her caught.
David Kilcullen’s private contract in Iraq.
Tim received leaked documents from Caerus Global Solutions.
Kilcullen even wrote the civilian training manual the USAID gives out to civilians.
34:32-38:54
Tim confronted Kilcullen in an event.
His company is under investigation for the security clearances.
Kilcullen’s “100-year war”
The Cold-War notion of the “third way” of being non-communist and non-colonial but it always has failed.
They put together death squads in Iraq and these were the same people who did the death squads in El Salvador.
Read about El Mozote
38:54 - 42:27
The Death Squads in El Salvador killed 10s of thousands.
The real opposition comes from the more conservative people.
“We are not into nation-building” is a code word for counter-insurgency.
42:43-48:01
History of US intervention in Korea.
Myths and lies about the US role in the Korean war.
How the US dissolved the people’s committee.
48:01-53:00
“South Korea, until the late 1980’s, was an authoritarian police state. I was there under this general who took over, Chun Doo-hwah, and it was a scary place. A very repressive place, it was a police state.”
“They fought against US backed dictators that held them back for years”.
Koreans were being tortured by a US allied regime.
The uprising of 1987 only happened after the “death by water torture of a south Korean student” led a mass of Koreans to take to the streets and demand independence from US influence.
The legacy of US counter-insurgency continues in Korea.
For example, South Korea’s draconian National Security Law that has been used to silent dissenters even to this day.
53:00-58:00
The change in South Korea and their vibrant Democracy.
To learn more, visit Tim’s website timshorrock.com
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Today we interview Alec Karakatsanis from the Civil Rights Corps to talk about his most recent book “Usual Cruelty.”
Alec talks to us about the inhuman violations and degradations in the American prison system that occurs because of a blend of capitalism and a harsh “tough on crime” culture.
The violations that Alec details are extremely egregious. We usually don’t ask this often, but please share this episode with as many friends and family as possible. We need them to understand the corruption of the justice system on all levels.
Show notes:
0:00-5:30
A woman is in jail for many traffic tickets, but she is not unique. Alec witnessed a court bring in “67 people chained together.” He noticed:
All 67 were black
Not a single one was charged with a crime
All of them were there because they owed money to the city with old tickets.
Many were speaking about poverty, but the judge screamed at them and threw them in jail.
5:30-10:30
Debtor’s Prison in Alabama:
The City of Montgomery, Alabama and its contractor, for-profit probation company Judicial Correction Services, “pocket[ed] millions” while knowingly “perpetuating a cycle of debt and unlawful imprisonment.” That’s how federal judge Royce Lamberth described the system under which hundreds of low-income municipal court defendants were jailed for being too poor to pay traffic tickets and other fines. On July 7, 2020 in Carter v. Judicial Correction Services, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama ruled that there is enough evidence for our lawsuit against the City, JCS, and a City-hired contract criminal defense attorney who participated in the scheme to go forward to trial, paving the way for the victims to finally get justice.
Public Justice’s Debtors’ Prison Project and the Evans Law Firm of Birmingham represent Aldaress Carter, who filed suit several years ago on behalf of all similarly-situated JCS probationers in Montgomery. Because he couldn’t afford to pay fines from traffic tickets up front in one lump sum, Mr. Carter was sentenced to JCS-supervised probation. JCS’s system was “offender-funded,” meaning the company didn’t charge the City a penny for its debt-collection services. Instead, Mr. Carter and other probationers were ordered to pay $40 every month in probation fees on top of their underlying fines. It was a lucrative business model: JCS took in over $15 million in fees in Montgomery alone—and almost $60 million statewide before it was forced out of Alabama.
10:30-14:58
Anti-drug laws that punish small offenders
IG Farben/Bayer/Monsanto etc
14:58-18:15
“If you invade a 7/11 you will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. If you invade a foreign country, you are President”
The more power someone has, the less conduct they do is considered a crime.
Examples: Too big to fail
“Looking at the data, the robo-signing and foreclosures caused millions of deaths.”
The justice department refused to try any of these bankers despite the overwhelming evidence.
Torture
18:15-20:15
Why don’t these debtor’s prisoners don’t have an attorney?
All over the country people are being jailed for being a debtor.
We have a legal grey area about whether you are imprisoned for debt.
20:57-26:30
“There is no law that forces the local prosecutor to go after these debts.”
No probation system that forces these people for debts.
They do it because it is systemic.
29:30-32:10
“The Land of the Free has the most prisoners. Out of every four people in jail (in the world), one American.”
The prison-supply chain and the millions of people involved in upholding the injustice.
Private companies are profiting at every stage, but we are simply unaware of it.
34:15-35:55
Inequality on the streets:
“Dice-wagering” and other forms of illegal gambling that are disproportionately punished
Wall Street and “pump and dump”
35:55-38:10
Grotesque amount of abuse in prisons:
People in Alabama are shackled for days in extremely disgusting conditions.
However, they are retaliated against and therefore afraid to come forward.
38:10-41:30
“Diversion programs”
Sends money to for-profit companies.
They incentivize churning more people through an unjust system
Please follow Alec on twitter.
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Not all heroes wear capes. Robin Hood is one of them. In this episode, Bob White from the Robin Hood Society joins us to talk about the hero who stole from the rich and gave to the poor in feudal England. We trace his evolution from his first appearance to the worldwide fame of Robin Hood.
Show Notes
2:30-6:04 - Sherwood Forest & Robin Hood of Nottingham
6:04-7:50 - Robin Hood in literature
7:50-10:39 - Who was “the real Robin Hood”?
10:39-14:45 - Robin Hood as the Olde English sense of justice
14:45-18:55 - Pop-culture and Hollywood: Do they do the hero justice?
18:55-21:30 - Suspected gravesites of the real Robin Hood
24:45-26:10 - The Sheriff of Nottingham
26:10-29:20 Nottingham Today
29:20-38:45 - Labour and the Nottingham castle
38:45-44:08 - “The Legacy of a Folk Hero”
Let us know what you think about the legacy of the real Robin Hood?
Check out Bob White’s book Legacy of a Folk Hero
Follow Robin Hood on Twitter
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It is a story of intrigue, espionage and double-dealing. Today, we have Barnes Carr, author of The Lenin Plot here to discuss his intriguing, fast-paced book and the historical plot by the allies to assassinate V.I. Lenin
2:15 - Barnes’ research in pre-internet days involving the London Times’ Bound Volumes
5:30 - US plot to install a military dictatorship in Russia to bring the country back into World War 1
6:30 - Money laundering plot by Britain & France to try to coup the Bolsheviks
7:19 - Plot with the Cossack Generals
8:20 - USA, Italy and Britain attempt to invade Russia.
9:00 - USA, Britain and French Diplomats plot of assassinate Lenin
11:00 - The Allies find a Mole
14:00 - The British Assassin goes to Russia
15:50 - Raymond Robbins tried to get back into the war: contacted Lenin
16:00 - Alleged German involvement with Bolsheviks
16:50 - Kerenski Documents were forgeries
20:00 - Mutiny by American forces
23:00 - Trotsky refuses to annihilate the British, French and US
25:00 - Lenin was shot by Allies in 1918
27:00 - How it failed
Part 2: Barnes’ Carrs Career moments in Journalism
28:00 - British tabloid journalism and its influence
31:00 - Death of investigative journalism
35:00 - Readership vs Circulation
38:00 - How Barnes Carr almost got assassinated by the KKK
40:00 - The Boston Strangler
43:00 - Barnes Carr covering MLK’s assassination
To purchase the book, visit:
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In the past few years, we have been given a small glimpse to police brutality and unaccountability. However, today’s episode can shock the consciousness of even the most cynical amongst US. Police officers from LA County have created gangs where other police officers are initiated. Their right of passage is to kill using under the cover of badges. Today, we have Christian Contreras from Justice X join us to talk about this unbelievable events.
Shownotes:
1:00 - Introduction
1:30 - What is Justice X?
3:29 - Case of Andres Guardado
4:30 - What are Deputy Gangs?
6:40 - The Executioners (a gang of police members)
7:40 - Chasing Ink
8:45 - 3000 Boys (Another Police Gang)
9:15 - How police misconduct is “investigated”
12:00 - Two tiered justice system
14:21 - What is qualified immunity? History of the 1871 Civil Rights Acts
17:11 - How it works?
18:50 - State causes of actions
19:50 - The Police Officer’s use of force and how it is legal
20:40 - Dijon Kizzee case
22:10 - Deputy Gangs Existed Since 1971!
23:00 - The knowledge is kept from the public
24:28 - Deputy Gang in LA with White Nationalist Ties: The Vikings
27:00 - Secret Societies
28:51 - Do they have a duty to “serve and protect” in Calfornia Yes.
30:57 - Los Angeles Civil Payouts
31:50 - Why don’t thinks change?
32:00 - The Police Union Lobbying Industry
Part 2: Another Way the Police State Targets ethnicities
35:00 - How People unfairly get classified as gang members
37:00 - Gang Enhancements
39:00 - What reasonable doubt means in “gang-enhancements”
40:00 - 60,000 MISCLASSIFIED as Gang database. Gang associates get kicked out
42:47 - LAX workers who got their medical benefits deprived during pandemic
PLEASE SHARE THIS EPISODE WITH FRIENDS. IT IS TOO OUTRAGEOUS FOR US NOT TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.
To learn more about Christian Contreras, you can find him on instagram.
To learn more about Justice X, please follow them on Instagram and visit their website
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Today, David Osit, filmmaker and director of the movie "Mayor” joins us, to talk about the Mayor of Ramallah and all the challenges for life under the occupation. Today, we also have John from Discourse Podcast join us as a guest host.
The film is available on Virtual Cinema
Show Notes
2:00 - How Ramallah Changed
4:00 - Limitations on the Mayor’s Job
5:01 - City Branding and What it means
7:35 - Municipal Services and the Challenges under Occupation
10:58 - Christmas in Ramallah
11:32 - Connecting with Mussa
13:45 - Meeting with The Prime Minister Abbas
16:24 - Schooling and Universities in Ramallah
18:37 - Daily indignities in Ramallah
“It took them 15 years to get a permit to build a cemetery”
21:03 - American conversation about tone vs conversation in Palestine
24:12 - Repeated oppression in Palestine and the Raid
26:01 - Trump’s Jerusalem Embassy and how it worked in Ramallah
29:13 - What is within Mussa’s power to control?
33:00 - Settlers’ leave their mark
39:10 - How Israel breaks the Oslo agreement
43:15 - Surprising issues in Ramallah
You can find David Osit on twitter
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US propaganda is always quick to explain that America is a bringer of Democracy to the world. Of course, most of the world wants no part of this alleged Democracy. Yet, we have lived this same script over and over with no more awareness from our public, media or our politicians.
Today, we have economist Alexandr Buzgalin joining us to talk about the Breakup of the USSR, the history of Belarus since the breakup of the USSR and the latest attempt at a NATO coup attempt.
He also brings us a unique perspective on what Freedom looks like to the newly freed person. It involves rising water prices, homelessness, holocaust denial and corporate extraction. Wages go down, health of the country decrease, suicides increase and the population starts to dwindle away.
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Today, Marjorie Cohn joins us from the Defend Assange legal team to talk about Wikileaks, Julian Assange and the unjust prosecution.
1:00 - Why does US have jurisdiction over espionage?
3:00 - Collateral Murder
5:00 - Why the Obama administration didn’t prosecute Assange?
7:00 - Why is there a corporate media blackout?
12:00 - Questions with Podesta Emails and Wikileaks?
14:00 - Waiver of Death Penalty
19:00 - President Trump’s potential actions: Dismiss the indictment
22:40 - Effects on the National Security State
25:00 - Guantanamo Bay and Wikileaks
Resources:
Assange Defense
Marjorie Cohn on “The Meaning of Assange’s Prosecution”
Other Relevant Episodes
The Chagos Conspiracy
The Pentagon Papers
The Truth about Guantanamo Bay whether or not You can Handle it
Please subscribe to our podcast. We depend upon paid subscribers like you:
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Earlier this year, Belarus, "spontaneously" , popped into centerstage on Western Media outlets. They recycled the usual comical narrative of "Pro-democracy opposition" against the "brutal dictator." I am always awed by the number of grown adults who accept very serious newspapers referring to anyone as "pro-democracy” candidates. Of course the opposition, like the incumbent, are "pro-democracy," that is why they are both participating in an election!
Today, we have an ordinary citizen from Belarus Elaina, who will tell us about the protesters, the platform and also what NATO has in store for Belarus in this short episode.
Resources:
Leaks from the opposition:
“Platform” by the opposition that disappeared
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I feel like it is ground-hog day. The American left keeps falling fo the same old regime change propaganda over and over! Today, Ben Norton from the Grayzone joins us to talk about how not to be a regime-change dupe
Show Notes
1:00 - What is the first sign of a regime-change effort by the US?
4:45 - Why do some protests get covered and not others?
7:30- TV Shows, Movies and entertainment is also propaganda
8:00 - How Esha fell victim to propaganda too!
14:29 - Anti-DPRK propaganda apparatus
“Economics Departments are barren wastelands of Koch Bros propaganda” - Benjamin Norton
16:00 - How US Media is like human centipede!
17:00 - Ortega’s Alleged Death
18:00 - Nat-Sec propaganda in Academia
20:00 - Dissidents are not value neutral
21:00 - Liberalism is a right-wing ideology
23:00 - Racism an ideology that is spawned from imperialism
25:00 - Democrats are more effective imperialists
26:00 - Internal politics within Nicaragua
33:00 - Blue-Brown Alliance: Liberal Fascist alliance
41:00 - Socialist International Expose
43:00 - Fascist Founding Member of NATO
45:00 - “Authoritarianism” is a propaganda term
55:00 - Being an active anti-imperialist!
58:00 - Fascism in Asia looks different than Europe
59:00 - “Listen to Bolivians”, why Ben disagrees with Standpoint epistemology.
1:00:00 - Liberal Fascism
1:11:00 - Freedom for the Bourgeoise
1:13:00 - We both recommend Lenin.
You can find Ben Norton at the Grayzone and his podcast Moderate Rebels
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Dan Kovalik, author of No More War joins us to talk about the Human Rights Industrial Complex
Show Notes:
00:30 - Uribe and the violence against union members
3:55 - What are Humanitarian interventions?
In Venezuela the largely created the humanitarian intervention used to justify the overthrow the government.
Dan Kovalik
5:00 - IMF denied loans to Venezuela
6:25 - US Sanctions and their effects.
CEPR Paper on Venezuelan Sanctions
9:34 - Amnesty International and how they opposed Mandela
10:00 - Structural problems with Human Rights Groups
12:54 - Human Rights Watch
14:00 - Ken Roth’s Tweet on Hezbollah
16:00 - Human Rights industry was “neutral” on Iraq.
17:49 - Human Rights Watch use Christian Extremist Adrian Zenz in their Report
22:00 - Human Rights Groups that peddled Iraq lies
23:00 - Revolving Door for Human Rights Group
24:00 - Human Rights by Non-State Actors
25:00 - Mining Companies in Congo
26:00 - Elon Musk’s confession
30:00 - International Law and How it is applied
32:00 - US Sanctions against the ICC
34:00 - The Right to Peace
36:00 - How to Smell Regime Change Propaganda from a Mile Away
38:00 - Selectivity about Genocide vs Word Genocide as a weapon
43:00 - Corporate Crimes Against Humanity
45:00 - Right to Organize as a Union as a Human Right
49:00 - How to organize in the US and Abroad
Daniel Kovalik graduated from Columbia University School of Law in 1993. He then served as in-house counsel for the United Steelworkers, AFL-CIO (USW) until 2019. While with the USW, he worked on Alien Tort Claims Act cases against The Coca-Cola Company, Drummond and Occidental Petroleum – cases arising out of egregious human rights abuses in Colombia. The Christian Science Monitor, referring to his work defending Colombian unionists under threat of assassination, described Mr. Kovalik as “one of the most prominent defenders of Colombian workers in the United States.” Mr. Kovalik received the David W. Mills Mentoring Fellowship from Stanford University School of Law and was the recipient of the Project Censored Award for his article exposing the unprecedented killing of trade unionists in Colombia. He has written extensively on the issue of international human rights and U.S. foreign policy for the Huffington Post and Counterpunch and has lectured throughout the world on these subjects.
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This week, while the media is rehabilitating establishment Republicans, we take a walk through history to learn about the “good Republicans” or the Irish Republicans. We have author Conor McNamara, Author of Liam Mellows, Soldier of the Irish Republic, to talk about colonization, Irish fight for independence and the state of Ireland today!
00:59 - First invaders for Ireland
2:20 - The distinct Ethnic Groups Ireland
3:14 - The Great Famine of the 1840s
4:00 - Why Ireland is a divided?
5:34 - “The Irish Revolution”
7:00 - Ireland and World War I
8:18 - Irish Volunteer Militia and the bloody crackdown
11:00 - Sein Fein
12:00 - What is an Irish Republican?
16:00 - Easter Week Massacre
18:00 - Irish American support for Ireland
20:00 - Woodrow Wilson’s Betrayal of Irish Independence
22:00 - The Irish War of Independence
24:00 - Divide between Irish Americans and Irish
26:00 - Black and Tans and their Reprisals
30:00 - The Song called Black and Tans
34:00 - Anglo-Irish Treaty
35:00 - The Irish Civil War between Moderates and the Republics
40:00 - Execution of the more militant rebels.
42:00 - Liam Mellows funeral
44:00 - Partition of Ireland
46:00 - The Border has gotten stronger
49:00 - The legacy of silence
53:00 - English Nationalism, Brexit and Re-unification of Ireland
56:00 - Failures of Irish Republicans
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Last week, in part 1 we left off the story with the OAS and their hired guns using “Creative mathematics” to defend their attempted coup in Bolivia. Today, David Rosnick from the Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR) continues to compare the state of the US elections with that of Bolivia. We also learn about the more nefarious purpose of the OAS, which acts as a US proxy in regime-change.
Resources:
October 21, 2019: Original OAS statement (no analysis offered)
October 22, 2019: CEPR Offers a rebuttal
October 23, 2019: Preliminary data shows Morales increased lead
November 2019: CEPR analysis
November 2019: OAS “analysis”
“[Nooruddin’s] discontinuity analysis is a joke” — Andrew Gelman
November 2019: Columbia University Study on Bolivia
December 2019: OAS final report
The NYT story about the data (June 2020)
August 2020: Nooruddin’s “clean” data
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The OAS issued a statement in 2019 questioning the validity of the Bolivian elections, which then snowballed into a full-blown fascist coup. Thousands of Bolivians have died. Today, we have David Rosnick from the Center for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR) telling us about the “intellectual collaborators” who gave a pseudo-intellectual cover for the coup.
Follow David on Twitter: @ViscidKonrad
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Today, Jarvis Tyner from the CPUSA joins us to talk about nearly 100 years of history of the CPUSA and some of the important fights they were involved in such as desegregating the dance hall, meeting with Fidel Castro, unemployment councils and world war 2. He also inspires us about the future and what we should do!
Show Notes:
2:00 - Dance, Dance Revolution…. well, at least how the CPUSA helped integrate dance halls in Philadelphia.
Read: Dick Clark’s memory on integrating the American Bandstand
8:00 - Why we need Unions?
11:30 - The Anti-Union Propaganda
12:00 - Bourgeoise Government vs Worker’s Government
15:00 - “Trade Union is a military training for the working class.”
17:00 - Trump’s Union Wrecking Ball
20:00 - Jarvis’ Meeting of Fidel Castro
“Fidel is like a regular dude” - Jarvis Tyner on Fidel Castro
22:00 - “ Don’t give your life for capitalism”
25:00 - The Temporary Vehicle for Workers (for now)
26:00 - What Henry Winston has to say about Identity Politics?
Workers marching against unemployment in the 1930s
28:00 - American Vets who fought in the Spanish Civil War
31:00 - Henry Winston’s time in Prison
40:00 - Addressing Rumors Spread Against the CPUSA
46:00 - CPUSA's Against the Vietnam War
Read Black Lives Matter by Jarvis Tyner
About Jarvis
Jarvis Tyner is executive vice chair of the Communist Party USA and a long-time member of the party's national board.. He was a founding member of the Black Radical Congress and served on its national coordinating committee for five years. Tyner was born in the Mill Creek community of West Philadelphia in 1941 and graduated from West Philadelphia High School. He joined the Communist Party USA at the age of 20. After several years working in various industrial jobs in the Philadelphia area, where he was a member of the Amalgamated Lithographers and the Teamsters union, he moved to New York in 1967 to become the national chair of the DuBois Clubs of America, and later founding chair of the Young Workers Liberation League. He was the Communist Party USA candidate for vice president of the U.S. in 1972 and 1976, running with party leader Gus Hall.
As a leader of the CPUSA Tyner has been an active public spokesperson against racism, imperialism and war. He has written numerous articles and pamphlets and appears on the media, campuses and in other public venues advocating for peace, equality and the socialist alternative. He currently resides in the Inwood section of Manhattan, N.Y., is married and the father of four adult children and one grandchild.
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1:00 - What is Political Cartooning?
3:11 - Evolution of Political Cartooning to “hackwork.” Political art gets point across better than the editorial format.
Paul Conrad & Israel
8:00 Marie Antoinette Cartoons from the French Revolution
Check out the Gallery of Libelles against Marie Antoinette
9:36 - Tijuana Bible -
10:00 - What do Simon Bolivar, Gandhi and Sarah Palin have in common? Porn
21:00 - Eli’s Drama with Megan McCain
23:00 - What is Diaspora Boy? -
Eli mentions the controversies regarding the Diaspora Boy.
AB Yehoshua’s views on Diaspora Jews
Benjamin Netanyahu’s flirts with Alt-right
25:00 - New Yorker Cartoons -
Jason explains his role in the New Yorker.
36:00 - Jerry Seinfeld
IDF Soldier Cosplay
38:00 - Hamilton - Jason’s Live Drawing
40:10: Hunger and Revolt Drawings
Upton Sinclair’s Donkey
Handshake Meme
45:17
Original Racist Thanks Giving Cartoon
Edited Cartoon
51:00 - Ben Garrison Cartoons
Stefan Molyneux is a cult
Eli Valley’s Book: Diaspora Boy
Jason Katzenstein’s twitter
Jason’s new book
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Africa does not need to be filled with poor, ill and suffering people. It’s a human design. One of Africa’s biggest problems: Africa just needs monetary sovereignty. Right now, all systems are designed to hold Africa hostage by the Bretton Woods Institutions, Europe and US. Today, Fadhel Kaboub from Denison University and Dr. Ndongo Samba Sylla from Rosa Luxemburg Foundation joins us to talk about their new effort to fight back against Africa’s lack of monetary sovereignty.
Website: MES Africa
Check out Dr. Fadhel Kaboub’s previous episode: Big Structural Adjustments
We’ve spoken about the CFA franc! Dr. Ndongo Sylla is the co-author of Africa’s Last Colonial Currency with Fanny Pigeaud.
Important: Can we get #AfricanMonetarySovereignty trending?
Shownotes
2:00 - Why the invisible hand of the market is fiction for developing countries
3:50 - 2 Trillion dollars a year are moving from poor countries to rich countries
5:00 - Monetary Sovereignty and Sovereign Debt: Monetary Sovereignty is a Spectrum
7:20 - Senegal and the CFA Zone
10:20 - Practical effects of Monetary Sovereignty
15:00 - Role of the World Bank
17:00 - Why countries just don’t say “no” to paying back IMF and world bank loans?
19:00 - Why Leftist world leaders aren’t as leftist as you expect? It’s the system
20:00 - Africa and Covid-19
23:00 - African Monetary Sovereignty Initiative
28:00 - Monetary Sovereignty and Humanitarian Disasters
30:28 - How to get out of this infinite cycle?
31:00 - IMF increases inequality in formerly colonized country
40:00 - What is the future of markets?
50:00 - A Better World Is Possible
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Today is part two of my two part conversation with Shavone Torres, a core person for Black Lives Matter New Jersey and network rep for BLM national in the United States. Shavone describes her view of what happened to George Floyd, the hundreds of years of systemic racism that preceded it, and the protests and largely performative responses by companies, government, and the president. Finally, we discuss the differences between acknowledging one’s complicity in society's ills, and doing something about it. This is the second part of a two-part conversation. This interview was hosted by Jeff Epstein, who is also the host of the podcast Activist #MMT (Twitter, Facebook, web). This interview was recorded on June 17, 2020.
Resources
June 8, 2020 thread by Taniel of non-performative (if not enormous) changes occurring thanks to the George Floyd protests.
My interview with historian, author, and mutual friend of my and Shevone's, Keith Errol Benson. This was my very first interview with Historic.ly
My interview with Racial Taxation author Camille Walsh: parts one and two
New York Times article: George Floyd, From 'I Want to Touch the World' to 'I Can't Breathe'
CNN article: New video appears to show three police officers kneeling on George Floyd
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This is part one of a two-part conversation. This interview was hosted by Jeff Epstein, who is also the host of the podcast Activist #MMT (Twitter, Facebook, web). This interview was recorded on June 17, 2020.
Today I talk with Shavone Torres, a core person for Black Lives Matter New Jersey and network rep for BLM national in the United States. Shavone describes her view of what happened to George Floyd, the hundreds of years of systemic racism that preceded it, and the protests and largely performative responses by companies, government, and the president. Finally, we discuss the differences between acknowledging ones complicity in society's ills, and doing something about it.
Resources
June 8, 2020 thread by Taniel of non-performative (if not enormous) changes occurring thanks to the George Floyd protests.
My interview with historian, author, and mutual friend of my and Shevone's, Keith Errol Benson. This was my very first interview with Historic.ly
My interview with Racial Taxation author Camille Walsh: parts and two
New York Times article: George Floyd, From 'I Want to Touch the World' to 'I Can't Breathe'
CNN article: New video appears to show three police officers kneeling on George Floyd
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Many of you may have heard about the explosion in Beirut’s port last week. After the port, many people protested, but suddenly it looks like the protests are being co-opted by foreign forces with different agendas. Today, Rania Khalek talks to us about the brief history of Lebanon, the unique factionalism within the government. Finally, we talk about who the key players are and what the key interests are. We also learn about Lebanon’s economy and how the Syrian war is affecting Lebanon. At the end, we have some fun regarding various online personalities and Rania Khalek’s own experience with “getting cancelled”
Shownotes
00:00-Introductions
01:25 - Brief synopsis of recent Lebanese history?
11:00 - What is Hezbollah
17:00 - Saad Hariri’s bizarre 2017 resignation
20:34 - Lebanon’s Color Revolution
26:11- Explosion Shadiness and theorizing
33:00 - Covid-19 in Lebanon
36:00 - How Rania got Cancelled for Syria and No one Cared
37:00 - Oz Katerji and his Bizarre Excuses
This is the child that Oz Katerji alleged that had a “genetic aging disorder”
44:57: Lebanon Garbage Crisis
46:00 -Tulsi Gabbard, MSNBC and Assadist
51:00 - Assad and his Voice
55:00 - Rania getting Deplatformed and her “free speech” being curtailed
1:00:00 - Why are leftists, so often, regime-change dupes?
About Rania
Rania Khalek is an independent journalist living in Beirut, Lebanon. She is the co-host of the Unauthorized Disclosure podcast with Kevin Gosztola. You can find it on Patreon, Apple or Spotify. You can find her on twitter.
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Today, Dr. Michael Oldstone joins us to discuss the history of diseases. We talk about diseases, viruses and their role in our history.
Left: A yellow-fever epidemic when building the Panama Canal
Right: Children would be regularly paralyzed before the polio vaccine
Shownotes
00:00: Introductions
02:36: What is a virus?
03:45: DNA viruses vs RNA Viruses
07:30 Understanding virulence and persistance in viruses
08:45 How do viruses evolve?
10:00 Smallpox
“In the 20th century, smallpox has killed more people than all the wars of the 20th century combined”
10:30 Ancient inoculations against the smallpox
12:00 Attenuated viruses: The Slow Road to the Vaccine
14:14 Why haven’t other viruses been eliminated like the smallpox?
16:00 Smallpox in the new world
18:00 The slave trade and yellow fever in the new world
20:00 Yellow fever during the Haitian Revolution
21:00 Yellow fever during the continental congress
22:00 How businesses refused to lockdown during yellow fever in Memphis
25:00 Doctors who self-experimented to find the inoculation against the yellow fever
Viruses cause more casualties than guns during war
31:00 SARS
35:00 Covid-19 vs SARS: How Covid-19 spread fast?
39:00 How would a functioning public health system deal with Covid-19?
42:00 How to develop a vaccine?
48:00 Accurate information about viruses
About Dr. Michael Oldstone
Viruses lie at the heart of some of humanity’s most pernicious and devastating diseases, such as AIDS, hepatitis, and influenza. Michael Oldstone, a professor of immunology and microbiology at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, has devoted his career to a molecular understanding of how viruses infect cells, evade and manipulate the immune system, and cause disease.
Learn more about his book: Viruses Plagues and History
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Listen now We discuss the caste system, India, untouchability and the efforts in 1800s Maharashtra, India to educate the Dalit caste. Jyothirao Phule and Savitribai Phule Show Notes: 0:52: What is a Dalit? 2:58: Pre-colonial educational system
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In this episode with Camille Walsh:
We discuss the state of American public schools, and how it is meant to uphold racism and inequality by design. We also talk about her book Racial Taxation
Detroit Public Schools:
Grosse Pointe High Schools
I wasn’t kidding when I said “It looks like a castle”
Show Notes:
1:00 - Who is a taxpayer and what is taxpayer money?
4:35 - Parents and Taxpayer Association
8:30 - Slavery, Reconstruction and the Rise of Property-tax funded local schools
10:00 - Emergence of “Separate and Unequal”
12:30 - Milliken v. Bradley
22:00 - Samantha Bee and Jason Jones’ supporting School Segregation
27:38 - Do we have a right to an education in America?
33:00 - Segregation Vouchers and Charter Schools
36:00 - Why didn’t the Federal government step in?
38:00 - School Boards and what is allowed to be taught
39:00 - Why Texas controls all public education?
43:00 - Advice for concerned parents
44:00 - I diss Guilford Public Schools a bit (nothing personal)
45:00 - University and State Residency Requirements in Education
Are you happy with your public schools?
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In this episode with David Lough:
Winston Churchill was a product of late 19th century British aristocracy. Today, we learn about the habits, practices, finances of the aristocracy and what propelled Winston Churchill to the Parliament.
Show Notes:
1:00 - David Lough discusses what motivated him to write his books.
4:50 - Life of 19th Century aristocracy in Britain
6:45 - History of Winston Churchill’s Father’s side
12:01 - History of Winston Churchill’s American side
19:26 - Marriage settlements in the 19th century
22:07 - Lord Randolph’s career as a Tory MP
24:07 - Mechanics of how mining expeditions worked
29:00 - Lord Randolph’s luck in the mining business
31:39 - Winston Churchill’s inheritance
32:37 - Winston Churchill’s schooling
36:07 - Winston Churchill’s time as an officer
43:56 - Winston Churchill’s career as a war correspondent
48:08- How Winston Churchill became an MP
53:00 - Winston Churchill upgrading the Navy
59:00 - We discuss David Lough’s next project: Wealth of the Royal Family
David Lough won an open history scholarship to Oxford University where he gained a first class degree. He founded and ran a private banking business that advises prominent British families on their investments, tax affairs and estate planning.
Following the business’s sale, David has returned to history, using the experience gained in his career to research the untold story of Winston Churchill’s precarious personal finances.
David is a trustee of the London Library and of the UK National Archives Trust. lives with his wife in Kent, England and has five adult children and nine grandchildren.
His books are available here
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Roger Shuler would be called a political prisoner if he were in any other country. In 2014, Shuler was arrested after he refused to obey a judge's order to stop writing about an alleged affair involving Robert Riley Jr., an attorney who is part of Alabama's most prominent political family, and the son of former governor Rob Riley.
Robert Riley and his father.
Think Progress wrote:
An Alabama blogger who continued to write about the alleged extramarital affair of a prominent lawyer despite a court order was arrested and jailed last week. He was still being held without bond as of Tuesday, according to reports.
Roger Shuler, a former local newspaper reporter, writes a blog about Alabama politics, Legal Schnauzer. He wrote a series of posts alleging that Robert Riley, Jr., son of former Alabama governor Bob Riley and a lawyer rumored to be running for Congress, had an affair with lobbyist Liberty Duke.
Riley sued Shuler and his wife, Carol Shuler, last year for alleged defamation. The court issued a temporary restraining order and preliminary and injunction that prohibited Shuler from writing anything about Riley’s alleged extramarital affair, allegations that he had a child out of wedlock, and other related stories, according to documents posted online. When Shuler continued to write about Riley’s alleged affair, police pursued him during a traffic stop and arrested him for contempt.
Roger Shuler explains:
Karl Rove’s First Election Fraud
Railroading Don Seigelman
Tyranny of the Shelby County City Officials
Governor Riley, Neopotism and the State Bar Association
Bradley Foundation and how we lost the VRA in Shelby County
Police Brutality
The Cruelty of Jails
The Catch-22 that Keeps inmates in Jails
Cancer of our mass incarceration system
Roger Shuler is the editor of Legal Schnauzer, where he offers sharp insight on politics of Alabama and the south.
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In this episode, Keith Spencer, author of A People’s History of Silicon Valley joins to tell us the story of our smartphones. We begin with an introduction about the pre-silicon valley inhabitants and how many were priced out of the area after the Tech companies established their offices in Silicon Valley. Without any rent control or protection, many had to move far away or became homeless.
We also take a journey around the world, beginning with the mines of Congo where minerals essential to the production of the smartphones are mined. We look at workers in Taiwan who manufacture the phone and finally the warehouse workers in England who help distribute the phone. Keith talks about how the idea of labor, company ownership changed. In this truly remarkable episode, we learn the story of our smartphones.
Keith Spencer works at Salon Magazine. You can also find him on twitter.
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Torkil Lauesen is probably the closest thing we have to a real life Robin Hood. Being a child of the cold-war, observing the struggles of decolonization efforts in the third world. He was also horrified at monumental efforts Western Democracies took to stop third world countries asserting their own independence. The US invoked fire and fury upon Vietnam, assassinated Patrice Lumumba in Congo and actively supported Apartheid South Africa, while preaching the importance of Democracy at home.
Western European countries were not much better. He found that the working class were all too happy to accept the fruits of colonial theft. In his disillusionment, he joined the Communist Task Force (KAK, Danish: Kommunistisk ArbejdsKreds). KAK tried to create a more revolutionary working class in Denmark, but their efforts proved to be futile. Therefore, from 1972 on, they channeled their political solidarity through a legal charity where they donated money to the Anti-Apartheid struggle in South Africa, Palestine, and Congo. They also had an illegal resistance cell that robbed banks and sent over millions to the same movements around the world. In 1989, the police finally caught up to them and many of their members were arrested. In the popular culture, they became known as the Blekinge Street Gang, because they were apprehended in Blekinge Street.
We’ve seen many movies romanticizing the gang as a true crime story, very few people have tried to understand their point of view and how they viewed the global anti-imperialist struggle. Majority of the western world mistakenly view the Scandinavian countries with a rosy glow, they see the pinnacle of social-democracy that we must strive for. Unfortunately, this view is from a historically blind point of view.
Today, Torkil Lauesen talks us through over 100 years of the history of Denmark and also gives us advice the eternal struggle against imperialism that all of us must take on. He also talks about his book The Global Perspective: Reflections on Imperialism and Resistance.
Excerpt from The Global Perspective: Reflections on Imperialism and Resistance
My political itinerary started with emotion; for example, the outrage at US napalm bombs and the hope of justice for the people of Vietnam. It probably also started with a guilty conscience, since I lived such a comfortable life while people in the Third World did not. I still live a very comfortable life. I am writing this text on one of the two computers we own. We live in a spacious two-bedroom apartment. We have an iPad, two mobile phones, and a flat screen TV. The apartment is equipped with all of the modern bathroom and kitchen facilities your heart desires. When I go on vacation, I fly to countries whose people cannot afford vacations. There, I enjoy their climate, culture, and food. My salary allows me to buy anything I need and much I don’t need.
The fact that living conditions around the world are so different has been the driving force of my political activism. For years, I’ve been pondering the following questions: Why does this difference exist? In what historical context did it develop? What are the economic and political mechanisms that keep it in place? And why is it so bloody difficult to change all of this?
I went to boarding school in the small Danish town of Holbæk. There, I experienced the uprising of 1968. Its impact was so strong that it even engulfed the Danish countryside. We challenged the authorities at our school, edited a critical student newspaper, and organized meetings on the war in Vietnam. I belonged to a study circle that discussed political theory in order to understand the injustices of the world and find ways to fight against them.
A KAK poster from the 1960s. It says, “World Bank: The Most talented Imperialists Work Here.”In 1968, one of my peers introduced me to the Kommunistisk Arbejdskreds (KAK), the “Communist Working Circle.” It was a life-altering moment. KAK’s theoretical foundation, the “parasite state theory,” corresponded to my everyday experiences. It explained that there was a direct connection between the wealth in our part of the world and the poverty elsewhere. The connection was imperialism. The parasite state theory also explained why the working classes in our part of the world were not interested in revolution but only in changes to the ruling system that would grant them a bigger share of imperialist plunder.
Once I discovered KAK, my individual, uncoordinated, and emotional political approach gave way to an organized and strategic one. I first became a KAK sympathizer and later a very dedicated member. I went on study trips to the Third World and gathered resources to support Third World liberation movements, legally as well as illegally. My travels to Middle Eastern and African countries and the collaboration with Third World revolutionaries strengthened the emotions that got me interested in politics in the first place—my wish for justice and my outrage at imperialist oppression—but they also sparked a feeling of personal responsibility: Third World liberation movements were no longer abstract political entities but now consisted of real-life people and comrades who I felt obliged to. We, the members of KAK, wanted to be a little wheel in a big machine fighting for a different world order. Our emotions, experiences, and actions led to constant questioning of ourselves and our politics. We had to remain motivated and engaged in this fight—and, if possible, we had to motivate others to do the same.
Theory was very important to us. Our practice was always informed by theoretical, strategic, and tactical reflections. This also applied to our collaboration with Third World liberation movements. We would discuss politics first; only after would we decide on any action plan. Emotion, theory, organization, practice, everything was connected: emotions were the driving force, theory provided guidance, organization brought structure, and practice gave concrete results. In my case, forty years of political activism have been defined by this framework. This book is a summary of my experiences.
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Today, the AIDS crisis is under control in the United States. However, in the 1980s, it was an epidemic where many died. Most people didn’t understand how it transmitted and where it came from.
Protest from New York City in 1983 Asking for Research instead of Demonization
Instead of compassion, patients were on the receiving of demonization and moralization. Some people believed that these patients deserved AIDS because many were gay. It was jokingly called, “the gay plague.” Also, the White House ignored it precisely for that reason. Today, Marianne Williamson, author, activist and former presidential candidate joins us to talk about Project Angel Food, a non-profit that has delivered more than 12 million meals to ill and dying homebound patients since 1989. The group was created to help people suffering from the ravages of HIV/AIDS.
New York Times in 1991 covering AIDS Deaths
For More Information
She has also worked throughout her career on poverty, anti-hunger and racial reconciliation issues. She has advocated for reparations for slavery since the 1990’s and was the first candidate in the 2020 presidential primary season to make it a pillar of her campaign. In 2004, she co-founded The Peace Alliance and supports the creation of a U.S. Department of Peace. In addition, she advocates for a cabinet level Department of Children and Youth to adequately address the chronic trauma of millions of American children.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/williamsonmarianne
Twitter: @marwilliamson
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mariannewilliamson/
Websites of Interest
www.marianne.com
www.marianne2020.com
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In our audio podcast, we have Gerald Horne to talk about the founding of our Nation. He is a professor and the author of countless books including The Counter-Revolution of 1776 and the upcoming The Dawning of the Apocalypse, which is set to be released later this year. In today’s audio episode, Gerald Horne explores the class character of the 1776 revolt, he also brings in vivid details about the geopolitical space during that time that lead to the formation of the country. Gerald Horn also makes a provocative case that 1776 is a counter-revolution. Finally, we connect the events of 1776 to the rest of American history and what it means for us, as a people, for the future.
To listen to Gerald Horne’s WBAI appearance, click here
Excerpt from The Dawning of the Apocalypse
THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT the predicates of the rise of England, moving from the periphery to the center (and inferentially, this is a story about their revolting spawn in North America post-1776). This is also a book about the seeds of the apocalypse, which led to the foregoing—slavery, white supremacy, and settler colonialism (and the precursors of capitalism)—planted in the long sixteenth century (roughly 1492 to 1607), which eventuated in what is euphemistically termed “modernity,” a process that reached its apogee in North America, the essential locus of this work. In these pages I seek to explain the global forces that created this catastrophe—notably for Africans and the indigenous of the Americas—and how the minor European archipelago on the fringes of the continent (the British isles) was poised to come from behind, surge ahead, and maneuver adeptly in the potent slipstream created by Spain, Portugal, the Ottomans, even the Dutch and the French, as this long century lurched to a turning point in Jamestown. Although, as noted, I posit that 1492 is the hinge moment in the rise of Western Europe, I also argue in these pages that it is important to sketch the years before this turning point, especially since it was 1453—the Ottoman Turks seizing Constantinople (today’s Istanbul)—that played a critical role in spurring Columbus’s voyage and, of course, there were other trends that led to 1453, and so on, as we march backward in time.
In brief, and as shall be outlined, the Ottomans enslaved Africans and Europeans, among others, as contemporary Albania and Bosnia suggest. The Spanish, the other sixteenth-century titan, created an escape hatch by spurring the creation of a “Free African” population, which could be armed. Moreover, for 150 years until the late seventeenth century, thousands of Filipinos were enslaved by Spaniards in Mexico, suggesting an alternative to a bonded labor force comprised of Africans or even indigenes. That is, the substantial reliance on enslaved African labor in North America honed by London was hardly inevitable.
Florida’s first slaves came from southern Spain, though admittedly an African population existed in that part of Europe and wound up in North America. Yet at this early juncture, sixteenth-century Spanish law and custom afforded the enslaved rights not systematically enjoyed in what was to become Dixie. Moreover, Spain’s shortage of soldiers and laborers, exacerbated by a fanatical Catholicism that often barred other Europeans under the guise of religiosity—a gambit London did not indulge to the same extent—provided Africans with leverage.
However, as time passed, it was London’s model, then accelerated by Washington, that prevailed,: focusing enslavement tightly on Africans and those of even partial African ancestry, then seeking to expel “Free Negroes” to Sierra Leone and Liberia. London and Washington created a broader base for settler colonialism by way of a “white” population, based in the first instance on once warring, then migrant English, Irish, Scots, and Welsh; then expanding to include other European immigrants mobilized to confront the immense challenge delivered by rambunctious and rebellious indigenous Americans and enslaved Africans. This approach over time also allowed Washington to have allies in important nations and even colonies, providing enormous political leverage.
This approach also had the added “advantage” of dulling class antagonism among settlers, who, perhaps understandably, were concerned less about the cutthroat competition delivered by an enslaved labor force and more with the real prospect of having their throats cut in the middle of the night by those very same slaves. Among the diverse settlers—Protestant and Jewish; English and Irish et al.—there was a perverse mitosis at play as these fragments cohered into a formidable whole of “whiteness,” then white supremacy, which involved class collaboration of the rankest sort between and among the wealthy and those not so endowed.
In a sense, as the Ottomans pressed westward, Madrid and Lisbon began to cross the Atlantic as a countermove by way of retreat or even as a way to gain leverage. But with the “discovery” of the Americas, leading to the ravages of the African slave trade, the Iberians, especially Spain, accumulated sufficient wealth and resources to confront their Islamic foes more effectively.
The toxicity of settler colonialism combined with white supremacy not only dulled class antagonism in the colonies. It also solved a domestic problem with the exporting of real and imagined dissidents. In 1549 England was rocked to its foundations by “Kett’s Revolt,” where land was at issue and warehouses were put to the torch and harbors destroyed. A result of this disorienting upheaval, according to one analysis, was to convince the yeomanry to ally with the gentry, a class collaborationist ethos then exported to the settlements. Assuredly, this rebellion shook England to its foundations, forcing the ruling elite to consider alternatives to the status quo, facilitating the thrust across the Atlantic. It is evident that land enclosure in England was tumultuous, making land three times more profitable, as it created disaster for the poorest, providing an incentive for them to try their luck abroad. A plot of land that once employed one or two hundred persons would—after enclosure—serve only the owner and a few shepherds.
This vociferation was unbridled as the unsustainability of the status quo became conspicuous. Palace intrigue, a dizzying array of wars, with allies becoming enemies in a blink of an eye, the sapping spread of diseases, mass death as a veritable norm, bloodthirstiness as a way of life—all this and worse became habitual. This convinced many that taking a gamble on pioneering in the Americas was the “least bad” alternative to the status quo. Indeed, the discrediting of the status quo that was feudalism provided favorable conditions for the rise of a new system: capitalism.
As I write in 2019, there is much discussion about the purported 400th anniversary of the arrival of Africans in what is now the United States, though Africans enslaved and otherwise were present in northern Florida as early as 1565 or the area due north as early as 1526. As the following paragraphs suggest, this 1619 date is notional at best or, alternatively, seeks to understand the man without understanding the child. In my book on the seventeenth century, noted above, I wrote of the mass enslavement and genocidal impulse that ravaged Africans and indigenous Americans. That book detailed the arrival in full force of the apocalypse; the one at hand limns the precursor: the dawning of this annihilation. The sixteenth century meant the takeoff of the apocalypse, while the following century embodied the boost phase. In brief, this apocalypse spelled the devastation of multiple continents: the Americas, Australia, and Africa not least, all for the ultimate benefit of a relatively tiny elite in London, then Washington.
Thus, for reasons that become clearer below, the enslavement of Africans got off to a relatively “slow” start. From 1501 to 1650, a period during which Portuguese elites, at least until about 1620, and then their Dutch peers, held a dominant position in delivering transatlantic imports of captives: 726,000 Africans were dragged to the Americas, essentially to Spanish settlements and Brazil. By way of contrast, from 1650 to 1775, during London’s and Paris’s ascendancy and the concomitant accelerated development of sugar and tobacco, about 4.8 million Africans were brought to the Americas. Then, for the next century or so, until 1866, almost 5.1 million manacled Africans were brought to the region, at a time when the republicans in North America played a preeminent role in this dirty business. Similarly, at the time of the European invasion of the Americas, there were many millions of inhabitants of these continents, but between 1520 and 1620 the Aztecs and Incas, two of the major indigenous groupings, lost about 90 percent of their populations. In short, the late seventeenth century marked the ascendancy of the apocalypse, and the late sixteenth century marked the time when apocalypse was approaching in seven-league boots.18 Yet the holocaust did not conclude in the seventeenth century, as ghastly as it was. The writer Eduardo Galeano argues that in three centuries, beginning in the 1500s, the “Cerro Rico” alone, one region in South America, “consumed eight million lives.” Thus, due north in California, the indigenous population was about 150,000 in 1846 at the onset of the U.S. occupation, but it was a mere 16,000 by 1890,20 a direct result of a policy that one scholar has termed “genocide.”
Do you agree that 1776 was a counter revolution?
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We have been hearing ridiculous rumors, self-serving lies and neocon propaganda about Xinjiang, China. Unfortunately, much of this propaganda bled into the initial coverage of the covid-19 situation, which prevented many western governments from taking it seriously and enacting the measures necessary to contain the virus.
Today, we have Carl Zha to walk us through detailed history about Xinjiang, the Uighers, and their relationship to China.
Xinjiang in 1915
Winter in Xinjiang in 1910
Kashar, Xinjiang (year unknown)
You can find Carl Zha on twitter and his podcast can be found on patreon.
You can find Historic.ly on the web, Twitter, and Facebook. Music by Wreck Tech, who can be found on SoundCloud and Spotify.
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Today, Stuart Schrader, a scholar at Johns Hopkins, joins us to talk about his book: Badges Without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing. We go through the history of modern policing in America, how these tactics were spread around the world during the cold war, and finally the repercussions when they came home.
Here is the video that we referenced during the interview:
Excerpt from chapter 5 of Badges Without Borders, “Policing and Social Regulation”
Policing the globe engendered new approaches to governance. The public safety project insisted upon the universality of its approach to crafting the first line of defense, uniting cops from across the United States and across the globe in a single fraternity. Advising police overseas differed from patrolling a beat at home, however. Innovation, flexibility, and patience were essential. The experience affirmed and reinforced police experts’ belief in the vital necessity of cutting-edge policing expertise as a bulwark against societal chaos.
Many older public safety advisors retired from law enforcement when they left the Agency for International Development (AID), but around a hundred rotated back into ordinary police positions at home, now with a new outlook. Lee Echols, who initiated the public safety mission to Bolivia in 1957, was elected sheriff of Yuma County, Arizona, in 1960. A campaign ad included endorsements from Office of Strategic Services director William Donovan and the Office of Public Safety’s (OPS’s) Theo Hall. Echols lost a bid for reelection after one term, during which he spent lavishly and implemented rigorous FBI-led in-service training for his men, in effect imitating OPS-style reforms. This vigor was premature, however—the law and order craze still lay in the future. Echols was obliged to resume overseas advisory work.
After OPS shut down, Adolph Saenz became a prison administrator in New Mexico, recruiting OPS buddies to staff his facility, and Donald Bordenkircher Jr. became warden of the West Virginia State Penitentiary. In the late 1950s, Bordenkircher had been a rising star in prison administration at San Quentin State Prison in California, and he became a public safety advisor in South Vietnam in 1967. He took lessons learned at San Quentin to Vietnam, like the rapid-response “troubleshooting squad” for prison rebellions and the “hole,” or solitary confinement, for disciplinary infractions. Bordenkircher eventually returned overseas, advising prison administration in Iraq from 2005 to 2009. Both Saenz and Bordenkircher put their counterinsurgent knowledge to the test when called on to suppress rebellions in prisons they supervised, earning national news coverage.
The individual itineraries of returned advisors do not suffice to illustrate the domestication of counterinsurgency, however. Instead, the institutions they developed would reproduce the knowledge they created long after they moved on and their names were forgotten. In their travels, advisors designed, introduced, and tested universally applicable policing techniques and technologies. In the context of global counterinsurgency, information collection, sorting, and dissemination were essential, and its reliance on new technologies was consistent with the capital-intensive thrust of police reforms that professionalizers of the 1960s adopted. Technologies for surveilling and managing the population encouraged new forms of violence, like forced disappearance. And new weapons and new ways to use them also emerged. Through these developments, global security congealed.
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To learn more about Stuart Schrader and his work, please visit his website
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Today, Meredith Lair, professor at George Mason University and the author of Armed with Abundance: Consumerism and Soldiering in the Vietnam War examines the consumerist side of war that is hidden from most American’s views.
During the episode, we mention the Long Binh Post, which currently looks like this:
Excerpt from “Armed with Abundance”
Traditional war stories foreground suffering, not satisfaction, enabling readers or moviegoers to indulge their appetites for sentimentality, and to romanticize—and cheapen—the sufferings of soldiers and civilians at war. The Vietnam War I have re-imagined in these pages instead foregrounds satisfaction, pressing suffering into the background, like a shadow cast by something ominous and far away. In this new telling of the Vietnam war story, soldiers arrived in-country with expectations of storming the beaches, but found instead a vast network of heavily fortified and elaborately adorned American bases.
Cold beer and clean sheets, not foxholes and firefights, were often the norm, and most of the meals were served hot, except, of course, for the ice cream. At work, they settled into wearisome routines, shuffling paper and equipment from one side of Vietnam to the other, and at night, they looked for ways to while away the hot, sticky hours until dawn. Just like the folks at home, they relaxed to music or in front of the T.V., and time off was given to sports and home improvements, though many also found satisfaction in the seedy bars and brothels that sprang up all around them. For most, R&R was a reprieve not from danger but from hard work and boredom, and some lucky G.I.s stationed near the beach got to have it all the time.
Beach on Da Nang, March 1966
Everywhere, in this version of the Vietnam War, there were things to buy: silks, statues, house wares, electronics, war trophies, and especially the camera to document it all. Through its lens, American soldiers recorded the quaintness of Vietnamese village life, the verdant beauty of the countryside, and the carnage wrought by high-tech warfare. Returning home, once-provincial boys were transformed into men of the world, and they had the goods—custom suits, flashy watches, and war trophies—to prove it. They had the stories, too. These conquering warriors could boast of all that they had seen of war, even if they saw it on the nightly news or read it in their unit’s newspaper. No one doubted their John Wayne claims, because the burnished tales fit so well with what a war was supposed to be. And yet, for all the abundance pervading them, American war zones would seldom ever be that way again.
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Perhaps no one in history has been as maligned in the Western Press as Joseph Stalin.
On December 18, 1878, Yosif Djugashvili was born in what is now the country of Georgia. He was born to a very poor family. His father was a shoemaker.
This is Stalin at age 16, when he started studying seminary studies at the University
He had to drop out of seminary university because his parents could not afford the fees. This made Stalin very conscious of how income inequality is oppressive. He started his own Marxist study circle.
In 1902, Stalin worked at a warehouse that caught fire. He began his activism there. He called for strikes to demand increase in pay, workplace safety measures. Soon enough, the Tsar learned that Stalin was organizing these strikes, so they arrested him. This is his mugshot
While he was in prison, he continued to agitate for workers’ rights. He organized a protest against a religious cleric’s visit. He also demanded that those in jail for political activities would live together. They put him in solitary confinement for this. However, his term in prison didn’t last long. He escaped and returned back to Georgia.
In 1912, he started using the moniker "Stalin" which means "Man of Steel" in Russian because marxism and socialism was illegal under the Tsar. After the Bolshevik Revolution, he was appointed by the new government as People's Commissar for Nationalities' Affairs. His job was to establish liaisons and win over non-Russian citizens of the former Russian empire, and he was able to unite people of many factions and religions to join the Bolsheviks during the Russian civil war.
In 1922, he was elected as the General Secretary for the Party. He was very shy and not a very good orator. However, he was elected to be the leader of the USSR once Lenin died in 1924. At first, he didn’t want the position, but the people wanted him to be the Leader. Journalist Anna Louise Strong, who was in Russia during the pre-war period, in 1936 explains
Stalin’s great moment when he first appeared as leader of the whole Soviet people was when, as Chairman of the Constitutional Commission, he presented the new Constitution of the Socialist State. A commission of thirty-one of the country’s ablest historians, economists, and political scientists had been instructed to create “the world’s most democratic constitution” with the most accurate machinery yet devised for obtaining “the will of the people.” They spent a year and a half in detailed study of every past constitution in the world, not only of governments but of trade unions and voluntary societies. The draft that they prepared was then discussed by the Soviet people for several months in more than half a million meetings attended by 36,500,000 people. The number of suggested amendments that reached the Constitutional Commission from the popular discussions was 154,000. Stalin himself is known to have read tens of thousands of the people’s letters.
Two thousand people sat in the great white hall of the Kremlin Palace when Stalin made his report to the Congress of Soviets. Below me, where I sat in the journalists’ box, was the main floor filled with the Congress deputies; around me in the loges sat the foreign diplomatic corps; behind me, in a deep gallery, were citizen-visitors. Outside the hall tens of millions of people listened over the radio, from the southern cotton fields of Central Asia to the scientific stations on the Arctic coast. It was a high point of Soviet history. But Stalin’s words were direct and simple and as informal as if he sat at a fireside talking with a few friends. He explained the significance of the Constitution, took up the suggested amendments, referred a large number of them to various lawmaking bodies and himself discussed the most important. He made it plain that everyone of those 154,000 suggestions had been classified somewhere and would influence something.
Among the dozen or more amendments which Stalin personally discussed, he approved of those that facilitated democratic expression and disapproved of those that limited democracy. Some people felt, for instance, that the different constituent republics should not be granted the right to secede from the Soviet Union; Stalin said that, while they probably would not want to secede, their right to do so should be constitutionally guaranteed as an assertion of democracy.
You can read the rest of her report here
However, during the Cold war, ridiculous amount of Western Propaganda spread with ridiculous amount of myths that usually came from self-serving testimony of Nazis. For example, in this 1950s anti-communist comic book, they recognize that the wealthy rural landowners burned their crops. While they call them “peasants”, back then peasants referred to anyone in the rural area regardless of their wealth.
Today, Grover Furr focuses on all the myths and legends surrounding Joseph Stalin, especially the underpinnings in the western press (Bourgeoise press).
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Listen now (59 min) | What is Family? That is a philosophical question that has bugged humans for centuries. In today’s episode, Joseph Pearce, explore this issue through the diaries of a late 18th century Argentine family. We explore the differences between the public sphere, the private sphere and the evolving role of women, education in society.
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Editor’s note: This is part 1 of a two-part edition. Listen to part two on Activist #MMT podcast.
Because of the Covid-19 crisis, our guest, Ryan Mathis' university has abandoned in-person instruction as of Friday, March 13th. My own Burlington County in New Jersey closed all schools for a month, not to open again until at least April 20th. Since my wife and I both work in two different schools, and my two little boys attend two others, I am greatly relieved. (As I record this introduction on March 28th, with the number of confirmed infected in New York and New Jersey now at nearly 50,000 and increasing exponentially, this date is very likely to be extended by several months.)
In the heart of our conversation, Ryan lays out his plan of what must happen in order to fix and replace our corrupt government, media, and educational institutions. In his estimation, it is becoming increasingly clear that the electoral process in the United States is a profoundly unfair one. Bourgeois liberal parties are becoming increasingly hostile towards both the social democratic agenda they pretend to champion, and to those desperate for that agenda to be enacted.
Contradictions of Neoliberalism.
During the March 15 Democratic Debate, we watched presidential candidate Joe Biden, profusely lie – and not once challenged by its corporate media moderators, ostensibly journalists whose supposed job is to transmit “truth” to their audience . It is obvious that legacy media has no intention of functioning as fair arbiters. In other words, it is clear that the system as it has existed will do everything it can to prevent those who want to even modestly reign in corporate power from ever achieving office. In this context, even a comparative moderate such as Bernie Sanders is torn down, smeared and faces opposition in the media.
Given this reality, it is a fool’s errand to attempt to enact change exclusively through electoral politics. Ryan says we must urgently create new institutions at a local level that are friendly to the left-wing project. This begins with rebuilding trade unions and creating alternative media projects such as MeansTV, Historic.ly, and my own Citizens’ Media TV and Activist #MMT. It will require “playing the long game,” designing and building these institutions from the ground up. Simultaneously, we can use our existing electoral politics to elect progressives at all levels of government, from the most local positions all the way to federal.
In part two, Ryan and I transition to Modern Monetary Theory, or MMT. First, we discuss the relationship between MMT and Marxism, from our viewpoints as two laypeople learning the subject as we go. In particular, we compare Marx‘s formulation of the labor theory of value to chartalism’s state theory of money, the latter of which serves as part of MMT’s foundation.
The fundamental value of money is explained well by MMT and chartalism’s assertion that “taxes drive money.” MMT further describes money as a legal institution or charter, which is a tool used by the state to control socioeconomic activity. On the other hand, the labor theory of value describes how human labor imparts financial value onto the real goods and services it produces, which are then bought and sold. In other words, the two concepts, the state theory of money and the labor theory of value, are in fact largely complementary.
Finally, Ryan and I end with an in-depth, if not complete, discussion of the so-called classical economic theories that govern our society, centering around the concept of land ownership. As our current health crisis has revealed, the laws, rules, and social mores that were rigid and incontrovertible only weeks ago, are suddenly being cast aside at high speed by those in power, in order to stave off its worst consequences. This is especially true of the “how are you going to pay for it?” question, which is being ignored for unprecedented spending by both Congress and the Federal Reserve. We the people should also take advantage of this situation in order to do what We feel is best for our society.
Podcast by Jeff Epstein for Historic.ly
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You can find Jeff at Citizens’ Media TV on Twitter, Facebook, and on the web
His podcast about MMT: Activist #MMT, can be found found on Twitter and Facebook.
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Four years ago, when Donald Trump was elected President, many of you were shocked. Many wondered, “Where did we go wrong?” Today, I interview author and journalist Max Blumenthal about his book Management of Savagery. Max painstakingly details the foreign policy decisions made during the cold war in the 1970s, and maps the ripple effects of these decisions that has lead us to this path of regime change wars, empire, Islamophobia and bloodstained episodes of blowback.
Excerpt from Management of Savagery
Israel’s ISIS Connection
While Washington’s Gulf-funded think tank experts spun out public relations for the allies of Al Qaeda, ISIS found defenders in Israel. At the Likud Party-linked Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, its director Efraim Inbar promoted the IslamicState in Syria as a boon to Israel’s strategic deterrence. In an op-ed entitled “The Destruction of Islamic State Is a Strategic Mistake,” Inbar argued, “The West should seek the further weakening of Islamic State, but not its destruction.”
Instead, he insisted, it should exploit ISIS as a “useful tool” in the fight against Israel’s true enemy, Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, which operates on Israeli frontiers from southern Lebanon. “A weak IS is, counterintuitively, preferable to a destroyed IS,” Inbar concluded. Inbar went on to argue for prolonging the conflict in Syria for as long as possible on the grounds that extended sectarian bloodshed would produce “positive change.”
As bracing as it might have been, Inbar’s argument provided a perfect distillation of the Israeli government’s position on the Syrian civil war. “In Syria, if the choice is between Iran and the Islamic State, I choose the Islamic State,” Israel’s former defense minister, Moshe Ya’alon, bluntly stated in 2016. Eager to see an Iranian ally weakened from within and without, the Israeli army occasionally bombed in support of the rebels operating around the southern city of Quneitra and attacked Damascus several times.
The end goal of the Israelis was to establish a buffer zone between itself and Hezbollah, with Sunni Islamists, including Al Qaeda affiliates, acting as its proxies. A rebel commander revealed to the US news outlet Al-Monitor,“The battle to capture Quneitra on Sept. 27 [2014] was preceded by coordination and communications between Abu Dardaa, a leader of Jabhat al-Nusra [Al Qaeda], and the Israeli army to pave the way for the attack.”
Benjamin Netanyahu greeting injured Rebel Fighter
The Israeli military-intelligence apparatus even funded its own unit of the Free Syrian Army, the Golan Knights. “Israel stood by our side in a heroic way,” Moatasem al-Golani, a spokesman for the Golan Knights, told the Wall Street Journal,“We wouldn’t have survived without Israel’s assistance.”
In 2016, Israel established a liaison unit to support the efforts of the rebels in southern Syria, according to journalist Nour Samaha, “facilitating cross-border travel for residents into Israel, regular deliveries of food, clothing, construction equipment and educational materials, airstrikes on pro-government positions and the establishment of an Israeli-backed opposition faction in rebel-held southern Syria.”
When journalist Bryan Bender visited top Israeli military officials in the occupied Golan Heights, he heard unapologetic arguments for supporting Al Qaeda and ISIS against the Syrian government, Iran and Hezbollah. “If I can be frank, the radical axis headed by Iran is more risky than the global jihad one,” said Army Brigadier General Ram Yavne, the head of the IDF’s Strategic Division. “It is much more knowledgeable, stronger, with a bigger arsenal.” When Bender asked another Israeli official if the United States should allow ISIS to maintain its caliphate in eastern Syria, he replied, “Why not?”
While Israeli military honchos took satisfaction from the bloodshed of Syria’s civil war, ISIS commanders tiptoed around the Israeli military. During a public forum in Israel, the ever-candid former minister of defense, Ya’alon, revealed that an ISIS cell operating alongside the rebels in southern Syria had accidentally launched a mortar into Israeli-controlled territory. “On most occasions, firing comes from regions under the control of the regime,” Ya’alon commented. “But once the firing came from ISIS positions—and it immediately apologized.”
Pushed by Israeli media to clarify his statement about ISIS formally apologizing to Israel—an open admission of an Israeli backchannel to the jihadists—Ya’alon refused further comment.
In Washington, meanwhile, top officials in the Obama administration, including Hillary Clinton, kept their complaints about the channels of state support to ISIS and other jihadist rebel factions confined to private discussions. There was a lot to lose in venting their frustrations in public, including the massive donations their own political operations received from the very same sources.
When Hillary Clinton left the State Department in late 2013, she immediately joined the board of the Clinton Foundation. The New York-based nonprofit touted its charitable good works around the world, from making AIDS medication more affordable to “working toward a world where more girls and women can achieve full participation in all aspects of life.” At the same time, the Clinton Foundation raked in between $10 and $25 million from the government of Saudi Arabia, and as much as $5 million from a front group called “Friends of Saudi Arabia.” Tens of millions more flowed into the Clinton foundation coffers from Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
All along, Clinton knew that the major donors to her family’s vehicle for charity and influence peddling—a key platform for her forthcoming presidential campaign—were propping up ISIS and Al Qaeda in Syria. In a 2014 email to her longtime political confidant John Podesta, Clinton singled out Qatar and Saudi Arabia as the principal benefactors of the Islamic State. “While this military/para-military operation is moving forward,” she wrote, citing Western and US intelligence sources, “we need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region.”
Vice President Joseph Biden was even more explicit. Discussing the challenges facing America in Syria, he stated, “Our biggest problem is our allies.” Singling out Turkey and Saudi Arabia, Biden complained at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in October 2014, “They were so determined to take down Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni–Shia war; what did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad. Except that the people who were being supplied were Al-Nusra and Al Qaeda and the extremist elements of jihadis coming from other parts of the world.”
Biden’s candid comments were immediately labeled as a “gaffe” by the Washington Post’s Adam Taylor, who grumbled about the “worrying habit of lumping al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front in with Islamic State.” For daring to give credence to what was already widely known, Biden was forced to embark on the equivalent of an international apology tour the same month, issuing “a formal clarification” to Turkey’s Erdoğan and thanking Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister for his country’s supposed cooperation in the fight against ISIS. After Biden’s pathetic retreat, scarcely anyone in Washington, whether in government, the world of think tank experts, or in the press corps, dared to openly confront America’s core Middle Eastern allies for their backing of Al Qaeda and ISIS.
Besides Saudi Arabia and Qatar, there was ample evidence that Turkey was taking a lead role in fueling Islamist militancy in Syria’s north. A leaked 2015 report from the Turkish Gendarmerie General Command found that lorries filled with heavy weapons had been sent by the Turkish intelligence services to resupply al-Nusra. “The trucks were carrying weapons and supplies to the al-Qaeda terror organization,” the report read. The government of Turkish president Erdoğan promptly banned all media coverage of the scandal and placed the soldiers who carried out the searches on trial for espionage.
A twenty-nine-year-old Lebanese American named Serena Shim had been reporting on these developments on the Turkish border for Press TV, the Iranian government’s English language channel. She was among the first correspondents to cover the transfer of arms from the Incirlik US air base in Turkey to insurgents in Syria. Her sister, Fatmeh, told local media in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan, that Shim “caught [Turkish intelligence] bringing ISIS high-ranked members into Syria from Turkey into camps, which are supposed to be Syrian refugee camps.” Shim began to fear for her life, complaining that Turkish intelligence considered her a spy. “I’m hoping that nothing is going to happen, that it’s going to blow over,” she told Press TV, the Iranian network, on October 18.
Turkey-backed FSA capture the city of Afrin in Syria.
One day later, Shim died in a car accident. The story of her death was buried, with no acknowledgement from Reporters Without Borders or the Committee to Protect Journalists. American media scarcely covered it at all. Press TV said the car that she died in and its driver had disappeared. Her family never accepted the official version of events and has pressed in vain for an investigation….
If you enjoyed this excerpt:
Max Blumenthal is the host of the show Moderate Rebels and also the editor of The Gray Zone.
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Podcast by (the non-billionaire, non-pedophile, non-dead) Jeff Epstein for Historic.ly, in Pittman, New Jersey. You can find Historic.ly on the web, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find Jeff at Citizens’ Media TV on Twitter, Facebook, and on the web. Music by Wreck Tech, who can be found on SoundCloud and Spotify.
Listen to part 1
Today I talk with creator and host, Esha Krishnaswamy. In this two-part episode, Esha opens my very naïve eyes to the difference between official rules and true justice.
The political revolution, which began when Bernie Sanders declared his candidacy in 2015, is today a movement to put Bernie into the White House, and to make Congress, state, and municipal governments as friendly as possible to his — and our — agenda. This campaign, however, does not end of November. It is a rehearsal for the rest of our lives. Once in office, our task turns to implementing that agenda and bulldozing anyone who stands in our way.
It is a race for true justice, to undo the catastrophic problems facing us, thanks to more than four decades of neoliberalism. First and foremost, it is a race to give my two little boys an organized society in which to exist during the second half of their lives.
The first act of revolution is love. For centuries, the 1% has used to hate and lies to divide us. Now it is our turn to use truth and love to divide the 1%. The political revolution will go down as the most impactful, peaceful revolution in human history. The age of neoliberalism is over.
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Podcast by (the non-billionaire, non-pedophile, non-dead) Jeff Epstein for Historic.ly, in Pittman, New Jersey. You can find Historic.ly on the web, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find Jeff at Citizens’ Media TV on Twitter, Facebook, and on the web. Music by Wreck Tech, who can be found on SoundCloud and Spotify.
Today I talk with creator and host, Esha Krishnaswamy. In this two-part episode, Esha opens my very naïve eyes to the difference between official rules and true justice.
The political revolution, which began when Bernie Sanders declared his candidacy in 2015, is today a movement to put Bernie into the White House, and to make Congress, state, and municipal governments as friendly as possible to his — and our — agenda. This campaign, however, does not end of November. It is a rehearsal for the rest of our lives. Once in office, our task turns to implementing that agenda and bulldozing anyone who stands in our way.
It is a race for true justice, to undo the catastrophic problems facing us, thanks to more than four decades of neoliberalism. First and foremost, it is a race to give my two little boys an organized society in which to exist during the second half of their lives.
The first act of revolution is love. For centuries, the 1% has used to hate and lies to divide us. Now it is our turn to use truth and love to divide the 1%. The political revolution will go down as the most impactful, peaceful revolution in human history. The age of neoliberalism is over.
This conversation was recorded in the heart of the chaos following the 2020 Democratic caucus in Iowa, before the second contest in New Hampshire. Even though Bernie Sanders chances of “officially“ winning the nomination have greatly increased after his blowout win in Nevada, the lessons are no less applicable.
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We need to take hold of our radical history and make America radical once again. Generations past call on us to do so.
Our own historical longings urge us to do so. And Americans yet to come await our determination in doing so.
As the Progressive journalist Henry Demarest Lloyd put it more than a century ago: “The price of liberty is something more than eternal vigilance. There must also be eternal advance. We can save the rights we have inherited from our fathers only by winning new ones to bequeath our children.”
Today, Harvey Kaye from the the University of Wisconsin in Greenbay joins us to talk about the forgotten American labour and socialist movement and why we need to resurrect it.
Forgotten Visuals
Mayday parade in New York City in 1932
Leader of the Milwaukee Socialist Movement in the 1910s
The Socialist platform in Milwaukee in 1916
Other places to listen:
Soundcloud
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Stephen Miller is one of President Trump’s senior policy advisors. This week, Michael Hayden from the Southern Poverty Law Center joins us to speak about the disturbing leaks and the history of America’s immigration policies.
Miller backs immigration policies Hitler once praised
Miller refers to President Calvin Coolidge multiple times in emails to Breitbart. Coolidge signed the Immigration Act of 1924. The legislation was based on eugenics and severely limited immigration from certain parts of the world into the United States. White nationalists lionize Coolidge, in part for his remarks condemning race mixing.
“There are racial considerations too grave to be brushed aside for any sentimental reasons,” Coolidge wrote in a 1921 magazine article, as quoted on American Renaissance. “Biological laws tell us that certain divergent people will not mix or blend. … Quality of mind and body suggests that observance of ethnic law is as great a necessity to a nation as immigration law.”
In “Mein Kampf,” Hitler portrayed the U.S. law as a potential model for the Nazis in Germany. James Q. Whitman, the Ford Foundation professor of comparative and foreign law at Yale Law School, noted this detail in his book “Hitler’s American Model: The United States and the Making of Nazi Race Law.”
“Absolutely, Hitler talks about the law in ‘Mein Kampf,’” Whitman told Hatewatch. “He suggests that the U.S. was the only country making the type of progress the Nazis were trying to establish.”
Miller brings up Coolidge on Aug. 4, 2015, in the context of halting all immigration to America. Garrett Murch, who also was an aide to Sessions, starts the conversation by emailing McHugh, Miller and three other Breitbart employees, including Hahn, to note something he heard on a right-wing talk radio show:
Murch, Aug. 4, 2015, 6:22 p.m. ET: “[Show host] Mark Levin just said there should be no immigration for several years. Not just cut the number down from the current 1 million green cards per year. For assimilation purposes.”
Miller, Aug. 4, 2015, 6:23 p.m. ET: “Like Coolidge did. Kellyanne Conway poll says that is exactly what most Americans want after 40 years of non-stop record arrivals.”
Another example of Miller mentioning Coolidge happens Sept. 13, 2015, when he criticizes Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham for appearing too sympathetic to refugees. Miller sends an email to McHugh and Hahn with the subject, “Tucker asks McCain, Graham how refugees are good for Americans,” with a transcript of a discussion between the two senators and Tucker Carlson of Fox News.
Miller, Sept. 13, 2015, 7:53 p.m. ET: “this is a good chance to expose that ridiculous statue of liberty myth. Poem has nothing to do with it: [Link] Indeed, two decades after poem was added, Coolidge shut down immigration. No one said he was violating the Statue of Liberty's purpose. BTW: have you noticed how [Ben] Carson and [Carly] Fiorina are preening [Marco] Rubio-like daily in front of the media to show them how they are good and decent Republicans unlike Mr. Trump? Finally, speaking of refugees, did you see the expanded list I emailed of foreign-born terrorists on Friday afternoon?”
McHugh said the email exchange led to her Breitbart post called “Lindsey Graham: Pretty Poem Says USA Must Adopt Unknown Muslim Men from Jihad-Syria." McHugh’s Sept. 14, 2015, story treats Arab men as a danger to Americans in the suburbs: “Graham’s position is almost a threat: Boots on the ground in Syria, or your sleepy suburb gets a ‘diverse’ surprise.”
Miller cites Coolidge again in the context of Ellis Island on April 28, 2015, when he sends McHugh a New York Times article that the immigration museum there would be adding new galleries:
Miller, April 28, 2015, 11:38 p.m. ET: Something tells me there is not a Calvin Coolidge exhibit.
Miller also brings up Coolidge in the context of Immigrant Heritage Month on June 2, 2015. He sends a link from an MSNBC report about the start of the month:
Miller, June 2, 2015, 7:05 p.m. ET: This would seem a good opportunity to remind people about the heritage established by Calvin Coolidge, which covers four decades of the 20th century.
Miller’s comment about “four decades” refers to the time between the passage of the Immigration Act of 1924 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, or Hart-Celler Act, which abolished racial quota laws for immigration. Miller’s vision on immigration equates “heritage” with a time in which American laws were dictated by discredited race science.
Miller posits conspiracy theories about immigration
Miller helped shape one of McHugh’s stories for Breitbart titled “Ted Kennedy’s Real Legacy: 50 Years of Ruinous Immigration Law,” the emails show. The story focused on the legacy of the Hart-Celler Act from the perspective that the removal of racial quota laws harmed the country. Miller flagged the story idea to McHugh:
Miller, March 30, 2015, 1:49 p.m. ET: “They opened the Ted Kennedy center today in Boston. Another opportunity to revisit the ’65 immigration law.”
After McHugh’s story was published, Miller emailed her, “The eds should make your piece the overnight lead.” He went on to suggest that the reason no other publication covered the anniversary of the law the same way Breitbart did was because elites wanted to keep the country in the dark about immigration. White nationalists typically argue that whites are being replaced in the United States because outside forces seek to do them harm.
Miller, March 30, 2015, 10:24 p.m. ET: “Just let this sink in: Kennedy was honored today, fifty years after pushing through this law, and you're the only writer in the country who published a piece even mentioning the law and what it did.”
McHugh, March 30, 2015, 10:31 p.m. ET: “That is … very disturbing.”
Miller, March 30, 2015, 10:35 p.m. ET: “Elites can't allow the people to see that their condition is not the product of events beyond their control, but the product of policy they foisted onto them.”
McHugh, March 30, 2015, 10:42 p.m. ET: “Right. Immigration is something that we can only vote to have more of — immigration ‘reform’ is a moral imperative — but it’s impossible, evil, racist to reverse immigration, and you don’t think that the government can deport 11 million anyway, do you?”
Miller, March 30, 2015, 10:44 p.m. ET: “They want people to feel helpless, retreat into their enclaves, and detach. Our job is to show people they can still control their destiny. Knowledge is the first step. Btw - Bannon was praising your work on this to me again.”
In his emails, Miller uses slang and rhetoric about immigration that would be familiar to people who read white nationalists discussing the “great replacement” conspiracy theory. He refers to demographic changes brought about by immigration as “new America” multiple times in the emails. It’s a phrase VDARE sometimes uses. Here are some examples of Miller using similar language in emails to Breitbart over nearly a week in July 2015:
“The ruined city of L.A.,” referring to his hometown on July 9, 2015.
“New Charlotte,” pointing to an article about employers in Charlotte, North Carolina, hiring more bilingual staff on July 14, 2015.
“New English,” about then-current GOP presidential candidate Jeb Bush speaking Spanish on the campaign trail on July 14, 2015.
“More lies about new america[sic],” linking to a Wall Street Journal opinion piece from July 2015 that lays out the degree to which immigrants are less likely than native-born Americans to commit crimes.
Excerpt written by Michael Hayden. Please go to Hatewatch to learn more about Stephen Miller and his disturbing ideology.
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In this episode, Fadhel Kaboub from Denison University joins us to talk about monetary sovereignty (or lack thereof) in formerly colonized countries.
Highlights
France and the CFA
On December 26, 1945, to the official creation of the Franc of the French Colonies in Africa (FCFA) in their 15 colonies. As we have covered before, France bullied these colonies into agreeing to continue to the CFA, after “independence”
France forced these 14 African into a treaty where they must put: 65% of their foreign currency reserves into the French Treasury and another 20% to "repay" France for their benevolent colonialism. The CFA countries only ever have access to 15% of their own money! And if they want to borrow money, they need to borrow it from private French Bankers at Commercial rates.
Most of these countries are mineral rich. Under the, “Treaty for Independence",France gets the right of first refusal for any mineral contract. Only if France says they don’t want to extract resources, these countries can make contracts with others to mine.
Why don't these colonies break the treaties?
Well, France has thought of that too. Within the treaty, France has an exclusive contract to sell weapons and also train the military in the former colonies.
The treaties also give France the authority to "pre-deploy" French troops for "peace-keeping" purposes. This means that if a country’s leader tried to get out of this, well, the French pre-deployed troops can force a coup at anytime!
Trade Deficits
Food Sovereignty
Most colonies were designed to produce one crop and they would import their food needs because they were not treated like a country with citizens but an area for capital exploitation. After world war II, Europe made sure that it was food sovereign, but these colonies have to import food from Europe.
Energy Sovereignty
Importing energy is a one way import. This creates an imbalance too!
Imbalance of Value-Added imports
African countries export raw minerals. These minerals get processed abroad and then get reimported back as cellphones, tvs etc. Since Africa isn’t allowed to develop its own industries, the goods they import cost much more than the goods they export. This creates a trade deficit. When the trade deficit gets big enough, we get big structural adjustments from the IMF.
Structural Adjustments
Eventually, these developing countries lose their sovereignty when the trade deficits get too high, the IMF steps in and imposes conditions, which usually make things worse for the developing countries. This is the bulk of the episode!
Fadheel Khaboub can be found on twitter. His progressive policy think-tank: Global Institute for Sustainable Prosperity works on creating a fairer and more just world by working with countries on monetary sovereignty.
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When reading history, we often miss the little things that makes us all human. Today, William Ian Miller from the University of Michigan joins us to speak to us about the ancient Icelandic Sagas and how it relates to us, today! We learn about traditions we kept and the knowledge we lost.
The Highlight Reel
Ye Old
Originally, the sound th was represented with the rune symbol thorn þ. Over the years, people started writing it more carelessly and then started opening it up until it resembled y.
Ye Old Tavern is pronounced = The Old Tavern.
Ancient Rome and the Middle Finger
In Latin, the word for the middle finger is digitus impudicus. It means “unchaste finger” and it was offensive back then too! I will leave it to the reader to decide why it was called “unchaste” finger and the actions people may have performed on themselves or others using this finger.
The Dating App for Incest
In the olden times, people in Iceland kept records going back 500-600 years to see who they were related to. Nowadays, there is a dating app that stops related people from hooking up!
Ancient Graffiti
Architecture in the classical times is filled with graffiti.
Babylonian Yelp
It was written in 1753 BC in Babylon. A dude named Nanni complains to a Ea-Nasir about his customer service. Nanni ordered copper from Ea-Nasir and apparently the copper was low quality.
We hope this episode helps you realize that history isn’t just studying about old times that are inapplicable to modern society. Instead, we can see what is timeless, and maybe it will even give us a glimpse of what it means to be human!
If you haven’t already, please listen to our previous episode with Professor William Ian Miller where he talks about the anarchist tradition of old Iceland.
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Today, former Member of Parliament from Northern Derby, Chris Williamson joins us. As an active member of the Labour Party since 1975, we talk about Britain’s entry into the European Common Market, the 1975 referendum.
We got through a history of the “dark ages” with Margaret Thatcher at the helm of the United Kingdom. We also talk about the transformation of Labour into a Blairite party in the 1990s and finally Chris talks about his plan to ensure a strong left in Britain and the world.
I will keep you updated on the conference that Chris is organizing.
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The 1989 Whistleblowers Protection Act says:
Whistleblowing means disclosing information that you reasonably believe is evidence of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety.
While this law does not encompass all types of whistleblowing, it works reasonably well to protect any whistleblower who isn’t a federal employee. For federal employees, in theory, there are direct channels in which they can go to reveal misconduct in their agency.
However, if the information is deemed “classified” because of “national security, then the whistleblower may go through an official channel. However, if the Whistleblower discloses this information to the American people, he is prosecuted as though he were a traitor under the espionage act. Worse, the Espionage act states that a whistleblower’s intent is irrelevant and thus bars a defendant from raising a “public interest” defense.
There are numerous examples of information that is more often classified to prevent shame for those in power, or worse just sheer laziness, than to actually protect national security, sovereignty and/or safety of the American citizenry.
John Kiriakou told an ABC reporter about the existence of the CIA torture program. Immediately afterwards, the DOJ engaged in a combination of a witchhunt and an entrapment program in order to prosecute John Kiriakou, as retaliation.
On his website, he says:
Immediately after John’s interview, the Justice Department initiated a years-long investigation, determined to find something–anything–to charge him with. This was his payback for blowing the whistle on the torture program.
John eventually was charged with three counts of espionage, one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and one count of making a false statement as a result of the 2007 ABC News interview. Finally, in order to avoid the risk of spending 45 years in prison, John accepted a plea to violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. All other charges were dropped. Even though he had no criminal intent, and there was no harm to the national security, accepting the plea resulted in a sentence of 30 months in prison.
Today, John joins us to talk about his ordeal, and also expose the entire problem with the national security apparatus.
John Kiriakou worked at the CIA until 2004. Today, he is an author and an activist. His first book, The Reluctant Spy, is about his time at the CIA. He is also working on an upcoming book. He tries to raise awareness on the bipartisan crackdown of whistleblowers and how it threatens our fragile democracy. He can be reached via his website.
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Listen now | "They gassed our puppies and we were wondering if our children would be next" - said one survivor
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What is the defining achievement of Barack Obama? For a time, it seemed it would be his foreign policy: the Paris Agreement, diplomatic relations with Cuba, and getting Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program. When Trump got elected and those deals got undone, it seemed it would be the Affordable Care Act. But after plummeting for several years, the uninsured rate among adults has begun to creep back up. Obama did avert a second Great Depression, but history is not kind to averters: with time, what didn’t happen tends to get eclipsed by what did. And what did happen under Obama is a recovery that was slow and weak. Black homeownership rates, which took a major hit during the financial crisis, are the lowest they’ve ever been.
Maybe, then, Obama will be remembered for the fact of his election (though he and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett claim that getting a black man elected was nothing compared to getting the healthcare bill passed) and creating a brand of neoliberal multiculturalism for party elites to use and enjoy in years to come. Yet the defeat of Hillary Clinton in 2016 and the failure of Kamala Harris to dominate the 2020 campaign threaten that inheritance. So perhaps Obama’s most important legacy will be one of productive disappointment: energizing a multiracial coalition of young voters whose subsequent disaffections with Obamaism and inclinations toward socialism are today remaking the left.
Since the 2016 election, many members of the Obama administration have written their memoirs in the hope of defining that legacy. In addition, more than a hundred men and women who worked in and around the White House have given their reminiscences to Brian Abrams, who has composed a remarkably fluid oral history of the Obama years. We’ve not yet heard from the man himself. While it’s not unprecedented for the president’s men and women to get the first word, the effect of his silence and their volubility is to decenter a presidency that, more than most, was centered on one man and his words. Obama had an uncanny ability to make sense of his place in history, to narrate what it was that he was doing. His politics had its limits, but they were often, and often knowingly, self-imposed. No matter how circumscribed the view, Obama managed to conjure a sense of what lay beyond it. With one exception, none of his people has that sense of time or place. They’re bound by a perimeter that is not of their making and that lies beyond their ken.
At the same time, not only do the Obamanauts wish to salvage Obama’s legacy from Donald Trump; they also believe Obama’s legacy can save us from Donald Trump. “My hope in writing this book,” says Dan Pfeiffer, who ran communications in the White House, is that “if we learn the right lessons” from Obama, “we can ensure that Donald Trump is an aberration.” That puts Obama’s legacy at a double disadvantage: defended by some of its least persuasive advocates and defined by what it is not. Burdened by a future he had a hand in making but no intention of creating, Obama gets reimagined in these memoirs and reminiscences in light of everything he sought to avoid: the destructiveness of the president who came after him, and the irresponsibility of the Republicans who came before him and dogged him throughout his time in office. Instead of a clear outline of the man, we get the shadow of his enemies. That’s not fair to Obama, but as he’s the one who chose these people to speak for him while he was in office, they are the ones who’ve chosen to speak for him when he’s out. So it will remain, until he writes his memoirs.
The Obamanauts have an argument that they think can be used to defeat the Republicans. It is an argument that sets out what liberals and Democrats should be saying, and how they should be saying it, in the next election and beyond. It is part sense—about economic policy, foreign policy, and so on—and part sensibility: about norms, the presidency, and how our public life should be conducted. Because the sense is so thin in these memoirs, the sensibility winds up mattering more. Which is probably for the best. For it’s that sensibility that gives us the clearest view of what Obamaism, beneath and beyond Obama, was all about. It’s the style of leading sectors in the Democratic Party, currently embattled against the left, though we hear little mention of that battle here. But most of all, it’s that style that answers the question: What is Obama’s legacy? For better or worse, and at least for now, it’s the Obamanauts themselves
Read the rest of this article at The Dissent Magazine.
Corey Robin is the author, most recently, of The Enigma of Clarence Thomas. He is a professor of political science at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. You can visit his website and you can find him on twitter.
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In 1944, representatives of the Allied nations met at Bretton Woods to develop plans for a post-war economic world order. Rules for the regulation of currency exchange & trade were developed, and institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank were created to oversee national lending and development projects. Guided by New Deal economists like Harry Dexter White and John Maynard Keynes, the hope was that this framework could could ensure a stable international order that would prevent another world war or a resurgence of fascism.
In reality, the past half-century has been marked not by a (relatively) benign global Keynesianism, but by the adoption of neoliberal policies and subsequent explosion of unchecked capitalism. And at the heart of these policies? The very institutions designed to usher in a more peaceful world.
Our guest, Michael Fellman, joins us today to discuss the history of one of these institutions—the IMF; its disastrous policies, and what a different policy agenda could accomplish.
Mike Fellman is an economist and financial sector expert. He has worked at the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation. (Freddie Mac) He holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Maryland. He can be reached on social media via @MikeFellman.
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Today, Matt Christman from Chapo Traphouse joins us to to talk about Andrew Carnegie, the Pinkerton Detective Agency, the other billionaires who followed his legacy!
We conclude that America is the land of failsons!
In the podcast, we talk about the use of Chinese slave labor by Mitt Romney!
That is not a joke!Watch him confess
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Michael Edison Hayden, from Hatewatch joins us to talk about the short history of the internet right and how they came into power.
Yesterday, he published an expose on Trump’s Sr. Policy Advisor Stephen Miller:
In the run-up to the 2016 election, White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller promoted white nationalist literature, pushed racist immigration stories and obsessed over the loss of Confederate symbols after Dylann Roof’s murderous rampage, according to leaked emails reviewed by Hatewatch.
The emails, which Miller sent to the conservative website Breitbart News in 2015 and 2016, showcase the extremist, anti-immigrant ideology that undergirds the policies he has helped create as an architect of Donald Trump’s presidency. These policies include reportedly setting arrest quotas for undocumented immigrants, an executive order effectively banning immigration from five Muslim-majority countries and a policy of family separation at refugee resettlement facilities that the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General said is causing “intense trauma” in children.
In this, the first of what will be a series about those emails, Hatewatch exposes the racist source material that has influenced Miller’s visions of policy. That source material, as laid out in his emails to Breitbart, includes white nationalist websites, a “white genocide”-themed novel in which Indian men rape white women, xenophobic conspiracy theories and eugenics-era immigration laws that Adolf Hitler lauded in “Mein Kampf.”
Hatewatch reviewed more than 900 previously private emails Miller sent to Breitbart editors from March 4, 2015, to June 27, 2016. Miller does not converse along a wide range of topics in the emails. His focus is strikingly narrow – more than 80 percent of the emails Hatewatch reviewed relate to or appear on threads relating to the subjects of race or immigration. Hatewatch made multiple attempts to reach the White House for a comment from Miller about the content of his emails but did not receive any reply.
Miller’s perspective on race and immigration across the emails is repetitious. When discussing crime, which he does scores of times, Miller focuses on offenses committed by nonwhites. On immigration, he touches solely on the perspective of severely limiting or ending nonwhite immigration to the United States. Hatewatch was unable to find any examples of Miller writing sympathetically or even in neutral tones about any person who is nonwhite or foreign-born.
Miller has gained a reputation for attempting to keep his communications secret: The Washington Post reported in August that Miller “rarely puts anything in writing, eschewing email in favor of phone calls.” The Daily Beast noted in July that Miller has recently “cut off regular contact with most of his allies” outside the Trump administration to limit leaks.
Miller used his government email address as an aide to then-Sen. Jeff Sessions in the emails Hatewatch reviewed. He sent the majority of the emails Hatewatch examined before he joined Trump’s campaign in January 2016 and while he was still working for Sessions. Miller also used a personal Hotmail.com address in the emails and did so both before and after he started working for Trump. Hatewatch confirmed the authenticity of Miller’s Hotmail.com address through an email sent from his government address in which he lists it as his future point of contact:
“I am excited to announce that I am beginning a new job as Senior Policy Advisor to presidential candidate Donald J. Trump,” Miller wrote from his government email on Jan. 26, 2016, to an undisclosed group of recipients. “Should you need to reach me, my personal email address is [redacted].”
Katie McHugh, who was an editor for Breitbart from April 2014 to June 2017, leaked the emails to Hatewatch in Juneto review, analyze and disseminate to the public. McHugh was 23 when she started at Breitbart and also became active in the anti-immigrant movement, frequently rubbing shoulders with white nationalists. McHugh was fired from Breitbart in 2017 after posting anti-Muslim tweets. She has since renounced the far right.
McHugh told Hatewatch that Breitbart editors introduced her to Miller in 2015 with an understanding he would influence the direction of her reporting. For that reason, and because Miller would have regarded her as a fellow traveler of the anti-immigrant movement, McHugh sometimes starts conversations with Miller in the emails, seeking his opinion on news stories. Other times, Miller directly suggests story ideas to McHugh, or tells her how to shape Breitbart’s coverage. Periodically, Miller asks McHugh if he can speak to her by phone, taking conversations offline.
“What Stephen Miller sent to me in those emails has become policy at the Trump administration,” McHugh told Hatewatch.
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GRAHAM ELWOOD:
Podcast by (the non-billionaire, non-pedophile, non-dead) Jeff Epstein for Historic.ly, recorded August 31, 2019, in Pittman, New Jersey. You can find Historic.ly on the web, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find Jeff at Citizens’ Media TV on Twitter, Facebook, and on the web. Music by Wreck Tech, who can be found on SoundCloud and Spotify.
An interview with Graham Elwood, progressive stand-up comedian and video journalist. Graham talks about how he was foreclosed upon, how that led him to start speaking truth to power, and how that decision has affected his comedy and career.
You can find Graham on Twitter, the web, and on his Youtube channel, The Political Vigilante.
Resources mentioned in the interview:
MINDS New Jersey conference, which Graham attended just before we recorded our interview.
Article: Kamala Harris Fails to Explain Why She Didn’t Prosecute Steven Mnuchin’s Bank
Article: FORECLOSING ON A 90-YEAR-OLD WOMAN OVER 27 CENTS AND OTHER HEARTWARMING TALES FROM STEVEN MNUCHIN’S DAYS AT ONEWEST
Cabinet votes.org
Video featured in the interview: Kamala Harris Keeps Lying About Helping Homeowners— The Political Vigilante
Video featured in the interview: I Was Fired For Speaking The Truth About Corporate Dems — The Political Vigilante
Graham’s Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) playlist, featuring videos with Jeff (here is the best one to watch first!)
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Composed of multiple sides and a multitude of armed factions, the Syrian civil war has consistently defied attempts at easy summary. It’s also been the subject of an intense propaganda campaign by the American government, various think tanks, and media organizations. So...if you’re having trouble making sense of it all, you’re not alone.
Today we speak with Andrea Glioti, a freelance journalist who has covered the Middle East for the past decade. He takes us through the timeline of the Syrian civil war—from the initial uprising to current events, debunks commonly held myths about the conflict, and sheds light on the politics of Rojava.
His work can be found on @BBCWorld and @AJENews.
Read his article about the Libertarian Myth of the Rojava (Article from 2016)
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People have always thought that money is a mere tool for facilitating exchange. But, they don’t realize that money itself is a tool of power and money creates social relationships. The way a government uses and defines money creates inequality and class, poverty and misery.
For example, if we look at the Greek Debt Crisis, the Euro wasn’t a neutral tool. Rather, the Euro created a stringent set of rules and these rules were broken on behalf of the bankers during the world financial crisis in 2008. However, these rules were forced upon Greece and a political choice was made: it was more important for bankers to recoup their profits than for the people of Greece to get basic necessities.
Time and time again, money has been used as a political tool and is not neutral.
Today, Miguel Arjona Sanchez, a professor at the University of Spain in Grenada joins us to discuss the political history of money and the constitution.
Miguel Arjona Sanchez is a professor at the University of Spain in Grenada. His research is on the politics of money and the constitutionality of money. He can be found on twitter
Music by Wreck Tech, who can be found on SoundCloud and Spotify.
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It is easy to distance yourself from people you don’t understand and dehumanize them as “the other.” Self-examination requires us to step into the deepest abyss of human history. The worst thing we think we can find there is a mirror, and that is a scary prospect. But this self-examination can lead you to a wonderful place and make you a much kinder person.
When concentrating on the mass murder-suicide at Jonestown, the biggest question is, “How did Jim Jones get more than 900 people to drink the Kool-Aid?” To understand that, we must understand American history.
America has not been kind to most people here. When it began, People’s Temple was rather unique for its time. Even the pews of mainline churches were segregated, and the ministers in the pulpit proclaimed that was what God wanted. In that climate in Indiana, Jim Jones’ was a pastor to an inter-racial church. He was also one of the first to adopt inter-racial children in Indiana. In this interesting biography
It was she (Marcy Jones) in fact, who pushed for the couple to adopt four children of color in addition to the eleven-year-old white girl who was their first adoptee. The household also included one biological child, Stephan. If defenders of Jones, or those who call for fair play at any rate, wish to cite bona fides, they would find none stronger than those three Korean-American kids (Stephanie, Suzanne, and Lew), the Indiana orphan named Agnes and the boy the Joneses claimed as the first African American to be adopted by a white family in Indiana, James Warren Jones Jr. The family paid a steep price in social antagonism for their magnanimity.
Later, when the church moved to Ukiah California, According to one witness who had friends in the temple, he said:
Jim Jones brought some of the very first blacks to the county. My family gave Jones and the people with him a lot of credit for effectively integrating a fairly homogenous – that is, all white – part of California. But it was a very redneck place, and there were no shortages of nasty stories and comments about “Jim Jones and his n**.” For my family, this type of thinking – born in vicious racism and ignorance – was abhorrent. We saw and applauded the good side of the Temple: Jim Jones was giving inner city kids a second chance in a new environment, and that environment received the opportunity to experience and learn about racial diversity. And the kids themselves were fantastic – kind, nice, studious – maybe a bit on the quiet and private side, but good kids who were making the best of their opportunity.
The majority of the people who went to Jonestown were black citizens who had survived the worst of America. They were the ones who bravely fought against the Nazis, only to realize that back home, they were considered second or third-class citizens. They had felt the everyday slights from white American society, the terror of the Klan, and even medical experimentation on some of them. Living through that, would it be hard for the people of Jonestown to believe that America planned on putting its black citizens in concentration camps?
This interview taught me that often we make disparage the marginalized because of the faith we have in our institutions. Many of us believe that our institutions will never turn on ourselves, and there will be a time where there is no place to go to feel safe. If we put such blind faith into American institutions, are we that different?
Fielding McGehee, whose lost family on that fateful day in Guyana, talks to us. He and his wife Rebecca have spent the last 40 years chronicling and documenting the people’s voices of Jonestown. It is an archive rich with primary sources, unique perspectives that focuses on a community rather than one leader. He answers this question and many more. More richly, he focuses on the people, the community they created, and the legacy they left behind.
This is a unique-eye opening interview.
Music by Wreck Tech, who can be found on SoundCloud and Spotify.
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DANNYSTRONG: OUR GOVERNMENT AND FOR-PROFIT HEALTHCARE LET PEOPLE DIE.
Scott Desnoyers, interviewed by (the non-pedophile, non-billionaire, non-dead) Jeff Epstein for Historic.ly. Recorded August 7, 2019. You can find Historic.ly on the web, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find Jeff at Citizens’ Media TV on Twitter, Facebook, and on the web. Music by Wreck Tech, who can be found on SoundCloud and Spotify.
Copy edited by Ben Szioli
On May 9, 2019, Scott Desnoyers saw a Facebook post from his son. It had a picture of a body of water from the inside of a truck, accompanied by the message (paraphrasing) “I’m done with this world.” Scott noticed the timestamp on the post, which read “27 seconds ago.” Scott raced to his car and tried to save his son. Unfortunately, Scott drove to the wrong spot, but it didn’t matter; the correct spot was too far away anyway. His 29-year-old son, Danny, died.
Two weeks prior, Danny missed a twenty dollar payment for his depression medication. This happened partially because the notice was sent to his ex’s house, where he no longer lived and, due to a restraining order, was not allowed to go. He paid the bill but was told by his insurance company, Fidelis, that he would have to wait a month before he could restart his prescription. (Until then, he could pay the full price of $250, but he was unable to afford it.)
As discussed in our interview, the above tweet was deleted by Twitter (unfortunately orphaning the thousands of stories in response to it), but here is a link to Scott’s tweet that responds to it.
What kind of society puts its citizens in a position where failing to pay a twenty dollar bill – whether intentional or not – can cost them their lives; where multi-billion dollar companies are allowed to endanger a life over twenty dollars?
The for-profit health insurance industry and the price-gouging pharmaceutical industry are, plain and simple, monsters. They allow people to die simply because doing so increases their profit. But maximizing profit is in their nature – it’s their fiduciary duty. The bigger problem is the system that allows it to happen. Our government could protect us and provide us with life-saving saving medication for free, but instead they allow these monsters to prey upon us. Our federal representatives withhold from their people what they so desperately need (and which is available in abundance!), while quietly taking cash from the monsters themselves. Our so-called representatives step aside and look the other way – because they would rather get a piece of the action.
Scott shares his own story and the stories of other parents who have also been devastated by the American for-profit healthcare system. He also describes how 2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris pulled a bait and switch at Scott’s expense, using Danny’s story to prop up the for-profit insurance industry, despite giving the strong appearance that she would do the very opposite. Finally, Scott talks about his upcoming rally in Washington DC, organized with the assistance of former congressional candidate Amy Vilela, whose own daughter was also left to die by the for-profit insurance industry. The rally is still being planned, but confirmed guests include Vilela and Our Revolution President Nina Turner, and tentative guests include Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Senator and 2020 presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders.
You can find Scott on Twitter at @scottdesno. For more on Scott’s story, here is an in-depth interview with Jordan Chariton on Status Coup.
Yet another horror story. Link to tweet
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In the US media, the history of Israel and Palestine begins in 1947 which of course paints a slanted picture about Palestine, the people and their struggles. Today, Dr. James Zogby comes to us to talk about the history of zionism, Palestine, colonization and religion and how it intersects with the current geopolitical conflict.
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RETIREMENT HEIST: AMERICAN PENSIONS AND THE ART OF BEING EVIL
Podcast by (the non-billionaire, non-pedophile, non-dead) Jeff Epstein for Historic.ly, recorded August 16-20, 2019. You can find Historic.ly on the web, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find Jeff at Citizens’ Media TV on Twitter, Facebook, and on the web. Music by Wreck Tech, who can be found on SoundCloud and Spotify.
Copy edited by Ben Szioli
Editor’s note: page numbers (“[9]”) are provided for those interested in more information on specific statements.
In 1999, pension funds at most large corporations were fully funded, meaning they could afford to pay all benefits for all employees, for all time – even if they all lived to the age of 100. On top of this, thanks to eight years of double-digit investment returns, in large part due to the dot-com bubble, many companies were sitting on massive pension fund surpluses: $7 billion at IBM, $20 billion at AT&T, $24 billion at Verizon, and $25 billion at GE [9]. These surpluses were intended to serve as cushions against unforeseen problems at the company or in the stock market, as were soon to occur during the housing crisis of 2008.
Companies complained that these surpluses should be freed up to use for “more productive purposes.” They lobbied the government until 1999, when Congress changed pension law so the surpluses could be used more freely [16]. The conditions of the new law were that the pension funds had to remain fully funded and the money taken was to be used “exclusively for the benefit of pensioners.”
As thoroughly documented by Ellen Schultz in her book Retirement Heist, this decision was a major factor in the massive incentives for executives to enrich themselves on the backs of millions of retirees, who sometimes paid with their very lives. Draining pension surpluses gave companies many billions of dollars that could be used for unorthodox purposes such as severance for employees who were laid off to keep their pensions from growing. [13-15]. Above all else, however, this money was used to provide executives with lavish performance and exit bonuses [19-23], while benefits for average workers were dramatically reduced or eliminated.
Since only the surplus could be drained, companies used a loophole to increase the surplus by lowering their pension funding level. They did this by feigning hardship due to what they said was the undue burden of a growing population of retirees (despite their plans being fully funded!). Companies told their employees that if they didn’t reduce future benefits, the company might be forced to declare bankruptcy, and the employees would lose everything. The benefits were then reduced, resulting in a magically larger surplus.
This cycle continued until the funds were nearly depleted, at which point the company could indeed claim bankruptcy, using the remaining balance in the pension fund to pay off company debtors instead of retirees [24].
Although this lawlessness existed for decades, the seed from which it grew at high speed was planted around a decade prior. In 1987, accounting standards were established [55] requiring companies to report their pension funds as a liability on financial statements. This meant that taking money out of a pension fund reduced those liabilities and would conversely be reported as earnings – no different than the profit from selling a product. These increased earnings increase investor confidence, which increases stock prices, which in turn results in larger bonuses for executives. Not to mention, the money taken can itself be kept tax- and consequence-free.
The earnings can also be used as a tool to hide financial problems with precision. For example, between 2003 and 2010, the major appliance company Whirlpool had three large recalls of defective products [78], resulting in substantial losses. However, instead of reporting a loss, they drained just enough money from the pension fund in order to report modest earnings every quarter.
In other words, slowly draining pension fund surpluses allows companies to hide volatility, pretending to the public (including workers, retirees, investors, regulators, legislators, and law enforcement), year after year, that the company is being run perfectly, regardless what actual difficulties it faced. This false perception of stability is then used to justify even more bonuses for executives.
So, each dollar taken from a pension fund enriches executives many times over.
Retirees have attempted to sue in order to recover lost benefits, but unfortunately, companies can reliably lengthen and postpone the proceedings for decades, until the retiree either gives up or dies. Until that point, the company can keep reinvesting the disputed funds, earning more interest. Retirees’ lawyers also cannot be compensated for legal fees unless a judge approves it on a case-by-case basis, making it difficult for retirees to afford litigation. [161-2]
Yet, grotesquely, companies are free to drain their pension fund surpluses in order to pay their lawyers [20], since the lawyers’ services are ostensibly aimed at “defending the pension fund,” which is, legally speaking, “for the exclusive benefit of pensioners.”
Finally, pension law does not allow for retirees to be financially compensated for pain and suffering [162]. This means that the worst possible consequence for a company is to have to repay what was originally owed. In Retirement Heist, the author Schultz likens this to being viciously beaten and having your wallet stolen, and the best you can hope for is to get your wallet back.
So, since workers and retirees have few legal protections, there is nothing to force a company to do better.
While these crimes (some made legal, some not) are disgusting, what’s really disgraceful is the system that allows it to happen. The private pension industry joins the industries of asbestos, tobacco, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, prisons, and many others, as yet another for-profit monster that has known for decades how its actions and inactions have caused, and still cause, the death and suffering of millions.
(Above all others, however, is the fossil fuel industry, which threatens untold devastation and suffering for all of humanity, with many of the consequences occurring before our grandchildren even have a chance to live out their natural lives. Yet this genocidal and ecocidal industry is still subsidized by more than a half trillion dollars from the United States government each year.)
Our government does absolutely nothing to stop these crimes. In exchange for legal bribes from the owners of these companies (in the form of campaign contributions), our elected representatives look away and shrug helplessly while the monsters prey upon us.
Worst of all, as Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) demonstrates, our government could easily protect and provide (pensions and all other basic human needs) for us all. So when a federal representative tells us that they want to help us but they can’t, they are, to be extremely charitable, incorrect.
Ellen Schultz’s book Retirement Heist documents the art of being evil; the creativity of evil. It is an endless stream of company after company, each company turning to the one before it, saying, “You think that’s evil? Hold my beer.”
My interest in reading this book is not to find solutions to all these pension-related crimes and problems, because they are all symptomatic. Instead, my goal is to understand them as context for a system that has lost its way – and hopefully as incentive to do something about it.
Postscript: Seven years later, the problem persists
Retirement Heist was published in 2012. As of 2017, 114 multi-employer pension plans are projected to fail within the next twenty years. In addition, the federal agency that insures all American private pensions says that it will run out of money by 2025 – despite MMT demonstrating that Congress could fully fund the agency and all pensions, for all time.
(To start learning about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), you can find many expert created resources on the web, Twitter, and Facebook.)
Disclaimers and corrections regarding what I say in the audio
I say “there is no economic reason for the PBGC/the federal government to not be able to pay all pensions for all time.” The word economic should be changed to “financial.” The economy includes money and resources. Financial means money only.
Regarding Whirlpool’s recalls, I say they reported a three cent per share gain and then also say nineteen cents per share. To clarify: the loss due to the recall was sixteen cents per share. Whirlpool removed enough money from the pension fund in order to recover that entire loss, plus an extra three cents per share on top. They therefore reported a three cents per share gain.
The 1987 accounting rule is mentioned on page 55 in the book. Not 58.
When I say “envelopes of cash” during the conclusion, I mean it as a caricature of our corrupt campaign finance system. Speaking literally, the money is in the form of large campaign donations from corporations and billionaires, received either directly or indirectly.
Here is the video referenced near the start of this podcast:
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Contrary to popular belief, Katrina did not destroy New Orleans. Rather, it was the oil companies. Today, investigative journalist and author Greg Palast joins us to talk about Hurricane Katrina, Oil Companies and the British Petroleum Disaster. This is a tale of intrigue, fraud and the federal government’s conscience choice that allowed so much suffering.
DON’T blame the Lady. Katrina killed no one. In fact, she missed the city of New Orleans completely, going wide to the east. It wasn’t Mother Nature that drowned, suffocated, de-hydrated and starved nearly 2,000 people in 2005. Here’s the real story, the one you won’t see in the lamestream media — or hear on National Petroleum Radio…
Chapter 4, “The Coon-Ass Riviera”, from Vultures’ Picnic.
Read the rest of the article here
Greg Palast also made a short film for Democracy Now on Katrina.
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Today’s episode will be about Juan Perón and his complicated legacy!
Against all odds, Donald Trump succeeded in challenging political elites during the presidential campaign. He had not yet won the election, but commentators already struggled to find historical examples to explain the appeal of his vociferous movement. On 11 August, the Financial Times ran an article titled: “Donald Trump Evokes Latin America’s Old Style Strongmen.” The article was illustrated with cartoons of Trump, Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, and, yes, Perón. Many followed. “Is Donald Trump a Peronist?” “It’s What Perón Sounded Like.” This time, analysts’ emphasis was not only placed on government intervention in the economy, but on the supposed political irrationality of the lower classes: under economic duress, blue-collar workers—allegedly unlike bankers or dentists—are prone to support demagogues who trick them into believing that there are easy shortcuts to their daily hardships
Where did those images associated with Perón come from? How did they arrive in the United States in 2009 or 2016? Many of them were born in the mid-1940s in remote places like León Segovia’s house in the Chaco territory, a region in northern Argentina, eight hundred miles from Buenos Aires. On 9 December 1946, Segovia received a letter with a presidential seal and the signature of President Juan Perón. Segovia was a welder at Las Palmas, a sugar mill that belonged to an Irish couple until a traditional Argentine family bought both it and the entire town. Housing, food, drink, currency—everything was provided by the mill. Of criollo descent and indigenous features, Segovia did not even use the official Spanish language at home.4 Although fluent in Spanish, he spoke mostly Guaraní—a language spoken by native inhabitants of the Chaco Forest—with his parents and friends. Three aspects of Segovia’s life were deeply entangled with the larger national community: he was a member of his union, he had had run-ins with the National Gendarmerie, and he had voted for Colonel Juan Perón in the presidential elections. His decision to vote for Perón seemed an unlikely one, given that his socialist union had supported the republic in the Spanish Civil War and the Allies in World War II, while Perón was a nationalist who revered Spanish Falangism and belonged to a group of officers with Nazi sympathies.
In the official letter, President Perón notified Segovia that he had been selected as a student in the training course for diplomatic worker attachés.5 It was a new position within the Argentine foreign service that Perón created a few weeks after taking office. Along with Segovia, approximately one hundred rank-and-file union members received similar letters. The General Confederation of Labor (cgt) had selected its most valued activists to represent Argentina abroad. A few months later, leaving the country for the first time in their lives, Segovia and forty other labor activists traveled to embassies worldwide with the mission of spreading Perón’s gospel of social revolution. Originating from the small towns of the countryside and the crowded working-class suburbs of Buenos Aires, the attachés were stationed in Washington, São Paulo, Moscow, Bogotá, and Paris, “as [Perón’s] personal representatives beyond the national borders.” Over the following decade, five hundred labor activists became members of the Argentine foreign service. Self-described as Perón’s proud foot soldiers, they represent the largest presence of blue-collar workers in the foreign service of any country in history
Once abroad, the attachés wielded their own diplomatic position as proof of the swift changes occurring in Argentina under Perón. Nowhere else had workers accomplished so much, reaching positions in a realm usually reserved for elites. As part of their mission, they described the Argentine reality: hundreds of factories—many of them state-owned—were producing everything from steel to canned food. Unions held unprecedented bargaining power. They managed hotels for their workers at the most scenic vacation resorts. And hospitals and schools were free to all. The attachés showed that the daily caloric intake of an Argentine worker was among the highest in the world. And they emphatically attributed these advances to Perón and his wife, Eva Perón. In diplomatic dispatches, personal letters, and news articles, they reported back to Argentina about a European continent ravaged by the war. From Latin America, they described with ethnographic precision the meager wages of workers at an oil refinery in Peru and the kilometers that Guatemalan peasants at a plantation had to walk between their shacks and the first source of running water. From the United States, they chronicled layoffs at telephone companies, the end of rent regulation, which had benefited low-income workers during the New Deal, and the massive strikes in the automaker sector. The attachés made sure that the setbacks of unions and the efforts of the business sector to reverse workers’ gains in the United States were widely publicized in Argentina and the rest of Latin America.
The attachés joined the democratic spring that swept Latin America after 1945. The contrast in the achievements of organized labor at home and the difficulties of workers abroad reinforced their belief in the exceptionality of the Peronist recipe. And this, in turn, provided a class ethos to a long-standing sense of predestination and to ambitions for regional leadership that ran deep in Argentine nationalism. They promoted Peronism as a path for the expansion of social citizenship for the emerging working class and denounced U.S. foreign policy as an ally of local elites in obstructing that mission. With this basic toolkit of ideas, they allied with the leftist leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán in 1948 in Colombia and made sure that indigenous people in Peru had a copy of Perón’s Declaration of the Rights of Workers, which had been translated into Quechua by 1950.
They funded an early venture abroad of a young Cuban law student, Fidel Castro, and befriended an equally young Argentine doctor, Ernesto Guevara. In 1954, a Peronist attaché sheltered members of the future leadership of the Guatemalan guerrilla in the Argentine embassy during the cia-backed military coup. The attachés confronted U.S. labor diplomats of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (afl-cio), who had deployed representatives throughout the world since the end of World War II.
Particularly in Latin America, they had worked closely with the U.S. government, the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the business sector. Labor diplomats became part of the larger U.S. efforts to contain communism by gaining the support of workers in the region for the strengthening of liberal democracy. The U.S. labor diplomats saw Peronism as a fascist threat and worked with U.S. officials in containing Perón’s transnational aims. They shared with Peronism the idea that inequality was a major problem in Latin America. They also argued that democracy could not be achieved without social reform. But they claimed that workers should gain their rights without violent upheavals of social order, which could be used by demagogues (i.e., Perón) to create a totalitarian government that would curtail citizens’ freedoms. The Peronist specter captured the concerns of officials and elites in the Americas.
By 1946, Argentina was already mentioned as one of the main threats to democratic liberalism in the document that became the blueprint for Cold War containment. And two years later, a U.S. official stationed in Europe reflected, “The threat which gives us the worst case of cold shivers is that of a southern bloc dominated by Argentina.” Attachés like Segovia came to represent this menace to the extent that their actions were eventually described by Robert Alexander, the scholar with the greatest influence on U.S. officials working with organized labor in Latin America, as part of “the whole Peronista propaganda apparatus . . . against the United States [that] outdid even that of the Communists.” By the onset of the Cold War, the image of Peronism as a symbol of social change gone awry was engraved in such a powerful way that it survived the Cold War itself.
Excerpt from Ambassadors of the Working Class, by Ernesto Seaman
You can find out more about Ernesto by visiting his twitter page
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Today, Todd Miller joins us to talk about his new book, “Empire of Borders.” What is going on at the US-Mexico border, is just the tip of the iceberg. The US Security state is worldwide and it is waging a war in on the Poor.
Excerpt
We arrived at the Guatemalan military base in Zacapa on a hot morning in early June. In the front there was a closed gate guarded by soldiers in green jungle camouflage and floppy hats, cradling automatic weapons. Zacapa, one of 22 department capitals in the country, sits in the eastern borderlands with Honduras. Its name comes from Nahuatl; it means “river of grass.” From Zacapa, if you wanted to go to Brownsville, Texas—the closest point in the United States—you’d travel almost 1,440 miles overland, mostly up Mexico’s Gulf Coast Highway. But if you wanted to see the U.S. border, you wouldn’t need to travel at all; it has already come to this small city in Guatemala. That’s why I was there.
I had come with fellow researcher and photojournalist Jeff Abbott to meet with the Chorti task force, Guatemala’s new border patrol, but I wasn’t at all sure they would let us in. We were two hours late. Luckily, the soldiers—who looked as if they were in their late teens—heard me out. I explained the 200- mile journey we’d taken to get to Zacapa from San Pedro Sula, where we’d been the day before. I told them that the buses in Honduras didn’t run at night and the bus driver this morning decided to have a 45- minute breakfast (I was wary about adding this last detail because, really, how could I blame him? But I had to build my case). I told them about the delay at the international border. They nodded because they knew. They knew what it was to travel, to move, to migrate, especially across international borders—so fraught with difficulties, including an endless string of checkpoints. At the Zacapa base, I wondered if any of the soldiers who stood before me, someone perhaps from one of Guatemala’s many poor communities, would be permitted entry into the United States. I wondered how many had tried.
We live in a world of the included and the excluded, of those who can vacation (and do business) where they please and those who are walled in by borders and armed guards. And many of those armed guards, as was clearly the case with the soldiers at the Zacapa base, would themselves be prevented from crossing a good percentage of the globe’s political borders. ….
In Zacapa, we waited while one of the soldiers made phone calls. We tried to find shade under the corrugated metal roof overhanging the front gate. From where we stood there was a view of a parched mountain, with “Segunda Brigada de Infanteria C.G.R.C.” (Second Infantry Brigade) inscribed on the ground on the side of the mountain, in large white letters amid bushes and small, shrubby trees under what looked like a cell tower. The military base was in the Central American dry corridor—a long swath of territory that extended into Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and as far as Panama—and at this very moment, on June 2015, they were experiencing a historic drought. For small farmers in the region, the drought was going to eat away harvests, leaving hunger in a place that climate scientist Chris Castro called “ground zero” for climate change in the Americas. These droughts have persisted now for years (in 2009, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom declared a “state of calamity,” or a famine), and according to Castro, if climate-changing trends continue, it will get worse.
Not only has the planet’s earth- altering era of climate change, which some call the Anthropocene, been a gut punch to a place like Guatemala, it’s gone hand in hand with an unprecedented thrust in border militarization across the globe. Long- term forecasts have predicted that ecological upheavals are going to drive unparalleled levels of human migration. I had plenty of time to think about all this while we waited for permission.
Finally, the soldier making the calls returned. “Are you with BORTAC?”
I was stunned. Had I heard him correctly?
There was only one possible way that the soldier could have known about BORTAC—the U.S. Border Patrol special forces and tactical unit. Agents of BORTAC must have stood at this gate before. Even in the United States, very few people knew about BORTAC’s SWAT-style operations in the U.S. borderlands, or about its “global response capacity.” Fewer still were aware that BORTAC had conducted “training and operations both in the United States and in other countries in furtherance of the U.S. Border Patrol’s mission.
About Todd Miller
Todd Miller is the author of Border Patrol Nation and Storming the Wall, winner of the 2018 Izzy Award for investigative journalism. His writing has been published by the New York Times, TomDispatch, Mother Jones, the Nation, Al Jazeera English, and Salon.
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Jenn Budd was a border patrol agent between 1994 and 2001. She spills the beans on the daily operations of the border patrol agents. While, these revelations are shocking, things have gotten worse in the last 18 years since she left!
When Jenn apprehended a family, her first words to her mother were, “ I feel like a Nazi.”
In this episode, we learn about the crimes, atrocities and much more that fills the border patrol agencies. We also learn about the infiltration of white nationalists.
You can follow Jenn on Twitter at @buddjenn
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Editor’s note: We would like to introduce you to a new partner Jeffrey Epstein (he sadly shares the same name with the more infamous Jeffrey Epstein, but he is not THAT Jeffrey Epstein). He owns the website Citizens’ Media TV and from time to time, he will be doing special episodes that will only enhance your experience.
About This Episode
Keith Errol Benson is a historian and the author of the book “The POWER and the Glory: The racial history of America and how to fix it.” He is also an accomplished drummer who can be heard playing on the song “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now,” which was the official song of the 2008 presidential campaign of Barack Obama.
A primary lesson of Keith‘s book is that, unless popular uprising happens at an extraordinarily fast and broad scale, that uprising is viciously crushed.
Click here to read the rest of this analysis
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Last year, we covered the evil judicial coup engineered by the think tanks at Washington and Wallstreet against Lula Da Silva, thereby ensuring a Bolosnaro victory.
However, new allegations have come out about the Judge Sergio Moro in these leaked documents. He was more than an impartial judge. He was actively collaborating with the prosecution to take down one of the most populist leaders in the country.
Today, Brain Mier from Brasilwire, joins us to talk about this and his new book “Year of Lead. Washington, Wall Street and the New Imperialism in Brazil.”
Excerpt from Brian Mier’s new Book “Year of Lead. Washington, Wall Street and the New Imperialism in Brazil”
As empire looked on, the leading candidate was jailed, a rising star was assassinated, and a fascist ascended - in the violent, post-truth hysteria of Brazil's dirtiest election year in modern history. A few months later the newly inaugurated President and his Minister of Justice would walk into the headquarters of the CIA in Langley, Virginia.With twenty one diverse contributors, Year of Lead gives unique firsthand insight into the realities of this enormous country, and how foreign designs on its wealth have again altered the course of its history.A resource on Brazil's crisis, and how it got there.
We cannot stay silent as social progress and the rights of millions of citizens in Brazil are threatened. We need to ensure the truth is known. This book is timely, necessary, and will infuriate apologists for what is being done to Latin America.
-Richard Burgon, UK Member of ParliamentShadow Secretary of State for Justice
Author website
http://www.brasilwire.com
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Listen to part 1 here
As Kennedy aide and historian Arthur Schlesinger declared,"we were at war with the national security people." JFK was planning to withdraw combat troops from Vietnam, he proposed a joint space shot with the Soviets, he stopped nuclear testing above ground and was moving to ban all nuclear testing, he was trying to control the CIA, he was exploring diplomacy with Cuba, he pushed through the Alliance for Progress, he was influencing conditions on World Bank loans, he was vigorously prosecuting the mafia, he was pushing to end the oil depletion allowance, he pressed to close 77 military bases and would have retired J. Edgar Hoover. All of that changed after his death.
Who really killed JFK and why?
About the Author
Mal Hyman has taught for 42 years in public schools, a medium security prison, and at Coker College as a professor of sociology. He has done human rights work in eight countries, monitored foreign elections with the UN, and was the Democratic candidate for the US Congress in SC 7th. He is exploring another run for Congress.
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Today, Ryan Grim from The Intercept joins us to talk about his Book "We’ve Got People” and the History of the Democratic Party.
Book Snippet
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez may seem like she came from nowhere, but the movement that propelled her to office – and to global political stardom – has been building for 30 years. We’ve Got People is the story of that movement, which first exploded into public view with the largely forgotten presidential run of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, a campaign that came dangerously close to winning. With the party and the nation at a crossroads, this timely and original book offers new insight into how we’ve gotten where we are – and where we're headed.
You can find Ryan Grim’s writings on the Intercept. You can also follow him on twitter.
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Iran’s sins seems to be overthrowing US puppet dictator, the Shah of Iran. US has never forgiven Iran for that. For much of the past 40 years, the Iranian crisis has been manufactured with a compliant media.
Gareth Porter is an American historian, investigative journalist, author and policy analyst specializing in U.S. national security policy. He has studied Iran for nearly 30 years. His book Manufactured Crisis, talks about how neocons within various administrations have waged successful misinformation campaigns on the American public. They have falsely claimed Iran is trying to covertly acquire nuclear weapons to support their various interests in the region.
You can find Gareth Porter on Twitter.
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Note from the Author
My new book "Burying the Lead: The Media and the JFK Assassination" explores how the power elite worked with the media--from the murder until today. Three days after the assassination, just after Ruby killed Oswald, the FBI and the Deputy Attorney General issued a memo stating that "the public must be convinced that Oswald is the lone assassin and that he does not have confederates." The mass media followed compliantly, and in essence, drove the getaway car. We learned from the Senate Intelligence Committee, after Watergate, that the media had between 400-600 reporters cooperating in one way or another with the CIA.
The media was banned from the Warren Commission hearings, yet on the day that the 888 page Warren Report was released, it was unanimously supported by the mainstream media. The NYT called it "exhaustive", while those who disagreed were called "witch-hunters". CBS broadcast a two hour "illustration" of the Report on that day. Yet the 26 volumes of hearings and exhibits that the Report was based on were not released for another 2 months.
It was primarily the public along with the alternative media which steadily clarified the contradictions and oversights in the Report and prodded the fourth estate. When New Orleans DA Jim Garrison reopened the investigation, he confronted psychological warfare from the CIA and FBI as well as elements of the mass media. Well-known columnist Jack Anderson served as a hostile liaison to the FBI by interviewing Garrison at length and then reporting to the FBI.
When the House Select Committee on Assassinations was set up to reopen the assassinations of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. they did not get cooperation from the CIA and the military. HSCA Chief Counsel Robert Blakey declared "My position about the agency is that they did not cooperate with us,, and therefore everything they told us was a lie...We were had." The chair of the HSCA Congressman Richardson Preyer, told me in 1989 that he was deeply frustrated that the military destroyed many of their files, and that his committee needed more time, money and government cooperation.
By 1991 the media, government, and academia had let the case drift into history, until Oliver Stone's movie JFK. The public uproar pushed congress to pass the JFK Act to declassify the remaining documents. They released more than 4 million pages that congress had not yet seen. The law mandated that all of the documents be released by October 2017, yet thousands of files still remain classified.
As Kennedy aide and historian Arthur Schlesinger declared,"we were at war with the national security people." JFK was planning to withdraw combat troops from Vietnam, he proposed a joint space shot with the Soviets, he stopped nuclear testing above ground and was moving to ban all nuclear testing, he was trying to control the CIA, he was exploring diplomacy with Cuba, he pushed through the Alliance for Progress, he was influencing conditions on World Bank loans, he was vigorously prosecuting the mafia, he was pushing to end the oil depletion allowance, he pressed to close 77 military bases and would have retired J. Edgar Hoover. All of that changed after his death.
John Kennedy's challenge to Eastern Europe in 1962 through Voice of America remains vital today, "We seek a free flow of information, for a nation that is afraid to judge truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
About the Author
Mal Hyman has taught for 42 years in public schools, a medium security prison, and at Coker College as a professor of sociology. He has done human rights work in eight countries, monitored foreign elections with the UN, and was the Democratic candidate for the US Congress in SC 7th. He is exploring another run for Congress.
You can purchase the book here
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Benjamin Studebaker, South Bend resident, who belongs to the famous Studebaker car manufacturing family tells us the story of what happened to the manufacturing industry in America and the broken promises.
For decades, economists have been arguing that eventually, technology would boomerang around and replace the manufacturing jobs. That is not what happened.
The manufacturing companies employed people in the order of 10k. The new tech companies employ only a fraction.
This also brings the question, what is our future and how to we make sure that everyone has dignity and freedom from poverty in their lives.
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Marxist professor and Presidential candidate Katarina Peovic joins us to talk about Croatia after the war, the effects of neoliberalism and hyper-capitalism on this tiny nation. She also talks about her presidential platform and what she sees as the future for her country.
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Today, Harvard Professor Moshik Temkin joins us to talk about how pundits recently have misinterpreted history and also talk about Huey Long and his legacy.
To learn more about Huey Long, visit The Huey Long Society.
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Most of the other episodes, we got people to talk about history. Today, we have a man who made history. Senator Mike Gravel who was Senator from Alaska from 1969-1981 joins us to talk about Daniel Elsberg, the Pentagon Papers and his role in making sure that the public got to read the real reasons for why they were in Vietnam. He also talks about the intelligence agencies and lack of civilian oversight. He also expresses his concern for the US foreign policy.
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While most of us think that class warfare is a figurative expression, but in Colombia organizing a union can be fatal. Labor-rights attorney Dan Kovalik joins us to talk about his famous case he filed under the Alien Torts Act. Coca Cola assassinated a union leader for daring to ask for better conditions. Later, Dan Kovalik talks about the new Banana Wars waged by Chiquita against unions in Colombia. We finally drill into the history of Corporate America’s war in Colombia and their most unlikely ally: AFL-CIO. A breathtaking episode that takes us to the history of the Banana Republic, Coca Cola wars and death squads all in the name of profits.
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In this week’s episode, Genocide Scholar Michael Carter joins us to discuss the legal theories behind Genocide. The discussion on Genocide leads us into America’s colonization of Puerto Rico and the crimes against humanities. His research and study uncovers a 150-year occupation marked by medical experimentation, eugenics, depopulation and forced sterilization.
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Today, Andreas Rocksén, famed Swedish Journalist and Filmmaker joins us to talk about his new film: Cold Case Hammarskjöld. In the film, Mr. Rocksén helps uncover the mystery of how the very first UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld died. He takes us through a web of conspiracy that implicates mineral companies, South African Paramilitaries, M16, CIA and even Margaret Thatcher.
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It is not a right wing conspiracy. In the collection of reconstruction photography, there is a picture of Rose, Edward, and Rebecca. They had been recently freed slave children who looked remarkably white. They were toured around as a fundraising effort for the Freedman Bureau's new schools. Today, Mary Mitchell from the University of New Orleans, to discuss this, and how the early schools for slave children fared and the challenges of education during the reconstruction era.
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Civilization has always been a clash between the working class and the ruling class. Throughout history, the working class has frequently fought back against the ruling class and sometimes they won! On Today's episode, John from Working Class History talks about the History of Working Class Fighting Back for Better Rights!
Patrons get bonus content with pictures and other video footage.
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The Elliott Abrams hearing and the Trump administration’s threats toward Venezuela have put neoconservatives back in the news. Robbie Martin (@FluorescentGrey) of Media Roots Radio breaks down the history of the neocons; who they are, where they came from, what they believe, and why we’ve been unable to get rid of them.
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They are invisible to western Media. They are silent to the Western Audience, however, 60% of Venezuela identifies themselves as Afro-Venezuelan. Venezuela is one of the few majority black countries in the hemisphere. Today, Jeanette Charles from Venezuela Analysis joins us to trace the history of the Afro-Venezuelans from the 1700s. We learn about the shared culture and heritage with Haiti, we talk about 19 and 20th-century imperialism and finally their empowerment after the Bolivarian revolution in 1998. In the end, we also look at their world and see what the Americans can learn and implement!
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Since the 2016 presidential election, we’ve seen the rise of a new McCarthyism, fueled by former and current US government officials, and boosted by media outlets (Russia rigged the 2016 election! Russia hacked the power grid! Russia created Black Lives Matter and the NoDAPL protests!) However, the groundwork for this campaign was laid in 2012, by an oft-referenced but little understood bill called the Magnitsky Act.
The true story of the Magnitsky Act is one of the financial crimes, international power politics, and score-settling cloaked in concern for human rights. Russian director and filmmaker Andrei Nekrasov is here to tell us this story.
You can watch his film Behind the Magnitsky Act here: http://magnitskyact.com
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Today, Doug Henwood, acclaimed editor of Left Business observer, and the host of Behind the News joins us to discuss the inception of Neoliberalism and how it was a reaction against Social Democracy.
We start off discussing the difference between American Neoliberalism vs European Neoliberalism, followed by the notorious Montpelerin Conference. We finally look at how Neoliberalism infiltrated our institutions and eroded our Democracy.
We close off with sharing stories about how both of us are Russian Bots and discuss his latest book is My Turn.
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You've probably heard this being repeated over and over on Fox news:"If you like socialism, look at Venezuela." One thing we know is that none of these commentators ever looked at Venezuela. Today, Mike Prysner, from Empire Files, joins us to talk about the history of Venezuela under neoliberalism, the Bolivarian Revolution under Chavez, and the current situation in Venezuela.
He manages to debunk most myths you've learned about Venezuela while giving us a nice glimpse of perhaps the pitfalls of electing a socialist in America.
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Recently, the Ukrainian parliament proclaimed January 1 as Stephen Bandera day. Misinformation and confusion are staples of any discussion of Ukraine in the American Media.
In this episode, Moss Robeson joins us to discuss: who is Stepan Bandera, his ties with the Nazi government, CIA's operation and funding of the group, private corporate donations to Bandera and finally we finish off with an analysis of the entire situation with current day Ukraine.
You can find Moss Robeson on twitter (mossRobeson__)
Ep 19: Ukranian Nazis and Their CIA Collaborators by historic\_ly is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
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This week, Elizabeth Warren has announced that she will run for President. She has yet to contact the Cherokee nation about the DNA debacle. Furthermore, many think pieces are being written without the input of anyone from the Cherokee nation.
Today, Rebecca Nagle Joins us to explain what is tribal sovereignty, how did the Cherokee nation come to be, and what it means legally.
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From 1950s until the 1980s Guatemala was under the reign of terror of an American backed fascist government, like much of South America. The genocide of the country’s Mayan population is still routinely denied and has had lasting effects on Guatemala, as well as its neighbors. Over 20,000 people were murdered,and another 40,000 disappeared under the despots Lucas Garcia, General Benedicto Lucas and Ríos Montt. Today we are speaking with Rosanne Constantino about this Silent Holocaust.
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As an idea, austerity’s power lies in its simplicity; a balanced budget leads to economic growth. On an intuitive level it makes sense; unless you’re wealthy, you’ve undoubtedly worried about your household budget. There’s just one problem: austerity doesn’t work. In fact, it makes everything worse.
In order to understand why, Professor Mark Blyth from Brown University joins us to explain the origins of austerity, the danger it represents, and why politicians across the globe continue to try to implement it regardless of its harmful effects. Professor Blyth is the author of “Austerity: the History of a Dangerous Idea.”
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President Trump has routinely spread rumors and disinformation regarding the migrant caravan that reached the US/ Mexico border in late November of 2018. Many people have been given the false impression that the caravan is smuggling in Daesh or drugs. The fact of the matter is that the vast majority of the refugees are women and children from Honduras. The more important fact: The only reason they need to leave their homes is because the US. government has supported violent death squads, introduced drugs, weapons and money all under the guise of "foreign policy." In order words, we are the arsonist. What is our obligation?
In todays episode of Historic.Ly we will discuss this and more with Ken Klippenstein, who is an investigative journalist with The Young Turks.
Follow @kenklippenstein
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In today's very special episode of historic.ly we will be talking to about one of the most sanitized events in American history. Instead of myths of Pilgrims sitting down to eat a meal, we will learn the fate of the nations that the English settler colonists encountered: The Pequot wars were a campaign of genocide that is often overlooked. Matt Lech joins us to tell the dark real story of Thanksgiving and the birth of America. Later in the episode, Matt Lech shares some contemporary history about Donald Trump and his ongoing feud with the Wampanoag and how they were coincidentally declassified as a first nation in September 2018( something that hadn't been done in nearly 80+ years). Finally, Matt Lech shares us his favorite JFK conspiracy theory for the anniversary of his death tomorrow.
Contact Information for Show Hosts and Guest:
On twitter:
Esha: @eshalegal
JD: @jdacw
Brandon: @wellmanneredson
Matt Lech: @mattlech
You can find Literary Hangover here:
https://www.patreon.com/literaryhangover
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Money: It rules our entire lives. We work hard for it, we toil it. We need it for our basic needs. It is a concept that is old as civilization. Today, Rohan Grey joins us to talk about the history of money.
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Operation Carwash has been lauded as one of the best anti-corruption investigations. It has gained praise, even from those on the left. However, Operation Carwash is not as it sounds. Instead of exposing corruption, it has been used to target a pro-worker, anti-us business interest party. The judge who oversaw Operation Carwash is now the Justice Minister. Today, Brian Meir from Brazil Wire joins us to discuss the true dirty and bloody history of Operation Carswash.
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Dr. Adam Rothman of Georgetown University joins us to talk about his amazing book, "Beyond Freedom's Reach." According to the book's website "In a gripping, meticulously researched account, Adam Rothman lays bare the mayhem of emancipation during a...
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Last week, Bolsonaro surprised everyone by capturing 48% of the votes in Brazil. He faces Fernando Haddad in the run-off. People call him Brazil's Trump. But, I think that is being too kind. Bolsonaro's rhetoric is much more dangerous. Wendi Muse joins us to discuss the history of Bolsonaro, the Military dictatorship, Dilma Impeachment and Weaponizing Corruption in Brazil. A must-listen to podcast if you want to fully understand what is going on in Brazil.
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- - Years of American Propaganda have brainwashed Americans to believe that freedom is synonymous with "capitalism." But having a more cooperative economy that isn't held hostage to profits has its own advantages.
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Pinochet's Rise to Power
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The Justinian code is still well and alive today in our laws. It was implemented about 1500 years ago, revolutionized the Roman Empire. It consolidated existing laws and codes in one place. Through the Justinian period,
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In today's episode of historic.ly, we will be speaking with Brandon Neely, a former guard at Guantanamo Bay and activist about human rights abuses at Guantanamo bay's notorious camp x-ray. These heinous acts under the Bush administration were justifie...
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You might not think the laws of ancient society can be applied in the modern American context. But, it was a society without a king. The formal government was established by having annual meetings for freemen who negotiated with each other until they came up with a set of laws to govern the land. The more curious aspect: they had no police force to enforce these laws, yet they had arbiters, in a court, that kept these laws enforced. Another curiosity is that the Icelandic people kept an oral tradition of sagas, which can be thought of as sordid soap operas of various encounters with others. While in most cultures, we have ample diaries, letters of the nobility, we know very little about the peasant. But, here, in a way, we can get the true “people's history.” This curious society may teach Americans how to be more Democratic and to address the issues facing us. Today, Professor William Ian Miller, a law professor at the University of Michigan joins us to talk about this curious society.
You might not think the laws of ancient society can be applied in the modern American context. But, it was a society without a king. The formal government was established by having annual meetings for freemen who negotiated for their idea of a best government.
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Shortly after the two towers collapsed, President Bush gave his infamous speech. He stated," freedom itself is under attack." But, it was neither Al Qaeda nor the Taliban who were attacking our freedom. It was the administration itself. First, they rushed to declare war in Afghanistan, soon after the Patriot act was passed, giving the FBI unlimited spying powers. The administration's instructed the FBI to find as many terrorists, whether they were real or not. To meet their goal, the FBI's practices changed. Instead of catching terrorists, they started to invent terrorists.
Coleen Rowley joins us to discuss how the administration was able to give themselves powers far exceeding the constitution. Robert Mueller who was the head of the FBI, who is now a hero among #TheResistance, steered the post 9-11 roundup of Muslims in New York, where nearly 1000 innocent Muslims were falsely arrested. He also ordered unprecedented infiltration within ordinary leftists groups like Green Peace and PETA. Ms. Rowley reminds us of recent history that most of the news media has forgotten.
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Besides the lovely Fjords, Norway is famous for its robust welfare state. Examples of those benefits: - Both parents get 49 weeks of paid leave after they have a baby. Free tuition, living expense allowance while at University.
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