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Analysis of news and events in historical and cultural perspectives, hosted by Gary Krug.
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The failed game of damning others for lesser crimes than the US and its allies have committed continue apace as Syria is damned by the US and the UN for doing what the US, Israel and other countries have done. It is argued that Syrians have more justification than others for their acts, for Damascus […] […]
The news is that the internet is functioning as designed. To redesign the internet or to install “fact checking” AI would destroy the initial idea of the internet and undermine forever the prospect of access to information without concern about someone’s having altered it. As two current examples, the show explores Robert Mueller’s examples of […] […]
This episode examines whether various forms of fascism are present in the US. Some authors have made the observations that not only minorities but many Americans are threatened by various example of fascism in the US. One example is found in the idea that ordinary people could “sponsor” and immigrant, creating a new form of […] […]
Despite Trump’s claims of truth and openness, he continues to neglect real reporting in his decision making. Launching Tomahawk missiles against Syria in response to claims of a Syrian gas attack do not take into account the evidence that there was no Syrian gas attack. As reported by Mathew Rossa, “Alleged chlorine attacks are also, […] […]
This episode explores the history of deception and lies from the US intelligence services beginning with the Church Commission Report, and it explores the necessity of strict controls and oversight of intelligence agencies if the US is to protect its democratic institutions. This need more urgent today owing to the growing erosion of the First […] […]
Long Waves 01-17-2018 Ignoring the Evidence of Our Nation's Failures: Climate Change and Health Care
Evidence of accelerated anthropogenic climate disruption continues to amass while the government continues to work on a schedule build around reelections. The impacts on cities, nations, and their inhabitants are becoming more profound and difficult to dismiss, yet the US government continues to appease the oil oligarchs and their corporations. Smilarly, the decline of US […] […]
The malaise that continues to undermine the US begins with unbridled capitalism which reduces citizens to base creatures always at each other’s throats. The notion of a shared community in increasingly privatized and purchased while the people grow more divided every day. The cause of these states of being is not decadence but the effect […] […]
A free society cannot exist without free journalists and accurate reporting of news. Yet the US press has become progressively more concentrated in ownership and journalists who step outside of the “official” stories and discourses find themselves ostracized, unemployed, and blacklisted in the MSM. Thus stories that cut too close to the bone in challenging […] […]
Using the writings of contemporary cultural analysts, this episode examines the effects of living in an empire on the inhabitants. Of special interest is the necessity to follow the official news in ones beliefs and discussions. The influences of these necessities on democratic politics is explored in depth. […]
The show explores how many of the root problems of the day can be found in the formation of the US itself. The US was established as a democratic republic and not as a democracy. This form of government tends toward wealth and supports the rise of corporate power to the detriment of the country. […] […]
Violence and strife continue in Ukraine, raising tensions with Russia. The US experiment of creating a government in Ukraine after expelling the elected one was a bad decision. The US continues to make bad decisions in Honduras, interfering in their democratic processes even after the US certified the country as a well-functioning democracy. Meanwhile homelessness […] […]
This show explores many of the major issues that threaten our status quo as citizens and as human beings. While denial and ignorance abound, the climate continues to show increasingly ominous trends suggesting that the changes are happening more quickly than expected. The naked oligarchy continues to grow and to become more open, not even […] […]
The row over FCC and Congressional action to possibly gut New Neutrality and turn back other regulations against media centralization is making the news. This show examines both the current issues and the history of media regulations, including the Red Lion decision and others, that leveled the playing field for political broadcasting and explores some […] […]
The rules for an epistemology of ethics and meanings in the US have been discarded. The official pronouncements of the US government are often contradictory, inflammatory, or simply insane. Russian, China and many other countries are threatened bringing the world closer to nuclear annihilation, but this is just business as usual. The nation acts increasingly […] […]
We have always been a mean people, which is why we spend so much time explaining that we are good, thumping our chests, and attacking anyone who disagrees with this. We live on the edge of modernism but are loathe to embrace it. Even modern science exists in the US solely to produce profit Moreover, […] […]
US ruling power is in deep trouble because there are growing signs that the mass of citizens are no longer beholden to the supposed authority residing in Washington. The wars waged against Trump and the allegations of collusion continue without evidence or reason. While creating one group who believe the allegations, others are still looking […] […]
The war on truth emerging from the on-going propaganda campaign in the US cannot hide the evidence of a failing culture and a failing nation. From violence of all sorts, to Nazis protesting in the streets, to school shootings, to the rise of poverty, to the nakedness of the oligarchical structure of the US government, […] […]
Let’s lay the blame for the current upswings in right wing and totalitarian electoral victories where it belongs: at the doorstep of neo-liberal and neo-conservative economics. We tend not to see the world like this, but the policies of the US, UK, and most all of Europe are responsible for economic migration as well as […] […]
Allegations of Russian hacking or as it is now called, sowing dissent in the US and casting doubt on the electoral process, continues to grow despite the continued lack of evidence or facts. Now morphing with the “fake news” which is generally defined as any news not fitting with the NYT, WaPo, other MSM, the […] […]
All empires collapse, and various analysts and scholars see the acceleration of the decline of the US empire. Citing the decline of the dollar, excessive debt, an oligarchical government, and a general loss of citizen confidence in government itself. This is unlikely to change in a country where spectacle and sensationalism have replaced news and […] […]
The creation of organizations, such as Investigate Russia, proliferate. Their purpose is the dissemination of US integration and war propaganda in the US. Even Morgan Freeman has been hired to act in a short film with very bellicose statements. This represents another strand of the US programs to propagandize its own citizens, thus further distorting […] […]
Wars are expensive. This show explores the effect of on-going war on the US and the global economies. The wars fail because no one is held accountable either in the military or the government. This is especially true of the US conduct in Syria where the US has the double problem of fighting Assad while […] […]
The stalemates, or quagmires, in Afghanistan continue but peace, to say nothing of victory, remain far away. There is a reason why the country is referred to as the grave yard of empires. There is no strategy. Iraq is destroyed and Syria is nearly destroyed. Still, all the US can achieve internationally is an ongoing […] […]
The Russians have long seen the US as rank amateurs who can get nothing done in the field of diplomacy. The Russians, according to one source, “openly express their total contempt for them, calling them stupid, incompetent, uneducated and their actions unlawful .” Recent events requiring the Russian to relinquish one of their consular buildings […] […]
A kind of infantile ideation underpins the basic ideas of fascism. Force, violence, extreme masculinity, and extreme hatred of weakness in all forms suggests that much of the emotive force driving fascism is compensatory of feelings of insecurity and a basic distrust of people who seem to be other. This show explores how compensation for […] […]
The rise of openly Nazi movements continues in the US , in many countries in Europe, in Ukraine and elsewhere. This show explores the social conditions arising from the failures of neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism to provide the bases of dissatisfaction and disillusionment among people who find themselves left behind in the new formations of political […] […]
The stories of Russian interference in the US 2016 elections continue, and as before, there is no evidence to support the claims. Numerous reports alleging Russian activities in this regard end with disclaimers that there is no hard proof. Yet stories about “troll farms” and “non-linear warfare”, a term that the Russians do not use, […] […]
The show explores multiple aspects of free speech, especially in the light of the growing Neo-Nazi presence in the US. Specifically, US law, US Supreme Court decisions, and the ethical philosophy are used to argue against the suppression of speech, especially hated speech. While there are limits to speech, discussed in the show, there is […] […]
Citing Sheldon Wolin, Historian,” It makes no sense to ask how the democratic citizen could participate substantively in imperial politics; hence it is not surprising that the subject of American empire is taboo in electoral debates.” News reports of the possible future use of mercenary forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Elsewhere we read that most […] […]
The US has announced sanctions against Russia in apparent retaliation for…what? The entire US Senate except for Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders voted for this. This show investigates the possibility that some serious money had been provided to Congress by anonymous oligarchs in the US. Various writers have suggested the hand of Israel behind this […] […]
The US fascination with zombie movies opens the show exploring the symbolic meaning and representations of zombies as an occupation, as reflecting the breakdown of society. Fear and paranoia are mainstays of American culture and in many ways are reflections of the loss of confidence in government, in the American Dream and in the ideas […] […]
This show examines the ways in which the US continues to act in the model of classic empires to the detriment of the world and this country. This requires a generally well-regimented and controlled media system to ensure that the “correct” opinions and information are conveyed to the citizenry. This relies on both the creation […] […]
This show examines the crises in Qatar in terms of its bearing on the Syrian conflict and the attempt of various forces to create a new map of the Middle East. Much of this conflict is part of Mohammad bin Saud’s new position in Saudi Arabia and his planes for new strategic alliances. Also, the […] […]
The history of building mistrust toward Russia is examined as Donald Trump prepares for his first meeting with Putin, looking at contemporary is examined. This meeting takes place in the context of various demonizations of Putin evidenced by the US psyops directed at the US citizens together with the posturing of Obama, Bush and other […] […]
I explore the values of ruthless capitalism for personal gain evidenced in the behaviors and values of the small group of extremely rich individuals in the US. These wars present all the characteristics of class wars seen elsewhere in the world. The public space needed by a democracy is being destroyed and privatized. Without this […] […]
Although thousands die every year in the US from air pollution, the US seems focused by Trump on identity politics around race and gender. Racialized political rhetoric has become normalized in the US, displacing important political issues with distracting and misleading sensationalism about race and gender. White fear of others thus stoked drives much of […] […]
This week’s show continues with the analysis of US actions against Venezuela, exploring the role of US multinational oil corporations. The show discusses the aim of these corporations to bring control of the Caribbean area to establish complete control over oil and natural gas. The links between the Exxon and others and the coup attempts […] […]
This show explores the continued use of American Exceptionalism in the US interference in Venezuela particularly regarding the demonization of Mudara and the support of his opposition. Under the guise of bringing democracy to another country the US undermines democratic processes and peoples. The show examines how these techniques also as used in the US, […] […]
From the earliest days of the republic, American industries have gained large profits from war profiteering. This show explores selected parts of this history, revealing current weapons manufacturers in the US and detailing their profits. New “security” companies, such as Booz Allen, also participate in the revolving door activities as well as lobbying on behalf […] […]
Chris Hedges notes that: “The outward forms of democratic participation—voting, competing political parties, judicial oversight and legislation—are meaningless theater. No one who lives under constant surveillance, who is subject to detention anywhere at any time, whose conversations, messages, meetings, proclivities and habits are recorded, stored and analyzed, who is powerless in the face of corporate […] […]
As US interference in the democratic nation of Venezuela continues to grow through threats and sanctions, the government and people of that country are building their resistance against both the US and their own quislings. The subtle and disingenuous attempts by the US to destroy the legal government follow in the long history of US […] […]
This show explores the history of the rise and beginning fall of the current US imperial regime. Recent writings by Paul Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Gould as well as analyses by Paul Craig Roberts are discussed in tracing a growing aggressiveness and paranoid attitude in US leadership, particularly against Russia. US foreign policy and military adventures […] […]
Today’s show explores the necessity of disinterest for the creation of a common good and for democratic processes. Based on the writing of JR Saul and S. Wolin, I argue that self-interest cannot create a shared good. By law and definition, corporations act in their own self interest; they have no conception of a shared […] […]
Today’s show explores the effect of domestic propaganda and “fake news” on the memories and so the future understandings of the the US citizens. The systematic distortion of news and information creates a world in which no one can say for sure what is true and what is a lie. As Hannah Arendt observed: “The […] […]
Plans developed and published by groups such as the Program for a New American Century expressly state the ambition and planning to enable the US to create a hegemonic empire throughout the world. This document speaks of “American interests and ideals,” but these are not directly explained. Such terminology sounds beneficent, but what is actually […] […]
The histrionics surrounding Russia are plainly a propaganda ploy, as is revealed in the rhetoric. The allegation s of “hacking” of the US elections are plainly unproven and unproveable. It is nearly impossible to prove attribution of hacking, and the US intel community has offered no proof at all that any hacking occurred. The continued […] […]
Habeas corpus is under assault as undocumented persons in the US are being held and are being denied their rights under habeas corpus if after six months they are not allowed to file for release. Alabama is particularly guilty of this practice. In other countries, the law often works to bring the powerful to justice, […] […]
This show explores the problems with stepping outside of our comfortable worldviews to understand both the present and the future. A discourse on ideology and the contemporary world is presented as a template for our failures to understand immediate threats such as Anthropogenic Climate Disrutption (ACD). Of special note is the exploration of some climate […] […]
Rebroadcast of earlier show […]
In recognition of Dr. King, today’s show included readings from his anti-war speech regarding the failed morality of the Vietnam war. The historical lessons unlearned from this illegal conflict, together with the manifold lies to the American people regarding the conflict, set the pattern of duplicity that is with us today. Examples discussed include Iraq, […] […]
The contrasting news coverage of the fighting in Aleppo and in Mosul in the major Western news media reveal how completely prostitute US coverage is to the power of the state. Syria continues to be damned for all things while coverage unfavorable to the US and its allies in Iraq is downplayed and ignored. Of […] […]
From the Sioux Peoples to the aboriginal peoples of Australia, dissent is rising. With their backs to the wall, people with nothing left to lose except their identity and their pride are taking stands against systemic racism, corporate hegemony and the destruction of the world. Western nations have excelled at destruction from the theft of […] […]
The rise of fake new, so called, is a new phenomenon only in so far as the powers that be recognize it and acknowledge it. Generally have been used as a way of discrediting “subversive” or “enemy” news and statements, the US have begun to devout itself with players on all sides throughout the media […] […]
While much is said about Fascism, Eco notes that there was only one Hitler, and the specific qualities of German Fascism do not delineate all contemporary forms of fascism nor their underlying roots. This show explores Eco’s important document in detal. […]
This show explores the problems with the current electoral process including the use of special delegates and the Trotsky-like political party organizations in both major national parties. Sanders , Johnson, and Stein were demonized and eliminated in the media-political discourse as worth hearing. In a real sense, they and their message were silenced. […]
Interview with Erin Jones, candidate for Office of Superintendent of Instruction. Issues included the needs of disadvantaged students as well as the demands of the job. […]
The show explored the problems of news and information, as well as the inflections of power, that work against a transparent and democratic electoral process. The deliberate manipulation of news both from the inherent perspective of most news outlets and the use of psyops and propaganda undermine the Jeffersonian model of a democratic society. Reading […] […]
Political discussion among Americans has largely devolved into arguments with trolls. Talking points are passed around and reused as it they were truth. They are not and serve to devalue and crowd out any real discussion of politics in the US. This show discusses the effect on democracy wrought through the destruction of genuine discussion […] […]
In this show I explored the several forms in which news is delivered: prepackaged news, non-existent (or absent) news, and invented (or fictional) news. Contemporary ideas of news assert one of two theories of news: 1) the people are not capable of understanding current events and must be led to “appropriate” understandings and 2) the […] […]
I begin the show with the premise that most of what passes for journalism is stenography, i.e. journalists writing down and reporting on what they are told by those in power. Many prominent journalists fail to investigate the matters they report on (though there are exceptions such as Seymor Hersh, Glen Greenwald, Matt Taibi, John […] […]
In the context of the Brazil Olympics, I explore the extent to which the facade of entertainment and national pride in spectacular events draws us away from meaningful understandings of contemporary events and politics.From the Great game of the early 1800’s to Brezinski’s Great Chessboard, Empires of the West have always depended on well-chosen lies, […] […]
This show explores the ideas of Guy Debord in their current manifestation. These are discussed at some length with readings from his books. Reality isn’t what it used to be. Twenty-five percent of Louisiana Republicans believe that Obama was responsible for the botched Katrina cleanup. Most do not believe in ACD. Yet human relations are […] […]
The media are striving mightily to spin US POTUS election news in the face of over 50% of citizens disapproving of both candidates. What we see is not news but an illusion of the updating of government without and real change in power or policies. I also examine the failed Coup in Turkey and discuss […] […]
This show was prerecorded at 11-12 AM on 7/20/2016 The candidate answered questions and spoke of his interests and ideas in the race. […]
I examine the necessity for social and political theory in understanding world events. Politics and the language of the public sphere are routinely distorted, manipulated, and bent to serve the interests of power. The division of people along the lines of race, gender, sex, and wealth drives most of the media in the US and […] […]
Th Chilcot Committee in the UK released it’s report this week, and power in the UK is covering bases to protect Blair and others from legal consequences. The ICC has already announced there will be no prosecution from them–apparently they received word from their US masters to avoid this. The fallout in the UK has […] […]
Brexit is an example of the political shifts taking place throughout the US and Europe. The old games of politics are running out of tricks to deny ACD or to minimize the risks to civilization and most living species. I analyze the meaning of the Brexit as well as how it might legally unfold in […] […]
Following from the statement by Lt. Col. Lawrence Wilkerson that the US is the death merchant of the world, this show explores the American psyche and its propensity toward killings, shootings, and war fever. Drawing on the writings of Lewis Mumford and the Iraqi shoe thrower for inspiration, this show tracks some of the reasons […] […]
Interview with the candidate, prerecorded earlier in the day. […]
American military and imperial madness continue unabated, and this should be no surprise. The show tracks the history of US genocide from the native Americans to the Morro Rebellion and into the present day. The premise is that, being unable to incorporate the real histories into the consciousness, the American people continue to ignore the […] […]
The contention of this show is that the continuous distortion of language and words in political and economic undermines our personal sense of meaning in our lives. Instead, we turn to crippling forms of happiness that are ultimately rooted in a perverse individualism. The writings of Dr. Gabor Mate and Victor Frankl are examined to […] […]
This show discusses the limitations in thought and logic that prevail whenever ideologies isolate people from reality. In particular, the expertise of economists and foreign policy hacks in US government is grounded in and influenced by ideological thinking such that they are incapable of new, constructive thought or actions that are genuinely responsive to the […] […]
This episode explores the unhappy likelihood of events such as global thermonuclear war and climate change leading to an extinction event for humans. Two contributing structural problems include the contemporary economic and manufacturing systems and the political systems. In each, there is sufficient vested interest from powerful persons and institutions as to make reasonable change […] […]
The show examined first the propensity of human beings to make patterns in things found in the world. It examined how evolution favored particular kinds of data, but it also gave us the human brain can create new forms of data abstractly, such as astronomy, anthropology, archeology, quantum physics, etc. which present evidence contrary to […] […]
The contention of this show is that the continuous distortion of language and words in political and economic undermines our personal sense of meaning in our lives. Instead, we turn to crippling forms of happiness that are ultimately rooted in a perverse individualism. The writings of Dr. Gabor Mate and Victor Frankl are examined to […] […]
In this show I encourage listeners to read the news, especially stories such as the Panama Papers, as if they were analysts. Particularly. I examine the absences of US citizens in the list and the fact that no major players in the West are named. Also interesting and important is the funding of the 300 […] […]
As the US continues to demonize Russia, citing fanciful examples of its aggression, it announces that 3 full armored brigades will be established and manned in Europe. This can only be seen as a US provocation and another needless expense that will further destabilize the world order. Closer to home, the populist insurrections continue to […] […]
The show begins with excerpts of an interview with Michael Hudson, economist, who explains how the economic system has been rigged in a structural way by the ideologues who control the banks and the Federal Economy. Among the problems is a complete lack of and knowledge or understanding of the history of economics. This divorces […] […]
This show discusses the limitations in thought and logic that prevail whenever ideologies isolate people from reality. In particular, the expertise of economists and foreign policy hacks in US government is grounded in and influenced by ideological thinking such that they are incapable of new, constructive thought or actions that are genuinely responsive to the […] […]
This show examines the current media and political trend to propagandize language and reporting with the addition of the word, “Weaponizing.” Regarding coverage of the media, numerous examples are cited to show this misuse of language as a new form of the old propaganda technique of framing an issue such that people are misled into […] […]
I examine what no one is talking about in the international news, i.e. why so many improbabilities are treated as if they are incontestably true while so many immediate truths are never mentioned. The veiled powers of militarism, imperialism, and neo-conservatism continue a war of ideas, which ultimately reveals their weaknesses which are hidden in […] […]
One listens and wonders at how the various machines of the political right, TV pundits, the AEI, various passengers in the clown car of GOP hopefuls, are so very good at reaching their base at the most base levels of emotionality: hate, fear, rage, envy. All problems are laid at the feet of liberals in […] […]
The show opens with a discussion of the Zika virus scare. Lifted out of all context, a virus known to medicine since the 1950s, has raised a panic because of the supposed link with microcephaly. However, numerous doctors and agencies are unconvinced of the connection. Yet this scare is a big deal, covered on all […] […]
Just as one’s phrase of time limits his/her perspective, so one’s moral, social, political perspective can be limited by living in a small ideological world. Living thus, all information one wants to hear simply strengthens the confirmation bias and comes from well-known and trusted (official) sources, such as think tanks. The news reflects the views […] […]
The show opens with a discussion of “Present Shock:” that state where everything seems to happen at once. Specifically, we have come to live in a world where we have no time to process and integrate our experiences. Further, the immediacy of our world inhibits being able to consider larger time frames, the frame of […] […]
Beginning with reflections on our regional and national heroes, including George Wright and Andrew Jackson, I observe that we continue to ignore or whitewash our long national tendency to ignore genocide, lawlessness, and brutality as fundamental aspects of our national historical culture. In its place we have a culture of distraction and pleasing lies about […] […]
The show discusses the tactics and philosophies of the Bundy family and their supporters in occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, particularly in the light of a letter written by Ursula K. Laguin. The disenfranchisement of millions of citizens has undermined the possiblility of shared signs and symbols that could create a public. Thus […] […]
We must overcome our national pathologies in order to imagine a future. It is common that paranoia, fear, and anger focus much of the discussion in the public sphere in ways that are not amenable to good governance but which well serve the needs of the powerful to prevent the emergence of any coherent and […] […]
Building on HA Innis’s concepts of time binding and space binding communications, the absence in our culture of narratives and historically important histories and understandings that should form the basis of our social world, we too often fall into vulgarity, the popular but meaningless tribalisms of sports and warfare. This is not an accident but […] […]
The show was aborted about 15 minutes in as I was ill with a lung infection and unable to continue. […]
This show addressed the American ideal of creating a tabula rasa upon which a new world could be built. Lewis Mumford’s writings highlight the ways in which this dream contained a trap that prevented the American individual from seeing his past mistakes, living with them and so becoming morally conscious of his own history. The […] […]
I detail some of the flood reports and predictions for the lower Mississippi drainage together with the threats that these hold for crucial infrastructure in Louisiana especially. Among these are the Old River Control Structure which, were it fail, would have catastrophic consequences for New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The show then examines the inability […] […]
Mass murders defy law, decency and common sense and we are surprised. Our elected and unelected leaders murder, lie, and destroy without consequence. The former is a direct response to the latter. Invasions of other countries of no threat to the US further erode a public sense of responsibility. “Panama, Grenada, Haiti, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Pakistan, […] […]
I examine the American tendency since Regan to divide the world into polar opposites of good and evil. This leads to a world in which psychological projections cloud strategic and international policy and thought. This is especially prominent in the characterization of ISIS, and, in that case, it has a tendency to render all actions […] […]
The show explores the political reasons why the Turkish government’s took action to destroy a Russian jet. Preliminary analyses from many sources reveal that the official Turkish and US explanations are implausible or impossible. The likely motivation for the attack could perhaps be found in an attempt by Turkey either to send a message to […] […]
Professor Peter Shields appeared on the show to discuss his readings and research into the history of borders, national identities, and territories. A wide ranging discussion ensured extending from the enclosure movements and Highland Clearances of 16C-18C United Kingdom to the contemporary understandings of borders in the EU and the United States. Special attention was […] […]
This show continues the question regarding a phenomenology of a culture of lies, deceit, and willing acquiescence to accepting falsehood as normative. It begins with a discussion of the transformations of structural changes to language which in turn affects the signs and symbols used as well the the semiological second order (i.e. “myth” in the […] […]
Through the writing of and interviews with Sibel Edmunds, a former translator of Turkish for the FBI, the show explores how the embodiment of people in language may be subverted through lies and other distortions of the truth such that those in power never answer for misdeeds and ordinary persons come to live within a […] […]
This show opens with a discussion of the firing of an OSHA officer in charge of protecting whistleblowers for whistleblowing. The Orwellian implications of this suggest that protecting power from criticism is infinitely more important that defending the law and making change for the better. Sibel Edmunds, Chelsea Manning, Snowden and others performed a service […] […]
I continue to refuse to cover the political theater of the US presidential races. More interesting and important matters, such as the issue of the preliminary report of the Dutch Safety Board on the crash of MH 17 are more worthy of discussion. Cass Sustein, a close confident to Obama, also indicated that his favoring […] […]
Russian air strikes and cruise missile attacks against ISIS in Syria demonstrated their willingness to take the war to the takfiri and sent a message to the US and NATO regarding their capabilities. This demonstration of sophistication of weaponry clashed greatly with the news the the US had bombed a MSF hospital in Kunduz. The […] […]
The speech from Vladamir Putin to the UN together with his interview on 60 Minutes are examined as rhetoric to the world and critique of the US. In particular, key parts of the 60 Minutes interview that were redacted before airing are explored. Putin’s eloquence in explaining the historical and contemporary events of the USSR […] […]
The Tea Party and far right activists in the US have resorted to a form of tribalism: small groups of like-minded people who are more concerned with membership in the group and with purity of the group than they are of real change. The show opens with the book, Change They Can’t Believe In: The […] […]
The show examined the shortcoming of governmental and bureaucratic rationalism as leading to various catastrophes including the collapse of world fisheries, the intensification of tensions in Ukraine and the Middle East. The narrow vision of the neo-liberal/neo-con positions is explored, especially as these perpetuate ideological positions that cannot or will not accept real events in […] […]
Show explored the Middle East refugee crisis as a direct effect of US military and political operations in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq, and Syria. The effect of weakening the unity of the Eurozone and of undermining the possibilities of long term peace were explored through various news reports together with commentary from Chris Hedges and Saker. […] […]
Thpoliciese show begins with a discussion of Jeremy Corbyn’s rise in England to challenge for the position of Leader of the Labor Party by actually proposing policies that most Brits favor. The show continues with a discussion of Korybko’s new book on hybrid wars using NGOs such as NED to organize opposition movements that then […] […]
The US Prison Pipeline system reproduces interpersonal violence which affects the expression of genes, particularly those associated with the hypothalamus stress responses. Yet, punishment and retribution remain the typical reaction for crimes that are largely overdetermined by previous experiences of rape, assault, emotional and other forms of violence. In this manner, violence is perpetuated and […] […]
Despite apparent illegalities in the US President’s authorization, involvement and US led destabilization continue in Syria and Iraq. Turkey is apparently also running its own game with the possible extension of its influence into a new Ottoman Empire. More disturbingly, the US continues to undermine the Constitution together with human rights generally in pursuit of […] […]
The decision by Russia to require foreign agents to register is discussed in the context of the National Endowment for Democracy and its well-documented history of contributing to the undermining of foreign governments. The show discusses how NED was formed in the 1980s to undertake subversion abroad after the CIA was banned from undertaking such […] […]
This show examines the “Color Revolutions” around the world as US sponsored regime change linked to NGOs and dissident political actors. Ukraine, Georgia, and various countries in the middle east are examined as examples and as illustrations of how these work. […]
Pervasive and persuasive media messages constantly reinforce the values of power at the expense of human and communal values. These messages destabilize the self and encourage people to see solace in consumerism. This is merely the continuation of integration propaganda, bringing people more deeply into the ideology of capital and centralized power. […]
The best propaganda is that which we never see. It is the background reality which makes power seem natural, normal, and inevitable. Much of this is based on countering and explaining away people’s beliefs, e.g. war is bad, bankrupting the nation for militarism makes no sense., etc. Right Wing propaganda is supported and structured through […] […]
This show discusses the history of Oxycontin and other drugs and the ways in which they have been marketed in the US. The history of opioids in the US is tracked from the early introduction of Laudanum and heroin through the FDA approval of oxycontin as a suitable drug for teenagers in the US. The […] […]
Beginning a month long series examining propaganda in the US and globally. Drawing on the classic text of Jacques Ellul and other works, I begin a month long series. This first show opens with a discussion of an article in The Guardian regarding the high tech media employed by ISIS as a mimicry of Western […] […]
Health care as a human right originated in the Authoritarian government of Fredrick the Great of Germany in the 19th century. Even he recognized the need to protect and assist people in need. And thus the age of needs begins as a necessary outcome of the mass society and industrialization that produced it. While Social […] […]
This show engages in a dialogue between the host and Dr. Willis regarding the social constructions of Identity, particularly in the light of the international furor over Rachel Dolezal and the questions of racial identity. Identities are inscribed by social discourse to have various forms of agency or non-agency in social settings and within culture […] […]
Show script notes Emma Sulkowicz Colmbia University student. “Carry that Weight” campaign Now has new a new project to trigger thought about rape and assault, Ceci n’est pas un viol. Turns the discussion away from the victim and back to society. This is where it should be. Stats are grim: Prevalence of Rape Missoula […] […]
A discussion of the ways in which rationality becomes overweening and controlling to the exclusion of other ways of thinking. Building upon the works of Pierre Dupuy. Examples include the rationality of large, powerful organizations such as FIFA and the Olympic Committee. Greater implications of this narrow rationality, inherited from the Enlightenment, are linked to […] […]
I discuss the “childhood of mass movements” which typify the consciousness of much of the West’s citizenry and which emerges from the corporatist ideology, and the absolute immunity from prosecution of those in high places who commit crimes against humanity and in violation of US law. Meanwhile, citizens who try to expose these crimes are […] […]
This show featured Stacey Cossey, an activist and organizer with WAMEND, a part of a national effort to introduce changes to the US Constitution forbidding outside money in politics. Ms. Cossey speaks of her history in the securities industry where in 2007 she saw first-hand the corrosive influence of big money on politics and the […] […]
This show explored three frames within which imitative behavior contributes to violence: the lynch mob, the Men’s Rights Activists, and the Patriotic Mob. Using texts from Mark Twain’s The United States of Lyncherdom, from the prepared notes of Judge Carlton Reeves, I discuss how lynching depends upon a group imitating and following the behavior of […] […]
This is a wide ranging discussion of the state of contemporary linguistics in politics, meaning, and academia. Dr. Shapiro spoke of the necessity of language for thought to exist, and thus the decline in language skills and in communication competencies reflects the decrease in actual thought in contemporary America. Such language as does exist is […] […]
The decline in participation in voting leads to an abdication of the one tool of influence that individuals have in their government via the legislature. Statistics from the US Census bureau reported that topping the list of reasons for not voting is a lack of interest (13%) or a dislike of the candidates or issues […] […]
The tactic of those in the MSM and those in the BBG is to discredit any alternative source that gets too popular and then the remaining talking heads that pretend to deliver news in the US will simply continue to deliver the talking points of power, generally with minimal if any investigation of their own. […] […]
The BBG has declared war on Russia. RT has become a terrorist organization, says the BBG mouthpiece. The sad truth is that even a congenitally stupid person could see through the lame propaganda that the BBG and the entities they control continue to belch forth. Lies can only be maintained for so long before people […] […]
Confronting the denial of Rex Americana Like an alcoholic who won’t face his drinking problem, we as a nation cannot admit who we are. We cannot admit that we hurt people. We never apologize. G H W Bush famously said, “I’ll never apologize for the US.” Who never apologizes? Who is never wrong? Abusers, madmen, […] […]
We are fascinated with the ends of things but not as much with the beginnings. We expect time to be ordered to our dramas: sports, adventure novels, apocalyptic fantasies. They all follow the same pattern: an introduction, exposition, conflict followed by threatened resolution, then resolution and denouement. It seems as if our world script is […] […]
Long Waves Radio Abuse of Power and Power of Abusers The premise of this show was the privilege that comes with power, and the obliviousness of people with power to their own privilege. This show explored several differentials of power. Examples discussed included: the difference in judicial treatment of General Petraeus and Ed Snowden, the […] […]
In this show I interview Capt. Brad Arleth, Spokane Police Dept. and Dr. Ed Byrnes, EWU, regarding the findings of the preliminary study of race in police contacts in Spokane. African Americans and Native Americans are stopped disproportionally by SPD. Use of force is quite low. […]
The world has always been corrupt, governments, including and perhaps especially the US, have always undertaken wars of conquest for false reasons. The rich have always run the world. Why are we more effected? So what’s different now? Three things. the scale of problems facing us. Climate change, world war, nuclear war, the collapse of […] […]
The show discusses some of the great issues facing the US: poverty, climate change, on-going war, a loss of morality at all levels of society. etc, and examines the issues of why we seem unable to address these. Among the causes cited are distraction and overstimulation in contemporary MSM creating a climate of fear, envy, […] […]
The term,”non-linear war,” was coined in a short story written by Vladislav Surkov and was published under his pseudonym, Nathan Dubovitsky. It describes a new type of war of “all against all.” The application of this term by Korybko in reaction to the FP article by Peter Pomerantsev was discussed as a way of describing […] […]
Moussaui says Saudis funded Al Qaeda. Golly. Stop the presses. The history is well known as is the history of the Saudis funding insurgent Sunni groups throughout the middle east. The truth must be kept from us so that the existing narratives of power and control and wealth may permeate culture, law, and perception without […] […]
The show discussed the importance of a sense of history and perspective and the difficulties of having this sense with the current major media. The discussion then turned to examining the relationship of the prerogative state as described by Fraenkel to the increasing militarization of the US police departments. The necessity of having personally constructed […] […]
This program opened with quotes from the MLK speech of 1967 at Riverside Church. Special attention and analysis was paid to the quote: “This I believe to be the privilege and the burden of all of us who deem ourselves bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism and which go […] […]
In this show I discuss the US legal origins of limiting free speech, including libel, slander, obscenity and fighting words. This sets the frame for a discussion of the Charlie Hebdo incident in France and the immediate passing of a law in France greatly reducing free speech rights. The inherent contradiction of this action leads […] […]
I discussed the phenomenon by which events in the world appear and magically fall away. Complexities such as war, revolutions, economic problems disappear from view and so slip from our memory, as if they never existed. Thus there are problems with our systems of information and our understanding of events: We forget the events, their […] […]
People are acting domestically and globally, initiating wars, committing murders, overthrowing governments. What is our knowledge of this and where does it come from? Discussion draws on Lippmann’s 1922 book, Public Opinion. No language, vocabulary or mental framework for understanding the world is commonly available, and this makes people vulnerable to propaganda and persuasion. Journos […] […]
This show discussed the various myths of contemporary US culture, such as hard work paying off, American Exceptionalism, and literalist religion, which I described as C3. Contemporary Corporate Christianity. The show explored the unraveling of these narratives and the effects of loss of faith in society and in government. The show proposes an approach to […] […]
Show addressed the news coverage of MH17 shootdown, the role of NED in destabilizing Ukraine, US government responses to Russia’s reclaiming of Crimea, the establishment of sanctions against Russia, and the dangerous probabilities of conflict in Ukraine. China’s opening of rail traffic from its borders to Europe was discussed as an example of that country’s […] […]
The historical attributes of empires, Detailed by Schumpeter in 1919 are explored in the US creation of external enemies in Russia, ISIS, Al-Nursa, and Al Qaeda. This tactic generates internal tensions such as were seen in Furgeson, MO and the racial, class and religious divisions constituting much of the current US news. The use of […] […]