Stephen Zunes on Dems’ denial of Armenian genocide; Dahr Jamail on Iraq. Zunes is Professor of Politics and Chair of Mid-Eastern Studies at University of San Francisco. He comments on a March 11 article he wrote at Huffington Post about the most recent House resolution acknowledging the Armenian genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks in 1918-19, which was passed by the Foreign Relations Committee. Secretary of State Clinton, who supported such a measure as a senator and candidate, opposes it now, and worked to prevent it from a full House vote. Obama and Pelosi have also flipped from previous support, and Zunes recounts the history of excuses along with the latest–we need Turkish support for sanctions against Iran. Zunes also comments on the new START treaty and the upcoming summit in Washington. Jamail is an independent journalist who has been a frequent PBC contributor, and he comments on the newly-released video of US choppers who killed a dozen Iraqis, including two Reuters reporters, in July, 2007. Watch the video here. Jamail also talks about the recent elections in Iraq and the execution of 25 Sunnis, and about the progress of US troop withdrawals. Read his latest reports here.
Info on Podcast #120
Bishop Thomas Gumbleton on the (im)morality of wars, the new START treaty, and the sex abuse scandal in his church; PBC on the lost interview with Joe Sestak, and John Isaacs on START and nuclear disarmament. Bishop Gumbleton, retired Catholic bishop from Detroit, says the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan–and the use of drones–are immoral, and criticizes other religious leaders for failing to speak out; he has reservations about the new START treaty with Russia; and he decries the crimes of pedophile priests and their coverup by church leaders, right up to the Pope. PBC explains what happened to the interview with Rep. Sestak, candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania, and recaps the conversation. Then he talks with John Isaacs, executive director of the Council for a Liveable World about the START treaty that Obama plans to sign in Prague later this week. Isaacs addresses some of the issues raised by Bishop Gumbleton and talks about prospects for Senate ratification of the treaty. With a range of establishment voices, including Kissinger, calling for nuclear disarmament, Isaacs believes this is the best chance in the last 20 years for meaningful change.
Info on Podcast #119
A pre-election report from the U.K.; Mark Fiore, creator of animated political cartoons. In the first segment, our correspondent Prof. David Coates of the Wake Forest political science dept. reports from Edinburgh, Scotland on the upcoming election for Prime Minister. Incumbent Gordon Brown of the Labour Party is polling 7-10 points behind Conservative challenger David Cameron. Some of the issues and political divisions are similar to the US. Coates also reports on the Chilcot investigation into Britain’s decision to join Bush’s folly in Iraq. His new book is Answering Back: Liberal Responses to Conservative Arguments, and Coates will return in a future podcast to comment on American politics and year 1 of Obama. Mark Fiore is the talented cartoonist whose Flash animations are featured on the home page here at peterbcollins.com, along with the sites of many newspapers and his own home on the web. We talk about some of his recent episodes, and play the audio. He describes how he dreams up these powerful little packages of satire, how big he draws Obama’s ears, and more; somehow, we end up talking about the Catholic sex scandal, and conclude it’s time to turn control over to the nuns.
a victory for our 4th amendment!
On March 31, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled against NSA wiretapping in the Bush era, in the al Haramain case that we have been following closely here for several years. Attorney Jon Eisenberg, interviewed in podcast #118, explains the victory. It’s the first, and possibly last, decision that clearly defines the “warrantless” domestic surveillance as ILLEGAL.
In #120, which we’ll post on April 5, you’ll hear me lobby US Senate candidate Joe Sestak, D-PA, on restoring our 4th Amendment rights. I hope you will lobby your representatives to reform the FISA “Reform” of 2008 to give back the rights we had pre-Bush/Cheney. In February, both houses approved the ugly extension of the Patriot Act, without a wimper from the compliant public. Please speak up, and don’t let the phony anger of the teabag right dominate the agenda. Obama will likely make another Supreme Court appointment in the near future–we must insist that the nominee reflects progressive views on constitutional rights, privacy rights, and executive power and accountability. If Obama appoints a pro-corporate person with a conservative record, we must be prepared to stage a “Miers” intervention. That refers to the way Republicans leaned on Bush II to withdraw the nomination of his clearly unqualified crony, Harriett Miers (who joined Alberto Gonzales and Michael Brown in Bush’s Axis of Dunces). This may be our last chance in (enter your guess below) a while to put a real liberal on the Court.
Info on Podcast #118
Bush wiretapping ruled illegal! More on CIA use of LSD and assassinations. Attorney Jon Eisenberg returns to our program to discuss his legal victory against the NSA wiretapping under Bush. Judge Vaughn Walker ruled against the government and the Obama team’s legal ploys. Eisenberg explains the ruling, possibility of an appeal and his view of our prospects for regaining our 4th Amendment rights. Journalist H. P. Albarelli, Jr. returns to talk about his important book, A Terrible Mistake: The Murder of Frank Olson and the CIA’s Secret Cold War Experiments. Albarelli has painstakingly revealed the layers of lies surrounding the 1953 death of Olson, CIA experiments with LSD on unsuspecting people–and even a whole town in France–the agency’s use of thugs and mobsters as assassins and enforcers, and the investigations that ultimately showed that Olson did not commit suicide, but was killed by CIA operatives. He also talks about the 2001 anthrax attacks and says he doubts the FBI assertion that Dr. Bruce Ivins was responsible. Albarelli has 2 websites, here and here.
Info on Podcast #117
NY Times makes correction, continues misreporting on ACORN; Gov. Don Siegelman updates his fight for justice. For months, Brad Friedman of Bradblog has waged a valiant fight with top editors at the NY Times, demanding corrections to its repeated false reports about ACORN and the entrapment video created by James O’Keefe. On March 21, Public Editor Clark Hoyt admitted that he and the Times had erred by repeating the claim that O’Keefe was dressed as a pimp when he set up some ACORN employees; he also acknowledged that the Times fumbled the overall story and failed to report on the investigation that exonerated ACORN. But recent stories include references that have not been updated to match the corrections. You are invited to register your comments with Times executive editor Bill Keller and managing editor John Geddes. Brad also details the recent convictions of 8 officials in Kentucky for election fraud. Gov. Siegelman is a victim of election fraud, conviction by a prosecutor with close ties to Karl Rove before a judge who should have recused himself. He explains his side of the story on one count he was convicted on, related to a motorcycle he acquired, and asks listeners to contact Chairman John Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee.
Info on Podcast #116
Prof. Stephen Jones on 9/11 explosive evidence; 2 activists fight White House on coal ash rules. Dr. Jones details the peer reviewed study that confirms that dust from 4 locations near the World Trade Center contained residue from the high tech explosive nanothermite. We begin the conversation with Jones’ description of his early retirement from Brigham Young University, under pressure from the Cheney White House, then talk about the study. He also references an earlier study, found here. While the discussion is a bit technical at times, and Jones’ cell fades out sometimes, the information is important and persuasive. In our second segment, we hear from two activists who are fighting White House czar Cass Sunstein, who is holding up approval of new EPA rules on coal ash: Peter Kelley, whose group has set up a cool website and taken out an ad in the Harvard Crimson (Sunstein is on leave from Harvard) to challenge the czar; and Tim Tanksley, who lives very close to a toxic coal ash dump near Bokoshe, Oklahoma which is run by the cynically-named “Making Money Having Fun” company, which has recently (and more cynically) been re-named Clean Hydro. Tanksley invites you to get more info hereand here.
Info on Podcast #115
Dems health insurance victory? Cuba Rising. On the day Obama signs the Senate bill just passed by the House, Margaret Flowers, MD returns to critique the bill and renew the call for single payer. Dr. Flowers, who was arrested on the order of Sen. Baucus for demanding hearings on single payer, describes the major shortcomings of this legislation, and agrees that the limited benefits delivered–such as an end to pre-existing conditions, lifetime caps and policy cancellation–do not come with adequate enforcement or penalties. Dr. Flowers urges single payer advocates to continue the struggle here. PBC cites a valuable myth-busting chart from Jane Hamsher and Firedoglake.com which refutes the happy-talk talking points we are hearing from Democrats about this “historic reform”. And we take a fresh look at the island nation of Cuba with Jonathan Showe, author of the new book Cuba Rising: An American Insider’s Perspective. Showe has been to Cuba over 80 times in the last 12 years, and offers many interesting comments on the Castro Brothers, a half century of failed US policies of sanction and isolation, the power of Cuban exiles in US politics, attitudes toward the US and Guantanamo, and more.
ooooops! wrong frog!
As astute listener Anoel Rinaldi pointed out, I managed to post the recent interview with Coleen Rowley twice–the same show is podcast 98 and 110. It’s part of the Boiling Frogs series, and I mixed up the order, serving up the wrong boiled frog. It was not intended as a test, but she was the only one so far who passed it. cheers, pbc
Info on Podcast #114
US Media’s pro-Israel bias. Phil Weiss, veteran magazine journalist, talks about his experience with mainstream print outlets and their biased coverage of the Israel-Palestine dispute. His powerful blog and news site, Mondo Weiss offers his opinions and news from sources outside the US. This is the next installment of the Boiling Frogs interview series, co-hosted with Sibel Edmonds.