This week good friend of the show Brain Heiss joined me for an in-depth discussion on Digital Entertainment Network (DEN) and its founders, Marc Collins-Rector, Chad Shackley, and Brock Pierce. We talked about DEN’s meteoric rise in LA during the late 1990’s and its subsequent downfall after numerous allegations of sexual assault against young boys. Brian and I talked about Collins-Rector’s mysterious and unknown life prior to DEN. We attempted to piece together how Collins-Rector was able to sell DEN to the likes of Disney, NBC, Chase Capital Partners, David Geffen, and many other high profile people in less than a year. We discused Shackley, Pierce, and Collins-Rector fleeing the US after the first sexual assault lawsuit, and how they were eventually caught in Marbella, Spain. Brian and I also touched on Brock Pierce’s company IGE and the suicide of DEN victim Brian Claflin.
Join hosts Pearse Redmond and Jon Atack as they discuss the concept of awe and its manipulative power with Yuval Laor. They talk about the psychological effect awe can have on an individual, and explore how this can be exploited by cult groups and toxic individuals in order to gain control. Yuval and Jon also discuss how all of us can be susceptible to the manipulation of our natural sense of awe, and the importance of cultivating healthy awe experiences in our life.
This Tuesday night we decode the current mosaic of geopolitical scattershot that is the New World Landscape. The Iran deal is still part of the calculus as Israel continues to justify it’s response to Palestine. Does Trump know what is happening all around him? Mike Swanson talks about the latest version of Neo-cons thoughtless tanks. At the end of the first hour, Chuck and Mike agree that it is tough to prognosticate the many outcomes. Pearse Redmond joins us in hour 2; The conversation seems to continue where it left off before the break. Is The Ochelli Effect good for your mental health? Seems to work for Pearse. What about North Korea? Why is Ollie North the new showrunner at the NRA.? Have we as a nation faced the issue of torture? Fatigue seems to be setting in as people normalize the man of no principles that occupies the White House at the moment. Pre-tense no longer required in the newest abnormal under POTUS Agent Orange.
Aaron Franz of TheAgeofTransistions.com joins us for the first hour. We begin by talking about Aaron’s new live version of Trans Resister Radio and Uncle the podcast. Aaron and I then discuss the topic of the imagined dividing line between the real and the fantastic, the objective and the subjective. We talk about how reality and fantasy have begun to blur increasingly over the past several years. Using Elon Musk as an example we discuss how Musk’s increasingly bizarre pronouncements illustrate this concept. We also touch on statements made by leading scientists that claim we are living in a computer simulation. Aaron and I talk about the deeper occult meaning behind this as well. We also talk about the idea of fake news and how this fits into this paradigm. Later Aaron and I look at a recent study by UCLA which claims that memories are really genetic. We talk about a recent experiment which claimed that memories could be implanted within sea slugs. Aaron and I discuss the dangers of this, including the idea of erasing bad memories from ones mind.
In the second hour I go it alone. I start by talking about the amazing Dingle Record Shop and it’s proprietor Mazz O’Flaherty. I then go on an extended rant about how much I despise the endless news cycle of death and trauma. I focus mainly on the recent massacre in Gaza and my disgust at the way many people seem to be celebrating this. I also talk about the idiocy of reneging on the Iran deal and how this is most likely being orchestrated by the neocons. Later I touch on how everything seems to be reverting back to the Bush years, or possibly even worse. I also talk about how this has effected me on a personal level.
Pearse Redmond returns to Trans Resister Radio to tell tales from his recent trip to Ireland. He and Aaron discuss the powerful mystique of ancient sites such as Newgrange.
This week I am joined by Yuval Laor of the Open Minds Foundation, and one of my co-hosts for Open Minds On Air. We discuss the neoconservative movement, the exploitation of trauma, and Israel. Yuval and I start off the conversation with the breaking news that Donald Trump has decided to pull the US out the Iran Nuclear Deal. We talk about what this means for America and the prospect of war with Iran. Yuval gives us his perspective of this as an Israeli-American, and how the public within Israel is reacting to the news. Yuval and I then shift into the neocons who are obviously happy with Trump’s latest pronouncement. We look at their belief system and the psychology of the movement by using Israel as a template. Yuval talks about the continual use and exploitation of the holocaust and the trauma of it with in Israel. He discusses how this has manipulated Israeli society on a psychological level to the point where they view the Holocaust as constantly being right around the corner. We talk about the way that the Israeli state continually traumatizes its youth with regards to the Holocaust. Yuval and I then break down how this is the same method by which the neocons have sought to manipulate people here in the United States.
Later Yuval and I talk about the power of awe and fervor. Again using Israel as an example we talk about “Jerusalem Syndrome” and how it works on people who are not even religious. Yuval talks about John Kerry’s awe moment at Masada as well. We then shift into high fervor people and their inability to view the world outside of a good vs. evil black and white mentality. Yuval explains how the neocons have psychologically fallen into this mindset, and the ways in which it has effected their views on foreign policy. We also address whether neoconservationism is a cult group or a secret society. We also touch on Trump’s psychology and why he is so susceptible to manipulation, particularly by the neocons. Yuval also discusses the concept of a thought-terminating cliché. Yuval then closes out the episode with a very appropriate joke.
Freelance journalist Judi Rever joins me this week for an in-depth discussion of her new book In Praise of Blood: The Crimes of the Rwandan Patriotic Front. Judi talks about her first experiences in the aftermath of the Rwandan Genocide while reporting in Congo in the late 1990s. Judi discusses what it was like to uncover the true nature of both the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and its actions before, during, and after the genocide. We then move onto Paul Kagame himself and the structure of the RPF. Judi and I talk about Kagame’s life in Uganda, his close relationship with Yoweri Museveni, and his time as head of Ugandan intelligence. Judi also talks about the much feared Directorate Military Intelligence (DMI). She talks about the structure of the DMI and how it functioned as the nervous system of the genocide. We then move onto the political ideology of the RPF and what it would ultimately achieve. Judi and I discuss its extreme views which saw the mass slaughter of Hutus all across Rwanda and the seizing of land as a result. Judi talks also talks about how Kagame and the RPF have turned Rwanda into a nation of spies and informants.
In the second hour Judi and I talk about the Byumba Stadium Massacre, and how it acts as a template for RPF’s crimes throughout the genocide and afterwards. Judi explains how the RPF tactic of luring injured and starving Hutus into a central area under the pretense of providing aid was used through about the genocide. We discuss how under Kagame’s direction, burning bodies avoided the existence of mass graves, which could be discovered on satellite photos. Later on we talk about the assassination of Juvenal Habyarimana. Judi explains the reality of the assassination, which was in fact carried out by the RPF on orders from Paul Kagame. We talk about the significance of this event and how the media is beginning to openly talk about the true nature of the assassination. Judi and I also touch on western collaboration with Rwanda. Judi explains the CIA’s role in aiding Rwanda during the genocide and afterwards during its military operations in Zaire that overthrew Mobutu. We also talk about the exploitation of minerals in Congo by western companies under the auspices of the Rwandan military.
We finish the conversation by talking about Kagame’s silencing of activists, whistleblowers, and journalists in both Central Africa and Western Europe. Judi discusses the importance of speaking out and what we can do to expose Kagame and the RPF’s massive crimes.
JP Sottile joins me in the first hour to discuss the recent airstrikes by the US, UK, and France in Syria. We discuss how this is nothing new for the Trump administration, and how in fact this latest airstrike comes almost on the anniversary of Trump’s earlier strike after the alleged use of chemical weapon. JP and I also discuss how this latest attack appears to have targeted three sites which were completely evacuated and probably were known of in advance. JP talks about the theater that was involved in this latest military action, including Trump’s idiotic use of the phrase “mission accomplished.” We then break down the media’s hyping of this event as a prelude to WWIII. JP and I present several reasons for why this is nothing more than bluster meant to drive traffic on websites. We also explore the notion that this is really the last hurrah of the American Empire. We talk about the decline of US power and their inability to maintain such a large global empire. I talk about the how France has begun filling this imperialist vacuum more and more in Africa.
In the second hour Robbie Martin joins me to breakdown the ever changing narrative of the Skirpal poisoning. We talk about how this fits into the larger context of what we are seeing geopolitically particular with regard to actions in Syria. Robbie talks about how Theresa May wove Skirpal into her decision to help bomb Syria over the weekend. Later we move onto the latest explanation which comes from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that the Skripal’s were exposed to BZ. Robbie explains what BZ is and the history of the US governments experiments with the chemical. We also mention the State Department cable that mentions the possibility of BZ having been used in Syria. The bizarre claim by former KGB operative Boris Karpichkov that Skripal is connected to the murder of GCHQ’s Gareth Williams is also discussed. We end by talking about the danger of these sorts of operations and the rhetoric that is produces within society.
I am joined today by Robbie Martin and Pearse Redmond to talk about the 2008 9/11 conspiracy thriller The Reflecting Pool. We pick on various aspects of the film that relate or comment on the 9/11 truth movement, including the bizarre consensus that thermite brought down the WTC which has overshadowed the much more important issue of the destruction of evidence. We also get into the fake CIA Presidential Daily Briefing in the film that has no real-world parallel and therefore seems to be a metaphor about the risks of trusting inside sources. We round off talking about our favourite moments in the movie and on the ending where (SPOILERS) our protagonist appears to have lost his mind.
We are delighted to announce the first episode of Open Minds On Air. This is the official podcast of the Open Minds Foundation, hosted by Pearse Redmond, Jon Atack, and Yuval Laor.
In this episode, we introduce ourselves and give a little background on what the Open Minds Foundation is working on. We discuss the ever-present threat of the human predator, and how they infect our lives. Also, Jon and Yuval explain the methods and techniques of human predators. They talk about the tactics that these predators employ to gain control over an individual or group. We end the conversation by talking about ways individuals can combat this behavior.
RT @JSCCounterPunch: Only in Miami could you blow up a Cuban airliner, killing 70 people, and be called a "militant" and not a "mass-murder… 7 hours ago
