I had the great pleasure of once again joining the one and only Chuck Ochelli on his fine radio program The Ochelli Effect. This time around we discussed the recent mass shooting in Orlando and each of us offered up our thoughts and analysis on the massacre. Chuck and I also went into great detail about the ever bizarre (and underreported) Jeffrey Epstein case. I tell Chuck about some new research that has come my way relating to the case, as well as those moving in Epstein’s circles, and some of the “expose” books that are due out soon. We inevitably do some good old fashioned Trump bashing. Chuck and I ask the question: Why the hell is no one reporting on Trump’s close personal connection to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein? We also briefly talk about the new season of The CIA and Hollywood.
We welcome Ed Opperman to the series and discuss the 2005 docudrama Good Night, and Good Luck which retells the story of the 1954 confrontation between senator Joe McCarthy and television journalist Ed Murrow of CBS. McCarthy was pursuing Communists within the State Department and other government agencies and innocent people were getting caught in the crossfire, creating a climate of suspicion, mistrust and hostility. Murrow used his prime time series See It Now to attack McCarthy and the culture and mentality of McCarthyism, showing the senator to be a hypocrite who persecuted his targets.
This is the story that is told in Good Night, and Good Luck, a film born out of the creative relationship between George Clooney and Grant Heslov. In this episode we take a sideways look at the historical events and ask why Clooney and Heslov chose to lionise not just Murrow but the whole See it Now/CBS crew. We try to persuade Ed of an alternative interpretation of events, with Murrow not quite being the heroic counter-establishment figure he is in the film and CBS being a rotten media organisation with deep ties to the CIA. We then explore how almost everyone involved in Good Night, and Good Luck had either already made a film with CIA assistance, or went on to do so. We round off talking about Clooney’s bizarre Las Vegas connection, E Michael Burke, George Steinbrenner and (inevitably) Donald Trump.
Today on the show we have a special treat – – instead of a regular episode the listeners will get a special sneak preview of our brand new bonus material. To kick off the the launch of our Patreon campaign we spoke with Stephen Singular all about the brand new updated edition of Legacy of Deception. Stephen explains why he has updated the book and some of the new pieces of information he has included. From Christopher Darden’s admissions that EDTA was grounds for a mistrial, to evidence that the murder of Nicole Simpson and Ronald Goldman may have been drug related, this is a jam-packed conversation not worth missing. Stephen and I also discuss the importance of getting this information out the the public, and why true investigative journalism matters now more than ever.
For all those interested in supporting the work that I do, please go and visit Patreon and consider becoming a subscriber to the podcast. Here is a breakdown of what you will get for a small donation:
$1 a month – special on air thank you, and be listed in the video credits
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$5 a month – access to bonus podcast, a question of your choosing answered on air, special on air thank you and be listed in the video credits
The bonus podcasts will be everything from interviews and investigative reports to more personal ones involving me and my life. Every little bit helps, so if you can, please consider donating. For those who would prefer to make a one-time donation, you can always click on the donate button on the upper left hand side of the website.
In this first episode of the new season Pearse and I discuss the 1958 spy drama The Quiet American, adapted from the novel by Graham Greene. We focus in on the role of Air Force and CIA officer Ed Lansdale’s relationship with the film-maker Joseph Mankiewicz, and how the CIA were involved in assisting Mankiewicz the first major American movie to be filmed in Vietnam. Mankiewicz met Lansdale in Vietnam while doing research for the movie and, apparently unaware that Lansdale is one of the inspirations for the Pyle character in the original book, befriended him. Lansdale later reviewed the script and wrote to Mankiewicz encouraging the changes he had made to the storyline and characters.
Another angle is Graham Greene’s transition from an MI6 agent in World War 2 to an anti-establishment author who was spied by the FBI for supposed Communist affiliations. We look at how his original novel of The Quiet American was an excellent critique of post-WW2 American imperialism, secret warfare and so-called ‘humanitarian interventions’, which was butchered in the Hollywood version. In particular the character of Pyle is turned from a bookish, virginal ‘war nerd’ into the charming all-American version played by real-life war hero Audie Murphy. Likewise, while the original book has Fowler’s worst suspicions about Pyle being proven right (Pyle is sponsoring terrorism), the film changes this so Fowler is fooled by the Communists into betraying Pyle.
We round off this episode by briefly discussing the far superior (and not state-sponsored) 2002 film version directed by Philip Noyce and starring Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser. This version is not only better written, acted and directed but is also, crucially, a faithful adaptation of the original book.
We will begin releasing season 2 of The CIA and Hollywood this weekend, and to give you a taste of what’s to come we have produced a linkchart combining data and connections from both season 1 and the forthcoming season 2. New additions include The Rock, Angelina Jolie and former Sony executive Amy Pascal, along with self-confessed (though officially denied) CIA agent Chuck Barris. Much of this season’s material links up with the people and organisations we discussed in season one, including the two production companies Participant Media and Relativity Media.
As with the previous linkchart, embedded in the pdf are links to various resources – interviews, documents, making of featurettes and other sources of information for those who want to know more about the relationship between the CIA and Hollywood, and of course where Pearse and I get the information we use. The 8 films we examine in this second season are: The Quiet American (1958), Good Night, and Good Luck (2005), Confessions of a Dangerous Mind (2002), Men who Stare at Goats (2009), American Ultra (2015), Race to Witch Mountain (2009), Zero Dark Thirty (2012) and Salt (2010).
The linkchart is available as a high-resolution PNG file or as an even higher-resolution PDF, which has the source links embedded within it.
On this episode we talked with Casey Gane-McCalla all about his new book Inside the CIA’s Secret War in Jamaica. We began with an overview of the geopolitcal situation Jamaica found itself in during the Cold-War. Casey explained how the Caribbean nation was one of the premier battle grounds for US imperialism throughout the 1970’s-1980’s. Casey breaks down how the two dominant political parties, the Jamaican Labour Party, headed by Edward Seaga and backed by the CIA, and the People’s National Party, headed by Michael Manley and aligned with Cuba, fought a bloody struggle for dominance. We then discussed the CIA’s use of anti-Castro Cuban terrorists and economic warfare to destabilize the country. We also touched on the racial politics which dominate Jamaica to this day.
Later we moved on to the introduction of cocaine and arms trafficking into Jamaica. Casey explained how, with the help of the CIA, Edward Seaga was able to build up his own well-armed drug-dealing militia, The Shower Posse. We explored how gangs in Jamaica are fully integrated into the Jamaican political system. Casey also talked about the links between Iran-Contra and Jamaica. We also discussed Jeb Bush’s deep connections to the Jamaican drug trade and right-wing Cuban terrorists.
We finished off the conversation by looking at the 2010 Tivoli Gardens Incursion which resulted in the eventual extradition of Shower Posse leader, Christopher “Dudus” Coke. Casey and I talked about the reasons that the CIA may have turned on their asset in the island nation. We also examined the larger issue of Drug War as it effects us as a society today.
We closed out by briefly discussing Casey’s next project, a book dealing with The Boston Bombing and the brutal murder of Casey’s friend, Erik Weissman, by Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
On this months episode Christoph and I take an in-depth look at the recent “Four Day War” between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno Karabhak region. We discuss the causes for this latest outbreak of violence, and the various regional and global actors involved. Christoph also breaks down the history of this long-forgotten, frozen conflict.
In our second segment we look into a variety of spy-games being played between Turkey and Russia. We begin with the recent reversal by the FSB that Turkey was involved in the downing of a Russian passenger plane in Egypt and what this may mean. Christoph and I discuss the political situation within NATO. We focus on NATO’s hesitancy to get further entrenched in a military situation with Russia, and how NATO members are responding to this .
Next we discuss the recent interview that the reclusive Fethullah Gulen gave to a Russian newspaper, in which she attacks Turkey for shooting down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border. Christoph and I both offer our theories and analysis as to why Gulen is speaking now, and what it means that he is speaking out against Erdogan.
Next we discuss the recent arrest of Grey Wolf fighter Alparslan Celik. Faithful listeners will remember that Celik was the “Turkmen” rebel leader that took credit for the killing of a Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov. Then we turn to the recent arrest of two Russian spies by the MIT in Turkey for their role in the murder of Chechen militant Abdulvakhid Edelgireyev. We finish off this section by taking a look at the rising influence of Grey Wolves inside Germany, using the recent clashes between Grey Wolves and PKK supporters in the city of Aschaffenburg as an example.
For our weird terrorism section Christoph and I give a final farewell to our favorite Georgian Jihadi, Tarkhan Batirashvili aka Omar al-Shishani. We talk about the Pentagon operation that killed him, and why this time they may actually be speaking the truth. We also take a closer look at the Panama Papers and the telltale signs that this was a CIA operation.
Today we are joined once again by our friend Stephen Singular to dive deeper into the OJ Simpson case. We begin by taking a closer look at Mark Fuhrman’s timeline in relation to his “discovery” of the infamous gloves. Stephen discusses a key piece of the puzzle: Fuhrman’s multiple trips to OJ’s Rockingham property on the night of the murders. We discuss how this was confirmed by Rosa Lopez’s testimony, but like so many key pieces of evidence, has been long forgotten.
Next we explore some revealing statements from Fuhrman such as his admission of seeing two gloves at the murder scene. Stephen discusses how the case essentially ended when Mark Fuhrman “found” the gloves. This stopped the LAPD from doing an actual investigation into what happened on June 12, 1994.
Next we move onto to the disappearing, reappearing blood evidence. Stephen and I look at when the blood was actually discovered inside OJ’s Bronco. We discuss how Fuhrman and others claim to have seen blood inside the Bronco, which prompted them to hop OJ’s fence without a warrant, and yet how several days later LAPD’s Kelly Muldorfer found that there was no blood inside the Bronco.
We again talk about Det. Vannatter carrying around not only OJ’s blood, but also that of Nicole and Ronald, for several hours. We also dive deeper into the question of how this all was orchestrated, focusing less on the possibility of a grand conspiracy and more on the possibility of several key people making a serious of devastating choices.
We round out the conversation by considering what the motive of this crime may truly have been. Stephen outlines how a real investigation would have uncovered the deep connections this case had to organized crime and drug trafficking. He also discusses how this case demonstrates the ease with which we can be manipulated as a society. And we touch on how this case set us up for many of the lies that we were later fed in the aftermath of events such as 9/11 and the Iraq War. Stephen also dissects how the rise of TV news and opinion talking heads has turned us into a society that no longer cares about truth and reality.
Update From Stephen Singular: “Because of the wide interest in the O.J. Simpson case generated by the FX series on the murders, we’ve had numerous requests to publish Stephen’s 1996 Legacy of Deception: An Investigation of Mark Fuhrman and Racism in the LAPD as an e-book. We are currently re-formatting it for this purpose and it should be available for purchase through this website within the next few weeks. The updated version will contain new information about important developments that followed the original publication of the book. Please go to Books on this site for more information about Legacy of Deception.”
Today we are joined by former second-generation Scientologist Aaron Smith-Levin. Aaron became a member of the Church of Scientology at around the age of 4, after his mother joined up in Philadelphia. Aaron details his life within Scientology, from joining staff at age 12, to signing his billion year Sea Org contract in his 20’s, to eventually leaving the cult along with his wife and children. We discuss what it was like as a child growing up knowing nothing other than Scientology. We discuss how Scientology is often contradictory and at odds with its own belief system, along with the posthumous influence of L Ron Hubbard, regarded by Scientologists as both god and man.
Later Aaron relates the fascinating story of how Patt and Annie Broeker were ousted by David Miscavige in the course of his quest to gain control of the group. We also discuss Scientology’s dangerous and barbaric views about disabled people; Aaron describes the “superman” mentality of Scientologists and how they blame disabled people for their handicaps. Aaron explains that Scientology doesn’t regard them as worthy of help, and explains the Scientological concept of “making the able more able.” We round off the podcast with a discussion of the current state of Scientology — Aaron and I talk about the involvement of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam with Scientology, and what this means for the future. We briefly consider the rumors of OJ Simpson being a Scientologist, and Aaron notes some other interesting celebrities who dabbled in Scientology.
Today we are joined by writer and investigative journalist Stephen Singular for the first of several podcasts discussing the OJ Simpson trial. In August of 1994 Stephen was contacted by a source within the LA legal system who gave him several important pieces of evidence pointing to O.J.’s innocence and demonstrating major police corruption and malfeasance. For a time Stephen even worked with the “Dream Team,” leading them to look into blood tampering, ETDA presence in the blood, movement of evidence, and a close relationship between Nicole Brown Simpson and Detective Mark Fuhrman.
As a result of his previous work looking into Neo-Nazis and white supremacists, Stephen also uncovered Mark Furhman’s dark history as a violent racist psychopath. We discuss the infamous Fuhrman tapes, as well as the LAPD’s internal investigation of Fuhrman, which confirmed what Singular had been told regarding Fuhrman’s Neo-Nazi ideology and his relationship with Nicole Brown Simpson.
Stephen presents us with a narrative of the OJ Simpson trial that we otherwise never get to hear. By honestly examining the evidence, it becomes clear that there is much more to the “Trial of the Century” than meets the eye. We touch on why this trial is still important, and how its impact is still felt in America today. I strongly encourage everyone who thinks he or she knows this case to listen in with an open mind.
Porkins Policy Review 