This week J.G. Michael of Parallax Views joined me to discuss the current state of the right-wing movement. J.G. started out by talking about the intellectual roots of the far right and how that has evolved over the years. He touched on lesser known but highly influential people like Curtis Yarvin and Hans-Hermann Hoppe. J.G. also talked about the role that silicon valley and tech culture within the neoreactionary movement.
Later we discussed right-wing front man Gavin McInnes and his political gang the Proud Boys. We talked about his recent speech at the Met Club where he reenacted the murder of socialist Inejiro Asanuma by right-wing nationalist Otoya Yamaguchi. J.G. discussed how the Proud Boys fit into this complex milieu. We talked about their role as the Republican Parties brown shirts. Later we talked about punk music and some of their connections to the far right. We ended by talking about some of the real people behind these dangerous groups who are merely using McInnes and others as fronts.
Hugo Turner of Anti-Imperialist-U for an in depth discussion of Ted Shackley and his infamous career in the CIA. We focus on Hugo’s articles chronicling Ted Shackley as well as the Iran Contra Scandal. We begin by taking a look at Shackley’s beginnings in military intelligence recruiting Nazi’s, and his later recruitment into the CIA during the Korean War. Hugo paints us a picture of the man that Shackley would become: obsessively driven and cutthroat. We touch on some of Shackley’s early mentors such as William Harvey who introduced Shackley to the Cuban exile committee. Hugo explains what Shackley was up to in Miami while Station Cheif there as well as his possible connection to the JFK assassination. Next we move onto Laos where Shackley would truly come into his own. We explore Shackley’s role in the Laotian heroin trade and his use of the Hmong people as a CIA mercenary force. Hugo explains how this would later become the blue print for CIA operations in places like Afghanistan and Libya. We also discuss Shackley’s time as Station Chief in Vietnam.
Next we talk about Shackley’s role in the overthrow of Chilean leader Allende and the installation of the fascist Pinochet. We then explore how Shackley would come to befriend George H W Bush, and being a long time collaboration with the deep cover CIA agent. Hugo and I also touch on some of the forgotten scandals of the past that Shackley was involved with including EASTCO and the Nugan Hand Bank. Hugo also explains how Shackley was a trend setter in the field of private intelligence by talking about his work with the powerful Safari Club. We finish off the conversation by looking at Shackley’s role in Iran Contra and the War on Drugs as a whole. Hugo also discusses WACL and the major role it continues to play in covert operations. We briefly talk about the TV show Narco’s and what it gets completely wrong. We round out by talking about Trump and the CIA speech he gave and what might be in-store for future CIA operations.
On this installment of Porkins Policy Radio I was joined by Aaron Franz and Adam, co-hosts of Themes and Memes, for a discussion of the sci-fi thriller film Snowpiercer. Dealing with the aftermath of a geo-engineering disaster, the surviving population of Earth lives on a highly advanced train that circles the world once a year. While the rich and powerful live in the front in perpetual luxury, the tail section is composed of the poor who plot a revolution to take over control of the train. Aaron, Adam and I break down many of the interesting themes and messages that this movie introduces. We take a look at the inclusion of chemtrails in the beginning of the movie, and at how this is part of an ongoing trend in Hollywood to inject conspiracy-culture elements into mainstream cinema. We move on to the socioeconomic model that Snowpiercer presents, as well as the fascist-corporatist world that the film imagines. We then take a look at the transhumanist aspects of this film, namely the worship of the “eternal engine,” as well as the idea of a “train” in general. Later we consider the core theme in this film: the idea of revolution. The three of us explore how the notion of revolution is popping up more and more in contemporary films, and how Snowpiercer differs in the cookie cutter version Hollywood usually presents. We go into depth about how the revolution in this film has been completely orchestrated by the evil Wilford, who operates the Snowpiercer in order to fulfill his eugenics agenda. We focus on how the film puts the audience in a difficult situation, where it begins to question its own morals and philosophy in the face of the complete destruction of mankind. We end the conversation by discussing the death/re-birth ritual that is the culmination of the movie, and at whom this may be targeted.
Snowpiercer full movie (This streaming version is in three parts but has English subtitles for the sections with Korean dialogue. Unfortunately the subtitles appear through out the entire film)
Porkins Policy Review 