Daniel Louis Crumpton joins me today to talk about his work with the non-profit CannaSense. Daniel explains how CannaSense provides medical grade cannabis and related products to anyone in need through out the 50 states. We talk about the legal framework that CannaSense uses in order to provide the medicine. Daniel breaks down what they call the trifecta (Compassionate Use act, Affordable Care Act, and the Article 4 Section 1 of the Constitution) which sets up a legal framework to prescribe cannabis and distribute it no matter where you happen to live. We also talk about the various legal arguments opposing this, and show how they don’t really stand up to what the Constitution enumerates to us. Daniel also talks about the legal safeguards that CannaSense offers to all of its members. Later Daniel talks about the types of people that he works with as a caregiver with CannaSense. We discuss the medical cannabis movement and why so many people would benefit from medicinal cannabis.
In the second hour Daniel and I discuss the growing legalization movement and our problems with it. We talk about the fear of the corporatization, taxation, and government regulation of cannabis. Daniel and I talk from a philosophical viewpoint that the government can’t “legalize” a plant that our bodies were designed to consume. We discuss our own desires to see cannabis become decriminalized and simply a part of the fabric of America, and not an extension of Monsanto and the government. Daniel and I also talk about how the deregulated cannabis market works very well as it stands right now. We end by talking about anti-cannabis crusaders like Jeff Sessions and Chris Christie and how irrelevant they are becoming.
Mafia survivor and author Frank Dimatteo joins me today for a discussion of his book President Street Boys: Growing up Mafia. Frank explains how he grew up in a world of mobsters in South Brooklyn. We explore the world in which he was born into in South Brooklyn. We talk about famed gangster and “Crazy” Joe Gallo and the Gallo crew as a whole. Frank explains how the Gallo Crew fit into the larger fabric of the New York Mafia, and their eventual war with the Profaci family. Frank talks about the uniqueness of the Gallo crew which included strong ties to black criminal syndicates, a hodge-podge of members including Syrians, Puerto Ricans, and Poles, down to the infamous Mondo The Midget and his pet lion. Frank then tells us about his own family. He talks about his father Ricky who was a trusted Gallo Crew member and the bodyguard to Larry Gallo. Frank tells us about his experiences living in a world filled in which violence was fairly normalized and his own introduction to “the life.” Frank tells us about his early days driving his father and other mafioso around at the tender age of thirteen. We also discuss what it was like growing up during a mob war.
Frank and I also touch on his time working for the infamous trendsetting porn magazine Screw. Frank explains how the Gallo Crew ran the magazine and the ins and outs of the magazines distribution. Frank gives us an interesting take on Screw’s creator Al Goldstein. Frank and I also discuss the reality of mob life. We talk about the not so glamorous facets of this world and the corrupting power of money and the pursuit of it.
Unfortunately Frank’s phone died during our interview so I finish off by rambling on about the Epstein case, Yemen, Trump, the latest YouTube celebrity George Webb, and the reality of how geopolitics works.
On today’s episode I lay out my predictions for 2017. In the first hour I look at geopolitics and the places I think will be important in 2017. I begin by focusing on a possible resolution in Syria and how this may play out for the future. I also talk about a few other hot-spots in the middle east to pay attention to: Israel and Yemen. I discuss why these are both important for the future of the region and on a global scale. I also explore Asia, focusing on China and North Korea. I discuss how president Trump may handle these countries and how geopolitics and foreign policy will change under his administration. I also touch on the idea that the CIA will become even more bold and out of control under Trump.
In the second hour Chuck Ochelli (and Frankie) joins me for more 2017 predictions. We talk about where the alt-media is headed. Whether or not Wikileaks is actually going to release some bombshells this year. If Trump really knows any secrets about cyber security. The future of marijuana legalization and the drug war. Will comedy get better? And the possibility of Ivanka as First Lady.
Adam from Themes and Memes is our guest to talk about the 2015 action comedy American Ultra. We start by trying to define this film, which is an intense mixture of cartoonish ultra violence, CIA covert operations, romance, comedy and horror, looking at the dissociating nature of this blend. The intentions of screenwriter Max Landis and the director Nima Nourizadeh are discussed and we ask whether they were reaching out to the CIA or trying to flatter them by making MKULTRA seem cool to stoners and young people. We go on to look at the prominence of female and often maternal characters in modern spy fiction, particular in CIA-assisted productions and ask what difference this makes to how these films and TV shows portray the CIA as a whole, not just MKULTRA and similar experiments.
We also examined a bizarre weed-based marketing campaign for the film at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con and ask whether like the Pentagon and NASA, the CIA now sees Comic-Con as a key networking and recruitment opportunity. The conversation rounds of discussing the director Nima Nourizadeh’s father Ali Reza, who bears all the hallmarks of being a CIA asset (complete with mysterious name changes and working for Voice of America). The presence of footage of Langley and the prominent use of the CIA logo suggests that at the least the CIA were aware of American Ultra and approved use of these for the film, so we ask whether they were involved in the making of the film and if so, why.
On this episode of PPR we discuss the drug war with guest Guillermo Jimenez. Guillermo is the founder and editor of Traces of Reality where he hosts the TOR Radio podcast, as well as a contributor to Boiling Frogs Post, where he is the host of De-Manufacturing Consent.
When Washington and Colorado defied our oppressive Federal government and nullified the national drugs laws prohibiting the recreational use of marijuana many including myself rejoiced at this magnificent event. Perhaps this would act as a wakeup call to other states that they don’t have to roll over and accept whatever unjust law the Federal government implements. There was even the added bonus that President Obama said in an ABC interview that
We’ve got bigger fish to fry. It would not make sense for us to see a top priority as going after recreational users in states that have determined that it’s legal.”
Well it is safe to say that Obama really choose his words carefully; recreational users won’t be pursued. It turns out that Obama’s fascist drug czar will in fact be arresting people for marijuana. They instead will just target “distributors and large scale growers.” I guess it really shouldn’t surprise us that a former member of the Choom Gang would be so two faced about the war on drugs. This is the same great leader who promised to stop the crack down on medical marijuana dispensaries only to turn around and have the DEA raid dispensaries four times as much as President Bush. Obama has also accelerated the militarization of the conflict in Central America in yet another futile attempt by a president to rid the world of the evils of drugs. Yet we should not acquiesce. Nullification represents the most significant and powerful tool that we as a society posses in stopping the tyrannical forces of the state. Be it drugs laws, NDAA, drones, and yes even Obamacare, we do have a method with which to combat the rise of the police state.
Porkins Policy Review 