Michael Swanson had the mighty layers of echo-chamber reality in mind when he joined Chuck for his usual Tuesday discussion.
Is religion responsible for the different interpretations of what is and is not true in our society at this time? Mike mentions another book he may release very soon.
Chuck reads Bible verses in the first hour as they were suggested to him by the chatroom. Why is Trump the “chosen one” among hypocrites? How dangerous is a man considered to have the blessing of any alleged god?
Are we becoming more foolishly tribal as social media keeps people from facing ideas that are not their own? Times are strange these days.
Pearse Redmond is still taking a break from the radio, but he is still doing every other Tuesday with us.
Porkins touches on a few key notes related to the Epstein case but doesn’t go too deep. He is currently writing a book on the subject.
Chuck and Pearse spent most of the second hour discussing Iran and other aspects of the destructive American Policy in the Middle-East.
This week I am joined once again my good friend Lizzy to discuss her work in Palestine. Lizzy began by talking about her own personal journey which has led her to live and work full time in Ramallah. We discussed her work with Al Kamandjati, a non-profit which offers world-class music lessons for Palestinian children. We talked about the mission of Al Kamandjati and its founder Ramzi Aburedwan. Lizzy talked about Aburedwan’s life growing up in the Al Amari refugee camp and how this led him to create the organization. Lizzy touched on the day to day struggles that Palestinians face including night raids, checkpoints, and violence at the hands of the IDF. She talked about her own personal experiences dealing with this trauma. Lizzy and I talked about several people she knew who were murdered by the IDF and the psychological toll on the families involved. Later we discussed ways for people to get involved. Lizzy talked about the need for people to simply educate themselves about the reality of the situation. We also talked about simple ways for people to organize here in the US. Later we touched on the complacency and apathy in the US when it comes to the plight of the Palestinians, and how we can overcome this.
In the second hour, I change gears and talked about the recent news that international fixer, Trump transition team member, and convicted pedophile, George Nader, was arrested in JFK Airport for possession of child pornography. I talk about the roots of this case which stemmed from his 2018 arrest in Dulles Airport. I touched on his cooperation with Robert Mueller and the strange way he was “let go” and allowed to return to the UAE. I discussed some of the truly heinous charges against Nader. I also talked about what this may mean in the larger context of Trump World.
Aaron Franz and I joined Tom Secker for a roundtable discussion on the film Wrong is Right; a 1982 political conspiracy thriller/black comedy. This is without a doubt one of the most bizarre movies I have ever watched. We discuss the obvious intelligence/military connections, as well as the prophetic memes and terrifyingly accurate predictive programing. We also break down the meaning and message behind the film. This was an extremely fun conversation but I would suggest that you watch Wrong is Right first.
For today’s podcast we had the great pleasure of speaking with Ryan Dawson of Anti-Neocons Report. We had a wide ranging discussion about Iran, the death of Ariel Sharon, 9/11, JFK, and much more.
Riad Hijab is not a nice person. To spite what his spokesman has been telling Al Jazeera and Western media, Hijab is nothing more than a corrupt Assad crony. Reading his statement from today one might think that Hijab is a brave freedom fighter:
I announce today my defection from the killing and terrorist regime and I announce that I have joined the ranks of the freedom and dignity revolution. I announce that I am from today a soldier in this blessed revolution…
Hijab’s spokesman Muhammad el-Etri continued this repulsive narrative in an interview with Al Jazeera:
This defection has been being planned for more than two months. He was given two options: to either take the office of prime minister or be killed. He had a third option in mind: to plan his own defection in order to direct a blow to the regime from within and today he is declaring his defection…
I believe he is the highest ranking official in Syria [to defect]… it is one of a kind and it will have grave repercussions on the regime and significant implication after the departure of the regime and [for] the success of the revolution.
Did Hijab have a problem 17 months ago when this all started? For that matter did Hijab have a problem at all with the way that Assad has brutally been ruling Syria since 2000? It’s not as if Assad suddenness started killing his own people and Hijab became disillusioned with the Baathist’s. Hijab is a Sunni who benefited politically and financially from a dictator who oppresses Sunni’s plain and simple. As the civil war becomes increasingly bad Hijab doesn’t want to be on the losing side of the conflict. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that Hijab is some poor innocent politician. Had the civil war never happened Hijab would be content with stealing and abusing the Syrian people.
Before everyone jumps on the band wagon of intervention, it’s important to objectively look at the massacre in Treimseh. Anytime something like this occurs in Syria the West is very quick to blame Assad and his forces. They receive information from activists, whose political agenda is never questioned. Well according to AFP, Syrian activists from the Sham News Network told them that most of the dead were rebels. The activist quoted in the article goes by the name Jaafar. He told AFP that:
At this stage, though we do not yet have the final count, the number of civilians killed by shelling is not more than seven.The rest were members of the Free Syrian Army.
Even the shadowy Syrian Observatory for Human Rights/em> has been careful about reporting this recent massacre. Again from the AFP article:
The Observatory was more cautious, saying “several dozen rebel fighters were among those killed,” adding that only around 40 of the dead had been identified, while 30 were burned and 18 were “summarily executed.”
Is it so hard to imagine the the FSA would use a civilian town as cover for launching attacks? This is what Hezbollah did in Lebanon. Indeed this is a tactic used by all rebel groups. The conflict in Syria is a civil war. Contrary to what Secretary Clinton would have you believe, in war their are no good guys and bad guys. Rebel groups don’t preserve human rights. They don’t fight with a copy of the Geneva Conventions in their hand. War is about killing as many people as you can. The FSA is not a chivalrous group.
Of course there is no real way to confirm any of these conflicting reports. It is anyone’s guess as to what really happened in Treimseh. And that is the crux of the problem. We should stop jumping to conclusions. The truth is always the first casualty of war. Those who are pushing is into a war we will never win, and will never end, need to step back and look at the reality of the situation. And the American public needs to question what we read and watch in the media.
Porkins Policy Review 