Progressive Commentary Hour

Progressive Commentary Hour - 01.31.17

Remarkable Mind

The status of the US economy

Dr. Michael Hudson is one of our nation’s finest and most important economists and Wall Street financial analysts. Dr. Paul Craig Robert’s recently called him “the world’s best economist.” He is currently the President of The Institution for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends and was the Chief Economic Policy Advisor for the Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s 2008 presidential campaign. Dr. Hudson has served as an advisor to the White House, State and Defense departments at the Hudson Institute, in addition to the United Nations Institute where he became a specialist in global economics.  He has written many books and important papers and articles, his most publication being “Killing the Host: How Financial Parasites and Debt Bondage Destroy the Global Economy” which goes into great depth in explaining how the polarization of the 1% versus 99% emerged. His website is Michael-Hudson.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - 01.24.17

CONVERSATIONS WITH REMARKABLE MINDS

Entering the Era of Trump – a look at his Cabinet, the forces behind it and its threat to the public’s interest

Danny Sheehan is one of our nation’s most important and influential Constitutional and public interest lawyers.  During the past 45 years he has handled such public interest cases as the Pentagon Papers, the Watergate Break In, Iran Contra and the Silkwood murder case.  He has represented victims of he Three Mile Island nuclear disaster and fought against the American Nazi Party on hate crimes. Recently Danny was a leading attorney on behalf of the Native nations at Standing Rock. He is the founder of the Christic Institute and the Romero Institute, the latter being a nonprofit public policy center in Santa Cruz California. Danny has his law degree from Harvard University and later returned to study at the Harvard Divinity School.. He is the author of “The People’s Advocate: The Life and Legal History of America’s Most Fearless Public Defence Lawyer,”   And his websites are DanielPSheehan.com   AND   RomeroInstitute.org

Progressive Commentary Hour - 01.17.17

A special look at the corruption and illegal operations of the CIA and its influence upon our elected government.

Douglas Valentine is an independent researcher, investigator, author and consultant in Massachusetts.  There are very few researchers in America who have done the depth of investigation into some of the darker corners of modern American history involving our federal intelligence agencies, mostly notably the CIA, as Douglas. His 1990 book on the secret CIA covert operation known as The Phoenix Project during the Vietnam war is regarded as the definitive study on this subject. His collection of Vietnam documents at the National Security Archive have been used by researchers for a decade. His lager book on the US’s secret war on drgs has received academic awards of excellence.  His most recent book “The CIA as Organized Crime: How Illegal Operations Corrupt America and the World” is a voluminous account of the history of CIA corruption from its founding to the present, and why we should now consider the agency’s self-interests as contrary to the national and public good. His website is DouglasValentine.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - 01.10.17

On Tonight's Progressive Commentary Hour Gary Null gives a long powerful commentary on Yemin and the American perception in the genocide. Gary Null also plays a long audio clip on Confessions of an Economic Hitman - John Perkins. According to Perkins, he began writing Confessions of an Economic Hit Man in the 1980s, but "threats or bribes always convinced [him] to stop." According to his book, Perkins' function was to convince the political and financial leadership of underdeveloped countries to accept enormous development loans from institutions like the World Bank and USAID. Saddled with debts they could not hope to pay, those countries were forced to acquiesce to political pressure from the United States on a variety of issues. Perkins argues in his book that developing nations were effectively neutralized politically, had their wealth gaps driven wider and economies crippled in the long run. In this capacity Perkins recounts his meetings with some prominent individuals, including Graham Greene and Omar Torrijos. Perkins describes the role of an EHM as follows:

Economic Hit Man (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign "aid" organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources. Their tools included fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.

Perkins charges that the proposed conditions for this debt forgiveness require countries to privatise their health, education, electric, water and other public services. Those countries would also have to discontinue subsidies and trade restrictions that support local business, but accept the continued subsidization of certain G8 businesses by the US and other G8 countries, and the erection of trade barriers on imports that threaten G8 industries.

In the book, Perkins repeatedly denies the existence of a "conspiracy." Instead, Perkins carefully discusses the role of corporatocracy.

Progressive Commentary Hour - 01.03.17

an in depth conversation about the autism epidemic and the politicalization of vaccines and federal coverup of the facts

 

Attorney Kent Heckenlively.. a founding contributor of Age of Autism, father of an autistic child and author of "Inoculated -- How Science Lost its Soul

Progressive Commentary Hour - 12.27.16

CONVERSATION WITH REMARKABLE MINDS

The deterioration of democracy in America, loss of liberties, and how the nation's 25-year trajectory of folly brought us the presidency of Donald Trump

Lewis Lapham is an American legend as an historian, essayist and writer. He is the editor emeritus for Harpers Magazine and founder of Lapham’s Quarterly, a quarterly publication about history and literature. He was the host and author of the PBS series America’s Century and hosts the weekly PBS series Bookmark. He also produced the World in Time radio program on Bloomberg radio. His documentary film The American Ruling Class has received wide attention. Lewis has received many awards including the Thomas Paine Journalism Award and is a member of the American Society of Magazine Editors Hall of Fame.  He has been compared to other great American essayists such as Mark Twain, IF Stone, Mencken, Gore Vidal and others. He has published fourteen books, his  latest being “Age of Folly: America Abandons Its Democracy” – a 25 year adventure in American politics that has brought us the Trump White House.   Lewis’ website is LaphamsQuarterly.org

Progressive Commentary Hour - 12.13.16

CONVERSATIONS WITH REMARKABLE MINDS

An in depth look at the European and American economies, the threats of free market capitalism and the economic future ahead

 

Yanis Varoufakis is an international economist, academic, former politician and philosopher who served as the Minster of Finance for Greece as a member of the radical left party Syriza from January 2015 until he resigned in July.  Earlier this year, he founded the Democracy in Europe Movement – a pan European movement devoted to reform the EU’s institutions to become more democratic. His stance against the toxic loan and austerity demands being imposed upon Greece by the European banking institutions – frequently referred to as the Troika – earned him international respect as well condemnation. Bloomberg has called him a “brilliant economist.” Business Insider: “the most interesting man in the world.” Prof Varoufakis received degrees in mathematics from the Universities of Essex and Birmingham in the UK and later a PhD in economics at Essex. Throughout his life he has been a champion of radical social and economic causes. – including involvement in the African National Congress, the Palestinian cause and the solidarity movement in Chile.  He has taught at the Universities of Sydney in Australia, Athens, the University of Texas at Austin and other schools. He is the author of about ten books appearing in English. His latest, published by Nation Books, is “And the Weak Suffer What They Must: Europe’s Crisis and America’s Economic Future.”  His website is VanisVaroufakis.eu

Progressive Commentary Hour - 12.20.16

On this special Progressive Commentary Hour, Gary Null peels back the curtains and takes a look into the problems surrounding syria. Gary also plays some extensive audio clips so you get a better understanding of syria and their problems. 

Progressive Commentary Hour - 12.06.16 PART 2

In the second half of the progressive commentary hour Gary plays a documentry by John Pilger on The War You Don't See. 

Progressive Commentary Hour - 12.06.16

On tonight's Progressive Commentary Hour, Gary talks with three guests about the topic of Fake News scandal - The rise of a new McCarthyism in journalism, news reporting and free speech.

Yves Smith is the founder of the influential financial and news blog Naked Capitalism, and is the author of “ECONNED: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism” – an important investigation into how the symptoms associated with our economic crisis take precedence over the more important cause for economic collapse which resides in the unquestioned role of economists as policy makers.  For over thirty years, Yves has been a Wall Street veteran as an investment banker with major firms such as Goldman Sachs, and a corporate finance advisor. Her articles also appear in the Bloomberg, Politico, Slate and Christian Monitor. Naked Capitalism’s website is NakedCapitalism.com – its daily news email provides important resources for analysis on the important issues that concern us most.

 Professor Robert Jensen is a professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.  His research has focused on many diverse progressive social issues including race relations, foreign policy, feminism, post modern masculinity, the media and others. He is a board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center and a national organization Culture Reframed.  He has authored many publications including his forthcoming “The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men.”  Other recent books include “Plain Radical: Living, Loving and Learning to the Planet Gracefully”  and  “Arguing for Our Lives: A User’s Guide to Constructive Dialogue.” Robert is the co-producer of a documentary film on the life and philosophy of longtime radical activist Abe Osheroff. His articles appear in Truthdig, Counterpuch, YES Magazine, Resilience, and many others.  His website is RobertWJensen.org

 BOOK:  “The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men.”  Other recent books include “Plain Radical: Living, Loving and Learning to the Planet Gracefully”

WEBSITE:  RobertWJensen.org

Rob Kall is an American journalist and founder of the progressive, liberal news site Oped News, which was launched in 2003. In addition to being a long time anti-war activist, Rob is also an inventor and an early inventor of technology that has gone into biofeedback science. Mediate has noted Rob as one of the top 200 print/online columnists and Opednews received the first media award for the Pillar Human Rights Reward for International Persons of Conscience and his support of whistleblowers. Opednews is also among those news and opinion sites listed in the Washington Post’s blacklisting of so-called fake news.  Rob also hosts the Bottom Up Radio show on WNJC near Philadephia, which airs as the Rob Kall Show, at 8 pm every Wednesday on the Progressive Radio Network. Their website is opednews.com

 WEBSITE:  OpedNews.com