Progressive Commentary Hour

Progressive Commentary Hour – 09.15.15

Gary discusses politics and tells stories about Hillary and Bill Clinton and other news from around the world.

Progressive Commentary Hour – 09.08.15

Guest #1 - John Perkins

For many years, John Perkins was an economic hit man (EHM), a job to convince leaders of developing nations to accept economic conditions that benefit US private and government interests. He was a direct participant or witness to such dramatic modern events as the Saudi Arabian Money Laundering scandal, the fall of the Shah of Iran, the assassination of Panama’s president Omar Torrijos and invasion, and other government and corporate intrigues. Later John was a chief economist for a large international consulting firm advising the World Bank and IMF, the UN, Fortune 500 companies and many national governments. After 911, John broke his silence with the publication of his international best seller “ Confessions of an Economic Hit Man.” Since then he has been a champion of indigenous spiritual cultures and environmental movements through his non profit projects Dream Change and the Pachamama Alliance. In addition to writing about the underworld of economics, he has published a series of books on shamanism and personal transformation. His website is JohnPerkins.org where people can receive his newsletter.

Guest #2 - Prof. Lance de Haven Smith

Prof. Lance de Haven Smith is a professor of public administration and policy at Florida State University.  He served as the president of the Florida Political Science Association and has written extensively on government and politics in that state. His book the Battle for Florida analyzed the controversial presidential election of 2000.  Lance’s scholarship is recognized nationaly and he has appeared on many broadcasts including Good Morning America, the Today Show, CBS and NBC nightly news, NPR and other media outlets.   Among his many publications is “Conspiracy Theory in America” – part of Mark Crispin Miller’s Discovering America series -- which takes a rationale look at the political and social impact of this expression that has now entered the standard American lexicon. He is also responsible for an alternative view of understanding conspiracy, particularly at high levels, by starting a discipline of inquiry known as State Crimes Against Democracy.  Lance has degrees from the University of Georgia and doctorate from Ohio State University. His website is DeHaven-Smith.com

Guest #3 - Les Jamieson

Les Jamieson has studied the alternative research into 9/11 since November, 2001 and has been extremely active in the 911 truth movement for the past decade, including outreach at Ground Zero to inform the 100s of 1000s of people who visit the World Trade Center site. Les has been central in planning large 9/11 symposiums annually which includes the upcoming 3 days of events sponsored by Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth. According to Les, we must do all we can to establish that 9/11 has been used to justify imperial wars abroad and disappearing civil liberties at home, therefore spreading the cause for establishing a widespread understanding of 9/11 until we become a culture that demands truth, and end to war, and a single standard of justice.

Progressive Commentary Hour – 09.01.15

Guest #1 - Prof. James Brewer Stewart is a Professor Emeritus of History at Macalester College in Minneapolis, where he taught subjects on race, politics, social movements and labor systems. He has written dozen books and is highly regarded as a national expert on the American abolitionist movement.  In 2011 he founded the nonprofit organization Historians Against Slavery, which brings together scholars to investigate the historical context behind modern day slavery in order to better inform social activism and civil efforts to eradicate the new forms of servant indenture that is increasing in the US.  The organization hosts annual conferences for the public that feature experts in the field of modern day slavery.  His website is HistoriansAgainstSlavery.org

Guest #2 - Steven Watt is the Senior Staff Attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union’s Human Rights Program specializing in civil and human rights litigation, which includes US rendition, detention, interrogation programs, human trafficking and forced labor, juvenile justice and women’s immigrants and juvenile justice. Earlier, while working with the Center for Constitutional Rights as a Human Rights Fellow. Among the cases he has worked on are Rasul vs Geroge Bush, and two cases against Attorney General John Ashcroft. Steven has also done substantial work overseas as a public defender for the government of the Solomon Islands, managing refugee camps in Tanzania, and directing emergency programs for displaced persons in Liberia.  Originally from Scotland, Steve has a law degree from the University of Aberdeen, a degree in legal practice from the University of Edinburgh, and an LLM in International Human Rights from the University of Notre Dame. His website is his homepage at ACLU.org/Bio/Steven-M-Watt.

Progressive Commentary Hour – 08.25.15

Guest #1 - Kevin Barry is a former federal attorney in civil law and currently the co-President of the Elizabeth Birt Center for Autism Law and Advocacy and the president of First Freedoms INc, a non profit organization dedicated to advancing the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution’s First Amendment. Earlier he was the president of Jenny McCarthy’s organization Generation Rescue.  Kevin has three sons, one with autism.  He is also the author of a new book just released – “Vaccine Whistleblower: Exposing Autism Research Fraud at the CDC”  with a preface by Boyd Haley and forward by Bobby Kennedy Jr. which for the first time provides the transcripts of the conversations between the CDC scientist and whistleblower William Thompson and Prof. Brian Hooker.  His website is Ebcala.org. Kevin's book is called: “Vaccine Whistleblower: Exposing Autism Research Fraud at the CDC”  

Guest #2 - Dr. Robert Sears is a board-certified pediatrician who is pioneering the integration of alternative natural practices with and traditional medical care in pediatric preventative and therapeutic health.  He is a co-author of the Sears Parenting Library series, which includes volumes about raising chidren naturally and organically. Bob is also the co-founder of the Immunity Education Group – a non-profit organization dedicated to providing complete and balanced information about infectious diseases and the risks and benefits of vaccines. He is active in efforts opposing the state of California’s vaccine mandate bills and has appeared on many national radio and television programs.  The imunity education group can be followed on Facebook and Twitter, and ihs websites are ImmunityEd.org and AskDrSears.com

Guest #3 - Prof. Mary Holland is a Director of the Graduate Legal Skills Program at New York University School of Law, specializing in international human rights, public law and vaccine safety law and injury compensation. She also has a son who regressed into autism following the MMR vaccine. Mary has degrees in Russian studies from Harvard, and graduate degrees in international relations and a JD from Columbia University, where she has also taught international law at its Law School. Mary is the co-author of “Vaccine Epidemic: How Corporate Greed, Biased Science and Coercive Government Threaten Our Human Rights, Our Health and Our Children.”  Her website is VaccineEpidemic.com

Progressive Commentary Hour – 08.18.15

Guest #1 - Dr. Paul Craig Roberts is one of today’s most progressive political and economic writers and commentators on the state of the nation:  governmental dysfunction, political corruption, global and domestic economic threats, the war on terror, Wall Street, and the decline in human values in American society.   He was the chairman of the Institute for Political Economy and a former Assistant Secretary of Treasury during Reagan’s first term.  During his academic career he has taught at many universities and held the William Simon Chair in Political Economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown University.

Dr. Roberts’ blog can be found at PaulCraigRoberts.org and he is a frequent contributor to Global Research, The Trends Journal, Counterpunch, and others.  He was an associate editor at the Wall Street Journal and has published many books and articles during the past 40 years, his latest being “How America Was Lost: From 911 to the Police/Warfare State” 

Guest #2 - Kermit Heartsong is an empirical scientist, political author and the creator of several award wining word games.  For the past 25 years, Kermit has investigated the macroscopic developments of social, economic and political systems to identify disturbing trends in both the US and around the globe.  He is currently the managing editor of Tayen Lane Publishing in San Francisco. He has appeared on CNN International and many radio stations and has been featured in a variety of magazines and publications. Kermit is the author of several books on America’s dystopia and illusions and recently published “Ukraine: Zbig’s Grand Chessboard and How the West was Checkmated.”  His website is  TayneLane.com

Progressive Commentary Hour – 08.11.15

Gary discusses topics like drugs and police, health and nutrition, politics and plays some audio from a YouTube clip. 

Progressive Commentary Hour – 08.04.15

Dr. Richard Smith is an historian specializing in China and its transition to capitalism, and on economics, environmental and ecological issues.  He received his doctorate in history from UCLA and has written on the many penetrating investigative reports and research papers on the capitalism’s failures and threats to the preservation of our planet.  He is the author of “Green Capitalism: The God that Failed” published earlier this year by the World Economics Association. He is currently working two new books addressing China’s environmental threats and another on capitalism and the global environment.

Progressive Commentary Hour – 07.28.15

Gary takes call and discusses Big Pharma and expensive drugs, financial failures, climate change, the U.S.A. are the biggest importers of drugs in the world and Finland shows how the Euro doesn't work. Also some audio from YouTube clips. 

Progressive Commentary Hour - 07.21.15

The Clintons’ legacy and why we should be deeply concerned about a Hillary presidency, with Gary Null and PRN Executive Producer Richard Gale. 

Progressive Commentary Hour - 07.14.15

A look at the history of Zionism, the rise of the Israeli lobby and recent US administrations acting as the servants of Israel - with Alison Weir

Alison Weir is a journalist, author, civil rights and peace activist, and the president of the Council for the National Interest. She is also the founder of the organization If Americans Knew, which analyses and reports on US media coverage of Israel-Palestine.  She has has presented at briefings before Congress on the US and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis,  and has lectured widely at numerous universities including Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Yale, Berkeley and to academies and institutions overseas. She has received a variety of awards  including the Phi Alpha Literary Society for Courageous Journalism on behalf of human rights.

 

Alison’s articles frequently appear on Counterpunch and AntiWar.com, Project Censored and the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Her most recent book is “Against Our Better Judgment: How the US was Used to Create Israel” which is a thorough, meticulously sourced document bring forth a story barely known about the history of US-Israel relations. Her website is IfAmericansKnew.org