Progressive Commentary Hour

Progressive Commentary Hour - 02/03/14

Peak Food and the Future of Food Security

Jeffrey Smith is one of the foremost experts on the health and environmental risks of genetically modified organisms, commonly known as GMO crops and foods, and is a leading watch-dog over corporate agricultural industry’s manipulation of GMO genetic science and public opinion. He is currently the founding director for the Institute for Responsible Technology, a research and corporate watch organization devoted to informing the public about the truth of GMO foods and technology. Jeffrey is also the director for the Campaign for Healthier Eating in America.

Jeffrey is the author of two critical books on GMOs: “Seeds of Deception” and “Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods” He is also the director and writer of the documentary film Genetic Roulette released in 1012.
BOOK AND FILM: “Genetic Roulette: The Documented Health Risks of Genetically Engineered Foods” WEBSITE: www.ResponsibleTechnology.org

Prof. David Montgomery is a geomorphologist and environmentalist in the Earth and Space Sciences division at the University of Washington’s College of the Environment in Seattle. He specializes in the evolution of geological topography and the influence of geomorphological processes on ecological systems and human societies. His research has taken him world wide, the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest to the Andes, the Himalayas and Tibetan plateau.

David is the author of “Dirt: The Erosion of Civilizations” -- an important study about the role soil and erosion has played in the rise and collapse of civilizations and societies. His most recent book is “The Rocks Don’t Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah’s Flood”
BOOK: “The Rocks Don’t Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah’s Flood”

Dr. Peter D. Carter is a retired family physician who practiced medicine first in England and then in Canada for almost 40 years. After his sons were born, Peter became actively involved in environmental, climate change and sustainable development issues. He is a founding director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, the founder of the Climate Emergency Institute and was an expert reviewer for the IPCC fifth climate change assessment. He has presented on sustainable development, environmental health policy, biodiversity, climate change and human rights protection issues in Canada, the US and overseas. Since 2007, Peter has developed a unique approach to climate change risk that has been published in scientific journals. He has documented the science that shows we are already far beyond "dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system". This science shows that the world is facing planetary catastrophe from multiple amplifying feedbacks in the Arctic and will contribute to catastrophic crop declines.

His website is ClimateEmergencyInstitute.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - 01/27/14

Dr. Vandana Shiva is an internationally renown environmental and social activist, and formerly a one of India’s top nuclear physicists. She is regarded as the leading pioneer behind India’s ecological and ecofeminism movement. In 1982 Dr. Shiva founded the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, which led to the creation of Navdanya (all “a”s are softly pronounced  NAV-DAN-YA) – an organization dedicated to the restoration of organic farming across India and the preservation of indigenous knowledge and culture.

For several decades, Vandana has fought for changes in the globalized practices of agriculture and food. She has traveled the world speaking against biopiracy and patenting of indigenous knowledge by large agricultural and pharmaceutical corporations. Her activist efforts have created grassroots organizations throughout the developing world to counter genetic engineering of crops, as well as empower women throughout the third world.

Dr. Shiva has received numerous international awards, including the Alternative Nobel Prize (the Right Livelihood Award), the UNEP’s Global 500 Award and the UN’s Earth Day International Award.

Among her more important books are “Earth Democracy: Justice, Sustainability and Peace”, “Manifestos on the Future of Food and Seed”, “Soil Not Oil” and most recently  “Making Peace with the Earth: Beyond Resource, Land and Food Wars”

Dr. Juliet Christian-Smith is a climate scientist with the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), based at the University of California at Berkeley. The focus of her work is providing California and national policymakers and the public with robust, policy-relevant information on climate science and the impacts of climate change. 

Prior to joining UCS, Juliet worked as a senior researcher for the Pacific Institute, performing policy-focused research on sustainable water management, primarily in the Western U.S. She and two colleagues received the Environmental Protection Agency's Award for Outstanding Achievement for their work on agricultural water management.  Juliet holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from the University of California, Berkeley and a B.A. in Biology from Smith College.   She is also the lead author of the book A Twenty-First Century U.S. Water Policy (Oxford Press 2012) and an editor of the journal Sustainability Science.  The website is UCSUSA.org

Meera Karunananthan is the Water Campaigner for the Council of Canadians, one of Canada’s largest public advocacy organizations presided over by renowned environmental activist Maude Barlow, with thousands of members and chapters throughout the country.  Meera is also the international campaign director for the Council’s Blue Planet Project, which is part of a global movement, working with allies around the world, struggling for water justice and defending it as a commons and human rights issue, for the nearly billion people without safe drinking water and the 3.5 million who die annually fro water related diseases. Meera’s studies and research focuses upon corporate appropriation of water rights and its political impact upon policies.  The websites are BluePlanetProject.net   AND   Canadians.org

 

Progressive Commentary Hour - 01/20/14

The conspiracy to assassinate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

William Pepper is a New York attorney best known for representing Martin Luther King’s accused assassin, James Earl Ray, to prove his innocence. Dr. King had reached out to William in 1967 regarding an essay he had written for Ramparts magazine concerning Vietnamese victims of American napalm missions and was present at Dr. King’s famous Riverside Church speech.

William was the citizens chairman for Robert Kennedy’s run for the Senate in Westchester Country and was also a counsel for Robert Kennedy’s assassin Sirhan Sirhan arguing for a second shooter. Subsequently he has been active in the 911 Truth Movement and advocating that war crimes be brought against former president George Bush.  He has received degrees from Columbia, a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts and his JD from Boston College.  Among his publications are “An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King” and “Orders to Kill: The Truth Behind the Murder of Martin Luther King.”

Progressive Commentary Hour - 01/06/14

Progressive Commentary Hour - 12/30/13

Progressive Commentary Hour - 12/23/13

CONVERSATIONS WITH REMARKABLE MINDS

A philosophical and psychological exploration into the origins and our society’s dysfunction and the emergence of a new culture

Professor Ashok Gangadean is the distinguished Margaret Gest Professor of Global Philosophy at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, where he has taught for almost 40 years. His life long study and passion has been to clarify the common ground at the heart of human reason and to promote a deeper dialogue to bring forth a more integral and holistic global consciousness, which can remedy the apocalyptic fervor associated with our fragmented world.  Ashok is the founder of the Global Dialogue Institute, a co-founder of the World Commission on Global Consciousness and Spirituality (which includes Ervin Lazslo, Desmond Tutu, Hazel Henderson, Jane Goodall, Robert Thurman, Cornell West), and he is the host of the award winning program Global Lens on PBS in Philadelphia.  Among his books are Meditative Reason: Toward a Universal Grammar  and  Between Worlds: The Emergence of Global Reason.

Progressive Commentary Hour - 12/16/13

Arne Gundersen is founding chief engineer of Fairwinds Energy Education, a non profit organization dedicated to educating the public about nuclear power and other energy issues. In the past he was an energy advisor with 39-years of nuclear power engineering experience and a former nuclear industry senior vice president. During his industry career, Arne managed and coordinated projects at 70-nuclear power plants around the country. Now an independent nuclear engineering and safety expert, Arne has provided testimony on nuclear operations, reliability, safety, and radiation issues to the NRC, Congressional and State Legislatures, and Government Agencies and Officials throughout the US, Canada, and internationally. In 2008, he was appointed by the Vermont Senate President to be the first Chair of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant Oversight Panel.He is regarded as one of the leading nuclear experts who is conveying the truth about the dangers of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants and the global threats from the on-going release of radiation. His website is FairWinds.org    

  

Dr. Helen Caldicott is perhaps the single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to counter the nuclear and environmental crises. She has a medical degree from the University of Adelaide  and was a pediatric instructor Harvard Medical School until 1980 when she resigned to work full time on the prevention of nuclear war. She co-founded the Physicians for Social Responsibility, an organization of 23,000 doctors committed to educating their colleagues about the dangers of nuclear power, nuclear weapons and nuclear war. Dr. Caldicott has received numerous awards, was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize by Linus Pauling and has 21 honorary degress. The Smithsonian has named Dr. Caldicott as one of the most influential women of the 20th century.

She has written many articles and books, her latest being “Nuclear Power is Not the Answer to Global Warming or Anything Else.”  Her website is www.HelenCaldicott.com

Prof. Harvey Wasserman is a professor of history at Columbus State College and Capital University in Ohio.  He is an investigative journalist, author and has been a national voice in the anti-war and anti-nuclear movements for over four decades. He is also a senior advisor for Greenpeace USA and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service and founder of Solartopia.org, a grassroots endeavor to promote a green-powered earth.  Among his many books are “George W Bush vs. the Superpower of Peace” and his articles appear frequently on Counterpunch, Alternet, NukeWatch, Huffington Post and others.

Harvey can also be heard every Monday afternoon at 3 pm Eastern as host of “Green Power and Wellness” on the Progressive Radio Network.  His website is Solartopia.org

Progressive Commentary Hour - 12/09/13

Special on Climate Change and its very real impact on our society and civilization

Prof. Tim Garret is Associate Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Utah where he specializes in cloud physics remote sensing and atmospheric radiation. He is also the president and co-founder of Fallgatter Technologies. Prof. Garret more recently has been applying physical principles of thermodynamics for a deeper understanding of the relationship between global and national economies to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and its impact upon civilization and society.

Tim has a degree in physics from the University of Waterloo and a masters and doctorate in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington. His website can be found at INSCC.Utah.edu/~tgarrett

Paul Beckwith is a doctoral candidate in the Laboratory of Paleoclimatology and Climatology at the University of Ottawa in Ontario, where he also teaches as a part time professor. Paul’s research specializes in abrupt effects from climate change (such as tornados and rise in more fierce tropical storms), greenhouse gas emissions, the global implications of the melting of the Arctic icecaps, and social media for climate change advocacy. He is a member and blogger for the Sierra Club and participant in the Arctic Methane Emergency Group and the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society.

You can read his blog at SierraClub.ca/en/blog/paul-beckwith

Cory Morningstar is a Canadian investigative reporter, author and an environmental activist warning against the impacts of anthropogenic global warming and climate change. Working closely with climate change activists, she works with Canadians for Action on Climate Change, is a member of International Climate Justice Now, and was a former president of a chapter of Council of Canadians. Cory earlier worked on the People’s Agreement in Cochabamba and she has been a leading journalist in exposing the climate threats due to the XL keystone pipeline and Canada’s tar sands. Her writings can be found on Counterpunch, Political Context and other sites. Her website is TheArtOfAnnihilation.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - Dr. Ann Jones - 12/02/13

Dr. Ann Jones is seasoned war journalist and investigative reporter, a photographer and the author of eight books, now translated into ten languages. Since 2002, Ann has reported from conflict zones in Afghanistan, South Asia, West Africa and the Democratic republic of Congo.  Her focus has been on the impact of America’s wars upon civilians and the American soldiers who fight our wars. Her most recent book is “They Were Soldiers:  How the Wounded Return from America’s Wars – The Untold Story,” which was supported by a fellowship from Harvard University, and paints a horrid picture of the dead, wounded and mutilated, brain damaged and drug addicted, and suicidal causalities within our military ranks and its effect on families and loved ones. Ann resides in Norway and her website is AnnJonesOnline.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - 11/25/13

HIV/AIDS Special – The AIDS industrial complex of misinformation and a look at AZT

Clark Baker is a former officer of the LAPD in Los Angeles, who left after retirement in 2000 to become an independent writer and private investigator.  He is now the founder of the Office for Medical and Scientific Justice in Southern California, which spearheads investigations into the politics and fraud of various medical related groups and individuals, including the pro-AIDS industry and academia.  Clark serves on the Board of the Semmelweis Society International, a foundation that awards individuals for their scientific independence in innovative research and critical thought in the absence of invested interests.  He has written extensively on his investigations into the activities of the pro HIV community.    www.OMSJ.org    

John Lauritsen is a retired market research analyst, author and gay liberationist and activist and currently the founder and head of Pagan Press, which publishes books that reach the gay community.  Earlier John wrote for the New York Native where he argued against the science behind HIV and AIDS and raised questions concerning the safety of AZT.  More recently he is best known for his theoretical book, The Man Who Wrote Frankenstein which explores whether the real author of the novel by that name was written by Percy Bysshe Shelley and not his wife Mary.

 

John’s website is PaganPressBooks.com/ JPL where you can find a collection of his essays on AIDS, gay liberation and other subjects.    

David Crowe is the President of the Alberta Reappraising AIDS and ReThinking AIDS, whose website he hosts at thewww.ReThinkingAIDS.com  website, a science and news resource on all international research and commentary challenging the current HIV/AIDS model.  David is also the former president and treasurer for the Green Party in Alberta Canada. www.ReThinkingAIDS.com