Progressive Commentary Hour

Progressive Commentary Hour - Africa and the new colonialism of the continent - 02/11/13

William Blum is an author, historian and critic of American foreign policy, who has worked and reported from three different continents.  He was one of the founding editors of the Washington Free Press, the first “alternative” newspaper in DC.  His early journalism is best known for exposing CIA misdeeds and operations. His recent book, just released is “America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy” published by Zed Books. His blog is www.KillingHope.com where you can read his frequent essays.  Bill is currently the originator of the monthly newsletter “The Anti-Empire Report”. BOOK:  “America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy” WEBSITE:  www.KillingHope.com Glen Ford is the Executive Editor of the Black Agenda Report. In the 1970s he was a correspondent and journalist covering Capitol Hill and the White House for the Mutual Black network, and later hosted the nation’s first syndicated Black news interview program, “America’s Black Forum.”  Since then, Glen has been one of the nation’s leading voices in political and social analysis and commentary on current affairs in the Black community.  He is also a founding member of the Washington chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists, a board member of the National Alliance of Third World Journalists and is a frequent lecturer on the role of progressive media at universities. Glen’s program – The Black Agenda Report – can be heard every Monday at 4:00 pm on the Progressive Radio Network WEBSITE:  www.BlackAgendaReport.com Rick Rozoff has been an active opponent of war, militarism and intervention for over 40 years. He is the manager of Stop NATO and its internet activities, which focuses on the threat of international militarization, especially through globalization, of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Rich has written over 300 articles on international affairs ,frequently published on  the Center for Research in Globalization and VoltaireNet, and has been interviewed on radio and television programs in Russia, the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean. WEBSITE:  RickRozoff.Wordpress.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - Program on Vaccines - 02/04/13

Catherine Frompovich is a retired natural nutritionist and a journalist and researcher focusing on consumer health issues. She has advanced degrees in Nutrition Sciences and in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice. In the 1980s she was the host of one of the countries first natural cooking shows on television, Catherine’s Natural Kitchen.  She is the co-author of a monogram, Vaccines and Vaccinations, presented to the Congressional Oversight Committees to initiate a thorough review into vaccine safety, efficacy and policies.

She is the author of several books including A Cancer Answer, Holistic Breast Cancer Management, and Our Chemical Lives and the Hijacking of our DNA.  Today she continues publishing her investigative reporting on Activist Post and other alternative news sites, and she consults for other aspiring authors to get their works into publication.

BOOK:  Our Chemical Lives and the Hijacking of our DNA

WEBSITE:  www.CatherineJFrompovich.com

Dr. Viera Scheibner is a retired Principal Research Scientist in Australia. After losing a baby to crib death in the mid-1980s due to a vaccine immunization, she has made the science behind vaccines her primary focus of medical research.  She is now one of the world’s leading experts on the faulty science and adverse effects of vaccines in general, and their individual ingredients in particular.  Frequently she has served as a expert witness in court cases related to death and injuries caused by vaccines. Dr. Scheibner has published two major books on vaccines – “Vaccination 100 Years of Orthodox Research”  and  “Behavioral Problems in Childhood: The Link to Vaccination” and close to 90 scientific peer-reviewed papers. Edda West is the co-founder of the Association for Vaccine Damaged Children and the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network, Canada’s leading vaccine awareness organization.  VRAN is a non profit education society that supports and provides resources to vaccine injured Canadians.  Her daughter was injured by the MMR vaccine at 15 months, back in 1977.  Edda is a long time political activist and has been actively opposed to mandatory vaccines as being against Canada’s constitution and her efforts have been greatly responsible for her country’s exemption laws. WEBSITE:  www.VRAN.org

Progressive Commentary Hour - The phenomena of conspiracy thinking and theories - 01/28/13

Prof. James Tracy is a professor in the Department of Communications at Florida Atlantic University where he specializes in media history and analysis, the politics of communications, and the sociology behind commercial and alternative news media on current events. His writings are frequently published on Global Research in Canada and alternative, progressive news and analysis sites. Prof. Tracy is also the editor of Democratic Communique, and is affiliated with the Project Censored group at Sonoma State University.  He received his doctorate from University of Iowa. Recently, Prof. Tracy drew national attention for challenging the official story of about the Sandy Hook shootings last month. Dr. Ralph Metzner is a psychologist, psychedelic researcher and author who has been on of the leading pioneers of the modern exploration school of consciousness studies.  He was one of the original psychedelic researchers working with Timothy Leary and Richard Albert (eg Ram Das) at Harvard University, where he later received his doctorate. Dr. Metzner is a professor emeritus of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies where he was also the former academic dean. He is the co-founder and president of the Green Earth Foundation, non-profit organization devoted to harmonizing the relationship between humans and the earth, and a signatory to the 911 Truth Statement.  He has published numerous articles and many books on the psychology of consciousness, mysticism and spirituality, psychedelics.  His latest book is “Six Pathways of Destiny” in the Ecology of Consciousness series, and he writes at GreenEarthFound.org BOOK:  “Six Pathways of Destiny” WEBSITE:  www.GreenEarthFound.org Jon Rappoport has worked as a free-lance investigative reporter for over 30 years, writing about politics and the corportacracy, alternative health and the medical cartel, the media, and culture LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, Village Voice, Nexus, CBS Healthwatch, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. His reporting on the military in El Salvador earned him a submission for the Pulitzer prize. He has hosted, produced, and written radio programs and has appeared as a guest on over 200 radio and television programs, including ABC's Nightline, Tony Brown's Journal (PBS), and Hard Copy. For the last ten years, Jon has operated largely away from the mainstream because, as he puts it, "My research was not friendly to the conventional media."  He runs a website with many years of research and articles called No More Fake News. Com WEBSITE:  www.NoMoreFakeNews.com Phil Rockstroh is a poet, lyricist, essayist and philosopher who has been published extensively numerous publications and anthologies. His socio-political analyses and commentaries are widely distributed on progressive newsites such as Common Dreams, Robert Parry’s Consortium News, Truth Out, Counterpunch, and many others.  His writings focus on the angst and alienation in post-modern society and the excesses of the hyper capitalist-consumer paradigm. Phil also frequently appears on RT Russian television for his analysis on current trends, and he will be hosting a new program on Progressive Radio Network in the near future. WEBSITE:  PhiRockstroh.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - October Surprise - 01/21/13

Barbara Honegger is a former White House Policy Analyst and Special Assistant to the Assistant to the president for Domestic Policy and a nationally recognized investigator and author about the attack on the Pentagon during 911. She was called as an expert witness at the First International Hearings on 911 held in Toronto in September 2011.  Earlier, Barbara was a Senior Military Affairs Journalist at the Dept of Defense’s Naval Postgraduate School. Barbara is perhaps best known for her book “October Surprise”, which exposed the Reagan teams Irangate and led to a full federal investigation in the House.  She is also among the first of 50 high level former and current government officials to call for a new 911 investigation and she is a founding member of the International organization, Political Leaders for 911 Truth.

Progressive Commentary Hour - Major Cabinet changes for Obama’s second term – 01/14/13

Ray McGovern served as an Army intelligence officer and a CIA analyst from the administration of John F. Kennedy to that of George H. W. Bush. Among his duties was preparing the President’s Daily Brief, which he briefed one-on-one to President Ronald Reagan’s most senior national security advisers. Since retiring from government service, he has been one of our nation’s most vocal peace activists and journalists. In 2003, he helped create Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) to expose the way intelligence was being falsified to “justify” war on Iraq. Ray’s opinion pieces appear in many leading newspapers here and abroad, including a major section in an important book, “Neocon’d Again” dealing with America’s war in Iraq.  He holds degrees in theology and philosophy from Fordham University, is a graduate from Harvard Business School and has a certificate of theology from Georgetown University. Prof.  Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he chairs the program in Middle Eastern Studies. He is recognized as one the country’s leading scholars of U.S. Middle East policy and of strategic nonviolent action, Professor Zunes received his PhD. from Cornell University and previously served on the faculty of Ithaca College, the University of Puget Sound, and Whitman College. He serves as a senior policy analyst for the Foreign Policy in Focus project of the Institute for Policy Studies, an associate editor of Peace Review, a contributing editor of Tikkun, and chair of the academic advisory committee for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Among his publications, the most recent is “Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution” For the past 30 years, Robert Scheer has built a reputation as one of the nation’s most honest and insightful political writers. From 1976 to 1993 Robert was a national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, reporting on the Cold War, arms control, and national politics.  He is a professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism and editor in chief of the Webby Award winning internet magazine Truth Dig.com.  He is regularly heard on the NPR program “Left Right and Center” on KCRW in Santa Monica.  Robert has a graduate degree in economics from UC Berkeley and has been a fellow at Yale and Stanford universities. His latest r book “The Great American Stickup: How Regan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main  Street” is one of the more concise publications outlining the causes and intrigues that brought forth our great recession BOOK:  “The Great American Stickup: How Regan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main  Street”

Progressive Commentary Hour - Christian Fiala - 01/07/13

A special bonus interview with Christian Fiala on HIV and AIDS. Dr. Christian Fiala is a gynaecologist and obstetrician and currently working in Vienna, but has extensive experience in Thailand and Africa. April, 2007, he established the Museum of Contraception and Abortion. For almost 20 years he has been following critically the scientific and political discussion on the epidemiological aspects of AIDS and contributed actively. He was a member of the Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel in South Africa. Dr. Fiala has published many papers focused on the problems of AIDS in Africa and the definition of AIDS. is the author of the book "Do We Love Dangerously? - A Doctor in Search of the Facts and Background to AIDS" (Lieben wir gefaehrlich? - Ein Arzt auf der Suche nach den Fakten und Hintergruenden von AIDS) (1997); and the article in English, Aids: are we being deceived?

Progressive Commentary Hour – special on AIDS – 01/07/13

Prof. Peter Duesberg is  professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California at Berkeley.  He was the first to isolate a cancer gene through his work with retroviruses back in 1970and mapped the genetic structure of this class of viruses. His work in retrovirus research awarded him an election to the National Academy of Sciences and Outstanding Investigator Grants from the National Institutes of Health.  Based upon his knowledge of retroviruses, he has been at the forefront in challenging the virus-AIDS hypothesis and has published in the world’s leading medical journals.  As a consequence, Dr. Duesberg’s hypothesis has won support from many scientists who have been outcast from publishing their views, including nobel laureates such Kary Mullis, inventor of PCR technology.

Celia Farber is a journalist who covered the HIV wars extensively since 1987, in various magazines. Some of these writings are collected in her book: "Serious Adverse Events: An Uncensored History of AIDS" published by Melville House Press, (now Random House) in 2006.

Activist Michael Callen called Farber "..the best AIDS journalist in the world."   Her 2006 article for Harper's magazine detailing the corruption of HIV/AIDS research was titled "Out of Control: AIDS And The Corruption of Medical Science." Attacks from the AIDS industry on Celia's research have been predictable and fierce. Nevertheless, she still won the 2008 Semmelweis Clean Hands Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism.

Clark Baker is a retired officer of the LAPD in Los Angeles, who left 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.

Progressive Commentary Hour - 12/31/12

Progressive Commentary Hour - A Look Back At Fukushima - 12/17/12

A look back at Fukushima, its continued threats, the extent of the catastrophic consequences both in Japan and elsewhere, and the future of nuclear power.

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 Medical School and was an instructor in pediatrics at 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 Dr. Linus Pauling, and has  21 honorary doctoral degrees. The Smithsonian has named Dr Caldicott as one of the most influential women of the 20th Century.

Joseph Mangano is the Executive Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project – a nonprofit organization founded by scientists and physicians to understand the relationships between low level nuclear radiation and public health and the risks of diseases such as cancer and damage to newborns. Joe has published numerous articles and letters in medical and other journals in addition to books, including Low Level Radiation and Immune System Disorders: An Atomic Era Legacy.

Progressive Commentary Hour - The Collapse of American Education - 12/10/12

The Collapse of American Education

• Corporate privatization of the education industry
• Student debt and failure of public school funding
• The rise of cyber education
• The demise of critical thinking in education that threatens democracy and free speech

Professor Henry Giroux (Jeer-oh) holds the Global Television Network Chair of English and Cultural Studies at McMaster University in Ontario Canada and is regarded as a leader in the field known as critical and public pedagogy – a term to describe the nature of spectacle in our new media, body politic and corporate education.  He is a prominent advocate of radical democracy, which opposes the powers of neoliberalism, corporatism, and religious fundamentalism that is now diminishing our population’s sense of civic virtue, free-thought and well being. He has been named among the top fifty educational thinkers of the modern Period.  Henry has authored many books, his most recent being “Twilight of the Social: Resurgent Publics in the Age of Disposability” Danny Weil is a progressive public intellectual and scholar and a publishing editor of young adult reference books on education.  He is frequent contributor to alternative media focusing on the privatization of education and charter schools, the student loan crisis, civil rights and free and democracy.