Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

Before there was QAnon Before there was Pizzagate Before there Plandemic There Was... THE PHANTOM PATRIOT! Believe it or not, there was a time when the "Deep State" wasn't a term in mainstream usage and Alex Jones hadn't appeared on national television dueling with media personalities like Megyn Kelly and Piers Morgan. In fact, there was a time when sitting U.S. Presidents didn't make cryptic statements about their political opponents being controlled by "people in dark shadows" (although Hillary Clinton did make a reference to the existence of a 'vast right-wing conspiracy' back in the day). But just because conspiracy theory is chic nowadays doesn't mean it been with us for a long time, although with incidents like the Comet Ping Pong arson by a Pizzagate truther or the child kidnapping by a QAnon mom conspiracy theories have come under greater scrutiny. For example, an internal FBI memo from 2019 named QAnon and Pizzagate believers as a potential domestic terrorist threat. Meanwhile, "Sandy Hook Truthers", who believe the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 was actually a hoax involving paid "crisis actors" to foment sweeping gun control legislation in the U.S., have been caught harassing victims' families. Not all conspiracy theorists are created equally though. For example, should the aging JFK assassination theorist Robert Groden really have been arrested 82 times by the Dallas Police Department for distributing conspiracy DVDs and literature in Dealey Plaza? Maybe not. That being said, incidents like the Comet Ping Pong arson and crimes with QAnon connections like the aforementioned child kidnapping or the murder of a Gambino Crime Family mob boss seem to be another matter entirely and not to be taken lightly. Prior to all these incidents, however, there was a rather strange case in the California's usually quiet Sonoma County that generally flew under the radar. On January 19th, 2002 a man dressed in superhero costume and wearing a skull mask attempted a raid on the Bohemian Grove under the belief that it was a location used by global Satanic elites to sacrifice children to the Babylonian owl god Moloch. After a stand-off in which the masked man pointed a rifle at confused and scared police officers, the vigilante raider was apprehended. That masked man's name was Richard McCaslin, a cosplayer and Batman stuntman at a Six Flags amusement. Cosplayer, however, may be a bit of an understatement. Richard was a member of what is known as the Real Life Superhero community. RLSH's usually engage in acts of community service like, say, neighborhood watch. Richard, on the other hand, engaged in vigilantism. After watching the Alex Jones documentary Dark Secrets: Inside Bohemian Grove, McCaslin donned his superhero attire and traveled to Sonoma County, California as his alter ego The Phantom Patriot in an attempt to stop what he believed was the nefarious activities Alex Jones alleged were occurring at Bohemian Grove. Granted, Bohemian Grove does raise an eyebrow or two upon initial examination. This is because the Grove is a vacation retreat for members of the highly exclusive Bohemian Club, whose motto is the slightly spooky "Weaving Spiders Come Not Here". Originally the Bohemian Club's membership was mainly artists. In fact, early members included the likes of Jack London and Mark Twain. What raises an eyebrow for more conspiratorially-minded though is the fact that the Bohemian Club's membership has since then gone on to include such global power players as former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and former U.S. Presidents like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. In this way the Grove acts as a vacation getaway for elites to let loose once a year. On it's own that wouldn't seem to insidious. But then there's the rather odd ritual known as the "Cremation of Care" where the world's most powerful men dress in robes and sacrifice their "Dull Care" to a giant owl statue surrounded by fire in dead of night. Granted such strangeness could be chalked up to the goofy hijinks of the world's most powerful men letting their juvenile freak loose like they're at Burning Man. That's not what Richard McCaslin, The Phantom Patriot, believed though. For McCaslin the Grove was a location where Satan-worshipping elites committed ritual sacrifices of innocent children beneath a pagan moon... and it was the duty of the Phantom Patriot to thwart their sinister efforts. Now, the story of Richard McCaslin, alias the Phantom Patriot, may, upon initial inspection, seem to be nothing more than the story of a foolish crank. But upon closer examination can something more be gleaned from his story? What, for example, leads someone like McCaslin to become a conspiracy theory-prone vigilante? And is there a grain of truth to criticism of Bohemian Grove that is revealed through his story? After all, does a citizen like McCaslin, when put on trial, get the same treatment as a uber-wealthy man like Robert Durst, the subject of the HBO series The Jinx that may have gotten away with multiple murders for years? Does the Bohemian Grove, beyond all the tabloid sensationalism of Alex Jones documentaries and books like self-described "mind controlled sex slave survivor" Cathy O'Brien's Trance-Formation of America, offer networking opportunities that are not afforded to the average citizen? Why do misguided true believers like Richard McCaslin, who exhibited creative in various creative pursuits over his lifetime, seem to never reach their full potential while conspiracy hustlers like Alex Jones (who denounced McCaslin after the raid and offered him no support) make millions of dollars off fake supplements and receive international media attention? Tea Krulos, author of American Madness: the Story of the Phantom Patriot and How Conspiracy Theories Hijacked American, joins us on this edition of Parallax Views to answer those questions and more as we delve into the wild true story of Richard McCaslin aka The Phantom Patriot. Oh, and he also reveals, at the end of the program, a real conspiracy perpetrated by the Bohemian Grove against the Phantom Patriot! All that and more on this edition of Parallax Views. P.S. - Yes, McCaslin is the subject of the Les Claypool song "The Phantom Patriot". This Episode Brought to You By: The War State: The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963 by Michael Swanson of The Wall Street Window

Weekend Double Feature Episode! First Up, Investigative journalist Jean Guerrero, who has become known for her work reporting on the border, joins us to shine a much needed light on Donald Trump's Senior Policy Advisor Stephen Miller. In her new book, Hatemonger: Stephen Miller, Donald Trump, and the White Nationalist Agenda, applies her journalistic skills to cracking the enigma of Miller, from his youth in California and his radicalization by right-wing personalities like Rush Limbaugh, Larry Elder, and David Horowitz to his collaborating with the alt right's Richard Spencer while at Duke University and eventually gaining a key position in the Trump White House. In telling the story of Stephen Miller and his anti-immigration agenda, Guerrero also manages to tell the story of the the immigrants who are the greatest target of Miller's ire and fury. And, despite all his raging against elites and claiming the mantle of anti-elitism, Guerrero shows that Miller is the dark mirror image of the coastal liberals who he accuses of hypocrisy. Moreover, in the final analysis, Guerrero shows that Miller is not an anomaly but rather a product of politics and cultural paranoia that have existed within the U.S. for decades. In this way, Hatemonger is not just about Stephen Miller and the immigrants he despise, but also the bi-partisan efforts, from the Presidencies of Reagan to Obama, that define the backdrop of their stories. Some topics covered: - The unusual coincidence of Miller being born on the same day a U.S. spy plane in El Salvador; Jean explains how U.S. interference in El Salvador and Central America, supporting right-wing death squads, created much suffering. - Jean Gurrero's experience at Steve Bannon's border symposium and thoughts on Bannon's arrest; Bannon drove her back to her hotel and spoke to her for a bit; Bannon told her that Miller was his "little evil robot" - How can Stephen Miller, a Jewish man, hold white nationalist views?; Jean has a personal way of answering this question - Miller's connections to Peter Brimelow of the white nationalist website VDare and eugenics promoters like the anti-immigrant stalwart John Tanton and Jared Taylor's American Renaissance magazine - The paranoia and conspiracy theories that permeate American culture; Jean's essay "My Father is a Targeted Individual. Maybe We All Are'; what sets the CIA mind control and electronic harassment conspiracy theories espoused by her father and others claiming to be "Targeted Individuals" from the likes of Stephen Miller and promoters of the "White Genocide" conspiracy theory. - And more Then THE GANGSTER PRESIDENCY? The Newvandal himself, JP Sottile, joins us to discuss how the Trump White House and its associates are looking more and more like something out of a 1940s gangster B-movie. JP argues the Trump White House isn't so much a Presidency as a "big licensing deal". In particular JP hones in on the influencing scandals that have plagued the administration and its associates involving Elliot Broidy, the United Arab Emirates, the Turkish Halkbank, and others. JP says the buck doesn't stop at Steve Bannon and the "We Build the Wall" campaign, when it comes to scandals either directly involving the administration or, in the case of Bannongate, centering on former Trump White House officials. Are some of the characters in this real-life gangster movie worried about losing control of the Justice Department if Trump loses the election? JP weighs the possibilities. Additionally, JP and I have a nuanced discussion about Russiagate and money laundering at the beginning of our conversation. UPDATED Episode Time Stamps Time Stamps: Preview Segment - 00:34 Intro Segment - 02:17 Jean Guerrero Interview - 05:16 Transition Segment - 45:22 JP Sottile Interview - 48:48 Outro + Who Let the Dogs Out (Roger Stone House Remix) - 01:42:40 This Episode Brought to You By: The War State: The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963 by Michael Swanson of The Wall Street Window

On this edition of Parallax Views, former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon was recently charged with fraud, specifically conspiracy to commit money laundering alongside Andrew Badolato in relation to a private fundraiser to build a border wall. The Bannon and the other organizers of the "We Build the Wall" campaign are accused of ripping off their donors. The controversial Bannon is set to go on trial in May 2021. Enter Daniel Hopsicker of Mad Cow Morning News. As a journalist Hopsicker has been exploring dark, murky territory ever since investigating the commercial airline pilot, DEA (and many speculate CIA-connected) informant, and Medellin Cartel drug trafficker Barry Seal. Ever since then Hopsicker has been on the beat of transnational organized crime, specifically as it relates to drug trafficking and money laundering. According to Hopsicker, transnational organized crime's grip on power and politics effectively means we're living on a "Gangster Planet". Although his thesis may be controversial, some would say conspiratorial, Hopsicker often manages to hit a mark better than most other covering the murky depths where drugs, white-collar crime, and corrupt politics intersect with each other. Case in point with the Bannon-Badolato Bust. Through Mad Cow Morning News, Hopsicker has been tracking Badolato for the past 3 years. And he believes that Badolato is much more than the entrepreneurial "businessman" portrayed in recent news articles. Given recent events, I asked Daniel to return to the show to discuss his recent article "Bannon-Badolato Bust Exposes The Abyss" and further elaborate on his "Gangster Planet" thesis. Although he was admittedly a bit burned out from work on his new book when we conducted the interview, I think we had an interesting conversation that we'll have to follow up on in the future. This Episode Brought to You By: The War State: The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963 by Michael Swanson of The Wall Street Window

On this edition of Parallax Views, Richard A. Falk is a professor emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and served from 2008-2014 as the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967. Prof. Falk has dedicated a lifetime to the cause of human rights and was one of the key conceptualizers of a World Order that, in promoting peace and cooperation over war and politics, sought to counteract the realist school of foreign policy expressed former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger as well as former U.S. President George H.W. Bush's idea of a "New World Order" in the post-Cold War era that would be exemplified by American primacy and U.S. full spectrum dominance over the rest of the world. At 89 year old, Prof. Falk continues to tirelessly speak to matters of global import seeking justice, peace, cooperation, and the pursuit of human right for citizens around the world. After reading his recent Counterpunch op-ed "Trumpism, Where Does It Go From Here?", I reached out to Prof. Falk in the hopes that he could share his knowledge of expertise with Parallax Views listeners. He agreed to an interview and spoke with me for an hour on a number of topics including: - How did we get to this moment that has seen the rise of authoritarianism and autocratic demagogues in the U.S. vis-à-vis Trumpism and around the globe as exemplified figures like Rodrigo Duterte in the Phillipines, Viktor Orbán in Hungary, and Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil? - Discontent with elites and the inequities created by neoliberal globalization; the pluralism of elites and the divide over Donald Trump's Presidency amongst the elite elements of society; the rural vs. urban divide; the problem with and peculiarities of the Electoral College system in the United States; solution to the issues with face us in regard to U.S. elections due to the way the American electoral system is set up - The meaning of the concept of the "World Order" and how it differs from the right-wing, paranoid vision of a conspiratorial "New World Order" led by a globalist cabal. How Dr. Falk's belief in "World Order" differs from the both George H.W. Bush's concept of the "New World Order" in the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse and the feverish apocalyptic nightmares of the John Bircher Society-esque paranoid-style that pervades the American right today - The potential for the Digital Age to flatten the countryside vs. city distinction and the new inequities that could arise from the Digital Age; society is changing but not at the pace of the rising global changes facing the world like rapidly increasing economic inequality and climate change - The New Cold War with China and Washington, D.C.'s hawkish bi-partisan consensus on it; China as a different kind of adversary to the U.S. than the Soviet Union; Graham Ellison's Thucydides's Trap and applying it to understanding present U.S.-China relations - Are we living in a multipolar world of multiple superpower as opposed to the unipolar world of American hegemonic dominance as envisioned by many after the end of the Cold War?; U.S.'s "hard power" through military spending and might vs. China's "soft power" approach in the current geopolitical confrontation - Assessing the Obama Presidency in regards to geopolitics and foreign policy; the early Obama Presidency's hopes of manuevering past the Washington D.C. foreign policy "Blob" and why he gave way to the bi-partisan consensus on American foreign policy - the risk factors of a Biden Presidency and a Trump Presidency; what Biden's foreign and American security policy would likely look like; Biden's domestic policy and how it will likely be referential to the "Wall Street or Goldman Sachs View of the World"; the "Third Way" neoliberalism of Clinton Democrats and what effect movements like Black Lives Matter (BLM), arising in response to the police killing of George Floyd, will have on a Biden White House and that wing of the Democratic Party - The deep distrust that exists between both primary wings of the Democratic Party; much has been made of the progressive wing's distrust of Biden-style Clinton Democrat moderates/centrists, but the same hold true on the opposite end: moderate Democrats, specifically those with of material interests that would be impacted by addressing structural inequalities, like socially liberal policies but fear that the Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez wing of the party are too radical; the variation that exists even within the moderate wing of the party on economic inequality issues and the "trick" that prevents Democrats from progressing in regards to social justice and economic inequity issues facing the U.S. today - The risks of a second-term Trump Presidency in the White House; the cluster of primary and secondary concerns the U.S. would face in lieu of Trumps' potential second term in office; Saudi-Israel hegemony in the Middle East under Trump and its implications - Demystifying the situation of Iran and its relationship to the U.S. since 9/11 and Bush's War on Terror Prof. Falk gives a rundown of recent Iranian history and understanding the history of that region within a post-colonial lens since the Iranian revolution; the thought of Ayatollah Khomeini;  Obama's normalization-seeking approach to U.S.-Iran relations vs. Trump's aggressive approach to U.S.-Iran relations - The Israel/Palestine conflict; Prof. Falk's thoughts on the project as a former UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories Occupied since 1967; shifting popular opinion on the Israel/Palestine conflict; Prof. Falk's hope and optimism for Palestine going forward and his belief that the conflict will be solved via popular resistance and global solidarity rather than UN actions - Prof. Falk provides possible reasons for hope going into the 2020 election; realizing the dangers of militarism and how recognizing it can allow for more effective forms of cooperative governance globally in the future This Episode Brought to You By: The War State: The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963 by Michael Swanson of The Wall Street Window

On this edition of Parallax Views, in June of 1944, shortly after D-Day, the Nazis unleashed a wave of devastation on London with a superweapon. The Allies had expected retaliation from the Axis powers, but they had not expected the death machine that was the V-1 or Vergeltungswaffe (Vengeance Weapon One). Few within the Allied powers thought that they could counteract this new obstacle to defeating the Axis forces. And yet, in a story of human ingenuity defying the odds, a rag tag band of inventors, tinkerers, and spies would ultimately bring about the invention of a fuse device would thwart this Nazi superweapon. In his new book 12 Seconds of Silence: How a Team of Inventors, Tinkerers, and Spies Took Down a Nazi Superweapon, journalist Jamie Holmes, whose work has appeared in such outlets as The New York Times, The New Republic, The Atlantic, and The Daily Beast, brings to light this heretofore overlooked bit of WWII history and, in the process, finds a parable about science, governance, leadership, and human ingenuity that may have something to tell us about how to handle the crisis we face today in the form of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. It's a story that includes a Nazi spy ring operating in New York, an scientific advisor to Britain's MI6 intelligence services and the beautiful French spy who aided him, and a small band of scientist who began working with little resources on a small farm in Virginia to stop the Nazi menace. All that and more on this edition of Parallax Views. This Episode Brought to You By: The War State: The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963 by Michael Swanson of The Wall Street Window

On this edition of Parallax Views, believe it or not it's an open secret in Tinseltown that the Pentagon and the CIA have liaisons in Hollywood that exert influence on various film and TV productions. For example, hit movies like Zero Dark Thirty, Enemy of the State, and The Sum of All Fears all received CIA consultation and the Pentagon has been involved in hit TV shows like Bones and 24. For all the talk of Hollywood as a bastion of progressive politics and the accusation from right-wing media that the entertainment industry has too much of a liberal bias, Tinseltown's connection to Uncle Sam's favorite intelligence agency and the Department of Defense may come as a surprise. However, Jim DiEugenio, proprietor of the website Kennedys and King, say the ties run deep and have created an environment in Hollywood where our favorites cinematic blockbuster and TV series are influenced by the intelligence community and the Department of Defense. In his most recent book, The JFK Assassination: The Evidence Today, DiEugenio devotes a whole section of his book to how movies like the Tom Hanks produced Charlie Wilson's War and Steven Spielberg's The Post actually act as revisionist history that whitewash over uncomfortable truths. He also details how figures like the CIA's Chase Brandon and the Pentagon's Phil Strub became involved with the entertainment industry and the extent of their influence. He joins us on this edition of the program to: - Dissect the true story of the Pentagon Papers and Daniel Ellsberg while critiquing Steven Spielberg's treatment of the topic with The Post - Examine Charlie Wilson's War and how it glosses over the way in which U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson's (and Reagan era CIA director William Casey's) efforts to add Afghan rebels in the Soviet-Afghan conflict through Operation Cyclone actually lead to many of the crises that would become a fixture of politics after 9/11 and the advent of the Bush administration's War on Terror - Offer his thoughts on Oliver Stone's recent comments on Bill Maher's show questioning the import of Russia interference in the 2000 election - A tidbit about how famed prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi believed in an RFK assassination conspiracy despite rejecting the idea of a conspiracy in the assassination of JFK - Kill the Messenger, the cinematic biography of Gary Webb, the journalist whose career was famously ruined after he wrote a multi-part series on the connection between Iran/Contra and the L.A. crack epidemic - And much, much more! This Episode Brought to You By: The War State: The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963 by Michael Swanson of The Wall Street Window

On this edition of Parallax Views, Athens, Georgia has a long history of racial justice activism due to its prevalent black community making up nearly 30% of its residents. Even amongst those against-the-grain activists, however, Irami Osei-Frimpong is considered something of a controversial gadfly. Currently a Ph.D. candidate in philosophy at the University of Georgia, Frimpong's pointed commentaries on issues like white supremacy, racism, police brutality, and reparation has, at times, attracted a degree of ire outrage. Specifically, he was scrutinized after tweeting, "Some white people may have to die for black communities to be made whole in this struggle to advance to freedom.” The tweet turned into a viral lightning rod for controversy as Frimpong, who works as a Teaching Assistant (TA), was put under investigation by his University and then, as a result, profiled in websites like Heavy.Com and the right-wing Campus-Watch.Org. What did Irami Osei-Frimpong actually mean in his controversial tweet? Was it a call to violence against white people? What does he really believe? The man himself joins us on this edition of Parallax Views in a conversation that hopefully provides an answer to those questions as well as providing an understanding of how Freedom, as a concept, and real autonomy is the driving forth behind Frimpong's thought and activism. In fact, it could be said that the idea of Freedom is the underlying theme of this discussion as Irami defines it's meaning, it's relation to black struggle, and how he seeks to reclaim the concept from the American libertarian and conservative right that has claimed a monopoly on its usage. Additionally Irami and I discuss: - The Kenosha shooting and and its suspected perpetrator, Kyle Rittenhouse, as an example of the type of white person who will violently oppose black freedom because they see it as a threat to their way of life - What Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel and the Hulk Hogan vs. Gawker trial tell us about freedom and rights in the United States - The meaning of white supremacy; the need to "poke the bear" when it comes to white supremacism and why Irami disagrees with the "don't poke the beer" mentality of some within the black community - Irami's unique take on the subject of looting - The case of Amy Cooper and 2020's infamous Central Park birdwatching incident that saw Cooper calling the police in distress after a black birdwatcher, Christian Cooper (no relation), politely asked her to leash her dog; questioning the premise that Amy Cooper is an aberration or anomaly - Double standards: the Philadelphia heroin epidemic vs. the opioid epidemic - The controversial ADOS movement, founded by activists Yvette Carnell and Antonio Moore, which pushes for reparations, but primarily for American Descendants of Slavery rather than black immigrants; why Irami supports movement; the movement's effective; the accusations pertaining to ADOS's anti-immigration stance; Irami's solution to anti-immigrant attitudes - Why Bernie Sander's lost the black vote in the South; FDR and black America; how can the Left gain the trust of the black community - Thoughts on Adolph Reed, arguments in favor of alliances between right-wing populism and left-wing populism, and the why Irami believes class cannot be the sole, or even primary focus, of the Left - Irami's argument for reparations - Democratic Presidential nominee Joe Biden and his Vice President pick Kamala Harris; alt right leader Richard Spencer's recent endorsement of the Biden/Harris ticket; Democrats and the tendency of centrist politicians tp punch Left when in power This Episode Brought to You By: The War State: The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963 by Michael Swanson of The Wall Street Window

On this edition of Parallax Views, the prolific war correspondent Patrick Cockburn, who has been reporting on the Middle East since 1975, joins us to discuss his new book War in the Age of Trump: The Fall of ISIS, The Betrayal of the Kurds, and the Conflict with Iran. We begin the conversation with Patrick's thoughts on objectivity in journalism and whether war reporting takes a toll on journalists in that line of work. From there we discuss the foreign policy of Obama, Obama and his advisor Ben Rhodes taking issue with the "Washington Playboy" and the D.C. foreign policy "Blob", and Trump's foreign policy. In relation Trump and foreign policy Patrick shines a light on the assassination of Iran's Gen. Quasem Soleimani and his understanding of it beyond the way it's been covered in the beltway press. Patrick argues that these elements got Soleimani wrong and this leads us to discuss the role of hubris, whether coming from Iran, the U.S., or other players, in the great game taking place on the geopolitical Grand Chessboard and where Iraq falls in the conflicts. Also covered: - The strange relationship between Iran and the U.S. that features both conflict and underdiscussed cooperation. - Why is the U.S. always at odds with Iran? The overthrow of Mossadegh in 1953 and other events. Why would the Shia-dominant Iran not be a friend of the U.S. in the War on Terror against Sunni Wahabists and Salafists? - Ignorance in the D.C. beltway, the Western elite, and the media on the Middle East and its complexities as a region. - The Middle East as a political graveyard for multiple U.S. Presidents including Tony Blair, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan. - The story of ISIS and its fall - Western elite failures in the Middle East such as Libya after the death of Gaddafi; Syria and Assad; the lack of learning lessons from past failures on the part of the Western elite class - The impossible position of the Kurd; Turkey and the Kurds; the U.S.'s relationship to the Kurds - Could we have seen the failures of U.S. foreign policy coming?; the style of War in the Age of Trump - Criticism of U.S. foreign policy is not necessarily about supporting figures like Gaddafi in Libya or Assad in Syria - News from Damascus involving coronavirus - Trump's isolation vs. the elite's interventionist failures; is another way, different from both of these approaches possible; the Cold War mindset of elite interventionist foreign policy - Preoccupation with Russia as a threat - And more! This Episode Brought to You By: The War State: The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963 by Michael Swanson of The Wall Street Window

Two Part Episode! First Up, Actress and progressive activist Mimi Kennedy, whose Hollywood credentials include notable reoccuring roles in the TV shows Dharma and Greg and the ongoing CBS sitcom Mom in addition to films like Midnight in Paris, In the Loop,  Erin Brokovich, and (J.G.'s personal favorite) Pump Up the Volume, joins us to discuss how she became an activist as well her commendable efforts to promote election education among voters and prevent voter suppression. In particular, Mimi explains the dilemma of what she calls "The Surrender Rule" with regards to mail-in ballots. We also talk about how Mimi got involved with activism related to the issue of election integrity, her efforts to block the use of Diebold touchscreen voting machines in L.A. country, and why poll workers are needed now more than ever in the age of COVID-19. Mimi also provides her thoughts on the right wing media's portrayal of Hollywood as "too liberal" and the role Catholic social teachings played a role in developing her political consciousness. Then, Legendary progressive radio host Thom Hartmann joins us to discuss the latest entry in his Hidden History book series, The Hidden History of Monopolies: How Big Business Destroyed the American Dream. We begin by discussing the relevance of the Hidden History series in light of the George Floyd murder and how the history Thom is shedding light on is becoming less hidden and more well-known each and every day. From there we pivot into a conversation of what monopolies are and the adverse effect they have on We the People as a nation. Thom also fills us in on how monopolies tie into the story of the Boston Tea Party vis-à-vis the British East India company, Lewis Powell and the other players who sought to combat progressive activists like Ralph Nader (who provides the foreward for Thom's new book!) by promoting pro-business interest in various sectors of society like academia, the horrible legacy of Reaganomics and the Ronald Reagan presidency, and the problems of copyright and patent laws (which, as Thom points out, the founding fathers would have a thing or to say about!). All that and more on this edition of Parallax Views! This Episode Brought to You By: The War State: The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963 by Michael Swanson of The Wall Street Window

On this edition of Parallax Views, for over 20 years the iconoclastic Dälek is a hip hop group that eludes easy categorization. Influenced as much by band like the shoegaze legends My Bloody Valentine and the krautrock sensation Faust as much as they are rappers like NAS and Run DMC, Dälek has most often been described as experimental hip hop. Interestingly, due to their noisy, abrasive style, the group has been able to hang with the loudest of metal band playing live shows with bands like Godflesh, ISIS, The Melvins, and Tool thus winning the respect of many in the metal community. They've also been known for their political, or perhaps more accurately social, commentary that cuts deeper than ever in the age of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. MC Dälek, the group's frontman, joins us on this edition of the program to discuss music, hip hop, metal, politics, conspiracy theories, and much, much more. Special thanks to Televangel for helping to make this episode possible! This Episode Brought to You By: The War State: The Cold War Origins of the Military-Industrial Complex and the Power Elite, 1945-1963 by Michael Swanson of The Wall Street Window