Podcasts about gadhafi

Libyan revolutionary, politician and political theorist

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Best podcasts about gadhafi

Latest podcast episodes about gadhafi

AURN News
#OTD: Libya Declares Independence from Italian Rule in 1954

AURN News

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 24, 2024 1:47


On Dec. 24, 1954, Libya declared its long-sought independence from colonial Italian rule, marking a pivotal turning point in its history. The United Libyan Kingdom was established under King Idris, who aimed to unify and modernize the country. Before this independence, Italy had controlled Libya for over four decades following a 1911 invasion. Shortly after independence, the United States initiated diplomatic relations, bolstering Libya's international presence. King Idris's reign continued until 1969, when a military coup led by Moammar Gadhafi toppled the monarchy. Gadhafi ruled for 42 years until a 2011 uprising, supported by NATO's “Operation Unified Protector,” ended his regime and life, dramatically reshaping Libya's political landscape. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Writers and Company from CBC Radio
How Hisham Matar's writing reflects life under dictatorship and the pain of his father's abduction

Writers and Company from CBC Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2024 56:00


This week, two conversations with the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir The Return. In 2011, Libyan British author Hisham Matar spoke with Eleanor Wachtel about his childhood living under Gadhafi's dictatorship and the search for his father, a political dissident who was imprisoned. Then, from 2020, Matar reflects on his memoir The Return and his book A Month in Siena, which explores the relationship between history, art and grief. Please note: this episode contains difficult subject matter.

Years of Lead Pod
The Ustica Tragedy

Years of Lead Pod

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 7, 2023 56:03


References Sergio Bonifacio, Ustica. La verita a galla. Independently Published, 2022 Paolo Cucchiarelli, Ustica & Bologna: attacco all'Italia. Milano: La nave di Teseo, 2020. Frances d'Emilio, "Italian ex-premier says French missile downed an airliner in 1980 by accident in bid to kill Gadhafi," FOX59, September 2, 2023. https://fox59.com/news/ap-top-headlines/ap-former-italian-premier-claims-french-missile-downed-passenger-jet-in-1980-presses-paris-for-truth/ Giovanni Fasanella, Rosario Priore, Intrigo internazionale: Perché la guerra in Italia. Le verità che non si sono mai potute dire. Milano: Chiarelettere, 2010. P. Edward Haley, Qaddafi and the United States Since 1969, NYC: Praeger, 1984. Laura Picchi, La Strage di Ustica. Novoli: Elison Paperback, 2020. Cora Ranci, Ustica. Una ricostruzione storica. Roma: Laterza, 2020.

The Decibel
How a former Libyan dictator's money ended up in Canada

The Decibel

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2023 20:41


Moammar Gadhafi, former Libyan dictator, has had billions sitting in Canadian bank accounts for almost 12 years after his death. This has caused further investigations and questions in terms of what this means for the Canadian banking sector.Rita Trichur is The Globe's Senior Business Writer and Columnist joins us to discuss Gadhafi, his family, and all of his money sitting in Canadian banks.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at thedecibel@globeandmail.com

3MONKEYS
Donald Trump: World better with Hussein, Gadhafi in power (2015)

3MONKEYS

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 13, 2023 2:00


https://youtu.be/MpW3yn0d0mE sound is consciousness... #2023 #art #music #movies #poetry #poem #photooftheday #volcano #news #money #food #weather #climate #monkeys #horse #puppy #fyp #love #instagood #onelove #eyes #getyoked #horsie #gotmilk #book #shecomin #getready 

Talkin with Topher
TwT #143 | Elijah Webber & Michael Firth | TalKin Conspiracies | Question everything & Look into it

Talkin with Topher

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 28, 2022 130:43


(Discount Code TOPHER for 10% OFF at Check out) (00:42:01) https://slowdownclothing.bigcartel.com/ Sweatshirts, Sweatpants & Winter Beanie Official Email talkinwithtopher@gmail.com Elijah Webber's Links https://www.facebook.com/Excalibur.Prime777 https://www.instagram.com/_excaliburprime_/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/ewebber.bjj/?hl=en Michael Firth AKA | Magilla (facebook) https://www.facebook.com/michael.firth.167 Topher's Social Media (linktr.ee) https://linktr.ee/talkinwithtopher (instagram) https://www.instagram.com/talkinwithtopher/?hl=en (twitter) https://twitter.com/_conderman (snap chat) https://www.snapchat.com/add/cconderman?share_id=HiV14moKPns&locale=en-US (tik tok) https://www.tiktok.com/@talkinwithtopher?lang=en (facebook) https://www.facebook.com/christopher.conderman Music By Tyler Crain Follow him on (linktr.ee) https://linktr.ee/grydlynkmusic (Instagram) @grydlynkmusic (Twitter) @grydlynkmusic (Facebook) @grydlynkmusic (Soundcloud) https://soundcloud.com/tyler-crain-279047332 Time Stamps (00:00:00) Start (00:08:49) Moon Landing was faked (00:16:06) Bush Family (00:24:28) Stolen Elections (00:41:15) They look too much alike to not be Related (00:46:08) Michelle Obama Man parts (00:48:05) Vegas Shooting (00:55:31) Sandy Hook & Alex Jones (01:00:59) False flags, Ukraine & FTX crypto Backing Democrats (01:11:01) Gadhafi was made out to be a bad guy by USA (01:13:23) Klaus Schwab, Charles Schwab & Hitler Everything leads back to Nazi's (01:19:32) Democratic Party has changed and not for the better (01:23:10) America founded on masonry not Christianity (01:24:20) Coming out against the narrative Jim carry, Antony Bourdain and many more (01:27:48) Julian Assange (01:34:03) Occultis (01:46:03) Ancient Fl (01:52:22) So many subjects for nextime Music Mastering Eric Sauter (Mastered the tracks) Instagram: @blackheart_sound Website: http://www.blackheartnh.com/ Logo and Album Art Link for Lily's art: Thumbtack: Lily Durocher's Art: https://www.thumbtack.com/nh/manchester/art-services/lily-desrochers-art/service/420155477233508358?utm_medium=web&utm_source=txt&surface=sp&referrer_pk=420155458886606852 Episode Links https://youtu.be/ZWX_CffNa-I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZO5q0B5wfw https://odysee.com/$/download/sandy-hook-father-robbie-parker-laughing-cnn/9eed0f0d8f9107da8522430640efe4963e62fa00

Max Blumenthal
Viagra-fueled Russian rampage?

Max Blumenthal

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2022 9:28


Viagra-fueled Russian rampage? Journalists Wyatt Reed and Alex Rubinstein join Max Blumenthal to discuss the return of a deception deployed by the US at the United Nations to justify the disastrous NATO intervention in Libya. After falsely claiming Gadhafi's troops were popping Viagra pills and raping their opponents, Washington is pushing the claim that Russian soldiers are doing the same in Ukraine. Watch the video on YouTube ||| The Grayzone ||| Find more reporting at https://thegrayzone.com Support our original journalism at Patreon: https://patreon.com/grayzone Facebook: https://facebook.com/thegrayzone Twitter: https://twitter.com/thegrayzonenews Instagram: https://instagram.com/thegrayzonenews Minds: https://minds.com/thegrayzone Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@thegrayzone Max Blumenthal: https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal https://rokfin.com/MaxBlumenthal Wyatt Reed: https://twitter.com/wyattreed13 Alex Rubinstein: https://twitter.com/RealAlexRubi

Foreign Correspondence
Drew Hinshaw - Wall Street Journal - Europe/West Africa

Foreign Correspondence

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 2, 2022 87:38


The kidnapped Chibok girls were the identifiable victims of Nigeria's war with Boko Haram islamist insurgents. Drew Hinshaw (@drewhinshaw) talks about reporting around Europe and Africa for the Wall Street Journal while co-writing an award-winning book about the Chibok girls on nights and weekends. We also find out what happens when you wear the wrong pants to cover a press conference with Barack Obama. Countries featured: Ghana, Nigeria, Poland, Senegal, Mali, Spain, USA Publications featured: Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, Metro, Rolling Stone   Here are links to some of the things we talked about: Drew's book Bring Back Our Girls - https://amzn.to/3E7H1OI  His stories for The Wall Street Journal - https://on.wsj.com/3Cnhgsw His big WSJ story on Chibok girls being freed - https://on.wsj.com/3SOzOap WSJ's Pulitzer finalist package on China's influence - https://bit.ly/3LWl6fj Drew's story on Gadhafi's house - https://on.wsj.com/3RnHbEN Rukmini Callimachi's al-Qaida Papers series for AP - https://bit.ly/3dT058V Steve Rosenberg's Lukashenko interview - https://bit.ly/3FNDoeW Hidden Valley Road book - https://amzn.to/3SSv7wp Columbine book by Dave Cullen - https://amzn.to/3ft3ag1 Billion Dollar Whale book - https://amzn.to/3ro1cjL   Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod Music: LoveChances (makaih.com) by Makaih Beats From: freemusicarchive.org CC BY NC

CrossLead
Crisis in Ukraine: Panel Discussion

CrossLead

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 4, 2022 0:53


/*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 05-02-2024 */ .elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}Crisis in Ukraine: Panel Discussion /*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 05-02-2024 */ .elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block} CrossLead panel discussion, about the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, sponsored by Red Cell Partners. Dave Silverman facilitates a conversation with former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, Roger Ferguson, and former member of the Central Intelligence Agency, John Sipher. Resources Webinar recordingJohn SipherRoger FergusonWant to discuss some of these topics directly with Dave? Join the CrossLead LinkedIn Group. /*! elementor - v3.19.0 - 05-02-2024 */ .elementor-accordion{text-align:left}.elementor-accordion .elementor-accordion-item{border:1px solid #d5d8dc}.elementor-accordion .elementor-accordion-item+.elementor-accordion-item{border-top:none}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title{margin:0;padding:15px 20px;font-weight:700;line-height:1;cursor:pointer;outline:none}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title .elementor-accordion-icon{display:inline-block;width:1.5em}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title .elementor-accordion-icon svg{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title .elementor-accordion-icon.elementor-accordion-icon-right{float:right;text-align:right}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title .elementor-accordion-icon.elementor-accordion-icon-left{float:left;text-align:left}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title .elementor-accordion-icon .elementor-accordion-icon-closed{display:block}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title .elementor-accordion-icon .elementor-accordion-icon-opened,.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title.elementor-active .elementor-accordion-icon-closed{display:none}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title.elementor-active .elementor-accordion-icon-opened{display:block}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-content{display:none;padding:15px 20px;border-top:1px solid #d5d8dc}@media (max-width:767px){.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title{padding:12px 15px}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-title .elementor-accordion-icon{width:1.2em}.elementor-accordion .elementor-tab-content{padding:7px 15px}}.e-con-inner>.elementor-widget-accordion,.e-con>.elementor-widget-accordion{width:var(--container-widget-width);--flex-grow:var(--container-widget-flex-grow)} Episode Transcript DaveFor today’s episode, I have the pleasure of hosting a panel discussion on the developing crisis in Ukraine with two exceptional leaders and patriots. Our sponsor for this episode is Red Cell Partners. Red Cell Partners is a design and incubation studio that brings ideas, capital, resources and talent together to build technology led companies that address the nation’s most pressing challenges in finance, health care in the national security space.My first guest is John Cipher. John is a foreign policy and intelligence expert who previously served 28 years in the Central Intelligence Agencies National Clandestine Service. At the time of his retirement. He was a member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, the leadership team that guides the CIA’s activities globally. John’s has served in multiple overseas tours as both chief of station and deputy chief of Station across Europe, Asia and several other high threat environments to include Russia.He’s a regular contributor to various news outlets and publications and very active, active as a social influencer. My second guest is Roger Ferguson. Roger is a former vice chairman of the Board of Governors of the US Fed. Reserve. We served from 1999 to 2006. He represented the Fed on several international policy groups and served on key Federal Reserve committees, including payment systems oversight Reserve Bank Operations and supervision regulation as the only governor in DC on nine 11.He led the Fed’s initial response to the terrorist attacks, taking actions that kept the U.S. financial system functioning while reassuring the global financial community that the U.S. economy would not be paralyzed. He is a Steven A. Tananbaum Distinguished Fellow for International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations and the immediate past president and CEO of TIAA, the leading provider of retirement services and the Academic Research Medical and cultural fields, and also a Fortune 100 financial services organization.He attended Harvard for his undergrad, his law degree, and his Ph.D. in Economics In today’s discussion, we talk about Putin strategies. It relates to Ukraine, the current military, geopolitical and economic situation. How this crisis might evolve and the global implications both economically and politically. And I’d like to start with John, and I hope that you could provide some context on Russia and Ukraine and sort of how we got to where we are now.JohnYeah. Well, it’s interesting. Let me start a little bit to talk about Putin and what makes him tick, because, you know, at the end of the day, a week ago, you know, many people would have assumed he wasn’t going to invade Ukraine. And, you know, essentially nobody could answer, was it?Whether he was or wasn’t, wasn’t going to. And as much intelligence as the U.S. and Western officials have they still didn’t know because it was all in the head of one person. You know, when you’re a dictator and you’ve created a system around yourself where, you know, people have to come to you and you don’t know. You know, I have no idea.I was on his head. So a little bit about him. And then and I’ll talk a little about what he cares about, where we are now. So, you know, one thing that is most important to me about Leader Putin is he’s a career Chekist, but that means he’s a career intelligence officer. He’s a kid. It was a career KGB officer.And that term, Chekist, really relates to the original Bolshevik intelligence service called the Cheka. And any Russian intelligence officer calls themselves a proud Chekist because the check out when the Bolsheviks took over in 1918, the first thing that new government did was create an intelligence service to sort of, you know, kill off any potential domestic opponents as well as to keep their enemies at bay.And they did that right from the beginning, doing a lot of the things that we’ve seen since the 2016 election, for example. They use subversion, deception, they use disinformation assassinations around the world, all these kind of things. And they continue to do that throughout the Cold War. So that’s really important to understand. Vladimir Putin, because he grew up in a, in a system where they were using information warfare, creating false stories and disinformation and killing their opponents from the beginning.The other thing to understand about him is, you know, he was in the KGB when the Soviet Union fell. You know, and I think it’s probably hard for us here to understand how that must have affected somebody psychologically. They thought they were in the world’s second greatest superpower. Liberator was the greatest superpower. He worked for the KGB, which is a sword and shield of that of the regime.You know, the most important. Arguably part of the regime in protecting it. And his whole country fell apart. And he tells a story it even in his own biography about what that meant to him. And he talked about when he was a KGB officer in Dresden, in East Germany, when the wall was starting to fall. And there was protesters coming around his consulate where he was working.You know, he contacted the military attaché in Berlin and said, you know, we need Soviet troops here. And the military attache in Berlin called him back shortly thereafter and said, you know, we’ve been trying to contact Moscow, but Moscow is silent. And Putin talks about this and use it in his own book to suggest that when the country needed to use its monopoly on brutality, when it needed to be tough, it was silent.And his point is, whenever he would have a chance to change that, when he would ever have a chance to make sure that the regime was powerful and it used its brutality, his strength when it needed to, he would do it His view is, you know, the weaker beaten in the end. The most important thing about any government is to maintain a monopoly of power and a monopoly of brutality.And so, you know, another thing to understand about him is, you know, we often talk about how does he negotiate? What is he doing? And I think a lot of us are now seeing that he’s gone into the Ukraine. You know, he’s a sort of a serial liar and someone who sort of is always playing others. And so it was Garry Kasparov the famous chess champion that sort of talked about he says, listen, Putin doesn’t play the situation on the chess board.He plays the opponent. And so he has this sort of gift for sniffing out weakness and trying to then take advantage of that weakness to amplify it or to exploit it. So how do we get here? Like what are the things that he really cares about? So I’ll mention a few that he sort of claims and that led to this crisis.But then there’s sort of one that it’s really important that when you talk about dictator sort of the first thing to realize is this whole thing is completely manufactured. There was no threat to Russia. NATO was not expanding. There hasn’t been talks for years about including Ukraine. There is no threat from Ukraine to Russia. It’s a much smaller and weaker country.All of the things that he brought up, you know, that led to this were things that were for like the 1990s. You know, this is stuff that easily could have been discussed, negotiated, dealt with. But it has to do with that sort of mentality of the man. You know, he’s always had this sort of sense of grievance of emotional anger against the West in the United States.His narrative is that when the powerful Soviet Union fell, it was because the West in the in the United States were trying to destroy Russia. They wanted to humiliate Russia and keep it down. And of course, you know, that’s another manufactured thing. I worked in Moscow in the embassy in the 1990s for the very organization that would try to destroy Russia if that’s what we were doing.And the United States government was trying everything they do to bring Russia into the family of nations to support them economically, help them. And if there’s an argument to be had from that period of time, perhaps that we didn’t do enough, not that we were trying to destroy Russia or weaken it. And so there’s there’s a couple of things that he said consistently that he wants the death of NATO’s.He wants NATO’s to go away. He wants he doesn’t want all of these Western security services on his anywhere near his borders. You know, in fact, when he took office, it was the NATO general secretary, I think Rasmussen, who met him and said, you know, Mr. President Putin, my goal is to increase cooperation with Russia. And Putin reportedly responded with the question of his own.He said, Do you know my mission, Mr. Rasmussen? Is to make sure that your organization no longer exists. And so he’s had that view ever since. He wants the U.S. out of Europe and he wants NATO’s dead. And the other thing he wants is he wants countries on his borders to be weak and vassals of the Kremlin. It’s democratic expansion that threatens him really more than veto expansion.He doesn’t want success for democratic countries nearby, which can be a sort of a sign to his own people. What’s what’s certain possible. In fact, you know, bear with me for a second on a quote George Kennan said years ago, too long ago, he said, quote, The jealous, the jealous and intolerant eye of the Kremlin can distinguish in the end only vassals and enemies and the neighbors of Russia, if they do not wish to be one, must reconcile themselves to being the other.So with that said, those are the things he’s claimed sort of led to this problem. But the big one, and then I’ll stop for a while is he’s a dictator. It’s about survival. Dictators, you know, have to worry every day about staying in power, making sure there’s not people out there who maybe want to sort of take power from the north where they want to maintain control.And so when there’s a country, when you create a country where there’s no means for a peaceful transition of power, everything is about staying alive, staying in total control. And so Putin, in his 20 years of being in power, has witnessed a number of really strongmen fall everywhere, from Egypt to Ukraine to Georgia and around the world. And, you know, he probably has visions of Gadhafi being filmed in a sewer, being sodomized in the lead pipe.And that is what he is trying to do. It’s all about maintaining power and staying in power. And then as we go on, I don’t want to feel like I’m talking too much here. We can go on about sort of, you know, how we ended up where we are and where and what and what where we might go from here.DaveRight. John, that was amazing. Given that context and background, can you give the audience here a sense of the current situation, as you understand it, from your vast network of spies and assets that you still probably actively engage with? And, you know, one of the questions just came in is like, what was that? What was the catalyst for Putin’s making the decision to act now?JohnThat’s what’s crazy about this. There really wasn’t a catalyst. You know, he’s created these false narratives that, you know, NATO’s expanding. It’s a threat. And Will NATO’s wasn’t expanding hasn’t expanded since what, 2012 or whatever. And really, like I said, it’s about democratic expansion rather than NATO’s expansion. He worries about a successful and democratic Ukraine on his border that looks like a success to his own people.So they can say, hey, what why? If Ukraine can be successful in Western and Democratic, why can’t we be. And the answer is Vladimir Putin. And so those are the sort of things that. And so where we are now you know I think you know when you’re a dictator for 20 years it’s sort of like sort of the classic thing.There’s so much power around you. I think as time goes on, people are afraid to bring you bad news. No one wants to walk up to Vladimir Putin and say, sir, you’re very wrong about this. This is how we should change it. And so I think you know, having been in power for so long and we see it from those pictures where he’s like 50 feet away from his advisers that are at a table that sort of suggests this kind of thing.I think he’s getting to a point where, you know, he believes his own sort of bull and and thought that he had to do this. You know, he went into, if you remember, in 2014, he went into Crimea and he took the eastern part of Ukraine. I think he believed that, you know, that’s a largely Russian speaking areas.I think he believed that the Russian speakers there would rise up and be thrilled to be part of Russia and get away from Ukraine. Well, it didn’t work. And so he eventually had to send his soldiers in there to try to like, you know, fight their way in. And that still hasn’t worked. They haven’t even taken over the whole area they tried to do.And so this is sort of the third step is, you know, they’re going to go in and sort of crush Ukraine. And so I think he expected this one to go quickly. I think he’s seen, you know, Western armies and U.S. Army go in and use sort of pinpoint attacks. And very quickly, we’d be able to sort of the regime would fall.And then he would come in and put in his own sort of his own, you know, fake regime that would support Russia. And as we’ve seen, it hasn’t really worked out that way. You know, that the communication between their troops, all these kind of things have sort of gone into a mess. And they actually created a different problem for him as the whole world is now paying attention.The whole world is now you know, a lot of us have been following for Russia forever have been saying, hey, we need to crack down on him. He’s exactly the kind of person if you don’t push back, he’s going to take that as weakness. And continue to move along. And multiple administrations have failed to push back on Putin so that when this crisis arose, we had very little to deter him.He had gotten his way so many times. We had assumed every time if we gave him an off ramp, he would maybe come around and change and join the family of nations. And it never happened. He hates us. He wants us to go away. He wants to overthrow the rules based order. And so I think we now realize the rest of the world now realizes, you know, he is someone who has to be fought and deterred, is not someone we can negotiate with.So one quick thing. You know, where are we and where does it go? And so what’s hard here is it really depends on how he responds to what the world is doing to him. You know, everybody everybody from Sweden and Finland and in Switzerland, or even, you know, pushing back Switzerland was was was neutral against the Nazis. But now they’re actually pushing back against Vladimir Putin.So. So it’s a tough thing for the the world is watching. But his traditional way of doing things, as we saw him in in Syria and in Chechnya and other places, is to essentially destroy everything, to sort of carpet bomb and destroy the entire cities. And so I worry that, you know, if he sort of sees that it’s not going well rather than try to use his, you know, precision weapons, which we’re finding out aren’t so precision, they’re going to go back to the old traditional Russian way of war with massive artillery and bombing and sort of killing and murdering.DaveAnd I think we’re already seeing some of that vigorous yet. John, thank you so much, Roger. As one of the preeminent economist it’s really the last several, several decades, certainly. I’d love to get a sense from you on where we are economically. I mean, the one thing that we have noticed is that there’s been a rapid coalition of, I would say, support and focus from the E.U. and from the U.S..And to John’s point earlier, Switzerland has picked aside for the first time since the Vatican. So they’ve seen this be a sort of unimaginable even a week ago, are now sort of happening. I’d love to get a sense of where you see that current situation and how you see that playing out.RogerWell, first, thank you. And secondly, to John’s first point, you know, when I was in government, we treated this not I personally, but the government in the US. It created this notion of the G7 G8 inviting Russia and inviting them into the G20. And so, you know, they they were early on in giving this olive branch to come in and be part of the part of the international financial order.And where are we today where all of that has collapsed? We’re seeing an unprecedented coalition including, as you’ve heard, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland, aligned against one country that is a large country, is that it’s not the largest it’s like the 17th largest economy in the world to be in that sort. So this is not a small country we’re dealing with.And not only is there total alignment, but we’re using in the financial world a tool that has never been used against a country the size, which is basically precision exclusion of people from swift SWIFT is the international telecommunications system. It brings in 11,000 patients from 200 countries and you cannot possibly move money around the world accurately without using SWIFT.And so what you saw is when you and the US decided to exclude an unnamed number of patients and now we know it’s just a handful of the ones immediately that led to a run of the banks, quite literally. And in Russia, individuals, you know, grabbing their rubles. We saw the ruble decline quite dramatically and they had to close the stock market and in Moscow on Monday.And so, you know, this decision to start to exclude Russian banks from the international communications system of SWIFT has had dramatic effects in that country. In terms of undermining the trust and confidence in the banking system. The second thing that was also unprecedented for a country, the size was an effort to make sure they couldn’t use lawsuits, $630 billion in reserves and their central bank, again, unprecedented.What that actually means is that they’re reserves and so reserve currencies and dollars and and euros and pounds, etc. that may be held in these countries in the West are not usable. So effectively that’s reduced their usable reserves to about, we think, a third a bit more primarily gold and also reserves like they have in the past. So their ability to support their economy, the central bank to support the economy has been dramatically weakened.And then the final thing and all of these are playing together is obviously various sanctions against individuals and also against trade. Right now, energy is theoretically exported. But we’ve seen a number of Western companies that are critical to moving Russian energy oil around the world have been unwilling to to participate in that supply chain. So even though, you know, Russian oil has not yet been officially moved into the sanction list, effectively, it has because of the lack of payment ability for us to identify and then Western companies not wanting to be involved in transporting Soviet or Russian oil.So unprecedented coalition of the willing to speak and beyond with Sweden, Switzerland, etc.. Unprecedented use of financial tools against a country that had been and still technically is, you know, in the closet with the G20. An unprecedented impact in a very large economy in terms of having the run on the banks, quite literally, that we’ve seen in driving a currency to being almost worthless.So we are living in some normal times in the standpoint of the financial architecture of the world.DaveNow, I’m going to Roger, a follow up question Where do you see this playing out? I mean, we’ve they’ve all these unprecedented actions have now taken place. Let’s assume that this is going to be a protracted fight for Russia and Ukraine. I don’t I don’t see this thing, you know, sort of getting resolved in the next you know, certainly next week or two.How do you how do you think this plays out in the affects? Do you think that’s going to have on the global economy?RogerSo with three different ways, it’s already starting to play out. One obviously is increasing the price of oil well over, I think $110 today. And, you know, a very, very important impact globally that’s increasing the discussion around some stagflation, the possibility that inflation picks up. And we still have slowing growth. The last time we had an oil shock of this magnitude back in 1973 and 1979, in fact that was one of the causes of the stagflation that we had to deal with.This time things are slightly different. To be fair. And so we have a different well in the 73 and 79, oil prices first tripled. They stayed at a high plateau and then in 79 they doubled again. So while energy prices, oil prices have clearly gone up, we’re not talking about a doubling or tripling of oil prices right now.The second thing that’s different from then is the United States has developed its own oil capabilities where energy independence and in fact we are the ability and not as much as we’re going to need, but we have an ability to export our liquefied natural gas, and others are as well to support to support the Europeans that need that as it gets.Not now, but back in the 18 season, So one thing is risk of stagflation going up. But I think it’s not probable what we saw in 69 and 79. So when the talk is certainly higher and for sure this is doing the second thing which is creating some uncertainty for all the central banks that we’re on a process of normalizing interest rates.Chairman Powell had this testimony today he opened by talking about uncertainty when he went on to continue the discussion around managing inflation. Probably not as as aggressively as some of his colleagues had been empty, but nevertheless creating some uncertainty there. The answer that he gave looks to me as other markets liked it, because there’s a lot of green now in the major indices here in the U.S. At least that’s the second issue.You have a central bank to deal with this. And then there’s a third longer term issue, which is excluding using the swift tool, excluding a major country from SWIFT at this stage of the unpredictable spillover effects on how others think about their reserves how they think about linking to the communications system. I don’t know yet how that’s going to play out, but there will certainly be talk about in some capitals, not a major one, but some smaller ones.You know, how do we think about reserves, how we think about Swift, etc. Those are questions that have really not been on the table since the fall of the Berlin Wall. So some uncertainty, some certainty. And then there’s longer term multiplier effects. Hard to gauge how that how things are up there.DaveBut you’re happy you’re not your old job. Sounds like a lot.RogerNo, just the opposite. It’s great to be in the Fed when these moments are occurring. They’ll handle it well.DaveAwesome. So I want to I want to talk now about what we think happens next. So maybe starting with you, John, you’re from that from a geopolitical standpoint, where do you how do you see this playing out over the next month or two? And I’m very curious, not just tying that to the relationship with with with with Europe, but also with how it can affect China, because my sense is Russia sort of back to Soviet days as far as isolation and isolationism from from the Western sort of markets and opportunity sets and, you know, their biggest probably partner, you know, what’s available to them, at least today is China will be interested to see how that morphs and changes and evolves over as inevitably Russia’s military efforts sort of pick up momentum and speed.JohnI’ll start by saying, I think, you know, the administration has done a pretty good job once they sort of started focusing on how to deal with Putin and deal with this crisis. But they came in with a pretty weak hand. The administration first started their policy towards Russia. It was to create a stable and predictable relationship with Russia.Now, anybody, any Russia followers who have been seeing what Putin’s been doing for the last at least eight to ten years, he’s been at war with us. He’s had a political war. That’s why he’s trying to use disinformation and cyber attacks and all these other kind of things, you know, fomenting violent groups around Europe and all these type of things.We are never going to have a stable and predictable, predictable relationship with him. He wants to overthrow essentially the rules based order. He wants us out of Europe. He wants U.S. and Europe divided and weak. And so he has tried to build a relationship with China. And just prior to the Olympics, he went out to China and met with Xi.And they put together you know, it was quite an amazing statement. I listened to former Australian Prime Minister Paul Rudd, who is a China expert and was the ambassador in China, among other things. Talk about it. And he said it was really unique for China. Because it really tie those two countries together more than ever before and suggested that China was much more on the Russian following the Russian thing, saying negative things about NATO’s negative things about the West, which was surprising because they’ve always tried to be careful about, you know, never supporting something that would break across borders and maintain their markets.And so, you know, what we’ve seen since the invasion happened is, you know, I think China had a real opportunity on the world stage for sort of really the first time to make a foreign policy statement to put themselves out there is, you know, a bigger player. And I think they really fumbled the ball here. You can argue that China is essentially winning the 21st century.Their growth is incredible. They want and need a stable rules based order because they’re winning their rules based order to becoming rich on that rules based order. Whereas Vladimir Putin is a loser of the 21st century. They are. They’re losing big time. They want to overthrow that rules based order. They want. They want to create problems inside of it.And so that that relationship doesn’t seem like a natural one to me. And I don’t understand why China would want to tie themselves to a violent and loser kind of guy like Putin with a really tiny economy the size of, you know, Portugal or Italy and you know, who might then invade countries in Europe, which then China is going to have to be stuck, whether they support that or not support that.And we can see in recent days that China is sort of again fumbling to try to say, well, you know, yes, we said we are with Russia, but we’re not really allies. But we really we don’t want war, but we want to support what we like. So they’re having a tough time dealing with these kind of issues and actually, the China Russia thing, you know, in the long term is not really natural for Russia either.You know, there’s Russia’s going to become a pariah here. Its economy is going to depend on that. Relationship with Russia and is taking a tough man as Putin is. He’s going to find himself being a little brother to China. And at some point, China is not going to care about the little brother. And, you know, Putin in Beijing is just all he wants, but he’s not.If that’s the relationship, if he’s reliant on China, he’s really sort of in a weak position even with his own people.DaveRoger, one of the questions that came in was maybe going a layer deeper on the oil piece for for Russia. You mentioned it is far as effective and isolated, but you know, I think I think the core maybe if you can go a little deeper when the question that come is given that oil prices are at a seven year high and that.Long or not, VICE has taken that next step. Do you think that’s even an option that that that Europe would consider doing, just given, you know, how much this has escalated in the last the last couple of days?RogerWell, I think the answer is given the unprecedented nature of what they’ve already done. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the next step, partially for the reasons you pointed out, which is effective Russian oil is basically a commodity that much of the West doesn’t want to touch in terms of moving it around. So already, regardless of what has been officially decided, there is clearly some motion that is making it more and more difficult to get hold of oil.And think about it. How do you know how much you’re going to pay for it? You know, it’s not all the media. Its banks are excluded from the international payment system. You know, recognize something else that happened. The Germans decided to not certify the Nord Stream two gas pipeline that would have increased the amount of gas coming from Russia into Germany and to Germany to the rest of Europe estimated 50%.So it’s pretty clear that, you know, energy as a stick is not nearly as potent as it had been before. Now, what is going on? I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen with the appointment. John made this sudden easy. Very interesting.Alliance. That’s what it is between Russia and China that has very important energy overlays to it. Right There was an agreement, I believe, between Russia and China a few years ago to trade with each other in their currencies and not in the U.S. dollar. And to the point that was made earlier, natural gas and oil would be very, very beneficial to the rapidly growing economy of China.So I can imagine the Chinese playing a bit of a game in which Russian oil comes out through, you know, perhaps some Chinese companies there are a large number of Chinese oil companies. We don’t really know how much their reserves are. We see them around the world, you know, drilling for oil or price. And so this may end up being a very helpful answer in terms of getting that useful commodity, not having to use any hard currency and avoiding some geopolitical concerns of really some very, very unsavory countries.So I can imagine that being an outcome. Let me pick up on a point that Germany I’ve observed the same thing, which is, you know, and he’s more aware of these issues than I am. But, you know, the Chinese wanting to play a constructive role, I think they submit around the Ukraine. And he’s also right that the Chinese have benefited greatly from the existing trading system and they want to stay in that system.So one of the things that might limits them is the fear of secondary sanctions against their company. So it’s a complicated story with China. We’re trying to play a leading role, trying to position themselves as the alternative to the West trying to position themselves even in the payment system world as an alternative to swift. Those things might start to arise.And this linkage on energy will find some rest more likely coming out of China. But at the end of the day, you know, I really think China is not going to get to the point where an earlier play, you know, overly supportive of Russia for obvious reasons. And therefore, I think even even with oil going up in the price, it’s not going to be sustaining the Russian economy as much as it might imagine.DaveYeah, that’s super helpful. I heard a an old colleague of mine back from that from the military days was talking about the calculus that went into Russia making this decision. John. Roger, to invade. And obviously, you know, Putin’s on record as you as you said, one, that he believes that the worst geopolitical failure of the 20 20th century was a collapse of the Soviet Union.And it’s sort of his stated objective as a sort of reconstitute that and he’s probably looking for the right time to do that if you look at the last five years, you could argue that you know traditional relationships had been sort of deprioritized or hard even frayed potentially under under you know some of the actions that you know, us and other allies have taken.And so maybe he saw as a moment of weakness. But what I heard, which was interesting, was that sort of the events of Afghanistan specifically that, you know, sort of the botched pull out of Afghanistan at the beginning of this year or so, sorry, saw that the fall of last year sort of set a clear message that says, well, look, you know, this wasn’t really handled well and wanted to it’s sort of a clear sign of like how they sort of think about your allies and partners.And that was sort of I heard like one of the major final straws I said or I can go in is probably not what these guys are going to do about. In fact, I heard about a meeting that the Russian foreign minister had with senior officials in the U.S. where he stated, hey, we may we may not go into Ukraine, but there’s nothing that America is going to be able to do about it to start the process.Right. Just so sort of like the flip it sort of arrogance. And then separately, I know there’s a lot of discussion, you know, maybe to Roger’s points that this could also be seen as an opportunity for for China to continue or saber-rattling potentially take the next step in Taiwan, which obviously had significant significant geopolitical implications. And my assumption is, given the swift response economically and how interlinked China is the global economy, that my guess is that’s pretty massive deterrent.But I’d be clear to see you guys talk about that for a second. Maybe start with you, John.JohnYeah, I do think like I said, I think multiple administrations have misplayed Putin. I think he’s essentially been at war with us sort of in their intelligence doctrine, political warfare, information warfare, whatever you want to call it, to try to weaken us from the inside for a minimum of at least ten years since 2008 when he went into Georgia and he stated it, you know, directly at the Munich conference there.JohnThat was his goal. And I think since that time, multiple administrations have tried to deal with him. And every time he’s done something where we really should have and could have pushed back, we didn’t do so because I would think we thought, hey, well, if we accommodate him, if we give him an off ramp, you know, maybe he’ll come around You know, presidents have big egos and they think that, you know, if there’s a problem, they can solve it with their wonderful personalities.And I think we realize that, you know, so we came into this in a pretty sort of weakened space. And Afghanistan was a huge problem. I mean, we we looked we we didn’t work with our allies. It was, you know, essentially surrendering to the Taliban. It was a complete mess. And it was certainly seen by the Chinese and Russians as weakness.But a bigger thing, I think, is our own tribal nature, political nature here in the United States. And he’s been trying to foment and exploit that and and use all sorts of disinformation, deception to mess with us inside. But, you know, you look what happened on January six and all these other kind of things, you know, a good portion of the Republican Party is less supportive of Putin and doesn’t care about what he does around the world.And and Americans are sort of see they we see our political opponents as the enemy. We don’t see Russia anymore as the enemy or foreign people. I think we’ve been so used to essentially years and years of success and peace and economic growth that we sort of forget there’s a price to pay for that, to try to deter people who want to change that rules based order.And of course, now we’re faced with it. And so even Biden in his speech last night said, you know, we know that we’ve learned a lesson that if you if you don’t push back against dictators, they will continue to create chaos. Well, that’s absolutely true. And we didn’t push back for quite a long time and sort of we ended up sort of stuck here.And so, yeah, Vladimir Putin, the person with grievances against the West, created sort of a false narrative about, you know, the West being a threat to him and having that nose for weakness, I think put all those things together and perhaps having been a dictator so long of not getting real information any more thought that this he could go in and the West would not be able to push back.I mean, Europe really has been weak over the last couple of decades. They have not invested in defense. They have been really inward focusing. And so, you know, he didn’t necessarily misread that, but he forgot that the size of our economies and our long history together and the fact that we have allies and they don’t allow us to sort of quickly come around and push back.And so I think hopefully he’s very surprised about how quickly Europe, the United States and Western leaning countries around the world have come together on this.RogerYeah, let me let me jump in and say, from the economic standpoint, there was an economic equivalent of not pushing back, which was when he went into Crimea. There was discussion, rumored talk of using the swift tool, moving some Russian banks out of access to Swift. He explicitly said they would be perceived as an act of war. And we didn’t do it.There was a moment when I met that they should have, but to John’s point in the finance world, clearly a point of weakness. Similarly, you know, the using the oil and more natural gas to act on the economics, perhaps decoupling Germany, Western Europe from the U.S. around that. And there have been quite a bit of friction around this question of Western Europe becoming more and more linked to Russia in the energy sphere.So perhaps you read that that’s not the sort of economic story that feeds very much into the John story. Sort of, you know, perhaps Germany won’t stand up. And one of the things that I think is really quite amazing spilling over a little bit into what John talks about. But the focus that the Germans now have on spending much more of their budget on defense from the standpoint of an economic policy, that is a pretty dramatic move to finally get up to two and a half percent of their GDP on defense.All of that triggered by this. And at that point, you think about finance using economics. Most of the early signals were, you know, maybe Europe is not going to jump behind us around these things that perhaps they’re going to go their own way. So I can imagine. I know nothing about the psychology of what I’ve just heard from John but if he were looking for points of weakness in the Western alliance on this economic topic, there could have been two or three straws in the wind that might have reinforced what he saw around Afghanistan and other things.So, you know, all of a peace and I think all of us rescued and as well are surprised at the strength of the unified voice in the economic space as well. The geopolitical space on this one it’s not clear, even if it’s one would have predicted that ten days to two weeks ago. The other thing to note economically is no other than energy, Western interaction, financial interaction, business interaction with Russia is relatively limited There are very few banks that have really like turned to Russia.They’re not normally thought of on this energy as being sort of credit worthy. And so, you know, they’re the collapse of their economy. Other than this question of energy is unlikely to have a negative spillover effect back to US banks, for example, or even most European banks. So. And then we saw today the stock market turned around. So know there are no seem to be no replications in Western economy other than how this oil thing plays out from the the turmoil and chaos that has emerged in Russia because they have over many, many years tried to decouple from the West.And the result of that is we look like we can penalize them more than they do as us in the world of finance and economics.JohnRight. Because one quick answer, one and one quick thing is in a sense, when you look at Vladimir Putin, you got to look at someone who is essentially like, you know, a bully or an organized crime boss. And he has that mentality. And so, you know, when you talk about we didn’t push back over all those years, he also has that real skill.You know, again, he’s a dictator. He doesn’t have any threats internally, have to worry about about intimidating and threatening and pushing back. So every time. You know, we even hinted that we might do these kind of sanctions. When I push back, he sort of went nuclear and pushed back and made it clear he separated us from our allies by everybody saying, hey, it’s not worth going that far because he might do something crazy.And we’re seeing that now. He’s threatening, you know, nuclear war. And you guys have said mean comments to me. Therefore, I’m putting my nuclear by your nuclear weapons on alert. I mean, it’s the same kind of thing. He’s he uses those threats to scare us and push us back and then have some, you know, allies it’s a hard thing to keep, you know, to throw allies together and things.Some people are going to be like, oh, my God, let’s back off. We need to offer them, you know, face saving measures. We need to listen to what he wants And so, I mean, he’s very, very good at that game of sort of, you know, a bully tactics of, you know, threatening and making people back off.DaveYeah. No, I totally agree. That there’s two question just came out. I want to ask you that when I guess I think they’re related. The first is, is the Russian military performing as poorly as is suggested in the press? If yes, what are the implications longer term? That’s question one. Maybe, John, you could try that. And then my question, too, is acknowledging that Putin is a dictator and that weakness is an existential threat probably to his his is his hold on power.How does this resolve in a way that allows Putin a way out that doesn’t guarantee his downfall? What does that path look like and in what timeframe specifically is they’re acceptable course of action to Putin that would lead to the end of sanctions? Maybe take that, Roger. Maybe, John, start with the Russian military performance to date, as you said, relative to our assessment of them going into it.And then and then and then what is a way out of this process? Is there a way to save.JohnA quick comment on the on the way out? Off-Ramp thing is, you know, there’s a lot of that now now that he’s made these nuclear threats. There’s a lot of that we have to have he has to have a means to save face he has to have an off ramp. He has a way and a way to stay in power here.And sort of one quick thing is, you know, he manufactured this entire thing, thing out of whole cloth. There was no threat to him. There was no pushing needle. There was nothing here is his grievances and anger are based on things from like you know, the 1990s and such. He may he he made this up and my take is like, listen he if he needs a way off to face save, he can make he can kill a bunch of people and claim victory and back off and he can, he can make up his own face.Saving things is not on us to have to somehow give him a way out of this. But on the on the military thing, it’s, you know, I’m not a military expert. It’s hard to follow these things. It’s certainly hard to follow them through the media. There’s sort of this world of, you know, military Twitter, people who are finding things in the world of Open-Source Intelligence has gotten so big, you know, the Bellingcat of the world.I don’t know if you guys follow that group, among others, that have been able to use big data sets to pull together, you know, incredible amount. You know, if there’s a bomb that goes off somewhere now, there’s so much social media and pictures taken around there, they can be sucked in and pulled together and, you know, tic Tacs and everything.So on one hand is making it hard for Putin because Ukrainians or others are sort of putting pushing out to the world the stuff they’re doing. And so, yes, it looks like they they really screwed this up. I think, again, he’s a dictator. I’m sure they’ve told him that, you know, the military is strong and ready to go.But at the same time, the people around him, you know, it’s like they’re massive criminals. They’ve been stealing money it all places. So whoever the Shoigu, who’s a minister of defense, has been saying, yes, sir, yes, sir. We got this covered. I’m sure at the same time, you know, he’s got another another crony of Putin who says, well, I want my company to do X, Y and Z.And even if that company is, that is the worst choice. That’s the way that guys skims money. And so over time, I think they’ve created this Potemkin village where they think their military is more powerful and put together. It is, but it’s often a kludge together by these corrupt cronies who are all making money off of this thing.And we’re seeing it in action now. So a lot of the things that our professional military says about communication and, you know, and surprise and all these type of things, you know, they’re not showing themselves to be terribly effective. There’s you know, they’re running out of gas. They’re running out of food. You got Russian soldiers turn around and walking home the Ukrainians are using the sort of social media against them.So it doesn’t mean that Putin can’t now go to the old school thing and just raze whole cities and stuff that certainly possible. But, you know, he does have the whole world watching now. So in terms of real details about how the military is doing, you know, doesn’t look good.DaveYet. Doesn’t, Roger, what’s the path out economically? Well.RogerI think it’s very narrow, frankly, once we’ve gone to the place we’re willing to exclude some of their banks from on the international communication networks. I indicated once we got to the place, unprecedented, where we said to a central bank we’re going to limit your ability to use or you reserve you know, it’s you you know, the only way to come back from that is to say we are going to be good financial citizens.And, you know, it doesn’t seem like that’s in the Putin playbook. The other thing it’s fascinating is that we all know when you see a run on banks as occurred during the Great Depression, there was a I’m speaking to you from from the U.K. There is a line around a bank here at 28, 2009 governments tend to change, i.e., citizens think that is unacceptable.When I am not sure that I trust the banks, the government really should be held accountable in some way for that. I don’t see how that works in Russia. You have been said so. I don’t know where a couple of questions came in. Yes, I do think west western banks that have been, you know, putting Russia in more and more off limits are going to continue to do that.You know, we have in the West all these rules about sort of know your customer and anti-money laundering, etc.. Well, the money in Russia X the you know, that’s the oil and energy is in the hands of these oligarchs. They don’t tend to bank in the West for obvious reasons. So I think what the way out is, you know, Russia becoming more and more isolated, you know, more of a small economy, more limited and their trading partners probably a broader type relationship with China and a few others.And so I think from the standpoint of economics, this is really backfiring and has pushed to the further away from any ability to actually, you know, drive and claim these kind of great economies. And we didn’t have one before. He has even less of one now. And the working around of is one big resource, which is energy and others I think is is going to continue and we’ll find other ways to get to get along without the raw materials that are, you know, the major exports from Russia.So we’ll be very, very interesting. And I don’t see around other than, you know, trying to be really good citizens and separating the average Russian from government. And I honestly have no idea how that unfolds in a dictatorship.DaveSo, John, do you think then that literally Putin’s got to do in order to fix this for Russia, the Putin has to basically go away like I mean, like like lose power be overthrown? I mean, that’s that’s sort of the doomsday scenario here because because he holds a nuclear arsenal and it’s a real threat that’s obviously creating a lot of anxiety collectively and yeah. Anyways, let me ask you that.JohnWell, the problem is he’s created a system. He’s changed the Constitution. He stayed in power. They don’t really have a means of sort of of a changing of power in a nonviolent way. And so we’re sort of stuck. And so I see a few possibilities. You know, the one is sort of this becomes an ongoing sort of quagmire.There’s a number of these. So, you know, since 2014 they’ve been stuck in in eastern Ukraine and Crimea and in Georgia and in in Moldova of these sort of frozen conflicts that aren’t completely solved. And there’s Russian soldiers in these places and you know essentially what in the quagmire possibility he bombs the hell out of the place you know kills off the leadership there you know tries to put in his own people.There’s this sort of low level insurgency against him and it sort of goes on forever like it has in eastern Ukraine for the last eight years. There’s the other one is, you know, there’s an old iron curtain comes back down over Europe. You know, the brutality cracks down. He has to crack down really at home because he worries about being overthrown.And so there’s more people thrown in jail. He types up and civic type tightens up domestically. Europeans and NATO has to rearm and sort of push up. So we have an Iron Curtain. There is a possibility of of sort of a larger war here with NATO. Right. A lot of people talk about the no fly zone. No fly zone means we’re shooting down Russian planes because this is a this is a whole different thing here.If you’re bringing in more with NATO and with the West, you know, or over time and one of these sort of frozen conflicts, we’re sort of rearming from NATO countries and the Baltic people are sending things across the border. I can imagine problems. You know, wars don’t follow a script. You never know how these things are going to go once they get going.You know, if you see if you look at the map, there’s a little small part of Russia that’s separated from the rest of Russia. In Kaliningrad, it was old German, Königsberg you know, I can imagine now that he has sort of Belarus and Ukraine, you might want to make a connection to Kaliningrad, the other part of Russia. And that goes through natal countries in the Baltics who he despises and thinks are weak.Then you’re at war with NATO or they’re there’s some sort of dirty compromise that sort of has this will go away. And then the one you mentioned, it’s the Putin in the gutter scenario that, you know, that the former foreign minister, Andrei Kozyrev, put out a tweet yesterday the Russian foreign minister saying, telling people in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they should all quit.Like this is really something inside a country like Russia. So, you know, when there’s no legal way for this to happen, some sort of civil war, some sort of you know, violent overthrow is certainly a possibility.DaveAnd press at times. So we’re getting we’re getting to the top of the hour. We’ve got to cut this off. I’d like to hear any closing comments. Roger that. You might have before before we end the session.RogerWell, you do it unprecedented a few times. And, you know, that’s the main thing from the standpoint of finance, a country that’s not huge. What has the or not irrelevant is now clearly being made up. Ryan and I suspect from a financial standpoint is going to be a remaking of the international economic order with a rethinking of energy.And in particular and I don’t know where it’s going to where it’s going about Russia’s certainly is an important source of many commodities that we need in the West. But it’s hard for me to see quite how we pull back from all these sanctions. And so very, very messy opaque future as far as I can see here.DaveGreat. John, in closing comments for you.JohnYeah, quick and I apologize. I don’t mean this to be domestic political comment, but there is one way that Putin actually wins this thing. It’s hard to see how this comes out really well for him. But there is one way he truly can win. And in fact, if he affects our domestic politics so much that the Trump is reelected and Putin actually does win.Right. The United States pulls out of NATO that we sort of weaken our relationship with Western allies. He allows Putin to do what he wants in Eastern Europe. And so you know, there is an effect here that if if, you know, it affects our domestic politics to the point where Donald Trump or a Donald Trump like candidate wins again, that really is sort of a lifeline to Vladimir Putin.And the other one is to think about it. Right. You know, now, obviously, the Ukrainian people have incredible bravery in there is really something. And besides the Ukrainians who are suffering here, the other people to think about who are really, you know, being thrown under the bus here are the Russian people later are Putin essentially in the great tradition of the Russian czars and the Communist Party bosses, they don’t give a shit about their own people.And so they’re they they’re making their country an economic pariah. There’s no economic future for people in Russia. They’re going to be beholden to a massive China. They’re sending their men off to war to become back in body bags. This is not a good this is not a good place for Russian citizens to be either. So Russians and Ukrainians, the people are the ones that are really suffering here. And that’s.DaveYeah, well said. Thank you both so much for taking time out of your incredibly busy schedules to to talk about this. This is really this critical topic. I can’t thank you enough. And with that we’ll we’ll go ahead and end the session. Thank you, guys.JohnThanks.RogerThank you.JohnA pleasure, Roger.RogerThank you.DaveIf you want to watch the video recording of this episode, or read the full transcript, you can head over to crosslead.training to create a free account and get access to many other resources. Thanks for tuning in. I hope you enjoy the conversation I’ve have with my friends, John and Roger.

#plugintodevin - Your Mark on the World with Devin Thorpe
Understanding and Engaging Local People Is Key to Success in Government

#plugintodevin - Your Mark on the World with Devin Thorpe

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2022 26:38


Devin: Dave, what is your superpower?Dave: I spent 30 years working with forgotten communities around the world where economic grievances drove political conflict. What I learned is that you have to listen to the local people, that if you don’t include the local people, you can’t accomplish anything. For instance, climate change or the pollution within the Chesapeake Bay or questions of overfishing, all of that surround my district, and we have spent billions and billions of dollars trying to clean up the Chesapeake Bay from a top-down approach for the last 50 years without success because we failed to include the local people. We failed to include the watermen. So just like you cannot save natural resources or create opportunity in a game park in Kenya if you exclude the villagers. Just like you can create, or you can accelerate war in West Africa with diamonds, blood diamonds, if you exclude the locals. In America, in my district, in Maryland and around the country, we must listen more closely to the hopes and dreams and aspirations and the concerns of local people if we hope to get beyond where we are in America today. So what I have learned being both rural and from this area and then being blessed to represent America around the world for practically 30 years, what I have learned a superpower, if you will, is that understanding local people is key to driving outcomes for a better future for our country and for the world.Dave Harden spent 30 years working around the world to solve local problems. Along the way, he learned one fundamental truth: leaders must understand and engage with the people they hope to lead to create successful solutions to their problems.Most of Dave’s time spent working abroad was done while working for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). After serving decades there in the foreign service, President Obama appointed Dave as the Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance.The appointment required U.S. Senate confirmation, which he received without a negative vote. After President Obama’s term, Dave returned to the foreign service in USAID. President Trump then gave him the Presidential Award for Distinguished Service, the highest award in the Foreign Service, for “sustained extraordinary accomplishment in the conduct of the foreign policy.”After leaving USAID, he founded the Georgetown Strategy Group to engage in solving the same international challenges, leveraging private talent and capital. “We look at crises and trends in the world ahead, and we try to align capital, talent and technology to blunt those challenges that we will see that are coming down the road 10, 20 years down the road,” Dave says.At the Georgetown Strategy Group, he partners with MIT. “We developed a system that is an early warning system for long-range climate impact,” he says. At USAID, Dave had employed an early warning system to predict six to nine months ahead of a famine that one was developing, allowing the agency to deliver aid when it was needed. Mimicking that concept, with MIT, he’s designed a model to identify where climate change will have the most significant impact 10 to 20 years out. That long-range foresight will allow his firm and others to help communities plan and prepare for climate impacts that would otherwise devastate communities and their economies.Another example of his work at the firm includes an effort to turn around a struggling Palestinian startup. Hired by the investors, including some Israeli investors, he and his team worked to turn around the Ramallah-based enterprise. Ultimately, the effort was done in by the pandemic. One of the notable experiences in his career was in Libya, reopening diplomatic operations and efforts to stabilize the country and its economy after the tragic death of Ambassador Chris Stevens. He shared the story:It was dangerous. And I mean, full stop. It was dangerous. I flew in with Gene Cretz, who was the ambassador at the time, and we went in with a very big security detail. Libya was still very much in the middle of its civil war. Gadhafi was still in power, but he had left Tripoli and the militias had taken over. This was in 2011, in September of 2011, and so we arrived on the ground. It was extraordinarily dangerous. The State Department doesn't have the appetite for these things anymore after Chris Stevens, who was a friend and a colleague, was killed in in Libya. We came in and my job was basically to kind of restart both the economy, the governing systems and to blunt the humanitarian crisis. And what I was most proud about is, normally in these kinds of crises, America wants to be seen as doing something. And so we bring in the Mercy ship or we fly in C-130 full of beds. And, in many ways, it never works. It just is more of a symbol than a solution. But what I was able to do is to draw down Libyan money that was held in escrow and in the New York Federal Reserve and use that to jumpstart the private sector, both equipment manufacturers and suppliers, and repair folks and the pharmaceuticals to come in and immediately restart the health care system. And it didn't cost the American taxpayers anything. We used Libyan money and we use the private sector, and we were able to turn around impact very, very quickly.Dave also has experience in Afghanistan and has watched recent events with dismay. he describes the pullout as “chaotic” and “suboptimal.” “The exit was terrible,” he says, noting that he would have left a small contingent there. With the decision made and executed, the situation is terrible, primarily financial, with devastating human impact. The banking system and currency are collapsing, yielding spiraling hyperinflation. The economic collapse is leading to profound humanitarian crises.Dave has a plan modeled, in part, on his experience in Libya. “What I would do is take some of the funds that the U.S. has control of in of Afghan reserve currencies that are in New York put it into a trust fund that would be administered that would allow the private sector to trade and to build up food stocks while the U.N. continues to provide assistance to the very most vulnerable.”Now, he is running for Congress in Maryland’s 1st Congressional District.In all his work, he leverages a lesson he now considers his superpower: understanding and engaging with the local people he serves.How to Develop Understanding Local People As a SuperpowerUnderstanding and engaging with local people, the people you hope to lead or serve, is a skill you can develop regardless of your aptitude. And Dave ties the skill directly to success.He points out that for 50 years, governments and NGOs have spent billions of dollars trying to clean up the Chesapeake Bay without success. “We’ve bought process. But at the end of the day, you’re not buying results.”He says the same thing has happened in Afghanistan, where “we did not buy results. We bought process.”“Including the local people, making sure we’re being very rigorous about what results are, making sure that those results are clear, crisp and achievable. And then driving towards that is going to be the outcome now,” Dave says, of applying his approach.“That drive for results over politics or process has got to be how we think about the next decade,” he says. He offered this example of success working with local people in the Middle East:We were able to deconflict the northern West Bank between Israel and the Palestinians by simply creating a sustainable trading route so that small businesses could sell their goods to the entire world.It lowered unemployment, improved governance; it created jobs. It created private capital that could be reinvested in other productive businesses and lowered the risk that militias would be disruptive. We bought essentially calm and stability in the northern West Bank for a decade.Developing this skill requires engaging actively with the people you serve, listening effectively and working to fully understand their perspective before you implement an attempt at solutions. This process will yield organic, natural support when you are on the right path.You can make understanding local people a superpower that will enable your impactful success. Get full access to Superpowers for Good at devinthorpe.substack.com/subscribe

DW em Português para África | Deutsche Welle
22 de Dezembro de 2021 - Manhã

DW em Português para África | Deutsche Welle

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 22, 2021 19:55


Mil novas vagas na justiça angolana - será uma manobra eleitoral no MPLA? A DW África ouviu analista em governação local. Cidadãos angolanos queixam-se da subida constante dos preços de bens e serviços de primeira necessidade. Na Líbia, eleições improváveis após dissolução de comité eleitoral.

From Our Own Correspondent Podcast
The Desperation of Asylum Seekers on Poland's Border

From Our Own Correspondent Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 20, 2021 28:55


During the Cold War, the border between NATO countries and the Soviet bloc was heavily fortified, each side fearing the other might one day roll across it in their tanks. Since then, alliances have shifted, and Poland is now firmly within the western military ambit. But that means it is also on the front line in what some call a new Cold War, facing Belarus, a staunch ally of Russia. And these days, Poland is not worrying about tanks crossing any time soon, but people: the asylum seekers who were mustered on the Belarus side. As Nick Beak explains, most seemed desperate to cross over. There have been several thousand attempts by asylum seekers to cross into Poland from Belarus. Compare that figure to the situation in Turkey, which now plays host to four million people who fled there, most of them escaping the civil war in neighbouring Syria. Turkey and its President won international praise for accepting these new arrivals, and devoted considerable resources to providing them with food and housing. However, it seems the mood is changing. Ayla Jean Yackley says Turks are now ever less willing to see money spent on helping refugees, when their country's own economy is in poor shape. The United States plays host to a wide variety of wild animals, such as grizzly bears, alligators and rattle snakes. It was once also home to millions of wild turkeys, a bird seen almost as a symbol of the US, as it is eaten each year for the Thanksgiving Festival. The wild turkey population had declined in recent decades, but a concerted conservation effort has restored some of this lost population. However, Alice Hutton says the birds are now causing havoc in some American cities. Libya might soon be ruled over by President Gadhafi - not that the late Colonel Gadhafi has been restored to life, nor did it turn out that his death was faked. But Libya is holding presidential elections next month, and among the candidates are one Saif Al Islam Gadhafi, Muammar Gadhafi's son. He was one of his father's more strident supporters, and the fact that he is being taken seriously says much about Libya today, according to Orla Guerin. The coronavirus outbreak and its lockdowns have meant isolation for many people, but few have been affected like sailors in the Royal Navy. They are accustomed to being cut off, being away at sea for long periods. However, with many countries closed to visitors, sailors have no longer been able even to enjoy shore leave the way they did previously, as Hannah King found when she visited one of Britain's newest aircraft carriers.

Bright Podcast
Films en series: de tofste van komend halfjaar

Bright Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 25, 2021 43:43


De zomervakantie zit er voor de meeste mensen (bijna) op, en met school of werk kunnen we er wel wat entertainment bij gebruiken. De Bright Podcast kijkt vooruit naar de tofste films en series voor de rest van dit jaar. De genoemde titels: Dune, 16 september in de bioscoop en op HBO Max. No Time To Die, 30 september in de bioscoop. Eternals, 3 november in de bioscoop. Spider-Man: No Way Home, 16 december in de bioscoop. Matrix: Resurrections, 22 december in de bioscoop. See seizoen 2, vanaf 27 augustus op Apple TV+. Foundation, vanaf 24 september op Apple TV+. Sex Education seizoen 3, vanaf 17 september op Netflix. Undercover seizoen 3, dit najaar op Netflix. Cowboy Bebop, vanaf 19 november op Netflix. The Witcher seizoen 2, vanaf 17 december op Netflix. The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf, nu op Netflix. Star Wars: Visions, vanaf 22 september op Disney+. The Book of Boba Fett, vanaf december op Disney+. Ms. Marvel, vanaf eind 2021 op Disney+. Hawkeye, vanaf 24 november op Disney+. Succession seizoen 3, vanaf oktober op HBO. FC Utrecht: No Guts No Glory, nu op Videoland. Dat Ene Woord - Feyenoord, vanaf 1 september op Disney+. Videoland Academy, de eerste drie films gaan op 27 september in premiere op het Nederlandse Film Festival en zijn dan ook meteen te streamen via Videoland. Dexter: New Blood, vanaf 7 november op Showtime. Tips uit deze aflevering: Game: Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut, de uitgebreidere, betere en mooiere versie van wat al een topgame was. Nu beschikbaar voor PlayStation 4 en PlayStation 5. Podcast: Real Dictators. Acht afleveringen over Gadhafi, Stalin, Hitler, Kim Jong-Un en meer. Qua creativiteit niet de beste podcast. Maar wel heerlijk als je een beetje van de duistere kanten van de geschiedenis houdt. Game: Quake bestaat 25 jaar en is dus grafisch een beetje opgepoetst. Te koop op Steam of inbegrepen bij Game Pass.Zie het privacybeleid op https://art19.com/privacy en de privacyverklaring van Californië op https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Republic Keeper - with Brian O'Kelly
141 - IRAN - Whistleblower - Bin Laden - Benghazi - Flynn Connection

Republic Keeper - with Brian O'Kelly

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 13, 2020 52:20


140 – Welcome to the Republic Keeper Broadcast Support the Show Give the phone # 866-988-8311 info@republickeeper.com Iran More Audio/Video and Documents coming now. 8/22/2020 -Kenneth R. Timmerman US intelligence agencies are sitting on a treasure trove of documents that detail Iran’s direct, material involvement in the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks in Benghazi, Libya, that cost the lives of four Americans. But until now, deep state bureaucrats have buried them under layers of classification, often without reason. From CIA officers, military contractors, and sources within US Special Forces, I have learned of the existence of at least 50 briefing documents that warned of Iranian intelligence operations in Benghazi. Some specifically predicted an Iranian attack on US diplomats and US facilities. Those documents have remained inaccessible, including to the Select Committee on Benghazi chaired by former US Representative Trey Gowdy. The CIA, the NSA, and Joint Special Forces Operations Command operatives in Benghazi and in Tripoli were actively monitoring Iranian operations in Benghazi in the months leading up to the attacks. Indeed, according to a private military contractor who contacted me from Benghazi in February 2011, Quds Force operatives were openly walking the streets of Benghazi in the early days of the anti-Gaddafi uprising. At the time, their presence was an open secret. By the summer of 2012, US intelligence and security officers in Benghazi and Tripoli warned their chain of command — including Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens — that the Iranians were preparing a terrorist attack on the US compound in Benghazi. These increased Iranian preparations prompted the head of security for Stevens, Green Beret Colonel Andy Wood, to send a cable to his commanding officer in June 2012 that the Iranian-backed militia — Ansar al Sharia — had received their funding from Iran and were now sending their wives and children to Benghazi, as I reported in these pages previously. Until now, the government has released just a handfulof heavily redacted documents relating to Iran’s Benghazi operations. Throughout the Obama administration, officials with knowledge of the Quds Force presence in Benghazi, including security contractors who defended the CIA Annex in a 13-hour battle with the jihadis, were repeatedly threatened with prosecution if they revealed what they knew. Among them was the then-director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Gen. Michael Flynn. But financial documents provided by an Iranian source, and thus not subject to US classification efforts, shed significant new light on the extent of Iranian government involvement in the attacks. The documents, which include a wire transfer for 1.9 million euros from a known Quds Force money-laundering operation in Malaysia, have never before been made public. Only recently did the Iranian source give me permission to release the documents, which clearly show how Iran used the international financial system to funnel money to its Benghazi operations. The person the Iranians put in charge of recruiting, training and equipping the Ansar al Sharia jihadi militia was a Lebanese man named Khalil Harb. He was a senior Hezbollah operative, well-known to Western intelligence agencies. Not long after the Benghazi attacks, the State Department issued a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture — not because of his role in Benghazi, but for what seemed like plain vanilla terrorist operations in Lebanon. For the State Department under Hillary Clinton or John Kerry to admit that this Iranian operative was involved in the Benghazi attacks would have blown the lid off their extraordinary cover-up of Iran’s deadly schemes, which is continued today by deep state operatives who have stonewalled multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to release the Iran Benghazi documents. Early on, Harb set out to identify and recruit Libyan jihadis. My Iranian source says that a courier arrived in Benghazi carrying the equivalent of $8 million to $10 million in 500 Euro notes around three weeks before the attacks. The money came from Quds Force accounts in Malaysia at the First Islamic Investment Bank, an IRGC front proudly operated by Babak Zanjani, a 41-year-old billionaire who called himself a “financial bassiji” [militiaman]. https://nypost.com/2020/08/22/why-wont-the-us-government-admit-iran-funded-the-benghazi-attacks/ “The CIA, the NSA, and Joint Special Forces Operations Command operatives in Benghazi and in Tripoli were actively monitoring Iranian operations in Benghazi in the months leading up to the attacks.” 6/20/2014 - Green Beret Colonel Andy Wood sent a cable to his commanding officer in June 2012 that the Iran-backed militia—Ansar al Sharia—had received their funding from Iran and were sending their wives and children to Benghazi. https://nypost.com/2014/06/20/how-irans-spy-chief-paid-for-the-benghazi-attack/ 3/20/2016 Throughout the Obama admin, officials with knowledge of Iran’s presence in Benghazi, including security contractors who defended the CIA Annex in a 13-hour battle, were repeatedly threatened with prosecution if they revealed what they knew. https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/mar/20/kenneth-timmerman-the-iranian-connection-to-the-be/ In the aftermath of the 2012 Benghazi attack that killed four Americans, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn tasked the intelligence community for information on Iran’s involvement in the attack. Until now, government officials have refused to acknowledge any Iranian involvement in Benghazi. But the Flynn memo indicates that at least some in the U.S. intelligence community suspected Tehran from the very beginning. A top secret Sept. 21 memo responding to the director’s inquiry and disclosed as the result of a Freedom of Information Act request from the conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch includes fragmentary information on al Qaeda affiliates. But its conclusions regarding Iran’s notorious Quds Force, a deadly hybrid of intelligence and special operations, have been totally redacted. Now retired, Gen. Flynn told The Washington Times that, for classification reasons, he could not discuss the memo’s redacted contents or talk about his four hours of secret testimony for the House Special Benghazi committee. He did note, however, that a recently declassified trove of letters from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden reveal that Shiite Iran was willing to help Sunni militants if the common foe was the United States. The U.S. military has crossed swords with Iran’s Quds Force in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen where the Quds Force used a similar tactic to what sources believe they use in Benghazi: infiltrating a paramilitary operations team into a hostile environment under cover of humanitarian aide workers for the Red Crescent Society, the Muslim equivalent of the Red Cross. A Red Crescent team from Iran arrived in Benghazi, Libya on July 30, 2012, ostensibly to provide humanitarian aide to the post-Gadhafi revolutionary regime. The secret CIA Annex operating in Benghazi had been tipped off and dispatched local “watchers” to track their movements, according to Dylan Davies, a British security contractor in charge of the local guards protecting the Benghazi facility. As operational plans for the Benghazi attacks accelerated during the summer of 2012, Iran dispatched IRGC Maj. Gen. Mehdi Rabbani to Benghazi under cover of an Islamic Red Crescent medical team. “Everyone knew the Iranians were in Benghazi,” former CIA security officer Kris “Tanto” Paranto said in an interview. “Especially once the Red Cross [Red Crescent] team from Iran was ‘kidnapped’ by Ansar al-Shariah, we knew about them and were tracking them.” Iran’s media claimed the Red Crescent team was “abducted” to cover their tracks.1st report: August 1, 2012 - 2nd report: August 29, 2012 -Benghazi attack: September 11, 2012 The “kidnapping” was reported in the Libyan press as the result of a feud between Sunni militiamen and an Iranian Shiite medical team, but in fact was a carefully staged deception operation to lead the CIA off the track. “The kidnapping of the Red Crescent team in Benghazi was a false flag operation,” a U.S. Special Forces flag officer who was then providing intelligence support for overseas operations said. “They were actually Quds Force operatives. The kidnapping was arranged to make it look like they were being taken hostages, when actually they were being taken off the street so they could covertly direct the attack on the U.S. compound. “We know from liaison relationships that Iranians did the training. They organized the militia and taught them how to zero in the mortars. They set up sophisticated surveillance of the consulate — and they did it all while they were ‘hostages,’” he said. “The team in operational command in Benghazi were Qassem Suleimani’s people,” according to former Baghdad deputy chief of station John Maguire. “They were a mature, experienced, operational element from Iran. These guys are the first-string varsity squad.” Iran used recruits from Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Turkey & Egypt to finance, train & equip the radical group Ansar al-Sharia in Libya, careful to show their hand only to a select few. To those on the ground, the Iranian operatives would look & speak just like Arabs or Turks. This information was reported “up the food chain” by the CIA Chief of Base in Benghazi, a former U.S. Army officer. “He was later told, don’t talk about the Iranian connection, with threat of sanction,” the flag officer said in an exclusive interview. Two defectors from Iranian intelligence organizations later revealed the role played by the Red Crescent operational team in Benghazi. They claimed that a courier carrying between $8 million to $10 million in 500-euro notes arrived three weeks before the attack, and that a senior Quds Force operative, Ibrahim Mohammad Joudaki, distributed the money to Ansar al-Shariah leaders controlled by Iran. Multiple intelligence and operations officers at U.S.-Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Stuttgart have acknowledged an “ongoing awareness” of the Iranian Quds Force presence in Benghazi and elsewhere in Eastern Libya. Among them is Lt. Col. Andrew Wood, the chief of the 18-man Site Security Team assigned to guard Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens at the U.S. embassy in Tripoli. After seeing a PowerPoint flow chart from Africom headquarters at a June 2012 security briefing at the U.S. embassy in Tripoli that showed Iranian weapons and money flowing into Libya, Col. Wood sent an email back to his commander, Rear Adm. Brian Losey, asking for additional support. “Sir, Ansar al-Shariah has had their funding approved,” he wrote. Documents, which include a wire transfer for 1.9 million euros from a known Quds Force money-laundering operation in Malaysia, clearly show how Iran used the international financial system to funnel money to its Benghazi operations. The person the Iranians put in charge of recruiting, training and equipping the Ansar al Sharia jihadi militia was a Lebanese man named Khalil Harb. He was a senior Hezbollah operative, well-known to Western intelligence agencies. A US Africa Command (AFRICOM) briefing slide from the summer of 2012 shows money and weapons flowing from Iran into Egypt and Libya, but it and other AFRICOM documents relating to Iran’s presence in Benghazi have consistently been denied to journalists and outside groups Qassem Soleimani was involved in the Benghazi attack. “In Libya, Iran wanted to block US influence, which they saw as a threat… They saw the uprising against Khadafy — and the Arab Spring more generally — as an opportunity to accomplish this.” Evidence suggests that the Benghazi attacks were acts of state-sponsored terrorism against America ordered by Iran’s highest authorities, financed by Iran’s oil sales, and involving multiple Iranian regime agencies & banking/commercial entities in Malaysia, France & Libya. The big picture: around 35,000 declassified emails show Obama/Biden administration knew of Iran supporting Assad oppressing Syrian people appeased Iran, Iraqi militias, Iran’s puppet government in Iraq collaborated with Soleimani that led to crises across the Middle East knew of -Iran’s role in a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington Hezbollah directly coordinating its role in Syria with Iran Iran’s secret nuclear activities in underground sites knew of Iran’s rigged 2009 presidential election knew of Hezbollah’s role in the Thailand terror attack sought “direct diplomacy” with Iran in January 2009 described “engagement” with Iran as “very interesting” in August 2010 "... the Obama administration granted citizenship to 2,500 Iranians, including family members of government officials, while negotiating the Iran nuclear deal..." Obama & Biden provided $1.8 billion in unmarked cash that "has been traced to Iran’s backing of Houthi rebels seeking to take power in Yemen." CBS was to reveal that Osama bin Laden was hiding out in Iran for years after 9/11 and operating al-Qaeda. However, the White House had it shut down in late 2010 & early 2011 while Obama was gearing up for his 2012 re-election campaign. "With Iran on its heels and peace spreading in the Middle East, now is the time for America to press its advantages and ratchet up the pressure against its declared enemy."

Mythogynist
Foreign Correspondence: Journalism in Pakistan

Mythogynist

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2020 75:41


Diaa Hadid works as an international correspondent for NPR in Islamabad, Pakistan. Previously, she worked for the Associated Press from 2006-2015 and the New York Times from 2015-2017. Prior to working with NPR, she reported on the middle east for over a decade. She now lives in Islamabad with her husband and daughter. In 2019, Diaa and her team won the Murrow Award, a journalism award, for her piece on why and how Pakistan has the highest rate of abortion in the world. This conversation spans her upbringing in Australia born to a Lebanese father and Egyptian mother, the pursuit of career and life outside of her Muslim family, the transformation of identity, the logistics of journalism in Pakistan, peculiar details around the story on Pakistan and abortion as it pertains to women’s rights and culture, the details around another story on Israel's youngest prisoner, a 12-year-old Palestinian girl who got her first period while being interrogated, and other fascinating journalistic investigations that tell much bigger stories about women in the world. It is because of Diaa’s tenacious curiosity, that such important and fascinating stories are shared with the West. Because the range of topics are so impressive, I will list some of them below. Diaa has documented the collapse of Gadhafi's rule in Libya from the capital, Tripoli. From Beirut, she was the first to report on widespread malnutrition and starvation inside a besieged rebel district near Damascus. She unraveled the mysterious murder of a militant commander, discovering that he was killed for being gay. In Syria, she met the last great storyteller of Damascus, whose own trajectory of loss reflected that of his country. In Libya, she profiled a synagogue that once was the beating heart of Tripoli's Jewish community. In Lebanon, she chronicled how poverty was pushing Syrian refugee women into survival sex. In Baghdad, she met women who risked their lives to visit beauty salons in a quiet rebellion against extremism and war. In Cairo, she wrote of revolutionary upheaval sweeping Egypt. She covered the violence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. We are so lucky to hear these stories directory from Diaa as well as learn about her history- the history that’s not shared in public bios. This conversation is an honor and a pleasure. Enjoy. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/mythogynist/message

Living A Life In Full
Building Peace from Chaos—Around the World with Dr. Mari Fitzduff

Living A Life In Full

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2019 71:18


In 2006, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Dr. Mari Fitzduff as we co-edited The Psychology of War, Conflict Resolution and Peace, a three-volume series that was published by Praeger Press. Our mutual publisher, Debbie Carvalko, acted as a matchmaker to pair us up, and I’m honored that she did. I knew of Dr. Fitzduff by reputation as a Professor and Director at Brandeis University, where she founded the Master of Arts Program in Conflict and Coexistence—which to date has graduates hailing from over 70 countries.  I also knew that she was an Irish-American educator, writer, and academic, and had helped to set up the first university courses in conflict resolution in Northern Ireland. In 1988, she wrote a training book called Community Conflict Skills, which was used particularly in the Northern Ireland conflict. Since its original publication, it has been translated into Indonesian, Serbo-Croatian, Spanish, and a number of other languages to help countries dealing with ethnic strife. What I didn’t know was her origin story. Here are some highlights: She was a nun for 18 months, after which she started protesting in university. In 1968/69 the university was closed, and Mari was influenced by Vietnam, Marxism, and radical ecumenism. She met Gadhafi in Libya in 1973, and then met and married a man from Northern Ireland who she met on the revolutionary committee in the university. For their honeymoon they traveled around the world for two years on a budget of about a dollar a day each, visiting community projects around the world. They spent a year in South America, traveling in what turned out to be a pirate’s boat from Panama to Columbia—illegally of course. They were briefly arrested in Argentina for spending time cleaning the sewers in a barrio with some liberation theology-priest-friends who were subsequently imprisoned for a number of years. That was followed by a year in Asia. They went to Petra and slept outside in a car with some friends working with refugees as there were no hotels. She was briefly kidnapped (for an afternoon!) in Afghanistan and they were held up by bandits while traveling from Sudan to Ethiopia and also shot at while sleeping in a tent at the Kenya border. When they came home they set up a wood workshop in her husband Niall's rural homeland and lived self-sufficient life on $10 a week for a year. They had two kids and then got caught up in the war. Interestingly, Niall's family were settlers from Scotland 300 years ago and Mari’s family were Ulster lords who were driven out by his family. Their old fort was nearby where they lived, living in what was called The Killing Fields as there was the second highest murder rate in Northern Ireland and thus began her career—establishing the first mediation service in Northern Ireland , which is still used for sticky political issues to this day. After that, she was the Director of UNU/INCORE, a joint initiative of the United Nations University and the University of Ulster, which conducts policy-relevant international research on conflict issues around the world. More recently, in February 2017, she published her latest book, Why Irrational Politics Appeal - Understanding the Allure of Trump which examines the allure of Trump, how his success ties into the hopes and fears of many Americans, and calls into question the limitations of our democratic system. Mari is an amazing person, with an amazing life story, doing amazing things. This is an episode not to be missed! Mari has lived her life in full and in the service of so many others. The world is a much better place with thanks to her.

Global
Libya

Global

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 1, 2019 54:57


Six years after the fall of Muammar Gadhafi, Libya remains in a chaotic state. In 2011, the regime of Gadhafi responded to protests in eastern Libya with violence, leading to a revolution that brought his 42-year regime to an end. Only three years later, armed conflict broke out after the second parliamentary elections, leading to political divisions and intense conflict. Libya’s future is uncertain. What are the country’s next steps? How can Civil Society help bring Libya towards peace? And, where is Libya headed? Find out on this episode, of our podcast Global. Our hosts speak to: Dr. Frederic Wehry, Senior Fellow of the Middle East Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and author of "The Burning Shores: Inside the Battle for the New Libya." Taezeez "Tooza" Alhasaeri, Digital Media Editor of the Zuwara Municipal Government. Zuwara was the first town to elect its local council after the fall of Gadhafi democratically. Christopher Livesay, an award-winning foreign correspondent based in Rome. In 2018, Livesay was the first American TV correspondent to report from Libya in a year and had to flee the country amid government threats for shedding light on migrant trafficking, torture, and abuse. His work was featured on the PBS NewsHour. Caitlin Dearing Scott, IRI’s the Middle East and North Africa Program Manager.

POMEPS Conversations
Why Iraq and Libya Failed to Build Nuclear Weapons: A Conversation Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer

POMEPS Conversations

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 25, 2017 22:26


This week's guest is Målfrid Braut-Hegghammer, who is the author of a new book, Unclear Physics: Why Iraq and Libya Failed to Build Nuclear Weapons. Braut-Hegghammer is an associate professor of political science at the University of Oslo. "The main ambition [of my book] is really to tell a history of these nuclear weapons programs and set them in the context of these regimes. One of my frustrations has been that many have discounted and suggested that the program wasn't successful— and that more broadly that authoritarian leaders will inevitably fail in their efforts to pursue nuclear weapons. Now, with North Korea, we can we can see that that doesn't seem right." "The Iraqi program was actually on the threshold of success in 1991, when the Gulf War interrupted the program. Whereas the Libyan program dwindled down until 2003, without ever coming close to any kind of success and breakthrough," Braut-Hegghammer says. "These are very different outcomes even though neither country ended up with nuclear weapons. Iraq easily could have— if Saddam had not invaded Kuwait in 1990." The Iraqi nuclear program "was managed in a very different way than I had expected. That's one of the important findings of my research is that there was much more delegation and, frankly, chaos than I had expected." "One of the fascinating discoveries was just the ways in which scientists, engineers, and officials designed Iraq's program to be difficult to oversee. They would report on it selectively, in terms of what they were achieving and not achieving, but that they would report in a way that was very technical— difficult for anyone who wasn't a scientist to decipher." The Liyan nuclear program differed from the Iraqi program. "it's a fascinating story and I suspect that the Libyan case is a unique one," says Braut-Hegghammer. "Consistently throughout this program— which started in 1970 and ended in 2003— you see that there were there was a small number of Libyan scientists who made very sound decisions, laid out plans that made sense. But any time these scientists tried to implement something, it all fell apart. It's a long history of initiatives that disintegrated as soon as someone had to try and organize something." "The main reason is that Gadhafi's project was to dismantle the state. He wanted what he called a 'stateless state.' Now, if you want a successful nuclear weapons program, you have to have functioning state institutions that can plan and launch and implement and review a program that is very complex with many different components that have to work together." "The main lesson is we can't just assume that personalist leaders will fail in these programs," says Braut-Hegghammer. "We see that the Iraqi program came close to success. When you look at North Korea today, you see a very sophisticated program."

WorldAffairs
Rory Carroll: Venezuela in the Post Chávez Era

WorldAffairs

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2013 64:00


On March 5 Hugo Chávez passed away after succumbing to a long battle with cancer, leaving behind a complex legacy, a political movement often referred to as 'Chavismo.' Many around the world mourned the loss of the leader, while others looked ahead to a new future for Venezuela. Indeed his rise to fame and eventual occupation of Venezuela's most powerful position was nothing short of legendary. Democratically elected by wide margins, Chávez was president for fourteen years. During this time he pulled thousands of citizens out of poverty with his '21st Century Socialism' mandate that provided, among other things, healthcare to the poor and massive gas subsidies. Throughout this time he also consolidated government authority under the presidency, jailed and excommunicated political opponents, and courted world leaders such as Ahmadinejad, Gadhafi and Castro. Even though the country sat atop vast oil wealth, Chávez presided over a crumbling infrastructure, a significant rise in crime rates and food shortages. His successor will have huge shoes to fill, and will face the challenging task of rebuilding the country. Rory Carroll, the former Latin America Bureau Chief for The Guardian, is well positioned to speak about the future of Venezuela after Chávez. Speaker: Rory Carroll, US West Coast Bureau Chief, The Guardian Moderator: Terry Vogt, Trustee, World Affairs Council of Northern California

In The Fight
In The Fight: Episode 57

In The Fight

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2011


On this episode, Marines launch an assault against the Taliban during Operation Eastern Storm, Lt. Gen. Caldwell looks back at the transformation of the Afghan security forces, with Gadhafi overthrown the people of Libya begin a new life, the Army Corps of Engineers helps the people of Minot, N.D., pick up the pieces, and service members begin the process of leaving Iraq after eight years. Presented in anamorphic 16:9 format.

To the Point
The 'Flat Tax:' Back Again in Presidential Politics

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2011 52:00


We compare Rick Perry and Herman Cain's new version of the "flat tax." Plus, the ICC's attempt to get Gadhafi's son to surrender and a new rule of British royal succession.

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)
Mailbag; Video of Gadhafi getting beat shown over and over again

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2011


6 AM - MailBag; Is all the dying and dead Gadhafi video and pics ok to show on TV?

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)
Early COW; MailBag; What next for Libya post-Gadhafi

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2011


6 AM - We are experience an earthquake (still happening); Early COW; MailBag; Jim Phillips from The Heritage Foundation talks about post-Gadhafi Libya.

To the Point
The Death of Moammar Gadhafi

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2011 52:44


Libyans danced in the streets today, celebrating the death of a tyrant brought down by his own people with help from the US and NATO....

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)
Monkey loose in Ohio; Lohan update; Report from Libya; Not having kids due to economy

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2011


9 AM - There's still a monkey at large in Ohio; Fox News' David Piper is live in Libya reporting on Gadhafi's death; Lindsay Lohan didn't show up for community service; CA is having less kids; More on the most relaxing song ever.

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)
Gadhafi is dead (maybe); MailBag

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 20, 2011


6 AM - Gadhafi is dead (maybe); Fox News' Alastair Wanklyn on Gadhafi; MailBag.

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)
Gadhafi's son used to pay $7k for a haircut; Raiders-Niners game celebrated "Hispanic Heritage Day"

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2011


7 AM - Gadhafi's son used to pay $7k for a haircut; The Raiders-Niners game celebrated "Hispanic Heritage Day"; Professor John Mueller from Ohio State Univ talks about spending on Homeland Security increasing exponentially versus the actual risk of a terror attack; Fox News' Alastair Wanklyn is live in Tripoli.

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)
CA bullet train update; Hitler quote made it into a high school yearbook; Cheney book/ interview

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2011


9 AM - More on the Pew study; Chris Reed from the San Diego Union Tribune comes on to update us on the bullet train; A quote from Hitler made it into a high school yearbook in PA; One of Gadhafi's ex-bodyguard hotties did an interview; Cheney book/ interview; Ex NBA player wanted for murder.

To the Point
Looking Ahead in Libya: Power and Politics in a Post-Gadhafi World

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2011 51:39


As rebels launch an assault on Moammar Gadhafi's compound in Tripoli, questions are being raised about Libya's future. (Sara Terry guest hosts.)

To the Point
The Fall of Tripoli: Is This the End of the Gadhafi Regime?

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2011 52:00


Libyan rebel forces moved swiftly over the weekend and claimed control over most of Tripoli. After more than four decades, Gadhafi's regime finally appears to be ending.

To the Point
Syria, Libya and the Future of NATO

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 15, 2011 51:40


Syria is repressing its own people without interference. Libya's Gadhafi is hanging on longer than expected. Is NATO ready to protect civilians for humanitarian reasons?

On Point
The NYT's Anthony Shadid On His Captivity In Libya

On Point

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2011 44:48


New York Times correspondent Anthony Shadid on being captured by Gadhafi forces and what’s ahead for Libya.

Culture Freedom Radio Network
Min Farrakhan Press Conf on Pres Obama Col Gadhafi and Libya War.mp3

Culture Freedom Radio Network

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2011 129:00


Analyzing Min Farrakhan Press Conf on Pres Obama Col Gadhafi and Libya War.

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)
Black Panther went off on Obama; Kinetic Military Action; Obese Ohio man found fused to a chair

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 30, 2011


More on hands free violations fines; Some Black Panther guy went off on Obama and Libya and Gadhafi; Jack goes home because Laura and Sam are sick; Jack on the phone; Kinetic Military Action; Obese Ohio man found fused to a chair.

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)
Media Matters is a big business trying to fight Fox News; Debra J Saunders column on Gadhafi

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2011


Someone from the pro Bullet Train camp contacted us after our Senator Lamalfa interview; Media Matters is a big business trying to fight Fox News; Debra J Saunders column on Gadhafi; Is the word 'sammich' racist?; Census shows poverty is often temporary.

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)
Gadhafi's virgin female bodyguards; AZ teacher wrote letter about misbehaving Hispanic students

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 24, 2011


MailBag; Gadhafi's virgin female bodyguards; AZ teacher wrote letter portraying Hispanic students in a bad light.

The SubGenius Hour of Slack Podcast
Hour of Slack #1301 - Starwood 3 + Live on Gadhafi 3-20-2011

The SubGenius Hour of Slack Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2011 59:52


This week we deliver the promised ECC mash-up of JoCo's "Code Monkey," some other ECC, the question-and-answer session with Stang plus a Wei-Phat ManDee duet from Starwood 30 (2010), some Puzzling Evidence and colLarge. The second half of the show is live from the WCSB studio with Lonesome Cowboy Dave calling in to discuss War #3 in Libya. Stang reads some revealing sections from Moamar Gadhafi's "THE GREEN BOOK" as well as a short new rant by Uncle Dr. Onan Canobite. The upcoming 14 X-Day is discussed at some length. The show ends with an extremely catchy song by International Espionage! probably recorded at the DEVOtional of 2010. Special thanks to Paul Mavrides for the Gadhafi-head (from 1987!) and to Rev. Carter LeBlanc for Gadhafi's "THE GREEN BOOK." New 14 X-Day promo pages (adults only):http://www.subgenius.com/bigfist/fun/devivals/14XDay/14X-Day.htmlA nice shot of the Gadhafi-Head Football discussed on the show, from 13X-Day:http://www.subgenius.com/bigfist/fun/devivals/13XDay/13XDay-photos/1StangDoe/2Friday_July2/pic-html/1043-BIOU-AnnaD-Ghadaffi.htmlThere are some photos of Starwood 30 at Wisteria at:http://www.subgenius.com/bigfist/fun/devivals/14XDay/Wisteria-Starwood2010/index.html

To the Point
What's the End Game for the Attack on Libya?

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 21, 2011 52:00


Has President Obama finally done the "right thing" by leading a UN coalition against Libya's Gadhafi? Are the coalition's objectives clear? Also, would a $39 billion merger be good news or bad news for cell-phone users?

To the Point
Oil Prices and Unrest in the Middle East

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 8, 2011 51:45


Disruption in the Middle East and North Africa has sparked a host of conflicting agendas, from getting off the oil economy once and for all to increasing domestic production. What will it all mean for the price of gasoline at the pump and for economic recovery? Also, Gadhafi forces score key victories against the rebels, and it's over for Barbie in Shanghai.

Said Dibinga
Revolution Africa: The Sands are Burning. Is the Bush Next?

Said Dibinga

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2011 62:00


Ivory Coast is split in half, its former president wont cede power to the newly elected president. In Gabon, well, they currently have two presidents, not by choice mind you. In Tunisia, a college-educated street vendor, after having committed suicide by setting himself on fire, ignited a revolution that toppled Tunisia's long running president. In Egypt, the people removed her long running serving President Mubarak. In Libya, Gadhafi is under siege by the people, yet it may lead to a as Gadafi's moderate son Salif stated, ‘another Somalia'. The sands are burning with revolution, will the fire of revolution spread to the bush?

Menage à tugg
Kapitel 49 - Sen ankomst

Menage à tugg

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2011 81:00


Det här avsnittet är tillägnat Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima och det här danssteget. Snackar shit kring/om bl.a. Gadhafi (välj vilken stavning du vill) Mormoner som har sex innan giftermål Charlie Sheen 90-tals r&b Skillnaden mellan att vara en karaktär och att ha karaktär Det och som vanligt mycket mycket mycket mer. Så lyssna, sprid, länka, dela och kommentera. Glöm inte att vi finns på Facebook, Twitter och iTunes.

To the Point
Are Teachers Under Fire?

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2011 51:52


In this era of political polarization, public school teachers are getting heat from both sides: leftist reformers and right-wing union busters. We hear how demoralized teachers are responding to some of the harshest attacks. Also, President Obama says Gadhafi must go, and two presidents try to resolve tensions between the United States and Mexico.

To the Point
Republicans Slash at State Budgets

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2011 51:39


Republican Governors are challenging the benefits won by public-sector unions, but a poll out today suggests a possible backlash. What would that mean for Governors like New Jersey's Chris Christie, who's made national headlines by vilifying teachers' unions. Also, rebels appear to hold off pro-Gadhafi forces near Tripoli. On Reporter's Notebook, the Wall Street meltdown…and the Oscars. 

Comical Radio
Ep 751 - Live From Grandma's Basement - It's Sheen Madness!

Comical Radio

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2011 73:22


The most watched show on television "Two and a Half Men" has just been cancelled and Chris Iacono and Warren Holstein are here to chime in on the coked out, stripper loving disaster that is Charlie Sheen. Sheen's granted at least nine television and radio interviews since the cancellation of the show with each one being more crazed than the last and Chris and Warren take the time to analyze his “Bi-Winning” rant.   Warren like clockwork calls out Chris on his weird segue in-between topics. The protests in Libya continue and the U.S. has finally gotten involved in the form of sanctions. Beyonce´, 50 cent and Mariah Carey have all performed for Gadhafi and Chris poses the question to Warren "how much would it take for you to sellout?"   While Wisconsin may be trying to get rid of unions in the public sector Chris' mom has rallied the troops at work to form a union. In tech news the U.S. government has come up with a spy humming bird and there have been reported cases of sensory overloads from gadgets causing brains freezes.  

To the Point
Gadhafi Facing Setbacks at Home and Abroad

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2011 52:00


Moammar Gadhafi continues his holdout in Libya, as upheaval continues in the Middle East. Will Iran be affected by the rage for freedom or has it gained new influence in the region, without doing a thing? Also, President Obama meets with state governors.

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)
Girl scouts in trouble for selling cookies; Amanpour interviewed Gadhafi's sons; Wisconsin update

The Armstrong and Getty Show (Bingo)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2011


More on Oscars; Girl scouts got in trouble for selling cookies; Amanpour interviewed Gadhafi's sons; Fox News' Mike Tobin is in Madison WI and updates us on the protests.

Zen Tiki Lounge
204 Cocktails With Obama and Gadhafi

Zen Tiki Lounge

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2011


Fresh Okolehao from Hawaii, drinks by Kahuna Kevin and music by Troy Fernandez combine on this weeks podcast. Sunshine and Pumpkin share stories fresh from her trip to the islands and dive into some GREEN matters as well.

Stimulated Boredom | Reviews. Gadgets. Gaming. Geek Culture. Podcast.

Amidst the protests in Wisconsin between Governor Walker and teacher's unions over collective bargaining rights (including salary & benefits) and the state budget deficit, I try to shed some light on the situtation, while dissecting the political ramifications of removing a union's primary form of leverage. Are unions a good thing? What would 'breaking the backs' of organized labor mean for unions and future election math? Would stripping the unions of their bargaining rights really solve the budget deficit problems in Wisconsin (or other states, for that matter)? As someone who has never been in a union, nor worked in an industry where unions were an option, I welcome additional insight from those who have.  Also, I discuss the 2012 Federal budget and the threat by the GOP of a government shutdown. Have we seen this tantrum before in 1995 when Republicans shut down the government only to see Clinton's ratings soar and the GOP receiving the lion's share of the blame in the public eye? Are threats like this, from either party, a constructive alternative or should there be more focus on making an effective argument before resorting to such dramatic and unnecessary tactics? Finally, I round out the show with an update on the situation in Libya. Due to his desire to hold onto power until 'the last drop of his blood is spilled', it appears that the only solution in sight is the physical removal (and/or death of Gadhafi). Also, I delve into the ramifications of widespread protests in the Middle East and the concern that it may find its way to Saudi Arabia and the effect this might have on the U.S. (aka: foreign policy & oil imports). Again, we return to the question: Does the United States, based upon the circumstances, support democracy in principle or in practice?  www.stimulatedboredom.com 

To the Point
The 'Youth Bulge' and Protests in the Middle East, North Africa

To the Point

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 25, 2011 52:00


Throughout the Middle East and North Africa, countries with young populations and high unemployment are seeing massive unrest. What does it mean when young men can't even afford to get married? We hear about the demand for immediate change and the potential consequences of frustrated expectations. Also, Gadhafi vows fight to the death as revolt moves to Tripoli. On Reporter's Notebook, the Governors versus the President.

Muck's posts
#66: Obama and Geithner on Oil, Moammar Gadhafi, Boeing, Sacramento Kings

Muck's posts

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2011 9:04


Mark Larson Podcast
The Mark Larson Show 0221_11 Hour 2

Mark Larson Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2011 54:16


Libya and Gadhafi protest and Mark has the latest! How will it effect the US? Pollster Ron Fauchex joins to discus recent Union issues. Rowen Scarborough joins to discuss the Middle East. Listen now!