Podcasts about mintpress

While the destruction in the Middle East has been fierce, the media war surrounding who controls the narrative of events has been no less intense. And MintPress News has been caught up in it. Our investigations into Israeli attempts to manipulate public understanding of the genocide in Gaza have drawn the ire of The Jerusalem Post, who recently attempted to cancel us, labeling MintPress as part of a network of Iranian, Russian and Syrian-backed extremist websites pushing antisemitism.Alan MacLeod, senior staff writer and podcast producer at MintPress News, will join the MintCast host to discuss this. Alan's investigations, which revealed a network of former Israeli spies and lobbyists working in newsrooms across America, went viral and were read by hundreds of thousands of people.His report, entitled: “Revealed: The Israeli Spies Writing America's News,” discussed how former agents from Israeli spying group Unit 8200 have found a home in some of the corporate media's most prominent outlets, including Axios and CNN.Unit 8200 is the centerpiece of Israel's surveillance state and has been the source of many of the most controversial spying and hacking scandals of the last decade. Former Unit 8200 agents developed the Pegasus spyware, which was used to snoop on activists, journalists, world leaders and royals around the world.His second investigation cataloged hundreds of ex-Israel lobbyists who went on to work in newsrooms across the country. One example of this is the NBCUniversal network. CNBC's lead work report was, until 2011, a commander in the Israeli Defense Forces before moving back to America to work for the Friends of the IDF. This group raises money for supplies and support for Israeli soldiers, as well as encouraging Americans to enlist in the Israeli military. This pro-Israel bias goes straight to the top. MSNBC's executive producer, Moshe Arenstein, is a former IDF intelligence commander.The traction that these groundbreaking stories were receiving clearly put MintPress in the Jerusalem Post's crosshairs, the Israeli newspaper publishing an attack against us.Support the showMintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

It is the album the Israel lobby tried – and failed – to kill. “Soundtrack to the Struggle 3” by MintPress News' Lowkey is released today.It is the rapper's first album in five years and is already receiving critical acclaim. Today on “The MintCast,” Mnar Adley sits down with Lowkey to discuss his new offering, the attempts to shut him down, and why good music is often political.A tireless fighter for justice, Lowkey's tracks have become anthems in the anti-war movement, particularly in the struggle for Palestine liberation. “Soundtrack to the Struggle 3” is no different and provides a political snapshot in time, taking on issues such as the genocide in Gaza, the persecution of WikiLeaks' Julian Assange, and the pervasive surveillance power of our smartphones.If the Israel lobby had its way, this album would never have seen the light of day. Last year, the pressure group, We Believe in Israel petitioned music giant Spotify to remove his songs from their platform, citing non-existent anti-Semitism concerns. We Believe in Israel works hand-in-hand with the Israeli government, which has been monitoring Lowkey closely for over a decade. The Jewish Chronicle newspaper once noted that the rapper's skill and worldwide fan base constituted a “nightmare” for the government in Tel Aviv.“Pro-Israel groups had me no-platformed at different shows; I've been canceled in at least four countries so far, thanks to their maneuvers,” Lowkey told MintPress, adding: “They have recorded meetings I have been at, taken pictures of me in public, and I am sure there is a lot more we do not know about…I'm sure this album will make them very angry and unhappy… They certainly won't want people to listen to this album.”“Soundtrack to the Struggle 3” is available to stream for free on major music platforms such as Spotify. You can also watch official music videos on YouTube. Lowkey is currently on tour in the United Kingdom and will be playing live shows in London, Birmingham and Manchester this November. The album is available in hard copy for purchase at his shows.Support the showMintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

It is election season once again, and that means that the world's eyes are drawn to our corrupt two-party duopoly. With a rapidly aging Biden decaying in front of us, Donald Trump is now a heavy favorite to become Commander-in-Chief of the US empire once more.Trump has chosen JD Vance as his running mate, a character made and financed by Silicon Valley and surveillance state billionaire Peter Thiel. It seems no matter whom you vote for, our national security state – and that of Israel – will be the winner.Peter Thiel's CIA-tech empire “Palantir” helped Israel develop the AI lavender system, which has been used by the Israeli military to target civilian homes and children and completely decimate the world's largest concentration camp with precision.However, this is not Peter Thiel's first ride in the Trump campaign as he helped bankroll Trump himself in the 2016 election and even worked in his cabinet to advance the surveillance state by collecting our data during COVID.Despite Trump campaigning as a populist anti-establishment draining the swamp, he is the swamp, and he's planning on overfilling his swamp with figures like Peter Thiel, who will take our technocratic surveillance state and war machine to the next level – far worse than what we say during COVID.And who better to help us learn more about this than one of the most influential journalists of our time – Whitney Webb. She's the contributing editor of Unlimited Hangout and the author of “One Nation Under Blackmail.” Whitney is also a former MintPress investigative journalist.Support the Show.MintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

The British public has spoken, and they have collectively let out a sigh of apathy. The latest election results might have produced a landslide for Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party. But going beneath the surface, Britons appeared less than pleased with the options they were given. Turnout was among the lowest seen since the 1880s when women (and most men) could not vote.The notorious British press relentlessly promoted the far-right Reform U.K. party, but to little avail: Reform U.K. ended up with only five seats. Chief amongst those outlets were those of Rupert Murdoch's empire. The Australian billionaire – described by former prime minister Tony Blair as one of Britain's four most powerful people and an unofficial member of his cabinet – has worked for decades to push a reactionary agenda into British public life. This has included near-total support for the Israeli government and its expansionist project.Today, “Watchdog” host Lowkey is joined by Alan MacLeod to discuss the U.K. media's relentless support for Israel. Alan MacLeod is a senior staff writer and podcast producer for MintPress News. After completing his PhD in 2017, he published two books on media and propaganda and regularly teaches media studies at universities. He has recently published investigations into Murdoch's close connections to the Israeli government and on Cyabra, an Israeli intelligence cutout organization posing as a neutral fact-checking group.While Israel has failed to defeat Hamas militarily, it has been able to rely on the support of corporate media in the West, and most of all from Murdoch, who has extensive economic and ideological ties to the state of Israel. Earlier this year, conservative British newspaper The Daily Telegraph went after Lowkey, claiming that a network of Russian, Chinese and Iranian bots was artificially inflating his online pro-Palestine messaging. The basis for this extraordinary claim was an intelligence report from private firm Cyabra.Yet Cyabra is far from a neutral organization. It was co-founded by Israeli military intelligence veterans and continues to work hand-in-glove with the Israeli government. Moreover, around fifty percent of its employees are military reservists who have been called up to serve in Gaza. Support the Show.The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.

While the Labour Party may have triumphed in the recent British parliamentary elections, the real victors may have been Israel. Israel and its lobby have deep connections to the British Labour Party, headed by Sir Keir Starmer, and are likely pleased to see him come to power.On today's episode of “The Watchdog,” Lowkey is joined by John McEvoy to discuss his work uncovering Israel's surprisingly firm grip over the British political system. John McEvoy is an investigative journalist for Declassified UK, a media outlet covering British foreign policy and intelligence agencies' true role around the world. While Labour has achieved a landslide victory, McEvoy warns that this was not because of widespread public support. Instead, it was down to a split in the vote between the Conservatives and their far-right challengers, Reform U.K. And while the public yearns for change, Starmer has been steadfast in his refusal to adopt bold policies to deliver what the people want. “Keir Starmer is poised to destroy a lot of hopes of British people and those who have wrongly invested their hopes in him. And that's a recipe for political disaster and a wider shift to the right here,” McEvoy told Lowkey. Perhaps even more worrying is the level of Israeli influence within the Labour Party. Pro-Israel money has flooded in; more than half of the new cabinet has been bankrolled by the British pro-Israel lobby, McEvoy's recent study revealed.Starmer has repeatedly refused to condemn Israel or do anything to concretely support a ceasefire in Gaza. His Labour Party has also elevated some of the most shameless propagandists into key positions. One example is Luke Akehurst, the former director of the pressure group, We Believe in Israel. Throughout its bombardment of Gaza, the U.K. has remained one of Israel's closest allies. Arms exports have increased since October 7, and London has continued to provide diplomatic cover for the genocide. Moreover, British spy planes continue to fly over Gaza, while military supply planes have made dozens of trips to Israel since the bombardment began, making Britain an accomplice in war crimes.Support the Show.The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.

While the Labour Party may have triumphed in the recent British parliamentary elections, the real victors may have been Israel. Israel and its lobby have deep connections to the British Labour Party, headed by Sir Keir Starmer, and are likely pleased to see him come to power.On today's episode of “The Watchdog,” Lowkey is joined by John McEvoy to discuss his work uncovering Israel's surprisingly firm grip over the British political system. John McEvoy is an investigative journalist for Declassified UK, a media outlet covering British foreign policy and intelligence agencies' true role around the world. While Labour has achieved a landslide victory, McEvoy warns that this was not because of widespread public support. Instead, it was down to a split in the vote between the Conservatives and their far-right challengers, Reform U.K. And while the public yearns for change, Starmer has been steadfast in his refusal to adopt bold policies to deliver what the people want. “Keir Starmer is poised to destroy a lot of hopes of British people and those who have wrongly invested their hopes in him. And that's a recipe for political disaster and a wider shift to the right here,” McEvoy told Lowkey. Perhaps even more worrying is the level of Israeli influence within the Labour Party. Pro-Israel money has flooded in; more than half of the new cabinet has been bankrolled by the British pro-Israel lobby, McEvoy's recent study revealed.Starmer has repeatedly refused to condemn Israel or do anything to concretely support a ceasefire in Gaza. His Labour Party has also elevated some of the most shameless propagandists into key positions. One example is Luke Akehurst, the former director of the pressure group, We Believe in Israel. Throughout its bombardment of Gaza, the U.K. has remained one of Israel's closest allies. Arms exports have increased since October 7, and London has continued to provide diplomatic cover for the genocide. Moreover, British spy planes continue to fly over Gaza, while military supply planes have made dozens of trips to Israel since the bombardment began, making Britain an accomplice in war crimes.Support the Show.The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.

A surprise general election has been called in the United Kingdom, and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is the overwhelming favorite to become the next prime minister. But today's guest is looking to upset that grim future.Andrew Feinstein is standing against Starmer for his Holborn and St. Pancras seat in central London. Feinstein is an expert in the arms trade, a former member of the South African parliament under Nelson Mandela, and a tireless activist, who Watchdog host Lowkey describes as someone who “campaigned for decades on important issues that really cut to the core of power and the way it functions in society.”Under Starmer's leadership, the Labour Party has ruthlessly purged leftist, anti-establishment voices from its ranks, including former leader Jeremy Corbyn. Feinstein described Starmer as holding an “authoritarian, undemocratic approach to politics,” accusing him of weaponizing anti-Semitism to carry out a witch hunt against radical elements within the party.Starmer has given his full-throated endorsement to Israel, even as it carries out a genocidal onslaught against the people of Gaza, and strong-armed the Speaker of the House into shutting down a motion brought to parliament calling for a ceasefire. Meanwhile, he has expelled more Jews from the Labour Party than all other leaders combined, all under the guise of fighting anti-Jewish bigotry.Feinstein is a white Jewish man who grew up in Apartheid South Africa. His mother is a survivor of Hitler's genocidal ambitions, having hid for three years in a Viennese coal cellar to avoid detection by the Nazis. He became active in the anti-Apartheid struggle and became an elected official for the African National Congress during the country's transition to democracy. He eventually resigned after being refused the right to investigate billions of dollars worth of arms deals signed by Mandela's successor, Thabo Mbeki.He warns that Starmer's approach to politics represents a threat to democracy in the United Kingdom, and wants his campaign to be completely different, the antithesis of Starmer.Feinstein stressed that local issues, such as hunger, unemployment, and a lack of housing, would be the key issues he would fight on. Nevertheless, he maintains an international perspective and is hopeful things are about to radically change across the globe. “This period of late neoliberal capitalism, which has bequeathed the world such injustice and such inequality, must be on its last legs. And that's what gets me out of bed every morning,” he said.Support the Show.The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.

On this Moats, George Galloway gives his take on the sentencing of former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, who with his wife Nushra Bibi, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on accusations of retaining and selling state gifts when he was in power. As his party and candidates are subjected to brutal oppression on the eve on the Pakistan elections, has Pakistan lost its democracy? As the war rages on in Gaza, why has the savage decision to remove funding for The UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency) not 24 hours after the ICJ ruling in The Hague against Israel been made and agreed to by Western Leaders? 'I don't believe the US will attack Iran' says former Marine Corps Intelligence Officer Scott Ritter, but gives his reason as to why he doesn't believe Israel invade Lebanon and why there could be a ceasefire in Gaza, but only if Netanyahu says so. Following her trips to Russia, Ukraine and Israel, Founder and Director of MintPress News & Behind the Headlines Mnar Adley talks western hypocrisy and depravity, ‘rules based order', western media complacency with Israeli war crimes, MintPress' and her own persecution for her coverage of issues such as Palestine, Yemen and Ukraine. Nike House returns to Moats to update you with political landscape as the presidential campaigns begin to shift into gear as both the Democrats and Republicans must now decide who to back out of Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Nicky Haley and the other would be Presidents. Scott Ritter: Former UN Weapons Inspector and Marine Corps Intelligence Officer, Author and Political Analyst.- Twitter: https://twitter.com/realscottritter- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@ScottRitterAgain- Website: ScottRitterExtra.com- Telegram: https://t.me/ScottRitterMnar Adley: Founder and Director of MintPress News & Behind the Headlines- Twitter: https://x.com/mnarmuh- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mnar_mpn-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Mnar.Adley.MediaNiko House: Political Commentator and Founder of MCSC Network- Twitter: https://twitter.com/realnikohouse- Instagram: https://instagram.com/realnikohouse- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nikoforthepeople- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@MCSCNetworkWNikoHouse Get bonus content on Patreon Become a MOATS Graduate at https://plus.acast.com/s/moatswithgorgegalloway. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The United States and the United Kingdom recently carried out their eighth round of strikes against targets in Yemen that they claim are being used by Yemen's Ansar Allah – known in the West as the Houthis – to threaten maritime navigation in the Red Sea.Since Israel began its deadly incursion into Gaza on October 7 of last year, Ansar Allah has carried out a de facto campaign of targeted sanctions against Israeli economic interests, attacking ships traveling through the Red Sea that it says are tied to Israel. The operation stands out in the region, as neighboring Arab countries have largely stayed out of the fray, if not directly supported Israel's bloody campaign.While Ansar Allah has been much discussed (or, more accurately, denounced) in Western media, they have rarely been allowed to talk for themselves. Joining the MintCast today to discuss the blockade and Yemen's escalating tensions with the United States is Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a senior political official and spokesperson for Ansar Allah. Bukhaiti has held his position since 2014, when the failed U.S.-backed Saudi campaign to dislodge Ansar Allah from power began.The human cost of the U.S.-Saudi campaign has been enormous. More than 400,000 people are thought to have been killed, and tens of millions of people lost their access to food, shelter and medical treatment in what the United Nations consistently called “the world's worst humanitarian crisis.” A 2021 MintPress investigation found that the United States had supplied Saudi Arabia with at least $28.4 billion worth of weapons and provided diplomatic support for the onslaught.Ansar Allah officials have repeatedly stated that the goal of their blockade is to pressure Israel into halting its assault on the besieged Gaza Strip, a deadly campaign that has claimed the lives of well over 25,000 people and has left over 63,000 injured, most of them women and children.Ansar Allah says that their blockade against Israeli interests is working, and indeed, major ocean carriers have suspended Red Sea and Suez Canal transport, instead sailing around Africa, creating significant delays and supply bottlenecks and costing the Israeli economy billions.When asked by reporters if U.S. strikes on Yemen were effective, President Biden responded by stating: “When you say ‘working,' are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they going to continue? Yes.”Support the showMintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

South of the border, an entire region is rising, electing radical governments and moving towards integration and genuine independence.Today, “MintPress News” speaks to Ollie Vargas about Latin America and just what is going on in the region President Joe Biden called the U.S.' “front yard.” Ollie Vargas is an award-winning journalist based in Bolivia. He is the co-founder of “Kawsachun News,” an outlet reporting in the English language on Bolivia and Latin America. He has also contributed to “MintPress.”Key to the latest drive towards Latin America has been the role of Brazil and, in particular, President Lula da Silva, who has taken it upon himself to lead the Global South to take a more active role in world politics.Brazil is currently the only Latin American member of the BRICS economic bloc. However, Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba, Nicaragua and a host of other countries in the region have expressed interest in joining, which could turn the tables and provide balance to the U.S. “rules-based international order.”Another key figure providing pushback to American dominance of Latin America is Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador. AMLO, as he is known, has refused to kowtow to Washington. Indeed, at President Biden's Summit for Democracy in March, he described the U.S. as nothing more than an “oligarch with a façade of democracy.”AMLO has proven very popular in Mexico, thanks to his pro-people policies. These include massively raising the minimum wage and state pensions, allowing tens of millions to live in dignity. All the while, he has kept inflation low. He holds a televised press conference every morning, in which he talks directly with the people. As Vargas put it, “While previous leaders stood above the population, AMLO stands with the people.”AMLO stands, in Vargas' opinion, in contrast to Chilean President Gabriel Boric. Heralded as a new kind of progressive at the time of his election, Boric has failed to maintain his popularity. Vargas explained that, while Boric has some superficially radical positions, he has changed little about the day-to-day existence of the ordinary people.Vargas also talks about the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on Latin America, about the upcoming elections in Ecuador, and what it was like reporting under the dictatorshSupport the showMintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

Somebody blew up the Nord Stream II pipeline – that much is certain. Yet, since September last year, when the incident occurred, no one has come forward to take responsibility, and the attack has become the subject of intense international debate.Our guest on “MintCast” is Bryce Greene, a writer, journalist, activist and media critic who has covered the issue extensively in outlets such as “Fairness And Accuracy in Reporting.” Earlier this month, Bryce was invited to speak at the United Nations Security Council to shed light on who is likeliest to have been behind the attack. His full remarks can be read and seen here. Greene was highly critical of the press coverage of the event, telling “MintCast” host Alan MacLeod that the media seem “almost completely incapable of examining the facts in an objective and dispassionate manner.” While the press is happy to denounce Russia for the attack, despite the lack of concrete evidence, Greene said they have, in effect, enforced an “intellectual no-fly zone around entertaining the other obvious suspects” – i.e., the United States.Certainly, the U.S. had a lot to gain from ending Nord Stream. The attack has pushed Europe into the arms of the United States, forcing them to buy expensive American liquified natural gas rather than cheap Russian energy. Before the attack, Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland told the press: “If Russia invades, one way or another, Nord Stream 2 Will. Not. Move. Forward.” President Biden made similar remarks. And after the incident, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken seemed delighted, calling it a “tremendous opportunity” for the U.S.Therefore, it came as little surprise to many when legendary investigative journalist Seymour Hersh released an article claiming that U.S. Navy divers were behind the attack and that President Biden himself had ordered the pipeline be destroyed. Hersh's claims have largely been ignored in the mainstream press, however. A MintPress study of the 20 largest and most influential U.S. news outlets found only four mentions of Hersh's claims in the week after his report made worldwide headlines.Support the showMintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

As the war in Ukraine continues to take lives, many people worldwide question its legitimacy and demand an end to the violence. Yet even as calls to cease the conflict grow, the Biden administration has announced that it will up the ante by sending cluster munitions to Ukraine – a weapon banned by more than 100 countries worldwide. Today's guest, Medea Benjamin, an anti-war activist and co-founder of the peace group CODEPINK, was shocked by the decision. “The world came together in 2008 to ban cluster munitions for a real reason,” she told “MintCast” host Alan MacLeod. “And that is because of all the unsuspecting children and farmers who step on these bombs and whose limbs are blown off,” she added, noting that wherever these weapons have been used, the consequences and the destruction last for decades.“This is just an example of the desperation of the Biden administration to want to see some success in the Ukraine counteroffensive, which isn't going anywhere,” she concluded. Benjamin recently returned from a trip to Ukraine, where she survived a Russian air raid attack on Lviv. Yet arguably more concerning than the destruction was the mentality of many she met. As she told MacLeod:“The impression I got talking to a number of people in Ukraine is that they are being fed a daily diet – both from the media and from their own politicians – that this war is going in their favor, that this war is winnable (meaning they can get back Crimea and every inch of the Donbas, and they should.) So, I feel that, for many of them, they were really divorced from the reality of the fighting and Russia's ability to keep this battle going.”From there, the pair also talked about the U.S. buildup of troops around China, sanctions on Cuba, and why recent Biden-appointee Elliott Abrams is the neocon par excellence. According to Benjamin, Abrams should be tried for war crimes rather than serve in positions affecting U.S. government policy.MintPress has launched its annual funding drive. Faced with algorithmic censorship, arrests, financial sanctions and more, it is crucial that our readers and viewers support us. Support the showMintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

MintPress speaks to James Rehwald. Thanks to his innovative comedy and razor-sharp wit, James has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers across social media platforms, his viral, darkly satirical videos having been seen by tens of millions of people worldwide. James constantly takes aim at the entire power structure to produce explicitly anti-imperialist, radical shorts that cut deep. A frequent target of his is the CIA. "The CIA are basically gangsters for American capitalism,” he told Alan MacLeod, referencing their history of gunrunning and drug smuggling. “I love the new CIA ads. They really lean into identity politics. It feels like satire is dead when I watch their videos. It's like ‘you too can join the imperialist project, toppling governments!'' he added.James also spoke about how he got into comedy. Growing up in a conservative household, “The Colbert Report” was a favorite of his. “Just seeing somebody do a satirical mock of the right-wing pundits that I grew up around was genius. But then, of course, it is sad when you see a lot of these guys who don't point the target at Democrats. There's no criticism from the left, except from the very obvious ones,” he said.Liberals and liberalism is another primary target of James' content. But, he said, he treads a fine line, not wishing to be seen as a partisan hack and wanting to explicitly note that both parties are part of the same war machine. “I always feel this pressure when I am making fun of liberals or Democrats in my videos that I gotta, in the same sentence, make fun of Republicans, just to let them know that you are [also] part of this problem!” he said. Referencing the handful of conglomerates that control mainstream media, James notes that, “These are big corporations that have their own interests, as well as advertisers that they need to make sure they're creating a media environment that is conducive to their profits.” Their whole model is built on ad revenue. They have to maintain relationships, as broadcasters, with advertisers. And the ones that can spend the most are the biggest companies. And you have everybody from fossil fuels, to insurance companies to whatever. The largest corporations keep these channels afloat, and they gotta play a delicate balance and not ruffle their feathers.”Still, that only leaves the lane even more free for comedians like James to make a name for themselves on social media.Support the showMintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

Last month, on his way back to Great Britain, MintPress contributor Kit Klarenberg was detained and interrogated. The investigative journalist was met at the airport by six anonymous plainclothes counter-terror officers, who seized his electronic devices, and memory cards and took his fingerprints and DNA. Under Schedule Three, Section Four of the U.K. 2019 Counter-Terrorism and Border Act, they grilled him for over five hours, asking probing questions on everything from his opinions on the current British leadership to Vladimir Putin to 9/11.For Klarenberg, the real reason he was being targeted had nothing to do with terrorism and everything to do with his investigative reporting that has exposed the machinations of the British state. In recent months, this has included revealing that British spies plotted to bomb the Kerch Bridge in Crimea, how the U.K. government is constructing a “secret terror army” in Ukraine, and how British intelligence seemingly worked with state broadcaster, the BBC to smear anti-war academics. While the United Kingdom continues to enjoy a reputation for being an island of relative freedom, prosperity and democracy, Klarenberg challenged this idea, pointing to several Draconian laws passed under the guise of keeping the public safe. As he told Adley: Britain has, for a very long time, had the most sweeping counter-terror laws in the Western world and arguably in the world. They have overturned centuries-old and hard-fought-for rights, protections and freedoms that average citizens enjoy, and have granted police sweeping and disturbingly vague powers.” Klarenberg's reporting has also uncovered many connections between established corporate media and the U.K. national security state, to the point where it is sometimes hard to ascertain where one ends and the other begins. As he said:For many, the Klarenberg case seems eerily reminiscent of the treatment of another journalist forgotten by his mainstream colleagues: of Julian Assange. Assange remains confined in Belmarsh high-security prison in London while British authorities negotiate with their American counterparts on whether to send him stateside.What is clear is that critical investigative journalism is under attack and that those who value a free press must stand together to fight against it.Support the showMintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

Amid an ongoing crisis in recruitment, the military has found a novel way of enticing teens to enlist: thirst traps. “MintCast” co-host Alan MacLeod joins Mnar Adley for an in-house edition of the podcast to describe how the military is using young teens' horniness against them, utilizing an army of attractive women posting sexually suggestive content on social media – in effect, turning a generation of young men from simps into soldiers.Alan MacLeod is senior staff writer and podcast producer for MintPress News. He has worked at the company since 2019. Before joining MintPress, he was an academic and freelance journalist specializing in Latin America and in analyzing media and propaganda. In recent months, he has specialized in analyzing U.S. military propaganda and exploring the national security state's ties to big social media organizations. His latest investigation, “From Simp to Soldier: How the Military is Using E-Girls To Recruit Gen Z Into Service,” can be read exclusively at MintPress News.Chief amongst these new Army e-girls pushing their followers to join up is 21-year-old Hailey Lujan. In recent months, Lujan's social media profile has exploded, with the young star now boasting nearly three-quarters of a million followers on TikTok alone. In between posting highly sexually suggestive content and zany memes, however, are subtle and not-so-subtle commands to her army of loyal followers to join up. “Don't go to college; become a farmer or a soldier instead,” she says in one recent video.The plot thickens, however, when we look into Lujan's background. She is a member of the Army's psychological operations division, whose job it is to carry out online propaganda and influence operations. Despite constantly hinting that she is a “psyop” herself, Lujan strenuously denies that the Army controls her content.MacLeod told Adley that it is almost a moot point whether the Army is actively directing Lujan, stating:I think if you were [psychology expert and father of modern propaganda] Edward Bernays, you might say that it doesn't really matter whether she is or isn't being supported by the military, because, ultimately, what this is doing is getting people who look at this content – and there are millions of people watching this stuff – to associate lustfulness and horniness with joining the military. It's literally making them horny for war.”Support the showMintPress News is a fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.

A tankie agent carried out "false flag" vandalism of a synagogue and other Jewish targets in Detroit, attempting to blame it on the Azov Battalion and tar Ukrainians. She turns out to have been a member of the retro-Stalinist Workers World Party and a staff writer for openly dictator-shilling MintPress News—which has itself engaged in "false flag" disinformation, blaming the Syrian rebels for chemical attacks against their own strongholds by the Bashar Assad regime. MintPress has also received funding directly from the Assad Lobby. In Episode 176 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg examines this ultra-cynical propaganda nexus, and asks whether such agents are mere "useful idiots" for the Kremlin, or actual conscious assets operating in the "gray zone"—the sphere of "hybrid warfare" in which the line between state and non-state actors is blurred. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. https://www.patreon.com/countervortex Production by Chris Rywalt We ask listeners to donate just $1 per weekly podcast via Patreon -- or $2 for our new special offer! We now have 44 subscribers. If you appreciate our work, please become Number 45!

Is your data really safe online? Whether you like it or not, it is likely that much of it is stored by Oracle, a gigantic, U.S.-based company that has become one of the largest and most influential tech corporations in the world.Yet the company's intimate ties to both the Central Intelligence Agency and the Israeli national security state should be cause for enormous concern, our guest today argues. In episode 56 of “The Watchdog” podcast, Lowkey is joined by returning visitor, Alan MacLeod. Alan MacLeod is senior staff writer and podcast producer for MintPress News. He has worked at the company since 2019. Before joining MintPress, he was an academic and a freelance journalist specializing in Latin America and in analyzing media and propaganda. Together with Lowkey, he published an investigation into Oracle's connections, titled, “Openly Pro-Israel Tech Group Now Has Control over UK's Most Sensitive National Security Data.”Together, the pair lay out Oracle's extraordinarily close relationship with the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA was the company's first customer in the 1970s. Indeed, the name “Oracle” comes from Project Oracle, a CIA operation that Oracle founder and former CEO Larry Ellison worked on. Since then, the relationship has only flourished, as MacLeod explained:Ever since its beginning and even before its beginning in the 1970s, as being fundamentally intertwined with the U.S. national security states, Oracle grew from a very small, fledgling company into a multibillion dollar behemoth that it is today, and it has done that through getting fat off of the huge contracts that Washington hands out.”Former CIA director Leon Panetta is a member of Oracle's board of directors, and, if media reports are to be believed, Ellison personally asked his close friend Benjamin Netanyahu to take a seat at Oracle's highest table as well.The connection to Israel's prime minister is illustrative of a deep collaboration between Oracle and Israel. Indeed, the company sees aiding the Israeli government as equally important as making money. CEO Safra Catz, laid out Oracle's purpose, stating: We are not flexible regarding our mission, and our commitment to Israel is second to none. This is a free world and I love my employees, and if they don't agree with our mission to support the State of Israel, then maybe we aren't the right company for them. Larry [Ellison] and I are publicly commitSupport the showThe MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.

The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.In this week's episode of “The Watchdog,” Lowkey begins discussing how the mainstream media silences academics, musicians to award-winning filmmakers, such as Ken Loach, for their outspoken stance on Palestinian rights.Lowkey is joined by Professor David Miller, formerly of Bristol University and Zeeshan Ali, who runs the successful YouTube channel, Smile2Jannah. David, who was subjected to a coordinated three-year campaign by the Zionist lobby, is a leading British scholarly critic of Israel.Kick-starting the podcast, Lowkey wastes no time in discussing the ousting of Professor David Miller from Bristol University, drawing attention to the support of Zeeshan Ali, who published a petition in support of him. The petition accumulated over 40,000 signatures. “This is getting ridiculous now. Enough is enough…it's just a matter of time till it comes knocking on your doorstep and there's no one left to defend you,” Ali said.But when did all this type of censorship begin? Was it during the Corbyn era, or did it precede that?The topic of discussion then shifts to the 2022 World Cup, and the way the success of the Moroccan team was dealt with in the mainstream media. Teams from the Global South succeeding was not taken well in many places in Europe. Commentators on Danish television, for example, compared the scenes of Moroccan players hugging family members with monkeys.Later to the anatomy of the campaign against Qatar, with Miller identifying several Israel lobby groups as key to the groundswell of pushback against Qatar hosting the World Cup.The final section of the podcast focuses on the Canadian academic Jordan Peterson, and his recent pro-Israel turn. Lowkey reveals some interesting connections between his employer, The Daily Wire, and key Israel military and intelligence institutions – connections you will only find out about if you watch the interview here, exclusively at MintPress News.Watch the whole interview here, exclusively at MintPress News. Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic, political campaigner, and a MintPress video and podcast host. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique, and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network, and The Peace and Justice Project founded by Jeremy Corbyn.Support the showThe MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.

Support for the British Monarchy has rapidly declined, especially among young people, where near equal amounts of respondents say the country should become a republic as continue with the current system. In this episode of “The Watchdog,” Lowkey speaks to Symon Hill, a British activist who was recently arrested for questioning the proclamation of Charles as King following the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth.Lowkey begins by scrutinizing the infrastructure of information in British society. In doing so, the British-Iraqi rapper makes multiple references to the coordinated smear campaign against Jeremy Corbyn, and how it was orchestrated by private organizations following his nomination to lead the Labour Party. The conversation then shifts to the main topic of today, the unpopularity of King Charles III. Charles has been pelted in public with eggs on two separate occasions since his mother's death.Protesting the proclamation of King Charles III, Symon Hill, who had been arrested, stressed how he:Finds it hard to stomach that in the 21st century, anybody being told that we must accept a head of state, with no say at all in who that is…so when this was said about Charles as Lord and King, I called out, who elected him?...”Talking about his detention, Hill added:It was me who they grabbed hold of and dragged me away and arrested me…what really appalls me, if you watch the video of that man heckling [Prince] Andrew, is that a few royalists in the crowd basically grab him and start beating him up and yet the police don't arrest them.”Formerly a campaigns manager at the Peace Pledge Union, Hill currently teaches history via evening courses for the Workers' Educational Association. “…If you can be arrested for saying a couple of sentences in the street that the establishment don't like, then I think we're in a very scary place,” he said.The conversation steers to the absurdities of the recently passed Police Crime Sentencing Courts Act (2022). Equipping the Metropolitan Police with arbitrary powers, the law will “restrict movement at protests…it allows them [the police] to close down protests that are considered too noisy,” Hill warned. According to many domestic organizations, the act itself is a fundamental threat to the ideals and standards of British democracy and should be repealed immediately.Watch the whole interview here, exclusively at MintPress News. Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic, political campaigner, and a MintPress video and podcast host. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique, and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network, and The Peace and Justice Project founded by Jeremy Corbyn.Support the showThe MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.

The Pentagon has “lost track” of more than half of its assets, based on its fifth failed audit in a row. The Pentagon's assets include troops, weapons, battleships, submarines, buildings, and more, costing trillions of dollars – yet over half are unaccounted for? How does the single biggest and costliest agency get away with this while Congress dismisses free college, improved Medicare and Medicaid, helping low-income families with costs of childcare, and other basic necessities? Brian is joined by Lee Camp, comedian, journalist, and former host of the TV show "Redacted Tonight." Now he hosts "The Most Censored News" for MintPress and you can check out his podcast "The Lee Camp Show" on Spotify. All of his work is available at LeeCamp.net. Please make an urgently-needed contribution to The Socialist Program by joining our Patreon community at patreon.com/thesocialistprogram. We rely on the generous support of our listeners to keep bringing you consistent, high-quality shows. All Patreon donors of $5 a month or more are invited to join the monthly Q&A seminar with Brian.

Rishi Sunak is Britain's new prime minister. Sunak was not elected, even by Conservative Party members, who, just weeks earlier, had chosen Liz Truss. However, she was immediately turned upon by senior party members.Sunak is the darling of the establishment, chief amongst it the British state broadcaster, the BBC. In 2020, the BBC presented him as a literal superhero, describing him as the chancellor who would “save the country's economy.” In reality, government incompetence over COVID, Brexit and sanctioning Russia wrecked the economy, leading to rampant inflation and a pressing cost of living crisis affecting all Britons.For this latest episode of “The Watchdog”, Lowkey again talks to Alan MacLeod, this time about the BBC's extremely close links to the ruling Conservative Party. While often criticized by right-wingers as a bastion of liberalism, a multitude of top BBC executives and directors are directly linked to Toryism. For example, BBC chairman Richard Sharp was a senior adviser to many top Tories, including both former prime minister Boris Johnson and Sunak himself. Sharp has also donated at least £400,000 to the party.Meanwhile, as MacLeod noted, the BBC's former head of political programming, Robbie Gibb – the brother of a Tory cabinet minister – left the broadcasting corporation to become the director of communications for Conservative prime minister Theresa May.Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer and Podcast Producer for MintPress News. He has worked at the company since 2019. Before joining MintPress, he was an academic and a freelance journalist specializing in Latin America and in analyzing media and propaganda. His latest article, “The BBC-to-NATO Pipeline: How the British State Broadcaster Serves the Powerful,” explores how the United Kingdom's state broadcaster is nowhere near as independent as it insists it is. A dangerous unitIn the second half of the podcast, the pair discuss MacLeod's latest findings on Israeli military surveillance organization Unit 8200. In a new investigation, MacLeod found that hundreds of former Unit 8200 agents have been appointed to influential positions in some of the biggest and most influential Silicon Valley tech and communications companies. This includes Google, Amazon, Twitter and Microsoft. There, they oversee much of these companies' development and security.This is an alarming finding because, as is well-documented, Unit 8200 has carried out massive spying operations on Palestinian citizens, compiling sensitive information such as medical records and sexual histories, and used it to blackmail and extort them. Its graduates are also responsible for designing many of the most controversial and invasive hacking tools ever created, including the infamous Pegasus spyware that was used to eavesdrop on tens of thousands of politicians, journalists and activists across the world.Watch or listen to this interview exclusively at MintPress.Support the showThe MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.

The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.In today's episode, former Google employee Ariel Koren joins Lowkey and articulates her experience at the big tech giant, claiming it has gradually developed an institutionalized pro-Israeli bias. She also reveals ways in which employees attempting to hold the company accountable for unethical contracts, such as that of Project Nimbus, are being targeted and intentionally silenced.Google, alongside Amazon, has signed a contract worth $1.2 billion, titled “Project Nimbus”, which will provide a cloud system service for both the Israeli military and the Israeli government.Disturbingly, the project was announced May in 2021, the same month Israel killed at least 260 Palestinians in Gaza. Adding insult to injury, it was during this period that Amnesty International found Israel guilty of practicing Apartheid against the Palestinian people.Former employee Ariel Koren claims that:"Google systematically silences Palestinian, Jewish, Arab, and Muslim voices concerned about Google's complicity in violations of Palestinian human rights – to the point of formally retaliating against workers and creating an environment of fear…in my experience, silencing dialogue and dissent in this way has helped google protect its business interest with the Israeli military and government”.According to Google's spokesperson, Shannon Newberry:"The Project [Nimbus] includes making Google cloud platform available to government agencies for everyday workload, such as finance, healthcare, transportation, and education.”However, there is also evidence that Project Nimbus will also empower Israeli mechanisms of surveillance, data collection and even interrogation.As Lowkey explains:"In one Nimbus Training Webinar, a google engineer confirmed to an Israeli customer that it would be possible to process data through Nimbus in order to determine if someone is lying”.Lowkey then posits Project Nimbus as the climax of a long push by Israel to harness Google to do what it wants. Lowkey points to a mission creep over the last decade which saw several key Israeli organizations set up to move both big tech jobs to the apartheid project and former Israeli military personnel into the companies themselves. The aim of this, he asserts, is to make a meaningful BDS project an impossibility by integrating Israel into big tech companies vital to the global economy.Want to hear more about this issue? Join Lowkey and Ariel Koren today for a critically important discussion. Keep updated for many more interesting topics to be discussed by subscribing on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.Support the show

The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media. European countries, as well as the United States, continue to be imperiled by an economic crisis following the imposition of sanctions on Russia. The policy has backfired spectacularly and has had worse economic ramifications on those levying the sanctions, than those being sanctioned. In this week's episode, Lowkey speaks to respected U.S. economist Dr. Richard Wolff, discussing the links between the war in Ukraine, inflation, and the class war at home.Before exploring the people's definition of inflation, Dr. Wolff contextualizes the economic crisis currently unfolding across the West.In the conversation, Lowkey and Dr. Richard Wolff expose ways economic policy can be a code term for class war. They delve into the way the cost of enmity towards Russia is being placed on the shoulders of the working class in the West, which recently experienced one of the worst crashes of capitalism in its history.The 2020 – 2021 crash, one of the worst public health disasters in modern history, a terrible inflation on top of that…"Lowkey then questions Dr. Wolff on the threat to the primacy of the dollar posed by pushing billions of people in Russia, China, and India into trading with each other in currencies other than the dollar.He asked Dr. Wolff, why is it that the political leaders across Europe and the US might have carried out such an act of economic self-harm.According to Dr. Richard Wolff:Maybe we have desperate politicians who have linked their careers to this war in Ukraine…therefore they are willing to spend to the last dollar of their peoples taxes to hold onto a situation that is spinning badly out of control”.They conclude that this war has hastened the inevitable rise of China as the world's economic powerhouse.Want to hear more about this issue? Join Lowkey and Dr. Richard Wolff today for a critically important discussion. Keep updated for many more interesting topics to be discussed by subscribing on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.You can find this podcast on Spotify, iTunes, and other streaming platforms.Support this podcast by becoming a member of our Patreon.Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.Support the show

It is a story that is straight out of a dystopian science fiction novel. Big social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Google, have gone on a hiring spree, recruiting dozens of CIA officers to run their most important, politically sensitive departments – and almost no one is talking about it.In episode 39 of “The Watchdog” podcast, Lowkey speaks to Alan MacLeod, a  journalist who has spent months painstakingly combing through employment databases and corporate social media sites like LinkedIn to catalog this national security state infiltration of many of the largest social media platforms.One of these platforms is Facebook, the world's most influential news distributor. Recently, the Silicon Valley giant released a PR video featuring a man they identify as “Aaron” – the company's Senior Product Policy Manager for Misinformation. Aaron informs viewers that he and his team think deeply about how to balance their commitment to freedom of speech with their duty to protect users from harm and violence, and underlines that “transparency is incredibly important in the work I do.”There is one problem with this, as MacLeod explained:Aaron is, in fact, a senior CIA agent. Or at least he was until a couple of years ago, when he left his post at the agency, where he was a senior analytic manager, to take a job at Facebook. As Facebook itself describes, he is basically the person in charge of the team that is deciding what gets zapped off the platform and what gets promoted.”Nor was he a minor pen pusher at the CIA. In fact, he was so high up that he wrote the President's Daily Brief, a document read out to the commander-in-chief in the Oval Office every day. The fact that a former high-ranking CIA member is now influencing content moderation on Facebook should concern everyone, MacLeod notes, telling Lowkey that,This has huge consequences, not just for media organizations who live and die by the amount of clicks they get on Facebook...but it also affects what 3 billion people see in their news feeds. Because that's how many people actually get their news from Facebook.”Alan MacLeod is Senior Staff Writer and Podcast Producer for MintPress News. He has worked at the company since 2019. Before joining MintPress, he was an academic and a freelance journalist specializing in Latin America and in analyzing media and propaganda.His series of articles for MintPress News has highlighted the connections between the national security state and big social media outlets like Reddit, Facebook, Google, TikTok and Twitter. To understand more about this worrying trend, follow the links above or watch the interview exclusively at MintPress News.Support the show

The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.The well propagated myth is that Britain functions democratically. This, of course, flies in the face of a system where a monarchy established by the Normans in 1066 still holds weight in society. More than 1,000 laws passed through the British parliament have been vetted by the representatives of the Royal Family. There 792 unelected peers and 26 unelected bishops in the House of Lords in comparison to merely 650 elected members of parliament.Even to get to this very limited level of political representation where all people could vote regardless of property ownership it took over 300 years of struggle – from the Putney Debates and the Levellers to the Chartists and the Suffragettes. It even entailed people sacrificing their lives for the right to vote with the slaughter of protestors in Manchester at the now infamous Peterloo Massacre. It took centuries of agitation, prison, deportation to penal colonies and World War I for the British establishment to grant universal suffrage. And it was not even until after 1928 that all people over 21 were allowed to vote for political representation in parliament.But Britons still live in a managed society. Today, Lowkey is joined by Kit Klarenberg to discuss the ways in which elements within the British establishment have been able to impose their will on the supposed democratic system in Britain over the past 100 years.Starting with Ramsay MacDonald, the Labour Prime Minister smeared with a fake letter in the 1920s to Harold Wilson being spied on and conspired against through Operation Clockwork Orange, the intelligence services have been a vital constituency for any political leader to win over and keep on side.The sweeping aside of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister has made headlines across the world, as Conservative Party figures fight for the leading role in the country. However, it seems there may have been more than meets the eye to the drip feeding of negative stories about Johnson over the past six months.Lowkey and Kit Klarenberg examine the evidence of possible interference in the political system to achieve the removal of Boris Johnson from power.Kit Klarenberg is an investigative journalist exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. He writes for The Grayzone and MintPress News.Join Lowkey today for a critically important discussion about current events and the future of the world, and do not forget to subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.Support the show

The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.On this week's edition of The Watchdog podcast, Lowkey explores the growing movement to free Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, and is joined by his father John Shipton, to do so. Imprisoned in Belmarsh high security prison in London since 2019, and before that confined to the Ecuadorian Embassy, Assange has spent a decade locked up. If extradited to the United States, he faces up to 175 years in prison.Yet there are signs that his future might be brighter than his past. The global movement to free him, Shipton explains, is growing. In Australia, dozens of members of parliament have come together to lobby for Assange's release. In the United Kingdom, 23 MPs from across the political spectrum have done the same. Indeed, the parliaments of every single European nation have an Assange friendship group. And 26 major NGOs have signed a letter of support that was recently sent to President Biden.But, as Shipton explained to Lowkey, these groups are not acting on their own accord, but rather are reacting to popular pressure. As he said:These elements of institutions, parliaments and NGOs and governments represent an upwelling tide of support. They don't do it out of their own motivation. They do it because they either feel the injustice from the upwelling tide of support or realize as parliamentarians that their position is to carry this forward into the institutions of Parliament and resolve the situation.”The Biden administration is also coming under attack from Latin American nations. Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador recently publicly stated that if Biden extradites Assange, he should tear down the Statue of Liberty as freedom will be over.“He is the best journalist of our time in the world and has been very unfairly treated, worse than a criminal..This is an embarrassment to the world,” Lopez Obrador added.Both Shipton and Assange feature in a new documentary film, Ithaka, which details the struggle to free Assange and the emotional toll it has taken on his family. The film is directed by Ben Lawrence and produced by Assange's brother, Gabriel Shipton. Late last month, Lowkey hosted a special screening of the film in London, alongside Shipton and Assange's wife, Stella.Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.Support the show

The well propagated myth is that Britain functions democratically. This, of course, flies in the face of a system where a monarchy established by the Normans in 1066 still holds weight in society. More than 1,000 laws passed through the British parliament have been vetted by the representatives of the Royal Family. There 792 unelected peers and 26 unelected bishops in the House of Lords in comparison to merely 650 elected members of parliament.Even to get to this very limited level of political representation where all people could vote regardless of property ownership it took over 300 years of struggle – from the Putney Debates and the Levellers to the Chartists and the Suffragettes. It even entailed people sacrificing their lives for the right to vote with the slaughter of protestors in Manchester at the now infamous Peterloo Massacre. It took centuries of agitation, prison, deportation to penal colonies and World War I for the British establishment to grant universal suffrage. And it was not even until after 1928 that all people over 21 were allowed to vote for political representation in parliament.But Britons still live in a managed society. Today, Lowkey is joined by Kit Klarenberg to discuss the ways in which elements within the British establishment have been able to impose their will on the supposed democratic system in Britain over the past 100 years.Starting with Ramsay MacDonald, the Labour Prime Minister smeared with a fake letter in the 1920s to Harold Wilson being spied on and conspired against through Operation Clockwork Orange, the intelligence services have been a vital constituency for any political leader to win over and keep on side.The sweeping aside of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister has made headlines across the world, as Conservative Party figures fight for the leading role in the country. However, it seems there may have been more than meets the eye to the drip feeding of negative stories about Johnson over the past six months.Lowkey and Kit Klarenbeg examine the evidence of possible interference in the political system to achieve the removal of Boorish John from power.Kit Klarenberg is an investigative journalist exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. He writes for The Grayzone and MintPress News.Join Lowkey today for a critically important discussion about current events and the future of the world, and do not forget to subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.The MintPress podcast “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby, and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.Support the show

The MintPress podcast “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby, and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.In a massive blow to its operations, Israeli weapons company Elbit Systems has been forced to abandon its chique London headquarters, thanks to sustained pressure from Palestine Action. The final blow came earlier this month after activists threw red paint over the office and blockaded its entrance. This comes on top of the news that in January, Elbit Systems had decided to sell their arms factory in Oldham, U.K., at a significant loss, after the site was repeatedly occupied by the same group.Today, Lowkey speaks to one of the co-founders of Palestine Action, Huda Amori. Originally from Bolton (around 12 miles from Oldham), Amori is Palestinian-Iraqi. Her father was chased from his home by Israeli soldiers in 1967.“This is a company whose whole business model is based on the destruction of Palestine,” she told Lowkey, adding:Elbit Systems was founded in Israel in 1966. And the main reason they were founded was to aid the dispossession, displacement and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people. Since then, they have continued to develop their weapons on the occupied people of Palestine. These weapons are often built in part or in full here in Britain, in our towns and cities across Britain and then are shipped off across the world to be used by other repressive regimes. Elbit systems manufacture 85% of Israel's military drone fleet. These drones are constantly used to entrench the Apartheid system over the captive population in Gaza, used to surveil, attack and murder Palestinians.”One of the world's largest arms manufacturers, Elbit produces much of the Israeli Defense Forces' machinery and ammunition and markets its products around the world as “battle tested” on Palestinians. Its products are sold globally, notably to the Indian military, helping their efforts to occupy Kashmir, and to British law enforcement, who are using the company's facial recognition software.“Whenever you see an attack on Palestinians, 99% of the time you can trace that back to Elbit Systems. If they are not producing the whole weapon, they are producing parts of it,” Amori said.Despite the significant material and reputational damage done to Elbit Systems, the company is extremely hesitant to take Palestine Action activists to court. The company finds itself in a lose-lose scenario whereby not prosecuting those practicing direct action against it encourages more of the same but doing so risks a barrage of negative publicity and scrutiny, plus the chance that a jury will side with Palestine Action, as has happened before. As Amori said,We wanted to get Elbit in court. We wanted to expose their crimes. And we knew that whatever happened, we could argue our case and we wanted to turn it around onto Elbit's crimes because that is the reason we take action. This company shouldn't be allowed to be here in the first place.”Join us to hear more about this groundbreaking news and what more is coming from Palestine Action.Support the show

Elon Musk is not some crusading rebel railing against the establishment; he's one of the key drivers of the U.S. surveillance state. That is the message that Alan MacLeod gave Lowkey in this latest episode of “The Watchdog.”While commentators have been heartened and dismayed in equal measure at the prospect of the South African billionaire's takeover of Twitter, they all appear to agree that Musk will make huge changes to the platform. Yet very few have acknowledged the basic fact that Musk's fortune comes in no small part due to his close connections to the national security state.As MacLeod explained, SpaceX was only able to get off the ground with the help of In-Q-Tel, the venture capitalist wing of the CIA, as well as with huge financial backing from NASA. Today, the company competes with Lockheed Martin and Boeing for gigantic military rocket contracts, helping organizations like the Air Force and the National Reconnaissance Office launch their spy satellites into orbit, thereby performing a crucial service to the global surveillance system.The MintPress podcast “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby, and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.Support the show

Click here for the full episode, including the extended interview with Alan MacCleod and fan suggestions for military-grade baby names: https://usefulidiots.substack.com/p/extended-episode-media-and-biden?r=je5va&s=w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web This week, Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces. The way the New York Times reported it was that she “die[d]”: The Times, CBS News, the Associated Press, and more corporate media outlets all referred to the incident, in which Israeli military opened fire on journalists, through words like “clash,” “conflict,” or other misleading terms to cast doubt on who the attackers were. Multiple eye witnesses confirmed the Israeli military shot and killed Abu Akleh. Journalist Alan MacCleod of MintPress News joins the Useful Idiots to expose media bias and propaganda that's become increasingly difficult to dig through. (We highly recommend following his twitter to stay informed) In the extended interview, Alan uncovers the dark truth of TikTok's shady executives and a Ukrainian news source that's become a favorite of western corporate media but isn't what it seems. And unfortunately, as we learned with Mnar Adley last week, MintPress's journalism is at stake after sites like PayPal decided to wipeout the accounts of dissenting voices. “If you are going to challenge the government or challenge power in any way,” MacCleod explains. “You might want to remove your money from PayPal because it could get zapped at any point just like it happened to me.” Plus, Biden ditches Covid relief to spend more money on weapons for Ukraine, Lindsey Graham's war-mongering speech, and a funeral proposal. It's all this, and more, on this week's episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mickey's first guest is Alan MacLeod, senior writer for MintPress News, speaks about PayPal's sudden cutoff of service to MintPress, Consortium News, and other journalism sites that publish antiwar opinions and analysis; Mickey and Alan also discuss the recent trend of individuals from the US/NATO security establishment being given influential posts at Facebook, Tik Tok, and other social media platforms as well as the Biden Administration's new Disinformation Governance Board, a virtual Orwellian Ministry of Truth. In the second half of the show, Steve Macek and Shealeigh Voitl of Project Censored discuss their recent Ms. Magazine article on corporate media's failures in coverage of women's' issues, especially gender violence and inequity. They also comment on the recently-leaked draft opinion from the Supreme Court, which would reverse the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision, thereby giving states wide latitude to criminalize abortion. Notes: Alan MacLeod is a media critic, a senior staff writer at MintPress News, and has also contributed to many other publications. Steve Macek is chair of Communications and Media Studies at North Central College in Illinois, and is co-coordinator of Project Censored's Campus Affiliates Program. Shealeigh Voitl is a Journalism graduate of North Central College, and a research associate at Project Censored. The Macek/Voitl article can be found here. Image by Michi S from Pixabay

Click here for the full episode, including the extended episode with Mnar Adley, proof that Nancy Pelosi doesn't care about Roe v. Wade, and a bonus Biden Stoned Moment. MintPress News' Mnar Adley has bravely reported on Israel, Ukraine, and national security agents running TikTok. In response, PayPal shut down MintPress's account and threatened to take their money. PayPal has begun doing this with multiple independent media outlets who don't fall in lock-step with the Biden administration's policies. And it's gone nearly unreported. Google “PayPal” and you'll mainly see why you should buy their stock today (!). And as the MintPress name gets attacked, notice that the people calling MintPress News “fake news” are the ones tampering with the Wikipedia page to slander their name. Check out the site and read their journalism for yourself. And hurry, because the way censorship has been trending, you may not be able to read them for long. Plus, Rep. Gaetz and Justice Alito lead Republicans in the Roe v. Wade decision, Biden and Pelosi refuse to do anything about it, and in case anyone forgot, Amazon doesn't care about its workers. It's all this, and more, on this week's episode of Useful Idiots. Check it out. Plan C for safe, at-home abortion access: https://www.plancpills.org/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mnar Muhawesh Adley is founder, CEO and editor-in-chief of MintPress News. Last week,  MintPress and Adley -- along with numerous other journalists and Consortium News -- were banned by PayPal. In this discussion, Adley explains how this plays into the current NeoMcCarthyist censorship sweeping the Internet, and shares her thoughts on whether these trends (along with the new Disinformation Governance Board) might point to even more repression of dissidents in the United States.Join the conversation! Submit questions to guests by becoming a PRIMO RADICAL patron for only $1 a month on Patreon: https://patreon.com/primoradicalSubscribe to PRIMO RADICAL on Rokfin, Rumble, Spotify, and iTunes!https://primoradical.com/https://rokfin.com/primoradical/https://t.me/primoradicalshow/https://facebook.com/primoradical/ https://twitter.com/primoradical/ https://instagram.com/primoradical/https://youtube.com/c/primoradical/Support the show

Israel is once again attacking the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. Israeli forces storming the ancient religious complex fired tear gas and rubber bullets, seriously injuring hundreds and killing at least one person.The latest series of attacks is the most consequential since those in May last year, events that led to the Israeli military killing hundreds of Palestinians, injuring thousands, and forcing tens of thousands to flee their houses.“What is happening at Al-Aqsa right now is more dangerous than at any other time in the past,” Dr. Ramzy Baroud told Lowkey today. Dr. Baroud is a journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, as well as a non-resident senior research fellow at the Center for Islam and Global Affairs. He is the author of six books, including “Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders and Intellectuals Speak Out,” co-written with Professor Ilan Pappé.The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/MintPressNews)

As is the case with any war, the war in Ukraine is being fought on many fronts: in the streets, in the financial realm, and in the media. The battle over information about the war itself, how it started, and who is most at fault (and what their motivations are) is a critical factor shaping how governments and citizens around the world respond to the unfolding conflict. In this panel, TRNN contributor Radhika Desai speaks with Benjamin Norton and Daniel Haiphong about Western media's coverage of the war, corporate media's complicity in fomenting conflict and feeding the military-industrial complex, and about what critical media literacy tools people can develop to better navigate the fog of war.Benjamin Norton is a journalist, writer, and filmmaker based in Latin America. He is the founder and editor of Multipolarista and was formerly a producer and reporter for TRNN. Daniel Haiphong is a journalist, writer, political analyst, and host of The Left Lens. He is a weekly contributor to The Black Agenda Report and his work has been featured in a range of outlets, including MintPress, CounterPunch, and Friends of Socialist China. He is also the co-author of American Exceptionalism and American Innocence: A People's History of Fake News—From the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror.Read the transcript of this podcast: https://therealnews.com/how-the-war-in-ukraine-is-being-fought-in-the-mediaPre-Production: Paul GrahamStudio/Post-Production: Cameron Granadino, Adam ColeyHelp us continue producing radically independent news and in-depth analysis by following us and becoming a monthly sustainer: Donate: https://therealnews.com/donate-podSign up for our newsletter: https://therealnews.com/newsletter-podLike us on Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealnewsFollow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealnews

The MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know – including intelligence, lobby and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.For Episode 24 of The Watchdog Podcast, Lowkey is joined by journalist Ben Norton to discuss the recent U.S.-backed coup in Pakistan, the West's plan to turn Ukraine into a neverending war, and the new multipolar global order taking shape before our eyes.Ben Norton is a Nicaragua-based journalist whose work is focused on U.S. foreign policy and international politics. He recently launched his new journalism platform, Multipolarista. His video content can also be found at Rokfin and on YouTube.Today, he sat down to speak to Lowkey about the recent U.S.-backed coup against Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. Earlier this month, Khan was removed from his position following a vote of no confidence in his leadership, after several small parties from his coalition changed their allegiance.Join Lowkey today for a critically important discussion about current events and the future of the world, and do not forget to subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform.Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip-hop artist, academic and political campaigner. As a musician, he has collaborated with the Arctic Monkeys, Wretch 32, Immortal Technique and Akala. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project, founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album, Soundtrack To The Struggle 2, featured Noam Chomsky and Frankie Boyle and has been streamed millions of times.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/MintPressNews)

After witnessing the ongoing attack from a coordinated campaign to silence him, tens of thousands of people from around the world have come out in support of hip hop artist, campaigner and host of the MintPress podcast “The Watchdog,” Lowkey. An online petition addressed to music giant Spotify, demanding it refuse to buckle to pressure from the Israel lobby to remove his music from its platform, has garnered over 40,000 signatures from members of the public.Joining the wave of support have been many of Hollywood's biggest stars. Actors such as Mark Ruffalo, Michael Malarkey and Liam Cunningham have put their names to it, as have legendary musicians like Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, Genesis' Peter Gabriel and rock band Primal Scream.Prominent political figures have also stood behind Lowkey, including HRH Princess Dana Firas of Jordan, former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and South African MP Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, the grandson of the anti-Apartheid hero Nelson Mandela. Support for Lowkey was perhaps strongest in the hip hop world, with figures such as DJ Charlie Sloth and rappers like Immortal Technique, Wretch 32 and Akala signing the petition.MintCast host Mnar Adley speaks to Lowkey about the extraordinary outpouring of global support he has received, why his activism and relentless campaigning for a free Palestine made him a target, and the growing success of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement worldwide.MintPress News is a fiercely independent, reader-supported outlet, with no billionaire owners or backers. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.Support the show (https://www.mintpressnews.com/donations/)

To support independent media, receive bonus content and to help make this show possible, please join us at: https://www.patreon.com/thekatiehalpershow Rapper and campaigner Lowkey (https://twitter.com/Lowkey0nline) talks about the Israel Lobby's campaign to get Spotify to remove him from their platform. Sign the petition telling Spotify not to cave here (https://www.change.org/p/spotify-do-not-buckle-to-pressure-from-the-israel-lobby-to-deplatform-lowkey?utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=custom_url&recruited_by_id=0ccb39d0-b020-11ec-b015-6f843b977d7f). Lowkey is a British-Iraqi hip hop artist, academic and political campaigner. He is a patron of Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Racial Justice Network and The Peace and Justice Project founded by Jeremy Corbyn. He has a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies from SOAS university and is an advisor to the website Declassified which investigates the activities of the Ministry of Defence and British Intelligence Services. He has spoken and performed on platforms from the Oxford Union to the Royal Albert Hall and Glastonbury. His latest album Soundtrack To The Struggle 2 featured Noam Chomsky, Frankie Boyle and Ken Loach and has been streamed millions of times. He produces and hosts his own weekly podcast for Mintpress and has interviewed US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, Roger Waters, Naom Chomsky, Naomi Klein, Ahed Tamimi, Ken Loach and Stella Moris (wife of Julian Assange). Lowkey has become the target of a coordinated smear campaign to demonize, defame and deplatform him. Earlier this month, organised groups forced the University of Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Society to postpone his lecture and were able to stop his appearance at the National Union of Students in Liverpool. Now, a campaign by lobby group "We Believe in Israel" is demanding that his content be removed from music streaming service Spotify. This is unacceptable censorship. The campaign against Lowkey is designed to silence Palestinians and their supporters. Anti-Palestinian censorship is now reaching into the artistic realm.

On this weeks #CantGetRight, Comedian #KurtMetzger is joined by Alan MacLeod from Mintpress to talk Kyle Dunnigan having a better Biden than SNL, the algorithm literally controlling our lives, the war in Yemen and much more, on this ALL NEW episode of #CantGetRightPodcast.CGR Ep 120SUPPORT OUR SPONSORShttp://zippixtoothpicks.com and use promo code RIGHT10 for 10% off your order!http://yokratom.com for a $60 Kilo of Kratom!http://mipod.com and use promo code KURT for 20% OFFWatch & Subscribe on YouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UClEVLwqZI1STFKP7-Ea5WuA?sub_confirmation=1Can't Get Right is LIVE every SATURDAY at 10PM ET ONLY on #GasDigital NetworkOr catch the YouTube Premiere the following TUESDAY at 11PMhttps://GaSDigitalNetwork.com/LIVESign up to #GasDigitalNetwork with promo code KURT for a 7 Day FREE TRIAL to get access to the HD livestreams, the live chat, and all episodes On Demand in HD.https://GaSDigitalNetwork.com/high-octane-all-accessFOLLOW THE WHOLE SHOW!Kurt MetzgerInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/kurtmetzgercomedyTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/kurtmetzger​​​GaS Digital NetworkInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/gasdigitalTwitter: https://twitter.com/gasdigital#Podcast #KurtMetzgerSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

World leaders have descended upon Austrian capital Vienna to participate in the ongoing nuclear deal being negotiated primarily between the United States and Iran. Today, MintPress spoke to Dr. Seyed Mohammad Marandi, Professor of English Literature and Orientalism at the University of Tehran. Dr. Marandi is currently in Vienna as part of the Iranian delegation.While corporate media often portray Iran as a recalcitrant pariah and the United States as a long-suffering broker in the situation, Dr. Marandi notes that it was actually the Trump administration that unilaterally walked away from the agreement. Furthermore, President Barack Obama refused to live up to his promise to remove financial sanctions against Iran. “Obama, from the very beginning, was violating the deal, the most important element of the deal, because the banking sector sanctions are the most important part of the deal,” Marandi told Mnar Adley today.Relations between the two countries fell to a new low two years ago this month, after the Trump administration carried out a successful drone strike against General and statesman Qassem Soleimani. While then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted that Soleimani was on the verge of carrying out an attack on Americans, the Iranian leader was, in fact, in Iraq on the invitation of Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi. Abdul-Mahdi specifically asked Trump for permission to invite Soleimani to his country. Trump acquiesced, then used the opportunity to kill him via a drone strike.In response, the Iraqi parliament passed a unanimous resolution on January 5 (with many abstentions), calling for the expulsion of all U.S. troops. Instead, the U.S. announced it would build a number of new bases on the Iranian border, ramping up the tensions. Since then, Washington has continued to pile on the pressure, increasing its deadly sanctions regime against the country. Soleimani was best known and celebrated outside of Iran for leading the fight against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, successfully crippling their forces. The Financial Times described him as the “hero” who saved the region from Jihadists. Yet Western media largely sided with the U.S. after Trump's decision to kill him. Suddenly, Soleimani was no longer a hero, but “the world's no. 1 bad guy,” as CNBC put it.The discussion also encompassed the sanctions placed on Iran by the United States and how Iran has partnered with Venezuela and other countries to help them neutralize the worst effects of economic warfare.MintPress News is a fiercely independent, reader-supported outlet, with no billionaire owners or backers. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.Support the show (https://www.mintpressnews.com/donations/)

May be worth adopting plant based diet to ease chronic migraine severity, say doctors Stony Brook University and University of Pennsylvania, November 22, 2021 Prescribed meds, elimination diet, yoga and meditation provided no or little symptom relief Boosting dark green leafy veg intake may be key It may be worth adopting a plant based diet, rich in dark green leafy vegetables, to ease the symptoms of chronic migraine, suggest doctors in the online journal BMJ Case Reports. (next) Exercising at the start of fast can help people reach ketosis 3.5 hours faster: study Brigham Young University, November 24, 2021  Now a new Brigham Young University study published in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise finds that exercising intensely at the start of a fast may help maximize health benefits of temporarily foregoing food. Ketosis occurs when the body runs out of glucose—its first, preferred fuel—and begins breaking down stored fat for energy, producing chemicals called ketones as a byproduct. In addition to being a healthy energy source for the brain and heart, ketones combat diseases like diabetes, cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. (NEXT) To calm your emotions, get 15 minutes alone University of Rochester, November 24, 2021 Being by yourself—even for just 15 minutes—may decrease your strong positive and negative emotions, and instead reduce stress and induce calm, a new study suggests. Lead researcher Thuy-vy Nguyen, a doctoral candidate in clinical and social sciences in psychology at the University of Rochester, together with the cofounders of self-determination theory, psychology professors Richard Ryan and Edward Deci, conclude that solitude can lead to relaxation and stress reduction—as long as people actively chose to be alone. (NEXT) Fermented tea could help protect the liver from high-fat diet damage Tianjin University (China), November 30, 2021 Water extracts of a fermented tea, known as Pu-erh tea, could help to reduce oxidative stress and protect the liver against damage caused by a high fat diet, research in rats has found. The study, published in Food Science and Human Wellness, investigated the potential of the polyphenol and theabrownin-rich fermented tea to protect the liver after previous studies linked the tea to a raft of health benefits. “Pu-erh tea can be used as a potential healthy drink for prevention and/or treatment of fatty liver disease and many diseases associated with oxidative stress,” suggested Jing and colleagues. (NEXT) Excessive media exposure to traumatic events could harm kids Florida International University, November 20, 2021 FIU scientists investigating the effects of hurricanes and other natural disasters on children's brain development previously found that increased exposure to media coverage of disasters led kids to have post-traumatic stress (PTS) symptoms regardless of physical proximity. A new follow-up study led by FIU psychologists Anthony Dick and Jonathan Comer confirmed those findings and also showed that individual differences in the response in a key brain region involved in detecting threats—the amygdala—predicted the degree to which viewing storm-related media coverage led children to develop PTS symptoms. (NEXT) Adults with ADHD four times more likely to have generalized anxiety disorder University of Toronto, November 20, 2021 A new nationally representative study published online in the Journal of Affective Disorders found that one in four adults aged 20-39 with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) had generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Those with ADHD were four times more likely to have GAD at some point in their life, when compared to those without ADHD. Even after controlling for other relevant factors, including sociodemographics, adverse childhood experiences, and a lifetime history of substance use disorders and major depressive disorders, those with ADHD still had more than double the odds of GAD. (OTHER NEWS NEXT) The Madness of Anthony Fauci Rather than own up to his disastrous policy and medical advice, Fauci instead is accelerating his messianic impulses.  By Julie Kelly It's nearly impossible to select the most maniacal comment made by Dr. Anthony Fauci in his nearly 70-minute interview with “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan that aired over the weekend. Joe Biden's chief coronavirus advisor and miniature global menace spent more than an hour denying responsibility for his documented mistakes, bragging about his self-appointed role as the world's doctor, hogging credit for the vaccines, and attacking anyone who has challenged his unrivaled ego and track record of failure. Portraying himself as a victim rather than the cruel, megalomaniacal tyrant he is, Fauci took aim at Donald Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Senators Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Congressional co-sponsors of the “Fire Fauci Act,” which would zero-out the salary of the federal government's highest-paid bureaucrat and audit Fauci's correspondence and financial transactions during the pandemic. While declaring, “I represent science,” Fauci humbly graded the scientific approach to the pandemic an “A+” while incongruently  warning about a “fifth wave” of the virus and explaining away one scientific stumble after another, from useless temperature checks to the need for bi-annual booster shots and randomly claiming the virus spread is “40 to 50 to 60 percent . . . asymptomatic.” Science! Of all his alarming remarks, however, Fauci's push to get experimental vaccines for babies and young children to market as quickly as possible is the most depraved. When asked by Brennan, who has spent the better part of two years asking Fauci how to run her life and the lives of 330 million Americans, when he expects vaccines for children between the age of six months and five years to be available, Fauci said he hopes the shots are ready by the beginning of next year. “I would hope it would be in the first quarter because the studies are being done right now on children from two to five and then from six months to two years,” Fauci told Brennan. “I don't think there's going to be an issue with efficacy. But when you're dealing with children, it's a very sensitive area. And that's the reason why [it] may take a little bit longer.” When parents question whether it's necessary to vaccinate children, Fauci replies that, “yeah, we do want to be vaccinating the children because we want to vaccinate and protect everyone in society, including children.” Now, that is not the conclusion of a sound man of science, as Fauci again insisted he is in the interview, or even a man of common sense and humanity—that is the raving of a madman.Only a demon would propose injecting a child, including babies who cannot yet even walk or talk, with a rushed “vaccine” to allegedly minimize a virus that poses no serious health threat to them. Only a sociopath would dismiss parental fears about not just the medical necessity of the shot for the child but also unknown side effects that their children could suffer in both the near and long term. And only a sadist would continue to promote his own destructive policies that have inflicted incalculable human suffering but done nothing to halt the spread of a virus that is lethal to only a tiny percentage of the population. In a just world, Anthony Fauci would be giving lengthy television interviews clad in an orange jumpsuit from the confines of a federal penitentiary. Aside from his crimes against humanity, especially the tragic toll on senior citizens and young people, Fauci has clearly committed a number of crimes including lying to Congress and the American people in his official capacity and misappropriating federal funds on ghoulish scientific experiments. He violated the Hatch Act by using his government post for political purposes; for example, the weekend before the 2020 election, Fauci told the Washington Post that Joe Biden “is taking [the pandemic] seriously from a public health perspective,” but that Trump was only looking at it from an economic standpoint. Contradicting the president, Fauci warned the country was in for a “world of hurt” with rising COVID-19 cases and that “all the stars are aligned in the wrong place as you go into the fall and winter season.” Fauci has repeatedly and treasonously defended the Chinese Communist Party, something he did yet again in his interview with Brennan. Still peddling the “wet market,” rather than Wuhan laboratory-produced, theory about the origins of SARS-CoV-2, Fauci disputed Brennan's claim that “Beijing acknowledges now that they don't think it originated in that market.” Fauci shot back: “I think you could say we don't know how and where it originated. There were wet markets in Wuhan that are ample opportunity for a virus to jump from an animal that gets brought in from all parts of China that are very closely related physically to bat enclaves in caves and come to the market. So I don't think anyone can say that it didn't come from here or it did come from here.” The vaccines for which Fauci takes credit have been a costly failure. He, along with Joe Biden, misled the American people into believing the vaccines are safe and effective. But caseloads continue to spike despite high vaccination rates; Fauci himself recently admitted the prophylactic effect of the vaccines has waned and boosters are now required to extend what little short-term benefit the first round of injections provided. COVID fatalities this year are slightly ahead of 2020, a metric no one, including Dr. Anthony Fauci himself, publicly predicted. Rather than own up to his disastrous policy and medical advice, Fauci instead is accelerating his messianic impulses. He's unsure, Fauci told George Stephanopoulos on Sunday morning, whether new lockdowns are needed to prevent the spread of the omicron mutation. “Prepare for the worst,” Fauci warned. Music, undoubtedly, to the ears of Xi Jinping. Ironically, Fauci, who laughed off his own criminal culpability related to the pandemic in Brennan's interview, wants others investigated both for the handling of COVID-19 and the four-hour protest at the Capitol earlier this year. In one sinister exchange with Brennan, Fauci nervously giggled and rhetorically asked Senator Ted Cruz, “What about January 6, senator?” He also wants a 9/11-style commission to investigate the Trump Administration's response to the crisis. The top focus, Madman Fauci noted, should zone in on why “Trump left things up to the states.” Chalk up the U.S. Constitution as another thing Anthony Fauci has no clue about. But perhaps Fauci is on to something. When Republicans take over the House next year, they should immediately form several 9/11-style commissions to investigate numerous scandals stemming from the Trump era; at the top of the list should be a public accounting of Fauci's leading role in the COVID-19 crisis; his misstatements to the public and Congress on the “science”; his relationship with the Chinese Communist Party; his political machinations before the 2020 election; and his ties to pharmaceutical companies and other parties with a financial interest in pushing vaccines. Further, Fauci should testify under oath on what scientific basis he recommended using American children, including babies, as pharmaceutical lab rats. If indeed he is “America's doctor,” as Margaret Brennan so obsequiously claimed, and to which Fauci agreed, then he should be properly investigated for medical malpractice at the very least. A wide-ranging federal probe into what happened during the pandemic? Maybe for once, the madman is right. (NEXT) With Low Vaccination Rates, Africa's Covid Deaths Remain Far below Europe and the US MISES INSTITUTE, 11/23/2021 NOTE: TOTAL POPULATION OF AFRICA 1.3 BILLION, LARGEST NATIONS NIGERIA (206 MILLION), ETHIOPIA (115 MILLION), EGYPT (103 MILLION) Since the very beginning of the covid panic, the narrative has been this: implement severe lockdowns or your population will experience a bloodbath. Morgues will be overwhelmed, the death total toll will be astounding. On the other hand, we were assured those jurisdictions that do lock down would see only a fraction of the death toll. Then, once vaccines became available, the narrative was modified to "Get shots in arms and then covid will stop spreading. Those countries without vaccines, on the other hand, will continue to face mass casualties." The lockdown narrative, of course, has already been thoroughly overturned. Jurisdictions that did not lock down or adopted only weak and short lockdowns ended up with covid death tolls that were either similar to—or even better than—death tolls in countries that adopted draconian lockdowns. Lockdown advocates said locked-down countries would be overwhelmingly better off. These people were clearly wrong. Undaunted by the increasing implausibility of the lockdown narrative, the global health bureaucrats are nonetheless doubling down on forced vaccines—as we now see in Austria—and we continue to be assured that only countries with high vaccination rates can hope to avoid disastrous covid outcomes. Yet, the experience in sub-Saharan Africa calls both these narratives into question: Africa's numbers have been far, far lower than the experts warned would be the case. For example, the AP reported this week that in spite of low vaccination rates, Africa has fared better than most of the world: [T]here is something “mysterious” going on in Africa that is puzzling scientists, said Wafaa El-Sadr, chair of global health at Columbia University. “Africa doesn't have the vaccines and the resources to fight COVID-19 that they have in Europe and the U.S., but somehow they seem to be doing better,” she said…. Fewer than 6% of people in Africa are vaccinated. For months, the WHO has described Africa as “one of the least affected regions in the world” in its weekly pandemic reports. But that "conventional wisdom" flies in the face of the reality of covid in Africa, which is that there have beenfewer deaths. In any case, the World Health Organization reports that covid deaths in Africa make up only 2.9 percent of covid deaths, while Africa's population is 16 percent of the global total. Africa's covid total could double or triple, and Africa would still be faring far better than Europe and the Americas. (NEXT) Excess Deaths Caused by Vaccines (an email letter) As you know, since the summer there has been a 10% excess of deaths in England, largely due to cardiovascular problems and mainly in younger adults and men. Some argue this is due to vaccines directly killing people, as the spike protein (produced in our bodies from the gene added to our cells by the vaccines) is known to damage heart cells, blood vessels, and the normal clotting mechanisms. Others claim it is the spike protein, but blame the spike protein produced by virus infection. I have now looked at the relevant data quite carefully, and the only explanation that fits all the data is as follows: The vaccines have reduced levels and/or duration of virus in individuals (hence also reduce severe covid symptoms) but unfortunately the spike protein produced by the vaccines added on top of the spike protein produced by the virus is having a lethal effect in many people. The net result is that vaccines have merely displaced deaths from being (and being recorded as) frank covid deaths to now being cardiovascular deaths, coincident with an increase in virus prevalence This phenomenon will fade away as the virus fades away after December, as the winter peak of respiratory diseases passes. But everything will be made worse if we roll out mass booster vaccinations. Regards Professor Anthony J Brookes Department of Genetics & Genome Biology University of Leicester (NEXT) Despite Pledge, Biden Leaves Tap Open, Approving Billions in Arms Deals to Saudi Arabia A new MintPress News study based on Dept. of Defense documents can reveal that U.S. weapons manufacturers have sold well in excess of $28.3 billion worth of arms to Saudi Arabia since the Yemen War began, including 20 separate deals inked during Biden's presidency. Alan Macleod MINT PRESS NEWS. November 19th, 2021 “The war in Yemen must end,” declared President Joe Biden in his first major foreign policy speech; “and to underscore our commitment, we are ending all American support for offensive [Saudi] operations in the war in Yemen, including relevant arms sales.” Yet studying sales records from the Department of Defense (DoD), MintPress can reveal that less than one year into his presidency, the Biden administration has already approved 20 separate weapons contracts, worth just shy of $1.2 billion, to Saudi Arabia alone. This includes a $100 million shipment of Black Hawk helicopters, support for Apache gunships, and a $78 milliondeal to buy 36 cruise missiles. A new and controversial $650 million deal announced earlier this month has yet to be finalized but will likely soon follow, boosting sales up to levels equal with the earlier years of the Trump presidency. Sorting through thousands of approved contracts, the Department of Defense has approved in excess of $28.4 billion worth of sales from American companies to the armed forces of Saudi Arabia since they began their military intervention in the Yemeni Civil War in March 2015. This includes billions of dollars worth of arms, supplies, logistical support and training services. While this is a gargantuan number (already larger than Yemen's gross domestic product), it is certainly a serious underestimate of just how much the military industrial complex is benefiting from what the United Nations has called the “world's worst humanitarian crisis.” In addition to the $28 billion figure, Saudi Arabia is also a named customer (often along with other nations) in weapons deals worth more than $34 billion over the same period. However, the amounts the Saudis actually paid in these were not disclosed, though in some of these orders Saudi Arabia was clearly the primary buyer. For example, a $3.4 billion DoD-approved radar deal with Raytheon lists only two buyers: Saudi Arabia and the tiny nation of Kuwait (population 4.2 million). Added together, this means that the DoD has greenlighted the sale of somewhere between $28 billion and $63 billion worth of arms from American companies to Saudi Arabia since the latter began its attack on the largely civilian population of Yemen. The biggest profiteer from Yemen's destruction has been aviation giant Boeing, which brought in $13.9 billion in sales over the period. Next comes Lockheed Martin, which has signed 62 separate contracts with the Kingdom since March 2015, worth in excess of $7.4 billion. Third on the list is missile expert Raytheon, which has cashed in on the violence to the tune of $3.3 billion. In total, 86 U.S. companies have profited from sales to Saudi Arabia since its intervention in Yemen, including household names like General Electric, Booz Allen Hamilton and Honeywell. The full list is also available in the accompanying spreadsheet.

Hour 1 * Up to 40 Looters Target California Bay Area Stores for Third Straight Day – Jack Phillips. * Documents Show Bill Gates Has Given $319 Million to Media Outlets – Sifting through over 30,000 grants in the company's database, MintPress can reveal that the Gates Foundation has bankrolled hundreds of media outlets and ventures, to the tune of at least $319 million – Alan Macleod. Hour 2 * Guest: Alex Newman, Author, Journalist, Educator and Broadcaster – TheNewAmerican.com * Book: The Great Prison Break: The Supreme Court Leads the Way – G. Edward Griffin. * Book: Crimes of the Educators: How Utopians Are Using Government Schools to Destroy America's Children – Samuel L. Blumenfeld, Alex Newman. * What is the Number One Threat to America? Newman: Government Education! * What is the Number One Threat to America? Bushman: The Federal Reserve! * Guest: Ted Nugent – Motor City Madman Ted Nugent releases his brand new single Come and Take It – The song is a powerful, patriotic rock anthem that reminds Americans of our sacred 1st and 2nd Amendment rights – HunterNation.org * Come and Take It is the first single from the upcoming album Detroit Muscle, which is slated for release this spring on April 29th – When asked what inspired the new single, Nugent had this to say, “Being the all-time gonzo progenitor of love songs that I am, it is only fitting that I unleash the All-American defiant battle hymn from we the people to punks who dare tread on us. Do you feel the love! Come and take it at your own risk.” * What is the Number One Threat to America? Nugent: Apathy! * Biden Orders 50 Million Barrels of Oil Released From Strategic Reserve to Cool Surging Prices – TheEpochTimes.com * Archives of the Simulcast of the Sheriff Mack show can be found in Video at BrightEON.tv and Audio at LibertyRoundTable.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/loving-liberty/support

* Up to 40 Looters Target California Bay Area Stores for Third Straight Day - Jack Phillips. * Documents Show Bill Gates Has Given $319 Million to Media Outlets - Sifting through over 30,000 grants in the company's database, MintPress can reveal that the Gates Foundation has bankrolled hundreds of media outlets and ventures, to the tune of at least $319 million - Alan Macleod.

Welcome to MintCast, the official MintPress News podcast featuring dissenting voices the establishment would rather silence. Today MintCast host Mnar Adley is joined by Vanessa Beeley, an independent investigative journalist and war correspondent based in Damascus, Syria.  While the U.S. military occupies a third of Syria -- mostly in the northeast, controlling Syria's vast oil reserves and water supplies -- Syria continues to rebuild after nearly a decade of destabilization efforts by the U.S. and its proxies, who have armed rebel groups with the intention of stoking a civil war and toppling President Bashar al-Assad. Today, the city of Daraa, which has been referred to as the cradle of the Syrian revolution, has been liberated by the Syrian Army. But, as MintPress reported nearly a decade ago, Daraa was the touchpaper lit by hardline Libyan mercenaries imported into Syria prior to 2011. These mercenaries were trained by the CIA and MI6, alongside Saudi intelligence, to hijack a small movement for economic reforms and turn it into an armed rebellion to fulfill foreign interests in the region. In this segment of MintCast, Beeley joins us to help get us up to speed with the war that was once the focus of mainstream coverage pushing a humanitarian interventionist narrative. MintPress News is a fiercely independent, reader-supported outlet, with no billionaire owners or backers. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube and subscribe to rapper Lowkey's new video interview/podcast series, The Watchdog.Support the show (https://www.mintpressnews.com/donations/)

Dr. Jemima Pierre, associate professor of Black studies and anthropology at the University of California, joins us to discuss the Haitian immigrant crisis. President Biden is struggling to find the right message regarding the Haitian immigrant crisis on the southern US border. Meanwhile, some Haitian officials are demanding a humanitarian moratorium on deporting the immigrants until the political crisis and earthquake response can be brought under control. Professor Ken Hammond, professor of East Asian and global history at New Mexico State University and activist with Pivot to Peace, joins us to discuss China. Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, the latest Raytheon employee to rise to the top of the military establishment in Washington, has said that his focus is on China and intends to see that considerably more money is spent to address his concerns. Observers and anti-war activists argue that this is merely another example of the war profiteering and corruption surrounding the US Empire's military machine. Dan Kovalik, writer, author, and lawyer joins us to discuss Biden's UN speech. In the shadow of a humiliating exit from Afghanistan, a murderous drone strike in Kabul, and a diplomatic row with Paris, President Joe Biden gave a speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday morning in New York. Biden reiterated US imperial rhetoric about leading the world against non-democratic nations.K. J. Noh, peace activist, writer, and teacher, joins us to discuss AUKUS. Russian Security Council Chief Nikolai Patrushev argues that the new US, UK, and Australia alliance known as "AUKUS" is aimed directly at Russia and China. Also, North Korea is reacting to AUKUS with anger, and some analysts believe that the move will drive the small nuclear nation directly into the Chinese military and political orbit.Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss the Russian election. United Russia, the political party that is the political home of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has retained power in the latest election. The US empire and its vassal states are positing that the election is illegitimate and arguing that the Russian annexation of Crimea invalidates the results of the entire electoral process. Scott Ritter, former UN weapon inspector in Iraq, joins us to discuss NATO expansion. In another dangerous expansion of NATO troops, the US Congress is moving to put more troops on the border of Russia. While some security analysts suspect that the move is for domestic purposes, the presence of US troops along with the constant regime change rhetoric coming out of US think tanks could be enough to spark a Russian response and create a disaster.Gerald Horne, professor of history at the University of Houston, author, historian, and researcher, joins us to discuss the US empire. Patrick Lawrence has penned an excellent article in Consortium News in which he revisits the Cold War and explains how this one is similar. Lawrence writes "It is the U.S. that has assiduously sought to kindle Cold War II, just as it, and not the Soviet Union, was responsible for starting Cold War I."Miko Peled, author and activist, joins us to discuss Israel. Miko Peled's latest Mintpress news article discusses the Israeli long-term move to change the foundational story of the Palestinian people in their homeland. Peled says that the narrative change has been an effective tool for Zionists to convince the world to forgive their horrendous crimes against the Palestinian populace.

The new MintPress podcast “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip-hop artist Lowkey, closely examines organizations about which it is in the public interest to know -- including intelligence, lobby and special-interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media. Hollywood is not exactly known for being a hotbed of anti-war, anti-imperialist activism. Indeed, so close is the relationship between the national security state and Tinseltown that the Department of Defense casually tweeted out on Oscar Night that it works closely with its “partners” in Hollywood to ensure the military is presented in a positive light.“Jack Ryan” star John Krasinski went further, explaining that he had an extremely close bond with the CIA. “I owe them everything,” he said. “The CIA is something that we should all not only cherish but be saying thank you for every single day. They're always trying to do the right thing,” he said of the agency, claiming they “care about the country in a bigger, more idealistic way.”Hollywood is also a keen supporter of America's unofficial fifty-first state, and all its highly questionable activities in the Middle East. As Israel was carrying out a blockade of the Gaza Strip, commonly referred to as the world's largest open-air prison, celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Gerard Butler, Andy Garcia and Pharrell Williams raised over $60 million for the Israeli Defense Forces at a fundraiser.One celebrity who has spoken up against Israeli actions is the star of “The Vampire Diaries,” Michael Malarkey. As the Israeli government began bombing Gaza in the wake of its storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in May, the 38-year-old actor wrote on his Instagram account: The obsessive lengths being used to delegitimize anyone taking a stand against Israel's apartheid regime are deceitful, despicable, and undemocratic. Those who employ such techniques want us to ignore the multitude of human rights abuses, the usage of illegal weapons and warfare, the unending occupation, the illegal annexation of Palestinian territories, and the callous bloodshed of innocents."“Now is the time to support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel and to openly challenge those few other countries that have long sponsored the Occupation and vetoed UN resolutions condemning it,” he concluded. Michael Malarkey joins “The Watchdog” host Lowkey today to discuss his career in show business, his political activism, and the difficulties of working in an industry so intertwined with the national security state. “It's fear-based for a lot of people,” he told Lowkey, explaining why more people in Hollywood do not speak up about their political convictions. “I think we're at this very interesting and important place in our human history, where we are awakening,” he added, expressing hope that there is now a possibility for building organizations that can fight for a better world. Follow Lowkey: https://twitter.com/Lowkey0nlineFollow Michael Malarkey: https://twitter.com/mkmalarkeyFollow MintPress News: https://twitter.com/MintPressNewsSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/MintPressNews)

Dr. Yolandra Hancock, board-certified pediatrician and obesity medicine specialist, joins us to discuss the pandemic. Concern over the Delta variant is hitting a fevered pitch as hospitalizations in the United States rise to numbers not seen since last February. For the first time since February 2020, more than 50,000 covid patients were hospitalized Monday, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.Dan Cohen, filmmaker, and writer for the Gray Zone project, joins us to discuss top national security reporters in the US and their connections to the government. Dan joins our hosts in a discussion about his latest Mintpress news article, "Media and the Permanent War State: Top National Security Reporters Linked to US Government." Cohen says that "when you think of the military-industrial complex and the permanent war state, don't forget about what might be the most important component of all: the media."Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, joins us to discuss Israel's latest military actions in the Middle East. Laith argues that Israeli militarism is destabilizing the region. He cites the current examples of Israel attacking southern Lebanon while arguing for a catastrophic war against Iran.Alexander Mercouris, editor-in-chief at theduran.com & host of "The Duran'' on YouTube, joins us to discuss Russia and China's strategic partnership. China is hosting Russian troops for a major military exercise for the first time on Chinese soil. Mercouris argues that the partnership between the two world powers is growing, and the fertilizer is being provided by the aggressive foreign policy of the United States. Kathy Kelly, American peace activist, joins us to discuss the congressional debate over the War Powers Act. A congressional debate over the future of the War Powers Act and the authorization for the use of military force is creating a dynamic in which GOP hawks will come face to face with the party's small, but popular libertarian non-interventionist wing. Also, US peace groups are calling on President Biden to adopt a "no first use of nuclear weapons" policy.Mark Sleboda, Moscow-based international relations security analyst, joins us to discuss the domination of Russian anti-aircraft technology in the Syrian skies. Syrian air defense forces have been having increased success in defeating Israeli missile attacks using advanced Russian anti-aircraft units. Sleboda discusses whether this is a result of changing policies in the Kremlin as Russia seeks to stabilize its war-torn ally.Teri Matson, Latin American coordinator for CodePink, joins us to discuss the new organization that is being created in Latin America to counter the Washington, DC-based regime change organization known as the OAS. Morales is expounding upon the comments by Mexico's president in which he argued for a new organization to counter US domination of the Global South. Author and speaker Vijay Prashad joins us to discuss China's work to build a relationship with the incoming Afghanistan government. Chinese diplomats have been meeting with Taliban leaders and facing the reality that the theocratic political organization is likely to soon take power in Kabul. Our guest argues that the Chinese government is working to secure economic ties, advance their "Belt and Road" initiative, and counter the ETIM's terror threat in Xinjiang.

Edward Snowden has called it “the story of the year.” An Israeli spying company has been caught selling software to authoritarian regimes that have used it to surveil more than 50,000 people worldwide.That company is NSO, founded in 2010 by former members of Unit 8200, the Israeli military's notorious intelligence squad. Their product is called Pegasus, and it was sold to military, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies in 40 countries, among them some of the world's worst human rights abusing governments.On this “MintCast,” investigative journalist Whitney Webb joins Mnar Adley today to discuss Pegasus, Toka, and the global Israeli cyberspying network. Whitney Webb is a writer and researcher for the outlets Unlimited Hangout and The Last American Vagabond. She principally covers intelligence, technology, surveillance, and civil liberties. Between 2017 and 2020, she was also a senior investigative reporter for MintPress. Her latest article, “Meet Toka, the Most Dangerous Israeli Spyware Firm You've Never Heard Of,” was published by MintPress earlier this week.Pegasus is able to attack the cellphones of targeted individuals without them realizing it, monitoring and recording their calls, texts and accessing other information stored on their devices. Dozens of human rights activists, nearly 200 journalists, several Arab royals, and more than 600 politicians are known to have had their communications spied on and compromised. Among those include French President Emmanuel Macron, Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan and president of Iraq, Barham Salih.Yet a new MintPress News investigation asserts that Pegasus is merely the tip of the Israeli cyber spying iceberg and that another piece of software, Toka, is far more dangerous and outrageous. Toka markets itself as “a one-stop hacking shop for governments that require extra capability to fight terrorists and other threats to national security in the digital domain.” The company's software is designed to infiltrate any device connected to the internet, not just smartphones.Toka is a product of the Israeli national security state, having been co-founded by former prime minister, Ehud Barak, and was also designed by members of Unit 8200, leading Webb to suggest that it is a front for the Israeli government.MintPress News is a fiercely independent, reader-supported outlet, with no billionaire owners or backers. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.Support the show (https://www.mintpressnews.com/donations/)

The new MintPress podcast, “The Watchdog,” hosted by British-Iraqi hip hop artist Lowkey closely examines organizations that are in the public interest to know about including intelligence, lobby, and special interest groups influencing policies that infringe on free speech and target dissent. The Watchdog goes against the grain by casting a light on stories largely ignored by the mainstream, corporate media.For the launch of “The Watchdog,” we examine the idea that Israel, through well-camouflaged proxies, has been making efforts to merge with the U.S.national security state. The podcast delves deep into two organizations we deemed essential to this process of entryism. For this task, we enlisted the help of the prolific writer, researcher into intelligence, surveillance, civil liberties, and big tech on the macro and the micro-level, Whitney Webb.The first part of the podcast focuses on the IDF Unit 8200, a military intelligence unit in the Israeli Army known for monitoring Palestinian communication and using that information to blackmail them. The unit has also carried out cyber attacks on other states. Unit 8200 gave birth to the NSO Group, the supposedly private company responsible for the Pegasus Spyware which has recently been used around the world to target dissidents, journalists, activists, and more. The lesson which must come from this global scandal is that companies with any Unit 8200 involvement must be seriously examined.The NSO group is far from the only way in which Unit 8200 actors have been able to insinuate themselves into the business of other governments. Following a 2012 policy set by the Benjamin Netanyahu government, Israel set about siphoning the functions of its military intelligence into private companies. Former Unit 8200 members set up staff and numerous important cybersecurity companies across the world, tasked with guarding swathes of very sensitive data.Whitney Webb explores her research by looking at Unit 8200 founded and-or staffed organizations like Cybereason, National Start-up Central, and Cyber Threat Intelligence League which between them have access to masses of information in both the U.S. and UK. Lowkey draws a connection between Cybereason, their partner Leidos and the 2012 British census. He also delves into the recently widely referenced cybersecurity company Proofpoint, identifying for the first time the connection between this company and Unit 8200.MintPress is fiercely independent. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/MintPressNews)

In recent years, the big networks have hired a wide range of “former” agency veterans and officers, supposedly to give independent and expert commentary and analysis on all matters national security. These have included former CIA Directors John Brennan (NBC, MSNBC) and Michael Hayden (CNN), ex-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper (CNN), and former Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend (CBS). News for so many Americans comes delivered through ex-CIA interns like Anderson Cooper (CNN), CIA applicants like Tucker Carlson (Fox), or by the daughter of a powerful national security advisor, Mika Brzezinski (MSNBC). Forty-four years ago, acclaimed journalist Carl Bernstein exposed how the CIA had planted more than 400 operatives into newsrooms across America, where they posed as journalists but were actually laundering national security state talking points. Today, there are increasing signs that the so-called “deep state” is attempting to do the same thing to social media.In 2017, popular social media site Reddit made a particularly eyebrow-raising decision to hire Jessica Ashooh, a hawkish foreign-policy expert from the Atlantic Council, NATO's semi-official think tank, as its director of policy, though Ashooh had no relevant experience running a social media company. Yet the hire was completely ignored by corporate media. Also ignored was the unmasking of a senior Twitter executive as an active duty member of the British Army's 77th Brigade, its unit dedicated to online warfare and psychological operations. Our guest today has been cataloging these worrying connections in a series of articles for MintPress. Today we discuss Ashooh's past and why it should trouble anyone who uses social media, as well as exploring the notorious intelligence service-linked and military-funded university department that is pumping out many of the world's top journalists. MintPress News is a fiercely independent, reader-supported outlet, with no billionaire owners or backers. You can support us by becoming a member on Patreon, bookmarking and whitelisting us, and by subscribing to our social media channels, including Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram.Subscribe to MintCast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud.Also, be sure to check out the new Behind the Headlines channel on YouTube.Support the show (https://www.mintpressnews.com/donations/)