GDAE Podcast - Episode 20

Human Exceptionalism II

• "Human Exceptionalism" with Rickback Bookbock: An extension of Episode 19 (Book "Ishmael") & Episode 18 (American Exceptionalism).
• MUSIC: Stephen Stills on guitar.
• Wall Street insider: Jim Finkle's new perspective on mortgage backed bonds, asset managers vs investment bankers, and Wall Street culture.
• Prosecute Bush: Conference on prosecution of Bush at Massachusetts School of Law at Andover hosted by Dean Lawrence Velvel, with views of Vincent Bugliosi and Christopher Pyle.

Play GDAE Podcast Episode 20 from this page.

Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:

GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo

GDAE Podcast Episode 19 September 27, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 18 September 16, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 17 August 31, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 16 July 30, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 15 June 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 14 June 10, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 13 May 22, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 12May 5, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 11 April 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 10 April 9, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 9March 28, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 8 March 15, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009

Sources:

The Great Cover Up.... Again

History has shown that, first the corporate establishment creates a scandal, then the government creates a cover up scandal. We're watching a cover up unfold before our eyes.

Why the cover up? Because the establishment in charge is trying to 1) hide their role in causing the scandal, and 2) preserve their wealth and power... at the expense of common folk.

A historical example: The "cover up" during the 1980s Savings and Loan debacle, which by the way was about the size of the AIG piece of what's shaping up to be the downfall of the US Empire, was as follows. Rather than expose the depth of the S&L mess, risking public out cry that would expose Congress' role in causing the mess, Congress swept it under the rug. They spread the S&L bailout costs over a long time, creating a huge interest payment burden for the public. A lot of these interest payments were eventually paid to many of the financial industry thieves who stole money and caused the S & L failures.

Same type of coverup is happening now and a mark-to-model shell game, on which I wrote today, shaping up to is a big part of it. In the short run, things will look good, but it's also dangerous. It's the same kind of trickery that Japan played in the 1990s that led to their lost decade, drifting in and out of recession.

The internet is all abuzz about last weeks interview of William K. Black by Bill Moyers. Black was involved in exposing the theives of the S&L crisis. One of them was Charles Keating, after whom the senate's so-called "Keating Five" were named, including John McCain. According to Moyers, Keating wrote a memo that read, in part, "get Black — kill him dead."

William Black fired a broadside last Friday, April 3, on Bill Moyers Journal:

BILL MOYERS: Why are they firing the president of G.M. and not firing the head of all these banks that are involved?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: There are two reasons. One, they're much closer to the bankers. These are people from the banking industry. And they have a lot more sympathy. ... But the other element of your question is [they] don't want to change the bankers, because if [they] do, if [they] put honest people in, who didn't cause the problem, their first job would be to find the scope of the problem. And that would destroy the cover up.

BILL MOYERS: The cover up?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Sure. The cover up.

BILL MOYERS: That's a serious charge.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Of course.

BILL MOYERS: Who's covering up?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Geithner is charging, is covering up. Just like Paulson did before him.

Black levels the charge that the Obama administration is intentionally covering up the insolvency of the big banks. Some will say that this is to preserve stability, a montra of the establishment, but as noted above, it's really about preserving establishment power and wealth.

William Black Interview Transcript

Psssst... Do Something

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

Sources:

Bill Moyers Journal, April 4, 2009. (Video, transcript and more).

Spoonamore 2005: How Does Your Vote Get Counted?

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore explains the steps from voting machines, county tabulators, and aggregators, all "totally hackable." There is no chain-of-custody documentation. (5 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: How Does Your Vote Get Counted?, Clip 1 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: Vote Tabulator is Unknown Black Box

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore gives the analogy to describe how electronic vote tabulators work today: Our votes go into a room, the door is locked, the "wizard of Oz" counts the votes, the Oz comes out and announces the results without anyone being able to verify the count. (5 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: The Great Oz Vote Counter, Clip 2 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: Diebold Machines Could be Hacked by Foreigners

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore explains all systems can be hacked. The US government sent out an alert saying that Diebold machines pose a national security risk due to being vulnerable to foreign hacking. He also points out lies Diebold has perpetrated. (2 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: All Systems are Hackable, Clip 3 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: What's Inside the Vote Tabulators

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore explains that every function of electronic banking are open to inspection, but the vote tabulator functions are not. Why? (5 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: Why Hide How Our Vote Tabulators Work?, Clip 4 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: Transmission of Votes to Tabulator

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore explains that votes can be sent in many ways from precincts to the county tabulator that adds them up. There is no chain-of-custody guaranteed, and no way to audit what happens in the tabulator, which are huge vulnerabilities. (3 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: Vote Transfers to Tabulators, Clip 5 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: Easy Ways to Change the Voting Results

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore explains the "forced balance" hack; given 6 of 7 county results, change one so that the grand total (the balance) comes out with your candidate the winner. He gives a classic example used to steal money in the banking industry. What's the 51.6% magic number about? (3 min video).


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: Easy Hacks, Clip 6 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: Electronic Voting is Not Complex

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore points out that Diebold makes very complex auditable ATM banking software. Voting is much simpler, therefore the computer code for a citizen auditing capability would be easy. He suggests why the electronic voting machine industry wants us to believe it is complex. (5 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: Electronic Vote Counting is Simple, Clip 7 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

Spoonamore 2005: A Simple Solution

Computer security practitioner, and Republican, Stephen Spoonamore asks why the electronic voting systems don't have the same well established audit functions as the electronic banking systems. He tells us why he believes they do not. (4 min video)


Stephen Spoonamore 2005: A Simple Solution, Clip 8 of 8

Sources:

Velvet Revolution Interview, 2008.

We're Different from those who are in Unaccountable Power

"Internationally-renowned investigative reporter and filmmaker John Pilger talks about the limitless occupation in Palestine, the war in Iraq, the current pathetic state of mainstream journalism, and his new book Freedom Next Time."

That's how Flashpoints Radio casts its May 17, 2007 interview of Pilger. Pilger's clarity of thought, founded on adherence to basic principles and sound logic, accounts for his concise and compelling explanation of current affairs. The following is the first in a two-part series of partial transcripts from the interview.

The interview began with the current situation in Gaza. Pilger understands that context is critical in any discussion. On Gaza he begins,

You have to understand, Gaza is a prison. On one side is the sea. On another side is Egypt, through which there is a boarder, but generally it's closed. And, on the other side, is Israel, which locks people in.

There are more than a million people living there... [he describes the malnourished children and lack of economy]... it's an enforced ghetto. And it's enforced by the United States. When I say the United States, yes Israel does it, but really, all of the wars conducted by Israel, and the impositions of Israel in the Middle East are American-backed, and they're done, as just described, with American aircraft, who happen to be flown by Israelis.

That's very important to understand that, in the reporting, I've just watched a television report here, in which it described the most horrific bombing, as even using that euphemism "air strikes," how anodyne that sounds, and four Hamas militants were killed. How do they know? And militants about what? Militants about running the Country? Hamas was voted in to run the Country, in democratic elections, and that sorely upset the United States, and they decided to stop it.

And the tragic civil war, of a kind, that has erupted in Gaza is entirely caused by outside forces, about people not being allowed to democratically run their own country, choose their own people.

If I sound somewhat strong about this it's because I've been to Gaza and I've seen the conditions there, and it's just unreal to come away from a place like that, and to really know what's causing this, horror, and then to be, sort of, transported into our safe and comfortable world.

Gaza is the metaphor, a very live and bleeding metaphor, for the whole Middle East, and probably for the whole world in terms of the imposition of great power on powerless people.

Dennis Bernstein asked about Pilger's two films and said, "We hear language like, 'a road map'"... "It's a cynical discussion to talk about a map." Pilger replied,

Yes, it's a cynical discussion... and it's a farcical discussion, and it requires the kind of contortion of intellect and morality that most people aren't capable of. In my opinion I think most people live their lives in a straight forward manner. Power does not. We're different. We're different from those who are in unaccountable power. And that's true now in the United States, it's true to a great degree here in Britain, and in other so-called democracies, the word itself has fallen into disrepute.

Yes I made two films. I made the first one, Palestine is Still the Issue I believe in 1975 I think. I made the second one, Palestine is Still the Issue in 2002. And the reason I kept the title was because it was still the issue. Fundamentally over those years, nothing had changed, fundamentally nothing had changed. The Palestinian people were subjected to the world's longest military occupation, were an indigenous people in their own homeland, denied the right of living peacefully in their own homeland. Denied the right to even live peacefully along side those who came later, that is the Israelis. Those who want to believe the Biblical story of three thousand years ago, go ahead, ah [chuckle] ah there are plenty of myths in the world, but we're dealing with lives now.

Israelis and Palestinians could be living together today in peace were it not for the power ambitions of the United States, combining with the more extreme power ambitions of Zionist Israel. I don't say that with a light heart, it's just true. Any any journalist who's been going backwards and forward to that part of the world for so many years, as I have, who denies that truth, because they're worried they're going to be attacked by Zionists and get a blizzard of e-mails, and the usual stuff, then they should stand up to that, because that's the truth.

And until Palestine, until the people of Palestine are given justice, which will automatically give security to the people of Israel, then the rest of the Middle East will remain in a sort of perpetual torment, ah and indeed, much of the world.

Bernstein turned the discussion to Iraq, bridging it with the common theme of the mainstream media coverage [See Part 2].

Sources:

Flashpoints Radio, WPFA, May 17, 2007.