It’s Our Money with Ellen Brown – Paradigm Shift: Going Local – 07.20.16

Globalization has given giant private interests virtually free reign to influence policies and institutions that undermine local interests. This dominant economic paradigm in which private interests trump public interest is being pushed back by emerging forces ranging from new financial technologies, social media and changing populist narratives about the importance of effective public governance. Ellen speaks with renown global economist, author and futurist Hazel Henderson about these changes, Walt talks with David Morris of the Institute for Local Self Reliance about those changing narratives and Matt Stannard discusses threads of endemic racism that manifest in private bank practices. And we check in with one of our colleagues about why they will be demonstrating at the Philadelphia Democratic Convention about the role of money in our democracy.

Leid Stories – Unifier-in-Chief Obama Shines A Light on Problems Already Known – 07.14.16

President Barack Obama met for more than four hours at the White House with a diverse group of leaders yesterday—the same day he spoke at the funeral of five police officers killed by an ex-soldier in a sniper attack July 7 in Dallas. The Unifier-in-Chief said he wanted their ideas and input on how to build “trust” between police and the communities they serve, the main focus of The President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing he created by executive order in December 2014.

The task force in May last year delivered a 116-page report, with recommendations for nationwide changes in six key areas—building trust and legitimacy; policy and oversight; technology and social media; community policing and crime reduction; training and education; and officer wellness and safety. Yet, Obama continues to plead for deeper understanding of, and solutions for, the “trust problem.”

It’s not as if there’s a dearth of information about law-enforcement (and especially its problems); the task force’s report pales in comparison to books, articles and scholarly papers on the subject. Why, then, is Obama stalling on implementing his own task force’s—and other credible–recommendations?

It’s All About Food – Eugene Wang with Susan Carskadon and Michael Neeley – 05.31.16

Part I: Eugene Wang, Sophie’s Kitchen Vegan Seafood

Eugene Wang grew up immersed in the vegetarian food business. For 20 + years his family has led the way in quality manufacturing of vegetarian food and distributing it throughout Asia and in North America. He took all he learned and in 1996, began consulting and leading food companies in the vegan and vegetarian food categories. Since 2004, his vision for launching the first Vegan Seafood has manifested into a viable category innovation lauded by the press and social media thought leaders, as well as natural trade industry leaders. The Sophie’s Kitchen Vegan Seafood phenomena has brought him the accolade ‘Vegan Visionary’.

Eugene is an experienced entrepreneur and leader. His broad scope of professional experience makes him uniquely qualified to assist vegetarian/vegan companies to the next level of success. For example, as President of Super Elephant, Taiwan, in 2004-2010, he acquired national distribution for the top US natural distributor, UNFI, where he became highly skilled in all aspects of developing sales in the natural and specialty marketplace in Asia for leading US natural product companies. In 2001, he founded a software company in Silicon Valley that built web-based CRM software, and in 1999, he joined Sherpa Research Limited, Tokyo, to spearhead a leading Japanese company into the Chinese market by developing important alliances and creating proactive, strategic marketing plans. Mr. Wang started his career in 1995, at a management consulting firm in New York City, shortly after earning his MBA from Columbia University, Columbia Business School, New York.
Susan Carskadon, Sophie’s Kitchen Marketing, PR, Social Media, Advertising
Susan Carskadon has been launching state-of-the-art products in the natural and mainstream industries, domestically and internationally, for over 35 years. Her specialty is taking little known, new concepts to full consumer visibility.
Part II: Michael Neeley, The Conscious Life Summit 2016
Michael Neeley is a former professional actor and medieval knight turned writer, motivational speaker, personal development coach, author of the upcoming book, The Art of Forgetting, and host of the highly-rated new podcast, Consciously Speaking. Michael is a student of Buddhism and is a certified Dharma teacher and meditation guide. He is committed to living a conscious lifestyle and helping guide others to do the same. He’d like to personally invite you to The Conscious Life Summit 2016, where he will be hosting 24 guest experts, including the amazing Caryn Hartglass, herself. It begins this Friday, June 3rd and runs through June 10th. It’s online, and it’s free.

Revealed: CIA Funding Companies that Specialize in Social Media Spying

Reflecting the CIA’s “increasing focus on monitoring social media,” the spy agency’s venture capital arm, In-Q-Tel, has made investments in four social media mining and surveillance firms, The Intercept revealedThursday. According to a document obtained by journalist Lee Fang, In-Q-Tel is funding companies that monitor, collect, and analyze social media traffic and activities on platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The investments were …

Black Agenda Radio – 04.04.16

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective with Glen Ford and his co-host, Nellie Bailey.

– The city of Greenville, South Carolina, has witnessed two large funerals in recent days: one for a white cop, the other, for a young Black man who the police claimed killed the officer, and then committed suicide. Black young people in Greenville don’t buy the police version of Deontaye Perry Mackey’s death, and neither does Efia Nwangaza, director of Greenville’s Malcolm X Center for Self-Determination.

– Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Chicago-based minister who ran for president as a Democrat in 1984 and 1988, came to Columbia University in New York for a conversation on the current election with Dr. Cornel West, who is supporting Bernie Sanders for president. Rev. Jackson was asked if he’s endorsed anyone in the Democratic primaries.

– Dr. Cornel West, the Sanders supporter, is based at Union Theological Seminary, just across the street from Columbia University. Dr. West said he understands that Rev. Jackson might want to stand “above the fray.”

– Dr. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, the Black Agenda Report editor and columnist, attended three of the recent congressional hearings on the poisoning of the water system in Flint, Michigan. Adebayo used to work for the federal Environmental Protection Agency. She successfully sued the agency, and was the key actor in passage of legislation to protect whistle blowers from government retaliation. Adebayo said the poisoning of Flint was a deliberate act.

– Umi Saleh, the leader of the Florida-based Dream Defenders, who was formerly known as Phillip Agnew, spoke recently with Pascal Robert, a frequent contributor to Black Agenda Report. Saleh talked about Movement politics and the limitations – and dangers – of over-dependence on social media.

The Gary Null Show – 03.15.16

Prof. Joseph Hickman is an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law and a senior research fellow at its Center for Policy and Research. Joe is also a former Marine and army sergeant who has worked on a variety of sensitive operations worldwide, including security at Guantanamo prison in Cuba. His revelations about the abuse of prisoners at the facility resulted in his award winning story in Harper’s magazine and his book “Murder at Camp Delta.” Prof. Hickman’s most recent book “The Burn Pits: The Poisoning of America’s Soldiers” investigates the Department of Defense’s and its private contractors’ negligence and subsequent denial about the human health and environmental dangers of “burn pits” in Afghanistan and Iraq, which exposed tens of 1000s of soldiers to life threatening toxins. The book has been banned by the Defense Department, and Joe is donating his royalties to the non-profit advocacy organization, BurnPit360.org, that is fighting on behalf of 1000s of soldiers suffering from a wide range of diseases, including autoimmune disorders, untreatable respiratory illnesses, and a variety of cancers due to burn pit exposure.

Children Caught In Sweep as Feds Begin Mass Deportations

The New Year was just hours old when the administration of President Barack Obama began rounding up and deporting at least 121 people, some reportedly as young as four years old, presumably back to the drug wars and violence they are fleeing in predominantly Central American countries. The coordinated raids over the weekend focused mostly in Georgia, Texas, and North …

Miles Schneiderman – Maintaining Real Relationships in the Digital World

I use Facebook every day, multiple times a day. It’s such an automatic activity at this point that I couldn’t even guess at an exact count. With the app for my phone, I can check Facebook as easily as I check the time. When I log in, my eyes dart to the small red number in the upper right-hand corner …

Mel Gurtov – Manipulating Reality: Facebook Is Listening to You

One thing we have become all too used to is that our reality can be manipulated to create the appearance of something else entirely. Invading another country is defensive, rigged elections are passed off as democracy in action, more guns (or more nuclear weapons) ensure the peace, trade and foreign investment increase jobs at home. Orwellian logic has become commonplace. …