Progressive Commentary Hour

Chris Hedges is one of our nation’s most insightful cultural critics, social and political activists and authors. For almost 20 years he was a foreign correspondent in war zones and conflicts in Central America, the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans, having reported for The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor and other news outlets.  While at the Times, Chris received the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for reporting on global terrorism. The same year he received Amnesty International’s Global Award for Human Rights Journalism.  Over the years he has taught at Columbia, Princeton, NYU and the University of Toronto. Among Chris’ many noteworthy books are “American Fascists” (about the fundamental Christian Right), “Empire of Illusion”, and “Death of the Liber. His latest is “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt”  – a  compelling hard look at the most impoverished regions in the US that have become what Chris calls “sacrifice zones” for the benefit of the  powerful and wealthy. Andrew Harvey is an internationally renowned religious scholar, teacher, and author of over thirty books.  He is the founder of the Institute of Sacred Activism, an international organization dedicated to inspiring people to become more active and vital in challenging our global crises and to commit themselves to peace and sustainability. Andrew was born in India, studied at Oxford University where he was a fellow at All Soul’s College. Over the years he has taught at Oxford, Cornell, the California Institute for Integral Studies and other institutions.  He is perhaps best known for having explored all the different religions in depth, particularly Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sufism, and interpreting them in a passionate manner while also preserving their essential meaning and significance for our own time. Andrew has received many awards for his writings including the Benjamin Franklin Award. His most recent book is “Radical Passion: Sacred Love and Wisdom in Action” and before that “The Hope: A Guide To Sacred Activism” which won the Nautilus Silver Award for Social Change

Dr. Margaret Flowers is a pediatrician in Maryland who is currently working full time on the reform on America’s health care in favor of a single payer or Medicare for All system.  She is a co-chair of the Maryland chapter of the Physicians for a National Health Program, and one of its advisory board members. The national organization of PNHP now has over 18,000 physician members who support single payer universal health coverage. Margaret also sits on the board of the organization Healthcare Now!  She received media attention after her first arrest during the Senate Finance Committee meeting on healthcare in 2009, and then a second arrest for attempting to deliver a letter to the White House in response to President Obama’s state of the union address. WEBSITE for Articles:  ClearingFOGRadio.org Physicians for a National Health Program WEBSITE:  www.PNHP.org Prof. Jerry Friedman is a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst where he has taught since 1984.  He has specialized in economic and labor history as well has the economics of healthcare. In addition to publishing reviews of the economic impact of our current private insurance based healthcare model and the economic benefits of single payer, he has also conducted financial analyses for single payer initiatives in individual states including Maryland, Colorado and Pennsylvania. His articles can be found on the Dollar and Sense website and Real TV interviews on Youtube Dr. Michael Huntington is a retired oncologist and the former Medical Director of the Radiation Oncology Department at Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis Oregon where he currently resides. He is a founder of the Oregon Chapter of Physicians for a National Health Program  -- that now has over 18,000 member physicians who favor single payer universal health coverage. IN 2009 Dr. Huntington helped create the Mad as Hell Doctors, who toured the US speaking in favor of single payer healthcare  reform before the passing of Obama’s plan. He is currently the president of the Health Care for All Oregon Education Fund. Mad as Hell Doctors WEBSITE:  www.MadAsHellDoctors.co

Progressive Commentary Hour - 03/25/13

Dr. Rodrigue Tremblay is a prominent Canadian economist who is now a professor emeritus at the University of Montreal. In the late 1970s he served as the Minister of Industry and Commerce in the Quebec government. Dr. Tremblay is also the President of the North American Economics and Finance Association and President of the Canadian Economics Society. Dr. Tremblay has authored over 25 books on economics, finance and a variety of global ethical and political issues. His blog on geopolitics is read throughout the world and translated into 8 languages. His most recent book “The Code for Global Ethics: Ten Humanist Principles” addresses the urgent need for a new sense of morals in the face of immense international and global challenges. BOOK: “The Code for Global Ethics: Ten Humanist Principles” WEBSITE BLOG:  www.TheNewAmericanEmpire.com Dr. Michel Chossudovsky is a professor emeritus at the University of Ottawa in Ontario and has been an economic advisor to many developing countries.  He is the founder of the Center for Research on Globalization at the University of Montreal and founding editor of Global Research.ca.  Prof. Chossudovsky is one of world’s leading visionaries in economic trends associated with free market globalization, having identified over 15 years ago many of the problems in global neoliberal economics that are now frequent in our headlines:  austerity, economic shock therapy, the association between rising poverty, the pillaging of developing nations due to the structural adjustment policies of the US led World Bank, IMF and WTO, and the criminalization of our banking system. He has written several books, most notably “The Globalization of Poverty and The New World Order” AND “Towards a World War 3 Scenario: The Dangers of Nuclear War” WEBSITE:  www.GlobalResearch.c

Journalist, investigative reporter Nick Bryant has been writing on the plight of disadvantaged children for over a decade. His writings have appeared in professional publications such as the Journal of Professional Ethics, the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, the Journal of Social Distress and the publication of School Health. He is the co-author of “America’s Children:  Triumph of Tragedy” that dealt with the mental health problems of lower socioeconomic children. He is the author of  “The Franklin Scandal: A Story of Powerbrokers, Child Abuse and Betrayal” that exposes a nationwide pedophile ring that pandered children to a cabal of the rich and powerful and the corruption of the Justice Department and law enforcement to crack down on it. It is perhaps one of the most suppressed crime stories in recent American history. WEBSITE:  www.FranklinScandal.com Harvey Schweitzer is an attorney with the firm Schweitzer and Scherr in Maryland, who has handled hundreds of adoption and foster care cases.  He played a leading role in the creation of the Counsel for Child Abuse and Neglect Office at the DC Superior Court and received the National Treasure Award from the Foster and Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center. Mr Schweitzer received his law degree from UCLA and is an adjunct professor at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University.  He is also the author of “Foster Care Law” which has become a standard text in this field. WEBSITE:  www.SchweitzerLaw.ne

Steve and Cheryl Nagel are the grandparents of Rico Martinez-Nagel, the son of their adopted daughter Lindsey Nagel who was adopted by their daughter Lindsey Nagel from Romania. Although testing negative for HIV in Romania, she tested positive upon arriving in the US. In December 2012, Lindsey gave birth a son Rico. Refusing to have the child tested for HIV. As will hear from their story. The infant was eventually abducted by the state. It wasn’t for some days later when they found the child was in the hospital, being tube fed and receiving AIDS drugs including AZT Dr. Andrew Maniotis is the science and biomedical consultant for Cures Within Reach, formerly the Goldman Partnership for Cures, and serves as a consultant for the Office of Medical and Scientific Justice in LA and the National Vaccine Information Center.   Earlier he was an assistant professor of pathology and the director of melanoma and breast cancer research at the University of Illinois Medical School in Chicago. Over the years he has held research associate positions at the University of California at Berkeley (where he received doctorate), Harvard University and Washington University School of Medicine. Andy has been a leading scientific in the Rethinking AIDS community. He has been consulting for the Nagel family and was a consultant for the US heavyweight boxer Tom Morrison when he had tested HIV positive and was prevented from competing… later to find that Morrison was negative. His website is andrewmaniotis.wordpress.com, where you can several free ebooks on AIDS, Cancer and Vaccines Dr. David Rasnick is medical researcher specializing in AIDS, cancer, protease inhibitors and clinical diagnostics. He was the first scientist to synthesis peptidyl-fluoromethanes, inhibitors of cysteine proteases used to destroy tissue related to arthritis, cancer and various parasites. In 1978, he helped establish the Diagnostic chemistry group at Abbott Laboratories and was a founder of Enzyme Systems Products and Prototek.  After leaving Khepri Pharmaceuticals as a senior scientist, David, along with his colleague Dr. Peter Duesberg at the University of California at Berkeley, David further developed the aneuploidy theory of cancer, which pertains to chromosomal imbalance.  Over the years he has been a sharp critic of the current dominant AIDS hypothesis, has been a former President of the group Rethinking AIDS and was a member of the Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel of South Africa started by President Thabo Mbeki. WEBSITE:  www.DavidRasnick.com Celia Farber is a journalist who covered the HIV wars extensively since 1987, in various magazines. Some of these writings are collected in her book: "Serious Adverse Events: An Uncensored History of AIDS" published by Melville House Press, (now Random House) in 2006. Activist Michael Callen called Farber "..the best AIDS journalist in the world." Her 2006 article for Harper's magazine detailing the totalitarian corruption of HIV/AIDS research was titled "Out of Control: AIDS And The Corruption of Medical Science." The attacks from the AIDS industry were predictable and fierce. In 2008 she was awarded the Semmelweis Clean Hands Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism

Andrew Harvey is an internationally renowned religious scholar, writer, teacher, and author of over thirty books.  He is the founder of the Institute of Sacred Activism, an international organization dedicated to inspiring people to become more involved in challenging our global crises and to commit themselves to peace and sustainability. Andrew was born in India, studied at Oxford University where he was a fellow at All Soul’s College, and has taught at Oxford, Cornell, the California Institute for Integral Studies and other institutions over the years.  He is perhaps best known for having explored all the different religions in depth, particularly Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Sufism, and interpreting them in a passionate manner that preserves their meaning and significance for our own time. He received many awards for his writings including the Benjamin Franklin Award. His most recent book is “Radical Passion: Sacred Love and Wisdom in Action” and before that “The Hope: A Guide To Sacred Activism” which won the Nautilus Silver Award for Social Change

Paul Levy is a pioneer in the postmodern psycho-spiritual movement. He has an academic background in economics and conducted economic research at Princeton.  Later he was the manager of the C.G. Jung Foundation Book Service, which provided him with the opportunity  toimmerse himself in the psychoanalytics and metaphysics of Carl Jung. For over 25 years he has studied with many accomplished Tibetan and Burmese Buddhist teachers, and been a serious student of Native American and world mythology Paul is the author of a truly groundbreaking and courageous book that explores the deeper psycho-spiritual dynamics behind our global madness and attempts to explain why so many are more willing to deny it rather than challenge it.  The book is “Dispelling Wetiko (Wet-eeko): Breaking the Curse of Evil” His website is www.AwakenInTheDream.com Dr. Carolyn Baker has been an adjunct professor in history and psychology for over 7 years and a psythotherapist in private proactice for 17

William Blum is an author, historian and critic of American foreign policy, who has worked and reported from three different continents.  He was one of the founding editors of the Washington Free Press, the first “alternative” newspaper in DC.  His early journalism is best known for exposing CIA misdeeds and operations. His recent book, just released is “America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy” published by Zed Books. His blog is www.KillingHope.com where you can read his frequent essays.  Bill is currently the originator of the monthly newsletter “The Anti-Empire Report”. BOOK:  “America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy” WEBSITE:  www.KillingHope.com Glen Ford is the Executive Editor of the Black Agenda Report. In the 1970s he was a correspondent and journalist covering Capitol Hill and the White House for the Mutual Black network, and later hosted the nation’s first syndicated Black news interview program, “America’s Black Forum.”  Since

Catherine Frompovich is a retired natural nutritionist and a journalist and researcher focusing on consumer health issues. She has advanced degrees in Nutrition Sciences and in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice. In the 1980s she was the host of one of the countries first natural cooking shows on television, Catherine’s Natural Kitchen.  She is the co-author of a monogram, Vaccines and Vaccinations, presented to the Congressional Oversight Committees to initiate a thorough review into vaccine safety, efficacy and policies. She is the author of several books including A Cancer Answer, Holistic Breast Cancer Management, and Our Chemical Lives and the Hijacking of our DNA.  Today she continues publishing her investigative reporting on Activist Post and other alternative news sites, and she consults for other aspiring authors to get their works into publication. BOOK:  Our Chemical Lives and the Hijacking of our DNA WEBSITE:  www.CatherineJFrompovich.com Dr. Viera Scheibner is a retired Principal Research Scientist in Australia. After losing a baby to crib death in the mid-1980s due to a vaccine immunization, she has made the science behind vaccines her primary focus of medical research.  She is now one of the world’s leading experts on the faulty science and adverse effects of vaccines in general, and their individual ingredients in particular.  Frequently she has served as a expert witness in court cases related to death and injuries caused by vaccines. Dr. Scheibner has published two major books on vaccines – “Vaccination 100 Years of Orthodox Research”  and  “Behavioral Problems in Childhood: The Link to Vaccination” and close to 90 scientific peer-reviewed papers. Edda West is the co-founder of the Association for Vaccine Damaged Children and the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network, Canada’s leading vaccine awareness organization.  VRAN is a non profit education society that supports and provides resources to vaccine injured Canadians.  Her daughter was injured by the MMR vaccine at 15 months, back in 1977.  Edda is a long time political activist and has been actively opposed to mandatory vaccines as being against Canada’s constitution and her efforts have been greatly responsible for her country’s exemption laws. WEBSITE:  www.VRAN.or

Prof. James Tracy is a professor in the Department of Communications at Florida Atlantic University where he specializes in media history and analysis, the politics of communications, and the sociology behind commercial and alternative news media on current events. His writings are frequently published on Global Research in Canada and alternative, progressive news and analysis sites. Prof. Tracy is also the editor of Democratic Communique, and is affiliated with the Project Censored group at Sonoma State University.  He received his doctorate from University of Iowa. Recently, Prof. Tracy drew national attention for challenging the official story of about the Sandy Hook shootings last month. Dr. Ralph Metzner is a psychologist, psychedelic researcher and author who has been on of the leading pioneers of the modern exploration school of consciousness studies.  He was one of the original psychedelic researchers working with Timothy Leary and Richard Albert (eg Ram Das) at Harvard University, where he later received his doctorate. Dr. Metzner is a professor emeritus of psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies where he was also the former academic dean. He is the co-founder and president of the Green Earth Foundation, non-profit organization devoted to harmonizing the relationship between humans and the earth, and a signatory to the 911 Truth Statement.  He has published numerous articles and many books on the psychology of consciousness, mysticism and spirituality, psychedelics.  His latest book is “Six Pathways of Destiny” in the Ecology of Consciousness series, and he writes at GreenEarthFound.org BOOK:  “Six Pathways of Destiny” WEBSITE:  www.GreenEarthFound.org Jon Rappoport has worked as a free-lance investigative reporter for over 30 years, writing about politics and the corportacracy, alternative health and the medical cartel, the media, and culture LA Weekly, Spin Magazine, Stern, Village Voice, Nexus, CBS Healthwatch, and other newspapers and magazines in the US and Europe. His reporting on the military in El Salvador earned him a submission for the Pulitzer prize. He has hosted, produced, and written radio programs and has appeared as a guest on over 200 radio and television programs, including ABC's Nightline, Tony Brown's Journal (PBS), and Hard Copy. For the last ten years, Jon has operated largely away from the mainstream because, as he puts it, "My research was not friendly to the conventional media."  He runs a website with many years of research and articles called No More Fake News. Com WEBSITE:  www.NoMoreFakeNews.com Phil Rockstroh is a poet, lyricist, essayist and philosopher who has been published extensively numerous publications and anthologies. His socio-political analyses and commentaries are widely distributed on progressive newsites such as Common Dreams, Robert Parry’s Consortium News, Truth Out, Counterpunch, and many others.  His writings focus on the angst and alienation in post-modern society and the excesses of the hyper capitalist-consumer paradigm. Phil also frequently appears on RT Russian television for his analysis on current trends, and he will be hosting a new program on Progressive Radio Network in the near future. WEBSITE:  PhiRockstroh.co

Barbara Honegger is a former White House Policy Analyst and Special Assistant to the Assistant to the president for Domestic Policy and a nationally recognized investigator and author about the attack on the Pentagon during 911. She was called as an expert witness at the First International Hearings on 911 held in Toronto in September 2011.  Earlier, Barbara was a Senior Military Affairs Journalist at the Dept of Defense’s Naval Postgraduate School. Barbara is perhaps best known for her book “October Surprise”, which exposed the Reagan teams Irangate and led to a full federal investigation in the House.  She is also among the first of 50 high level former and current government officials to call for a new 911 investigation and she is a founding member of the International organization, Political Leaders for 911 Truth.

Ray McGovern served as an Army intelligence officer and a CIA analyst from the administration of John F. Kennedy to that of George H. W. Bush. Among his duties was preparing the President’s Daily Brief, which he briefed one-on-one to President Ronald Reagan’s most senior national security advisers. Since retiring from government service, he has been one of our nation’s most vocal peace activists and journalists. In 2003, he helped create Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) to expose the way intelligence was being falsified to “justify” war on Iraq. Ray’s opinion pieces appear in many leading newspapers here and abroad, including a major section in an important book, “Neocon’d Again” dealing with America’s war in Iraq.  He holds degrees in theology and philosophy from Fordham University, is a graduate from Harvard Business School and has a certificate of theology from Georgetown University. Prof.  Stephen Zunes is a Professor of Politics and International Studies at the University of San Francisco, where he chairs the program in Middle Eastern Studies. He is recognized as one the country’s leading scholars of U.S. Middle East policy and of strategic nonviolent action, Professor Zunes received his PhD. from Cornell University and previously served on the faculty of Ithaca College, the University of Puget Sound, and Whitman College. He serves as a senior policy analyst for the Foreign Policy in Focus project of the Institute for Policy Studies, an associate editor of Peace Review, a contributing editor of Tikkun, and chair of the academic advisory committee for the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict. Among his publications, the most recent is “Western Sahara: War, Nationalism and Conflict Irresolution” For the past 30 years, Robert Scheer has built a reputation as one of the nation’s most honest and insightful political writers. From 1976 to 1993 Robert was a national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, reporting on the Cold War, arms control, and national politics.  He is a professor at the University of Southern California Annenberg School of Journalism and editor in chief of the Webby Award winning internet magazine Truth Dig.com.  He is regularly heard on the NPR program “Left Right and Center” on KCRW in Santa Monica.  Robert has a graduate degree in economics from UC Berkeley and has been a fellow at Yale and Stanford universities. His latest r book “The Great American Stickup: How Regan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main  Street” is one of the more concise publications outlining the causes and intrigues that brought forth our great recession BOOK:  “The Great American Stickup: How Regan Republicans and Clinton Democrats Enriched Wall Street While Mugging Main  Street

A special bonus interview with Christian Fiala on HIV and AIDS. Dr. Christian Fiala is a gynaecologist and obstetrician and currently working in Vienna, but has extensive experience in Thailand and Africa. April, 2007, he established the Museum of Contraception and Abortion. For almost 20 years he has been following critically the scientific and political discussion on the epidemiological aspects of AIDS and contributed actively. He was a member of the Presidential AIDS Advisory Panel in South Africa. Dr. Fiala has published many papers focused on the problems of AIDS in Africa and the definition of AIDS. is the author of the book "Do We Love Dangerously? - A Doctor in Search of the Facts and Background to AIDS" (Lieben wir gefaehrlich? - Ein Arzt auf der Suche nach den Fakten und Hintergruenden von AIDS) (1997); and the article in English, Aids: are we being deceived

Prof. Peter Duesberg is  professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California at Berkeley.  He was the first to isolate a cancer gene through his work with retroviruses back in 1970and mapped the genetic structure of this class of viruses. His work in retrovirus research awarded him an election to the National Academy of Sciences and Outstanding Investigator Grants from the National Institutes of Health.  Based upon his knowledge of retroviruses, he has been at the forefront in challenging the virus-AIDS hypothesis and has published in the world’s leading medical journals.  As a consequence, Dr. Duesberg’s hypothesis has won support from many scientists who have been outcast from publishing their views, including nobel laureates such Kary Mullis, inventor of PCR technology. Celia Farber is a journalist who covered the HIV wars extensively since 1987, in various magazines. Some of these writings are collected in her book: "Serious Adverse Events: An Uncensored History of AIDS" published by Melville House Press, (now Random House) in 2006. Activist Michael Callen called Farber "..the best AIDS journalist in the world."   Her 2006 article for Harper's magazine detailing the corruption of HIV/AIDS research was titled "Out of Control: AIDS And The Corruption of Medical Science." Attacks from the AIDS industry on Celia's research have been predictable and fierce. Nevertheless, she still won the 2008 Semmelweis Clean Hands Award for Outstanding Investigative Journalism. Clark Baker is a retired officer of the LAPD in Los Angeles, who left in 2000 to become an independent writer and private investigator.  He is now the founder of the Office for Medical and Scientific Justice in Southern California, which spearheads investigations into the politics and fraud of various medical related groups and individuals, including the pro-AIDS industry and academia.  Clark serves on the Board of the Semmelweis Society International, a foundation that awards individuals for their scientific independence in innovative research and critical thought in the absence of invested interests.  He has written extensively on his investigations into the activities of the pro HIV community