Mic Check Radio

We are all affected by it...call it advertising, propaganda, programming, social engineering, psychological operations, or whatever other term could be applied.  The act of a force outside of your mind trying to convince you to do something.  In the second episode of this series we take a look at the early, early days of advertising...before cars took people to stores miles from their house.  Back in this time period, the merits of a consumer good or service were believed to be enough to sell the item.  At the turn of the century (1900) we were still considered 'citizens' by those in positions of power (government and industry), but this was all about to change.  After the success of the Committee on Public Information, a WWI organization in charge of swaying public opinion to support the war, the same techniques used to sell the war to the citizens of the US were adapted by big business to more effectively sell their goods and services.  Edward Burnays was a member of the CPI

We are all affected by it...call it advertising, propaganda, programming, social engineering, psychological operations, or whatever other term could be applied.  The act of a force outside of your mind trying to convince you to do something.  In the kick-off episode of this series we go over the etymology and definitions of the above terms and then get into an example of how 'conversations' on this topic usually play out within the corporate media [hint: they suck].  We also take a listen to some shitty pop music and ask 'how do the lyrics affect the human brain', mainly in an unconscious way.  We conclude part 1 with an adaptation of the Zen TV Experiment and how it could be used with any kind of screen, to the benefit of us all.  [Click to Listen]

Here's the initial news headline that caught my attention "FBI Arrest Ohio Man in ISIS Inspired Attack on US Capitol Building".  This headline caught my eye for a number of reasons; I live in Ohio, the FBI has a track record of coaxing isolated individuals into "plots" like this and the idea of attacking the US Capitol sounds terrifying.  So, in this episode was track down the publicly available paperwork the FBI filed on Christopher Lee Cornell to see what the reality is behind this kind of headline. [Click to Listen]

More details on Police State tactics of surveillance. The FBI (and the court system) has determined that there is no reasonable expectation of privacy once a citizen has left his or her home.  So, if you are outside of your house, you will be monitored.  How?  Two of the new surveillance weapons used by the United States Intelligence Community are the DRT Box and the StingRay.  They both work in similar ways.  They are "cell-site simulators" or "ISMI catchers".  From the ACLU website:"Stingrays, also known as "cell site simulators" or "IMSI catchers," are invasive cell phone surveillance devices that mimic cell phone towers and send out signals to trick cell phones in the area into transmitting their locations and identifying information. When used to track a suspects cell phone, they also gather information about the phones of countless bystanders who happen to be nearby.Law enforcement agencies all over the country possess Stingrays, though their use is often shrouded

A look at some of the great examples of Activist Cinema from 2013: No,99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film,Fruitvale Station,Free Angela and All Political Prisoners,A Fierce Green Fire,The East,GLOW: Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,Dallas Buyers Club,Let the Fire Burn,The Ghosts in Our Machine,GMO OMG,A Place at the Table[Click to Listen]

A look at some of the great examples of Activist Cinema from 2014, and a little bit of behind the scenes information about the 'Sony Hack'.No No: A Dockumentary,The Internet's Own Boy,The Unknown Known,Citizenfour,Night Moves,Selma.[Click to Listen]

Eric Garner, killed by a cop in Staten Island, NY.  John Crawford, killed by a cop in Bevercreek, OH. Michael Brown, killed by a cop in Ferguson, MO.  Tamir Rice, killed by a cop in Cleveland, OH. Is there some sort of racist-cop trend that has cropped up recently around the country or is there a larger issue here?  If we have a half-asses compulsory school system in this country that barely educates the masses, then what happens when a certain portion of those masses become cops?  In this episode we look closely at a recent Department of Justice investigation into the Cleveland Police Departments' 'use of force policies' over the past few years and how the findings within that report apply to most police departments across the country.  What happens when poorly educated, poorly trained people are armed and given military weapon hand-me-downs and told to go police the streets of America?  [Click to Listen]

FBI - Spying - US Citizen's.  It's a simple set of search terms.  If you search it every six weeks or so you will find no shortage of reasons to be pissed off.  This weeks tale includes an internationally know non-profit organization that is funded by "donations" from the top corporations in the world and how they hosted the current head of the FBI and his speech - Going Dark: Are Technology, Privacy and Public Safety on a Collision Course?  [Hint: it's a trick question] This from a guy who oversees a system called the Digital Collection System Network, which is connected directly into the switches for virtually all of the major network providers.  What does it say about our society when the second reason to monitor everyone, second only to terrorism, is consumerism? Market research, in order to figure out how to more effectively sell us shit we don't need.  [Click to Listen]

Activist Cinema 11: We're trying something new with this episode of Activist Cinema...we're discussing a film that I hate.  The term 'Citizen's United' is very familiar to most activists these days, but it's mainly due to the infamous Supreme Court case. In the case the court decided:"that the First Amendment prohibited the government from restricting independent political expenditures by a nonprofit corporation. The principles articulated by the Supreme Court in the case have also been extended to for-profit corporations, labor unions and other associations."It's a landmark piece of law that has ruined the electoral process in the United States.  However, Citizen's United is more than just a court case, it is a production company for political documentaries.  In 2012, director Stephen K. Bannon teamed up with Andrew Breitbart (two darlings of the Corporate version of the Tea Party) and put together this documentary. From the films website:"The Occupy movement is sinister, violent, an

Here we (U.S.A.) go again.  Remember during Gulf War II, George W. Bush famously used the term Coalition of the Willing when it came to the invasion and occupation of Iraq?  According to W's administration, these 48 countries were essential partners in this illegal war.  However, countries like Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and the Solomon Islands didn't (and still don't) have standing armies to help out in the war effort.  Now, Barack Obama has gathered his own Coalition of the Willing II, this time with the war directed at ISIL.  But what exactly are the new coalition members doing in this vague, new chapter in the War on Terror? [Click to Listen]

Anastasia Pantsios published a fantastic article at EcoWatch about Ohio's shameful role at the forefront of the fracking industry.  The article is based in part on the U.S. Government Accountability Office report, Drinking Water: Characterization of Injected Fluids Associated with Oil and Gas Production (also known as GAO-14-957R) that examined the fracking industry in seven states. The good news is that the report documents the horrific conditions now present in Ohio due to the booming fracking industry.  The bad news is that there is 0 chance that the politicians in Ohio will do anything about this issue.  Why is that?  Because the American Legislative Exchange Council has helped the oil and gas industry pass laws in Ohio that will need repealed before any action can be taken. One law in Ohio classified solution injected into the Earth as a 'trade secret', so no one knows exactly what is seeping into the groundwater.  [Click to Listen]

In part 3 of our series on the education system in the United States of America, we take a look at the continued influence of Foundations - mainly the ones started and funded by the Carnegie and Rockefeller.  We also discuss the Columbia Teachers College and their project, the Lincoln Experimental School.  Then we look at the effects of the Progressive Education Associations "Eight-Year Study" and how it started the concept of the segmented school curriculum.  And let's not forget the power of uniform textbooks - and how Harold Rugg (through the Columbia Teachers College) was so well funded that 5 million of his textbooks were distributed nationwide.  Eventually, in 1952, the Reece Committee started investigating Foundations and their influence on public life.  When their report was published in 1954, it was summarily ignored.  Why was it ignored? Because, a scathing indictment of the power of capitalists in the United States and how they were (and are) warping the public educati

In this clip show, we take a look at how the Corporate Media (CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, etc.) have used ISIS (or ISIL or IS) as the new international 'boogie man' in order to amp up the feelings of terror on the public and justify more military action in the Middle East.  The result is eerily similar to the build up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003.  The rhetoric used in these clip would be hilarious, if the end result wasn't death and destruction. [Click to Listen]

In part 2 of our series on the education system in the United States of America, we take a look at how compulsory schooling was legislated into existence and then financed.  From 1889 to 1906 William Torrey Harris was the Commissioner of Education for the United States of America.  That is an uninterrupted, 17 year stretch in which he shaped the teaching philosophy and legislation of an entire nation.  During his tenure there was an average of one high school opened per day.  That is a massive education boom.  But, what was his philosophy of education? And, who was helping to subsidize this massive infrastructure of new buildings, textbooks and teacher training?  The noted humanitarians (sarcasm) John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie, to name just the two main wealthy white guys we take a look at in this episode.  We wrap up part 2 with some choice quotes from a 1913 Special Commission appointed by the 62nd Congress to investigate the entity know as a "Foundation", both as

In the kick off episode for a series on the education system in the United States of America, we take a look at the Prussian education system that was established after that country's devastating defeat at the hands of Napoleon's military in 1806.  Decades after that system was up and running, Prussia was a serious force to be reckoned with in Europe.  The notoriety of their education system had piqued the interest of an American, elite, Protestant, politician named Horace Mann.  So much so, that Mann went to Prussia in 1843 to see how this "Three Tiered System" worked.  Upon his return, Mann (who was Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Education at the time) pushed very hard to implement what he had seen in Prussia.  The effects of which are still alive and well in today's compulsory public school system. [Click to Play]

Activist Cinema 10 - It's a double feature today as we take a look at two documentary films that compliment each other quite well.  The Weather Underground (2002) uses archival footage and interviews to look at the actions taken by the Weather Underground in the late 1960's and early 1970's.  A hardcore group of activists committed to the violent overthrow of the US government.  The second film is Pickaxe (1999), an on the ground look at the activists who took a stand to protect an old growth forest from logging at Warner Creek in the Willamette National Forest of Oregon, blockading the logging road and repelling the State Police.  A hardcore group of activists committed to non-violent resistance of US government policy. [Click to Listen]

In our third and final episode in the World Cup 2014: Capitalism, Corruption and Protest series we address the lack of protests in Brazil during the World Cup.  We also take an extensive look at the police state tactics of Brazil and what it means for a country to host a "mega event" such as the World Cup or the Olympic Games (for Brazil, this will be in 2016).  Surprise, surprise, United States private contractor extraordinaire Academi (formerly Xe and before that Blackwater) helped out with anti-terror training and Israeli security (NICE) firms help install and program an all seeing all spying system called "The Situator".  There is also the matter of how sovereign nations change their laws to suit the profit motives of this massive, massive non-profit known as FIFA.  [Click to Listen]

In part II of our World Cup 2014 series we take a look at the initial proposal the government of Brazil presented to FIFA and how the reality has shaped up all these years later...here a hint, the budget more than quadrupled. We specifically take a look at the construction at three of the 12 stadiums and the pit corruption, extortion and over billing they have all become.  We also touch on similar stadium projects from the World Cup 2010 in South Africa and the preparations for the upcoming World Cup 2022 in Qatar (which has already killed hundreds of workers).  [Click to Listen]

Our introductory episode covering the most watched (and most corrupt) sporting event in the entire world, the FIFA World Cup.  We start off looking at why soccer can and is an important sport, especially on the world stage.  Then we move into a brief overview of what has been going on in Brazil - both in the streets and within the halls of the Brazilian government at the request of FIFA officials - in the lead up to the World Cup of 2014, focusing on the Confederations Cup of 2013 and the corruption and protests that occurred during that event.  [Click to Listen]

Activist Cinema Episode 9 - Collapse (2009) was directed by Chris Smith and is essentially a monologue film.  There haven't been too many of these kinds of film made, but within this small sub-genre of films, Collapse is one of the best.  We choose this film as a nice end cap to the We're So Fucked series of episodes as most of the ideas and sentiments from that series are well represented in this documentary about the late, great Michael C. Ruppert. [Click to Listen]