The Boiling Frogs Presents Ray McGovern

Ray McGovern shares with us his analysis of the recent article published in the Atlantic written by the infamous American-Israeli writer Jeffrey Goldberg on Israel’s case for bombing Iran and the reasons why the United States should join in. He talks about the ramifications of the recent and ongoing WikiLeaks disclosures, the pitiful state of the mainstream media, the Internet as the new fifth estate, and more.

Ray McGovern’s 27-year career as a CIA analyst spanned administrations from John F. Kennedy to George H. W. Bush. Ray’s duties at CIA included chairing National Intelligence Estimates and preparing the President’ Daily Brief (PDB). During the mid-eighties, Ray was one of the senior analysts conducting early morning briefings of the PDB one-on-one with the Vice President, the Secretaries of State and Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs. Ray received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Fordham College, designated a Distinguished Military Graduate, he was commissioned upon graduation and served as an infantry/intelligence officer in the US Army from 1962-64. Ray holds an M.A. in Russian Studies from Fordham University and a certificate in Theological Studies from Georgetown University. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Here is our guest Ray McGovern unplugged!

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 Interview with Ray McGovern [86:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Carlos Miller provides us with an overview of the history, purpose and mission of his award-winning website Photography is Not a Crime. He talks about First Amendment violations against photographers throughout the country, which occur on a shockingly regular basis, and illustrates this alarming trend with documented incidents and examples. Mr. Miller tells us about abuses and misinterpretation of State Wiretapping Laws, the recent attention given to these abuses by the mainstream media and the previous lack of coverage, the increased power of ordinary citizens due to the internet, and more.

Carlos Miller is a multimedia journalist based in Miami. In 2007, after he was arrested for photographing a group of Miami police officers against their wishes, Miller launched Photography is Not a Crime. He was charged with nine misdemeanors and spent 16 hours in the county jail. Miller, a 10-year veteran reporter, originally intended to document his trial with his blog, but soon began documenting abuses against other photographers throughout the country. Some of these incidents ended in arrest. Most of them were intimidation against the photographer. But each and every one of these incidents was a complete First Amendment violation against the photographer. Over a year’s time, Photography is Not a Crime has become a trusted destination for First Amendment news as it relates to photography, videography and writing, and the site has been mentioned in publications such as the New York Times, Fox News, The Chicago-Sun Times, The Miami Herald, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and the Miami New Times, who called his blog one of “Miami’s best blogs”. When Miller went to trial last year, he was acquitted of all charges except resisting arrest without violence. Acting as his own lawyer, Miller appealed the decision and that case is currently pending.

Here is our guest Carlos Miller unplugged!

This site depends exclusively on readers’ support. Please help us continue by contributing directly and or purchasing Boiling Frogs showcased products.

 

 Interview with Carlos Miller [61:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Naomi Wolf discusses the fascist shift in the United States, how the state of our liberties has been getting worse under the Obama administration, and how President Obama has assumed the same position as Bush on States Secrets Privilege, unlawful detention and torture, and other similar assaults on our liberties. Ms. Wolf talks about the deplorable state of our two-party system and alternative approaches, the hypocritical silence of liberal antiwar activists, the need for new grassroots institutions and approaches to take back our civil liberties, and more.

Naomi Wolf is an author, activist and political consultant. She is known as an avid advocate of feminist causes and progressive politics, with a more recent emphasis on arguing that there has been a deterioration of democratic institutions in the United States. In The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot, Wolf takes a historical look at the rise of Fascism, outlining the 10 steps necessary for a Fascistic group (or government) to destroy the democratic character of a nation-state and subvert the social/political liberty previously exercised by its citizens. The book details how this pattern was implemented in Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and elsewhere, and analyzes its emergence and application in American political affairs since the September 11 attacks.

Here is our guest Naomi Wolf unplugged!

 

 Interview with Naomi Wolf [26:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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Last week Boiling Frogs Post invited Mr. Norman L. Eisen, Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, and Mr. Stephen M. Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center, to publicly debate on the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act and the current bill proposed by the Senate (S. 372).Despite two invitations Mr. Eisen declined to participate in this crucial debate.

Mr. Kohn, who publicly accepted the invitation and agreed last week to participate in this independent debate, joined Peter B Collins and me to discuss these critical oversight issues, and the effects of this poisonous bill on an entire generation of federal workers, thus the nation at large.

Stephen M. Kohn is the Executive Director of National Whistleblowers Center, one of the nation’s foremost experts in whistleblower protection law, and the author of the first legal treatise on whistleblowing, Protecting Environmental and Nuclear Whistleblowers: A Litigation Manual. Since 1984, Mr. Kohn has successfully represented whistleblowers in numerous cases (both at trial and on appeal), has testified in Congress on behalf of whistleblower reforms, and has worked directly with the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee on drafting the Sarbanes-Oxley corporate whistleblower law. Mr. Kohn has a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law; an M.A. in Political Science from Brown University; and a B.S. in Social Education from Boston University. In addition to his books on whistleblower law, Mr. Kohn is the author of Jailed for Peace and American Political Prisoners.

Here is National Whistleblowers Center’s Stephen Kohn Taking on the Absentee White House on Protection for Whistleblowers

 

 Steve Kohn v absentee White House [64:12m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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On Friday, March 19, Boiling Frogs Post invited Mr. Norman L. Eisen, Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, and Mr. Stephen M. Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center, to publicly debate on the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act and the current bill proposed by the Senate (S. 372). Today Mr. Kohn publicly accepted the invitation and agreed to participate in this independent debate scheduled for recording on Wednesday, March 24. Mr. Eisner’s office also contacted Boiling Frogs Post today but declined the invitation, saying that ‘Mr. Eisner will not be able to attend.’

In their press release today NWC emphasized the importance of these critical oversight issues and encouraged the White House to reconsider:

Given President Obama’s strong campaign promises in support of whistleblowers, the NWC applauds Boiling Frogs for calling this debate and hopes that Mr. Eisen will reconsider the invitation and agree to publicly discuss this issue. This is an excellent opportunity for a full airing of these critical oversight issues, because the bill will affect an entire generation of federal workers.

Boiling Frogs Post will contact Mr. Eisner today and ask him to reconsider. The debate will be recorded tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. EST, and will be posted on Friday, March 26 here at http://boilingfrogspost.com. Boiling Frogs Show partner and talk show host Peter B. Collins will moderate the debate.

This site depends exclusively on readers’ support. Please help us continue by contributing directly and or purchasing Boiling Frogs showcased products.

Boiling Frogs Post has invited Mr. Norman L. Eisen, Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, and Mr. Stephen M. Kohn, Executive Director of the National Whistleblowers Center, to publicly debate on the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act on Wednesday, March 24 at 1:30 p.m.  The bill as proposed by the Senate (S. 372) has drawn mixed reviews from both sides of the political spectrum. 

Mr. Eisen has been invited to discuss how the bill may affect and contradict the White House’s previously emphasized and publicized mission to increase transparency in government, and respond to criticisms that the Senate version of the bill repeals existing FBI whistleblower protections.  Mr. Kohn is an attorney who represents whistleblowers, and he has been invited to explain how the legislation will impact cases for national security whistleblowers who face retaliation. 

Prior to his election, during his campaign, President Obama had pledged his support for protecting national security whistleblowers, and had done so on record. However, since then Obama’s White House has backed away from that pledge. Thus, this debate is designed to help give the public a better understanding of the Whistleblower Protection Enhancement Act, and give them a chance to hear the Obama administration’s ‘real position’ on increasing government transparency by providing protection for government whistleblowers.

The debate will last approximately one hour, and will be moderated by Peter B. Collins. We will keep you posted. Please stay tuned.

This site depends exclusively on readers’ support. Please help us continue by contributing directly and or purchasing Boiling Frogs showcased products.

In October 2009 I launched Boiling Frogs Post  with one purpose in mind: To establish a venue for investigative articles, editorials, analyses, discussions, and interviews on issues largely censored and blacked out by the media. After four months of a successful trial phase this venue is now ready to enter its next stage, and for that it needs your support.

Boiling Frogs Post is solely dependent on its readers, and has no ties to any institution, foundation, organization or corporation. This is the only model I see fit to be called an independent news and views venue, untainted by external pressures, special interests or partisan flavoring.

Our authors and analysts present their work, not agenda scripts or special recipes handed to them for creation of a particular propaganda to serve a particular interest. And, our weekly commercial-free Podcast Show hosts the voices of noteworthy guests on topics long-muffled and quashed by the mainstream media and their minions on lower levels posing as alternatives.

I’m happy to report that in the four months since the launching of Boiling Frogs Post we have accomplished and delivered every single objective set prior to the launching this site. I am proud to have established a distinguished team of journalists, analysts, authors, and an editorial cartoonist whose work is based on truth and real issues.

Whether it is going after hypocrisy-ridden foreign policy practices, the ever revolving doors of foreign lobbies, or our stomped upon and continuously assaulted civil liberties, our  work transcends the webs put in place by partisanship and special interests and agendas. Here are a few examples of our work:
 

• Sibel Edmonds- The Makings of a Police State Series
• Dr. Nafeez Ahmed- Yemen, Energy Crisis & the Nigerian Crutch Bomber Series
• Mizgin Yilmaz- Richard Armitage Series
• Dr. William Weaver – The Impulse to Secrecy: The Glomar Response
• Peter Lance: Fort Hood & the KSM Trial Series
• Sibel Edmonds- Op-ed Series

 
In this short time span the Boiling Frogs Show has been able to present you with over 20 distinguished experts and whistleblowers from the fields of journalism, intelligence, grassroots activism, academia, and foreign policy. Here is a list of select interviews:
 

• James Bamford on NSA & Illegal Domestic Wiretapping
• Pepe Escobar on the Current Energy Crisis & the Quest for Central Asia-Caspian Region
• Russ Baker on the Concept of Shadow Government and the Real Power Centers in the US
• Daniel Ellsberg on Obama Presidency & Whistleblowers
• Andy Worthington on America’s Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay
• Chris Hedges on the US Media & the Empire of Illusion
• Coleen Rowley on Accountability, Whistleblowers & Activism

 
I believe during this four-month trial phase Boiling Frogs Post has established a solid track record with what it has accomplished, and a view of what it can accomplish given your support and backing. We are now ready to begin our next phase, during which we will continue to provide what you have seen, read, and listened to thus far, and additionally, will present exclusive video clips and investigative stories.

This site will continue and expand only with your direct support. I am asking every one of you to consider yourself as the one who can make this possible, that without your active support this real alternative site will not continue or exist, and that without your help those who consider truly independent channels like this ‘impossible to survive and flourish’ will be proven right, and with that we will all lose. So please do your share, and contribute whatever you can now.

Our countdown to receive your support and donations begins today. No donation is either too small or too large. Please donate what you can to keep this home of the irate minority alive, and thank you for all you do.

Sibel Edmonds

Founder & Publisher, Boiling Frogs Post

Phil Weiss provides us with his experience and analysis of the US media’s stand, and their one-sided coverage and one-sided censorship on issues and cases related to Israel and the Israel lobby. He discusses the parallels between the tactics used in Gaza by Israelis and those implemented during the holocaust. Mr. Weiss talks about the Jewish identity question around the Israel lobby, the Obama administration’s hypocritical stand on and lame no-response response to the Goldstone Report, the importance of Jewish money and the Israel lobby to Obama and the Democrats, the recent changing perception of Israel, and much more!

Philip Weiss is an investigative journalist who has written for The Nation, The New York Observer, The American Conservative, Harper’s Magazine, and New York Times Magazine among other publications. He is the author of American Taboo: A Murder in the Peace Corps and an editor of the website Mondoweiss, which covers the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Here is our guest Phil Weiss unplugged!

 

 Interview with Philip Weiss [58:06m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This site depends exclusively on readers’ support. Please help us continue by contributing directly and or purchasing Boiling Frogs showcased products.

Dr. Julien Mercille discusses the trail of Afghanistan’s drug money, the false impression given by the latest UN report on the effects of Afghanistan’s drug production, and the role of other nations and institutions including western banks. He talks about the predominant view of the US and NATO held by the majority in Afghanistan today, his interview with Malalai Joya, Afghanistan’s youngest Member of Parliament, who is well known for openly challenging the US, NATO, warlords and the Taliban, the current state of progressive movements in Afghanistan, and more.

Julien Mercille is a lecturer in US foreign policy at University College Dublin, where he moved after obtaining his PhD from UCLA. He teaches on US history and foreign policy and has published academic articles on Iran, Iraq and the Cold War, and is now researching the “War on Drugs” and Afghanistan. He has also written for various websites and magazines on those topics and others.

Here is our guest Julien Mercille unplugged!

 

 Interview with Julien Mercille [62:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This site depends exclusively on readers’ support. Please help us continue by contributing directly and or purchasing Boiling Frogs showcased products.