Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael

On this edition of Parallax Views, we have a double feature. First up, returning guest William I. Robinson, a noted sociologist and author of such books as The Global Police State and the upcoming Global Civil War: Capitalism Post-Pandemic, joins us to discuss his Truthout article "The COVID Supply Chain Breakdown Can Be Traced to Capitalist Globalization". We also discuss "The Fourth Industrial Revolution", the transnational capitalist class, crisis as endemic to capitalism, the origins of global capitalism, skyrocketing rates of inequality globally, surveillance technology and the transnational capitalist class, and more in this short-but-informative conversation with a leading theorist of global capitalism and its crises.

"Post-COVID Economy May Have More Robots, Fewer Jobs and Intensified Surveillance" by William I. Robinson - Truthout 06/17/20

Then...

the private Israeli firm NSO Group became the subject of much public scrutiny in the past year after 17 media outlets came together to expose how its spyware, Pegasus, was being used around the world by the highest bidders to target activists, journalists, and dissidents. Now, it appears that the software has been used to target Palestinian human rights organizers. Additionally, it seems that these human rights defenders were declared "terrorists" after the discovery of their being targeted with the Pegasus spyware in what appears to be an "attempt at preemptively withholding evidence of surveillance and covering up surreptitious spyware actions." Kevin Gosztola of Shadowproof and The Dissenter joined Parallax Views to unpack this chilling story of surveillance capitalism and a "hacker-for-hire" company that's straight out of a cyberpunk dystopian nightmare wherein privacy rights are threatened in a massive way. Kevin also gives us an update on the case of Julian Assange and Wikileaks at the top of the conversation.

Also discussed:

- The chilling potential of Pegasus spyware to hack a phone's emails, microphone, camera, passwords, contacts, location data, and more

- An Obama administration official's connection to the NSO Group/Pegasus spyware story

- The BlueWolf app, facial recognition tech, and the targeting of Palestinians

- Front Line Defenders, Amnesty International's Security Lab, Citizen Lab, and the use of Pegasus against Palestinian human rights activists

- The Israeli government and NSO Group

- Facebook/Meta's lawsuit against NSO Group; NSO Group and WhatsApp

- Benny Gantz and the labelling of the Pegasus-targeted Palestinian human rights organizations as "terrorists"

"Israel Slapped 'Terrorist' Label On Palestinian Human Rights Groups After They Uncovered Pegasus Spyware" by Kevin Gosztola - The Dissenter 11/08/21

"US 'Power Brokers' Benefited From Defending Israeli Spyware Maker" by Kevin Gosztola - The Dissenter 07/19/21

"Meet Blue Wolf, the app Israel uses to spy on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank" by Mustafa Abu Sneineh - Middle East Eye 11/09/21

On this edition of Parallax Views, Kyle Anzalone, host of Conflicts of Interest at The Libertarian Institute, joins us to discuss Afghanistan and the problems it is facing from U.S. freezes on assets and sanctions as well as ISIS-K. We also discuss the Pentagon's investigation in a deadly drone strike that killed civilians in Afghanistan. No one, as of the current moment, is being held accountable and the incident has been described as a "tragic mistake". However, as it turns out, this is not the only time such self-investigations have led to little systemic change in regards to drone strikes and airstrike that have harmed civilians. In this regard, we discuss the story of a 2019 airstrike on Syria that led to civilian casualties that has received renewed attention and criticism as of late. Kyle and I also talk about the issues with asset freezes on and sanctions against Afghanistan that are arguably a form of economic warfare and hurting Afghan civilians in a time of food insecurity and a broken infrastructure in Afghanistan. Other issues discussed include:

- Family separation of Afghan refugees; the U.S. military losing an Afghan baby during the evacuation

- Afghanistan's long winter; the U.S. withholding $9 billion dollars in assets from Afghanistan

- Journalist Anne Applebaum's recent defense of U.S. foreign policy Blob talking points in The Atlantic

- The New York Times seems to think that the wars are over

- Data shows U.S. allies contributing to decline of democracy worldwide, says New York Times; Pakistan funding of the Taliban; Saudi Arabia as a destabilizing force in the Middle East

- Attempts to isolate countries like Afghanistan and Iran through sanctions; Russia and China

- And more!

On this edition of Parallax Views, the new hit Marvel Studios movie The Eternals has garnered criticism for its treatment of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki during WWII. Additionally, it has raised the specter of the relationship Marvel Studios with the Pentagon and whether said relationship is ethical or unethical. In truth, its not just Marvel Studios though. Hollywood has a long relationship with the Pentagon dating back to the WWII era. David Saviliev, a contributor to Responsible State, the official publication of the Quincy Institute, joins me on this edition of the program to discuss the often underreported relationship between Hollywood and the military. We also manage to discuss the story of Marvel comics attempting to team up with the arms manufacture Northrupp Grumman and the relationship between Hollywood and the CIA when it came to the (arguably pro-torture) Katheryn Bigelow movie Zero Dark Thirty. Movies mentioned in this episode that were either supported or rejected by the Pentagon include Iron Man, Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down, Captain Marvel, Independence Day: Resurgence, Michael Bay's Transformers movies, The Avengers, Clint Eastwood's Heartbreak Ridge, and Top Gun. We also discuss the China/Hollywood relationship, military involvement in Hollywood and recruitment agendas, the Pentagon's apparent dislike for movies where Will Smith dates a stripper, the Pentagon's definition of "accurate portrayals" of itself in films including anything that is critical or negative being "inaccurate", Captain Marvel and the Air Force's recruitment campaign, taxpayer dollars and the Hollywood/Pentagon relationship, how Pentagon involvement with Hollywood cuts down on movie production costs, Pentagon approval of screenplays, David Robb's Operation Hollywood (a notable book spotlighting Hollywood's military ties), and more!

"New Marvel film puts spotlight on Hollywood’s military ties" by David Saviliev - Responsible Statecraft 11/05/21

Check out our sponsor Christopher Bell's new short film Trammell at https://slamdance.com/watch/trammel/ or https://www.youtube.com/user/slamd

On this edition of Parallax Views, we're delving into the shifting political alliances that seem to be emerging as we enter what may be a Second Cold War and an emerging multipolar world. To do this we're joined by Ted Snider, a fascinating geopolitical analyst and regular contributor to Antiwar.Com. We begin the conversation by parsing out the debate over the terms "New Cold War" and "Second Cold War" in the 21st century. The idea of the Second Cold War refers to rising tensions between the U.S. and its allies against Russia and China. In large part it deals with the possibility of a Russia-China partnership that would change the American-led unipolar order. We discuss some of the history between the U.S. and China and the U.S. and Putin's Russia in the aftermath of the 20th century Cold War. In this regard, we delve into the issues of NATO and NATO expansion in relation to growing rifts between the U.S. and Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. From there we then turn our attention to Ted's recent analysis of subtle moves made by Saudi Arabia that may signal Saudi's rulers planning for major geopolitical shifts in the future. Specifically, we delve into what may be significant changes in the relationship between Iran and Saudi Arabia and what it may mean in regards to the Kingdom's relationship with the U.S. and Israel. Additionally, Ted and I also dig into China's Shanghai Cooperative Organization and Saudi Arabia's involvement with it. Ted and I delineate between regional and global geopolitical moves being made by Saudi Arabia at the moment. After that we discuss Joe Biden's foreign policy one year into his Presidency and the failure of the U.S. to renegotiate the JCPOA deal with Iran. In this regard, Ted comments on Ebrahim Raisi, hardliners, neocon Elliot Abrams cheering on Raisi's victory, viewing the Iran deal through the eyes of an Iranian leadership that was betrayed by Donald Trump after the initial deal was made with Barack Obama, the potential for Iran to find an escape from the "squeeze" of the U.S. by sidling up to China and Russia, the problems with sanctions against Iran, and how U.S. policy towards Iran may be accelerating the emergence of a multipolar world in which a Russia-China partnership challenges the U.S.-led unipolar world order. Before wrapping up we delve into the Russia-China partnership and whether a military partnership is emerging out of it, why it may be a partnership rather than an alliance. Also, we briefly touch upon Biden's foreign policy as it relates to Latin America and Israel/Palestine, the lack of diplomacy and using the diplomatic toolbox in U.S. foreign policy, how short-sightedness endangers national security and world security, the foreign policy "Blob", the Afghanistan withdrawal, and more!

"Electing Biden: One Year Later" by Ted Snider - November 11, 2021 (Antiwar.Com)

"Saudi Arabia: Shifting Alliances?" by Ted Snider - November 05, 2021 (Antiwar.Com)

"The Iran Nuclear Deal: The US Is Losing Patience; Iran Is Not" by Ted Snider - October 29, 2021 (Antiwar.Com)

"Sanctioning Yourself in the Foot" by Ted Snider - October 24, 2021 (Antiwar.Com)

"If It’s Not a Cold War, Why Does It Look So Much Like a Cold War?" by Ted Snider - October 14, 2021 (Antiwar.Com)

"Is the Russia-China strategic partnership turning into a military one?" by Ted Snider - November 4, 2021 (Responsible Statecraft)

Check out our sponsor Christopher Bell's new short film Trammell at https://slamdance.com/watch/trammel/ or https://www.youtube.com/user/slamdance

On this edition of Parallax Views, with anti-vaccination sentiments and climate change denial being phenomena in society the issue of what's been dubbed science denial has become a hot, relevant topic. Joining us to discuss this issue in ways that are empathetic, thoughtful, and nuanced are Jack M. Gorman and Sara E. Gorman, authors of Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore the Science That Will Save Us (formerly Denying to the Grave: Why We Ignore the Facts That Will Save Us; this is a 2nd edition that's revised and updated). It's a fascinating conversation that takes us in many different directions including:

- A discussion of conspiracy theories and sorting out real conspiracies from fake ones
- The role of charismatic leaders in science denial and the problem of cult-like thinking
- What science is and isn't; science as a methodology
- Separating scientific data from political debates and Jack's experiences with data around gun safety
- How we're all prone to science denial whether we're right, left, conservative, liberal, socialist, Christian, or atheist
- The cases of anti-vaccination physician Andrew Wakefield and Peter Duesberg, the molecular biologist who put forth the claim that HIV does not cause AIDs
- Psychology and science denial
- How to talk about science and the need for better science journalism
- How trust in scientists is actually higher than we'd expect based on media reports about climate change denial and anti-vaxxers; public trust in science
- Assault on scientific institutions
- Healthy skepticism vs. denial
- And much, much more

Check out our sponsor Christopher Bell's new short film Trammell at https://slamdance.com/watch/trammel/ or https://www.youtube.com/user/slamdance

On this edition of Parallax Views, it's a Halloween hangover episode where politics and horror movies collide! Martin Harris, author of Leatherface vs. Tricky Dick: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as Political Satire, joins me to examine filmmaker Tobe Hooper's 1974 cult classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in the context of the turbulent political scandal it was made in the midst of: Watergate and the fall of President Richard Milhouse Nixon. Believe it or not, Hooper himself made references to how his infamous film was influenced by the political climate of the 1970s. Much was going on when the film was being made. U.S. economic woes were increasing while gas shortages impacted the nation. The leftovers of the psychedelic 60s counterculture were wondering about in the aftermath of the Manson Family killings and Altamont. The Vietnam War was winding down but its effect on the American psyche was looming large. The rural/urban divide was growing. And Richard Nixon, with the help of his cronies like G. Gordon Liddy, plotted to break-in to the Democratic National Convention in what would become of the biggest scandal in American political history. Harris and I discuss all this and much more in this fascinating conversation that also delves into the parallels between Leatherface and Richard Nixon, the character of "The Old Man" (played by Jim Siedow) in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Richard Nixon, Irving Kristol's "The Nightmare of Watergate" and the irrationality of Watergate, the dark comedy of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, a historical overview of the Watergate scandal and the way it was experienced by Americans at the time, Gerald Ford's comments about Watergate as "our long national nightmare", Hunter S. Thompson's commentaries on Watergate and his invocation of the horrific and grotesque when writing about it,  "Saturn in Retrograde" and the implications of the cosmic in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, satires of the Nixon era as it was happening, the infamous White House "Saturday Night Massacre" under Nixon, the valence of Tobe Hooper and Kim Henkel's production company being called Vortex Inc., the circularity of both The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Watergate wherein the "horror folds in on itself", the chilling opening of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and the narration by John Larroquette, criminal discovery in Watergate and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, the villains of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre as conspirators engaged in cover-ups of crimes, the character of "The Hitchhiker" (played by Edwin Neal), the Leatherface mask and the Nixon mask, Leatherface's formality of dress (ie: tie and suit), tensions between "old ways" and "new ways" and tradition vs. youth in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Nixon and the Southern Strategy, Tobe Hooper's experimental film Eggshells and its relationship to the 1960s counterculture, the power of the Presidency and draconian measures in the Nixon era, the rise of astrology and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, political lies and the lie that The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was "based on a true story", the popularity of astrology in times of uncertainty and Nixon's relationship with astrologer Jeane Dixon, political allegory vs. political satire, satire as a means to comment on real life matters in indirect ways, and much, more!

Check out our sponsor Christopher Bell's new short film Trammell at https://slamdance.com/watch/trammel/ or https://www.youtube.com/user/slamdance

On this edition of Parallax Views, a previously unpublished with the controversial anarcho-primitivist philosopher John Zerzan from August 2020 about his new book When We Are Human: Notes from the Age of Pandemics (Feral House 2021). Zerzan argues that the root cause of social woes like alienation and neuroses, as well as domination and hierarchies, are the cause of agricultural and industrial civilizations. Moreover, he believes we are in the grips of a techno-madness that is spiritually anathema to being human. A critic of transhumanism, Zerzan believes in the extremely radical idea of anarcho-primitivism which posits a return to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle that he believes could in some ways be achieved through rewilding. In this conversation we discuss a number of his ideas, Noam Chomsky's criticism of anarcho-primitivism, transgender rights, Michel Houellebecq's Soubmission, Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents, the origins of John's activism in the days of the Vietnam War, John's critique of the Left, and much, much more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, in the age of issues likes pandemics and climate change the subject of science has increasingly become divided along partisan political lines. We live in a moment where portions of the population are anti-vaccination or believe that climate change is a hoax. Science, it appears, has become a topic to avoid as taboo, much like politics and religion, in social interactions. And that has major implications for society. How did this all happen? And, perhaps more importantly, what can be done about it? Joining us to tackle those questions are psychologists Gale Sinatra and Barbara Hofer, authors of Science Denial: Why It Happens and What to Do About It. Among the topics broached during this conversation are: the importance of science communicators like Stephen Jay Gould, Gould's idea of the non-overlapping magisteria, the relationship between big tech algorithms and science denial, storytelling and finding ways to communicate with people who engage in science denial, skepticism vs. denial, the replication crisis, science as a social enterprise, cognitive psychology and science denial, and much, much more.

On this edition of Parallax Views, we've got a monster-sized treat of an episode to help you get in the spirit of the spooky season as Halloween approaches.

Have you ever wondered about the movie magic that's employed to make some of your favorite horror movies? What are the behind-the-scenes secrets of special effects (SFX) and make-up effects (MUFX) in such frightful franchises as HELLRAISER, HALLOWEEN, CANDYMAN, BLADE, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, FEAST, THE EXORCIST, PUMKPKINHEAD, and PIRANHA? Joining us to shed light on that is a legend of the special make-up effects world and a true maestro of the macabre: Gary J. Tunnicliffe. He's worked on all the above-named properties and much more designing iconic kills and monsters in a massive slew of cinematic scarefests over the years and has many stories to tell in this previously unpublished conversation that run over 2+ hours and, hopefully, is a fascinating, rollicking ride throughout. Gary and I discuss how he got into make-up effects, applying make-up effects on Doug Bradley to bring to life the character of Pinhead in the Hellraiser movies, the trials and tribulations of applying make-up to actors for hours at a time, creating the climatic effects for Stephen Dorff's demise in BLADE, a gross-out story from Gary's puppeteering work on PIRANHA 3DD, designing kills in movies like HALLOWEEN: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS (and being brought in for reshoots on already complete movies like the aforementioned film), CGI and deep fakes, designing creatures like PUMPKINHEAD and the cenobite Angelique in HELLRAISER: BLOODLINE, working for colorful producer Bob Weinstein at Dimension Films, the making of a grisly, gory kill in Patrick Lussier's MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3D, Gary's work on Renny Harlin's EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING, Gary's interpretation of Clive Barker's HELLRAISER, working with David Fincher on GONE GIRL, putting bees on actor Tony Todd in one of the CANDYMAN movies, and much, much more!

On this edition of Parallax Views, we're preparing for Halloween w/ a number of episodes celebrating the spooky season! First up, the great film historian David Del Valle joins Parallax Views to discuss monsters, character actor, and the horror movies of Hollywood. We talk Orson Welles, Dracula actor Christopher Lee (and taking him to a gay disco), LGBTQ+ horror and vampires, the adolescent love of horror movies, the classic Universal Monster movies and the British Hammer Studio horrors of the 60s and 70s, the Dracula Society and the strange character of Donald A. Reed, TV horror hosts like Bob Wilkins of Creature Features, meeting Bud Abbot of the Abbot and Costello fame, becoming an agent to Hollywood stars, the Howling Vs. An American Werewolf in London, Lifetime movies, a story about Zelda Rubinstein (known for her role in POLTERGEIST), stories about Hervé Villechaize and Angelo Rossitto, working on the great 80s horror anthology FROM A WHISPER TO SCREAM starring Vincent Price, interviewing Vincent Price for THE SINISTER IMAGE, Donald Pleasance aka Dr. Loomis of the HALLOWEEN franchise, the late John Carradine (patriarch of the Carradine family), recording audio commentaries (and in particular his audio commentary with horror starlet Barbara Steele for SILENT SCREAM), how Hollywood actors get into debt, the classic Hollywood actor Cameron Mitchell a story about film noir actor Lawrence Tierney who gained late-in-life fame for RESERVOIR DOGS and his appearance SEINFELD, the gay horror/arthouse filmmaker Curtis Harrington and his love of outlaw female characters and Kenneth Anger of HOLLYWOOD BABYLON fame, the breast-loving independent filmmaker Russ Meyers (FASTER PUSSCAT KILL KILL!, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS), the Ken Russell adage "Every Day is Halloween" in Hollywood,