Bringing Light Into Darkness - News & Analysis

Opening the Toolbox of US Interventionist Foreign Policy: How the Internal Affairs of Nicaragua has been Undermined their Democracy

Tonight’s show critically deconstructs how US government foreign policy along with its strong influences within the UN and with the aid of an uncritical mainstream media has misrepresented the unfolding political realities of Nicaragua leading up to, during and following the failed 2018 US led coup attempt. Our guest John Perry joins Bringing Light Into Darkness to recount this history. John Perry lives and works in Masaya, Nicaragua, where he has been based since 2003.

Since the violent attempt to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua in 2018, which was especially badly felt in Masaya, he has been working in an informal solidarity network linked to both the UK (the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign) and the US (the Alliance for Global Justice). This has including lobbying governments, politicians, and agencies such as Amnesty International.

John writes about Nicaragua and also about Honduras, and has been published in The Nation, London Review of Books, Counterpunch, Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), The Grayzone, FAIR, Open Democracy, LA Progressive and elsewhere.

Perry provides an informed overview of US-Nicaraguan history since the 1979 July 19th Sandinista revolutionary victory over the US backed Somoza dictatorship. Our guest describes how the US State Department influences has permeated the internal affairs of Nicaragua and part of US foreign policy has included training thousands of Nicaraguans to return to Nicaragua and foment unrest in hopes of overthrowing the Sandinista government led by Daniel Ortega in the hopes of bringing a government to power that would provide a greater return for US western led investment capital.

Perry provides a blow by blow historical overview of those attempts and the methods used by US foreign policy and the history that preceded it and how it has been misrepresented by mainstream media and enabled by UN mischaracterizations.

We begin the show by detailing the experiences of two Cuban double agents who explain how Cubans paid by monies from the US government were misrepresented in US media as ‘dissidents’ instead of as ‘criminals’ engaging in criminal behavior by taking money from a foreign adversarial government to overthrow their own government. Our guest shares the parallel experiences of Nicaragua in great detail to afford our listeners how destabilization of elected government have been executed in Nicaragua.

Please join us tonight for a thought provoking dialogue and historical analysis.

How the Intersection of Wealth Inequality & Media Information Control is Hijacking our Democracy

Examples of how our media and government work hand in glove to misrepresent facts on the ground if the facts on the ground do not fit the dominant narrative that sustains uncritically the status quo of egregious levels of wealth inequality. The relationship between control of information and gross wealth inequality and its creation of US public ignorance that leads us to unjust wars and conflicts is suggested. Three detailed examples of how our media and government have arrogantly sought to bully those that critical question the absence of evidence or just outright lie or completely revise history to a preferred mainstream dominant narrative are presented tonight on Bringing Light Into Darkness.

John Kirby US government National Security expert regarding the 2015 Turkish shootdown of a Russian fighter pilot along the Syrian Turkish border is emblematic of the insulting arrogance of US officials is replayed and discussed. How the UN instead of being a force for equity among nations acts to the advantage of those countries that pay more into it rather than to follow its mandate to equally serve all nations is addressed. An example that suggests that the result of maintaining unfair advantages to powerful nations that often enables unfairness by insulating them from ramifications for internationally illegal activities is also provided.in the form of a recent example of a UN spokesperson defending the US illegal occupation of Syria is provided and discussed.

The third example is an eight minute NPR 03/2022 piece still purveys the false image making that suggests Russia was the aggressor in 2008 Georgia Russia War despite OSCE and EU Reports that proved the opposite. The conflict erupted on 7 August 2008, as Georgia shelled the breakaway region of South Ossetia, in an attempt to regain control over it. The mainstream narrative that has since been completely contradicted by these thoroughly documented reports one by the OSCE in the months following the conflict of August 2008 as well as another much more exhaustive EU report published in 2009. It was commissioned by the Council of the European Union, and written by Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini, with the help of 30 European military, legal and history experts. That NPR some 14 years later continues to promote the fully discredited mainstream narrative that it was Russia and not Georgia that initiated the aggressions of August 2008 and that these investigations also revealed the war crimes of targeting of civilians by Georgia another fact unreported by the NPR 8 minute piece, suggests NPR and mainstream media are not investigative journalists but instead propagandists serving the US foreign policy of demonizing Russia first rather than seeking the truth of matters.

That serving and promoting Russiaphobia is not journalism its war promoting propaganda that needs to be corrected to create an truly informed US public electorate is suggested .

Please join us tonight for what we hope is a though provoking dialogue and analysis.

How the Intersection of Wealth Inequality & Media Information Control is Hijacking our Democracy

Examples of how our media and government work hand in glove to misrepresent facts on the ground if the facts on the ground do not fit the dominant narrative that sustains uncritically the status quo of egregious levels of wealth inequality. The relationship between control of information and gross wealth inequality and its creation of US public ignorance that leads us to unjust wars and conflicts is suggested. Three detailed examples of how our media and government have arrogantly sought to bully those that critical question the absence of evidence or just outright lie or completely revise history to a preferred mainstream dominant narrative are presented tonight on Bringing Light Into Darkness.

John Kirby US government National Security expert regarding the 2015 Turkish shootdown of a Russian fighter pilot along the Syrian Turkish border is emblematic of the insulting arrogance of US officials is replayed and discussed. How the UN instead of being a force for equity among nations acts to the advantage of those countries that pay more into it rather than to follow its mandate to equally serve all nations is addressed. An example that suggests that the result of maintaining unfair advantages to powerful nations that often enables unfairness by insulating them from ramifications for internationally illegal activities is also provided.in the form of a recent example of a UN spokesperson defending the US illegal occupation of Syria is provided and discussed.

The third example is an eight minute NPR 03/2022 piece still purveys the false image making that suggests Russia was the aggressor in 2008 Georgia Russia War despite OSCE and EU Reports that proved the opposite. The conflict erupted on 7 August 2008, as Georgia shelled the breakaway region of South Ossetia, in an attempt to regain control over it. The mainstream narrative that has since been completely contradicted by these thoroughly documented reports one by the OSCE in the months following the conflict of August 2008 as well as another much more exhaustive EU report published in 2009. It was commissioned by the Council of the European Union, and written by Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini, with the help of 30 European military, legal and history experts. That NPR some 14 years later continues to promote the fully discredited mainstream narrative that it was Russia and not Georgia that initiated the aggressions of August 2008 and that these investigations also revealed the war crimes of targeting of civilians by Georgia another fact unreported by the NPR 8 minute piece, suggests NPR and mainstream media are not investigative journalists but instead propagandists serving the US foreign policy of demonizing Russia first rather than seeking the truth of matters.

That serving and promoting Russiaphobia is not journalism its war promoting propaganda that needs to be corrected to create an truly informed US public electorate is suggested .

Please join us tonight for what we hope is a though provoking dialogue and analysis.

The Intersection of Wealth Inequality Drivers & Systemic Racism An International Women’s Month Tribute to the work of Dr Arline Geronimus with Special Guest Dr Sam Cruz

We examine the intersection of egregious levels of wealth Inequality and systemic racism on the last Monday of International Women’s Month. The connected issues we seek to bring to light include the unpaid work of women in generating wealth inequality, highlighting a 2020 OXFAM report which documents how women and girls put in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid labor every day which translates into a labor value of $10.8 Trillion per year. We also call attention and share the state of Yemenese women as a result of US foreign policy. We celebrate the work and analytical findings of Dr Arline T. Geronimus, a Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education and Research Professor in the Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research, at the University of Michigan's Population Studies Center where she also is the founding director of the Public Health Demography training program. Dr. Geronimus originated an analytic framework, "weathering" that posits that the health of African Americans is subject to early health deterioration as a consequence of social exclusion; Dr Geronimus has been involved for the past 30 years of studying and measuring how poverty and racism create psychic and physical problem sets that can shorten lives by a decade or more and have a profound deteriorating effect on quality of life of that shortened life. In other words, as a result, they as a class have their constitutional right to pursue happiness, severely compromised.

Joining us to critically evaluate and describe the concept of weathering as the largely unrecognized impact of systemic racism is Dr. Samuel Echevarría-Cruz who has served as a Professor of Sociology at Austin Community College (ACC) since 2009 and is currently the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Instructional Initiatives. Dr Cruz leads us through an enlightening discussion that challenges us to reconsider some false assumptions we may have, based on some implicit biases we have been acculturated to believe.

Instead of pathologizing behaviors of those immersed in poverty as a potential or likely cause of their continued poverty, he suggests how Geronomus’ work has shown that poverty creates the conditions in which through ‘survival adaptation’ if you will, leads to the behaviors being scrutinized and falsely critiqued as being irresponsible, such as higher rates of teen pregnancy. That, instead of pathologizing behavioral responses to poverty, by people of color and others that have been disenfranchised by the egregious levels of wealth inequality, that the poverty (the causal effect) must be addressed first. In other words once you successfully address the poverty then and only then will the environment change in a healthy direction and once the environment changes, the (behavioral) responses to the healthier environment changes as any form of adaptation would suggest.

Please join us tonight for a fascinating dialogue and analysis with Dr Sam Cruz.

Siempre fieles, Pgatos 3/27/23 [email protected]

The Intersection of Wealth Inequality Drivers & Systemic Racism An International Women’s Month Tribute to the work of Dr Arline Geronimus with Special Guest Dr Sam Cruz

We examine the intersection of egregious levels of wealth Inequality and systemic racism on the last Monday of International Women’s Month. The connected issues we seek to bring to light include the unpaid work of women in generating wealth inequality, highlighting a 2020 OXFAM report which documents how women and girls put in 12.5 billion hours of unpaid labor every day which translates into a labor value of $10.8 Trillion per year. We also call attention and share the state of Yemenese women as a result of US foreign policy. We celebrate the work and analytical findings of Dr Arline T. Geronimus, a Professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education and Research Professor in the Population Studies Center at the Institute for Social Research, at the University of Michigan's Population Studies Center where she also is the founding director of the Public Health Demography training program. Dr. Geronimus originated an analytic framework, "weathering" that posits that the health of African Americans is subject to early health deterioration as a consequence of social exclusion; Dr Geronimus has been involved for the past 30 years of studying and measuring how poverty and racism create psychic and physical problem sets that can shorten lives by a decade or more and have a profound deteriorating effect on quality of life of that shortened life. In other words, as a result, they as a class have their constitutional right to pursue happiness, severely compromised.

Joining us to critically evaluate and describe the concept of weathering as the largely unrecognized impact of systemic racism is Dr. Samuel Echevarría-Cruz who has served as a Professor of Sociology at Austin Community College (ACC) since 2009 and is currently the Associate Dean of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) Instructional Initiatives. Dr Cruz leads us through an enlightening discussion that challenges us to reconsider some false assumptions we may have, based on some implicit biases we have been acculturated to believe.

Instead of pathologizing behaviors of those immersed in poverty as a potential or likely cause of their continued poverty, he suggests how Geronomus’ work has shown that poverty creates the conditions in which through ‘survival adaptation’ if you will, leads to the behaviors being scrutinized and falsely critiqued as being irresponsible, such as higher rates of teen pregnancy. That, instead of pathologizing behavioral responses to poverty, by people of color and others that have been disenfranchised by the egregious levels of wealth inequality, that the poverty (the causal effect) must be addressed first. In other words once you successfully address the poverty then and only then will the environment change in a healthy direction and once the environment changes, the (behavioral) responses to the healthier environment changes as any form of adaptation would suggest.

Please join us tonight for a fascinating dialogue and analysis with Dr Sam Cruz.

Siempre fieles, Pgatos 3/27/23 [email protected]

International Women’s Month Tribute to my Mom & Acknowledging Joe Biden’s Role in the Iraq Invasion on its 20th Anniversary

A Bringing Light Into Darkness listener sent me the following words to consider on or about the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq: “Two decades ago, the United States invaded Iraq, sending 130,000 US troops into a sovereign country to overthrow its government. Joe Biden, then chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, voted to authorize the war, a decision he came to regret…Biden, now the US president, recently traveled to Warsaw to rally international support for Ukraine’s fight to repel Russian aggression…Biden declared: ‘The idea that over 100,000 forces would invade another country – since world war II, nothing like that has happened’…The president spoke these words on 22 February, within a month of the 20th anniversary of the US military’s opening strike on Baghdad.” Stephen Wertheim The Guardian 17MAR23

The author, Stephen Wertheim, went on to write: “The White House did not attempt to correct Biden’s statement. Reporters do not appear to have asked about it. The country’s leading newspapers, the New York Times and Washington Post, ran stories that quoted Biden’s line. Neither of them questioned its veracity or noted its hypocrisy.” I think this article and the full content of our show tonight captures the important realization that we have two political parties that find little to agree on except promoting unjust military conflicts and how the mainstream media, both conservative and liberal are their complicit allies, keeping the US public ignorant of important news worthy considerations

“in a broadcast exclusive” on 2/18/20 during Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now news program, a new film, directed by the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s Mark Weisbrot, that exposes Biden’s central role in pushing for an Iraq invasion was presented. It’s called Worth the Price? Joe Biden and the Launch of the Iraq War. The documentary is narrated by Danny Glover. It was released during the Presidential democratic party debates. Mark Weisbrot shared these words with Amy regarding Joe Biden and his role in the March to unjust Iraq War:

“You’ve had his vote for the Iraq War, has been brought up. But there’s never been a presentation of what he actually did, which was, he was the most important elected official in this country, after George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, in enabling and allowing and getting the authorization for the war through Congress. That was a huge role in bringing us this war. It wasn’t just a vote for the war. He was the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And, you know, when I was going through this footage, it was amazing, all the things that he did. He argued very strongly for the war. He had a lot of influence.”

So, on the 20th anniversary of what can arguably described as the most devastating foreign policy blunder of this century, namely the US Iraq War invasion, BLID presents the sound track of this 20 minute short documentary directed by Mark Weisbrot and narrated by Danny Glover.

We also celebrate International Women’s Month with a tribute to my mom Barbara aka Bobby.

Siempre fieles, Pgatos 3/20/23 [email protected]

International Women’s Month Tribute to my Mom & Acknowledging Joe Biden’s Role in the Iraq Invasion on its 20th Anniversary

A Bringing Light Into Darkness listener sent me the following words to consider on or about the 20th anniversary of the US invasion of Iraq: “Two decades ago, the United States invaded Iraq, sending 130,000 US troops into a sovereign country to overthrow its government. Joe Biden, then chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, voted to authorize the war, a decision he came to regret…Biden, now the US president, recently traveled to Warsaw to rally international support for Ukraine’s fight to repel Russian aggression…Biden declared: ‘The idea that over 100,000 forces would invade another country – since world war II, nothing like that has happened’…The president spoke these words on 22 February, within a month of the 20th anniversary of the US military’s opening strike on Baghdad.” Stephen Wertheim The Guardian 17MAR23

The author, Stephen Wertheim, went on to write: “The White House did not attempt to correct Biden’s statement. Reporters do not appear to have asked about it. The country’s leading newspapers, the New York Times and Washington Post, ran stories that quoted Biden’s line. Neither of them questioned its veracity or noted its hypocrisy.” I think this article and the full content of our show tonight captures the important realization that we have two political parties that find little to agree on except promoting unjust military conflicts and how the mainstream media, both conservative and liberal are their complicit allies, keeping the US public ignorant of important news worthy considerations

“in a broadcast exclusive” on 2/18/20 during Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now news program, a new film, directed by the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s Mark Weisbrot, that exposes Biden’s central role in pushing for an Iraq invasion was presented. It’s called Worth the Price? Joe Biden and the Launch of the Iraq War. The documentary is narrated by Danny Glover. It was released during the Presidential democratic party debates. Mark Weisbrot shared these words with Amy regarding Joe Biden and his role in the March to unjust Iraq War:

“You’ve had his vote for the Iraq War, has been brought up. But there’s never been a presentation of what he actually did, which was, he was the most important elected official in this country, after George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, in enabling and allowing and getting the authorization for the war through Congress. That was a huge role in bringing us this war. It wasn’t just a vote for the war. He was the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And, you know, when I was going through this footage, it was amazing, all the things that he did. He argued very strongly for the war. He had a lot of influence.”

So, on the 20th anniversary of what can arguably described as the most devastating foreign policy blunder of this century, namely the US Iraq War invasion, BLID presents the sound track of this 20 minute short documentary directed by Mark Weisbrot and narrated by Danny Glover.

We also celebrate International Women’s Month with a tribute to my mom Barbara aka Bobby.

Siempre fieles, Pgatos 3/20/23 [email protected]

US Healthcare Profiteering & US Foreign Policy’s Main Driver, Making the World safe for Profiteering with Mike Whitney

Please join us tonight as we juxtapose our US Healthcare system comparative inadequacies compared to other developed nations, and the role of profiteering in its healthcare delivery inadequacies with the more macro impacts of profiteering on world geopolitics and its promotion of seemingly endless conflict and war. We discuss a history that has been kept from the US public about how profiteering drivers operates and influences world geopolitics behind the scenes.

A microcosm example is detailed regarding the neocolonialist exploitation of the African continent that was confronted by Ghaddafi’s Libya policies, part of a larger policy to seek a United States of Africa vision. The profiteering example given is of Europe and France charging the African continent $500m a year for communication satellite access and Africa having some of the highest phone rates in the world, and Ghaddafi largely financing a replacement satellite system to replace Regional African Satellite Communication (RASCAM), established in 1992 by some 45 African nations and the $500m a year rental fees charged by the Europeans led by the French. In December 2007 as an outcome of Libya’s financial aid Africa secured its own satellite system and France and Europe lost their $500m a year cash cow. With the threat of creating a United States of Africa and further reversing the exploitation of the African continent's resources by the neo colonizing west, perhaps and arguably this was the primary driver for seeking to overthrow Gadaffi by US led NATO forces in 2011.

Investigative journalist Mike Whitney joins BLID and explains the Russia-Ukraine-US-NATO conflict as an outcome of the geopolitics of the world and the US seeking to make sure its hegemonic position in the world today is not challenged while other countries like Russia and China are seeking a more fair-trade model of multipolarity.

The role of profiteering in the world economic dominance, the west led by the US has had since WWII & the increasing challenge of this unipolar economic dominance exerted by the US which is today being challenged by countries like Russia, China and India which refuse to be treated as lesser nations when it comes to economic development and sovereignty rights to co exist is discussed.

Whitney also addresses the unfolding military conditions on the ground in Ukraine and recent past month comments made by Colonel Douglas MacGregor on the same, including MacGregor’s claim that western media is and has been completely misleading the US and western public regarding the actualities on the ground in Ukraine.

Siempre fieles, Pgatos 3/13/23 [email protected]

US Healthcare Profiteering & US Foreign Policy’s Main Driver, Making the World safe for Profiteering with Mike Whitney

Please join us tonight as we juxtapose our US Healthcare system comparative inadequacies compared to other developed nations, and the role of profiteering in its healthcare delivery inadequacies with the more macro impacts of profiteering on world geopolitics and its promotion of seemingly endless conflict and war. We discuss a history that has been kept from the US public about how profiteering drivers operates and influences world geopolitics behind the scenes.

A microcosm example is detailed regarding the neocolonialist exploitation of the African continent that was confronted by Ghaddafi’s Libya policies, part of a larger policy to seek a United States of Africa vision. The profiteering example given is of Europe and France charging the African continent $500m a year for communication satellite access and Africa having some of the highest phone rates in the world, and Ghaddafi largely financing a replacement satellite system to replace Regional African Satellite Communication (RASCAM), established in 1992 by some 45 African nations and the $500m a year rental fees charged by the Europeans led by the French. In December 2007 as an outcome of Libya’s financial aid Africa secured its own satellite system and France and Europe lost their $500m a year cash cow. With the threat of creating a United States of Africa and further reversing the exploitation of the African continent's resources by the neo colonizing west, perhaps and arguably this was the primary driver for seeking to overthrow Gadaffi by US led NATO forces in 2011.

Investigative journalist Mike Whitney joins BLID and explains the Russia-Ukraine-US-NATO conflict as an outcome of the geopolitics of the world and the US seeking to make sure its hegemonic position in the world today is not challenged while other countries like Russia and China are seeking a more fair-trade model of multipolarity.

The role of profiteering in the world economic dominance, the west led by the US has had since WWII & the increasing challenge of this unipolar economic dominance exerted by the US which is today being challenged by countries like Russia, China and India which refuse to be treated as lesser nations when it comes to economic development and sovereignty rights to co exist is discussed.

Whitney also addresses the unfolding military conditions on the ground in Ukraine and recent past month comments made by Colonel Douglas MacGregor on the same, including MacGregor’s claim that western media is and has been completely misleading the US and western public regarding the actualities on the ground in Ukraine.

Siempre fieles, Pgatos 3/13/23 [email protected]

US Foreign Policy, Jeffrey Sachs UN Report & Update/Reality Check Regarding the Unfolding Ukraine-Russia-NATO-US Military Conflict

Jeffrey Sachs, a Professor at Columbia University and well respected internationally for his high acumen relating to world economics and geopolitics, spoke before the UN Security Council on the 9/26/22 international terrorist act that blew up the Nord Stream pipeline. Sachs highlighted the underreported but huge significance and ramifications of the international terrorist act of war against Germany and Russia and the lack of urgency to demand an investigation to discover who was responsible for it. We feature Sachs full commentary to the UN on 2/21/23 and wonder why is there such relative lack of urgency on behalf of the US to pursue such an inquiry.

We also feature an overview of a 2/7/23 interview of Colonel Douglas Macgregor who visits with Stephen Gardner to update us on the Ukraine Russia war and the dire circumstances facing the Ukraine Armed forces on the battlefield in Ukraine. Douglas Macgregor is a decorated combat veteran, the author of five books, a PhD, and a defense and foreign policy consultant. He was commissioned in the Regular Army in 1976 after 1 year at VMI and 4 years at West Point. In 2004, Macgregor retired with the rank of Colonel. In 2020, the President appointed Macgregor to serve as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense, a post he held until the end of the Presidential term. He holds an MA in comparative politics and a PhD in international relations from the University of Virginia and provides a credible counternarrative to the less than truthful dominant narrative being presented once again by our government and major medias to the US public regarding the unfolding the event in Ukraine.

In the context of the long-established pattern of the US government misleading the US public into tolerating military conflicts in Viet Nam, Iraq, Libya, Syria and the misinformation around the Georgia-South Ossetia-Russian conflict of 2008, we ask why should we believe the US government and main stream media presentation of the ongoing Ukraine-Us-NATO-Russian war conflict raging in Ukraine. The long list of claims that Russia is losing, Ukraine is winning and just needs more military support to succeed and the overall day to day coverage of the military conflict, is it truth or fiction? The Colonel says point blank on multiple occasions; “No one is telling the truth in the West. Russia is incompetent; Russia is losing; Ukraine is winning and will take back Crimea”; and then provides compelling arguments that argue the opposite.

Please join us tonight to learn why MacGregor through his informative military strategic perspective, believes we are being fed lies by our government and media and why we must demand that our government end the war in Ukraine now, which it has the power to do.