Rackets Podcast #31

India's second wealthiest person, Gautam Adani, is facing legal pressure from the U.S. government. This episode shows the legal, but unethical, means that wealthy donors can get U.S. congressmen to help clean up their image. It's a perfect example of the systemic corruption in D.C. and how money shapes our politics.

Show notes at:

briansaady.com

Rackets Podcast #30

Toby Muse is a foreign correspondent who has spent several years in Colombia. He discussed many observations from his book, "Kilo: Inside the Deadliest Cartels—From the Jungles to the Streets." He offers unique insight into the war on drugs.

Rackets Podcast #29

This episode explores multiple notorious crime figures in South East Asia who have connections to the Chinese government. Some of them are members of China's United Front organizations, which are NGOs closely aligned with the CCP. There is an apparent mutually beneficial relationship in which these criminals are given freedom in exchange for their loyalty to the regime.

Also, the massive explosion in the global supply of fentanyl is no accident. China's government provides tax incentives to these manufacturers and, in some cases, these companies are owned by the state.

Show notes at briansaady.com

Some of the most high-profile criminals in South East Asia are tied to human trafficking and appear to have links to Chinese intelligence. These gangsters can operate with impunity as long as they publicly support the CCP's agenda.

Show notes at:

https://www.briansaady.com/

Rackets Podcast 27

This is an add-on episode from the last one that profiled how Myanmar has become the global epicenter of illegal drug production.

Horrific crimes have increased since the 2021 coup. The junta profits from one of the most perverse forms of human trafficking.

India and China have advanced their geopolitical agenda by exploiting the Rohingya refugee crisis in Myanmar.

https://www.unhcr.org/us/news/stories/over-168-000-rohingya-likely-fled-myanmar-2012-unhcr-report

https://www.fortifyrights.org/mya-inv-2024-08-27/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/10/myanmar-military-forcibly-recruiting-rohingya

https://www.unodc.org/roseap/uploads/documents/Publications/2024/TOC_Convergence_Report_2024.pdf

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/junta-crony/family-friend-helps-myanmar-junta-boss-buy-arms-from-israel.html

https://www.justiceformyanmar.org/press-releases/jfm-calls-on-israels-attorney-general-to-take-urgent-action-following-application-for-criminal-investigation-into-cognytes-business-in-myanmar

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/FFM-Myanmar/A_HRC_39_64.pdf

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/china/china-supplying-weapons-to-arakan-army-armed-group-to-weaken-india-myanmar-report/articleshow/76741890.cms

Rackets Podcast #26

This episode explores the geopolitics of why Myanmar is now the top producer of opium. Myanmar's military junta launched a coup in 2021 and it profits from this black market, along with other organized crime rackets. A massive humanitarian crisis has ensued from a regime that is guilty of numerous war crimes. Several of the rebel groups also profit from illegal drugs.

Show notes:

https://www.briansaady.com/move-over-afghanistan-myanmar-is-now-the-worlds-top-opium-producer

https://2017-2021.state.gov/wei-hsueh-kang/

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/hp1268

https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session56/a-hrc-56-crp-7.pdf

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/02/myanmar-military-air-strikes-that-killed-17-civilians-must-be-investigated-as-war-crimes/#:~:text=Amnesty%20International's%20May%202022%20report,executions%20and%20the%20systematic%20looting

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/07/myanmar-reckless-shipments-of-jet-fuel-continue-as-air-strikes-multiply/

Rackets Podcast 25

***Breaking News*** Court documents show that the man who is accused of financing the assassination of Haiti's President, Walter Veintemilla, received the legal authorization for that operation from a confidential informant of a US Intelligence agency.

How much information did the US government have about this assassination before it occurred?

Show notes at www.briansaady.com

This episode's guest is Michael Ames. He is an investigative reporter and book author based in Brooklyn, New York. After a decade working in media in southern Idaho, Ames moved east and shifted to national issues, writing mostly for the Daily Beast and Harper's and Newsweek magazines. His first book, American Cipher, which he co-authored with former US Army infantryman Matt Farwell, was published by Penguin Press in March. 

In this interview, Michael set the record straight about this former soldier, along with the manner in which his capture was a pretext for many vested interests. Ames also demonstrated a variety of ways in which Bergdahl's exploited public image paralleled the endless war in Afghanistan. 

This excellent and critically-acclaimed book, American Cipher: Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan, is available on Amazon, in Barnes and Noble, and all independent book stores. 

(The audio for this episode isn't great. This issue will be corrected in the following episodes.)

The highlights include:

Censorship in Arizona's state prisons

Backlash against the maker of OxyContin and the heirs to the company's fortune

Racketeering by Big Pharma

Lindsey Graham's buffoonery

Central American Narco-State

Wasteful Military Spending

Former CIA Director's Ironic Choice of Words on Terrorism

Baltimore being held ransom by hackers using former tool of the NSA 

(Image - Flickr - Jim Greenhill)

This episode covers a range of topics including:

Robert Kraft's lawsuit

Possible Chinese espionage

A Federal Lawsuit involving Trump's Emolument Violations

Trump's Pay to Play System

A Number of Revolving Door Officials Finding High-Paying Work in the Private Sector

Boeing Whistleblowers

Foreign Lobbying

War Crimes

Bribery by Shell/ENI of Nigerian officials