Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
Society & Culture
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
Israeli Politics from a Progressive Jewish-American Perspective w/ Abe Silberstein/Combating the Israeli Far-Right and Antisemitism at the Same Time w/ Stephen Zunes
The Life & Films of Steven Spielberg + Myth and Reality in THE FABELMANS w/ Joseph McBride
Lawsuit Over JFK Documents, Lee Harvey Oswald, & the CIA w/ Jefferson Morley/FBI Surveillance and the ”Black Identity Extremist” Label w/ Patrick Eddington
The Problems of U.S. Arms Sales Policy w/ Jordan Cohen/Student Confronts Liz Cheney Over Iraq War w/ Mitch Robson
Money-Driven Politics in an Age of Global Tumult w/ Thomas Ferguson/Railroad Workers, Corporate Power, and Congress w/ Jack Rasmus
New Film FARHA Tells a Coming-of-Age Survival Story Set Amidst the Nakba w/ Darin J. Sallam/The Sordid History of Guantanamo Bay w/ Andy Worthington
Is Turkey Preparing for a Ground Operation in Syria? w/ Giorgio Cafiero
Railroad Workers Sound Off on Their Grievances, Biden, Sick Leave, and the Rail Carriers w/ Marilee Taylor, Jeff Kurtz, and Maximilian Alvarez
U.S. Foreign Policy, Saudi Arabia, & the Arms Industry w/ Annelle Sheline & William Hartung/Geopolitics & U.S. Foreign Policy w/ Doug Bandow
Israel, Biden, and the FBI’s Shireen Abu Akleh Investigation w/ Mitchell Plitnick
The Iran Protests and The State of Resistance: Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran w/ Assal Rad
The FTX/SBF Crypto Scandal & Elon’s Twitter Takeover w/ Mike Swanson/A Critique of Psychedelic Capitalism w/ Daniel Pinchbeck
The Russia-Ukraine War w/ Patrick Cockburn/The Kyrie Irving Controversy and Black Hebrew Israelites w/ Jacob S. Dorman
The ADL and the FBI w/ Grant F. Smith
FIFA Uncovered and the Qatar World Cup w/ Miles Coleman/The World Cup & Qatar’s Soft Power Foreign Policy w/ James M. Dorsey
The Peaceful Transfer of Power w/ David Marchick/The Hidden History of Neoliberalism w/ Thom Hartmann
Bridge to the Sun: The Secret Role of the Japanese Americans Who Fought in the Pacific in World War II w/ Bruce Henderson
The Far-Right’s Electoral Victory in Israel w/ Richard Silverstein
The Israeli Election and What Netanyahu’s Victory Entails w/ Yossi Gurvitz
Horror Cinema from the Italian Giallo to John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN w/ Troy Howarth
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