Good interview. Madhouse indeed, even by the standard of the thorough corruption of the American political system--which has been corrupt pretty much forever. There are any number of books documenting The Empire's post WW2 machinations, William Blum's 1986 comprehensive classic, "Killing Hope" (which has gone through 9 editions) being the lodestar. The difference that jumps out with Trump and his crew--indeed with every administration after and including Bush 2, is wedding exceptional evil with exceptional ignorance and stupidity. Old school was evil and smart. The 21st century ushered in administrations which were evil and stupid--in keeping with the trajectory of American culture.
I did a Brave search, book title and author, here's the summary:
McMafia: A Journey Through
"McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld" is a nonfiction book written by Misha Glenny and published in 2008. The book explores the rise of organized crime following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the deregulation of international financial markets. Glenny, a former BBC World Service correspondent, provides firsthand accounts and travels across five continents to document the global criminal underworld, speaking with individuals from various levels of criminal organizations as well as law enforcement and victims
The book delves into the complex structure of organized crime in modern Europe and around the world, detailing how these criminal networks infiltrate legitimate businesses. It also highlights the significant economic impact of illegal trade, which is estimated to account for one-fifth of the global GDP
"McMafia" has been praised for its comprehensive and authoritative investigation into the global criminal underworld, making it a valuable resource for those seeking a deeper understanding of real-life international organized crime
Ok, it seems to be limited in its scope as the US has been consistently facilitating criminal activity since before the CIA with the OSS & Italian Mafia, post WWII the SE Asia heroin trade was facilitated via Air America. Yes, on the one had there's clear evidence of deep state involvement, and then there's the DEA. Some presidents may have been unwitting accomplices, others likely were part of the problem.
There's also work by CIA, Drugs, Wall Street and the 9-11 Connection (Building A Better Map) by Michael Ruppert.
Yes, I read a similar synopsis and noted the time period examined. Wilkerson’s mention was the first time I’d heard of it for such an important work. I knew Mike Ruppert and collaborated with him on peak oil and 911 issues, and was well aware of his battle against the CIA. Collusion between crime syndicates and big city police is an old story but very relevant as it provided the core training ground for all mafias in the USA. JE Hoover was one of the biggest criminals in America.
Col. Wilkerson is constrained, so he picks a relatively safe source to make the point, which I can understand given how people's credibility is attacked if sources used are to woowoo. At the present the main outlets for discussions are with Nima, Jamarl, and other Youtubers. Substack is having a good run but I can see that western platforms will be curtailed, if not via censorship then by US platforms being hit by counter tariffs.
I’ve been using Substack for a bit over two years, and my account was suspended recently for 36 hours without warning or notification for spurious reasons. The only customer service is a chatbot that couldn’t give me any reason for my suspension apart from “you may have violated the platform’s spam and phishing policy”. It was garbage. I hadn’t done anything. If they do this, your only recourse is to submit a form saying why you think there has been an error. But they won’t tell you what your alleged violation is, so it’s completely Kafkaesque. And you can’t talk to a human. My account was reinstated without notice, reason, explanation or apology. I have six paid subscriptions and this is how they treat you. It certainly looks like this platform has a limited life span.
They’ve done the math and using bots is cheaper than people; this is the business model and the tech sector is eating its own dog food. The current drubbing of the tech sector will have consequences for the smaller players. I was an early adopter of Flickr and after 2005 it was a journey downhill. Substack can go the same way, looking for a sugar daddy.
I went and watched a couple of videos of Misha Glenny speak on Youtube: the first from over a decade ago about his McMafia work; the second from a year ago about Europe, post-Ukraine conflict (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocM0NJl122s). Many aspects of this more recent presentation have aged like sour milk over the course of the last year. He seems to be a Mearsheimer-esque 'realist', narrative manager.
I have been hugely impressed by Colonel Wilkerson (someone who I didn't go out of my way to listen to until relatively recently) and that episode with Nima was indeed eye-opening. Thank you for sharing once again, Karl; and Dornoch for bringing Michael Ruppert's name to my attention.
Wilkerson seems to have retained many connections likely because of the man he is and thus we get into via him that otherwise remains mute. As a historian, I’m suspicious of works that don’t at least provide some review of their roots, which appears to be the main critique of McMafia. There’s a copy available at The Archive but it wasn’t available to borrow so I’ll need to remember to look at it again.
But you need to take into account that a lot of your readers will already be regular viewers of Dialogue Works, so a sizeable chunk of the number you quote may have already seen the podcast.
Helmer's is a voice I come and go on, but seems to clearly present an interesting perspective in this case; Parsi, I'm fairly ambivalent about. Clearly a time of great uncertainty but at least a time when plausible well-reasoned voices can be heard.
I mean, he's only had 5 major bankrupcies, one of them in casinos which is a money printing machine.
Trump's Tariff plan contributed to the 4 main stock markets being down over 10 trillion and there are no signs of a bottom yet. (I don't have the numbers) So far, all his plan has done is create uncertainty, chaos, and panic.
Here's a better account of Trump's business skills.
Trump's depraved indifference to humanity will never change. He's exactly like Jared Kushner who also gushed about fabulous beach front property in Gaza and--with his standard depraved indifference to humanity--also suggested "moving" recent and current residents elsewhere so the property could be developed. That's all fine, but US taxpayers must be separated from these sociopaths.
Good interview. Madhouse indeed, even by the standard of the thorough corruption of the American political system--which has been corrupt pretty much forever. There are any number of books documenting The Empire's post WW2 machinations, William Blum's 1986 comprehensive classic, "Killing Hope" (which has gone through 9 editions) being the lodestar. The difference that jumps out with Trump and his crew--indeed with every administration after and including Bush 2, is wedding exceptional evil with exceptional ignorance and stupidity. Old school was evil and smart. The 21st century ushered in administrations which were evil and stupid--in keeping with the trajectory of American culture.
I did a Brave search, book title and author, here's the summary:
McMafia: A Journey Through
"McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld" is a nonfiction book written by Misha Glenny and published in 2008. The book explores the rise of organized crime following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the deregulation of international financial markets. Glenny, a former BBC World Service correspondent, provides firsthand accounts and travels across five continents to document the global criminal underworld, speaking with individuals from various levels of criminal organizations as well as law enforcement and victims
The book delves into the complex structure of organized crime in modern Europe and around the world, detailing how these criminal networks infiltrate legitimate businesses. It also highlights the significant economic impact of illegal trade, which is estimated to account for one-fifth of the global GDP
"McMafia" has been praised for its comprehensive and authoritative investigation into the global criminal underworld, making it a valuable resource for those seeking a deeper understanding of real-life international organized crime
Ok, it seems to be limited in its scope as the US has been consistently facilitating criminal activity since before the CIA with the OSS & Italian Mafia, post WWII the SE Asia heroin trade was facilitated via Air America. Yes, on the one had there's clear evidence of deep state involvement, and then there's the DEA. Some presidents may have been unwitting accomplices, others likely were part of the problem.
There's also work by CIA, Drugs, Wall Street and the 9-11 Connection (Building A Better Map) by Michael Ruppert.
Yes, I read a similar synopsis and noted the time period examined. Wilkerson’s mention was the first time I’d heard of it for such an important work. I knew Mike Ruppert and collaborated with him on peak oil and 911 issues, and was well aware of his battle against the CIA. Collusion between crime syndicates and big city police is an old story but very relevant as it provided the core training ground for all mafias in the USA. JE Hoover was one of the biggest criminals in America.
Col. Wilkerson is constrained, so he picks a relatively safe source to make the point, which I can understand given how people's credibility is attacked if sources used are to woowoo. At the present the main outlets for discussions are with Nima, Jamarl, and other Youtubers. Substack is having a good run but I can see that western platforms will be curtailed, if not via censorship then by US platforms being hit by counter tariffs.
I’ve been using Substack for a bit over two years, and my account was suspended recently for 36 hours without warning or notification for spurious reasons. The only customer service is a chatbot that couldn’t give me any reason for my suspension apart from “you may have violated the platform’s spam and phishing policy”. It was garbage. I hadn’t done anything. If they do this, your only recourse is to submit a form saying why you think there has been an error. But they won’t tell you what your alleged violation is, so it’s completely Kafkaesque. And you can’t talk to a human. My account was reinstated without notice, reason, explanation or apology. I have six paid subscriptions and this is how they treat you. It certainly looks like this platform has a limited life span.
I wrote an article about Simplicius’s experience that’s far back in the archive. His issues were similar to yours plus.
They’ve done the math and using bots is cheaper than people; this is the business model and the tech sector is eating its own dog food. The current drubbing of the tech sector will have consequences for the smaller players. I was an early adopter of Flickr and after 2005 it was a journey downhill. Substack can go the same way, looking for a sugar daddy.
Substack gets a share of writers’s earnings that keeps it alive.
I went and watched a couple of videos of Misha Glenny speak on Youtube: the first from over a decade ago about his McMafia work; the second from a year ago about Europe, post-Ukraine conflict (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocM0NJl122s). Many aspects of this more recent presentation have aged like sour milk over the course of the last year. He seems to be a Mearsheimer-esque 'realist', narrative manager.
I have been hugely impressed by Colonel Wilkerson (someone who I didn't go out of my way to listen to until relatively recently) and that episode with Nima was indeed eye-opening. Thank you for sharing once again, Karl; and Dornoch for bringing Michael Ruppert's name to my attention.
Wilkerson seems to have retained many connections likely because of the man he is and thus we get into via him that otherwise remains mute. As a historian, I’m suspicious of works that don’t at least provide some review of their roots, which appears to be the main critique of McMafia. There’s a copy available at The Archive but it wasn’t available to borrow so I’ll need to remember to look at it again.
Mike Ruppert, R.I.P.
I read his 2004 book, which confirmed all my suspicions about 911 being an inside job. And he also motivated me to study peak oil.
"Is the initial accusation really so wild when we know what’s been done before?"
Of course not. The current tragic events (genocide in Palestine, war crimes in Yemen and Ukraine) prove that the colonel's claims are true.
Unfortunately, substack tells me only 13% of viewers clicked the link to the chat, so roughly 2,000 viewers didn’t immediately get further informed.
But you need to take into account that a lot of your readers will already be regular viewers of Dialogue Works, so a sizeable chunk of the number you quote may have already seen the podcast.
Yes, I considered that. What surprised me was the pro-Trump people stayed away from commenting—at least so far.
thanks Karl I love Wilkerson- much more than McGovern actually
This is a fascinating piece to be read in combination with a couple of analyses that have appeared on Nima's channel over the last couple of days.
The Freeman / Wilkerson / Parsi session...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY0uJH-z2To
...and the McGovern / Helmer session...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im-l4xRj5Qg
Helmer's is a voice I come and go on, but seems to clearly present an interesting perspective in this case; Parsi, I'm fairly ambivalent about. Clearly a time of great uncertainty but at least a time when plausible well-reasoned voices can be heard.
I wanted to watch the first trio today but got bogged down with other things. Too often there aren’t enough hours in the day.
Some think Trump is a great businessman.
I mean, he's only had 5 major bankrupcies, one of them in casinos which is a money printing machine.
Trump's Tariff plan contributed to the 4 main stock markets being down over 10 trillion and there are no signs of a bottom yet. (I don't have the numbers) So far, all his plan has done is create uncertainty, chaos, and panic.
Here's a better account of Trump's business skills.
https://youtu.be/zbh9SW5Cgqg?t=3
Trump's depraved indifference to humanity will never change. He's exactly like Jared Kushner who also gushed about fabulous beach front property in Gaza and--with his standard depraved indifference to humanity--also suggested "moving" recent and current residents elsewhere so the property could be developed. That's all fine, but US taxpayers must be separated from these sociopaths.
"Trump's depraved indifference to humanity..."
Very well stated. It should be his description in every future history book. He truly is indifferent to the needs of everyone around him.