Author: Conflicts of Interest

On COI #137, Kyle and Will break down the new US Marine deployment to guard the American Embassy in Haiti, which comes amid instability after the assassination of the country’s leader. While President Biden insists there will be no larger stabilization mission, that’s not so clear, as the Marine contingent comes after the White House had already ruled out sending any troops.

Governments worldwide are stepping up their censorship demands on social media platforms, with Twitter seeing a record surge in such requests in 2020. The Biden administration also recently admitted to pressuring Facebook to scrub so-called vaccine disinformation from the site, literally “flagging problematic posts” for deletion.

As anti-government protests erupt in Cuba, the corporate media has spread confusion with several erroneously captioned photos. One image from the Associated Press labeled a large pro-government demonstration as an opposition rally, an error quickly replicated by countless other news outlets. CNN, meanwhile, falsely portrayed a protest in Miami, Florida as taking place in Cuba.

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On COI #135, Connor Freeman – writer at the Libertarian Institute – returns to the show to discuss how the popular ‘Breaking Points’ podcast sells war under the guise of populism and nonintervention. Connor reviews the career of host Saagar Enjeti, who spent time in neocon hotspots like the Hudson Institute before joining The Hill’s YouTube show, ‘Rising.’ While Saagar – as well as co-host Krystal Ball – present themselves as members of the independent media, they often echo the empire’s narrative.

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On COI #134, Kyle and Will give updates on the political situation in Haiti, where President Jovenel Moise was assassinated by a group of gunmen last week. The assassin team involved more than two dozen Colombians and two Haitian-Americans, and were reportedly organized through a series of private security firms. Those who ordered the hit, as well as their exact motive, remain unclear.

Joe Biden’s war on journalism is ramping up. The administration continues to pursue its extradition case against Julian Assange, telling the British court last week that he would not be housed in a US supermax prison if he were extradited, in hopes of assuaging the judge’s concerns that the WikiLeaks founder would harm himself in US custody.

Biden’s NSA also appears to have spied on Fox host Tucker Carlson, who claims a whistleblower approached him with his own emails scooped up by the agency. Carlson says he was in the process of setting up an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the time of the purported spying, also claiming the NSA sought to leak his interview plans in order to paint him as a Russia-loving traitor.

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On COI #132, Patrick MacFarlane – host of Liberty Weekly – returns to the show to discuss his new documentary, “‘Stain of the Century?’ An Investigation of Uyghur Genocide Allegations.” In the film, Pat traces the main sources behind claims of Uyghur genocide and “organ harvesting.” Many of the charges come from questionable figures, such as Adrian Zenz, a Christian fundamentalist researcher who uses misleading data to push sensational accusations. Pat explains that the situation in China is nuanced and cannot be simplified into a story of ‘good vs. evil.’

Stain of the Century?’ An Investigation of Uyghur Genocide Allegations

On COI #131, Kyle and Will delve into the US case against Julian Assange, which was dealt a major blow after a key witness against the WikiLeaks founder admitted to lying to the FBI. An Icelander, the witness is a convicted pedophile and financial fraudster, but provided testimony for the DOJ’s superseding indictment against Assange.

Facebook is asking users to rat out their right-wing uncles, sending prompts to certain accounts warning that somebody they know might be flirting with an “extremist” ideology. As part a new effort against so-called “extremism,” the platform has partnered with Life After Hate, a NGO strictly focused on right-wing radicals, which received a $750,000 grant from the DHS last year to “disrupt domestic terrorism.”

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has died at the age of 88. Kyle and Will summarize his legacy of militarism and deception, exemplified by his indispensable role in the disastrous 2003 invasion of Iraq.

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On COI #130, Dave DeCamp – news editor at Antiwar.com – returns to the show to discuss Biden’s disorganized Russia and Afghanistan policies. After a somewhat successful summit with Putin, the Biden administration followed up by threatening sanctions and violating Russian territorial waters. In Afghanistan, US officials say the withdrawal is mere days away from completion – however, 1,000 troops will remain in the country. Dave breaks down the chaotic Afghan War policy.

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