First broadcast in America 50 years ago, The Prisoner—a dystopian television series described as “James Bond meets George Orwell filtered through Franz Kafka”—confronted societal themes that are still relevant today: the rise of a police state, the freedom of the individual, round-the-clock surveillance, the corruption of government, totalitarianism, weaponization, group think, mass marketing, and the tendency of humankind to meekly accept their lot in life as a prisoner in a prison of their own making.
Perhaps the best visual debate ever on individuality and freedom, The Prisoner (17 episodes in all) centers around a British secret agent who abruptly resigns only to find himself imprisoned and interrogated in a mysterious, self-contained, cosmopolitan, seemingly tranquil retirement community known only as the Village. The Village is an idyllic setting with parks and green fields, recreational activities and even a butler.
While luxurious and resort-like, the Village is a virtual prison disguised as a seaside paradise: its inhabitants have no true freedom, they cannot leave the Village, they are under constant surveillance, their movements are tracked by surveillance drones, and they are stripped of their individuality and identified only by numbers.
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The inspector general report on the FBI’s investigation of Hillary Clinton contained plenty of bombshells, including a promise by lead FBI investigator Peter Strzok that “we’ll stop” Donald Trump from becoming president. The report reveals how unjustified secrecy and squirrelly decisions helped ravage the credibility of both Clinton’s presidential campaign and the FBI. But few commentators are recognizing the vast peril to democracy posed by the sweeping prerogatives of federal agencies.
The FBI’s investigation of Clinton was spurred by her decision to set up a private server to handle her email during her four years as secretary of State. The server in her mansion in Chappaqua, N.Y., was insecure and exposed emails with classified information to detection by foreign sources and others.
Clinton effectively exempted herself from the federal Freedom of Information Act. The State Department ignored 17 FOIA requests for her emails before 2014 and insisted it required 75 years to disclose emails of Clinton's top aides.
A federal judge and the State Department inspector general slammed the FOIA stonewalling.
Clinton’s private email server was not publicly disclosed until she received a congressional subpoena in 2015. A few months later, the FBI Counterintelligence Division opened a criminal investigation of the “potential unauthorized storage of classified information on an unauthorized system.”
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Five Minutes Five Issues: Yemen, Farm Bill Hemp, Trump/Kim Meeting, Medical Marijuana, Dividing California
A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues is available. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.
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Why Is Washington Backing Saudi Starvation Policy In Yemen?
As Saudi Arabia moves ahead with its siege of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, the goal is to starve the local civilian population to the point where they rise up and overthrow the Houthis who hold the city. While Saudi Arabia's entire three year war on Yemen is criminal and genocidal, this "starve them out" strategy is the most repulsive of war crimes. So why does the Trump Administration continue to back Saudi slaughter in Yemen? Tune in to today's Liberty Report...
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Who Won At The Summit? Trump or Kim?
Yesterday's meeting between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was history in the making. By all accounts the meeting went well. Trump looks like a peacemaker and Kim looks to have delivered security to his people while continuing the process toward peace with his southern neighbor. Neocons and political opponents of Trump in the US are furious. Who wins from the meeting? Join us for today's Liberty Report...
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Five Minutes Five Issues: Bilderberg, Marijuana Prosecutions, Sports Politics, Marijuana Morality, RPI Conference
A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted on Saturday. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.
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Six Against Trump: Who Wins At G-7 Summit?
President Macron of France and German chancellor Angela Merkel are reportedly ready to read President Trump the riot act at the G7 Summit in Canada starting tomorrow. They are reportedly furious over Trump's "go it alone" approach to climate change, the Iran deal, and more. Will they succeed in wrong-footing the former reality TV star US president, or will Trump actually relish the idea of sparring with feckless foreign leaders? Tune in to today's Liberty Report...
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