12-30-14 Great Guests for Your Show

1. James Hirsen: Box-Office Winners and Losers of 2014

2. Joseph Klein: The Sony Cyberattack - A Preview of Things to Come

3. Michelle Seiler-Tucker: Is Air Travel Safe?

4. John LeBoutillier: How Corrupt is Our Political Class? Has This Corruption and Rot Spread into the American Leadership Class?

5. Bill Tatro: What's in Store for 2015?

6. Dr. Gerard Lameiro: The New Emerging Drone Industry

Box-Office Winners and Losers of 2014

By James Hirsen

For Hollywood executives in charge of running the world's biggest entertainment factories, 2014 turned out to be the most anxiety-inducing ever. The summer was an unsettling one in which the box office take for the season was down 25% from the previous year. To top it off, entertainment business execs wound up the year by having to endure the day-to-day news of a major studio, Sony, attempting to cope with a crushing cyber-attack that was launched over the content of a film. Regarding the 2014 box office as a whole, revenues ended up being down 5% from the prior year. In terms of movie choices, the public, via the free market, sent some clear but perhaps not-so-welcome messages to Hollywood. [more...]

The Sony Cyberattack - A Preview of Things to Come

By Joseph Klein

The FBI accused the North Korean government last week of perpetrating the devastating cyberattacks against Sony's computer network for which a group calling itself the Guardians of Peace took responsibility. The North Korean government denied the charge and warned of serious consequences if the United States launched any counter-attack. President Obama ignored the threat, declaring that the U.S. would respond "proportionally" to what he characterized as cyberspace "vandalism." [more...]

Is Air Travel Safe?

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

Even before the Indonesia Air Asia flight with 162 people on board went missing, the year 2014 has seemed ominous for air transportation disasters. Despite this insinuation, data shows that some 762 people had lost their lives in seven fatal accidents this year, more than 1,000 lost their lives in 2005 ultimately proving that aviation is still the safest route to travel by. Even better, experts say that the industry’s underlying safety record is actually improving. The statistics underscore a year of tragic contrasts dominated by two Malaysian catastrophes and a handful of weather-related incidents, yet a record-low number of crashes. [more...]

How Corrupt is Our Political Class? Has This Corruption and Rot Spread into the American Leadership Class?

By John LeBoutillier

How corrupt is our political class? Has this corruption seeped into the American leadership class – in all our institutions, i.e. education, business, religion, the media, etc.? How weak is American leadership today in the world? As mayhem spreads, does the United States even have a leadership position anymore? This – and much more – will be discussed by the POLITICAL INSIDERS. [more...]

What's in Store for 2015?

By Bill Tatro

As much as each country, from the U.S. to Greece, Russia to Malaysia, sees itself as a unique and independent entity, the reality is that the world has been united as one big Keynesian experiment. Social media has taken significant events that normally would be continually discussed, analyzed and even become world altering and reduced them to tweets, blogs and yesterday's news. Although the world’s attention via social media is always directed to the newest crisis, the reality is that nothing in the past has either been solved or eliminated. Another few days and the next crisis will be front and center; it will be time to put all these past problems behind us – after all it’s a new year. [more...]

The New Emerging Drone Industry

By Dr. Gerard Lameiro

Some estimates place the commercial value of the use of the new drone technology at over $10B over the next decade.  That might be a very conservative estimate too, since the technology can be used in so many different ways.  Plus, just think about spin-off technologies and their values.  For example, new drone-ready GPS technology will likely be used, resulting in additional revenues and profits. A whole new billion dollar industry?  New jobs?  New innovation?  A boost for GDP?  Better services for consumers?  Cool technology, right?  American ingenuity at work building 21st century America?  But, why not do the R&D in America? [more...]

12-23-14 Expert Guests for Your Show

1. Julian Kulski: "Torture" is What the Gestapo Did in WWII

2. Wayne Allyn Root: The Illegal Immigration Story Obama Doesn't Want You to Hear

3. James Hirsen: The Obama-Sony Blame Game

4. Michelle Seiler-Tucker: The Beginning of The End for Kim Jong-un’s Crimes Against Humanity

5. Bill Tatro: Sony Hacked... Really?

"Torture" is What the Gestapo Did in WWII

By Julian Kulski

The media is full of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s report on "enhanced interrogation tactics" used by the CIA after 9/11, in particular waterboarding, which the Senator has defined as "torture." Please! Torture is what the Gestapo did in World War II. I should know. During the war, I was recruited into the Polish resistance at age 12. When I was 14, I was arrested by the Gestapo. Throughout the war, the Germans who invaded and occupied my native Poland routinely tortured not only those who fought against them physically but anyone they believed to be their enemy - including women and children. [more...]

The Illegal Immigration Story Obama Doesn't Want You to Hear

By Wayne Allyn Root

No country in history has survived with open borders. A welfare state (like today's America under Obama) that allows in millions of poor, desperate, uneducated illegal immigrants with open hands and open mouths, looking for cradle-to-grave welfare, can never survive. Obama won't tell you what illegal immigration has done to California's budget: the massive increase in the cost of police, courts and prisons. He won't mention the destruction of public schools or the massive welfare debt turning California into a bankrupt hellhole like Greece — or Detroit. He won't mention that California's taxes are now among the highest in the nation because of the costs of illegal immigration. [more...]

The Obama-Sony Blame Game

By James Hirsen

There is apparently no love lost between Sony Pictures and the Obama administration these days. The fingers of blame have been pointing back and forth, while the barbs between the studio and the president have continued to fly amid a bona fide national security crisis, which happens to have a real villain, North Korea. During his year-end news conference, Pres. Obama chided Sony, joining in with countless critics of the movie studio’s decision to cancel the release of the film "The Interview," which had been scheduled for a Christmas Day debut. Sony, however, seems to be questioning the veracity of the president's statement at the press conference. [more...]

The Beginning of The End for Kim Jong-un’s Crimes Against Humanity

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

Since the FBI accused North Korea as being the culprit behind the Sony hack, North Korea has vehemently denied the accusations. In fact, North Korea is now so far on the defensive that the country has refused to partake in an unprecedented UN Security Council meeting that was supposed to discuss North Korea’s domineering and overbearing control over its people’s human rights. This year more than ever has brought the communist country’s capital, Pyongyang into the spotlight. While there have always been rumors of its government’s crimes against humanity, this is the first time their supreme leader, Kim Jong-un, could end up being held accountable for the alleged crimes escaped North Koreans have been accusing both their current ruler, as well as his predecessors of doing to their country’s people for years. There is a high probability that the dire situation in the half-starved nation of North Korea will be brought to the International Criminal Court - a court reserved for the darkest acts against humanity. [more...]

Sony Hacked... Really?

By Bill Tatro

The Sony hacking raises many unanswered questions for me. First of all, why do so many Hollywood "stars" continue to come to the defense against the attack on American corporations? This leads U.S. politicians to follow suit by stating "our companies will not be bullied." This is admirable on both parts but it can be considered self-serving for the silver screen types when their livelihoods get cancelled and Washingtonians are looking for their own twenty minutes of fame on the Sunday morning talk shows. [more...]

12-18-14 Excellent Guests for Your Show

1. Dr. Gerard Lameiro: The Cuba Decision - Bad for Freedom but Good for Tyranny

2. Joe Messina: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Less Like Christmas

3. Michelle Seiler-Tucker: Hack Attacks - A New Kind of Warfare

4. Bill Tatro: Falling Oil = Increased Spending, Not Exactly

The Cuba Decision - Bad for Freedom but Good for Tyranny

By Dr. Gerard Lameiro

The decision to "normalize relations with Cuba" by the current administration has been called "another concession to tyranny."  Why is this decision bad for freedom and good for tyranny?  For one thing, America is the beacon for hope for oppressed people around the world.  This decision makes it look like America is abandoning its strong support and encouragement for freedom. America has a long history of living in freedom and supporting freedom.  America lives under a Constitution that protects freedom.  This decision does not support freedom.  Rather, it says tyranny will be rewarded and will not have to give up its dictatorial policies to be recognized by America. [more...]

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Less Like Christmas

By Joe Messina

I was at S####cuts the other day and noticed that there were NO Christmas or holiday decorations. When I asked them why, I was told the corporate office says there is not to be any type of celebration of the Christmas or holiday season. Why is that (even though you could buy a little gift card with a snowman on it) confusing? "We might offend someone," they replied. Well, you just did. Me! And I make up 72% of Americans who say they believe in God and an even larger number who say they are not offended when offered a Merry Christmas in a genuine way. [more...]

Hack Attacks - A New Kind of Warfare

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

The size and scope of the recent hack of Sony Pictures is an unprecedented event in the US for such a major company. Several news headlines about hacking incidents this past year have led me to perceive cyber security and hack attacks from a completely different perspective. The hackers’ political motives and the public humiliation of Sony raise the possibility of an entirely new approach to cyber-attacks, which combine the hacker ideologies with "creative" expression through a performance that humiliates its target while destroying data and causing the organization to internally crumble into a state of inoperable chaos. Instead of blowing up the studio, such hack attacks are doing equal damage by inflicting malicious software that destroys a company’s operations, while stealing data and private information. [more...]

Falling Oil = Increased Spending, Not Exactly

By Bill Tatro

I am struggling with a concept being espoused by economists, central bankers, politicians, mainstream media and even the majority of talk show hosts: the idea that falling gas prices will put more money in consumers' pockets. For every $10 drop in oil GDP increases by 1/10th of a percent. Let's start with the concept of more money in one's pocket. Example: I have a 20 gallon tank and decide to fill up at $4 per gallon. I carry $80 in cash in my pocket and after I revive from the shock, all $80 has been passed to the service station attendant leaving me with zero. It is all a zero sum game which takes away from one to give to another. [more...]

12-16-14 Great Guests for Your Show

1. Dr. Gerard Lameiro: The Price of Oil Continues to Plummet

2. Kyle Olson: Legislators' Voicemails, Letters Reveal Corrupting Influence of the California Teachers Association

3. Michelle Seiler-Tucker: Are Torture Techniques Really Worth It?

4. Bill Tatro: Obama's Star Trek Budget... NOT

5. Dave Bego: Beware the Ambush

The Price of Oil Continues to Plummet

By Dr. Gerard Lameiro

The price of oil has plummeted since June 2014.  Brent crude oil went from over $110 per barrel to about $61 per barrel, a remarkable drop of close to 50%.  Its impacts are being felt around the world and watched closely by governments, central bankers, financial markets, analysts, investors, and others.  Let's look at the reasons that help explain this precipitous decline in oil prices, some of the impacts felt around the world, and whether American citizens should be concerned.  Let's start with the reasons for the huge drop in oil prices that has occurred in the last six months. [more...]

Legislators' Voicemails, Letters Reveal Corrupting Influence of the California Teachers Association

By Kyle Olson

Political contributions from powerful special interests are more than gifts to favorite candidates – they are often down payments for preferential treatment from elected officials who accept the money. Teachers unions play the "purchase-a-politician" game very well. A good example is the California Teachers Association, the state's largest teachers union and a powerful player on the political scene. In the 2010 and 2012 campaign cycles, the CTA doled out approximately $57 million in campaign contributions. Almost all of that money went to Democratic candidates. [more...]

Are Torture Techniques Really Worth It?

By Michelle Seiler-Tucker

Following the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA interrogation techniques, polls show that the nation is split in its opinion on the subject matter over whether waterboarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques are ever justified and/or effective, but the majority does consent that the tactics used are nevertheless various forms of torture. I agree. The questionable ethics behind such actions are what make this media uproar so enticing. The question becomes, "Should suspected terrorists have the same legal rights as other criminals?" My general response to such a question is no, but the hardest thing for me in admitting that is that my response is fueled by fear, not by logic. [more...]

Obama's Star Trek Budget... NOT

By Bill Tatro

As the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has reported, the President's budget, the first one in a while, is a road map for "growth, opportunity and fiscal responsibility." What the OMB fails to mention is that we have been down this road many times before. "The budget invests in American innovation... the development of clean energy alternatives." Apparently Solyndra's default on a $535 million dollar loan guaranteed by the Department of Energy wasn't disastrous enough. We need to once again fuel all those wonderful clean energy alternatives. [more...]

Beware the Ambush

By Dave Bego

Employees and employers across the country need to be wary of the forced union ambush being promulgated by President Obama and his big labor "gasping dinosaurs" and the radicals the President has appointed at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The President is utilizing "rule by fiat" to fundamentally transform America as he promised when he was first elected, while also paying back his political supporters. His motives are blatantly evident as seen by his recent actions following the November elections to provide amnesty for illegal aliens (to eliminate "racial injustice") and now through his radical pro-union appointees to the NLRB pushing quickly for a "card check" style system. [more...]

'Exodus' Has Something to Alienate Everyone

By James Hirsen

Another ambitious attempt by Hollywood to produce a scripturally based film appears to have missed the mark in a major way.

Director Ridley Scott’s "Exodus Gods and Kings" has managed to rile political liberals, disappoint film critics, and offend members of the three primary religions that adhere to the Old Testament, an astounding feat considering its big-screen Bible-based forerunner, director Cecil DeMille’s 1956 film "The Ten Commandments," was a critically acclaimed box-office success, which was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

Lou Lumenick, a movie critic who writes for the New York Post, called Scott’s Old Testament project "an utterly clueless, relentlessly grim and rambling action epic guaranteed to displease devout Jews, Christians and Muslims alike, amuse atheists — and generally bore everyone." [more...]

Dream Act - The Truth Behind the Nightmare

By Dave Bego

Despite an obvious mandate from the American public, the Republican Party seems afraid to confront the bully on his unilateral action on immigration. Why? Mainly so it doesn't lose the Hispanic vote, which could be retained and increased.

Ironically, America is in the same position it was four years ago and the Republican Party has the upper hand, but seems reluctant to use it despite the mandate when all it has to do is do the right thing - appeal and talk to all segments of the population on their turf and expose the Obama Administration's true agenda of purely pandering for votes. Interestingly, even the labor bosses are being very quiet about the President's amnesty order. They must have come to the realization that such a path is not good for America, or for the American worker! [more...]

What Does the CIA Interrogation Report Mean Historically?

The author of Recarving Rushmore, Dr. Ivan Eland, says, "Historically, the post-9/11 U.S. government torture of detainees and other civil liberties violations--for example, warrantless government surveillance on most Americans, detention of suspects indefinitely without trial, the creation of kangaroo military tribunals in lieu of civilian courts, the singling out of Muslims for immigration violations and deportation, rendition of suspects to other countries known for torturing prisoners, CIA secret prisons, and the Guantanamo offshore prison in Cuba--may have been the worst constitutional scandal in American history.  George W. Bush started most of these unconstitutional or illegal government activities, but Obama has continued most of the practices, albeit with ameliorating developments in some cases.  One major area in which Obama claims to have reversed Bush policy is U.S. torture of detainees, which was the subject of the damning Senate Intelligence Committee report. Taken all together this civil liberties scandal has stretched over two administrations and continues long after 9/11.

If each presidential administration is examined in isolation, however, some constitutional scandals rival this one, which stretches over two administrations.  As for political scandals, the Reagan administration's Iran-Contra was probably the worst in American history, followed closely by Watergate.  As for scandals eroding civil liberties during wartime, the incarceration in prison camps of approximately 100,000 Japanese residents and Japanese-Americans by FDR during World War II for no good reason rivals throwing people in jail for disagreeing with American wars--as was the case during World War I under Woodrow Wilson and with the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts during the Quasi-War with France in the last years of 18th century under the administration of John Adams."