Category: Ring of Fire

Is Bernie Sanders Being Excluded From Corporate Media?


Ring of Fire Radio

This website – OK, Fine – is focusing today on presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Much information has come out on Bernie recently.  Sanders declared his presidential run about a month ago.

Does Mr. Sanders have a chance of winning the presidency?  Is he able to raise enough funding for his election campaign and get the media attention he needs and deserves?  Is Mr. Sanders’ age a factor?

“Mr. Sanders is considered the Senate’s most left-wing member,” states The New York Times.

The Times also writes that Sanders recently drew 700 people to an event in Davenport, Iowa that was “the largest rally in the state for any single candidate this campaign season.”  Only 50 attended a rally there on Saturday with former Governor Martin O’Malley of Maryland.

Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign has been steadily picking up steam over the past month, writes Ring of Fire. After announcing his candidacy for the Democratic nomination, Sanders managed to raise $3 million in just four days and has already had over 150,000 people sign up to volunteer on the campaign trail.

Ring of Fire hosts Mike Papantonio and Farron Cousins discuss it.

Former Reagan Aide Thinks Conservatives Watch Too Much Fox News


Sam Seder

According to a study by a former aide to Ronald Reagan and top official in the George H.W. Bush administration, Bruce Bartlett, Fox News creates uninformed voters.

This is proof that Fox News simply skews the national narrative and damages its viewers chances of ever being informed, according to Ring of Fire Radio.

Mr. Bartlett appeared on CNN earlier this month.  CNN Host Brian Stelter read from a paper Bartlett published earlier this month, in which Bartlett claimed that “[i]t can almost be called self-brainwashing – many conservatives now refuse to listen to any news or opinion not vetted through Fox, and to believe whatever appears on it as the gospel truth.”

Bartlett went on to say “I don’t think that word [‘self-brainwashing’] is too strong – I think many conservatives live in a bubble, where they watch only Fox News on television, they listen only to conservative talk radio – Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, many of the same people.”

“When they go on to the Internet,” he said, “they look at conservative websites like National Review, Newsmax, World Net Daily, so they live in a universe in which they hear the same exact ideas, the same arguments, the same limited amount of data, repeated over and over again – and that’s brainwashing.”

When Mr. Bartlett was asked if this is more true with conservatives than liberals, he said that it is.  He hypothesized that because the media traditionally leans left, conservatives latched on to Fox News when it first appeared.

Are Generic Drugs Regulated Differently Than Brand-Name Drugs?

Ring of Fire Radio

Companies who make generic drugs are not allowed to change their warning label if a new problem is found with the drug.  However, brand-name drugs are required to change their warning label if a new problem is found with the drug, states Ring of Fire Radio.

The FDA was supposed to issue new rules last year to make generic drugs safer for consumers and change their regulations.  However, so far, they’ve failed to take any action, which is leaving patients at risk and lets pharmaceutical companies go free.

Here, Farron Cousins discusses this with attorney Howard Nations.

High Levels Of Arsenic Found In Certain Wines


Ring of Fire Radio

Over the past few decades the medical community has come around to the fact that drinking a glass of wine or two with your dinner might be good for your health. One recent study actually even found that drinking wine was better for you that going to the gym, according to Ring of Fire.

But all of that is only true if you aren’t drinking the cheap wine that contains way too much arsenic, which is a poison.

So before you head to Trader Joe’s for some bottles of ”Two-Buck Chuck” or your favorite wine section for other inexpensive varieties, think about whether they’ve been named in the recent class-action lawsuit that claims that 28 California wineries are producing wines with dangerously high levels of arsenic, states Patch.com.

Most of the wines in the claim are zinfandels or moscatos that sell for less than $10 a bottle.

Court documents allege three separate testing laboratories skilled in arsenic testing each confirmed that several California wineries are producing wines with high levels of the toxin, ”in some cases, up to 500 percent or more than what is considered the maximum acceptable safe daily intake limit.”

The class-action lawsuit is just that: a lawsuit. Neither judge nor jury has weighed in on the allegations. Still, the story has gone viral on social media, with many posts wondering just which wines are included in the suit.

Mike Papantonio, discusses it with attorney Michael Burg in the video.

Is There Still A Scott Walker Scandal Going On?

Wisconsin governor Scott Walker is one of the brightest stars in the Republican Party, and he has very clear ambitions to run for President in the near future.

Before he hits the national stage, however, he still has a lot of investigations to overcome.

Mike Papantonio discusses this with Brendan Fischer from the Center for Media and Democracy.


Ring of Fire

More on Walker’s campaign finance scandal here.

Ring of Fire Full Episode – 02/15/2015

00:50 – Howard Nations discusses how Republican-controlled states are becoming full of corruption and incompetence.

09:12 – Radio host David Pakman explains President Obama’s proposal to provide two years of cost-free community college to American citizens.

17:34 – Brendan Fischer from PR Watch in Madison, Wisconsin discusses the latest details on the Scott Walker John Doe investigation. #WalkerInvestigation

25:59 – David Haynes goes over the dangers of the blood monitoring system Alere Inratio, and about the overall failures of the FDA in recent years. #BigPharmaGoneWild


Ring of Fire

(Video 56 minutes long)

Is Homegrown Terrorism Bigger In The U.S. Than Al-Qaeda?


Ring of Fire

Sources claim that since 9/11, right-wing extremists have killed more people on American soil than Islamic extremists.

Right-wing media outlets like to tell us that Americans are threatened by illegal immigrants and al-Qaeda, but according to research, American citizens are far more likely to be killed by a right-wing extremist than a terrorist group.

Mike Papantonio and Howard Nations discuss it.

More here:

http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2015/jan/08/sally-kohn/kohn-911-right-wing-extremists-killed-more-america/

What Is The Deal With The Dershowitz-Epstein-Andrew Scandal?

The Jeffrey Epstein / Alan Dershowitz / Prince Andrew child sex scandal has for the most part fallen through the cracks of mainstream media’s attention.

Billionaire Epstein previously somehow got off with a “slap on the wrist” for sex trafficking minors and there are accusations of “shady deals” with authorities.

In March 2005, a woman alleged her 14-year-old daughter had been taken to Epstein’s mansion by an older girl and paid money after stripping and massaging Epstein.

Wikipedia:

“Police started an 11-month undercover investigation of Epstein, followed by a search of his home. Subsequently, they alleged that Epstein had paid several escorts to perform sexual acts on him.

“Papers filed in 2006 state Epstein installed concealed cameras in numerous places in his property to record sex between prominent people and underage prostitutes for criminal purposes like blackmail.

“Instead of following police recommendation, the prosecutors considered the evidence weak and presented it to a grand jury, an uncommon procedure in non-capital cases.

“In June 2008, after pleading to a single state charge of soliciting prostitution from girls as young as 14, Epstein began serving an 18-month sentence. He served 13 months, and upon release became a registered sex offender.”

Some think the story has the potential to become the “Bill Cosby scandal on steroids.”

Here, Mike Papantonio and Thom Hartmann discuss it.

Ring of Fire

Who Is The Ambassador From Israel To The U.S.?


Ring of Fire video

The Israeli ambassador to the U.S. is Ron Dermer, who was born American and is now an Israeli citizen.

According to Wikipedia, Ron Dermer is an American-born Israeli diplomat and political consultant who currently serves as the Israeli Ambassador to the United States.

“He previously served as Israel’s economic envoy to the United States from 2005 to 2008, a position requiring him to give up his American citizenship, and subsequently served as senior advisor to current Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for four years. On July 9, 2013 Dermer was confirmed as Israel’s ambassador in Washington, replacing Michael Oren.”

His U.S. party affiliation is unclear – he has been described as a “GOP activist,” but his father and brother were Democrats.

According to the New York Times, the White House is furious with Israeli ambassador Ron Dermer for helping John Boehner coordinate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s March visit to congress, all behind the Obama administration’s back. In some ways, the legality of the situation is in question.

More here