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A daily brief about the world's most dangerous places from international war correspondent Chuck Holton
Episodes
Wednesday Dec 12, 2018
Wednesday Dec 12, 2018
Today on the Hot Zone - Russian nuclear bombers land in Venezuela - that can't be good.
CIA mind control - for dogs?
And more Germans looking for guns...but not the kind of guns you think.
It's Wednesday, December 12th. I'm Chuck Holton, and this is the Hot Zone Podcast.
Thanks for being with us. So let's start with the weirdest news I've seen lately. Documents obtained by a freedom of information act request show that the CIA experimented on mind control for dogs as a part of it's controversial MK Ultra program which ran for 20 years starting in 1953. According to the report, six dogs were implanted with electrodes directly to their brains which allowed researchers to control their movements. This was part of a larger program of mind control experiments, some of which were conducted illegally on unsuspecting American citizens. The covert human testing was done using drugs like LSD and other experiments were conducted to try to find ways to mass-hypnotize large audiences. Of course, now we have facebook, so there you go.
This wasn't the only time the US government conducted tests using unwitting US citizens as subjects. Right here in Panama there was a program which began in 1943 to test mustard gas and nerve agent on US troops in a tropical environment, and many of them were not told what they were getting into. The military initially looked at the Panamanian Island of Coiba, but the presence of a penal colony there complicated matters so they eventually decided on one of the pearl islands, San Jose. Today it's a beach resort and I daresay most of the people enjoying the resort there have no idea the island was once home to US troops who were being sprayed with nerve agent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtlGGkuO68k (background footage "b-roll" for above story)
As some of you may know I've done lots of research on the island of Coiba here in Panama, and one day I'm going to write the history of that island...one of my novels is set there, but the more research I've done, the more I realize the true history of that island is crazier than anything I could make up. Here's a trailer I made for an expedition we have planned once we can put all the pieces in place to do it right.
Coiba was a penal colony for almost 100 years, but today it's a marine biological preserve and a world heritage site. I first found out about the island during the invasion of panama, when we were sent to the island to recover some political prisoners who had been imprisoned there by Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. The prison was closed in 2004, and today It looks like paradise, but let me tell you, it seems like everything on that island wants to kill you. Suffice it to say it's one of the most adventurous places I've ever been.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rangerholton/albums/72157594182552078 photos for background use.
Now on to Germany. German press is reporting that citizens requesting weapons permits have more than doubled in the last year, and more than 600,000 have been issued. News reports cite "perceptions of insecurity" and in that phrase you can read some of the inherent bias in the reporting against people being able to protect themselves. The truth is that crime has increased in Germany and across europe as millions of migrants have flooded in from war-torn countries. There has been an especially big increase in sexual assaults, which I talked about on the show yesterday. So it isn't the "perception" of insecurity. It's the reality.
Unfortunately, Germans are not allowed to defend themselves with lethal force or even by injuring an assailant. When I was in Germany earlier this year I visited one german gun store and found out the truth...german's aren't getting permits to carry guns. they are getting permits to carry toys.
https://vimeo.com/305638501/8302c6d947 (2 minutes)
So even if someone breaks into your house, you are legally prohibited from protecting yourself. How's that make you feel? I think it's important to think critically about the words news outlets choose in their reporting, because they will always reveal the bias behind the report.
Okay, Monday six Guatemalan men were apprehended at the border near Yuma, Arizona after jumping an 18-foot fence to get into the US. Two of the men were severely injured after they fell off the fence.
Now I've been in Guatemala several times this year, and let me explain something to you - there are bad neighborhoods in Guatemala, there are bad places in every country. But much of Guatemala is pretty peaceful and actually very nice. If These men who jumped our border illegally were really fleeing violence, they could have saved themselves a lot of traveling by just going to a different place in their own country. Like esquipulas, which is absolutely beautiful and a place I wouldn't hesitate to take my kids on vacation.
Unlike Guatemala, Venezuela is falling apart and has been for a really long time. It's estimated that three million Venezuelans have already fled their country, with more leaving every day. And these are people who have legitimate asylum claims, as the government in Socialist Venezuela actively persecutes it's citizens even while many of them are starving.
Many Venezuelan dissidents who I speak with here in Panama would love nothing more than for the United States to oust their president and dictator, Nicolas Maduro. And while that idea might also have appealed to the Trump administration, it isn't practical nor strategic. Better to let the corrupt government of one of the world's biggest producers of oil collapse under the weight of their own evil.
And if the Trump administration had any secret plans to invade Venezuela, (which they didn't) that idea just got a lot more challenging. On Monday a flotilla of Russian military planes, including two TU-160 nuclear-capable bombers, just landed in Venezuela. Nobody at the Kremlin is saying why, but it's a very concerning development for the United States, for sure.
Anyone who is old enough to remember the 1962 Cuban missile crisis can probably see some chilling comparisons with today's situation with Russia beefing up it's presence in Venezuela. Now we have nuclear capable strategic bombers potentially being based within easy striking distance of our homeland, while Russia engages in some pretty aggressive brinksmanship in the baltic sea and crimea. It's going to take more than a few angry tweets to diffuse this situation, and it's becoming clearer every day that Vladimir Putin is looking to extend his influence and become a global superpower once again.
Meanwhile in the US, Socialism is sort of all the rage with the left. The cute little bartender turned congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez has put a fresh face on Socialism, and seems to think it'd be a great fit for America.
I went to the border of Venezuela last year to find out what that country's people think of Socialism.
https://vimeo.com/202073559 (2 minutes)
Since I made that piece Venezuela's inflation rate has now topped 1 million percent per year. And record numbers of Venezuelans are looking to the United States for Asylum - they are now in the top two of nationalities claiming asylum in America. How ironic it must seem for them to get here and see Americans touting the glories of the very system they are fleeing.
Well, That's all for today. If you are liking this podcast, please do me a favor and subscribe and follow our facebook page. If you'd like to join us in our mission to not just make the news, but make the news good, consider buying me a cup of coffee - just three dollars a month on Patreon and we'll be able to really do a lot of good for people.
We've got lots more content in store and some extras you aren't going to get anywhere else coming soon. Thanks for your support. And We'll look for you again tomorrow, on the Hot Zone.
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