Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20140221

Civilians, not al qaeda, as officials claimed. We will speak with the author of the Human Rights Watch report jeremy scahill. In a university of california scientist tyrone hayes learned a possible herbicide may have harmful effects on the endocrine system. When he tried to publish the results, the company that makes a chemical try to discredit his work. We were surprised that when we exposed rocks to low levels of atrazine, it produced animals that look like this. Two testes, ovaries, more testes, and another set of ovaries. Then we look at the shadow lobbying complex. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Ukraines president Viktor Yanukovych announced concessions to his proeuropean opponents, including plans to hold elections, but it is not clear whether the opposition will affect the deal except the deal. The deal. U. N. General secretary ban kimoon condemned the use of force. I call on all involved to seize violence and for ukrainian authorities to refrain from excessive use of force. I am appalled by the use of firearms by both the police and protesters. I urge all parties to immediately resume agencywide dialogue. This is the only way to prevent further bloodshed and arrive at a solution after the deepening political, security, and economic crisis. The president ial palace in mogadishu, somalia has come under attack. Exploded outside of the gates and militants tried to shoot their way into the compound. It is not clear how many people have died. The somalian president did survive the attack. Jazeera journalists on trial in egypt pleaded not guilty thursday to having went to the muslim brotherhood. The military government has accused them of joining or aiding and abetting a terrorist organization. Their trial was adjourned until march 5. Heather allen, the head up al jazeera news gathering, criticize prosecutors. We believe we will be acquitted. They were operating just as journalists. We do not have an agenda. We have nothing against egypt. We certainly do not lie or do biased reporting. Believe that we are innocent. About 100 tons of highly radioactive water has leaked from one of the hundreds of storage tanks at the Fukushima Nuclear plant. The Tokyo Electric Power plant described it as the worst spill at the plan in six months. Next month marks the oneyear anniversary of the meltdown. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Association is reporting the fourth warmest january since recordkeeping began. Temperature maps show much of the world except for the eastern United States experiencing warmer than average temperatures. They also reported 37 of the United States is now suffering from drought. Precipitation was below normal for more than 30 states last month. President obama has dropped a measure to trim costofliving increases in Social Security from an upcoming budget proposal. While the move was praised by democrats, the white house the chained cpi was still on the table but only as part of the grand bargain deal with republicans. A judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the legality of a Surveillance System by the nypd on muslim members of the society. They said it was unconstitutional because it focused on their nationality or race. The judge said for unveilingized the program. The judge went on to write in georgia, the family of a 17yearold rotc student was shot and killed by a Police Officer. Police mistook a beaded in control or the teenager was holding for a gun. Police shot dead christopher on february 14 when officers showed up at his home to serve a probation violation more for his dad. Police claimed the teenager pointed a gun at the time of the shooting but the family says a nintendo wii video game controller was in his hands. Meanwhile, authorities in texas are also facing questions over a fatal shooting. On sunday, a Police Officer shot dead a 47yearold africanamerican woman after she opened the door for police. Police claimed that she was armed but investigators now say they cannot confirm if she had a gun or even refuse to follow commands. U. N. General secretary ban kimoon has appealed to the International Community to send an additional 3000 troops to the Central African republic to combat worsening sectarian violence. Calamity with a strong claim on the conscious of humankind. Over the past year we have seen in quick succession a violent overthrow of the government, the collapse of state institutions, and to send into lawlessness and sectarian brutality. More than 2. 5 million people, more than half the population, needs immediate humanitarian assistance. A haitian Appellate Court has ruled that jeanclaude baby doc duvalier could be charged with crimes against humanity. The suit was filed by victims of forced disappearances and torture during his 15year rule. The Court Reversed an earlier ruling. The unitedsociety of states has released undercover video showing shocking conditions that a huge hog operation in kentucky called iron maiden farms. One video shows pigs confined in cramped cages known as justice in crates being fed ground up intestines from piglets who had recently succumbed to disease. More than 900 piglets recently died from the disease in two days. In related news, idaho has become the latest state to propose an aggag bill that would impose penalties for trespassing and filming facilities. Former black Panther Russell maroon shoatz has been moved out of solitary confinement for the first time in 22 years. Last year, the 70yearold prisoner filed a lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Department of corrections over being held in isolation. You can go to our website at democracynow. Org for our recent special on aging Political Prisoners being held in solitary confinement. They boykin is back in news. He retired Army Lieutenant general who described the war on terror as a holy war is saying that jesus will return to earth armed with an ar15. He now serves as the Vice President of the Family Research council. He made the comment at a conference in dallas, texas. In revelation 19, it says he will come back as what, a warrior. A mighty warrior leading a modern army, wiping a white horse with a bloodstained white robe. I do not know about theologians, i was at dallas seminary said, i believe that blood on his robe is on his enemies. He is coming back with a sword. I have checked this out. I believe that he will be coming back with an ar15. Awards areacademy still a few weeks away, the documentary the act of killing had an usual screening. It was projected on the walls of the world bank in washington, d. C. They used the film to call on the world bank to acknowledge its role in the 1965 coup in indonesia that led to the massacre of one million civilians. We like to project on buildings, we want people to see the film, we want to shake things up and start dialogue. We have had people walking by who had no ideas about the crimes committed. This is what sparks discussion and gets people to comment. In general, let people know what is going on. Those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Im juan gonzalez. Welcome to our listeners from around the world. A report has revealed a u. S. Drone strike that killed a dozen people in yemen in december failed to comply with rules imposed by president obama last year to protect civilians. The strike was carried out by the u. S. Military joint Operations Command and targeted vehicles as part of a wedding procession going to the grooms village outside of the central yemeni city of rada. According to the report, some or most of those killed were civilians and not members of al qaeda, as u. S. And Yemeni Government officials claimed. The report concluded the attack killed 12 men between the ages of 20 and 65 and wounded 15 others. There are accounts of survivors and local media reports. One of the local witnesses interviewed was Abdullah Muhammad altisi. He described the scene on the day the wedding procession was attacked on december 12, 2013. His son was killed in the drone strike. We were having a traditional marriage ceremony. That was Abdullah Muhammad altisi talking about the drone strike in december that killed his son. All this comes as the white house is considering using a drone to you killed a u. S. Citizen living in pakistan allegedly affiliated with al qaeda. For more we are joined by letta tayler. She wrote the new report entitled a wedding that became a funeral us drone attack on marriage procession in yemen. We are also joined by jeremy scahill, cofounder of as thept. Org, as well producer and cowriter of the documentary nominated for an oscar, dirty wars the world is a battlefield. Letta, you recently came back from yemen, tell us about your findings. On a weddinge convoy in yemen killed 12 people, injured 15, including the bride, who received a face over and. Wound. We are concerned this may not have only violated International Law that flies in the face of president obamas policy on targeted killings. He says they do not strike unless there is near certainty that no civilians were killed. But the evidence suggests that at least some and possibly all of them were civilians. Could you talk about what your Research Involved in producing the report, and also you seem to have found contradiction between what National Yemeni Officials Say and what local officials closer to the ground state say. A mindboggling array of on and off the record comments about the strike which underscores the urgent need for the United States to come clean on what exactly happened. I researched this strike in yemen, my eight trip in recent years. Particulark at this issue of targeted killings. I met with relatives and family members there as well as government officials, academics, journalists. The most compelling testimony was from the family members, of course. Menou saw in the video, holding tattered id cards of their loved ones. The onlyases, remaining item they had of these people, saying to me, and explained to me why the u. S. Killed my son, why the u. S. Killed my nephew. Groom from aof the previous marriage was killed in the strike. They deserve answers from the United States. What has the u. S. Said . In aey have responded fashion that i find disconcerting. We are getting more of the same obfuscation. Off the record comments to media did it, this strike that the targets were militants, but where is the evidence, show us the proof, show us the findings of the report. If militants were killed, let us judge the facts. Lets see if you are complying with your law and policy. The government claimed there was a particular militant they were looking to kill him but his name did not appear among the list of dead. The namesnot among given to me, the bodies identified by relatives, as well as media. Indeed, the relatives i spoke to said they never heard of the man. You went toahill, yemen and investigate a number of drone strikes in dirty wars the world is a battlefield. Talk about how this december attack fits in. Here, andthink is key what the team at Human Rights Watch has zeroed in on, when there are these strikes and civilians are killed, the Obama Administration has dated they do a review, investigation. Indeed, these anonymous officials have said to major outlets that they did an internal investigation and the department of defense determine the individuals killed were legitimate combatants. Yet, those reports are never made public. In the cases i have investigated in yemen, one of which was the bombing that you referenced, the first time that we know president obama a military style attack inside yemen, and that was a Cruise Missile attack, and killed three dozen people, the overwhelming majority of whom were women and children. There was supposedly an internal investigation into that but the release it,will not the pentagon will not release the investigations they do. In the case of the bombings of and were out hockey anwar alawlaki, the findings have not been released. Now,we are seeing right and we have talked about this on the show, it boils down to the Obama Administration trying to wage what it believes as preventative strikes, preemptive or. That they believe will pose a threat, or picked up chatter that they could be discussing some kind of plot. Is not even a vague idea that we should have any kind of Law Enforcement approach to the crime of terrorism anymore. They are just zapping people. The idea of Legal Process has been replaced by the National Security Agency Tracking metadata of individuals from various countries, building profiles of what telephones are in contact with others, where particular sin cards have been physically or geographically. Then you have a secret process in the white house of these meetings where officials essentially condemn the users of these phones to death, and then president obama signs off and the drone serves as the executioner. That is basically the judicial process the u. S. Offers to people who are not even accused of the crime of terrorism, just perceive to be a part of it. You mentioned president obamas involvement. I want to turn to him speaking about drone strikes during the first major counterterrorism address of his second term. The comments came one day after eric holder confirmed drone strikes had killed before you are american citizens in yemen and pakistan. Takenore any strike is there must be near certainty that no civilians were killed or injured. The highest standard we can set. Qaeda,e conflict with al like all armed conflicts, invites tragedy, but by nearly targeting our action against those that want to kill us and among, people they hide we are choosing the course of action least likely to result in the loss of innocent life. That was president obama. I want to point out one thing that he said in the speech. There is one theory about this december 12 strike on the wedding convoy, that members of al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula may have infiltrated the convoy. Is true, and we have no that theyhat it is, were in the convoy, but lets assume that it was. Would not shielding give the United States the right to attack the convoy. Always has totes distinguish between civilians and combatants. By combatants i mean lawful targets. There are a lot of questions whether the people being killed who are considered militants are actual lawful targets. Ap were there, it does not mean that the attack was lawful. We are speaking to letta tayler, who just came out with the article a wedding that became a funeral us drone attack on marriage procession in yemen. What are the implications of this report, what has the u. S. And other countries had to you . Operatingwe are still in a vast accountability vacuum. The United States says trust us, but they do not give us any information that would allow us to trust them. Not only does this mean that the u. S. Could be violating International Law and president obamas own policy, but it sets a dangerous precedent for countries around the world. I do not find it surprising that journalists from russia and china call us frequently when we come out with a report like this because there are many leaders in many countries who are happy to see the u. S. Paved the way for taking out people without any justification, anytime, anywhere, and simply calling them terrorists or threats to National Security. Jeremy, have we seen any movement on the part of the administration, given the publicity that has come out , congresse strikes attempting to rein in the policies of the administration . Congress is almost entirely asleep at the wheel when it comes to oversight or raising serious questions about the Drone Program or the fascination of the policy in general. The most vocal critics of the program who have raised some of the essential questions, are people like rand paul of kentucky, who on many issues sounds like a raving lunatic, but on this issue, when he filibuster the nomination of the brennan, who was drones are of the administrations first term, he read into the congressional record human rights report, media reports about civilians killed. It was the first time there was discussion on the floor of the u. S. Senate of american citizens potentially being targeted for assassination. Polls indicate that a solid percentage of self identified liberal democrats support the white house on this and that is in part due to president obama rejecting and it comes down to propaganda and this is somehow a cleaner way to wage war. Democratsically, many would be opposing these policies or raising serious questions if their guy was not in the white house. If mccain or mitt romney had won the elections, we would see a more robust discussion. President obama said in his major address and then his administration release papers, that among the standards is not just the mere certainty that civilians will not be killed, but also that the individuals they are targeting represent an imminent threat and that capture is not feasible. The should also be investigated. I do not believe the majority of the people that are killed in these drone strikes are engaged in an imminent plot that will harm americas National Security or interests, even as broadly as the Obama Administration defines it. They should be brought up at an International Level because the u. S. Is setting a standard. There are some 80 countries in the world and have weapon eyes drone technology. It is a matter of time before russia or china says america does this, we have the right to do it, too. Every nation around the world now claims it is in a war against terrorism. I was just in egypt where the i. S. Backed dictatorship of sis is going on and there are all of these posters about how they are in a government against terrorism. It is really a continuation of the discussion from the bush and cheney years that if you define your enemy as a terrorist, you can deny them basic rights. You cannot turn yourself in when you have not been charged with a crime. We want to thank you both for being with us. Jeremy scahill, cofounder of the of dirtyorg, author wars the world is a battlefield. Congratulations and good luck at the oscars. Letta tayler, from Human Rights Watch. Her report, a wedding that became a funeral us drone attack on marriage procession in will link to at democracynow. Org. We are encouraging you to go to our website at democracynow. Org and submit pictures of yourself that say, iigns need democracy now because and you fill in the rest. Stay with us. [ music break] that is patti smith. Thanks to all the people from around the world sending in pictures and videos letting us know what you think. Again, you can go to our website democracynow. Org. I was thinking about our first asducer, julie, as well sharif abdel kouddous, who is in cairo, so many others that help , asake this Program Great well as chris out in colorado. We have been with you for 18 years. As we turn to another story. To the story of a university of california scientist who discovered a popular herbicide may have harmful effects on the endocrine system. Tyrone hayes was hired in 1997 that later became Agro Business giant syngenta. They asked him to study their chemical pesticide atrazine. That thefound results manufacturer did not exist expect, that it causes sexual abnormalities in frogs and could do the same for humans, syngenta refused to allow him to publish his work. This was the start of a few between the scientists and corporation. New article uses core documents from a Class Action Lawsuit to show how it sought to prevent the epa from banning the chemical, which is already banned by the european union. To start with, the companys Public Relations team drafted a list of goals. Orter rachel aviv writes for more, we are joined by th himself, tyrone hayes is with us, professor of integrative biology at the university of california berkeley, joining us from the campy tv station. Welcome to democracy now. Tell us what happened to you, how we you were originally tied to syngenta and what prevented you from publishing your findings. A newe at berkeley i was assistant professor, studying the effects of hormones and chemicals that interfere with hormones in the amphibian development. I was approached by the manufacturer and was asked to study the effects of atrazine on frogs. After i discovered that integrate with male development and causes males returning to females and develop eggs, the company tried to prevent me from Publishing Network to discuss it with scientists outside of their panel. What was the process within the company as you rate your findings, what was their Immediate Reaction to what you had come across . Initially they seemed supportive. We designed more studies, design more analysis, they encouraged me to do more analysis. Analysisrther supported the original findings, they became less interested in moving forward quickly and eventually moved to asking me to manipulate data or to misrepresent data and ultimately told me i could not publish or talk about the data outside of their closed panel. Talk about exactly what you found. What were the abnormalities that you found in frogs, the gender bending nature of this drug atrazine . Initially we found the larynx or postbox did not grow properly. Thatwas an indication testosterone was not being produced at proper levels. Not only were they chemically castrated, but they also were starting to develop ovaries, thanks, and eventually found that they did not breathe actually some of them completely turned into females, so we have genetic males reproducing as females, and now some oftarting to show them showing homosexual behavior. They prefer to mate with other males. Where did you go with your research . Insistedally, the epa that the manufacturer release me from the confidentiality contract. We publish our findings in pretty high ranking journals such as the National Academy of sciences, nature, Environmental Health perspectives. When did you get a sense that the company was organizing a campaign against you, what were the signs that you saw once you publish your findings . Before the epa became involved and we published our findings, the company tried to register data and give me a new contract so they would control the data and experiments. They tried to get me to visit the company to get control of the data. When i refused, i invited them to the university to share data, but they wanted to purchase the data. As mentioned in the article, they hired scientists to review or pick apart the data. Eventually they hired scientists to do experiments to claim that it refuted our data, and that escalated to the company, and two presentations, lectures that make handoutsto or to stand up and refute the data, and eventually led to threats of violence. Talk, oneould give a man would whisper in my ear that he could have me lynched, or that he would send some of his good old boys to show me what it is like to be gay. At one point he threatened my wife and daughter with sexual violence. He whispered aims that your wife is at home alone right now, how do you know that i have not sent someone there . It turned into pretty scary tactics. So what did you do . You couldry serious, bring criminal charges if you are being threatened in this way. Initially, i went to my vice chancellor here at the university, the dean, Legal Counsel here, and i was told by the vice chancellor for research at the time, that you publish the work and it is over, so i do not understand the problem. Thated to impress upon her it was not over, that i was being pursued by the manufacturer. Eventually, when i spoke with the lawyer here at the university, i was told, i protect the university from liability. You are kind of on your own. I remember looking at him and the university is a collection of scholars and students, so who are you representing that does not include me . Clearly there is an entity that does not include the professors and students and does not protect Academic Freedom in the way it should. I wanted to ask you about one of your critics, elizabeth whelan. Times ran a york critical article about the herbicide, she referred to its reporting as all the news that is fit to scare. This is a clip from her on msnbc. I disagree with the new york story that talks about a totally bogus risk. Atrazine is tightly regulated. Even the epa, which is not known for softpedaling about chemicals, even they say it is safe. Hast turns out syngenta been a longtime supporter of her organization. Your comments on her remarks . Again, they are paid remarks. One of the disheartening things in this process it is one thing to be an academic and argue about these points, but these people did not have an opinion. They were written by the manufacturer, and they were paid to endorse the opinions of the manufacturer. Mostis one of the disheartening things. They were really personalities for sale. Many of the things that she says is not true. Any independent study not funded by syngenta has found similar problems. And not just with rocks. I published a paper with 22 scientists from around the world showing that it causes actual problems in mammals, birds, and indians, fish. It is not just my work with amphibians. Also with regard to the epa, one of the Scientific Advisory Panel Members that was opposed to review atrazine actually works for syngenta. So the whole process is tainted. The epa ignore the scientific panels opinion and decided to keep atrazine on the market and not to do any more studies, when that would clearly not the recommendation of the scientific panel. I want to remarks about major universities around the country another, some way or supported by the pharmaceutical or drug industry. A prestigious university, one of the top in the country, berkeley. Do you have concerns about how your university responded to your time of need, the attack on your academic integrity . They are not just my concerns. There are many who fear the university is becoming a corporation. We are a Public University that used to get a lot more support from the state. Free lifetime, tuition was for students, it has been rising. It has been an effort to monetize things, including scientific research. There is a lot of pressure on us not only to be scholars and to teach, but to bring in funds that will support the university. There is some sentiment from the university that if you are raising a concern that potentially may cause the university to to lose funders, you may not get support on a campus that you need. We have seen this before. A colleague of mine was in a fairly huge battle over the same is, its influence over the university. Talk about the significance of syngenta. Do they have a presence at berkeley, and the significance of syngenta as a Pesticide Company and all that it makes. How powerful is it . I was originally consulting for the manufacturer, artis. Ere novati there was a major deal on a campus. 1 5 of its support was coming from them. One of my big concerns was, as novartis not only made atrazine, which is used on corn, but it also induces an enzyme which causes you to make too much estrogen. Behas now been shown to possibly involved in the development of breast cancer. The company also produced a company that did the exact opposite, where it blocks this production, and this is the number one treatment for breast cancer. So the company was simultaneously making a chemical that induced estrogen and promoted breast cancer, as well as one that blocked estrogen reduction and was used to treat breast cancer. So there is a clear problem. The other problem is 90 of the season we used to produce our big six owned by the pesticide companies. So there is a conflict of interest where the companies have an interest in getting us addicted to the pesticides that they also own. Syngenta is one of the big six companies. An article in the new into yourat goes story also says that you found on the company was reading your emails. I originally had some suspicion that they hacked into my email. There was a professor in minnesota i was going there to give a speech. This professor said that she happened to be standing in line at the airport, flying back to minnesota, and by coincidence, was standing by someone having a conversation on his cell phone, identified himself as an employee of syngenta and made the statement, we have access to his emails, we know where he is. So it was not paranoia, it was direct evidence. I maintained a second and third email that i could keep right at. Iused that information am that they had access to my information sometimes sending them false and for me in, perhaps a booking plane tickets and send them to the wrong place. This is stunning stuff that came out in this class action suit. The suit was not brought on by you, but the documents that came out that referenced you, tyrone hayes, th, trying to discredit you and your family, that lawsuit involved atrazine contaminated water supplies. What was your reaction when you saw this . You are being followed, and now you have the documents. The way the article reads i knew tim and sherry, many of the individuals who followed me around. I knew they had access to my email. For me, i knew these things were happening. He would directly come up and make lewd and threatening comments to me, but it was the kind of thing where it was like out of a movie. I could not tell my colleagues, they are following me around. Did you use a tape recorder . Here is how i will answer the question. I found out it was much more powerful to me to suggest and have them think that i recorded everything than them to think to to actually know what i recorded. That became my protection. Myn this man threatened wife, going back and thinking, did he record me or not . You can see in their notes, they were concerned i was recording conversations, notes that they wanted to entice me to sue. My reaction now to see it in the new yorker and for the cannoto see, one, that i believe they wrote these things down, that they were plotting to investigate me and my hometown, but my other response is, this is quite analogous to hearing these stories of someone being in jail for murder for 10 years and then dna evidence gets out. Of course they are happy, but i have also been in jail for 10 years. Of course that the documents of course i am happy that the documents have been revealed, but it has been tough for the last 15 years for my family and my students, to be under a microscope in this way. As we wrap up, where does magazine stand . Still on the market. A number of studies are coming out from around the world. One recent study showed male babies that are exposed in utero to atrazine, their genitals do not develop properly. Their sperm count could go down when they are exposed. And these are not just Laboratory Animals or in the wild. Thate the same hormones animals do for reproduction. So there is a big threat to environmental and public health. Thank you for being with us, tyrone hayes. Director of integrated biology at uc berkeley. We will link to the article that reveals how the company tried to discredit professor hayes after his research showed atrazine causes sexual abnormalities in frogs and could cause the same problems in humans. Ae article is called valuable reputation. We will be back in a few minutes. [ music break] devo. Bands guitarist recently died earlier this month. Welcome back to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Spendingk at how the in washington is going unreported. The official announcement by declined. Has but a new story reveals how these numbers are misleading. It is entitled the shadow lobbying complex on paper, influence peddling has declined. In reality, it has gone underground. For more, we go to San Francisco to talk with its author, lee fang. Welcome back. Lay out what this is, the shadow lobbying complex. Good morning. My news story for the nation looks into federal lobbying laws americantate of lobbying. As you mentioned, on paper, the lobbying industry is decreasing, the number of registered lobbyists are shrinking, the amount spent is going down for separatist fleet every year, but in reality, the influence industry, as it is known, is growing quickly. It is becoming more sophisticated, companies are spending more to influence in many ways, corporations are extending their reach and hiring as many lobbyists as they can as the industry grows. President obama was campaigning in 2008 and came into office, he declared a virtual war on lobbyists, had an executive order banning lobbyist from his organization administration. Does that have anything to do with these lobbyists going underground in termites terms of how they spend their money . Bighis is one of the ironies of the Obama Administration. President obama campaigned against the outside influence of corporate lobbyists in american politics. He promised to drain the swamp and come into office and act an act proper ethics reforms, but the only real official action he took was an executive order right when he got into office to not allow registered lobbyists into his administration. The catch was many lobbyists simply deregistered, pushing the system or into the shadows and darkness, leading to where we are today. The administration, at the same time, issued exemptions to allow registered lobbyists into the Obama Administration. So little has changed, if anything. Obamas only action on lobbying has made the system worse. Mp, au encountered zach wa former rebel can Republican Party member. I want to play a clip of you questioning him about allegations that they spied on activists. Can i ask you, what are you doing in town . Palantir . Ou doing for how is that going . It is a great Silicon Valley company that does a lot of great private Sector Solutions that now has a lot of great applications operations saving money. Have you followed the store that they were working for private insurance to develop a Domestic Spying Program on liberals . There have been Civil Liberties agencies,ith these using that same technology in the private sector. Can i ask you how much they are paying you . I am just curious. I do not know what youre talking about. , theat was zach wamp former tennessee republican. Hear, solittle hard to tell us what you were saying and what he was saying about volunteer palantir. Zach is a former republican congressman from tennessee, and like dozens of senators, who have promised not to become as and said he would start a this is development firm, would not engage in lobbying, was going back to chattanooga, tennessee, but as the video shows, i found him on capitol hill talking to current members of congress about palantir. After histo him discussion with lawmakers, he said he is overseeing their operations on capitol hill. Palantir is a Controversial Company backed by venture capitalists here in the Silicon Valley area and it works or intelligence agencies to synthesize large amounts of data 2011here was a scandal in that i helped to break, where developed a others Domestic Spying Program using the same Government Technology to spy on unions, different labor activists, progressive media outlets. It is not clear how far that proposal went, but they did start gathering intelligence on all types of left of Center Organizations and individuals. You more aboutk this morphing of lobbyists into other forms of influence peddling. The American League of lobbyists actually changed their name, and a rebranded themselves as the Government Relations professionals. It reminds me a bit of United Fruit Company changing their name to chiquita. What are some other examples that you have of how they continue to influence under another name . If you look at the polls and listen to the seminars from these large lobbying organizations and firms, they understand the American Public is incredibly upset with the big money in politics, the influence of lobbying in itics, and have adopted adapted not by reforming or changing their behavior, using better reporting standards, but simply massaging their image and deregistering. This example of changing their name from legal lobbyist to government professionals, is emblematic of that. Many big firms, instead of calling their staff lobbyists, are calling them Public Affairs directors, government of their associates, other euphemisms, but it is largely a smokescreen for the same type of behavior that has gone on for a long time. You have so many amazing examples in your piece. Bangladesh and tpp, if you could talk about that quickly. These controversial issues are another area where corporations are spending tens of millions of dollars which are not being reported on lobby disclosure forms. No one knows where the money is coming from, but large firms are hoping to impact the situation in bangladesh and the Transpacific Partnership deal, again, using these Government Affairs officials to peddle influence without disclosure. , thank you for being with us. The story is called the shadow lobbying complex on paper, influence peddling has declined. In reality, it has gone underground. We will link to it at democracynow. Org. That does it for our broadcast. Again, in our 18th anniversary week. Send us your photos and videos. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013