If you haven’t watched THE WIRE yet – what are you waiting for? After all, it’s ten years old this year and it has been roundly acclaimed as the greatest TV show ever made.
I’ve watched the entire series three times and it gets better with each viewing. Chrissy and I are constantly quoting from it… “Imma get dressed. We go see Bodie.”
Anyway, my guest today is Peter Honig, a high school teacher from New Jersey who actually teaches The Wire to his English literature students as well as writing The Wire Blog and tweeting from @thewireblog.
Rob McNealy is back on the show (see gdayworld #329 for his last appearance four years ago) and he’s talking about gun ownership. Rob is a huge believer that citizens need to have weapons to defend themselves against a tyrannical government and for self-defence.
Research published in 2010 in the American Journal of Law and Economics found that firearm homicides, in Australia, dropped 59 per cent between 1995 and 2006. There was no offsetting increase in non-firearm-related murders. Researchers at Harvard University in 2011 revealed that in the 18 years prior to the 1996 Australian laws, there were 13 gun massacres (four or more fatalities) in Australia, resulting in 102 deaths. There have been none in that category since the Port Arthur laws.
Economist Joseph Stiglitz gave a brilliant talk at Google recently based on his most recent book “The Price Of Inequality”. He explains why America is statistically the OPPOSITE of the land of opportunity.
The U.S. government is upset about Pakistan’s recent sentencing of Dr Shakil Afridi – the man who helped them run a fake vaccination program in Abbottabad, Pakistan which allegedly led to the capture and summary execution of Osama bin Laden – to 33 years in prison for high treason. The recent escalation in drone attacks in Pakistan might be seen as a bid to punish Pakistan for conviction of Dr. Afridi as well as its reluctance to reopen NATO supply routes. (CMC)
Of course, American has nothing against throwing people in jail for life for treason – ask Jonathan Pollard, a Texan who is still in jail after receiving a life sentence in 1987 on charges of spying for America’s close ally, Israel, or Bradley Manning.
It’s the same old story – if you spy against us, you’re a traitor who deserves life in jail. If you spy for us, you’re a hero who deserves a medal.
Chrissy and I both agree that this is the most articulate narrative about Obama’s administration that we’ve heard from anyone in the mainstream media so far.
