PID Radio

IN JUST the most recent example of how insecure our digital privacy is, we hear that the city of London has ordered an advertising company to quit using its wifi-enabled trash bins to track the serial numbers of passing smart phones. Renew, the company that makes the LCD-equipped bins, claims that they weren't able to see information likes names, addresses, or passwords.  However, the proof of con...

SCIENTISTS HAVE announced plans to genetically modify the dangerous H7N9 virus to make it more lethal.  They say it will help them understand how it could mutate in nature and trigger a catastrophic pandemic. Hmm.  The case mortality rate for H7N9 so far is near 20%, or about four times more deadly than the 1918/19 Spanish Flu.  What could possibly go wrong? Also: Archaeologists think they may hav...

SPIES HAVE dominated the news of late — the NSA spying scandal has revealed that the US government is basically tracking all our electronic communications. Today we discuss a couple of new revelations. First, CNN reports that the CIA had about three dozen operatives on the ground in Benghazi when the U.S. consulate was attacked last September. Why? They were apparently running guns, shipping missi...

BIOLOGISTS THIS week announced the discovery of a giant virus, up to ten times larger than most. The supersized virus, named Pandoravirus, is thought to be the biggest ever found. Interestingly, researchers say that "only 6% of its genes resembled genes seen before in other organisms on Earth."  Of course, one of the researchers added that means the virus — wait for it — may have come from another...

RADAR PARTS for a Soviet-era anti-aircraft missile system was found beneath bags of Cuban sugar on a North Korean ship in the Panama Canal. Questions abound: What's it for? Who's it for? And is Kim Jong-un really calling the shots in North Korea, or is his aunt, Kim Kyong-hui, the real power there? Also: The Religion-Free Bible; Colonia Dignidad leader to be extradited from Germany to Chile; Flori...

SOMETIMES THE world feels like there is an evil entity that thrives on hatred, working tirelessly to keep groups at each others throats.  (We mean besides Al Sharpton.)  Case in point: Those who are exploiting reaction to the George Zimmerman verdict for personal or professional gain.  (Like Al Sharpton.) Remember:  "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to de...

RESEARCHERS IN England announced this week the creation of genetically-engineered mice with artificial human chromosomes in every cell of their bodies.  The government there has pledged tens of millions of pounds to synthetic biology research, including an international project to construct all 16 chromosomes of yeast to produce the first synthetic organism with a complex genome. The pitch is that...

…MEANS THE United States has to keep sending aid to Egypt. As the Egyptian military keeps ousted President Morsi under arrest (but it's not a coup!), a technocrat — former finance minister Hazem el-Beblawi — is named interim prime minister.  Is it a surprise that a man from the banking class is handed the reins? Also: Is the non-coup the revenge of the NGOs?  Plus: Gen. Wesley Clark's surprise vis...

A COUPLE in Philadelphia recently gave birth to a baby from an embryo selected through a cutting-edge procedure called "next-generation sequencing".  This technology was developed to read whole genomes cheaply and quickly.  Are we on the verge of a generation of designer babies? Also: PID Radio begins a Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule; Global Future 2045 and your future as an avatar; Morsi's fall...

SYRIA HAS crossed the "red line", according to the Obama administration.  What does that mean?  How deep are we getting in the Syrian civil war?  And, though we hate to be so skeptical, how do we know the claim that Syrian President Assad has used sarin gas on opposition forces is even true? Also: US soldiers train for riot control — in Egypt; tinkering with human DNA; the death of investigative r...

AS WE honor our fallen soldiers this Memorial Day, we take a look around at the world and wonder: Are we seeing tinder just waiting for a match?  Anti-Muslim riots continue in the U.K. and Sweden; Sen. John McCain secretly met with rebels in Syria while Russian advisers, the Iranian military, and Hezbollah fighters support the Assad regime; and rockets hit northern Israel and southern Lebanon. Als...

WHILE THE bombing at the Boston Marathon may not have been a false flag event, it certainly had an interesting influence on the political discussion.  Sen. Rand Paul, who staged a 13-hour filibuster in protest of the Obama administration's use of drones to kill American citizens, said in an interview that he could possibly support the use of drones for police work in American cities. Meanwhile, ne...

WHILE IRISH people (in the U.S., anyway) celebrate St. Patrick's Day, we look back to 3/13/13 and the election of Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio as the new head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis I.  Even Catholic observers are not entirely certain whether his name refers to Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscan Order, or Francis Xavier, co-founder of the Society of Jesus — the Jesuits. H...

LAST WEEK had plenty to chew on for people who like a good dose of impending doom: As we prepare for the election of Pope Benedict's successor, a 20-foot sinkhole swallowed a Florida man while he lay in bed, and a swarm of more than 30 million locusts ate its way across Egypt — interestingly, just three weeks before the start of Passover. Also: Cardinal Bertone bugs the Vatican; DHS buys light-dut...

IT'S BEEN an odd week.  Following the surprise announcement of Pope Benedict's resignation, a spectacular fireball streaked across the Siberian sky, injuring some 1,200 people when the meteorite exploded in the atmosphere with the force of about 30 Hiroshima bombs. Besides that, a geneticist issued a statement claiming that she had solid DNA proof of the existence of a novel primate species: Homo...

IN A move that surprised casual observers, Pope Benedict XVI announced today that he is resigning the papacy effective February 28, 2013. The last pope to resign, rather than die in office, was Gregory XII in 1415, in the midst of a crisis known as the Great Western Schism. What does this mean for the Roman Catholic Church? And how does this relate to the so-called Prophecy of the Popes, attribute...

AS WE enter month #2 of 2013, we discuss a new intelligence analysis that looks ahead to the year 2030.  It's an interesting read — but from our perspective, mainly useful to know what the National Intelligence Council wants us to think about the future. Also: Hostage situation in Alabama resolved; parallels between ancient Rome and the modern USA; world population may be on the verge of declining...

ALGERIAN SPECIAL forces stormed a natural gas plant in the Sahara Desert Sunday, ending a hostage situation that reportedly claimed over 80 lives, including those of the 32 militants who attacked the plant last week. It is unclear if any of the hostages survived. The group claiming responsibility claimed the attack was a response to military action against comrades in neighboring Mali, where Frenc...

WITH THIS broadcast, we try something new — a video interview via Google Hangout with our friend Rob Skiba, author of the new book Archon Invasion: The Rise, Fall, and Return of the Nephilim. Around the few technical issues (mostly related to bandwidth, we think), we discuss Rob's research, the people who have influenced his thinking, and why he believes the world faces the imminent return of huma...

WELL, WE'VE SURVIVED the Mayan Doomsday.  So we begin the first day of the rest of the aeon with a look back at the Newtown, Connecticut shootings. For the record, Derek was not advocating giving toy guns to boys, he was just making a point: Boys have played at war for millennia and the vast majority never grew up to commit mass murder.  It's a spiritual thing, not a firepower thing. Also: Deadly...

AS WE head into the final month of the 13th B'ak'tun on the Mayan Long Count, we discuss the numerological fascination of some professing Christians.  Does God really work best on certain dates?  Are Christians really called to open portals to engage in spiritual warfare? Also: Middle East continues to simmer; NASA's upcoming Mars presser; pope dismisses doomsday; Muppet-like beast shot in Namibia...

THE 2012 presidential election cycle is about to close. Get out and vote, but remember that, whoever wins, the King is still on the throne.

Regardless of who wins the United States presidential election nine days from now, our drone war against suspected terrorists (and anyone within an acceptable radius, from a collateral damage standpoint) will continue without interruption.

AN INTERESTING thing emerged into public view last week during congressional hearings and the vice presidential debate: The State Department and the White House are playing a game of C.Y.A. regarding the deadly attack on the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya. The question is whether President Obama or Secretary of State Clinton will take the fall.

IT SOUNDS like science fiction. Or possibly like something from the New Age movement.  Discoveries from the world of physics make it appear that the universe is a lot less "real" than we think.  And yet a careful analysis suggests that it's all part of an elegant and unimaginably complex design. Chuck Missler, president of Koinonia Institute, discussed how modern physics, while perhaps shattering...