Programmed to Chill Jimmy Falun Gong

[originally published on Patreon Dec 29, 2023]


Today I'm joined by Reid (@seriations) to discuss maybe the most conceited man in the world - Ira 'the Unicorn' Einhorn. In this episode, we get into Einhorn's family history and early life, his time studying to be a guru, and his work as a snitch and informant. I lost my damn mind researching a related figure, Weldon Melick, who very much appears to be Something, but what that Something is, isn't entirely clear to me. Then we get into Einhorn's drug dealing and drug usage, which also got me sidetracked with a brief yet interesting parapolitical history of DMT.



[note: my buddy Luke Marshall had only just launched his podcast when we recorded this episode, so I accidentally referred to it as "Things Unsolved" when his podcast is "Things Observed"]



Songs:

Motherly Love by the Mothers of Invention

Venus in Furs by the Velvet Underground

Absolutely Free by the Mothers of Invention

Hungry Freaks, Daddy by the Mothers of Invention

[originally published on Patreon Dec 22, 2023]


Today I'm joined by Nick Vyssotsky (@cuss_otaku) to discuss Hideo Kojima's Metal Gear Solid video game franchise. Nick takes us through the franchise's alternate history and we discuss the various themes involving Private Military Contractors, parapsychology, Programed to Kill themes, black budgets, AI guided governance, and on and on.



Then I discuss the real-world example of a particular PMC, Keenie Meenie Services. I discuss their formation in places like Yemen, Angola, and Northern Ireland and their ongoing presence in places like Oman, Uganda, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, El Salvador, etc.



episode artwork by Vyssotsky (@cuss_otaku)



Songs:

Too Hot For My Chinchilla by Tangerine Dream

The Dream Is Always the Same by Tangerine Dream

Tear Down the Grey Skies by Tangerine Dream

Forbidden Colours by Ryuichi Sakamoto

[originally published on Patreon Dec 15, 2023]


After having introduced accounting concepts and laid out their applications in Jamaica, I continue my close reading of Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management by Caitlin Rosenthal. I discuss the nature of 'book farming', the nature and origin of value, and discuss the ubiquity of King Cotton in the US and world economy. I cover the fungibility of labor, perverse concepts of depreciation, and get into the postbellum developments in the wake of the abolition of slavery. Finally, I discuss Rosenthal's background and the nature of McKinsey Consulting.



episode art by Robert Voyvodich @r.voy__



Songs:

My Queen is Harriet Tubman by Sons of Kemet

It's A Sin To Be Rich, It's A Low-Down Shame To Be Poor by Lightnin' Hopkins

Lord, Have Mercy On Me by Junior Kimbrough

[originally published on Patreon Dec 9, 2023]


Having laid out various accounting concepts, I now introduce their application in a horrible setting: plantation accounting in Jamaica. To do this, I rely on a close reading of Accounting for Slavery: Masters and Management by Caitlin Rosenthal. Her work simply demolishes the traditional business history about the development of these concepts. As it turns out, slave plantations actually led the global economy in new developments of field and factory regarding management styles, industrialization, organizational structure, accounting methods, and a number of other things. 



I discuss the nature of the sugar trade, questions of efficiency, the weaponization of data, the question of absentee ownership, and the nature of quantification itself. 



episode art by Robert Voyvodich @r.voy__



Songs:

My Queen is Ada Eastman by Sons of Kemet

Great Britain by Scorzayzee

[originally published on Patreon



Today I attempt to trace the history of accounting from renaissance Venice through the robber barons into the modern era. Along the way, I opine on the nature of moneylending, Shylock, and drill down six key accounting concepts necessary to understanding the next two episodes. While I tried to keep this episode from being boring, it's very much a setup episode.



episode art by Robert Voyvodich @r.voy__



Songs:

Count This Money by Gucci Mane

Countin’ Money by Bun B feat. Gucci Mane and Yo Gotti

[originally published on Patreon Nov 22, 2023]



Today I'm rejoined by Comrade Chad to continue our discussion about post-Trotsky Trotskyism in the US. We continue discussing Burnham's various intrigues and we go pretty deep on Joseph Hansen's perfidious career. Along the way we get into the Fair Play for Cuba Committee, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Socialist Workers Party history generally.



I go through Lyndon LaRouche's early career as a Trot leading up to him starting his own idiosyncratic movement. Chad discusses the Carleton College crew, Jack Barnes, and so forth. Finally, I finish up discussing the case of the Paine family and their relationship to the JFK assassination.



Songs:

Your Cheatin’ Heart by Hank Williams

St. Thomas by Sonny Rollins

Wrecking Ball by Miley Cyrus