Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM ET. Today we discuss:• US Vice President JD Vance blurts “sometimes things happen” when asked whether an American bombing attack was responsible for killing four people, including a child, at a wedding celebration in southern Iran. The strike has been independently confirmed.• Tensions rise between Germany and Russia. Russia will close German cultural centers, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says, in a retaliatory measure after Berlin blamed Moscow for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport. In Munich, several incendiary devices were thrown at a construction site near a building where several companies, including from the defense sector, are located. Two Bulgarian nationals were arrested.• First the Ballroom, now the Arch. Trump is breaking ground on his 250-foot-tall triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, even before a federal review panel has approved the project.• Argentine President Javier Milei escalates his country’s dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands, vowing new measures to halt an oil project near the British-controlled archipelago and praising Trump for saying Washington could reconsider its neutral stance on the islands’ sovereignty.MERCHANDISE: DeProgram.MySpreadShop.comLIVE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@DeProgramShowLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowhttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomas#tedrall #jamarlthomas #news #politics

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM ET. Today we discuss:• For 24 hours after Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told Trump the US has lost to Iran and a US bomb attack killed at least 5 guests at a wedding party and wounded at least 67, Trump’s familiar playbook for his war for/with Israel was on full display. The president went from boasting that Iran was defeated militarily, a “failed nation,” to threatening an apocalyptic attack that would leave “very little left” of the country. Then he was back to trolling, asking his followers whether the United States should name the Strait of Hormuz the “Trump Strait.” Foreign policy experts say he has run out of options.• Citing an “unprecedented lowering of standards,” a career ICE official who stepped forward as a whistleblower said that “systemic breakdowns” had allowed applicants to receive job offers before they had passed basic fingerprint, identity or credit checks in a preliminary vetting process. Political appointees had unjustly skirted background investigations and received national security eligibility.• Global heating will reach at least 1.8C under even the most optimistic future, well beyond the Paris agreement goal of 1.5C, according to a UN report that warns every fraction of temperature rise intensifies destructive extreme weather, glacier melt, ecosystem loss, and island and coastal city submersion. The report by the Nairobi-based UN Environment Programme confirmed overshooting the 1.5C goal inscribed in the landmark Paris agreement of 2015 was now “unavoidable” and, despite some progress in addressing the human-caused climate crisis driven by burning fossil fuels, likely in the next few years. It said: “There are no good outcomes above 1.5C”.MERCHANDISE: DeProgram.MySpreadShop.comLIVE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@DeProgramShowLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowhttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomas#tedrall #jamarlthomas #news #politics

Ted Rall, Jamarl Thomas, and producer Robby West host an unscripted Q&A, discussing a viral clip about former co-host John Kiriakou’s abrupt departure for CAA, which they describe as transactional rather than personal. They cover immigration enforcement, Pete Hegseth’s fitness as Defense Secretary, Ukraine’s strategy and civilian threats, evangelical end-times theology versus a plain reading of Revelation, false rape accusations and Gen Z dating fears, political theater under Trump, and the value of debate across ideological lines. They close by emphasizing courtesy, honesty, and moving on from old show drama.

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM ET. Today we discuss:• Far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos said he is “very ashamed” for supporting Trump after ICE thugs deported him back to the UK. Yiannopoulos called his experience “humiliating and disorienting.” He said he experienced “brutality.” “It was physically degrading, it was frightening,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been frightened like that before … And I was weeping like an old woman for an hour. He reflected on being “a little bit blasé” and “cavalier” about when people shared their traumas. “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” Yiannopoulos added.• German officials blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack last month at Leipzig/Halle Airport, close a Russian consulate and take other measures in response. A drone stacked with military-grade explosives was found Aug. 4 next to a Ukrainian cargo plane at the airport. Security camera footage appeared to show the weapon striking the plane’s wing before falling to the ground without exploding. Later that day, a second drone collided with a cargo plane in flight. Ten days later, a third drone was found with traces of military-grade explosives in a field near the airport. Germany has concluded the attack was plotted by professionals working for the Russian state, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.• Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian student at Wright State University, struggling mentally and emotionally with the shame of being forced to wear an ankle monitor by ICE, said he had been bullied at school and felt “humiliated” by the device. Bel committed suicide by walking into Interstate 70. His family blamed the humiliation brought on by the ankle monitor.MERCHANDISE: DeProgram.MySpreadShop.comLIVE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@DeProgramShowLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowhttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomas#tedrall #jamarlthomas #news #politics

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM ET. Today we discuss:• NBC correspondent Matt Bradley says his team is “recovering well” after they “all took hits” from Israeli settler-terrorists during an interview the day before with elderly Palestinian woman Aida Ahmed Abdullah, who was knocked unconscious in Saturday’s attack. While interviewing Abdullah, whose home has been occupied by Israeli thugs, a group of masked men in a car with Israeli license plates descended on them with sticks and stones, beating them. One of the attackers could be seen swinging a stick at the cameraman before the camera fell to the ground.• Laura Berlin built an interactive Google Map titled, “Who is Profiting from ICE?” The U.S. government found her website, too – and has labeled it a tool for domestic terrorism.• The Supreme Court lets Trump proceed with plans to build the White House ballroom. The 5-4 ruling is likely the final word on the project. The majority decision noted that the justices did "not pass upon the legality of the government's East Wing project." The real issue: Constitutional separation of powers.• The U.S. Postal Service could "derail" the midterm election if it continues rushing out "untested" technology as part of President Trump's push to restrict mail-in voting, a newly released whistleblower report warns.MERCHANDISE: DeProgram.MySpreadShop.comLIVE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@DeProgramShowLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowhttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomas#tedrall #jamarlthomas #news #politics

"DeProgram" co-hosts Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas host a birthday Q&A that covers capitalism’s inherent incompatibility with democracy due to money in politics, the reasons for Nixon’s gold standard exit in 1973 and inflation as a hidden tax, war lies from Lincoln to Trump, and a lack of consequences for warmongers. They discuss oligarchy versus republic, the need for public consent for wars, the Red Power Movement , post-scarcity utopias versus endless greed, Star Trek Deep Space Nine and Stargate as empire metaphors, Trump’s Canada demands, and Google’s map changes (Lake America) as tacit U.S. policy endorsement.

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM ET. Today we discuss:• “Too Much, Too Long”: Top generals warn in the the Aug. 14 edition of the Secretary of Defense Orders Book (SDOB) to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that prolonged large-scale operations against Iran are unsustainable and risks weakening their ability to confront threats elsewhere, including the U.S. homeland.At the same time, the U.S. attacks Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the Strait of Hormuz as Iranian forces were allegedly preparing to disperse sea mines into the waterway. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps warn that the U.S. strikes would “result in the punishment of the aggressor” and fired ballistic missiles at a Jordanian air base housing U.S. troops.• The U.S. government says it is entering into a joint venture with a private Venezuelan energy company to loot oil and gas. The Trump administration says the U.S. would get 55% of the oil from the joint venture. That's equivalent to about 65 billion barrels of oil that's under the ground. Trump called it the "biggest oil deal in the world." But energy experts say there are many reasons to be skeptical.LIVE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@DeProgramShowLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowhttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomas#tedrall #jamarlthomas #news #politics

Have a question for Ted and/or co-host Jamarl Thomas? Join the hosts of "DeProgram" for a full hour of nothing but LIVE Q&A! Any topic, any question, goes—it's up to you. Q&A extras are every Monday and Wednesday at 12 noon Eastern time.Ted Rall and Robby West handle Friday Q&A after Jamarl’s absence, covering subscriptions, STEM versus liberal-arts prestige, last-meals, Israel’s Barron Trump claim, secession, revolution versus collapse, Tucker Carlson’s cross-partisan America First project, libertarians, angels and demons, and John Kiriakou’s CAA move, gilded-cage social media, and PBD Zionism clip. They stress local politics over third parties, authenticity over people-pleasing, and the need for grassroots support.https://x.com/tedrall https://x.com/JamarlThomasLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowSPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/2kdFlw2w8sSPhKI8NRx8ZuAPPLE MUSIC: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deprogram-with-ted-rall-and-jamarl-thomas/id1825379504

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM ET. Today we discuss:• CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s mysterious trip to Moscow this week was preceded by fresh U.S. intelligence indicating that the Kremlin sees the US as weakened by the Iran war, offering Russia an opportunity to escalate action against American interests and allies in Europe. The CIA chief warned Russia against ramping up its war against Ukraine, arguing that such a move would backfire.• Parents say that because of the $17 billion Meta settlement, they have been robbed of seeing evidence of Meta’s awareness of harm due to its products.• The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is blaming the location of a temporary Ellipse site for an incident in early August when President Trump’s Marine One helicopter came within a mile of a passenger jet. The agency flagged twice that the helicopter attempted to contact controllers to give the typical three-minute liftoff warning to clear the airspace at 2:31 p.m. Aug. 4. The first attempt was not received by National Airport’s air traffic control tower while the second was “broken and completely unreadable.” When this failed, the helicopter attempted to relay the three-minute warning “through the helicopter facility at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, which was also unsuccessful.” LIVE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@DeProgramShowLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowhttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomas#tedrall #jamarlthomas #news #politics

Conflict reporter/writer/cartoonist Ted Rall and political analyst Jamarl Thomas deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM ET. Today we discuss:• Canadian trade officials acknowledge that their retaliatory tariffs of up to 50% on $20 billion in American goods are intended to exert pressure on key U.S. states. The tariffs could hit states in the Midwest and Northeast particularly hard.• Meta reaches a landmark settlement with 47 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories, agreeing to pay up to $17.1 billion in penalties and make major changes to its products over claims it endangered children with addictive social media platforms. The settlement effectively ends a bellwether federal trial in the U.S. Northern District of California in Oakland, where California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey were seeking roughly $200 billion over accusations that Meta harmed children. Meta’s stock rose on the news, closing up just over 1 percent. The company is valued at $1.47 trillion and most recently generated $60.8 billion in quarterly revenue. The full value of Meta’s payout depends on whether other social media companies also settle with the states and agree to financial penalties and product changes. Meta will initially pay about $12 billion. It will pay an additional $5 billion if Snap, TikTok and YouTube also settle with the states and agree to financial penalties and product changes.• The massive expenditure of U.S. munitions in the Middle East is worrying Asian allies and frustrating Pentagon officials overseeing the Indo-Pacific, who fear that the prolonged war with Iran could undermine U.S. readiness for a conflict with China. One Taiwanese official said they expect “significant delays” of Pac-3 Patriot missiles due to the drain on supplies as the Pentagon has depleted most of its interceptor stockpile in the Middle East. Japan has been warned by the Pentagon of possible delays in defense shipments, including Tomahawk cruise missiles.LIVE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@DeProgramShowLIVE ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/DeProgramShowhttps://x.com/tedrallhttps://x.com/JamarlThomas#tedrall #jamarlthomas #news #politics