In the first half, Les Leopold, the director of two non-profits, discussed how corporations in the US have used mass layoffs and stock buybacks to enrich shareholders at the expense of employees and how the impact of this financial strip mining and legalized looting is destroying the integrity of democratic institutions. The deregulation of Wall Street and an emphasis on greed created this situation, he noted, citing the example of Bed, Bath, & Beyond, where investors made gigantic stock buybacks, and this eventually led to the collapse of the company, where 30,000 people lost their jobs. Mass layoffs take a significant psychological and physical toll on workers, he reported, and to lose one's job is considered a severe life event.
Another example he detailed was Toy R Us, which was bought up by private equity firms with borrowed money. After they paid themselves huge management fees, the company collapsed under the massive debt service. He also pointed out that many tech companies in recent years have made significant layoffs in their workforce, even though they remain profitable. One solution he proposed is that if a corporation receives a federal contract or a federal subsidy, then they should not be allowed to conduct forced layoffs and instead set up a voluntary layoff system with incentive packages for people to leave. Leopold was also critical of how companies allocate their funds, paying out enormous salaries to their CEOs, which have ballooned to 800 times that of the average employee.
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In the latter half, astronomer, photographer, and MUFON analyst Marc Dantonio discussed space, objects captured by Sky Tour cameras, the nature of gravitons, and the potential for unlocking interstellar travel in our universe. He described his remote observatories, which he has set up in places like Arizona's Sonoran desert, and how he live streams viewings via YouTube. "We're trying to make the sky accessible to people in a way that they may not ever see because they're in a big city with lights," he noted, adding that they view such things as stellar nurseries and supernovae. Recently, he captured an extremely bright moving object that went from horizon to horizon. Rather than something extraterrestrial, it turned out that it was very likely the re-entry of a Shenzhou Chinese rocket.
Dantonio spoke about the potential of gravitons (theoretical Kaluza-Klein particles), as well as micro black holes, for interdimensional travel. He argued that gravitons could create a pathway into the fifth dimension, allowing for movement through space without damage by extreme forces. Such technology might explain the enigmatic qualities of UFOs spotted in our skies, such as their sudden vanishing. We can't dismiss the possibility that UFOs may use gravitons generated by a particle accelerator inside the craft, he remarked. In terms of our own science taking advantage of this technology, he estimated we may be around 150 years away from its development. Dantonio also touched on Martian anomalies, the recent solar eclipse, and how our Moon may have formed through Earth's collision with another body.
News segment guests: Howard Bloom, Mish Shedlock