In advance of Obama’s national security speech, Holder admits that 4 Americans have been killed by drones in Pakistan, Yemen….special offer for Doors fans, opening music “It Slipped My Mind”.

–Obama will try to add some “transparency” to drones, targeted killings, Guantanamo–but will it be “limited hang out” a la Nixon?

–court refuses to order CIA to release photos of dead bin Laden, maintaining the zero proof standard of the account of his death

–Code Pink launches new campaign to end America’s “dirty wars”

–in federal court filings, Antiwar.com reveals FBI monitoring that scared off funders and compromised First Amendment rights

–IRS official Lois Lerner takes the Fifth, as GOP goes into full batshit crazy mode

–corporate media commentary defends Apple as victim of bad tax system, instead of the #1 tax evader

–Chechen killed in Orlando during FBI interrogation at his condo,man was linked to Boston bomb suspects

–Senate committee passes flawed immigration reform package with 3 GOP votes; I forgot to mention that it ignores any rights for same sex couples

–Bad cops in California:  investigations needed into death of a suspect in Kern County and an incident in Cotati (Sonoma County) where cops busted into an apartment and tasered the occupants, as captured in this video

–Eric Garcetti elected LA Mayor with 25% turnout; Anthony Weiner announces run for NY Mayor

–Senate Leader Harry Reid threatens partial change to filibuster rule

–Marin County man arrested for drunk driving 3 times in 5 days!

Special musical tribute to The Doors’ Ray Manzarek;   CEO Tim Cook spins Apple’s tax evasion at Senate hearing, Siri fails….to answer my question, “Does Apple use tax gimmicks?”

–despite whale-sized investment losses, shareholders retain Jamie Dimon as CEO and Chairman of JPMorgan Chase

–IRS official Lois Lerner says she will “take the 5th”, always a bad sign in a scandal

–Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) challenges House Speaker Boehner over bill to authorize Keystone XL pipeline–he argues that House is overstepping

–Steve Horn reports that the proposed fracking rules released by Interior Dept. for public lands were written by ALEC and Exxon-Mobil

–Tennessee congressman Steve Cohen challenges AG Holder over the case of Gov. Don Siegelman, see video here and read Roger Shuler’s account here

–a dozen nuns and priests calling themselves “Catholic Whistleblowers” are challenging bishops and the pope to really deal with sex abuse scandal

–here in the Bay Area, a corrupt cop who stole drugs, robbed hookers, and set up “dirty DUI” traps, draws 14-year prison sentence

–Guatemala’s top court has annulled the genocide conviction of Efrain Rios Montt

Ray Manzarek, a talented musician who was keyboard player for The Doors, died yesterday at age 74 of cancer.  We close the show with samples of his solo music, obscure Doors songs, well-known Doors songs, and The End.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s new Silicon Valley PAC says it’s about immigration reform, but panders to far right extremists….and obscures its funding for “Americans for a Conservative Direction”.

–we play the audio from their TV spots, one with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and the other that kisses up to Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC).

–in excerpt from our in-depth interview, attorney Tom Devine talks about the case of whistleblower Robert MacLean

–Hearst newspapers running excellent series on rape in the military

–top White House aides knew about IRS audit, say they did not tell Obama

–polls show strong majorities believe Obama on IRS, Benghazi

–Senate hearing nails Apple as America’s #1 tax evader, with some stunning details

–PBC asks Siri if Apple uses tax gimmicks, answer still pending

–Obama plans speech this Thursday on drones, killing program, and Guantanamo

–Chinese hackers get Google files on targets of government monitoring–spooks vs. spooks

–when they tell you to turn off your electronics during takeoff and landing, is it really about possible interference?

Pentagon says war against al Qaeda likely for “10 to 20 years” as Senate considers limits on AUMF, the 9/11 blank check….London Times spikes Sibel Edmonds story, bowing to US pressure.

–read the full report, including Edmonds’ revelations, here

–Obama, amid scandal damage control, finally orders military leaders to crack down on sex crimes epidemic

–first House hearing on IRS scandal reveals that Treasury officials knew about investigation into political nonprofit applicants last June

–White House aide dispatched to IRS as acting Commissioner

–”Justice” Dept. admits weak controls on “no fly” list for 700 people in Witness Protection program, but the real problems are with the list itself

–GOP Senators refuse to vote for Obama nominess for EPA, Labor, enabled by Harry Reid’s failure to modify filibuster

–former Rep. Anthony Weiner, the crotch tweeter, is gearing up to run for NY Mayor, and questions arise about his wife Huma’s special treatment by State Dept. and Hillary Clinton

–CA veterans housing fund has over $1 billion to loan to vets, but spends more on overhead than loans

–NY Times affirms Robert Parry’s commentary on Reagan’s role in Latin American death squads

–silly shit:  GOP tweaks Obama for asking Marine guards to hold umbrellas during news conference

–Interior Dept. issues new rules, mostly pro-industry, for fracking on public lands

–Roy Zimmerman closes with his song about fracking, The Faucet’s on Fire

PBC welcomes corporate media to the battle for Bill of Rights protections from government snooping–reporters aren’t the only victims…..Gleen Greenwald notes “sea change” in mainstream media on civil liberties, driven by self-interest

–IRS scandal leads to second resignation, as acting Commissioner Miller was forced out yesterday and another guy “retired” today

–Obama holds brief press conference, offers “complete confidence” in AG Holder

–blogger Pam Martens quotes Obama remarks from 2010, where he attacks Koch brothers and phony nonprofit political groups

–Brad Friedman at Bradblog read the whole IRS inspector general report, can’t find the  “misconduct” Obama is outraged over

–FBI agents want Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) to be next FBI director, a bad idea in too many ways

–Palestinians march to observe 65 years since the nakba

–US diplomat may be 2nd to be expelled from Moscow this year

–KBR is suing to extend its Iraq contract by 13 years and $500 million, on top of $38 billion since 2003

–Senate confirms Ernest Moniz as Energy Secretary

–EFF alerts us that secret talks for Trans Pacific Partnership are now being held in Lima, Peru

–California’s twin nuke reactors at San Onofre will remain shut down for the forseeable future

–Keene, New Hampshire cops crack down on Robin Hoods, who feed coins to meters for strangers

White House resurrects proposed reporter shield bill in attempt to distract from illegal AP spying and widespread surveillance; GOP pounces…on IRS and Benghazi, not so much on illegal spying.

–Glenn Greenwald and Charlie Savage both note that we don’t know what legal scheme or mechanism was used to grab AP’s phone records

–as AG Holder ducks the AP issue and orders criminal investigation of IRS, the tax agency’s bureaucrats dive under desks

–Frank Rich says that, despite inflated GOP claims, Benghazi is more like Whitewater than Watergate

–in this excerpt from our in-depth interview, Prof. Bob McChesney calls Obama’s nomination of Tom Wheeler as FCC chair “sobering”

–Israel is ready to attack Syria again, warns Assad not to retaliate

–Steve Horn at DeSmogBlog reports that Exxon-Mobil is treating Faulkner County, Arkansas as a “sacrifice zone”

–lawyers for Gitmo prisoner who pleaded guilty want Pentagon assurances that he will be released this December, as agreed

–California’s rogue utility, P G & E, gets sweet deal from patsy Public Utilities Commission, so that $900 million of $2.25 billion “penalty” would be tax deductible

–Dems in Sacramento have internal pay-to-play system, delivering juice committe posts to lawmakers who raised the most cash

AG Eric Holder recused himself from AP snooping case, orders criminal investigation in IRS scandal,  Pelosi implies Bush deserved impeachment…PBC says Holder and Dems are not consistent or credible on investigations and accountability.  You’ll hear soundbite from Pelosi’s interview with Chris Hayes, who did not hold Pelosi accountable on impeachment.

–prosecution of Pakistani brothers for alleged NY terror plot may provide basis to challenge illegal wiretapping

–we’re glad to report that Peter B. Collins podcasts are now available daily on TuneIn, a service that feeds wireless internet radios and other devices.  On your first visit, you need to do a search under my name

–UK’s Guardian picks up Jason Leopold’s report from 5/13/13 about the SOP manual for force feeding 100+ hunger striking inmates, and adds that prisoners report new, invasive strip searches deter them from contact with lawyers

–Russia busts an American said to be a CIA spy recruiter, and expels him

–Robert Parry, one of the real authorities about US support for Latin America’s brutal dictators of the 1980′s, says that Ronald Reagan bears more guilt for mass killings in Guatamala than Efrain Rios Montt, who was convicted last week, read about it here

–actress/director Angelina Jolie goes public: she had pre-emptive double mastectomy to reduce her suspected risk of breast cancer

–Minnesota becomes 12th state to approve marriage equality

–former Navy admiral and congressman Joe Sestak announces exploratory campaign to challenge conserva-Dem Bob Casey

–reconstruction of Bay Bridge from Oakland to San Francisco, a $6.5 billion project, has hundreds of faulty bolts, may not open as planned around Labor Day this year

PBC thinks Obama is spinning in wrong direction on Benghazi and IRS scandal, complicated by new report of snooping on AP reporters….Jason Leopold breaks story on Gitmo force feeding manual.

–James Corbett has more info about retired CIA officer Graham Fuller and his ties to the uncle of accused Boston bomb brothers

–Monsanto wins GMO seed case at Supreme Court

–Hungary bans Monsanto GMO corn, rips crops from fields

–Nawaz Sharif wins Pakistan election

–2 late entries in Iran’s June 14 presidential race

–Sen. Boxer introduces bill to allow Israelis to enter US without a visa, but it’s not fully reciprocal

–Philadelphia’s bad abortion doctor is convicted, in major setback for abortion rights

–Oakland had 3 police chiefs in 3 days last week

–Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s PAC loses 2 boosters, including Elon Musk of Tesla Motors

–America’s Cup sailing race compared to polo, a rich man’s game that cost the life of a sailor on San Francisco Bay last week

Issa’s House committee and right wing media hammered Benghazi this week, as Washington Post validates PBC’s coverup theory about CIA….It’s now clear that Benghazi consulate was mostly CIA outpost, and the struggle over talking points delivered by Susan Rice shows that State Dept. took the blame.

–PBC respond to listener’s critical email on Benghazi

–Big story here Monday about Gitmo hunger strike

–excerpt from Col. Ann Wright’s comments on military sex crime scandal

–excerpt from Kevin Gozstola interview on Bradley Manning case

–IRS apologizes for extra scrutiny of Tea Party and other right wing groups who applied for nonprofit status:  good policy, or a political scandal?

–Judge refuses to accept lame arguments for appeal of Plan B contraceptive

–Boston Cardinal boycotts Boston College graduation because Ireland’s Prime Minister is speaking, and supports a new abortion law in Ireland–limited to cases where the mother’s life is endangered

–more shameful behavior over the burial of Tamerlan Tsarnaev

–carbon dioxide levels reached highest in 3 million years

–Oakland’s police chief has sudden medical issue, retires as new report hammers his failed leadership

–Rush Limbaugh and Cumulus CEO Lew Dickey trade barbs in the media about the cost of the boycott caused by Limbaugh in 2012

House Progressive Dems hold important hearing on “secret” drone and killing programs, no coverage from corporate media or even C-SPAN….

Kevin Gosztola breaks the story, once again, at FireDogLake.

–and I forgot to mention his great report on the internal struggle of the organizers of San Francisco’s gay pride parade over naming Bradley Manning as honorary grand marshall

–former State Dept. counsel Harold Koh, a Yale law professor, makes some strong statements regarding the drone and killing programs

–FBI says it doesn’t need warrant to read emails if they are more than 6 months old, in split with its parent, the “Justice” Dept.

–White House aide Valerie Jarrett convenes meeting with members of Congress on military rape crisis

–no coverage here of the trial of Jodie Arias in Arizona or the women held captive in Cleveland–the tabloids have it covered

–older, dead Tsarnaev brother is buried in secret, ending tawdry tussle

–Cyber criminals crack the banksters for millions pulled from ATM’s

–GOP Senator Vitter (R-Hookerville) blocks Obama’s nominee to head EPA

–in Sacramento, oversight committee zeroes out budget of lame Public Utilities Commission–will it get the message?

–Peter van Buren, friend of the PBC Show, profiles TSA air marshall whistleblower Robert MacLean, who is expected to join us for an interview here soon

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In this Boiling Frogs special, Sibel Edmonds and Pepe Escobar offer their perspectives on the Boston Marathon bombing and links to Chechnya, the CIA and possibly the international jockeying over the war in Syria.As most of our listeners know, Sibel Edmonds is the author of Classified Woman and founder of BoilingFrogsPost; Pepe Escobar is the globetrotting journalist who writes for Asia Times.

Edmonds has been closely following events in Chechnya and the Caucuses since her work at the FBI starting in 2001, and recently detailed some of the rich history of covert operations by the US and others (notably Turkey and Russia) in that region in a series of interviews titled “Gladio” with our colleague James Corbett.  She has also exposed a billionaire imam named Fetullah Gulen, a Turk exiled in Pennsylvania, whose network of madrasas includes the Caucuses.  With the quick targeting of the Tsarnaev brothers and the appearance of Uncle Ruslan–who was married to the daughter of CIA bigwig Graham Fuller and reportedly had a USAID contract himself–Edmonds is analyzing the information offers some compelling scenarios.

Escobar joins us from London, and comments on a recent trip to Spain as he offers an informed view from outside the US.  His sources seem to share Sibel’s take on the international implications that are much larger than the events in Boston.

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Former FCC Commissioner Nicholas Johnson criticizes Obama’s choice of lobbyist Tom Wheeler to chair FCC;  film reviewer Gary Chew tells us about the new Bill Moyers documentary about ALEC;  Will Durst has a very funny commentary about the wonderful world of drones.Johnson was appointed to the Federal Communications Commission by LBJ in 1966 and served until 1973.  He has written many books, and teaches law at the Iowa School of Law.  His blog is here.  He offers blistering criticism of Tom Wheeler, nominated to chair the FCC.  Wheeler has been a lobbyist for the cable TV industry and headed a trade group for the wireless phone industry, both of which are regulated by the FCC.  He was a “bundler” of contributions to Obama’s campaigns.

We also talk about the need for media reform and the failures of the FCC to require broadcasters to offer diverse viewpoints, the Fairness Doctrine that was repealed in 1987, and a number of other issues.

At  41:41,   Gary Chew reviews the new documentary about the American Legislative Executive Council (ALEC), produced by Bill Moyers and Common Cause.

And at 45:40, Will Durst offers a side-splitting pitch for the wonderful world of drones.

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Investigative reporter Dave Lindorff has important questions about role of security contractor at Boston bombing, gets the runaround;  Robert Greenwald returns to talk about his new film, War on Whistleblowers.Lindorff has reported for over 40 years, and has published books, including The Case for Impeachment, co-authored with Barbara Olshansky.  In this interview, Lindorff recounts his effort to perform basic journalism on the events in Boston on April 15.  Almost immediately, photos surfaced of uniformed security personnel in a large black SUV at the bombing site;  Lindorff identifies them as employees of Craft International, a military security firm.  As he details in this article, he made phone calls like a beat reporter to all of the contacts who might know basic facts, like who hired Craft, what their purpose was, and how they participated in the investigation.  Nobody gives him a straight answer, including Craft headquarters in Dallas.

We discuss the corporate media’s poor performance in covering this event and the manhunt that ensued, including John King of CNN’s big blunder, and how reporters today generally fail to apply basic skepticism to the information delivered or leaked by official sources.  While we draw no conclusions from the information currently available, the stonewalling of Lindorff’s inquiries and the failure of mainstream media to even note the presence of Craft at the crime scene raise important questions that deserve credible answers.

At the 42-minute mark, we’re joined by the brilliant documentary filmmaker, Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films.  His latest is War on Whistleblowers: Free Press and the National Security State.  The film profiles 4 recent whistleblowers in the national security arena: Thomas Drake of NSA, Michael DeKort–who worked for Lockheed Martin on a Coast Guard boondoggle, Pentagon consultant Franz Gayl–who fought for MRAPs to protect our troops in Iraq, and former Justice Dept. lawyer Thomas Tamm–who tipped the NY Times to the illegal wiretapping program.  Greenwald offers a free DVD to any listener who will hold a screening for friends.

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Garth Lenz, a Canadian environmental photographer, shares his knowledge of the devastation of Alberta by tar sands extraction, and the risks of the Keystone XL pipeline.Lenz has published a book of his photos of the Boreal forests, wetlands and river delta in Alberta that are being damaged by tar sands extraction, and he hosted a Ted talk that’s been widely viewed on YouTube that offers many important warnings to Americans about tar sands oil and its transport via pipelines, including the Keystone XL.

Lenz also helps us understand Canadian politics, which veered from their support of the Kyoto accords to aggressive tar sands development, as well as the economic factors.

You can see some of his impressive photos and link to the Ted video here.

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Experience many facets of my friend, Rev. Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping.  In this expansive interview, Bill Talen gets laughs and shares sorrow over rampant consumerism and threats to the planet.Rev. Billy has evolved from a satirical preacher into a populist leader, still fronting his Stop Shopping gospel choir and staging interventions at banks and other sources of the scourges of our times.  He describes the new messages targeting JP Morgan Chase and other enablers of the corporate agenda, and presents some new songs by the choir.  Invoking his 3-year-old daughter Lena, he says the “gradualist” approach of Bill McKibben and others to climate change must be amped up.  He talks about his part of Occupy NY and its impact, and discusses his run for mayor of NYC.  Get all the scoop on Rev. Billy here.

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Prof.  Gar Alperovitz on his new book: What Then Must We Do?  Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution.  Film reviewer Gary Chew on Robert Redford’s The Company You Keep, and Will Durst slams the Senate for killing new gun regulations.Alperovitz is a bright, well-rounded public intellectual who teaches Political Economy at University of Maryland, and is cofounder of The Democracy Collaborative.  He also held key staff positions for the US House and Senate and the State Department.  He outlines his vision in the context of current issues like Obama’s “chained CPI” proposal to cut Social Security benefits, and the tax avoidance schemes used by highly profitable US corporations, notably Apple.  He talks about new paradigms of employee ownership, and the challenges faced by Detroit and other cities.  And he talks about the need for a soft revolution to drive the sweeping changes he hopes for.

At 46:24, Gary Chew checks in with his movie review, and about 5 minutes later, Will Durst locks and unloads on the Senate.