this year but the digits of both that the larger numerals beyond those five digits will continue to count just like the odometer in a car. d. you talk about these small cycles within the larger cycles i forget the name that you attach to them. that run the last one began around three thousand b.c. do i have that right. yeah i mean it's essentially the maya kept track of day it's months of periods of three hundred sixty days sort of a date solar year twenty times that and four hundred times that they also kept track of eight thousand. year periods that eight thousand year period essentially comes to an end fairly soon and. that's the digit that will increase what's known as the peak to. when is

a total of thirteen four hundred year periods comes to an end on december twenty first is there any correlation it seems like that's almost the period of time from from the time that biblical scholars of those words go in the same sentence in this context say the world began you know the adam and eve story began or something like that you know somewhere between five and eight thousand years ago do you think that there's. you know is there an astral astronomical correlate here that other people in other religions and other cultures were observing. you know to tell the truth we don't actually know why the my a calendar starts when it starts mainly because the my themselves didn't start writing down the calendar with this notation until the night i bought two

so i mean eight botching really so that you have eight four hundred year periods that have passed without anyone writing these things down and then for the first time you get to look at it they're already into the eight hundred year period and all of the writings that we get from them from the classic my a period fit within the eight nine in a very few into the tent bought june so it's really about an eight hundred year period that we get their writing in so why they chose that day we don't actually know other than to say in a very basic sense when you start a calendar system it's very important for that system to reach back into time beyond the point where anyone can remember because otherwise you're faced with the question you can't just start on day one for example again it's a new calendar today today is day one because someone is bound to ask me what

happened yesterday and i say oh that was right then ok let's say today is day two and they said no what happened last week all right fine that's day negative six you can't really work that hasn't the french tried to do with the french revolution a poll plot tried to do by resetting his calendar to day zero and you're right it didn't work out so well for either want to quit a quick question i have just at their set so back far back in the past that no one could ever possibly know. just a very quick question do you think it's possible because we just have a minute left here it is possible the people who are constantly predicting the end of the world from the crazy minister that we had just a few weeks ago to saint john. that they're really projecting their own concern about their own mortality onto the out of the world canvas. certainly i mean that's all predictions to the end of the world are essentially a lose lose prediction when either it's the end of the worlds and no one knows you

are right because the world is ending or you're wrong and the world goes on and you're just the latest person to predict the end of the world so as times go bad for people in various societies we tend to look for reasons for earth it's a sign of something greater perhaps something big happened trying to make sense and the earth doctor said turn out thanks thanks so much for being with us i appreciate your joining us tonight happy to be here now everything you know about the end of the world and the mayan prophecies is right. right wing politicians and their banks their buddies have dealt the same terrible

hand of michigan as they have to greece when it comes to economic troubles the united states hasn't quite reached the disaster scenario the greece finds itself in the greek economy is contracting while the u.s. economy is growing the unemployment rate in greece is eighteen point eight percent in the u.s. it's officially eight and a half percent what a lot better shape than they are economically at least but when it comes to democracy in many cases we're actually worse off than greece the financial times is reporting today that greece's finance ministers the top the lead story greek fury a plan for you controlled by the greeks greece's finance minister angrily rejected a plan by the european union to put in place a budget commissioner to oversee how the greeks prepare their next budget basically the e.u. is telling greece that if they want more bailout funds then they're going to have to let some unelected technocrat come in who has the power to veto tax and spending decisions made by the democratically elected greek government as in where you can't

trust your guys during your own country so we'll do it for you now as the germans who proposed this plan the greek finance minister said no way arguing it would improperly forces country to choose between financial ins assistance and national dignity greece has been through a lot including watching their prime minister be forced out of office by european technocrats last year and be replaced by a bank but where they draw the line is giving up the right to set their own budget to determine their own priorities as a nation and not let some budget commissioner come in and tell them what they can do what they can't do unfortunately the same can't be said about the united states . those budget commissioners that the greek finance minister rejected they're already in place in michigan thanks to a radical right wing financial managers law passed by michigan's republican governor rick snyder last year he now has the power to put in place crony buddies

and he is to take over cities in michigan that he deems are in a financial emergency the so-called emergency financial managers are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and have in norma's power they could fire local elected officials they can break contracts especially union contracts they can sell off the city's assets like hand over a public park to a trans national corporation to build a chemical factory or a condo or in the case of benton harbor michigan a city on lake michigan where a ninety acres lake michigan waterfront park a part of the commons that's enjoyed by mostly low income kids in a minority neighborhood has been sold off by want to governor snyder's financial dictators to real estate developers want to build a golf course resort for affluent white neighbors across the river to enjoy and worse these republican crony dictators can completely redo local budgets without any input by local elected officials just like what the greeks are afraid of so far

rick snyder has put four cities in michigan under the control of his republican crony buddies benton harbor a course pontiac in flint and michigan's biggest city detroit is next on the list to be taken over and looted i asked a few michiganders on my show earlier this month what life is like in that state under the financial managers life is horrible this is a state takeover of the city of detroit flint been harbor. does not count it's not in void i mean we voted for our mayor we voted for city council we voted for city commissioners and now our vote doesn't count what's it like to live under tyranny what's it like to live under a dictatorship how about no police officers. how about limited firefighters how about taking streetlights out of cities so that people are in the dark from five pm to roughly about eighteen oh how about living with low morale in despair it's despair and it's come to the united states of america as the york times columnist

ross douthat pointed out last year when technocrats began taking over in europe democracy may be nice in theory but in a time of crisis it's the technocrats who really get to call the shots this is just one component of how the ruling elite the banks the transnational c.e.o.'s and the politicians they own are keeping power in america despite crashing our entire economy a few years ago we need to say enough is enough democracy can withstand a crisis in fact it's really the only way we're going to get out of this crisis it's time to trust we the people to make our own decisions again and not the tactic rats the dictators and the tools of the global banking system who want to take us back to the dark days of feudalism before american democracy change the game. that's it for the big picture tonight for more information or to see any segment of our show check out our website at thom hartmann dot com and don't forget democracy begins with you show up get active participate your it will sort of.

download the official altie obligation to your i phone or i pod touch from the i choose ops to. one job life on the go. video on demand parties and live broadcasts and says feeds now in the palm of your . question on the dot com.

right. syria still reeling from escalating outbreaks of violence as its plight spreads to new york where un security council members seem unlikely to reach consensus on the younger us. occupy d.c. protesters dig their heels in as they wait for a police crackdown after the deadline to leave their camps said by city authorities passes. plus a bittersweet victory for the euro twenty five e.u. nations signed up for stricter debt rules while the czech republic joined the u.k. in rejecting the much hyped proposal.

it is not am in the russian capital you're watching r t i'm marina josh welcome to the program the battle over syria shifts to the un security council in new york as its members are set to negotiate a new resolution on syria backing the arab league peace plan moscow has slammed the document already saying the current tax may open the door for a levy a style intervention artie's more important explains. the united nations security council will hear a report from the arab league today detailing findings from its recent monitoring mission in syria this of course coming as an arab european drafted resolution on syria is already circulating among council members the draft was introduced by morocco on friday and calls in part syrian president bashar al assad to transfer powers his powers to his deputy

a unity government is formed in preparation for new elections now according to reports this draft resolution also says the security council could quote adopt further measures if syria does not comply with the terms of the resolution now in the show in a show of western solidarity u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton will be joining her british and french counterparts at the united nations on tuesday to show their support for this new draft resolution and possibly push for a vote in the meantime russia has said it cannot accept the draft resolution in its current form because it simply ignores moscow's position on the issue of syria in addition russian officials say they would like time to study the arab league's

report in detail and not act so swiftly or too swiftly now on monday the russian foreign ministry did invite members from the syrian national council as well as the syrian government to come to moscow to participate in negotiations and to get a dialogue started our viewers may remember that it was back in october when russia and china did veto of previous u.n. resolution on syria citing that the ambiguous. language that was used in that draft that was of course also written by by european countries that the language opened the door for foreign intervention possibly foreign intervention similar to what the world saw transpire in libya. reporting there now the dust has not yet settled over the suburbs of the capital damascus which saw some of the fiercest fighting since the beginning of the unrest with regime troops taking the upper hand and

that's amid concerns the escalation of violence is down to outside players pouring the fuel on the fire as artie's sara for three ports. with the sounds of gunfire and. yes if tests from the streets and the increasingly loud anubis international opinions britain needs to lead the way and make. the asset freezes. behind. the syrian case has developed as every side wants to push away the responsibility to another tossing the ball back and forth. in the last few days the situation has become so unstable the fighting people willing to talk right now has present difficulties. we've had tanks entering in firing and just enjoy or we've had six people who've died we travel to the suburbs where some of the clashes

have breaking out to try to get a clearer picture of what had been happening here in the last few days in one of the damascus at the moment now we were traveling. we thought. that we just received a phone call telling us that it's not safe to travel. with the situation. going on in these areas even the people who are living in these areas. have the situation. we make it into the job or using that the opposition that just last week had control of some of these areas has now gone underground so there was a funeral for a resident of died in the fire during his funeral people and his relatives were voicing slogans and called for freedom so someone was shot dead during the funeral and we had to go and hide from the security forces. after it had taken.

begins and some other members joined as well and people they know just been arrested in the changes and the atmosphere starts to fill so. it's such uncertainty right now it seems mistrust is rife. it seems not. convinced the free syrian army not coming closer to the capital would be simpler now this is harmful to the cause of bringing peace to syria. everyone it seems is no waiting to see what if any outcome though be at the un's briefings by the arab league's with having ground to a halt case offer to hold reconciliation talks is not want to be simply dismissed as many have already done they have do political. they have two political reasons for. for for feeding the conflict in syria i think they don't want they're not interested in to form nor are they interested in democracy or freedom

was the government accepted the invitation received mixed reactions from the opposition they size of being taken in the past in calling for a syrian solution to a syrian problem that it's repeatedly failed to communicate no opportunities to dialogue are running out fast. and with such desperate pleas from many people here the opposing sides continue to make it clear they don't want to listen the cools the international action it's just going to keep getting louder surface r.t. damascus the idea of the syrian opposition dancing to the foreign drawings is shared by john r. bradley author of the book after the arab spring he says nato members are committed to toppling the regime to make iran their next target. they're under huge pressure from outside powers who want these talks to fail even before they begin most obviously nato nato is determined to bring the us agree to it something as

a prelude to invading iran you have saudi arabia qatar saudi arabia is financially and politically back in backing. the libyan opposition and has been widely reported to be funding and arming the jihadi rebels who are leading this insurrection and we can be absolutely sure that this is nothing to do with human rights when it comes to the west and even more sure when it comes to the concern of saudi arabia this is how preposterous the western media coverage is of this uprising rusher of course has that experience to draw iran and once bitten twice shy they know that if they support a u.n. resolution that even ostensibly is aimed only at protecting civilians it will be used by nato as an excuse to impose a no fly zone while the qatari isn't saudis fund jihad is on the ground and so

russia is essentially crucial in all of this. and in just a few minutes we report another potentially even bigger powder keg in the region iran faces another blow from the u.s. who is lawmakers are pushing for a further sanctions against iran despite its current talks with the u.n. nuclear watchdog. london security goes large for the upcoming summer olympics with tens of thousands of troops and high tech spy drones all that amid fears the spirit of the games will be damaged by the show of force. anti-corporate protesters from the occupy wall street movement in washington are gearing up for tough police action they have passed a deadline set up by local authorities to remove camping equipment from the city squares but our wall discovered the activists are remaining loyal to the cause. so we are here ad macpherson square where protesters have been occupying the park since october they were out the demonstration about one hundred tents have been

pitched here the national park service has repeatedly slapped these notices on tents here macpherson square informing protesters that they can no longer camp out here that means they have to get rid of sleeping bags and any other material which allows them to live here protesters are responding by painting that symbol on the notice which demonstrates the fact that they do not agree with this mandate that there are tens can stay about their doors must remain open proving no one is living in it you know it's warns protesters that violate the rule are subject to arrest and it's basically a symbol of opposition. to you know you know what everything that this movement is opposing right now and so i think the tents are really important part of occupy but police presence was sparse with no reported arrests they stand mostly on the sidelines refusing to answer questions from the media or with what but occupiers

made their message loud and clear they are not giving up the fight here as you can see protesters have erected a massive shadow over the statue here at macpherson park it's all a demonstration to the anticipated even action by park oh yes this is our tents of dreams we want to be able to sleep here so we can dream of a better world where everyone has access to health care education housing and where the rich and corporations banks no longer have control over political system the federal government and the political leaders and wall street were all tone deaf they could not hear this so the occupy movement has offered them a hearing aid and they're getting our message loud and clear now the purpose of this was to unite us in this space so if they want to arrest one of us the after arrest all of us or not of us and washington liz wahl r.t. . occupy protesters in oakland california may be

a victim from the city after the weekend's demonstrations and there they were met by a strong police reaction with tear gas flash grenades and hundreds of arrests activists robert wall from the occupy d.c. action team thinks the protesters fell victim to military stick police force i think you have to recognize the specifics of the oakland police department they're known as one of the most violent repressive in the country and it's exposed how militarists militarized american police have become in recent years so you know it's it's shocking it's horrifying to see what's coming out of oakland but it's hardly surprising knowing what we know and it's worth remembering that the oakland police may be under federal control soon because there have been so many civil rights abuses there if you look at the videos you don't see protesters attacking people you see protesters sticking together in ways that try to shield each other from the police and i think it's important to recognize the distinction that there i haven't seen anything that looked like violence on behalf of the protesters coming out of oakland i've just seen people being proactive in recognizing that

they're going to be facing what's effectively an armed force. and to corporate movements elsewhere in the world are also facing tough action and not only from the police to london be runs these cars through a group of demonstrators as the police stand by and watch you find a full story from our london correspondent at r.t. dot com. also online so-called healing pyramids attract russians hoping to improve their health but skeptics dismiss the structures as fraudulent false idols designed only to help people part with their money. and the pentagon's money management proved to be far from efficient as one hundred million dollars one stored in saddam hussein's palace disappears into thin air.

america's decision to station its forces in the philippines as part of its new strategy is now threatening repercussions the state owned china daily called on beijing to enact economic sanctions against manila after it invited in u.s. troops in reaction to an escalating territorial dispute dr wang of the city university of hong kong told r.t. that the philippines is cashing in on the regional instability. international level the philippines know that the u.s. is stepping misty return to asia refocusing its military and security deployment in the middle east in asia pacific targeting china in iran as the primary security concerns now at the regional level the philippines also see that the recent changes in the regional politics particularly in taiwan where mr martin to and to call mr asian was successful we were elected there means beijing and taipei would have

more stable relationship more expression in terms of economic integration across the strait in the coming years and the footprints knows that the u.s. would need a more reliable ally in the asia pacific region so the philippines is reeling to learn it has to do to the american airline for that kind of particular security concern the u.s. is having in the asia pacific region i have already noticed there's tremendous pressure from the pm within china that asked urging the chinese government to top up for a tough position towards the philippines however i think the chinese government should be a bit more careful about these internal demand so i think the philippines is all doing that to try to get the best interest from from this china and u.s. relations. now to another region that's the focus of intense american interest u.s. senate lawmakers have released a plan for

a new round of sanctions targeting iran and she sector the bill and choking funds used by to iran to allegedly develop nuclear weapons will be mulled over on thursday but while washington shows no sign of easing up on tehran iran foreign minister has welcomed the extension of the i.a.e.a. mission and the country's a team of u.n. nuclear inspectors may now prolong their stay in iraq beyond the initially planned three days the minister was optimistic about the possible renewal of nuclear negotiations saying that i.e. a visit is a step towards these in the tensions however american radio host ralph schoenman is skeptical about the talks as the things you have body is under too much western influence. the very idea that iran is somehow obligated to open its front gears to inspectors who are essentially penetrated and permeated by the central intelligence agency in the mossad this imperial of gender which takes countries act syria out and i was being targeted for real now concentrating on iran will not make rest is

the permanent war that we began subject peoples by american corporate capitalism this united nations has forever been an instrument of such imperial policy first the attempt to cut off your arms your own trading capacity its ability to in import replacement equipment for its refineries then they want to tie up its banking and to preclude people from from trading with its banks then every company that is in fact engaged in trade with iran is subject by the united states to penalty what do you think this is better than act of war. the latest e.u. effort to save the euro underway and brussels is off to a characteristic start with leaders of france and britain are you know which of them has more industry the exchange came as the two often at loggerheads looked to downplay disagreements and mutual distrust incident.