it's a yearly gathering each july in california and grove is where the rich and powerful from politics media and business gather start to give an inside look at this secretive retreat that story coming up. and for years former congressman and presidential candidate ron paul argued the u.s. should return to the gold standard but it appears once it's taken his advice we'll tell you about texas plants already. from endless car traces to covering every move the royal couple has the mainstream media made themselves irrelevant we'll take a look at the state of the media here in the u.s. . it's tuesday march twenty sixth four pm here in washington d.c. i'm liz wall and you're watching our team begin today with what's perhaps one of

the most secretive meetings of the world's most powerful people little human grover treat is held every summer in modern real california top government and business leaders are among those that attend the men's only events it's been going on for decades but what actually happens there remains a mystery and that's because the two week gathering is completely closed to the media but now an infamous hacker is trying to shed some light on what goes on there . the hacker goo so far has handed over some e-mails to our t. here's one of them says quote it shows news corps executive andrew knight allegedly writing to former u.s. secretary of state colin powell and he urges powell to make sure that the u.k. prime minister tony blair comes to the bohemian grove and he said the event should be quote a top priority for head of these e-mails have yet to be confirmed in r.t. has reached out for verification we've got to hear back but these emails do open the door for some interesting questions why is bohemian grove

a top priority what really happens there every year and is something is this something that the public should care about the disgust i'm joined by a lot of the clock politics reporter at u.s. news and world report welcome elizabeth so i guess what do we know about what goes on there there's very little that's confirmed about what happens inside bohemian grove and part of that is that there are people who run bohemian grove are so closed about what happens what they will say is that it's a gathering every year of influential people ranging from former presidents to c.e.o.'s oil tycoons and that it's based around art and music and culture and it's among the redwood tree sounds like a good time but who would make this different from other early events that go on davos for example or some of these other elite gatherings well it's actually very different because if you look at davos or aspen even though many of the events are invitation only a lot of it is open to the public and the goal is sort of to you know better the

world and have all these thought leaders coming together to share their ideas with the public and you can watch things on you tube and all that well he was completely different you have no idea what goes on there you don't know who's attending every year you don't know what they talk about and bohemian grove even says that they are not trying to better the world they're not trying to gather people together to come up with ideas that will be world changing they just want it to be sort of a retreat for. i guess that's how it's described as a retreat and some are going to say you know why not you know these people have the right to have their their private gatherings and private time away from the public i sure i think the the problem that some people have is that there's been a lot of speculation about what actually goes on there some people say druid worship goes on there because there's a lot of worshiping of the redwood tree there isn't a giant ceremony with like a forty foot hour will. there have been switched hog refers have gotten inside and

just it's just seems like very bizarre rituals happening by people who have enormous influence in the world and so the idea that they gather to do this every year is sort of a little bit i'm. speaking of these people that do have enormous influence who do we know about who's on the guest list who goes to these events exactly so supposedly every republican president since the forty's i believe has been on the guest list where every single one has gone you know on church nixon went reagan went hoover went bill clinton has famously made fun of it is saying that it was naked republicans rubbing themselves against redwood trees. but nixon definitely on the watergate tape tapes he actually heard sort of making fun of it and saying that it's a gay event but we also know that major c.e.o.'s basically anyone who's influential in america and around the world has come to the right and invited so yeah it seems like of. all of the world's most vary from powerful the most the policy makers the

influence makers are there you don't really hear too much about it so why do you think it's not really a concern of the mass media or the general public i mean i think it's just that so little information has gotten out so there's nothing to really say and the people who have gotten information out are people that are sort of kept to the fringes so in four wars of famous conspiracy theorist site alex jones who went in there with a camera he actually was able to videotape the ceremony with the giant owl and i actually i talked to the spokes person of bohemian grove and he can. that the footage was real so so it's a legitimate you know thing that they really get inside but alex jones someone new and really takes seriously and so i think the mass media just really doesn't want to talk i think the question is yes yes the video is israel and authentic but some of the messages some of the things that he was saying and it is what is in dispute . what i ask you we saw during the presidential campaign we saw from the former republican presidential candidate mitt romney this forty seven percent video came out and this was something that he thought he thought he was behind closed doors

but in this modern day and age somebody was recording it and this came out and it's called a game changer so do you think that these events you know they provide an opportunity just to speak candidly and show their true colors and say things that say things and do things that they may otherwise not do and i think that's why influential people have held on to this retreat as something that is for them to not even really do business i mean the slogan the bohemian grove is weaving spiders come not here and what that means is we're not going to do business here don't come here with your you know wheeling and dealing like this is a place to be able to say whatever you want and perhaps like the forty seven percent video i'm sure that people say things that are politically you know incorrect or inappropriate but they know that they can't because no one's watching them i guess the great dilemma is that a lot of the stuff is just kind of speculation because it's so secret absolutely it's all remains a secret we don't really know for sure about what does go on but appreciate you coming on elizabeth i was a little bit block politics reporter at u.s. news and world report. now to texas where apparently governor rick perry is

thinking about hoarding gold according to the texas tribune the governor has teamed up with state representative giovanni particularly oney to draft legislation that would create what would be called the texas bullion depository here's what currently only told the tribune quote we don't want certificates we want our gold and if you're the state of texas you should be able to get your get your gold so with the backing of some texas lawmakers the governor wants to transfer the state's gold reserves from new york back to the lone star state and you've heard the argument for going gold before former republican president republican congressman ron paul has been a very vocal supporter of returning to the gold standard paper money is a moral hazard encourages people to break a lot of risky investment mental investments and they overdo things they overinvest . so the taxes realistically switch over to the gold standard mode would it mean

for the state and the rest of the country to discuss away now alan breaux the author of the ultimate obama survival guy giants now. welcome their way so loud what would switching to the gold standard what would that do for the state of texas well first of all the gulf interview great for the whole united states of america but politicians will just never allow it to happen it's a ron paul idea to rand paul i.v. it's wing root idea and it's a governor rick perry idea and i fall into those exact themes of politicians i love those guys but they're never going to let it happen live because the gold standard limits the imagination of politicians who love big government who love big spending who love big entitlement you love big unions who love big taxes you can't spend money you don't have or print money you don't have when you have a gold standard so on a national basis i pick would be fantastic for the united states to go back on the gold standard because all the problems of america have occurred since one nine

hundred seventy one when richard nixon took us off the gold standard that are all the debt of this country cumulated and all you have seen spending and the obscene salaries of government pensions that are bankrupting this country now to texas i mean texas liz does everything right my book the ultimate obama survival guide actually has a key chapter about the state of texas and how fantastic things are going there and they've got the best economy in america they've now moved to number two size wise a condo in america it's one of the twenty biggest economies in the world and they've created more jobs in the last ten years then all the other forty united states combined they do things right and they're right to be suspicious of who's keeping their gold the federal reserve in new york is it really there can they get it when they need it in a crisis that's what this new texas gold standards are all about bringing the gold that we own in texas back to. texas let us guard our own gold and take possession

of her own goal to show that we have stability in our state one of business moves here they want to go but our stability texas can show them not only is the economy great but we've got gold to back it up and it's in our possession and we know it is now going to ask you. critics of the gold standard to say that it limits economic growth because there's only so much gold as you said that you can't you can't print off more gold so that seems like a major downside to the system well you know what the only thing that limits economic growth turns out to be the federal reserve the most i'll give you one of the greatest stats of all time list the federal reserve was founded in one thousand thirteen and it's only goal was to protect the value of the dollar and since one thousand thirteen m. a day the fed was bound to the dollars lots ninety six percent of its value better stock that that you but if you had a million dollars thirteen i talk about this in detail in my book the ultimate obama survival guide is you have

a million dollars nine hundred thirteen and you put it in the bank maybe you kept it in dollars today aleve worth forty thousand dollars because it's gone down ninety six percent value if you put the same million in gold and nine hundred thirteen that same gold that all these experts and government bureaucrats and politicians state and try to tell you got your bliss it will be worth eighty seven billion dollars today so it's interesting having forty thousand or eighty seven million to leave your kids and grandkids i think cole turns out to be pretty darn good at politicians turned out to be pretty darned stupid here it sounds like a huge advocate for this gold for this gold standard i don't think you can make that a says a secret i do want to ask i want to get to this because not too long ago we covered this petition that was going around it was going around several states but texas really took. gained a lot of popularity in the state of texas this petition to secede from the united states. the end create its own government so now texas switched over to the system

they would have their own currencies so i know this is talking like a long shot but if this were to happen to end the state of texas could that possibly make it more make it possible for texas to operate on its own well i'll tell you what liz it's your real long shot i doubt it's ever going to happen but if things get bad enough under obama in the next four years it becomes a little bit less of a long shot you never know how they actually back up that threat with actually doing something about it it will be a net loss for america the second biggest economy in the united states of america and in my book the ultimate obama survival guide i actually quote an expert about moving out of united states because taxes are so high the economy is collapsing and declining and that experts said you know what i don't think you really have to move out of united states you could just move to the greatest country in the united states it's called texas oh i think there's a lot of people out there starting to feel like texas spoke out in his frights i know a couple texans myself and they're there always really really proud texans and. no

exception baer appreciate you coming on the show you are the time that was away now and root author of the ultimate obama survival guide. well we are going to take a look now at the state of the media here in the u.s. just last week reported that a pew study showed that liberal leaning on a sunday c. is eighty five percent opinion but now the network isn't alone when it comes to airing opinion. ladies and gentlemen the head of necklace is missing i repeat the necklace is m.i.a. sometime yesterday nancy lost the necklace i spoke with nancy just a short time ago about this trying time in her life nancy grace first of all i want to express my condolences that's a dandy that is a walleye it's a ten pounder i love to do that let me just start this by saying that safety is not i wish i wish you would find the way of my first so four years that you maybe front find yourself in faith to why i keep it and if not i think i get why if not then

who else ranks in your celebrity crushes. so is serious reporting hard to come by these days to take a look at the state of the fourth estate out there chris hedges joins us now to discuss hi chris nice to see it there so. i want to start off by reading a quote from one of your articles it's on truthdig on this very topic you say quote the celebrity trolls who currently reign on commercial television who bill themselves as a liberal or conservative read from the same corporate script they spend the same core gossip they ignore what the corporate state wants ignored and they championed what the corporate state wants championed they do not challenge or knowledge the structures of corporate power so chris what do you think is the biggest problem with the media today. well that's sort of sums it up it's wholly owned subsidiary of the corporate state you have a half dozen corporations viacom general electric rupert murdoch's news corp disney

clear channel that control almost everything most americans watch or listen to and you know as i wrote in that column a lot of omission is still a lot. a hold of political puppets. you know as part of discussions of shroff. to deflect attention from where our actually resides and that's in the hands of corporations it's impossible within the american political system to vote against the interests of goldman sachs and so we don't hear anything about climate change the poor rural and urban poor are rendered invisible in this country and they're really suffering at this point i just finished a book on it two years on a days of destruction days of revolt with the cartoonist joe soco out of the poorest pockets of the country we don't hear anything about the assault against civil liberties whether that be. section ten twenty one of the national defense

authorization act warrantless wiretapping the use of the espionage act shut down whistleblowers the. misuse of the two thousand and one authorization to use military force act as. through giving the executive branch the power to assassinate american citizens. and climate change we should have given the crisis that is now confronting the ecosystem on which the image species depends for its existence we should have climate scientists on every night and none of that appears because it's all driven by a celebrity gossip and trivia and yeah ok fox will spin it one way and m.s.m. b.c. will spend it another but it's all the same tawdry useless garbage now what do you think of dr king's editorial decision then are you disappointed also very important stories there on why do you think there isn't more airtime dedicated to these kinds of issues as well because we've lost control of our media you know when general

electric. own as they do m.s.m. b.c. . and i began a calm writing about phil donahue it was removed tremendous embassy although we had the highest ratings of any show in the evening. because he dares to put people on and question the rush of the iraq war look at iraq which made a fortune off of these wars as as microsoft and they're hardly going to allow a dissident voice to impede their profits or their ratings and that's really at this point what it's all about these television personalities people like chris matthews a cheerleader for the war m.s.m. b.c. makes about five million dollars a year they're celebrities you know they're judged on their likeability what in the business is called q score and not on their commitment to news or to the truth now yeah it sounds like you're saying that the state of the media has become more and

more of a business model these days chris when you think that this has happened or can you pinpoint an area in time or a point in time where they say it happened or has it been something that's been gradual. well it's been a gradual descent kind of to teary ration over my own lifetime as a journalist i have watched especially on the airwaves the deterioration of new i would argue that at this point commercial networks don't even do news but if we had to point at a particular moment when this process was. accelerated it would be clinton's decision to deregulate the f.c.c. and that of course allowed these corporations to abide by the clear channel owns about fifteen hundred stations in the united states. and that was a kind of consolidation into a very small number of corporate ams and diminish the capacity for alternative

forms of information and independent forms of information to reach the american public. going along with this journalism as a business model business of course that that loss of supply and demand and so could it be that the media is just giving the people what they want maybe they want someone more some of these kinds of more entertainment driven stories. that that's what people are going to watch well they sink to the lowest common denominator you know they build these kind of soap opera scenarios night after night week after week around celebrities it's entertaining that's you know really at this point what the business they're in it's entertainment but i worked for many years including fifteen at the new york times and. news is not about entertaining is about information news is about giving your readers or your viewers often uncomfortable and unpleasant truths climate change let's go back to climate change would be a good one. that is the purpose of of news it is about fostering the common good it

is about informing the public and when news becomes a business when news becomes about entertainment then issues that are not uplifting so to speak issues that don't have an immediate emotional draw whether it's around sex whether it's around violence whether it's around and you know it's our show to the side and you're reduced to essentially what we have been reduced to achieve which is kind of carnival act press appreciate you coming on the show that was an author. thank you. whoever thought catching the bus in style isn't possible hasn't been to arlington virginia the county just south of washington d.c. just completed construction on the state of the are bus stop outfitted with stainless steel glass siding and floor heaters to keep a convict or in these cold winter mornings the price tag is what is catching

people's attention a call one million dollars r.t. correspondent mara howell went to the bus stop to bring us more. from here is the new bus stop in arlington virginia would you be surprised to find out that it costs nearly one million dollars to build from the l.c.d. screen offering the bus times to homeless proof benches and glass hanging over one thing's for sure this county spared no expense so here at the local bus stop in arlington where the county has essentially put in over a million dollars worth of its money and some building this bus stop. i don't think is worth a million dollars and you know with us from the wind the wind the rain the snow or anything and it is blowing out here and i'm actually code so i don't see it this expensive best up is coming at a time when government at every level is tightening their purse strings the sequester ation slash two hundred million in programs and services to taxpayers throughout the u.s. so it seems some people here in arlington apparently didn't get the message the

million dollar project was eighty percent funded by the state and federal government the county has been defending its investment claiming that new retail and apartment buildings are springing up all the time and sixteen thousand people take these buses each day the spinning won't end with this one bus stop the county does have plans to put in twenty three just like it in the next few years the next construction is scheduled to begin in the next couple of months we do have a lot of people that off under you know under the pay scale let me know need some housing in and they could have but that there is that i want to bust up with the old ones work better than this one does. our artsy. speaking of splurging on non-critical items it looks like a luxury it's a luxury less americans are able to do this after an article out from pulitzer prize winning journalist david k. johnson puts the growing wealth divide in the u.s. in perspective most shocking income growth if you take

a look at the figure is the bottom ninety percent. income growth only about it to fifty nine dollars the top ten percent over a one hundred sixteen thousand dollars so what do these figures say about the u.s. economy to discuss i'm joined by kyle harrington the founder of harrington capital . cairo so i'm sure that this is all great those figures we just showed there are great great for those in that top ten percent but what about everybody else. well i mean you know liz this just really ties into economic policy it ties into capitalism versus maybe socialism in terms of how people make their money who makes the most money and you know what's what's interesting here is you know when barack obama's administration first ran for office i was interested to see if in fact some of his policies would create more you know redistribution of wealth and have folks

on the bottom core tile of income start to rise and things equal out a little bit better obviously these numbers demonstrate that the those policies in fact don't seem to be going well working in the right direction for the bottom core tiles so what is there to do i think it goes back to a host of things policy decisions whether it be taxes the belief that eliminates face of lism mean you know we we live in a country here where there isn't a new you work hard you get more educated and hopefully strive harder you make more money i mean that's that's the way it works and if you don't work as hard maybe you don't make as much money but what needs to happen in my opinion ok is that it needs to start in the household the folks need to focus on education for one getting their children more interested in education not allowing them to not graduate high

school for example if you look at that lower income cortile you'll notice that the percentages of people graduating high school there's been studies out that aren't very great i mean i think you need to not allow that to happen you need to somehow pursue. a college education because you know that a lot of those that did pursue a college education are now finding themselves unemployed so we're seeing that as carol you that yeah i'm not suggesting it's a cure all but i think i think what you do is you put yourself in a better position for work. the more educated you are and i'm not suggesting staying in school forever or that it is a cure all because it is not a cure all i mean i have plenty of folks that i graduated princeton with that have great degrees in employed currently so there needs to be a sense of resourcefulness there needs to be a sense of belief in the fact that one can achieve more and i think you know one one one interesting piece that i've read recently was making the financial aid

system for people that are in that lower income core tile being able to achieve more financial aid for their college pursuits i think that system needs to be a little bit it needs to be more transparent and cleaned up a bit in an effort for those people to get financially to get that education because let's face it i mean education costs in the college world is is just it's just not cheap and it continues to increase so there's a whole host of things here i guess liz that are moving parts to make the lower income court you know earn more money and increase their income because the facts are that one in six i think it's one in six people right now are living in poverty and the united states numbers don't look at appreciate you coming on the show that was kyle herring ten founder of harrington capital management thank you. switching gears a bit now when the tennessee state capital underwent renovations one sink in particular became the subject of controversy here is the sink in question it's

a small portion of the sixteen million dollars renovation this think has nonetheless captured the attention of lawmakers in nashville and that's because the senate clerk was approached by a number of state legislators fearful that the new say was a muslim foot bath you can see here an actual muslim foot bath using traditional islam to wash feet before prayer tennessee lawmakers thought the newsstand was designed for these purposes. listen a clerk had to confirm that the saint had nothing to do with islam it's a mop sink used to fill and empty pockets for the janitorial staff that's why the controversy this sink is more concerned with creeping dark than creeping sharia law this one make that clear we're going to leave it up there but for more of the stories we cover check out our you tube channel you tube don't call flash r.t. america our web site r t dot com slash usa and follow me on twitter that was wall back here in a half hour. what

you have no way to live. when you don't have a family. when you have no one to ask for help you can always count on. this man is respected by criminals and also if he's a like he'll doubt it's going to make sure that it was people like he used to be. done for the homeless. on a. potentially deadly blizzard taking aim for the northeast it's expected to hit starting in a few hours from new york to maine we have team coverage of the storm. but we're watching is the very heavy snow moving into boston properly or today it was very sticky you can see it start to become much more cattery down the line there's still a lot of snow out here

a good place. decent it is going to be pretty incredible today there and even record snowfall throughout what's been like nobody's allowed to be driving lessons to them urgency here. download the official location to your cell phone choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorite. if you're away from your television.