Ring of Fire is a podcast hosted by Farron Cousins that began as a radio show in 2004 by Mike Papantonio. The show focuses on exposing corporate fat cats, polluters and media spinmeisters.

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  • Episode 782: Trump Losses Pile Up; Republican AG Wants to Ban DEI for Ridiculous Reason
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    31:59

    This week on Ring of Fire!

    The Trump administration has now lost 4 separate court battles in just two short days this week on issues ranging from his unconstitutional order on birthright citizenship to his funding freeze for the government. On Tuesday, the fourth loss came when a judge ruled that the sections on “Protecting Women” that had been removed from the CDC and FDA websites must be restored. The administration had removed those sections for no reason other than they don’t care about women

    The Republican attorney general for the state of Missouri has filed a lawsuit against Starbucks for refusing to drop their “DEI” programs, but in his announcement of the lawsuit, he may have screwed his case entirely. The AG, Andrew Bailey, complained that the company had become “more female and less white,” which could easily be used by Starbucks to get lawsuit dismissed on the grounds that it was rooted in pure racism, not in policy or legal matters.

    Elon Musk is claiming that there is so much fraud in entitlement programs like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and Welfare that it dwarfs ALL of the combined fraud from everywhere else. So far, he has provided NO evidence to back up these claims, and he’s even admitted that he isn’t sure if what he is saying is true. But true or not, this will be used as justification to destroy these social safety net programs and send millions of people into dire situations.

    All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

  • Episode 781: Musk's Assault on the U.S. Government; Trump's Solution to Fires is Flood?
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    29:49

    This week on Ring of Fire!

    Over the past few days, Elon Musk – a man that was neither elected to serve in the government nor confirmed by a governing body – has made sweeping changes to the federal government, consolidating it under his control. He has locked civil servants out of their computer systems at some departments; the NTSB has announced that they will only be using Musk’s platform to make official announcements; And he has gained access to personal information, including pay, from the Treasury. This is both completely unprecedented and wildly dangerous.

    The Trump Administration authorized the release of billions of gallons of water onto California from several dams in order to fight the fires that have already bee declared “100% contained.” This decision was not only dangerous for the state – one official said that it nearly flooded them – but it also screws over farmers. That water was meant for summer crops, and now it is gone, which is going to wreak havoc on food availability and prices in just a few months.

    Donald Trump’s response to the deadly plane crash in Washington, D.C. last week is all the proof you need to know that he is insane. He blamed people with disabilities, “diversity” hires, people with missing limbs, and even “dwarfism” for the disaster, none of which played a role in what happened. But this type of response cannot be tolerated, normalized, or ignored. The man is mentally unwell.

    All that, and so much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

  • Episode 780: Mass Deportations and the Economic Impact; The President's Hit List
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    37:00

    This week on Ring of Fire!

    According to award-winning economist and columnist Paul Krugman, Donald Trump is creating a massive economic disaster for himself that he has no idea how to handle. Specifically, Krugman is warning about the looming economic crisis from Trump’s mass deportations which will likely send inflation and consumer prices back up. On top of that, we’re already seeing labor shortages spring up from the moves, so the economic impacts are already upon us.

    Following the late-evening confirmation of Pete Hegseth this past Friday, Donald Trump took to Truth Social to rehash one of his “greatest hits” by declaring certain media outlets to be “the enemy of the people.” But this time he took things a step further, and specifically mentioned MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow by name. Every time Trump does this, he puts a target on someone’s back, and we’ve seen his crazed supporters attempt violence from these “enemy of the people” comments in the past.

    Tom Homan, Donald Trump’s new “border czar,” says that he is considering conducting immigrants raids at schools in order to round up students and deport them. Homan had the audacity to say that these because these people “broke the law”, they shouldn’t be allowed in at all. This is coming from a man that is working for a convicted felon.

    All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

  • Episode 779: Trump 2 Era Begins
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    36:30

    This week on Ring of Fire!

    Donald Trump and his Republican allies have been trashing Bishop Mariann Budde all week after she called out his anti-Christian immigration policies at a Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday, and now a whole new group of Bishops is jumping in to pile on Trump’s plans. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter criticizing Trump’s deportation plans and called for mercy and compassion, just like the Bible calls for.

    Even when Republicans win, Steve Bannon can’t stop spreading conspiracy theories. As Donald Trump was set to be sworn in on Monday, Steve Bannon was on the scene spreading conspiracies about why the inauguration was moved indoors. According to Bannon, it wasn’t because the weather was too harsh to safely conduct the ceremony outside – instead, it was part of a plot to “nullify” Trump, which he didn’t elaborate on at all.

    In a post on Truth Social this week, Donald Trump said that MSNBC (or MSDNC, as he calls it) “shouldn’t even have a right to broadcast” in the United States, suggesting he could take their license away. This is the man that conservatives are heralding as the guy who is “saving free speech” and “doing away with censorship,” as The New York Post suggested this week.

    And Donald Trump spoke at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, marking his first international appearance as the new President of the United States. And to absolutely no one’s surprise, he made a complete fool of himself and the country. He made countless false claims that were immediately called out by both US media and international outlets, which obviously is going to set the tone for the next 4 years.

    All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!

  • Episode 778: MGT Floats "Cloud Seeding" to Prevent California Fires; Elon Musk Censorship Problems
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    38:09

    This week on Ring of Fire!

    Marjorie Taylor Greene is back at it with her weather manipulation conspiracies, this time suggesting that the government should simply create rain by “cloud seeding” and then the problem of the California fires would be solved. It isn’t just that she’s crazy, it’s that she is so arrogant in her insanity to say something so crazy and yet so matter-of-factly.

    Republican politicians in both the House and Senate are threatening to withhold disaster aid to the victims of the California fires unless they agree to “certain concessions.” This is absolutely reprehensible, and it isn’t something that would ever happen to red states during disasters, regardless of which Party controlled the government. But this is how things work when a Blue State needs help.

    MAGA faithful are finding out very quickly that they are part of the actual club. Elon Musk continues to censor and silence his conservative critics on Twitter (X), and the MAGA crowd is furious that the “free speech absolutist” turned out to be a big fat liar on the issue of censorship. But there is little they can do about it since he owns the platform and can make the rules himself – just like conservatives do with politics.

    All that, and much more, on this week’s Ring of Fire Podcast!