Loud & Clear

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Ready to Make History: North and South Korea Put Summit Back on Track May 29, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Christine Ahn, International Coordinator of Women Cross DMZ, and author and professor Tim Beal.
One of North Korea’s top leaders is arriving in the United States today for talks with Trump Administration officials, and possibly with the President himself, on kickstarting the US-DPRK summit originally planned for June 12 in Singapore. General Kim Yong Chol is one of Kim Jong Un’s closest advisors and is a former chief of the North Korean Intelligence Service.
The hosts continue the weekly series “False Profits -- A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey”.
The Trump Administration over the past several days has tried to defend itself against allegations that it has lost track of 1,500 undocumented children placed in temporary care. The accusations come on the heels of news reports that the Department of Homeland Security has implemented a policy of separating undocumented parents from their children. But the truth is that the policy dates from the Obama Administration, and at this point in his presidency, Obama deported far more people than Trump has. Brian and John speak with Ajamu Baraka, National Organizer of Black Alliance for Peace.
Italy’s current political situation is in a state of chaos. Just days after two populist parties--the Five Star Movement and the far-right League party--agreed to form a new government, the deal fell apart and President Sergio Matterella has called new elections. The two parties are expected to win even more seats in the next parliament. John Wight, host of the weekly Sputnik Radio show Hard Facts, and Sputnik News analyst Walter Smolarek join the show.
Colombians have failed to elect a president outright, setting the stage for a bitter runoff between two frontrunners from opposite ends of the political spectrum, while a fragile peace process with leftist former rebels hangs in the balance. Mario Murillo, author and professor of Communications and Latin American studies, joins Brian and John.
Electronic incarceration--the use of ankle bracelets and other monitoring devices on released prisoners are popular government alternatives to prison. But are they really that different? The devices have turned prisoners’ homes into prisons. In addition, prisoners are charged a daily fee for electronic incarceration. And if they can’t pay for it, they go right back to prison. James Kilgore, research scholar at the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) who writes at ChallengingECarceration.org, joins the show.
Harvard University’s T. H. Chan School of Public Health released a study this morning saying that the government’s estimate of 64 deaths in Puerto Rico from last year’s Hurricane Maria grossly underestimated the true number. The report puts the number of deaths at 4,600. Many of them because of delayed medical care. Brian and John speak with Camilo Matos, a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party.

Trump Cancels Summit, FBI Spying, Pompeo vs Iran, Weinstein in Court May 25, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Walter Smolarek (sitting in for Brian Becker) and John Kiriakou are joined by Jim Kavanagh, the editor of ThePolemicist.net, and Patrick Lawrence, author of “Time No Longer: Americans After the American Century” whose work you can support at patreon.com/thefloutist.
It was a busy week of news, with Donald Trump withdrawing from the planned summit with North Korea, announcing a laundry list of unrealistic demands for Iran, Venezuela presidential elections, and the FBI admitting that it had an informant, or a spy, or a rat, inside the Trump campaign. The hosts wrap up the week’s biggest news.
The country is inching closer to midterm elections in November, and more states held primary elections this week. The hosts look at those races and more political news. Dr. Wilmer Leon, a political scientist, author, and host of a nationally broadcast talk radio show on Sirius/XM channel 126, joins the show.
Former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein turned himself in to New York police this morning to face felony rape charges. Weinstein also has been accused of sexually harassing, abusing, and assaulting dozens of women over the years. The massive #MeToo movement that has been in the streets all over this country has pushed the courts to act. Walter and John speak with Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director of the A. J. Muste Memorial Institute and former Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild.
Julian Assange’s nearly six-year refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London is in jeopardy, multiple sources are telling CNN. If the Ecuadorians expel him, he will likely be arrested by British authorities and extradited to the United States. Randy Credico, an activist, a comedian, the former director of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice, and a candidate for Governor of New York, joins the show.
Australia and the Netherlands say they are holding Russia responsible for the downing of a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet that killed 298 people in 2014. Dutch investigators on Thursday concluded that the missile that brought the jet down over rebel-held territory in Ukraine belonged to a Russian brigade. Is this a sure thing or is this a fog of war? Dmitry Babich, a journalist and commentator with Sputnik International, joins Brian and John.
Colombia will hold national elections on Sunday, and it appears likely that left-wing candidate Gustavo Petro and far-right contender Ivan Duque will advance to the second round. The election is the first since an historic peace deal ended a 50-year-long war between the government and the FARC rebels and could decide its fate.
It’s Friday! The hosts take a look at the worst, most misleading, and funniest headlines of the week. Walter and John speak with Steve Patt, an independent journalist whose critiques of the mainstream media have been a feature of his blog Left I on the News, which you can find at lefti.blogspot.com, and Loud & Clear producer Nicole Roussell.

Trump Blows Up Summit with Kim as North Korea Blows Up Its Nuclear Site May 24, 2018

Show notes

Donald Trump today cancelled the historic planned summit between the DPRK and the US next month in Singapore. This came hours after the DPRK destroys their nuclear test site, in one of many one-sided shows of good faith. The hosts address what happened, how western media is spinning this, and what happens from here.
On the regular Thursday series “Criminal Injustice,” about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country, the hosts discuss how to organize a prison strike. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News, and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure.
After revelations this week that intelligence agencies had a spy in the Trump campaign, the White House arranged two briefings on classified documents this afternoon, one for two Trump-allied Republicans, and, after pressure, one for the Gang of 8. Brian and John speak with Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of “The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War.”
The Israeli government says that it carried out a strike last night in eastern Syria that killed 12 “foreign fighters.” The Israeli press says that it killed Iranians. The Syrian government says that it was a dozen of their soldiers. And the American government says that it had no knowledge of any strike. Ambassador Peter Ford, the former British Ambassador to Syria, joins the show.
The Associated Press is reporting that more than a dozen Air Force airmen faced disciplinary actions, including courts martial, in 2016 after they were found operating a drug ring. The airmen, who were responsible for maintaining the US nuclear weapons arsenal, apparently did so while taking LSD. Steven Starr, a professor at the University of Missouri, who teaches in the Peace Studies Program on the environmental, health, and social effects of nuclear weapons and a senior scientist for Physicians for Social Responsibility, joins Brian and John.
The National Football League has passed a new rule saying that players who kneel during the national anthem will cause their teams to be penalized 15 yards on the opening kickoff. Players who kneel also will be fined and could face additional penalties from the league. Team owners also announced that players could remain in the locker room for the anthem. Constitutional experts, however, say that the rule is likely a constitutional violation of freedom of speech. Kofi Ademola, an activist and organizer with the Black Lives Matter movement, and Jaimee Swift, a PhD candidate at Howard University’s political science department and a freelance journalist, joins the show.
The United States yesterday kicked the Chinese navy out of the 2018 Rim of the Pacific drills—the largest regular naval exercises in the world. China participated in RIMPAC 2016 and 2014, but relations between the two countries have deteriorated as the U.S. government declares an era of “great power competition.” Brian and John speak with David Ewing, the chair of the San Francisco chapter of the US-China People’s Friendship Association.

The Great Unraveling of the Mueller Probe May 23, 2018

Show notes

New twists continue to emerge in the Mueller investigation, including the FBI spying on the Trump campaign and payments received by Michael Cohen on behalf of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to arrange talks between him with Trump. Meanwhile, Yulia Skripal has given her first interview since waking up from a coma after a poisoning that became a hotly contested flashpoint for relations between Russia and the West.
Wednesday is Loud & Clear’s regular segment Beyond Nuclear, looking at nuclear issues including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Today, the hosts interview award-winning anti-nuclear activists about their work. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear; Terry Lodge, anti-nuclear attorney and 2018 awardee of the Judith Johnsrood Unsung Hero Award; and David Kraft, co-founder of the Nuclear Energy Information Service and 2017 awardee of the Judith Johnsrud Unsung Hero Award, join the show.
The House of Representatives yesterday approved a plan to roll back banking regulations in response to the 2008 financial crisis. The Senate already had approved the measure, which now goes to President Trump for his signature. The measure leaves the central structure of Dodd-Frank in place, but is the most significant weakening of the law since it was passed a decade ago. Brian and John speak with Brad Birkenfeld, a whistleblower who exposed billions of dollars of financial fraud committed by banking giant UBS and the author of “Lucifer’s Banker: The Untold Story of How I Destroyed Swiss Bank Secrecy,” whose work is at lucifersbanker.com.
A high-level Syrian official has dismissed the idea that Iran would withdraw its troops from Syria, which are intervening on the side of the country’s government. An Iranian withdrawal from Syria is one of the demands listed in Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “Plan B” war speech earlier this week. Ambassador Peter Ford, the former British Ambassador to Syria, joins the show.
Luis Posada Carriles, a former CIA operative and militant Cuban exile, died yesterday in Miami. Carriles was accused of organizing a string of hotel bombings in Cuba in 1997 and of engineering a 1976 airline bombing in Cuba that killed 73 people. Human rights and transparency activists reacted to Carilles’ death by calling him “an unrepentant terrorist and a Frankenstein monster created by the CIA.” Gloria La Riva, the Peace and Freedom Party’s 2018 California gubernatorial candidate, and Andrés Gómez, the Coordinator of the Antonio Maceo Brigade, join Brian and John.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro announced yesterday that he would expel the top two US diplomats in Caracas, giving them 48 hours to leave the country. This apparently was in response to a statement by the State Department called Maduro a “dictator”. He said, however, said that the US Embassy has overseen a military, economic, and political conspiracy to overthrow him. Secretary of State Pompeo said that the US would respond proportionally. Meanwhile, the Lima Group of 14 nations said that he would “limit” diplomatic contacts with Venezuela. Jeanette Charles, a writer, editor, and solidarity liaison with Venezuelanalysis.com, joins the show.
President Trump opened the door yesterday to a phased dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, backing away from his earlier demand that Kim Jong Un abandon his arsenal without any American concessions. This new flexibility seems to have put the president at odds with his own National Security Advisor.

Is the FBI the Real Power in Washington? Revealing 2016 Spying Campaign May 22, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Joe Lauria, the editor-in-chief of Consortium News, founded by the late Robert Parry, and the author of the book "How I Lost, By Hillary Clinton."
The Trump White House has accused the FBI of carrying out a covert operation against the 2016 Trump Campaign. It has demanded that the FBI and the Department of Justice hand over to Congress all relevant documents that would reveal the extent of the FBI spying operation.
Tuesday’s weekly series “False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey” continues looking at the top economic issues of the day. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey joins the show.
After the horrific killings of Palestinian protesters the last two months by Israeli soldiers, the Palestinian Authority is taking Israel to the International Criminal Court. Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki is meeting with a prosecutor at the court, located in The Hague. Brian and John speak with Miko Peled, the author of “The General’s Son - A Journey of an Israeli in Palestine” and "Injustice: The Story of the Holy Land Foundation Five."
Following a string of victories against ISIS, all of Damascus and the city’s surrounding areas have now been retaken by the Syrian government. But even as the Syrian army makes progress on the battlefield, there appears to be no end to the war in sight. Rick Sterling, an investigative journalist and member of the Syria Solidarity Movement, joins the show.
Donald Trump and Moon Jae In are meeting today, to discuss how to move forward with peace on the Korean peninsula. Afterwards, Trump suggested that the June 12 summit with Kim Jong-un may not go forward. In the past few weeks, South Korea and the US continued heavy military drills on the border of North Korea. Kim Jong Un then cancelled talks with the South and voiced hesitation about the upcoming US talks in Singapore.
This weekend, Texas state trooper Daniel Hubbard pulled over a Black woman, Sherita Dixon-Cole, handcuffed her, put her in the patrol car, and raped her. Dixon-Cole called her fiance when she was pulled over, and when he showed up to the scene, Hubbard threatened Dixon-Cole that if she said anything to him, “he will be armed and his firearm will be visible when I have to shoot him.” Michelle Gross, the president of Communities United Against Police Brutality, joins the show.
High-level discussions between the United States and China over trade issues seem to have led to a pause in the growing economic conflict between the two powers. But is this just the calm before the storm? Brian and John speak with Dr. Jack Rasmus, a professor of economics at Saint Mary's College of California and author of the article in the World Review of Political Economy titled “Trump’s Déjà vu China Trade War.”

Trump Is Playing With Fire As Pompeo Says “We Will Crush Iran” May 21, 2018

Show notes

In his first major speech since becoming Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo demanded that Iran withdraw its troops from Syria and end support for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad if it expects to see any tangible improvement in relations with the US. Pompeo also said that the US would not renegotiate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or Iran sanctions deal.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro won a second six-year term yesterday in a popular election. Meanwhile, President Trump is considering an oil embargo on Venezuela, a move that would sink the country into economic chaos. Carlos Ron, the Charge d’Affaires at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington, joins the show.
The online news site The Intercept reported over the weekend that an FBI informant who had allegedly infiltrated the Trump campaign in 2016 is the same person who oversaw a CIA operation in 1980 to infiltrate the Jimmy Carter campaign. He reportedly did so at the urging of former CIA Director George H. W. Bush. How is all of this legal? And is Donald Trump right when he says the FBI was spying on him? Brian and John speak with Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist whose work is at www.rall.com.
At least ten prominent women’s rights activists were arrested in Saudi Arabia over the weekend and today, just six weeks before the kingdom was supposed to lift its ban on women driving. Two men also were arrested. The women have been outspoken in their support of a woman’s right to drive and in their opposition to the male guardianship system, where a women may travel only with the permission of her father, husband, or brother. The arrested men are known for having created a literary salon that allows both men and women to attend. The government said that the activists had “formed a cell that threatened Saudi security.” Ali al-Ahmed, the Director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs, joins the show.
Monday’s regular segment “Education for Liberation with Bill Ayers” looks at the state of education across the country. What’s happening in our schools, colleges, and universities, and what impact does it have on the world around us? Today focuses on the dangers of privatizing education. The hosts speak with Bill Ayers, an activist, educator and the author of the book “Demand the Impossible: A Radical Manifesto.”
Today is the first installment of a new weekly segment called Connected Lives, Private Profits with Chris Garaffa. Chris will help the hosts look at technological issues that shape our world and how we can fight to maintain our civil rights and civil liberties in the face of increasingly advanced, and sometimes hostile, technology. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa joins the show.
Kyrill Vyshinsky, a reporter for RIA Novosti Ukraine, the Ukrainian bureau of the Russian news agency, was arrested in Kiev last week and charged with high treason. The Ukrainian government accuses Vyshinsky of “subversion by means of information.” The NGO Reporters Without Borders says that it is deeply worried about the journalist and is calling on the Ukrainian government to release him without delay. Brian and John speak with Mark Sleboda, an international affairs and security analyst.

Korea Remembers Gwangju Massacre as Doubt Looms Over Trump-Kim Summit May 18, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Tim Shorrock, a Washington-based investigative journalist who grew up in Japan and South Korea, authored SPIES FOR HIRE: The Secret World of Outsourced Intelligence, and whose work has appeared in many publications in the United States and abroad.
Today marks the 38th anniversary of the Gwangju Uprising, also known as the May 18 Democratic Uprising. It was on May 18, 1980 that the people of Gwangju, South Korea rose up against authoritarianism and dictatorship. Today, peace and reunification hangs in the balance as U.S. military drills has prompted doubt over high-profile diplomacy.
On today’s regular Friday segment covering the upcoming midterm elections, Brian and John talk about races in Pennsylvania, Florida, and elsewhere, and about why Democrats voted for Gina Haspel for CIA Director. Jacqueline Luqman and Abdus Luqman, the co-editors-in-chief of Luqman Nation, and they host the livestream “Coffee, Current Events & Politics” Thursdays at 9 a.m., join the show.
Trump will announce today that organizations with Title X funding will not be able to say “abortion” any longer. Title X funding is for family planning and health care, and Planned Parenthood is one organization that relies on this funding to provide care to women and men, including abortions. The hosts speak with Danielle Norwood, a reproductive rights activist and a therapist specializing in treating adult and adolescent survivors of trauma.
After a week of intense wrangling, two populist Euro-skeptic parties have agreed to form a government in Italy. One of the parties, the Five Star Movement, is an eclectic mix of left and right wing policy proposals, and the other, Lega Nord, is virulently anti-immigrant. Both parties ran on platforms that threaten conflict with the eurozone and the EU. Legendary anti-war activist and former British parliamentarian George Galloway joins the show.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is poised to win reelection on Sunday, despite the country’s economic woes due to western sanctions. He has incredible popular support. Meanwhile, opposition groups have incited violence in the country. Lucas Koerner, an activist and writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com, joins Brian and John.
Republican Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama said yesterday that rising sea levels are a result of soil erosion or rocks falling into the ocean, not of climate change. Believe it or not, Brooks is a member of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Fred Magdoff, professor emeritus of plant and soil science at the University of Vermont and the co-author of “What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism” and “Creating an Ecological Society: Toward a Revolutionary Transformation”, joins the show.
The hosts continue the regular segment of the worst and most misleading headlines. Brian and John, speak with Steve Patt, an independent journalist whose critiques of the mainstream media have been a feature of his blog Left I on the News, which you can find at lefti.blogspot.com, and Loud & Clear producer Nicole Roussell.

Mueller First Anniversary: Political Witch Hunt Masked as Legal Process May 17, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jim Kavanagh, the editor of ThePolemicist.net, and Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist.
Today marks the one-year anniversary of the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel. Mueller was supposed to investigate allegations of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government. There hasn’t been any such evidence, but the investigation has broadened into a case that has implicated dozens of people.
On the regular Thursday series “Criminal Injustice,” about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country, the hosts discuss how to organize a prison strike. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News and Criminal Legal News, and Nicole Roussell, producer for Loud & Clear, join the show.
Twenty thousand teachers across the state of North Carolina have gone on strike, shutting schools in 40 districts to cancel classes for more than one million students. In a familiar refrain, the teachers want better benefits and higher salaries, which have declined 9.4 percent in the past decade. Brian and John speak with Liz Davis, president of the Washington Teachers Union who has taught in DC public schools for 41 years.
Dramatic changes are underway in Malaysia as new Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad takes office. Police raided Mahathir’s predecessor Najib Razak’s home, and long-time opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has been released from prison. Nile Bowie, a writer and journalist with the Asia Times covering Singapore and Malaysia, joins the show.
President Trump and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin will meet with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He to discuss trade. The meetings are meant to prevent trade tensions from spiraling into a trade war, a possibility since the Administration imposed sanctions on Chinese goods. John Ross, the first non-Chinese citizen to be appointed to a full-time post at a leading think tank in China--Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, joins Brian and John.
A Ukrainian diplomat in Hamburg, Germany has been suspended after posting virulently anti-Semitic remarks on Facebook. Vasyl Marushchinets wrote that Jews were responsible for World War II and ended the post with “death to the anti-fascists!” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko condemned the remarks, but he recently signed into law a measure that glorifies Ukrainians who collaborated with the Nazis. Alexander Mercouris, the editor in chief of The Duran, joins the show.
The Senate yesterday passed a non-binding resolution nullifying the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rollback. The 52-47 vote is a symbolic blow to the FCC, as the net neutrality remains on track to take effect next month. Brian and John speak with web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa.

“Libya Model?!”—DPRK Says “No Thanks” to Bolton’s Regime Change Plans May 16, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Hyun Lee, a member of the Solidarity Committee for Democracy and Peace in Korea and writer for Zoominkorea.org, and Dr. Christine Hong, Associate Professor of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies at UC Santa Cruz and a member of the Korea Policy Institute.
Following large-scale military exercises and threatening statements from National Security Advisor John Bolton, North Korea has announced the cancellation of an Inter-Korean meeting between officials from the North and South. Will the peace process still move forward?
Wednesday is Loud & Clear’s regular segment Beyond Nuclear, looking at nuclear issues including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Today, the hosts concentrate on fallout from Trump leaving the Iran deal. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Nicole Roussell, producer for Loud & Clear, join the show.
Israel’s killing of unarmed Palestinians has finally caught the attention of international organizations as the diplomatic fallout over deadly violence in Gaza gathers steam. Countries around the world have condemned the Israeli response to Palestinian demonstrations, and that criticism has moved into the United Nations. Brian and John speak with Ambassador Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK.
The Senate Intelligence Committee today voted 10-5 to send the nomination of Gina HAspel to be CIA director to the floor for a final vote. All eight Republicans and two Democrats voted yes on Haspel, who now has enough votes to guarantee confirmation. That final vote will likely take place in the next 48 hours. Jeremy Varon, a professor at the New School in New York and an anti-torture activist, joins the show.
Testimony from the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding the Trump Tower meeting between Trump campaign officials and lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya was released today—the hosts take a look behind the headlines and discuss the real story. Jim Kavanagh, the editor of ThePolemicist.net, joins Brian and John.
Primary elections were held yesterday in Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Nebraska, with women and progressives coming out on top in the Democratic party and mainstream Republicans winning most of their nomination races. Pennsylvania was the most closely watched state, and three women won Congressional nominations in districts that are likely to flip from blue to red. And Richard Saccone, who lost a closely watched race last month to Connor Lamb in southwestern Pennsylvania, lost again, this time to a mainstream Republican and veteran. Anoa Changa, the director of political advocacy and a managing editor of Progressive Army, and host of the show The Way With Anoa, joins the show.
The United States is pushing for a deal in negotiations on a revised North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), but Canadian and Mexican officials were not even scheduled to arrive in Washington before tomorrow’s deadline. And without an agreement in writing, Congress can’t begin to debate it in advance of passage. Brian and John speak with Pete Dolack, an activist and writer with Trade Justice New York Metro, who focuses on human rights, social justice, and environmental and trade issues, and the author of “It’s Not Over, Learning from the Socialist Experiment.”

Israeli Massacre in Gaza Paid For By the USA May 15, 2018

Show notes

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Daoud Kuttab, an award-winning Palestinian journalist, and Ali Abunimah, the co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of the book The Battle for Justice in Palestine.
Today is Nakba Day, or Yawm an-Nakba, the “Day of Catastrophe,” commemorated on May 15, the day after Israel’s declaration of independence. The day commemorates the estimated 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled and the hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages that were depopulated or destroyed. These refugees and their descendants now number more than 2 million. At least 60 Palestinians were killed yesterday and thousands wounded in demonstrations in Gaza over Nakba Day. What were the global reactions to this massacre?
Tuesday’s weekly series “False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey” continues looking at the top economic issues of the day, today focusing what unemployment numbers really mean and how the price of oil is affecting geopolitics. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey joins the show.
After the slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza yesterday, where over 60 people were killed and over 2,700 wounded, protests erupted worldwide. Brian and John speak with Ariel Gold, a peace activist and a member of Code Pink who organized protests yesterday and today here in Washington, and Bob Schlehuber, the producer of the Sputnik Radio show By Any Means Necessary, who reports on protests from Tel Aviv.
While the US imposes economic sanctions on Iran, the UK and its European partners have prepared a package of initiatives to protect the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or Iran nuclear deal, after the US withdrawal. The British, French, and German Foreign Ministers will meet with their Iranian counterpart to discuss the proposal. It is unclear when such a meeting would take place and what the initiatives include. Massoud Shadjareh, the founder of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, joins the show.
The US and China are closing in on a deal that would give China’s ZTE telecommunications company a reprieve from crippling sanctions in exchange for Beijing removing tariffs from billions of dollars worth of US agricultural goods, especially soybeans. Jude Woodward, the author of the new book “The US vs China: Asia's new Cold War?,” joins Brian and John.
The city of Seattle is introducing a new tax on large employers, namely Amazon, Starbucks, and Boeing, that will help fund programs for the homeless and for affordable housing. Amazon’s multi-billionaire founder Jeff Bezos is furious, and is threatening to reconsider the company’s large footprint in Seattle. Jane Cutter, the editor of LiberationNews.org, joins the show.
What’s the easiest way to get arrested for marijuana possession in New York? According to a New York Times analysis, you just have to be black or Hispanic. In fact, Across the city, African-Americans are arrested at eight times the rate of whites. Hispanics are arrested at five times the rate of whites. In Manhattan, the rates for African-Americans increases to 15 times the arrests for whites. Brian and John speak with Kevin Zeese, the co-coordinator of Popular Resistance, you can check out their work at popularresistance.org.

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