Building Power for Worker Rights

On the day after May Day, we focus on the current situation for workers and how they are building power to lift up wages and worker rights. We speak with Professor Richard Wolff of Democracy at Work and Mike Somers, President of CWA Local 2100. Nearly 40,000 CWA members have been on strike against Verizon since April 13. They are calling for a national day of action on May 5.

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

Economic Update: Poverty and the US Economy by Richard Wolff

Democracy at Work

Stand Up To Verizon – Join the National Day of Action on May 5 and sign the petition.

Verizon Greed

CWA Local 2100

Guests:

Richard D. Wolff is the co-founder of Democracy at Work. He is professor of economics emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where he taught economics from 1973 to 2008. He is currently a visiting professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, New York City. He also teaches classes regularly at the Brecht Forum in Manhattan. Earlier he taught economics at Yale University (1967-1969) and at the City College of the City University of New York (1969-1973). In 1994, he was a visiting professor of economics at the University of Paris (France), I (Sorbonne). His work is available at rdwolff.com and at democracyatwork.info.

A lifelong professor of economics, Prof. Wolff is a well-known critic of contemporary capitalism and the leading proponent of an alternative economic system based on WSDEs. He has been interviewed on several popular television programs that include: Real Time with Bill Maher, Bill Moyers’ Moyers & Company, The Charlie Rose Show, and Up with Chris Hayes, among others. Prof. Wolff’s publications include articles in Truthout.org, The Guardian, Common Dreams, as well as his recent books: Capitalism Hits the Fan and Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism.

Mike Somers is the president of Communications Workers of America Local 2100 in Chase, MD.

Ending Israeli Apartheid, Protecting Palestinian Rights

We speak with two Refusers from Israel, Yasmin Yablonko and Khaled Farrag, who are on tour in the United States to raise awareness about the conditions that youth face in Israel. Yasmin and Khaled are part of a coalition of organizations called the Refuser Solidarity Network that supports teenagers who decide not to serve in the Israeli Defense Force. Then we speak with Ramah Kudaimi of End the Occupation and Chip Gibbons of Freedom to Boycott – Maryland about the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to end Israeli Apartheid and the push back against it in the United States.

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

No One Would Serve in the Israeli Army if They Knew; Israel Should Let Conscientious Objector Serve Both Society and Her Conscience by Tair Kaminer

Refuser Solidarity Network Facebook Page

Congress Under Pressure to Defund University Middle East Programs by Chip Gibbons

The BDS Movement and the Return of McCarthyism by Chip Gibbons

Palestinian-American Teen Brutalized by Israeli Police Testifies on Capitol Hill by Chip Gibbons

End the Occupation

BDS Movement

Guests:

Yasmin Yablonko is a 23 year-old Israeli conscientious Objector from Jaffa. Today she is the coordinator of Mesarvot, a newly established network of Israeli organizations supporting refusal and opposing the occupation. The network helps elevate the voices of young people refusing military service, offering them capacity building, assisting with media work and helping them organize.Yasmin currently studies Humanities and Arts in the Tel Aviv University.

Khaled Farrag is a 34 year old Palestinian Druze conscientious objector from Rama village in the Upper Galilee. In 1999, after moving to Jerusalem, Khaled refused to serve in the army and was sentenced to two months in military prison. Khaled was of the founders of Urfod, a movement that calls for ending compulsory military service imposed on Druze men at the age of 18, and reconnecting Druze with their Palestinian and Arab identity as it was throughout the history.

Khaled law at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, established and run a preparatory school for university admission in East Jerusalem and co-found Grassroots Jerusalem, a Palestinian NGO working on empowering communities in East Jerusalem.

Ramah Kudaimi is the membership and outreach coordinator for End the Occupation. She serves on the board of the Washington Peace Center. She has been an activist with other grassroots organizations including CODEPINK: Women for Peace and the Arab American Action Network. She has a Master of Arts degree in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University and a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University. Her writing has been published by Al Jazeera English, The Progressive, Truthout, and more.

Chip Gibbons is a long time supporter of the Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement. In 2014, he helped form Keep Free Speech in the Free State to battle an anti-BDS bill in Maryland and more recently served as legislative Chair of Freedom to Boycott-Maryland. As a freelance journalist, his work has frequently covered the struggle for Palestinian human rights, as well as attempts to suppress the it.

One Year After the Baltimore Uprising

On the one year anniversary after the uprising in Baltimore over the murder of Freddie Gray, we broadcast a two-hour special live from Baltimore. We speak with people who are directly impacted by police violence and those who are working to stop the injustices.

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

Baltimore Man Shot in Face by Police and Charged by RT

Video: The Beating of Abdul Salaam by Baltimore Bloc

Baltimore Man Wins Civil Suit against Police in Brutality Case by Catherine Rentz 

Stand Up Bmore

Bmore Bloc

Fundrazr for Keith Davis and Kelly Holsey

Harris for Baltimore

Guests:

Kelly Holsey is a paraeducator for the Baltimore County Public School system. She is the fiancee of Keith Davis, Jr. who remains in jail after being chased and shot by Baltimore City Police in June, 2015.

Abdul Salaam is a Baltimore resident and father who works in as a mental health provider. He was was brutally beaten during a July 1, 2013, traffic stop in Northeast Baltimore. The same officers beat and killed another Baltimorean, Tyrone West, during a traffic stop a few weeks later. Salaam was recently awarded $70,000 in a case related to the beating. The officers continue to work for the police force and have been promoted.

Derrick Chase was born and raised in Baltimore. He is currently the president of the Coalition for the Transformation and Betterment of Baltimore, known as Stand Up Bmore.

Joshua Harris is a leader and visionary who advocates on behalf of the community. He is dedicated to creating attainable solutions for the challenges Baltimore faces. Joshua has passion for, and is commitment to, empowering his community. As co­-founder of the Hollins Creative Placemaking, Joshua leads initiatives that foster urban revitalization by including the use of art and creative processes to foster an environment of belonging. His community involvement extends to community leadership, as Joshua sits on the Charles Village Urban Renewal community board, Paul’s Place Community advisory board, Baltimore’s Promise Mentoring Task Force, and is the youngest board member for Baltimore’s Southwest Partnership.

Joshua, a product of a public school system, understands the need to reinvest and improve our Baltimore City School system. As such, he has been an invited speaker before the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss education disparities in minority communities. In addition to academics, as an athlete he also believes our youth need activities outside of school that teach them life lessons and motivate them to become leaders. Joshua encourages leadership skills, continuing education, and offers mentoring through his sports mentoring program, Project ‘A’ Game. In collaboration with YouthWorks, Joshua developed a community-led program to employ Baltimore City youth.

Active in the fight for social justice, Joshua is committed to public safety reform. He has also served as a legislative aide for Delegate Charles E. Sydnor and assisted with the passing of police body camera legislation. Joshua believes that it is necessary to rebuild the trust between our neighborhoods and the police department. Outside of Baltimore, Joshua has worked with Black and Brown People Vote, aimed at increasing voter education and turnout in African­ American and Latino communities.

Panama Papers’ and the Shadow World of Finance

The release of the ‘Panama Papers’ reveal the secret world of shell companies used by the rich to hide their wealth and avoid paying taxes on it. While it appears that the release of information was intended as a tool to demonize Russian President Vladimir Putin, it has backfired and instead led to a probing of who in the US is involved in this type of scheme. McClatchy News is publishing investigative pieces revealing the same activity taking place in states such as Nevada and Wyoming. The list of people involved connects directly to government figures such as US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. It has also led to massive upheaval in Iceland where protesters are calling for the resignation of the government and new elections. We explore what’s going on with James Henry of the Tax Justice Network and Chuck Collins of the Institute for Policy Studies.

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

US Scolds Others about Offshores, but Looks Other Way at Home by Kevin Hall and Marisa Taylor

The Price of Offshore Revisited by the Tax Justice Network

Panama Papers Expose the Hidden Wealth of the World’s Super Rich by Chuck Collins

Tax Justice Network

The FACT Coalition

Inequality.org

We’re Not Broke Movie

Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson

Guests:

James Shelburne Henry is a U.S. economist, attorney, and investigative journalist who has written extensively about global banking, debt crises, tax havens and economic development. In the corporate world, Henry served as Chief Economist, McKinsey & Co. (NYC global h.q.); VP Strategy, IBM/Lotus Development Corporation (Cambridge), Manager, Business Development, the Chairman’s Office (Jack Welch), GE (Fairfield), and senior consultant Monitor Group,the international consulting firm. As Managing Director of Sag Harbor Group, a strategy consulting firm, his clients have included such enterprises as ABB, Allen & Co., AT&T, AT Kearney, Calvert Fund, Ce-mex, ChinaTrust, the Scotland Yard/FBI Task Force on Caribbean Havens, IBM/Lotus, Intel, Interwise, Lucent, Merrill Lynch, South Africa Telkom, Rockefeller Foundation, the Swedish Power Board, TransAlta, UBS Warburg, Volvo, and Monitor Company. A member of the New York Bar, he has served as a pro bono cooperating attorney for the NYCLU on First Amendment issues, and as Vice President, New York Civil Liberties Union – Suffolk County. He is author of the acclaimed investigative economics book The Blood Bankers, and his articles and citations have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Republic, The Nation, The Conference Board, The Washington Post, Harpers, Fortune, Jornal do Brasil, The Manila Chronicle, La Nacion, and many others.

Chuck Collins is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and directs IPS’s Program on Inequality and the Common Good. He is an expert on U.S. inequality and author of several books, including 99 to 1: How Wealth Inequality is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do About It.

He is co-author with Bill Gates Sr. of Wealth and Our Commonwealth, (Beacon Press, 2003), a case for taxing inherited fortunes. He is co-author with Mary Wright of The Moral Measure of the Economy, a book about Christian ethics and economic life.

He is co-founder of Wealth for the Common Good, a network of business leaders, high-income households and partners working together to promote shared prosperity and fair taxation. This network merged in 2015 with the Patriotic Millionaires.

In 1995, he co-founded United for a Fair Economy (UFE) to raise the profile of the inequality issue and support popular education and organizing efforts to address inequality. He was Executive Director of UFE from 1995-2001 and Program Director until 2005.

Who is the Greatest Nuclear Threat?

On the heels of Obama’s Nuclear Security Summit, we speak with Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group and Lillyanne Daigle and John Qua of Global Zero to cut through the propaganda about nuclear weapons, discuss which countries pose the greatest threat and what activists are doing to push for nuclear disarmament.

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

No Significant Change Seen in Obama’s Nuclear Posture by Greg Mello

Global Zero Action at the Nuclear Security Summit 2016 by Liz Merrow

Irradiated (report on health impacts of nuclear weapons industry on workers) by Rob Hotakainen, Lindsay Wise, Frank Matt and Samantha Ehlinger

Los Alamos Study Group

Global Zero

Guests:

Greg Mello is Executive Director and a co-founder of the Los Alamos Study Group and has led its varied activities since 1992, including policy research, environmental analysis, congressional education and lobbying, community organizing, litigation (FOIA, civil rights, NEPA), advertising, and the nuts and bolts of funding and running a small nonprofit. From time to time he has served as a consulting analyst, writer, and spokesperson for other nuclear policy organizations. Greg was educated as a systems engineer with a broad scientific background (Harvey Mudd College, 1971, with distinction) and as a regional planner with emphases in environmental planning and regional economics (Harvard, 1975, with distinction, HUD Fellow in Urban Studies). During the early 1980s Greg was a high school science and math teacher, then a hazardous waste inspector and statewide hazardous materials incident commander, and in the late 1980s a supervising hydrogeologist, for the New Mexico Environment Department. In 1984 Greg led the first regulatory enforcement at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). In the early 1990s Greg was a consulting hydrologist in parallel with the early Study Group, with cleanup projects in New Mexico and California. In 2002, Greg was a Visiting Research Fellow at Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security. Greg’s research, analysis, and opinions have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Issues in Science and Technology, in the New Mexico press, and elsewhere. He has been interviewed thousands of times by U.S. and international news media (print, radio, and television). Greg’s research has been the source or impetus of many of these media articles and programs. In addition to speaking at hundreds of public meetings and events in New Mexico, Greg has been a guest speaker at several international disarmament events here and abroad.

Lillyanne Daigle joined the Global Zero team in October 2014 as a U.S. field organizer.  In her role, she will be spearheading Global Zero’s volunteer recruitment and mobilization across the United States.  Lilly graduated from Warren Wilson College with a degree in Global Studies focusing on social justice and a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies. She is passionate about empowering individuals to fight for issues they care about.  Before her time at Global Zero, Lilly organized with several grassroots campaigns and completed the Green Corps year-long training program in field organizing.

John Qua joined the Global Zero team in January 2016 as a U.S. field organizer. He is committed to fighting for a more equitable world, and empowering people to make change through political organizing and community building. In his role, he will be spearheading Global Zero’s volunteer recruitment and mobilization across the United States. John graduated from Brown University with a degree in International Relations focusing on the environment. Before his time at Global Zero, John completed the Green Corps year-long training program in field organizing and organized on several progressive political campaigns with the Sierra Club, MoveOn.org, and Food & Water Watch.

New Phase in Climate Crisis Raises Demand for Clean Energy

We speak with Dr. Michael E. Mann, esteemed climate scientist, about the latest science regarding the climate crisis – the rise in global temperature, sea level rise, the impact of glacier melting on ocean currents and weather and what we can expect in the next few decades. Then we speak with Dr. Mark Z. Jacobson who has developed a 50-state plan for 100% renewable energy in the United States.

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

Earth Enters New Era of Extreme Weather Caused by Global Warming, Michael Mann interviewed by Sharmini Peries

100% Clean and Renewable Wind, Water and Sunlight (WWS) All-Sector Energy Roadmaps for the 50 United States by Mark Jacobson et alia.

RealClimate.org

The Solutions Project

 Skeptical Science

Solutionary Rail

Guests:

Michael Mann is Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State University, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI). He is also director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center (ESSC).

Dr. Mann received his undergraduate degrees in Physics and Applied Math from the University of California at Berkeley, an M.S. degree in Physics from Yale University, and a Ph.D. in Geology & Geophysics from Yale University. His research involves the use of theoretical models and observational data to better understand Earth’s climate system.

Dr. Mann was a Lead Author on the Observed Climate Variability and Change chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Third Scientific Assessment Report in 2001 and was organizing committee chair for the National Academy of Sciences Frontiers of Science in 2003. He has received a number of honors and awards including NOAA’s outstanding publication award in 2002 and selection by Scientific American as one of the fifty leading visionaries in science and technology in 2002. He contributed, with other IPCC authors, to the award of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He was awarded the Hans Oeschger Medal of the European Geosciences Union in 2012 and was awarded the National Conservation Achievement Award for science by the National Wildlife Federation in 2013. He made Bloomberg News’ list of fifty most influential people in 2013. In 2014, he was named Highly Cited Researcher by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and received the Friend of the Planet Award from the National Center for Science Education. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Dr. Mann is author of more than 190 peer-reviewed and edited publications, and has published two books including Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change and The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines. He is also a co-founder of the award-winning science website RealClimate.org.

Mark Z. Jacobson is a Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford University where he is also Director of the Atmosphere/Energy Program. He is a Senior Fellow for both the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Precourt Institute for Energy. He received a B.S. in Engineering, a B.A. in Economics and an M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. He received an M.S. and a PhD in Atmospheric Science from UCLA.

The main goal of Jacobson’s research is to understand better severe atmospheric problems, such as air pollution and global warming, and develop and analyze large-scale clean-renewable energy solutions to them.

To address this goal, he has developed and applied three-dimensional atmosphere-biosphere-ocean computer models and solvers to simulate air pollution, weather, climate, and renewable energy. In 1993-4, he developed the world’s first computer model to treat the mutual feedback to weather and climate of both air pollution gases and particles, and in 2001, the first coupled air-pollution-weather-climate model to telescope from the global to urban scale.

In 2000, he applied this model to discover that black carbon, the main component of soot pollution particles, might be the second-leading cause of global warming in terms of radiative forcing, after carbon dioxide. This and subsequent papers provided the original scientific basis for several laws and regulations on black carbon emission controls worldwide. His findings that carbon dioxide domes over cities and carbon dioxide buildup since preindustrial times have enhanced air pollution mortality through its feedback to particles and ozone served as a scientific basis for the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2009 approval of the first U.S. regulation of carbon dioxide (the California waiver).

With respect to solvers, in 1993, he developed the world’s fastest ordinary differential equation solver in a three-dimensional model for a given level of accuracy. He subsequently developed solvers for cloud and aerosol coagulation, breakup, condensation/evaporation, freezing, dissolution, chemical equilibrium, and lightning; air-sea exchange; ocean chemistry; greenhouse gas absorption; and surface processes.

With respect to energy, in 2001 he published a paper in Science examining the ability of the U.S. to convert a large fraction of its energy to wind power. In 2005, his group developed the first world wind map based on data alone. His students subsequently published papers on reducing the variability of wind energy by interconnecting wind farms; on integrating solar, wind, geothermal, and hydroelectric power into the grid; and on wave power.

In 2009, he coauthored a plan, featured on the cover of Scientific American, to power the world for all purposes with wind, water, and sunlight (WWS). In 2010, he appeared in a TED debate rated as the sixth all-time science and technology TED talk. In 2011, he cofounded The Solutions Project, a group that combines science, business, and culture to develop and implement science based clean-energy plans for states and countries. In 2013, his group developed individual WWS energy plans for each of the 50 United States.

To date, he has published two textbooks of two editions each and ~150 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has testified three times for the U.S. Congress. Nearly a thousand researchers have used computer models he has developed. In 2005, he received the American Meteorological Society Henry G. Houghton Award for “significant contributions to modeling aerosol chemistry and to understanding the role of soot and other carbon particles on climate.” In 2013, he received an American Geophysical Union Ascent Award for “his dominating role in the development of models to identify the role of black carbon in climate change” and the Global Green Policy Design Award for the “design of analysis and policy framework to envision a future powered by renewable energy.” In 2016, he received a Cozzarelli Prize from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for “outstanding scientific excellence and originality” in his paper on a solution to the U.S. grid reliability problem with 100% penetration of wind, water, and solar power for all purposes. He has also served on the Energy Efficiency and Renewables advisory committee to the U.S. Secretary of Energy and was invited to talk about his world and U.S. clean-energy plans on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Farmworkers Fight for Food and Job Justice

Farm workers in the United States and Mexico are uniting to protest working conditions. From March 17 to 20, workers marched North in Mexico and South in the United States to meet at the border, at Playas de Tijuana. They are commemorating a march and strike one year ago and they are calling for the right to organize and demand fair wages, overtime pay and more. We speak with Rosalinda Guillen and Edgar Franks of Food Justice.

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

Farmworkers in Mexico, Facing Human Rights Abuses Prepare to March in Protest by Griselda San Martin

Sakuma Farmworkers Depart on Month Long Tour to Promote Driscoll’s Boycott

Food Justice

Boycott Sakuma Berries

Alliance of Organizations for Social Justice (Mexican)

Community to Community Development Facebook Page

Guests:

Rosalinda Guillen is a widely recognized farm worker and rural justice leader. The oldest of eight she was born in Texas and spent her first decade in Coahuila Mexico. Her family emigrated to LaConner, Washington in 1960 and she began working as a farm worker in the fields in Skagit County at the age of ten. Ms. Guillen has worked within the labor movement with Caesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers of America and has represented farm workers in ongoing dialogues of immigration issues, labor rights, trade agreements, and strengthening the food sovereignty movement. She works to build a broader base of support for rural communities and sustainable agriculture policies that ensure equity and healthy communities for farm workers.

Edgar Franks lives in Bellingham, WA. He serves as the Civic Engagement Program Coordinator at Community to Community Development, working to engage supporters and develop a strategy that ensures the needs of the Farm Worker community are represented. Community to Community works on issues of Food Sovereignty through the lens of Farm Workers, with the goal of creating a politically conscious inter-sectional base that is fighting to create a local solidarity economy. Edgar currently represents Community to Community on the National Planning Committee for the US Social Forum and on the US Food Sovereignty Alliance. He is also on the National Leadership Team of Move to Amend.

Education Under Attack, Teachers Fight Back

We speak with two educators, Stephen Krashen and Timothy Slekar, about the newest federal legislation on education, the so-called “Every Student Succeeds Act.” Hidden in the more than 1,000 pages are provisions that will undercut the profession of teaching. We discuss why and how education is under attack, not just in the United States but globally, and what teachers are doing to fight back and create the high quality education that children deserve.

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

How Educators Should React to ESSA by John Thompson

The Disturbing Provisions about Teacher Preparation in No Child Left Behind Rewrite by Valerie Strauss

Billions for Online Testing, Online Curriculum and Technology. This was never about the kids by Peggy Robertson

“Common” Goal: Corporate Ownership of Public Education and Our Children’s Futures (Part I) by Morna McDermott

“Common” Goal: Corporate Ownership of Public Education and Our Children’s Futures (Part II) by Morna McDermott

As Protests Rise over High Stakes Tests, More Students Likely to Opt Out by Kathy Boccella

SDKrashen.com

Busted Pencils

Peg with Pen

Educational Alchemy

United Opt Out

Bad Ass Teachers Association

Guests:

Stephen Krashen is Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Southern California. He is best known for developing the first comprehensive theory of second language acquisition, introducing the concept of sheltered subject matter teaching, and as the co-inventor of the Natural Approach to foreign language teaching. He has also contributed to theory and application in the area of bilingual education, and has done important work in the area of reading. He holds a PhD in Linguistics from UCLA, was the 1977 Incline Bench Press champion of Venice Beach and holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He is the author of The Power of Reading (Heinemann, 2004, second edition). His recent papers can be found at his website.

Timothy D Slekar is currently the Dean of the School of Education at Edgewood College in Madison, WI.He began his career 24 years ago as a 2nd grade teacher in Virginia. Dr. Slekar attended Millersville University where he earned a Master’s degree in Education and continued on to earn his PhD at the University of Maryland at College Park. Dr. Slekar has published research in various top education research journals including Teacher Education Quarterly, Theory and Research in Social Education and Journal of Thought. Dr. Slekar is one of the founding members of United Opt Out National. He has been a radio cohost on podcast, local & national radio as well as on numerous television news shows as an expert education policy analyst including MSNBC, CNN & Fox News.  Make sure to check out Dr. Slekar’s progressive education podcast—BustED Pencils at http://bustedpencils.com/ .

The U.S. Needs a Foreign Policy for the 99%

We speak with Vijay Prashad and Raed Jarrar about the politics of Saudi Arabia, its ties to the United States and its role in the Middle East. We also discuss the rise of ISIS and what steps to take to weaken it and end the war on Syria. Both Vijay and Raed will speak at the upcoming Summit on Saudi Arabia being organized by CODEPINK on March 5 and 6 in Washington, DC. A thread that ties this all together and that is not discussed enough is how the conflicts in this region reflect the U.S. foreign policy of hegemony, which is designed by and for the benefit of the wealthy. We ask: what would a foreign policy for the 99% look like?

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

ISIS Oil by Vijay Prashad

We Shouldn’t Play into the Hands of ISIS, Vijay Prashad on Democracy Now

Carnage in Syria a Product of U.S. Empowerment of Saudi Arabia, an interview of Vijay Prashad by Paul Jay

How America’s Destruction of Iraqi Society Led to Today’s Chaos, an interview of Raed Jarrar by Joshua Holland

U.S. Military back to Iraq? That’s a Terrible Mistake by Raed Jarrar

Syrian Refugee Crisis in Context by AFSC with Raed Jarrar

The Syrian Center for Policy Research Report

AFSC

2016 Summit on Saudi Arabia

Guests:

Vijay Prashad is a Professor of International Studies at Trinity College, Hartford, and a journalist and commentator. He earned his B.A. in History, Pomona College, Claremont, CA, in 1989, M.A. in History, University of Chicago in 1990, and Ph.D. in History, University of Chicago, in 1994. Prashad is the author of fifteen books, of which five were published in 2012. These include: – Arab Spring, Libyan Winter (India’s The Hindu called it “a book that deserves to become essential reading, a canonical account of a world-historic chain of events”); – Uncle Swami: Being South Asian in America (Boston Globe called this book as “required reading for anyone who wants to understand race, assimilation and patriotism”.); – The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South (the former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali called it “a contribution to the intellectual-cum-political emancipation of developing countries and their empowerment through greater self-reliance on their own intellectual and analytical resources.”). Other books of Prashad include: The Darker Nations. A People’s History of the Third World (2007), Keeping Up with the Dow Joneses: Debt, Prison, Workfare (2003), Fat Cats and Running Dogs: The Enron Stage of Capitalism (2002), Enron Blowout: Corporate Capitalism and the Theft of the Global Commons and Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity (2001). Prashad writes also regularly in the media: as a columnist for Frontline magazine (Chennai, India), as a contributing editor for Himal South Asia (Kathmandu, Nepal) and for Bol (Lahore, Pakistan), a fortnightly contributor to Asia Times, an occasional correspondent for al-Akhbar (Beirut, Lebanon) and a regular contributor to Counterpunch. In 2013-2014, Mr. Vijay Prashad was the Edward Said Chair at the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.

Raed Jarrar serves as AFSC’s Government Relations Manager at the Office of Public Policy and Advocacy in Washington, D.C. Since his immigration to the U.S. in 2005, he has worked on political and cultural issues pertaining to U.S. engagement in the Arab and Muslim worlds. He is widely recognized as an expert on political, social, and economic developments in the Middle East. He has testified in numerous Congressional hearings and briefings, and he is also a frequent guest on national and international media outlets in both Arabic and English.

Born in Baghdad to an Iraqi mother and a Palestinian father, Raed Jarrar grew up in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Iraq. He received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Baghdad, and his master’s degree in architecture, with a specialty in post-war reconstruction in Iraq, from the University of Jordan.Raed has appeared in numerous media outlets, including MSNBC, Al Jazeera, Democracy Now, Foreign Policy in Focus, and Alternet. His opinion pieces have been published in the Chicago Tribune and Common Dreams.Follow Raed on twitter here.

End the Drug War and Abolish 21st Century Slavery

We speak with Neill Franklin from Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP) about the failed drug war, the damage it has done and alternatives to it that are working to create healthy and safe communities. We also speak with Yohanan EliYah of Move to Abolish 21st Century Slavery about the growing movement to amend the 13th Amendment and take the profit out of incarceration.

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

3 Reasons Marijuana Legalization in Colorado is Good for People of Color by Neill Franklin

What We Can’t Seem to Remember about MDMA and Why Legalizing Drugs Will Save Your Child’s Life by Neill Franklin

We Can’t Arrest Our Way Out of This Problem by Neill Franklin

LEAP

Multiple Fees, Fines and Bail Charges add to Oklahoma County Jail Crowding by Randy Ellis

New Abolitionists Radio

Move to Abolish 21st Century Slavery

Guests:

Major Neill Frankiln (Ret.) is a 34-year veteran of both the Maryland State Police and the Baltimore Police Department who oversaw 17 separate drug task forces and is now Executive Director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), an organization of police, prosecutors, judges and other law enforcement officials who want to end the war on drugs.

Over his 33-year career, Neill Franklin watched hardworking and dedicated fellow cops die in the line of fire enforcing policies that don’t do any good. After 23 years with the Maryland State Police, including as an undercover narc and as the head trainer for drug enforcement, Neill was recruited by the Baltimore Police Department to reorganize its education and training division.

“It pains me to know that there is a solution for preventing tragedy and nothing is being done because of ignorance, stubbornness, unsubstantiated fear and greed.” – Neill Franklin

Yohanan EliYah, a local activist, co-hosts New Abolitionist Radio with Max Partha. Max and Yohanan are part of the group Move to Abolish 21st Slavery & Human Trafficking and that of Modern Abolitionists a growing movement to change the Constitution at the Federal and State level to eliminate the slavery exception for those convicted of a crime and take down the prison industrial complex in this country.

Some of the goals of the group Move to Abolish 21st Century Slavery & Human Trafficking and that of Modern Abolitionists:
• As abolitionists our goal is to see the immediate and complete abolition of prison for profit/punishment for sale through federal and private corporations.
• We want all private prisons abolished. Including private probation companies and all the satellite companies profiting off the prison system in a multi-hundred billion dollar industry.
• We want congress to REMOVE the 13th Amendment Slavery Abolition exception clause which allows for the continued existence of modern slavery through the very constitution we die to protect.
• We want all individual US states to officially end slavery language in their state constitutions.
• We want all 37 states which enacted legislation allowing private international corporations to use prison labor for commercial good and services to abolish such legislation immediately.
• We want the abolition of all local, state and federal laws which criminalize a race of people, a culture or an economic condition ; the war on drugs, marijuana laws, anti homeless laws, immigration laws and debtors laws.
• We want the abolition of all privately owned youth detention facilities and halfway houses. America incarcerates 2 million children a year with 95% arrested for non violent crimes. It must end now.

New Abolitionists Radio seeks to educate the public and agitate for an end of 21st Century Slavery and Human Trafficking. It is an extension of the group Move To Abolish 21st Century Slavery. The program broadcast live every Wednesday night at 8:00PM EST. Catch Them live on line or find archived shows at http://newabolitionistsradio.blogspot.com/

Fighting to end the Fossil Fuel Era

We speak with activists who are fighting to protect their homes from new fossil fuel projects. Cherri Foytlin from South Louisiana has been working constantly since the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico to protect the people of that region and their livelihoods. She is currently organizing a mass action to peacefully protest an auction of more oil drilling leases in the Gulf on March 23. Megan Holleran is a landowner in Northeast Pennsylvania who is physically blocking Williams, the company that wants to build the Constitution  gas pipeline, from cutting down more than 100 trees on her property. Williams has not yet been granted all of the permits required to build the pipeline. The Holleran family and supporters are maintaining a vigil on their property to stop any tree cutting.

Listen here:

Relevant articles and websites:

Cherri Foytlin’s articles on Huffington Post

Historic Call for an End to New Drilling Leases in the Gulf of Mexico

Louisiana Bucket Brigade

Petition to stop oil leases

No New Leases

Flipping the Script on Eminent Domain by Matt Martin

People Turned Away Tree Cutters, More Help Needed by Megan Holleran

No Constitution Pipeline in PA Facebook page

Pennsylvania Farm Defended against Constitution Pipeline Tree Cutters by John Zangas

Guests:

Cherri Foytlin has been a constant voice, speaking out to the Obama Administration’s Gulf Oil Spill Commission, and in countless forms of media. On July 15, 2010, in a CNN interview, she called out to the president for help, but was unanswered. She has also spoken at “The Rally for Economic Survival” and at the “Spill Into Washington Rally” in Washington D.C.where she challenged the American people to get involved in what she sees as an “atrocity on the shores” of the Gulf Coast. In the Spring of 2011 she walked to Washington D.C. from New Orleans (1,243 miles) to call for action to stop the BP Drilling Disaster, and has been a constant voice speaking out for the health and ecosystem of Gulf Coast communities, in countless forms of media. In addition, Cherri has written and illustrated a children’s coloring book on coastal erosion. Cherri will continue her fight for the industries, people, culture and wildlife of south Lousiana and the Gulf Coast “until we are made whole again”.

Megan Holleran is a Field Technician for her family’s business, North Harford Maple in New Milford, PA. The family taps trees on their property to produce maple syrup. Wiliams wants to cut down 100,000 trees on their property to build the Constitution gas pipeline. They have not received all of the permits yet, but they are starting to cut trees in preparation. In February, 2015, a federal judge in Scranton, PA condemned the Holleran family’s land so that it could be seized by eminent domain for the pipeline. The family has been fighting that ever since. And on February 4, the family began a vigil on their property to protect it. Supporters are coming from all over to help them protect their trees.

Time to Jail the Bankers and Take Back Control over Money

When the 2008 financial crisis hit, Iceland had a very different response than the United States. Iceland let the big banks fail, nationalized them and prosecuted the bankers, sending 26 of the bank executives to jail for fraud and market manipulation. In the US, no high level bankers were prosecuted and the big banks were bailed out through Quantitative Easing which bought bad debt burdening the big banks. The weak response in the US means that fraud and corruption by big finance continue and we are facing an unstable market which many people predict will crash again within the year. We speak with Bill Black of the newly formed Bank Whistleblowers United about the plan they have outlined to instill the rule of law on Wall Street and end fraud with the hope of mitigating the effects of the next financial crisis. And we speak with Randall Wray, an expert in financial instability and macroeconomics, about alternatives to the current financial system that would bring greater stability.

Listen live at 11 am Eastern here:

Jail the Bankers and Take Control of Our Money with Bill Black and Randall Wray by Clearingthefog on Mixcloud

Relevant articles and websites:

Iceland Sentences 26 Corrupt Bankers to 74 Years in Prison by Grouch E Geezr

Announcing the Bank Whistleblowers Group

Did Financial Giant Goldman Sachs Just Admit the System is Rigged? interview of Bill Black by Jessica Desvarieux

New Economic Perspectives

Levy Institute

Guests:

Bill Black, J.D., Ph. D., is the Editor-in-Chief and Contributor to New Economic Perspectives and is Associate Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

He is the author of “The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One.” He was the Executive Director of the Institute for Fraud Prevention from 2005-2007. He has taught previously at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and at Santa Clara University, where he was also the distinguished scholar in residence for insurance law and a visiting scholar at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Black was litigation director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, deputy director of the FSLIC, SVP and general counsel of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and senior deputy chief counsel, Office of Thrift Supervision. He was deputy director of the National Commission on Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement. Black developed the concept of “control fraud” frauds in which the CEO or head of state uses the entity as a “weapon.” Control frauds cause greater financial losses than all other forms of property crime combined. He recently helped the World Bank develop anti-corruption initiatives and served as an expert for OFHEO in its enforcement action against Fannie Mae’s former senior management.

Bill Black has testified before the Senate Agricultural Committee on the regulation of financial derivatives and House Governance Committee on the regulation of executive compensation. He was interviewed by Bill Moyers on PBS, which went viral. He gave an invited lecture at UCLA’s Hammer Institute which, when the video was posted on the web, drew so many “hits” that it crashed the UCLA server. He appeared extensively in Michael Moore’s most recent documentary: “Capitalism: A Love Story.” He was featured in the Obama campaign release discussing Senator McCain’s role in the “Keating Five.” (Bill took the notes of that meeting that led to the Senate Ethics investigation of the Keating Five. His testimony was highly critical of all five Senators’ actions.) He is a frequent guest on local, national, and international television and radio and is quoted as an expert by the national and international print media nearly every week. He was the subject of featured interviews in Newsweek, Barron’s, and Village Voice.

Randall Wray, Ph.D. is Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Research Director with the Center for Full Employment and Price Stability and Senior Research Scholar at The Levy Economics Institute. His research expertise is in: financial instability, macroeconomics, and full employment policy. He also blogs at New Economic Perspectives.

ICE Raids, Mass Deportations and the Roots of Immigration

President Obama started the New Year off with a wave of ICE raids, including early morning raids of family homes with young children. Obama’s legacy, when it  comes to immigration, will be one of mass deportations, the jailing of immigrants in for-profit prisons and of worsening the US foreign policies that drive people to leave their homes. We’ll speak with Abraham Paulos, executive director of Families for Freedom, which has taken bold actions to highlight and stop these practices. And we’ll speak with Alexis Stoumbelis of Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) about the policies that drive migration.

Listen here:

ICE Raids, Mass Deportation and the Roots of Immigration with Abraham Paulos & Alexis Stoumbelis by Clearingthefog on Mixcloud

Relevant articles and websites:

NYPD Breaks Up Pro-Immigration Protest by RT

In the Face of ICE Raids, Know Your Rights

Stop the Raids; Focus on US Policy Instead by CISPES

Here’s Why the US is Stepping Up the Deportation of Central Americans by Greg Grandin

Families for Freedom

CISPES

Guests:

Abraham Paulos is executive director of Families for Freedom. Abraham joined Families for Freedom, as a member, after he faced immigration detention. His experience moved him to aggressively advocate for others. Abraham is deeply committed to social justice and has worked for a number of years advocating for human rights. Before joining the staff, he was a researcher at Human Rights First, focused on immigration detention. He also served as Program Director at Life of Hope, a community based organization in Brooklyn, which provides services to low-income immigrants. Additionally, Abraham has worked in media, reporting on urban policy and human rights as a writer and editorial assistant with City Limits, the civic affairs magazine that publishes investigative news on New York City politics and policies. Abraham is an Eritrean refugee, born in Sudan and raised in Chicago. He is a graduate of George Washington University with a degree in International Affairs and is currently finishing a Masters in Human Rights at the New School University. – See more at: http://familiesforfreedom.org/about#staff

Alexis Stoumbelis is the Co-Director of CISPES, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador. Since 1980, CISPES has been leading grassroots campaigns in the United States against US military, economic and political intervention in El Salvador and Central America. She is based in Washington, DC.