Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Juan Carlos Ruiz, cofounder of the New Sanctuary Movement.President Trump held a rally in El Paso, Texas yesterday that was meant to pressure congressional negotiators into funding his border wall. But things didn’t work out the way he had expected. First, negotiators came to an agreement in principle to fund the government beyond Friday without any input from the president and without money for a wall. And then his rally was dwarfed in size by a competing rally across town held by possibly Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke. Ilhan Omar is a freshman congresswoman from Minnesota. She’s one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress and is the body’s first Somali-American and first refugee. She’s a strong supporter of self-determination for the Palestinian people. And last week she tweeted light-heartedly that much US support for Israel is a result of money injected into politics by AIPAC, the American Is

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Paul Dobson, a writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com, and Lucas Koerner, an activist and writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com.The Trump Administration succeeded last week in advancing its overthrow of the Venezuelan government and in controlling the public relations agenda. A false narrative that President Nicolas Maduro blocked a food and aid convoy was all over the mainstream media. Former Vice President Joe Biden jumped on the bandwagon to endorse puppet figure Juan Guaido, and the US moved to cripple CITGO, the US-based retail branch of the Venezuelan national oil company. Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules with Chris Garaffa is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa joins the show. Negotiators clashed on Sunday over whether to limit the number of migrants whom authorities

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which livestreams every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Jodi Dean, a professor of Political Science at Hobart and William Smith Colleges whose latest book is “Crowds and Party.”Friday is Loud & Clear’s weekly hour-long segment The Week in Review, about the week in politics, policy, and international affairs. Today they focus on the implosion of the Democratic Party leadership in Virginia, why Donald Trump has declared the war against socialism inside the United States to be central to his ongoing political campaign effort, new exposees about the Trump-led coup in Venezuela, the war against women’s rights and the block from the Supreme Court on a stringent anti-abortion law in Louisiana, and much more. In an explosive tell-all blog posted yesterday, Amazon founder and world’s richest man Jeff Bezos accused the publisher of the National Enquirer of tr

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Alexander Mercouris, the editor-in-chief of The Duran; Ann Wright, a retired United States Army colonel who resigned in protest of the invasion of Iraq and became an anti-war activist; Kim Ives, an editor of the newspaper Haiti Liberte; and producer Walter Smolarek.The United States makes a practice of touting international coalitions as a means to achieve a military or foreign policy goal. Just think of the coalition to defeat ISIS, the Coalition of the Willing that was the Iraq War, the coalition that overthrew the Libyan government, the Lima Group, and others. But these international coalitions are really just a myth. They serve as a cover for US intervention around the world in the absence of a United Nations Security Council Resolution or other international approval for military action. Thursday’s weekly series “Criminal Injustice” is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is deni

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which hosts a livestream every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net, and Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek.Wednesday’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and put them into perspective, including immigrant rights, economic inequality, US military presence around the world, and the Democratic response. The US Senate yesterday voted 77-23 to allow states to penalize businesses that participate in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement against Israel. The bill, which also includes measures aiming to prolong U.S. troop presence in Syria and Afghanistan, goes to the House of Representatives for consideration today. Even though the bill had broad support in the Senate, several senators, including Vermont’s Bernie Sanders and Kentucky’s Rand Paul,

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Hannah Dickinson, an associate professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and an organizer with the Geneva Women’s Assembly, and Loud & Clear producer Nicole Roussell join the show.Today’s regular segment that airs every Tuesday is called Women & Society with Dr. Hannah Dickinson. This weekly segment is about the major issues, challenges, and struggles facing women in all aspects of society, and today focuses on the the state of the union for women, including health care, immigration, abortion access, and more. Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey joins the show. President Trump this evening will deliver his second State of the Union address. The president is expected to focus on immigration and on his demands for a border wall and his threats to declare a national emergency to build the border wal

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Mohammad Marandi, an expert on American studies and postcolonial literature who teaches at the University of Tehran.President Trump caused consternation in Baghdad over the weekend when he said that he may leave US troops in Iraq to “watch” Iran. Those US troops had been in Iraq fighting ISIS. The problem is that the president never asked the Iraqi government’s permission to leave those troops, and now there is legislation in the Iraqi parliament to evict US troops from the country. Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules with Chris Garaffa is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa joins the show. Venezuelans are being forced to consider the possibility of civil war as major European Union countries today recognized Juan Guaidó as president and huge street mobilizations

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which livestreams every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Sputnik News analyst and producer Walter Smolarek.Friday is Loud & Clear’s weekly hour-long segment The Week in Review, about the week in politics, policy, and international affairs. Today they focus on the polar vortex’s effect on the homeless and all people (while some fearmonger about Russia instead); the candidates for the 2020 presidential race including recently declared Cory Booker and Tulsi Gabbard, who will declare tomorrow; and a new court decision about Julian Assange. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced this morning that the United States would withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a major arms control treaty with Russia, ending a cornerstone Cold War agreement by claiming that Russia has already violated it. The withdrawal takes effect in six months,

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which hosts a livestream every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek.Wednesday’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and put them into perspective. Today they discuss the Venezuelan coup attempt and Kamala Harris’s near-immediate walkback of Medicare for all. Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Walter Smolarek, join the show. Former presidential advisor Roger Stone entered not guilty pleas on seven felony counts in a federal court in Washington, DC yesterday and then immediately took to the airwaves to proclaim h

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Nazia Kazi, an activist and professor of Anthropology at Stockton University. Dr. Nazia Kazi has a new book out called “Islamophobia, Race and Global Politics.” It’s published by Rowman & Littlefield and is an introduction to the scope of Islamophobia in the US. Dr. Kazi draws connections between Islamophobia and racism more broadly to US military interventions around the world and to empire-building. Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey joins the show. Former Trump advisor and Republican dirty trickster Roger Stone was arraigned in federal court in Washington today. He pled not guilty to seven felonies, including obstruction of a federal proceeding, witness tampering, and five counts of making false statements. He is free on $250,000 bond. Brian and John speak with Daniel Lazare. He is a journalist

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Anoa Changa, the host of the show The Way With Anoa, and Pedro Rios, the director of the American Friends Service Committee’s U.S./Mexico Border Program.President Trump and congressional leaders agreed on Friday afternoon to reopen the government for three weeks to give all sides time to come up with a workable federal budget. The three-week Continuing Resolution does not include money for the President’s border wall, but it does include money to hire more border patrol agents. The countdown is now on to strike a major deal on immigration policy before the government shuts back down next month. Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules with Chris Garaffa is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa joins the show. The United States and the Taliban agreed on a draft framework

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which livestreams every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Sputnik News analyst and producer Walter Smolarek.Friday is Loud & Clear’s weekly hour-long segment The Week in Review, about the week in politics, policy, and international affairs. Today they focus on the pressure on the US government to reopen, the coup attempt in Venezuela, and the way the mainstream media is downplaying the success of the teacher strike in L.A. Longtime Republican Party operative Roger Stone was arrested during a pre-dawn FBI raid on his Florida home this morning. He was charged with seven felonies, including witness tampering, obstructing a federal investigation, and five counts of making false statements. Stone was arraigned in federal court today at 11:00 and his attorneys said he would fight the charges vigorously. Jim Kavanagh, whose commentary is published on his web

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Aline Piva, a journalist and a member of Brazilians for Democracy and Social Justice, and Paul Dobson, a writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com.As the attempted coup in Venezuela continues, the United States is upping the pressure by announcing that it will refuse to remove its embassy staff from the country, as ordered by President Nicolás Maduro in retaliation for the U.S. orchestrated plot to replace him with far-right opposition figure Juan Guaido. The U.S. diplomats were given 72 hours to leave the country, and President Maduro also has ordered closed the Venezuelan embassy in the U.S. Thursday’s weekly series “Criminal Injustice” is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by from Caracas by Lucas Koerner, an activist and writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com, and from Merida, Venezuela, by Paul Dobson, a writer for VenezuelAnalysis.com, and in studio by Sputnik news analyst and producer Walter Smolarek.Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido has declared himself the country’s president and was immediately recognized as such by the U.S. government. Huge numbers of government supporters have taken to the streets to fight back against this coup effort. Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show. Wednesday’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and puts them into perspect

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Ariel Gold, a peace activist and the national co-director of Code Pink, and Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist at www.rall.com.A lot happened this weekend, including women’s marches across the country, despite attacks on the leadership, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and federal holiday, which was ironically highlighted by groups like Northrop Grumman and the FBI, and Special Counsel Robert Mueller called foul on a breathless Russiagate report from Buzzfeed late last week. And meanwhile the government shutdown continues. Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey joins the show. The government shutdown is now in its second month, and no solution appears in sight. As the Trump administration digs in and refuses to budge from its demand for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, the shu

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which livestreams every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Sputnik News analyst and producer Walter Smolarek.Friday is Loud & Clear’s weekly hour-long segment The Week in Review, about the week in politics, policy, and international affairs. The White House announced today that the second summit between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place in late February at a yet-to-be-determined location. This dramatic announcement comes after North Korean lead negotiator Kim Yong Chol visited Washington to meet with Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Brian speaks with Simone Chun, a fellow at the Korea Policy Institute and a member of the Korean Peace Network. A new story published by Buzzfeed is being called a bombshell that will lead to Donald Trump either resigning or being impeached. The story is based on anonymous sources. It asserts that Donald

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Ford Fischer, the founder of the media startup News2Share, and Alex Rubinstein, a writer for MintPress News. Overnight, Facebook deleted hundreds of pages that it said were run by employees at Sputnik. 75 Sputnik employees have been blacklisted for posting on these pages. The reason that Facebook gave is that they promoted anti-NATO views. Is Facebook continuing its war on independent and alternative media? Thursday’s weekly series “Criminal Injustice” is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, join the show. President Trump announced his Missile Defense Review today at the Pentagon. This includes 20 new ground-based interceptors but also a s

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which hosts a livestream every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek.Wednesday’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and puts them into perspective. Today they talk about the government shutdown, confirmation hearings for Trump’s Attorney General nominee, and more. Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show. Several U.S. troops have reportedly been killed in northern Syria in a bomb blast claimed by ISIS. Opponents of a U.S. withdrawal from the country, something long demanded by Syria’s sovereign government,

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by legendary anti-war activist and former British parliamentarian George Galloway and Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek. Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey joins the show. President Trump’s choice to head the Justice Department, William Barr, begins his nomination hearings today before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Barr has pledged not to hamper or end the Mueller investigation, and he spent last week paying calls on Committee members. He was previously Attorney General under President George H. W. Bush. Brian and John speak with criminal defense attorney Brad Schlesinger. The New York Times reported today that a year ago President Trump suggested to aides that the United States should withdraw from NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He made the statement several more times throughout 2018, calli

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Coleen Rowley, a former FBI special agent who in 2002 was named Time Magazine person of the year along with two other whistleblowers, and Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of three books—“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War.”Americans learned over the weekend that the FBI had taken perhaps an unprecedented step by opening a counterintelligence investigation targeting President Trump following his decision to fire former FBI Director James Comey. Shortly after news of the counterintelligence investigation broke, the media began to heavily focus on the availability of the translators’ notes from Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules with Chris Garaffa is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologi