Loud & Clear

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. Today they focus on the shutdown, which is now tied for the longest in history, the troop withdrawal from Syria, and the New York Times Manafort story retraction this week. The US military today said that the troop withdrawal from Syria has already begun, but refused to give a timetable for the pullout. This move comes despite National Security Advisor Bolton’s announcement of a series of difficult-to-meet conditions that would need to be met before the withdrawal would happen. Ambassador Peter Ford, the former UK Ambassador to Syria, and Rick Sterling, an investigative journalist and member of the Syria Solidarity Movement, joins the

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history at the University of Houston and author of many books, including “The Apocalypse of Settler Colonialism: The Roots of Slavery, White Supremacy and Capitalism in Seventeenth Century North America and the Caribbean.”President Trump is heading to the border today to speak with Customs and Border Patrol officials about the so-called “crisis” there, even though those same officials aren’t being paid because of the government shutdown. Meanwhile, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in today for a new term as the U.S.-backed regime change effort targeting his government continues, and Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, moved today to withdraw his country from the UN global migration pact. 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 fo

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 by Sputnik news analysts Nicole Roussell and 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. Their conversation includes the televised address about the wall and the shutdown last night, the coup in Gabon, and the outrage over an organization rescinding a civil rights award to Angela Davis. 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. President Trump’s Oval Office speech last night calling for $5 billion to const

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Jorge Barón, the executive director of the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer and author of the new book “The Plot to Control the World: How the US Spent Billions to Change the Outcome of Elections Around the World.”President Trump is considering declaring a national state of emergency as a way to obtain funding for his border wall. With the partial government shutdown nearing its third week and no end in sight, Trump says he is willing to take the unusual action. Immigrant rights advocates, on the other hand, say that there is absolutely no reasonable argument that the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border constitutes a national crisis. Will the Trump administration get away with this massive expansion of executive authority? Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Rick Sterling, an investigative journalist and member of the Syria Solidarity Movement, and Mark Sleboda, an international affairs and security analyst. National Security Advisor John Bolton backpedaled on President Trump’s promise to withdraw from Syria, saying during a visit to Israel yesterday that the withdrawal would take place only when ISIS was completely destroyed. Then, Bolton traveled to Turkey today to seek assurances from Ankara that, in the event of a US withdrawal from Syria, that country’s Kurds would be safe from an attack by the Turkish military. 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. A second pro-Democratic Party false flag operation has been revealed in Alabama. The New York

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, Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist whose work is at rall.com, and Sputnik News analyst and producer Walter Smolarek.It’s time for our weekly segment The Week in Review. The 116th Congress took office yesterday with Nancy Pelosi as Speaker. This Congress is unlike any other, with a record number of women, including two Muslim women, the first two Latina congresswomen from Texas, the first two African-American Congresswomen from New England, a former refugee from Somalia, and New York’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who’s still in her 20s. The issues this Congress will face are daunting, beginning with the Democrats’ ideas on PayGo, or pay-as-you-go spending, investigations, leadership challenges, and legislative plans. The road ahead, as one part of a divided government, will not b

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Peter Ford, former UK Ambassador to Syria.President Trump held his first cabinet meeting of the new year yesterday and -- after having his secretaries take turns gushing about his wonderful leadership -- cast doubt on his previously-announced withdrawal from Syria, saying that he had not announced a timetable. Will the administration and the Pentagon slow-walk the U.S. withdrawal? Will U.S. troops ever leave at all? The hosts continue the weekly series “Criminal Injustice,” where we talk about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, and Paul Wright, the founder and Executive Director of the Human Rights Defense Center, joins the show. Major technology companies came under heavy pressure on Wall Street today after Apple announced an unprecedented cut in

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 look at the government shutdown and moves by possible 2020 presidential contenders. 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. The government shutdown entered its 12th day today, and meanwhile, everything from the Environmental Protection Agency to the IRS to the national parks and the Department of Homeland Security are closed. That

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, Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist whose work is at rall.com, and Sputnik News analyst and producer Walter Smolarek. 2018 is coming to an end. In this special Year in Review segment, Brian and John discuss the biggest stories of the year, including the immigration crackdown, US relations with North Korea, heightened confrontation with Iran, a trade war with China, the Mueller probe and the non-stop hysteria generated by politicians and the corporate owned media against Russia, intensifying wildfires, and global warming.As the year ends today, Brian and John continue reviewing the year in their regular segment False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism with Daniel Sankey. Financial policy analyst Daniel Sankey joins the show to cover the big picture eco

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 with 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 important new ruling in the case of world-renowned political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal, the government shutdown that’s in its seventh day, and new updates in the Russiagate saga. Syrian troops have arrived on the front lines at the flashpoint town of Manbij as Kurdish forces appealed to Damascus for help against Turkey in light of President Trump’s decision to pull troops out of Syria. Turkish President Erdogan is threatening to send troops across the border to take Manbij and to rout the Kurds. Rick Sterling, an investigative journalist and member of the Syria Solidarity Movement, joins

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister who has been a peace and solidarity activist for almost 50 years, currently as national president of Veterans for Peace.Veterans for Peace is Thursday’s regular segment about the contemporary issues of war and peace that affect veterans, their families, and the country as a whole. They start today with President Trump’s surprise visit to Iraq yesterday, his first into a combat zone as president. Instead of telling the troops they might go home soon, following his recent decisions in Syria and Afghanistan, the president continued the presidential legacy of discussing military strategy while keeping troops away from home instead. One of the year’s most important Loud & Clear interviews is being replayed from November. Brian and John talked to investigative journalist and historian Gareth Porter about the Pentagon’s deepening control over U.S. politics, government and the

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dan Cohen, a journalist and a documentary filmmaker, most recently of the film “Killing Gaza.”Last week we discussed two reports that were made public after being commissioned by the Senate Intelligence Committee. Those reports purported to document Russian interference in the US electoral process and senators from both parties lauded the research as “proof positive” that social media companies and the government should work more closely together to police and block fake news. But the truth is that the authors of those reports were the ones who engaged in electoral manipulation. They manipulated social media platforms to impact the 2017 special election for an Alabama senate race, utilizing Russian bots and troll farms and then accusing the Russians themselves of interference. Now one of the authors has had his Facebook page suspected and his credibility ruined. False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capital

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Richard Wolff, a professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst; founder of the organization Democracy at Work; and his latest book is “Capitalism's Crisis Deepens: Essays on the Global Economic Meltdown.”On any given night, more than 554,000 people are homeless in America. In New York, authorities report that 114,659 children are either homeless or living in temporary housing. And in the past six years, homelessness in Los Angeles has surged 75 percent to more than 55,000 people. Hunger, disease, and violence are rife in homeless communities. How can something like this happen--how can it keep getting worse--in the richest country in the world? National Security Adviser John Bolton gave a speech last week to the right-wing Heritage Foundation, where he revealed his administration’s new “Africa Strategy.” His understanding of history on the continent has been criticized as lacking understanding of the w

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 with 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 Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’s resignation, the troop drawdown in Afghanistan, new rearrangements in Saudi Arabian intelligence services, and the possible government shutdown. In a series of sharply worded tweets this morning, President Trump promised a “very long” government shutdown if Congress does not approve his border wall. The House approved a temporary funding measure yesterday by a vote of 217-185 and sent the bill to the Senate. But even if it passes there, Trump said he would veto it. Brian and John speak with Abdushahid Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which lives

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dr. Gerald Horne, a professor of history at the University of Houston and author of many books, including “The Counter-Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America.”The New York Times reported earlier this week that Russia made an extraordinary effort in 2016 to influence the votes of African Americans, using an array of tactics to suppress voter turnout among Democrats and unleashing what it called a “blizzard of activity” on Instagram. But the implication of the article harkens back to the bad old days of segregation. It revives the racist narrative that African-American voters are so gullible to outside agitators that they effectively have no control over their own votes. 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 dir

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 looks at the most important ongoing developments of the week and puts them into perspective. Today they talk about the First Step Act getting passed through the Senate, Mike Flynn’s hearing yesterday, and the Israeli military crackdown on the West Bank. 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. Newly released internal documents reveal that, for years, Facebook gave some of the world’s largest tech companies more intrusive access to

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Coleen Rowley, a former FBI agent who in 2002 was named Time Magazine person of the year, and Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer and author of “The Plot to Control the World: How the US Spent Billions to Change the Outcome of Elections Around the World.”A federal judge in Washington today delayed the highly anticipated sentencing of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn for lying to the FBI as part of the Mueller investigation related to lobbying he conducted on behalf of the Turkish government. Prosecutors had asked for leniency because of the degree to which Flynn cooperated in the Mueller probe, but Judge Emmet Sullivan’s incendiary comments during the hearing led to the sentencing being delayed. Tuesday’s weekly series is False Profits—A Weekly Look at Wall Street and Corporate Capitalism. Regular “False Profits” guest Daniel Sankey is out sick today, but Loud & Clear is honored to be joined by Dr.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Daniel Lazare, a journalist and author of three books—“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War,” and Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net.Two reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee boldly assert that Russians working at the Internet Research Agency clearly sought to influence the 2016 election to the benefit of the Republican Party. But they don’t include anything about the dollar amounts spent (they’re absurdly low), when they were spent (56% after the election), or that when this agency actually showed up in court post-indictment, that the prosecution asked for a continuance -- and hasn’t made any moves since. 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 joi

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 with 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 Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s roll back of anti-labor teaching regulations and making education free, US-China relations through the Huawai arrest, North Carolina election fraud, and Michael Cohen’s week. On Wednesday of this week, federal court judge Emmet Sullivan issued new orders demanding that the Mueller investigation provide to the judge, who’s overseeing the sentencing of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, FBI memoranda and other documentation held by the FBI regarding how and why the FBI initially interviewed Flynn on January 24, 2017. That was the day

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker and John Kiriakou are joined by Dan Kovalik, a human rights and labor lawyer who is the author of the new book “The Plot to Control the World: How the US Spent Billions to Change the Outcome of Elections Around the World.”Russian gun rights activist Maria Butina will plead guilty in federal court today to one count of conspiracy to fail to register as a foreign agent, for which there are no sentencing guidelines. She’s been held without bail behind bars since her arrest in July. The hosts review her case and several other pieces of the Russiagate saga. 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.