The Critical Hour

Two More African-American Men Shot by Police Over Weekend - Here We Go Again

On this edition of The Critical Hour, co-hosts Dr. Wilmer Leon and Garland Nixon talk to Attorney John Burris about Jacob Blake, a Black man from Wisconsin who was shot multiple times in the back by police with his kids present.
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"Two Wisconsin police officers were on leave Monday as state authorities investigate why an African American man was shot multiple times in the back as he entered the driver's side door of an SUV, officials said" CNN reported Monday. "The man's three children - 3, 5 and 8 - were in the car, a family attorney said. Identified by the governor as Jacob Blake, the man is in serious condition and fighting for his life." Where should we be focusing our analysis right now?

The New York Times reported Monday, "After Coronavirus cases surged in June and July, the number of new reported cases in the US began to level off, then drop, though the infection rate remains one of the world’s highest." Is this an accurate statement?

"Tennessee protesters will face harsh penalties, including losing the right to vote, as punishment for participating in protests under a law enacted by the Tennessee GOP-dominant General Assembly," Common Dreams reported on Saturday. "Right-wing Governor Bill Lee quietly signed off on the bill Thursday, AP reported." How concerned should we be about Americans' First Amendment right to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances?

There's a great piece in The Grayzone by Aaron Mate entitled "Crushing US Sanctions Devastate Syria's People and Post-War Reconstruction." It's an interview with leading Syria scholar Joshua Landis on how "crippling US sanctions are devastating Syria's people and hindering post-war reconstruction." International journalist Caleb Maupin gives his thoughts on this controversial issue.

There’s a piece at Antiwar.com entitled "Catapulting Russian-Meddling Propaganda," whose subhead reads, "The New York Times is leading the full-court press to improve on what it regards as Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s weak-kneed effort to blame the Russians for giving us Donald Trump." What are we to make of this article?

"Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says US demand for Iran sanctions is ‘completely unreasonable,’" read a Saturday headline in the South China Morning Post. The outlet reported, "On Thursday, the US formally asked the UN to trigger the 'snapback,' a mechanism under the 2015 nuclear accord that allows a participant to restore pre-2015 sanctions on Iran, on the grounds that Tehran has significantly violated the agreement." What are we to make of this?

The South China Morning Post reported Saturday that "on Friday the USS Ronald Reagan and its carrier strike group returned to the South China Sea for a series of air defense exercises after a joint drill with Japan. The US Navy also sent a destroyer, the USS Mustin, through the Taiwan Strait following the exercise with Japan in what America said was a demonstration of its commitment to a 'free and open Indo-Pacific.'" The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command, which covers the Taiwan Strait, said after the Mustin’s passage that the military was monitoring US activity and was on “high alert” to protect China’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, the Post noted.

"In the wake of the deadly port explosion in Beirut, Lebanon on August 4, many in Yemen are hoping that the world, and the United States and Saudi-led Coalition, in particular, will have gained a renewed sense of urgency in working to avoid a similar disaster off the coast of Yemen in the heavily traveled Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the worlds’ busiest international shipping lanes," MintPress News reported on August 21. "There, the FSO Safer sits roughly 25 miles northwest of Yemen’s port city of Hodeida, not only threatening the poorest country in the Middle East but also posing a very real threat to all countries bordering the Red Sea and to international navigation in general." Is this hope a reality?

GUESTS:

John Burris - Civil rights attorney

Dr. YolandraHancock - Physician 

David Schultz - Professor of political science at Hamline University and author of "Presidential Swing States: Why Only Ten Matter"

Caleb Maupin - Journalist and political analyst

Ray McGovern - Former CIA analyst and co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Peace

Scott Ritter - Former UN weapons inspector in Iraq 

Danny Sjursen - Retired US Army major and author of "Patriotic Dissent: America in the Age of Endless War"

Elisabeth Myers - Lawyer, former editor-in-chief of Inside Arabia and democracy lead for Democrats Abroad

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