A Tuesday headline in Common Dreams read: "'Nonsensical and Madness': Outrage After Trump Excludes US From WHO-Backed Global Vaccination Cooperation Pact." Is this their balance between profit and public health?
"The Trump administration Tuesday announced a four-month halt on eviction proceedings against cash-strapped renters, invoking federal public health laws out of concern that a national homelessness crisis could worsen the country’s coronavirus outbreak," the Washington Post reported Tuesday. Is this enough or is it too little too late?
"Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) on Tuesday successfully fended off a challenge from Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-MA) in the Massachusetts Senate Democratic primary after facing what was initially seen as an uphill climb against a rising Democratic star and member of the most famous political family in the US," The Hill reported Tuesday. On August 20, Common Dreams reported, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi came under fire from progressive activists and advocacy groups for endorsing Rep. Joe Kennedy III in his bid to unseat Sen. Ed Markey," a move that critics said suggested that she and other Democratic leaders were tone-deaf to the concerns of the left wing of their party. What are we to make of all of this?
"The lead attorney representing Breonna Taylor's family says Louisville prosecutors offered Jamarcus Glover — her ex-boyfriend who is facing multiple drug-related charges — a plea deal that listed Taylor, who was shot and killed by police in her own home in March, as a co-defendant in the case," The Hill reported Tuesday. One the same night Taylor was killed, Glover was arrested at another location on charges of trafficking and firearm offenses. Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend, was in her house that evening and "fired his weapon and struck an officer in the leg, maintaining that he believed someone was breaking in," the Louisville Courier-Journal reported in June. This raises two questions or issues to me. One, is this as big of an issue as the headline is making it out to be? And two, does this give us insight into a problem within our judicial system: the plea bargain and how prosecutors use their power to extort guilty pleas from innocent people?
This proven fake Russiagate story continues to haunt us. In an August 28 piece published on Medium.com, Caitlin Johnstone wrote: "The only interesting thing about either of the conventions held by America’s two mainstream political parties this month was not anything that was said by the interminable parade of vapid speakers, but rather what those speakers did not say. Despite their dominating mainstream news cycles for years on end, at no time during the four-day Democratic National Convention was the word 'impeachment' ever uttered, nor was any mention made of the Mueller investigation into allegations of collusion between Trump and the Russian government." What are we to make of this?
A Wednesday headline in the New York Times read "Aleksei Navalny Was Poisoned With Novichok, Germany Says." The subhead noted, "The German government said that toxicology tests showed the Russian opposition leader was poisoned with a nerve agent from the same group used in a 2018 attack on an ex-Soviet spy." What’s our level of confidence in this story?
"The signatories to the faltering Iran nuclear deal are meeting in Vienna as the United States urges the reimposition of international sanctions on Tehran and the extension of the conventional arms embargo against it," Al Jazeera reported Tuesday. "Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia are struggling to save the 2015 landmark accord." The US withdrew from the deal in 2018. What can we expect to happen?
"Hindered by frayed ties with Europe, limited leverage and doubts about President Donald Trump’s devotion to democracy in Belarus, the United States is gingerly trying to nudge the former Soviet state toward new elections without provoking Russia," Reuters reported Wednesday. Is this possible?
Guests:
Margaret Flowers - Pediatrician, health reform activist and co-director at Popular Resistance
Dr. Linwood Tauheed - Associate professor of economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
Dr. Emmit Riley - Political scientist and assistant professor of Africana studies at DePauw University
Niko House - Political activist, independent journalist and podcaster
John Burris - Civil rights attorney
Daniel Lazare - Investigative journalist and author of "The Velvet Coup"
Mark Sleboda - Moscow-based international relations and security analyst
Scott Ritter - Former UN weapons inspector in Iraq
Alexander Mercouris - Editor-in-Chief of The Duran
We'd love to get your feedback at radio@sputniknews.com