John Burris, civil rights attorney, joins us to discuss yesterday's holiday shooting in Chicago, Illinois. Six people were killed and more than 40 wounded at a 4th of July parade in Chicago. Police described the shooter as a young man armed with a high-powered rifle, shooting into a crowd of approximately 30,000 people on greater Chicago's North Shore.
Marjorie Cohn, Professor Emeritus at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California, joins us to discuss Roe vs. Wade and West Virginia vs. EPA. In the last ruling, Cohn asserts that the court's right-wing members confirmed they are in the pockets of the fossil fuel companies. The 6-3 majority sided with coal companies and Republican-led states to restrain the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) power to regulate carbon emissions.
Dr. David Oualaalou, international geopolitical consultant, veteran, and author of many books, including "The Dynamics of Russia's Geopolitics: Remaking the Global Order," international security analyst, and host of the "Geopolitics in Conflict" Show on YT, joins us to discuss Ukraine. In recent news, the White House says the US will not push Ukraine to negotiate with Russia, Putin declares victory in Ukraine's Eastern Lugansk region, and Belarus says it has intercepted missiles fired by Ukraine targeting its military facilities.
Laith Marouf, broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon, joins us to discuss the Middle East. Yesterday Moscow demanded that Israel unconditionally cease its "unacceptable" Syria airstrikes, citing Saturday's daytime strike, which injured two people and caused severe damage to civilian infrastructure near the Syrian town of al-Hamidiyah.
Scott Ritter, former UN weapon inspector in Iraq, joins us to discuss NATO. Scott wrote a Consortium News article that stated the restoration of Russia's rail connection with Kaliningrad is urgently needed to avoid a conflict in the Baltics that has worried NATO for a long time.
KJ Noh, peace activist, writer, and teacher, joins us to discuss China. Japan spots Chinese and Russian warships near the disputed Senkaku (Diaoyu) Islands. Also, foreign ministers from China and Vietnam met on the sidelines of a Mekong River cooperation meeting in Myanmar. China and Vietnam vow to talk more, but South China Sea tensions, and others, will remain.
Steve Poikonen, National Organizer for Action4Assange, joins us to discuss journalists at risk. A Mint Press news piece surmises that any journalist 'trying to look into the darkest corners of Western foreign policy can be herded back into the fold through threats – if not from their editors, then from the security services." The article also mentions how complicit social media punishes independent-minded reporters through its algorithms. This process deprives reporters of their readers and online patrons, with complicit online financial services like PayPal now punishing independent journalists by starving them of income, as happened to MintPress and Consortium News."
Dr. Gerald Horne, professor of History at the University of Houston, TX, author, and historian, joins us to discuss the US security alliance in the Middle East. Dr. Horne argues that there is no legitimate case for Washington to make new security commitments and assume costs on behalf of both Saudi Arabia and the Middle East.
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