In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by journalist and author Daniel Lazare to discuss Joe Biden’s upcoming trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia despite his promises to promote human rights, how this trip is setting up the groundwork for more war in the Middle East, how this trip is related to the ongoing NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine and how Biden’s potential meeting with Mohammed Bin Salman and other Saudi leaders exposes the amazing hypocrisy of the US.
In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by writer Indi Samarajiva to discuss the reasons behind massive protests that took place in Sri Lanka that have seemingly led to the ouster of the prime minister and president, the generally peaceful actions that the movement has taken amid the spreading images of Sri Lankans taking over the presidential palace and other buildings, what the political outlook is for Sri Lanka now that the prime minister has resigned and the president has expressed willingness to resign, and the role of the IMF in creating the conditions for this economic crisis and why more IMF loans won’t actually help Sri Lankans.
In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Mohamed Elmaazi, a UK-based freelance journalist, and contributor to numerous outlets including The Dissenter, Jacobin, The Canary and Electronic Intifada to discuss a disturbing new bill being debated in the UK Parliament that threatens to criminalize reporting on leaked government documents under the guise of a threat to national security, how parts of the bill threaten to criminalize journalists and activists under a provision that loosely defines so-called “foreign involvement” in reporting and how that threatens to chill reporting and speech, the fear mongering about “foreign powers” that has contributed to this attempt at repression, and how this bill also protects corporate interests under the same foreign powers provision.
Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Kim Bown, veteran broadcaster and host of Burn It Down with Kim Brown on YouTube to discuss racist media framing of the squeegee kids in Baltimore and how their situation reveals the Baltimore establishment’s refusal to address the root cause of poverty that affects Black communities in the city, the emerging BA.5 subvariant and the illusion of a “return to normalcy” that the Biden administration and CDC seem intent to display, and how Starbucks and its CEO present themselves as progressive while they face a legal challenge in response to their alleged unfair labor practices meant to discourage union organizing.
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