Black Agenda Radio – 02.13.17

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective. I’m Glen Ford, along with my co-host, Nellie Bailey. Coming up: Activists plan to counter President Trump’s threatened crackdown on so-called “sanctuary cities,” by expanding the movement to resist unjust laws and government repression; and, prison abolitionists say the U.S. system of mass incarceration is a continuation of old time slavery. They plan a Millions March for Prisoners Human Rights, in Washington, DC, this summer.

Paul R. Pillar – Trump’s Incoherent Anti-Terrorism Policy

Donald Trump’s efforts, during his first week in office, to give substance to his campaign rhetoric have involved executive orders that have generated reactions ranging from bemusement over their vagueness to worried waiting for other shoes to drop. But the previous orders do not do as much quick damage, both to individual U.S. persons and their families and to broader U.S. …

Austria and Italy celebrate bans on GM crops with EU opt-out

Austrian Health Minister Sabine Oberhauser and a number of Italian Ministries have confirmed that both countries are officially requesting an opt-out from growing the eight varieties of GM maize permitted or set to be permitted at the EU level, thus there will now be a full ban on GM crops in both countries under new EU regulations. “Austria has made …

Sarah Lazare – Cover Up? TTIP Negotiators Outed for Secret Talks With Big Tobacco About [Redacted]

Screen shot from heavily redacted correspondence between European Commission and British American Tobacco, dated 15 May, 2014. (Document provided by Corporate Europe Observatory) European Union officials face charges of evasion and cover up after concealing basic information about their negotiations with tobacco companies over a pair of pending “trade” deals, including the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), in response to a …

U.S-Cuba Relations and the Long Road to Nowhere. “Regime Change is on the Table”

The much anticipated U.S-Cuba talks continues this week as Reuters reported “Cuba and the United States meet for talks on restoring diplomatic relations on Monday, seeking more progress toward an agreement while not allowing differences over Venezuela to impede their historic rapprochement.”  The meeting will be held in Havana between Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson and the Cuban foreign ministry’s chief of U.S. …