Leid Stories – Election 2016: What We Should Have Learned By Now – 05.18.16

As Election 2016 progresses toward various parties’ nominating conventions this summer, (for Republicans, July 18-21 in Cleveland, Ohio; for Democrats, July 25-28 in Philadelphia, Pa.; the Green Party, Aug. 4-7 in Houston, Texas; the Libertarian Party, May 27-30 in Orlando, Fla.), presidential hopefuls are in the final stretch of the primaries, looking to claim their spots as their parties’ standard bearers in the general election. The duopoly has outdone all other major parties in the still-ongoing battle of attrition. Donald Trump is the last person standing in the Republican field of 17; Hillary Clinton is being touted as the presumptive Democratic nominee.

By all indications, Election 2016 will be a watershed moment in U.S. electoral politics—though for reasons that should alarm even a casual observer. Leid Stories has been looking at this historical moment in terms of what politics and the political process have come to mean and be for the masses of people. We continue this discussion, focusing on what we are learning, or have learned, about our relationship to the political apparatus, and ways in which we can affect political outcomes through an increased consciousness and strategic use of power.

A Just Cause – Spotlight on Capitol Hill & Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee – 04.10.16

The host Cliff Stewart, Lisa Stewart and Lamont Banks will shine a Spotlight on Capitol Hill and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who is serving her tenth term (20 years) as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. She represents the 18th Congressional District of Texas, centered in Houston, which is the energy capital of the world.

Bill Holter – Assets and Liabilities… And “Debt Saturation”

We live in a world where the difference between assets and liabilities has been blurred. In the old days, an asset was something you “owned” while a liability was something you “owed”. Over the years as everything became securitized, someone else’s liability is now routinely someone’s asset but ONLY thought of as an asset. It has always been this way …

Sugar in western diets increases risk for breast cancer tumors and metastasis

The high amounts of dietary sugar in the typical Western diet may increase the risk of breast cancer and metastasis to the lungs, according to a study at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The findings, published in the Jan. 1, 2016 online issue of Cancer Research, demonstrated dietary sugar’s effect on an enzymatic signaling pathway known as …

Dallas Fed Survey Crashes To June 2009 Lows, Warns “It Is Getting Ugly”

After a Q1 collapse, the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Outlook managed a bounce for a few months (though never got back above zero). It appears, Dallas Fed’s aptly-named ‘Dick’ Fischer was entirely wrong when he progonosticated that “on net, low oil prices are good for Texas.” December’s Dallas Fed print crashed to -20.1 (from -4.9) massively missing expectations of -7.0 and back at …

Patrick Martin – Obama administration prepares raids on Central American immigrants

The US Department of Homeland Security is preparing to unleash widespread raids on Central American immigrants, mainly women and children, once the new year begins, according to unnamed Obama administration officials who spoke with the press last week. It would be the first ever program of mass deportations to target Central American refugees specifically. Most are women and children who …

Chris Hedges – Capitalism’s Cult of Human Sacrifice

HOUSTON—Bryan Parrasstood in the shadows cast by glaring floodlights ringing the massive white, cylindrical tanks of the Valero oil refinery. He, like many other poor Mexican-Americans who grew up in this part of Houston, struggles with asthma, sore throats, headaches, rashes, nosebleeds and a host of other illnesses and symptoms. The air was heavy with the smell of sulfur and …

Paul Fassa – Dr. Burzynski on Trial Again – Will His Life-saving Cancer Treatments Ever be Available to the Public?

Dr. Stanislaw Burzynski, M.D., established his Burzynski Institute for cancer research and healing in Houston, TX, the same city that hosts the prestigious MD Anderson Cancer Center. Originally from Poland, Dr. Burzynski has been researching and developing a unique approach for curing cancer since 1976. His approach avoids the carpet bombing chemotherapy of conventional oncology that destroys healthy cells as …

The Gary Null Show – 10.23.15

Prof. James Kilgore is an author, community activist and a popular adjunct professor and a research scholar at the Center for African Studies at the University of Illinois. Last year Prof Kilgore was expelled from the university, under the weight of right wing media attacks. Following a campus-wide campaign by faculty, students and supporters, his teaching position was reinstated. James writes extensively on mass incarceration in the US; his articles appear regularly in Counterpunch and Truth Out. He has published three novels, all written during his six and half years in prison for political offenses committed in the 1970s. Earlier he lived as a fugitive in South Africa from 1991-2002. James recently released a comprehensive exploration of the US’ mass incarceration apparatus — “Understanding Mass Incarceration: A People’s Guide to the Key Civil Right Struggle of Our Time.” His website is FreedomNeverRests.com