Focus On The Facts – 07.17.17

Guests were investigative journalists Jason Goodman and Patricia Negron. They exposed the biggest scandal occurring in Washington right now that the MSM is refusing to cover.  Many corrupt politicians in Washington are involved in the operation of a secret weapons and arms selling racket that is used to overthrow and destroy countries and they provided the details and the names …

Leid Stories—New Administration, Same Dual System of Justice, Especially for Killer Cops—05.03.17

It’s no secret that a different set of rules seems to apply when it comes to prosecuting killer cops. Indictments are hard to come by; prosecutors tend to undercharge; cases are routed through alternative channels such as administrative hearings; procedural errors deliberately are made during the course of a trial to make appeals easier; evidence and/or witnesses mysteriously cannot be …

WikiLeaks Drops Yemen Files, Unmasks Washington’s Bloody Role

Whistleblowing organization Wikileaks on Friday dropped yet another batch of files, this time detailing evidence of the United States arming, training and financing Yemeni forces in the build up to the current war. The so-called “Yemen Files” appears to show how the Yemeni government received military hardware from the U.S., including aircraft, vehicles and vessels, as well the Yemeni procurement …

CEOs Can Now Be Prosecuted Like War Criminals at the Hague

The court’s new focus on land grabbing and environmental destruction could help put a dent in corporate impunity. The International Criminal Court announced Thursday it will now hold corporate executives and governments legally responsible for environmental crimes. The Hague court made explicit references to widening its approach to include land grabbing, which has allowed private corporations, with the help of …

US Government Intentionally Destroys 9/11 Evidence

Presumption of a Cover-Up … Judges and lawyers know that – if someone intentionally destroys evidence – he’s probably trying to hide his crime.  American law has long recognized that destruction of evidence raises a presumption of guiltfor  the person who destroyed the evidence. So what does it mean when the US government intentionally destroyed massive amounts of evidence related to 9/11? Judge …

Paul R. Pillar – A Need to Rethink Mideast Wars

The request by a U.S. Army captain to a federal court for a declaratory judgment about his constitutional duties regarding going to war is the latest reminder of the unsatisfactory situation in which the United States is engaged in military operations in multiple overseas locales without any authorization other than a couple of outdated and obsolete Congressional resolutions whose relevance is questionable …

Black Agenda Radio – 11.30.15

Welcome, to the radio magazine that brings you news, commentary and analysis from a Black Left perspective.

– A bill is moving through the U.S. House and Senate that would retroactively shorten sentences for crack cocaine possession and, its backers claim, substantially roll back mandatory minimum sentences for other crimes. The Sentencing Act is supported by the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union. However, the National Urban League and Families Against Mandatory Minimums have refused to sign off on the legislation, which actually expands the list of crimes subject to mandatory minimum sentencing, including gun possession and crimes of domestic violence. Listen to Julie Stewart, who is President of Families Against Mandatory Minimums.

– Funds are being raised for a new documentary film on the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, with a focus on the late Panther leader, Huey P. Newton, and other Party founders, in Oakland, California. The project is headed up by David Hilliard, a former Panther chief of staff. Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Dante James will direct the movie. Both James and Hilliard have been critical of the film “The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” directed by Stanley Nelson Jr. and distributed by PBS. Dante talked to us about the difference between the two films.

– Trial has begun for the first of six Baltimore police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, last April, a homicide that set off a rebellion in the majority Black city. Baltimore is also the headquarters for the Real News Network, which held a fascinating discussion of the legal ramifications of the trial. Real News host Stephen Janis interviewed former Baltimore homicide detective Stephen Tabeling, who has a history of investigating cases of police use of deadly force, and Maryland Delegate Jill Carter, the most radical member of the state legislature, who hails from a civil rights family, and is also a defense attorney. Carter told the Real News why she’s worried about getting justice for Freddie Gray.

Robert Parry – MH-17: The Dog Still Not Barking

The Dutch Safety Board report concludes that an older model Buk missile apparently shot down Malaysia Airline Flight 17 on July 17, 2014, but doesn’t say who possessed the missile and who fired it. Yet, what is perhaps most striking about the report is what’s not there – nothing from the U.S. intelligence data on the tragedy. The dog still …

Ray McGovern – Propaganda, Intelligence and MH-17

During a recent interview, I was asked to express my conclusions about the July 17, 2014 shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, prompting me to take another hard look at Official Washington’s dubious claims – pointing the finger of blame at eastern Ukrainian rebels and Moscow – based on shaky evidence regarding who was responsible for this terrible …