FLASHPOINTS

Today on Flashpoints, we devote the entire hour to the massive environmental disaster unfolding in the region of Houston, Texas resulting from Hurricane Harvey. First up we speak with Houston University professor Robert Buzzanco about the city of Houston’s history of putting profits before the public interest. Then we check in with the New Republic’s Emily Atkin who’s been following the release of chemical agents into the Houston area since the storm hit. Then we speak with Nancy Loeb, the Director of the Environmental Advocacy Center at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law about the innumerable so-called Superfund toxic waste cleanup sites throughout the Houston area and how they are being affected by the floods. Finally, we talk with Yvette Arellano who is a Research Fellow with the Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services also known as Tejas, about the impact of the release of toxic chemicals into the environment on local communities.

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Flashpointd 08-31-17

Today on Flashpoints, Trump pitches tax reform in Missouri today saying his proposal, which includes plans to cut taxes for corporations and the wealthy, will ‘bring back Main Street’. Sarah Anderson of the Institute for Policy Studies and Inequality.org, gives a more sobering view of the possible effects on the working poor. Then we discuss current rates of poverty in America with Jessica Bartholow of the Western Center on Law & Poverty. We follow that up with an update on the state of the homeless in America with Food Not Bombs co-founder Keith McHenry. We wrap it up with a discussion of the upcoming People’s Congress of Resistance being held at Howard University on September 16-17 in Washington D.C. Richard Becker of the ANSWER Coalition is helping to organize the Congress and sees it as the next big opportunity for real change in America.

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Flashpoints 08-30-17

Today on Flashpoints, we focus on two looming human and environmental disasters resulting from Hurricane Harvey as massive flooding continues to inundate large areas of the the state of Texas. First up, we cover the dangerous situation facing undocumented communities given Trump’s change in immigration policy, also the effects of the draconian SB4 in Texas also known as the “show me your papers” law. Then we turn to South Texas as activists sound the alarm over two nuclear reactors on the banks of the Colorado River now under threat from raging water flooding the area. Finally, we continue our coverage of the recent victory to return Ethnic Studies to Arizona classrooms.

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Flashpoints 08-29-17

Today on Flashpoints, on the heels of yesterday’s cancelled Alt-Right “No Marxism in America” rally in Berkeley California,  we speak with two University of California professors whose classes include Karl Marx and Marxists as part of the wider curriculum. Needless to say they have more than a few choice words for the Alt-Right. Then we feature an exclusive interview with journalist and author Nicolas J. S. Davies about the coverup of the massacre in Mosul, Iraq as well as US military operations in Syria and Afghanistan that qualify as war crimes under international law.

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Flashpoints 08-28-17

Today on Flashpoints, we continue our coverage of the US role in Afghanistan with an interview featuring author and scholar Andrew Bacevich. He says part of the problem with US military action in Afghanistan is that most Americans simply dont care. Then, we speak with Neta Crawford of the Costs of War project based at Brown University…the figures are mind-numbing. Next we go to San Francisco, CA where organizers with the famous International Longshore and Warehouse Union, ILWU Local 10, are working with the community to plan a counter protest to the so-called Patriot Prayer rally on Saturday. Finally, we speak with the Electronic Frontier Foundation about security tips for your electronic communication devices used for video gathering during protests.

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Flashpoints 08-24-17

Today on Flashpoints, we continue our coverage and analysis of the US role in Afghanistan with two special segments: first we speak with Dr. Farid Younos the author of the book Democratic Imperialism and critic of US foreign policy in his home country of Afghanistan. He says he likes the new direction of Trump’s policy there, we follow that with a discussion with two veterans who served in Afghanistan to hear their opinions of the latest call for US military escalation there. Finally we go to Phoenix Arizona, no we’re not talking about Trump’s rally there last night, instead we speak with a community activist jailed by former Sheriff Joe Arpaio who is currently charged with contempt for failing to stop his practice of racial profiling. President Trump hinted last night in Phoenix that he is considering a pardon for the sheriff signalling tacit approval for his racist law enforcement practices.

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Flashpoints 08-23-17

Today on Flashpoints, we feature interviews with filmmaker Robert Greenwald about his prescient 2009 film Rethink Afghanistan, we are also joined by Dr. Jake Diliberto who is the co-founder of Veterans for Rethinking Afghanistan. Then we take a look at the oxygen starved dead zones in our oceans with the world’s leading expert in the field Dr. Nancy Rabalais. The largest dead zone is in the Gulf of Mexico and now covers an area of nearly 9000 square miles. Finally, we feature special coverage by senior producer Miguel Gavilan Molina about the California Cannabis Banking Working Group chaired by California State Treasurer John Chang.

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Flashpoints 08-22-17

Today on Flashpoints, we feature a discussion with Ajamu Baraka about American Exceptionalism and the failure of the Left to challenge US foreign policy, then we’re joined by Uncle Bobby Cephus for an update on the Love Not Blood campaign on behalf of the victims and survivors of police violence, next activist journalist Kiilu Nyasha joins us to honor the memory of George Jackson who was assassinated at San Quentin prison 46 years ago today. Finally, poet, essayist and novelist Ishmael Reed pays tribute to the legacy of Dick Gregory who passed away this weekend at the age of 84.

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Flashpoints 08-21-17

Today on Flashpoints: Kris Kobach and the uptown Klan: forcing the
prosecution for the Nazi beating of a black man last weekend. No peace
without justice in Palestine and Israel: Nora Barrows Freidman is back
with The Electronic Intifada.

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Today on Flashpoints: We’ll take a look at Trumps false moral
equivalent with South Carolina based longtime civil rights organizer,
Kevin Alexander Gray. And we’ll feature an update on the Korea-US
stand-off with Flashpoints Special Correspondent, Kay Jay Noh

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Flashpoints 08-16-17