Loud & Clear

On today's special episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker looks at the legacy of Muhammad Ali. He is joined for the full hour by scholar and historian Dr. Anthony Monteiro, Askia Muhammad, Final Call journalist and news director of Pacifica Radio's WPFW station in Washington, DC., and by activist and author Eugene Puryear.Muhammad Ali was sentenced to five years in prison and stripped of his boxing crown because he stood with the people of Vietnam rather than the war makers. This episode explores the real Ali - a fighter against racism, colonialism and war. We explore why Muhammad Ali was unlike all others. Upon his death the powers that be are attempting to whitewash Mohammed Ali's real legacy. Loud & Clear's guests set the record straight.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker talks with Zafar Bangash, Director of the Toronto-based Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought, on the military actions to liberate Raqqa and Aleppo. The Syrian Army and a Kurdish-dominated coalition supported by U.S. airstrikes proclaim that they are both advancing on Raqqa, the headquarters of the so-called Islamic State. But are the two sides coordinating their efforts, or pursuing far different agendas?The U.S. Navy has ordered its personnel confined to their bases in Japan after people in the militarily-occupied Japanese island of Okinawa rise up to demand the ouster of the US military base that has occupied their homeland for the past seventy one years. US military personnel have killed or injured civilians in a long string of incidents. Mass protests are underway. But is the Japanese government listening? Becker is joined by Eric Draitser, political analyst and founder of Stop Imperialism and host ofCounterpunch Radio. More than five years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a young woman has spoken out about her thyroid cancer linked to the radiation. Just how many young people have cancer as a result of the disaster, and are steps being taken to insure that similar incidents don’t happen anywhere else in the world? Becker is joined by Kevin Kamps, the Radiation Watchdog at the Beyond Nuclear organization.

On today's special episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker is joined for the full hour by Kevin Akin, the state secretary of the California Peace & Freedom Party; and by Dennis Bernstein, co-host of the Flashpoints radio show on KPFA Pacifica in Berkeley. Becker is also joined by Jane Cutter, the editor of LiberationNews.org website; and Gloria La Riva, who yesterday won the 2016 presidential nomination of California's Peace and Freedom Party.Investigative reporter Dennis Bernstein reveals the extent of widespread voter fraud and irregularities that took place in California, and the entire panel takes up the prospects for Bernie Sanders and his supporters after Hillary Clinton's big victory in California and elsewhere. What was the impact of all the mainstream media announcing that Clinton had clinched the nomination on the eve of the primary -- even though that announcement was based on a poll rather than an actual vote of the delegates?

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker previews tonight's primaries. With California and five other states voting today, Hillary Clinton is hoping to claim victory as the Democratic nominee. However, Bernie Sanders has vowed that he will fight on to the Democratic convention, which he says will be contested. Is it Bernie or Bust -- no matter what? Author and political cartoonist Ted Rall joins Becker to discuss what happens next for Sanders and his supporters. Unemployment data shows the number of people out of work in the U.S. has fallen to 4.7 percent...or has it? Numbers released last week show that 38,000 jobs were added in May, but do these figures really take into account the true number of people out of work or who have given up looking for work? Becker is joined from London by economist and author Steven Keen. NATO is set to begin its largest war games of the year today. The “Anakonda” exercises start in Poland with over 31,000 NATO troops including 14,000 Americans taking part. Taking place a month before the NATO Summit in Warsaw, what message are these war games meant to send? Joining Becker are political analysts John Wight and Daniel McAdams.

On today's special episode of Loud & Clear dedicated to the Afghanistan War, host Brian Becker is joined for the full hour by Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, the former Chief of Staff to then Secretary of State Colin Powell; Dilip Hiro, author of Apocalyptic Realm: Jihadists in South Asia, and Kathy Kelly, peace activist and co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence.Nearly fifteen years after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, war continues to rage on in the country and nearly 10,000 U.S. troops remain. We talk about the human costs of endless war, shifting geo-strategic calculations of the U.S., what really drives US foreign policy, drones and air strikes, including the recent killing of the Taliban’s leader Mullah Mansoor in Pakistan, and the unintended consequences of a U.S. foreign policy based on militarism, endless war, corporate profiteering and hubris.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker is joined from Berlin by journalist William Whiteman to discuss Turkey's decision to recall its ambassador after Germany’s Parliament voted to recognize the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Turkish President Erdogan has said the vote will have serious consequences for relations with Germany. Will this resolution derail the EU-Turkey refugee deal?Foreign ministers meet in Paris for talks aimed to resuming the Middle East peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis. But is this about peace or a fig-leaf for the status quo of Palestinian displacement? Becker is joined by peace activist and author Miko Peled and independent political analyst Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich. President Obama addressed the graduating class of the Air Force Academy yesterday. Now in his final year in office, what is the true legacy of Obama’s military and foreign policy 8 years after he campaigned as an anti-war candidate? Political analyst and author Eugene Puryear joins Becker.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker is joined by investigative journalist Andy Worthington to discuss the state of the Guantanamo Bay detention center as one of its most well known detainees receives a court hearing today. However, as Mohamedou Ould Slahi has his day in court, his brother was barred from entering the United States. Will Obama's promise to close Guantanamo come to pass before he leaves office next January?Brazil sees more protests demanding the removal of acting President Michel Temer. As impeached President Dilma Rousseff's supporters take the streets and the new government shows signs of cracking, will the slow motion coup against the Workers Party be brought to a halt? Becker is joined by Aline C. Piva and Juliana Moraes of Brazilian Expats for Democracy. Another poll shows that Americans consider both the Democratic and Republican primary systems to be deeply unfair, including the system of closed off primaries and super delegates. Is the system completely rigged? Political analysts Kazembe Balagun and Eugene Puryear join Becker to discuss just how undemocratic America's voting system is.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker looks at the new military operation to "liberate" Fallujah from ISIS, twelve years after the U.S.Marines made the entire city a kill zone. 50,000 civilians are trapped in the city and a human catastrophe looms. Who do the people fear more -- ISIS or the United States and its Iraqi allies? Joining Becker to discuss the latest assault on Fallujah in western Iraq is Nicolas J.S. Davies,author of Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq, as well as Ryan Endicott, a US Marine veteran who took part in the occupation of Ramadi in 2003, and is now an anti-war activist.Tensions flare between the European Union and the United States over the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or TTIP. John Hilary, executive director of War on Want, joins Becker to talk about if the latest revelations reveal that world's largest free trade deal is being derailed by a growing mass movement.France bracing for a wave of strikes this week as the streets have been aflame with anger over the government’s new labour reform law. As the country is running low on fuel, will the country completely grind to a halt? Will President Hollande give in to the protesters’ demands? Becker is joined by Steve Hedley, the assistant general secretary of the RMT Union in Britain who was in France last week in solidarity with the protests.

On today's special episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker is joined for the full hour by NSA Whistleblower William Binney who examines the inner workings of the U.S. police state in the light of the latest revelations that a senior official in the Pentagon's Inspector General's office, John Crane, was forced out of his job because he opposed the Pentagon and FBI's war against whistleblowers. The recent revelations confirm that whistleblowers who use legal channels to report fraud, abuse, corruption or criminality by intelligence agencies are all routinely targeted for retribution, prosecution and imprisonment. Binney explains how this system of retribution has grown worse during the past seven years of the Obama Administration. The latest revelations confirm that Edward Snowden had no chance of exposing massive, illegal NSA spying through "normal" channels.

On today's special episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker traces the origins of Memorial Day, a federal holiday marked today commemorating those who have died serving in the U.S. armed forces. While the day is used to remember the terrible sacrifice of those killed in war it is also used by politicians to pump out support for militarism and uncritical support for all U.S. wars past and present, few know that in fact the holiday’s origins are in the fight against slavery. How did Decoration Day become Memorial Day, and what was the reason for its hijacking? Becker is joined for the full hour by Michael Prysner, a U.S. Marine veteran who served in Iraq; Ben Becker, an editor of Liberation newspaper; and by Eugene Puryear, activist and author of “Shackled and Chained: Mass Incarceration in Capitalist America”.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker is joined by international affairs and security analyst Mark Sleboda to discuss how war games continue on Russia's doorstep, as 13 NATO countries send 10,000 troops to participate in military drills in the Baltics starting today. Yet NATO still calls Russia the aggressor. What do these military exercises mean ahead of July's NATO Summit in Warsaw?President Obama will visit Hiroshima today, nearly 71 years after the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on the city. But the White House says there will not be an apology. What’s the point of the trip then? To discuss why the US dropped the atomic bomb and today's global nuclear arsenals, Becker is joined by Ward Wilson, Senior Fellow and Director of the Rethinking Nuclear Weapons Project at the British American Security Information Council, and Charles Pelligrino, author of the book, To Hell and Back: The Last Train From Hiroshima.Israel now has the most right wing government in its history as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appoints Avigdor Lieberman as defense minister and brings his political party into the governing coalition. What does Lieberman's appointment mean for the viability of the Palestinian peace process? Becker is joined by Joel Braunold, Executive Director of the Alliance for Middle East Peace, to discuss the "unpredictability" of this power play.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker is joined by Eric Draitser political analyst and founder of Stop Imperialism, to discuss the start of the G7 Summit in Japan.Thousands of Japanese people are in the streets demanding the US remove its military bases. But what’s the real agenda of the G-7? The refugee crisis, war in Syria, the ongoing struggle in the Ukraine. Why does the G-7 still exist? A State Department internal audit criticized Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she was Secretary of State, claiming Clinton had not sought permission to use it. This comes just days after 17 veterans of the US intelligence community wrote an open letter to President Obama, urging him to expedite the FBI review of Clinton’s security violations so the public will have access to the report.Does this new audit mean Hillary Clinton will face legal consequences? Becker is joined by former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, one of the signers of the letter from Veterans Intelligence Professionals for Sanity to President Obama.Turkey’s President Erdogan has threatened to block the deal with the European Union on refugees if the bloc does not grant visa-free travel to Turkish citizens. Will competing agendas between EU powers and Turkey sink the deal. Kemal Okuyan, journalist and regular contributor to Turkey's Sol newspaper, joins Becker to discuss what Erdogan wants and what the EU demands.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker is joined by journalist and author Daniel Lazare to look at President Obama's arrival in Japan tomorrow just days after thousands of residents in Okinawa protested against the rape of a Japanese woman by a former U.S. Marine. The Japanese people want these bases closed, and protests are growing. Will these voices be seriously heard when Obama meets Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the G7?

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker is joined by Dr. Alexander Vuving, security analyst and professor at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii, totake a look at President Obama's announcement that the U.S. is finally ending the five decades old arms embargo against Vietnam. As tensions continue to mount in the South China Sea, is the real reason for the change to counter the growth of China?The Iraqi Army has announced the beginning of an offensive to retake Fallujah from the so-called Islamic State. Fallujah was the first city to fall to Daesh in 2014. But is this "liberation" or more suffering for a city that the US military levelled in 2004? Becker is joined by Iraqi-American political analyst Raed Jarrar of the American Friends Service Committee.The second officer charged in the death of Freddie Gray, Edward Nero, has been found not guilty of all four misdemeanor charges. Will justice ever be served in the death of Gray that triggered last year’s uprising in Baltimore? Eugene Puryear, activist and author, joins Becker to discuss the next steps in the movement for justice for Freddie Gray.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, host Brian Becker is joined for the full hour by John McAfee, technology entrepreneur and privacy advocate to discuss his run for the nomination as the Libertarian Party candidate for President of the United States. John McAfee, the founder of the McAfee Associates anti-virus company and current CEO of MGT Capital Investments, shares his views on privacy, civil liberties, and why he’s running for the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. In this in-depth interview, McAfee explains why he thinks both major party candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, present "faux alternatives of style over substance.” He explains his view that both the Republicans and Democrats have corrupted democracy for the benefit of the military industrial complex. McAfee also discusses his opposition to the Obama administration's efforts for "back doors" to tech companies products like Google and Apple's encryption software. McAfee's explains his view on immigration and why the US should adopt an open borders policy.