Leid Stories

Leid Stories—It’s ‘Free Your Mind Friday!’ Let’s Hear What You Have to Say!—12.02.16

It’s our weekly open forum, “Free Your Mind Friday,” on Leid Stories, and you’re invited to share your astute observations and analysis of the issues and events that shaped the week, or on any subject you consider worthy of further discussion or debate.

Call 888-874-4888 and let’s hear what you have to say!

Leid Stories—TrumpWorld Shapes Up. Scared Yet?—12.01.16

President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet and top-staff picks so far are an interesting lot and a strong indication of where he and his new administration—and, by extension, the rest of us—are headed.

The “Dream Team” he has been assembling since winning the election is a mostly-white-male collection of billionaires, global financiers and corporatists, well-connected political-insider retreads, military/intelligence war hawks, and God-and-country nativists bent on returning America to its “values,” and choice denizens from the political “swamp” Trump has sworn to drain.

Scared yet?

Leid Stories says the signs are already on the wall that we’re in for a long, bruising fight against oligarchy. Are we ready? 

Leid Stories—Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz: —11.30.16

Reversing the victorious “Caravan of Freedom” march he and his revolutionary forces made toward Havana after defeating the U.S.-backed Fulgencio Batista in 1959, the cremated remains of national hero Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, who died Nov. 25 at the age of 90, are being taken from Havana to Santiago de Cuba for final rites Dec. 4. The two-day trek, about 560 miles, will give Cubans along the length of most of the country the opportunity to pay their respects, officials said.

Castro’s leadership of the Republic of Cuba (as prime minister from 1959 to 1976, and as president from 1976 to 2006) shook up the world—causing political, economic and even military alignments and realignments North and South, East and West, while supporting humanitarian efforts and anti-imperialist and independence movements especially in the developing world.

Drawing on their own personal experience, Leid Stories listeners discuss the impact Castro and Cuba have had on them.

Leid Stories—Foreign Governments, Questioning Legitimacy of Clinton Foundation Programs They Had Funded, Seek Millions in Refunds—11.30.16

The saga of the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation continues, and Leid Stories reports the latest developments.

Several foreign governments that generously had donated hundreds of millions of dollars to the foundation to fund many of its “charitable” programs around the world want their money back and are taking legal action to get it. Their action could be a fatal blow to the foundation.

Documents and reports recently submitted to the IRS by the foundation—after two extensions—still are not complete, and again omit detailed accounting for all money received and how it was spent.

Although President-Elect Donald Trump appears to have flip-flopped on his pre-election demand for a federal criminal investigation of the Clintons and their foundation, Leid Stories has learned that one is ongoing anyway, and key players in the outgoing Obama administration are working feverishly to intercede in the Clintons’ behalf before Trump takes office.

Charles Ortel, the recognized expert on the Clinton Foundation and credited with exposing it as “the largest unprosecuted charity fraud in history,” explains the significance of these and related developments.

Leid Stories—After Fidel, the Future of Anti-Imperialist Struggle—11.28.16

The death Nov. 25 of Fidel Castro, the revolutionary former president of Cuba, has further winnowed the already sparse ranks of leaders who were the vanguard of resistance to global imperialism and colonialism. Many of the “new” generation of leaders thought it futile to stand up to world powers or eagerly traded wholesale pillaging of their people and their nations’ resources for private, personal gain.

Castro, in for the long haul, was both inspiration and help to other struggling nations trying to throw off the yoke of foreign domination and oppression, and a reviled thorn in the side of countries (particularly the United States) that were determined to bring Cuba to heel through blockades, sanctions, military threats (including of nuclear war), and attempted invasions and assassinations. Castro and Cuba survived. President Obama’s announcement in 2014 that the U.S. will seek normalization of relations with Cuba after 50 years was a sign that the superpower was no match for Cuba’s determination about its sovereignty.

Castro’s death, therefore, marks a milestone—not only in Cuba’s evolution as a nation. But also in global movements against hegemony.

Historian and political scientist Dr. Gerald Horne discusses the vital role that Castro, Cuba and the revolution have played and might continue to play in global struggles against colonialism/imperialism.

Horne, the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston and prolific author of more than 30 books and 100 scholarly papers on struggles against imperialism, colonialism, fascism and racism, regularly decodes complex social, political and economic issues on Leid Stories. 

Leid Stories—Give Thanks! No Turkeys on ‘Free Your Mind Friday!’--11.25.16

So here we are, the day after Thanksgiving, with a different kind of feast. Bring your own dish, even delicious leftovers, that everyone can share. But please, no turkey.

Take your seat at the table. Enjoy generous helping of information, opinions and ideas, and the company of really nice people.

The event, sponsored by Leid Stories’ “Free Your Mind Friday,” is free, but you must make reservations at 888-874-4888.

Leid Stories—We’ve Been Here, and Been Warned, Before—11.23.16

At a Congressional Black Caucus-sponsored town hall meeting on Sept. 22, 2005, Harry Belafonte, human rights activist and a member of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s inner circle, excoriated the political establishment, and especially the Democratic Party, for creating a political, social, economic and moral crisis in America and in many parts of the world. The people, he said, must play a central role in setting things right through political action. Blacks supporting the party, he said, was like “integrating into a burning house.”

This speech is particularly noteworthy, as Belafonte was flanked by two high-profile Democrats who were U.S. senators at the time and had their eyes set on the White House—Barack Obama was on Belafonte’s right; Hillary Clinton on his left.

Leid Stories’ listeners deconstruct Belafonte’s speech and its relevance to our current situation.

Leid Stories—No Defense Is An Offense: The People Are Left to Fend for Themselves Against Corruption, Imminent Fascism (Part 2)—11.22.16

With more calls than time to accommodate them, Leid Stories extends yesterday’s discussion so listeners can express their views.

Leid Stories - No Defense Is An Offense: The People Are Left to Fend for Themselves Against Corruption, Imminent Fascism—11.21.16

Trump World is here, and it’s not pretty. The president-elect is shaping up his Cabinet, selecting as nominees careerists mostly of a military/national security/law-enforcement/ultraconservative/super Christian/racist bent, most of them stodgy white men who, like their patron, yearn to implement policies that will “make America great again.” That was/is dog-whistle talk from Donald Trump signaling his base of support that their objects of rage and derision would also be his; his will be a term of settling scores.

As Trump’s withering promises and threats come closer to reality, there appears to be little or no political defense for the masses of people who voted against him and his policies—whether through the Democratic or independent “third” parties. Is this confirmation that Trump’s triumph is indeed total?

Leid Stories—Bring Your Perspective to the Conversation! It’s ‘Free Your Mind Friday’ on Leid Stories!—11.18.16

You’re cordially invited to join us for our weekly open forum, where discussion and debate about the issues of the day aren’t just features of the show, but the show.

Present your ideas and opinions to an audience eagerly waiting to hear them and respond. Fear ye not, we’re a friendly, well-mannered, even-tempered bunch.

Call 888-874-4888 and join us for an hour of the best talk in “talk radio.”