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Tuesday Aug 04, 2015
Tuesday Aug 04, 2015
Debt: The Creation of A Global Crisis
The forced, politically engineered bankruptcy of the City of Detroit has been an ongoing discussion on Leid Stories for almost two years. Its historic bankruptcy court filing, to discharge $18 billion in debts, still wreaks havoc with Detroiters, who now must live under the yoke of blistering austerity.
Detroit, however, was a template for almost 60 U.S. cities said to be on the brink of bankruptcy because of debt, as Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, grapples with an onerous debt of $73 billion.
But debt is a geopolitical contrivance, says Yanis Varoufakis, who on July 6 quit as finance minister in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government of Greece, opposing European Union, International Monetary Fund and bankers’ demands for drastic cutbacks to service the country’s debt obligations.
In a wide-ranging talk in Seattle three years ago, when he was an economics professor, Varoufakis deconstructs the myth of a global debt crisis.
Tuesday Aug 04, 2015
Tuesday Aug 04, 2015
Debt: The Creation of A Global Crisis
The forced, politically engineered bankruptcy of the City of Detroit has been an ongoing discussion on Leid Stories for almost two years. Its historic bankruptcy court filing, to discharge $18 billion in debts, still wreaks havoc with Detroiters, who now must live under the yoke of blistering austerity.
Detroit, however, was a template for almost 60 U.S. cities said to be on the brink of bankruptcy because of debt, as Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory, grapples with an onerous debt of $73 billion.
But debt is a geopolitical contrivance, says Yanis Varoufakis, who on July 6 quit as finance minister in Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government of Greece, opposing European Union, International Monetary Fund and bankers’ demands for drastic cutbacks to service the country’s debt obligations.
In a wide-ranging talk in Seattle three years ago, when he was an economics professor, Varoufakis deconstructs the myth of a global debt crisis.
Monday Aug 03, 2015
Monday Aug 03, 2015
Powerful Symbols, But Symbolism Isn’t Power
On Aug. 1, in Selma, Ala., the NAACP launched its “America’s Journey for Justice March”—a 40-day, 860-mile trek to the nation’s capital. The civil-rights organization’s president and CEO, Cornell William Brooks, said the march is meant to dramatize America’s persistent, race-based inequities
That same day in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., the National Urban League wrapped up its 2015 conference, themed “Save Our Cities: Education, Jobs & Justice.” President/CEO Marc H. Morial proudly announced the conference’s highlight—five 2016 presidential candidates speaking to the theme.
Leid Stories in a commentary asks why the NAACP and NUL, both in existence for more than 100 years, aren’t taking their own cues about their respective roles in supporting and maintaining the very system they profess to be fighting. A great deal of time, effort, energy, money and hope are invested in powerful symbols, but symbolism isn’t power, Leid Stories says.
Monday Aug 03, 2015
Monday Aug 03, 2015
Continue the Conversation—Or Start One—on “Free Your Mind Friday!”
What’s your take on the issues and events we’ve been discussing on Leid Stories?
But the field is wide open. Share your thoughts, information, opinions and ideas about anything worthy of further consideration and debate. It’s “Free Your Mind Friday,” and you get to take the conversation wherever you want it to go.
Call in (888-874-4888) and add your unique flavor to this delicious intellectual soup!
Thursday Jul 30, 2015
Thursday Jul 30, 2015
Haiti In Focus: 100 Years After U.S. Occupation; Chelsea Clinton Handles Family Business; Mass Deportations to Dominican Republic Loom; Pressure Mounts Against Hillary’s Personally Selected President
Veteran journalist Kim Ives, a prizewinning documentarian and editor of the news weekly Haïti Liberté, reports on four key developments in Haiti that not only affect Haitians and Haitians in the diaspora directly, but also point up the lethal consequences of predatory U.S. foreign policy toward the beleaguered nation.
Thursday Jul 30, 2015
Thursday Jul 30, 2015
The 2016 Duopoly Doo-Wop: Are They Singing Your Tune? (Part 2)
We pick up from where we left off with yesterday’s discussion on the 2016 presidential race and listeners’ reactions not only to how it’s shaping up, but how it’s shaping their political attitudes and decisions.
A crowded field of declared candidates—16 from the Republican Party and five Democrats so far—should offer a wide range of choice and some sign of hopefulness about the future. But Leid Stories’ “poll” of listeners is indicating otherwise.
The canvassing continues.
Thursday Jul 30, 2015
Thursday Jul 30, 2015
The 2016 Duopoly Doo-Wop: Are They Singing Your Tune?
Judging from news coverage, especially in recent weeks, the 2016 presidential election is in full swing—cast, as usual, as a two-party squareoff.
A crowded slate of 16 Republicans (so far) and a more modest one of five Democrats (so far) have been scouring the country looking for money and votes. To get both, they tout their “messages”—where they stand on issues relevant and important to their targeted constituencies.
Are they talking to you? That’s the question Leid Stories listeners discuss today.
Monday Jul 27, 2015
Monday Jul 27, 2015
Shared Agendas: Trump’s Media-Aided Meteoric Rise
In Memory of Sandra Bland: A Requiem for All of Us
Just six weeks after announcing his candidacy, Donald Trump is leading the pack of 16 Republican presidential contenders and closing in on Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, according to public-opinion polls.
Leid Stories explains Trump’s meteoric political rise.
Funeral services were held Saturday for Sandra Bland, the 28-year-old woman who was found dead in a jail cell in Waller County, Texas, on July 13, 2015, three days after being arrested for failing to signal when changing lanes. State and federal investigations into her death continue; local medical examiners, however, have said she died from “self-inflicted asphyxiation.”
Official focus predictably has centered on Bland’s alleged suicide to expunge itself of blame. But her death and the chain of events that led up to it are deeply rooted in a history we know all too well, says Leid Stories.
Friday Jul 24, 2015
Friday Jul 24, 2015
Hold On to Your Sanity! Free Your Mind!
It’s “Free Your Mind Friday” on Leid Stories—an open forum for the exchange of information, opinions and ideas.
Call in and share your insightful analysis of current news issues and events, or take the conversation wherever you want it to go.
The world’s most attentive and appreciative audience awaits you at 888-874-4888.
Thursday Jul 23, 2015
Thursday Jul 23, 2015
The Price of ‘Progress’: Justice Compromised, Delayed and Denied
U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch yesterday announced a 33-count federal indictment of Dylann Storm Roof, the 21-year-old white supremacist who on June 17 shot and killed nine church members and wounded three others during bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
Meanwhile, the family of Sandra Bland is contesting official reports that the 28-year-old woman hanged herself in a Waller County, Texas, jail cell after being arrested for switching lanes without signaling.
“Attorney at War” Alton H. Maddox Jr. takes issue with the official handling of these and other recent cases, pointing up longstanding flaws in American jurisprudence that maintain a two-tiered system of justice.