Leid Stories

Leid Stories - 12/10/13

Step Up and State Your Case! It’s Open Forum on Leid Stories!

 

Opine, debate, theorize, refute, declare, comment, oppose, criticize, proclaim, defend – whatever your sentiments about news issues and events (or something entirely different), bring them to Open Forum, the gathering place for the exchange of information, opinions and ideas, and share them with the sharpest minds on the planet.

You get to take the conversation wherever you want it to go. But be prepared for very close questioning, immediate reaction and countervailing points of view – offered with great respect, of course. 

Leid Stories - 12/09/13

 Dr. Lester Spence – Johns Hopkins University

Leid Stories - Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela: Tribute to A Freedom Fighter - 12/06/13

Leid Stories pays humble tribute to world citizen Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, whose passing on Dec. 5 globally is mourned.

 

Historian and author Dr. Gerald Horne puts into contemporary perspective the impact of this exceptional leader on freedom struggles in emerging nations caught in the vise of Western imperialism.

 

Listeners call in and “sign” a “Book of Remembrance” with their heartfelt testimonials. 

Leid Stories - 12/05/13

Five Years Later, Obama Discovers the Race-Class-Equality Nexus

 

On friendly turf (the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress think tank in Washington, D.C.) yesterday, President Obama waxed philosophic about deeply entrenched social and economic problems that require legislative action and political prodding, especially from the affected groups.

Even as he ticked off a list of high-priority items yet to be dealt with by an uncooperative Congress, the cruel irony was lost on him that neither he nor the Democratic Party had much to show for the heavy investment those constituencies have made in them.

The president’s core points are excerpted from his speech, and listeners disassemble them, as only Leid Stories’ politically astute listeners can.

Leid Stories - 12/04/13

Detroit: Court OKs Bankruptcy; Now, Who Pays the Price?

 

A federal judge’s stunning decision yesterday gave Detroit the go-ahead to declare bankruptcy and restructure its contested $18 billion in debt with more than 100,000 creditors.

Chad Livengood, Capitol reporter for The Detroit News, discusses the implications of Judge Stephen Rhodes’ decision for state and local government, especially regarding steep cutbacks in public services and employment, and the security of workers’ pensions.  

Activist Elena Herrada reports on reverberations at ground level and a renewed determination by Detroiters to fight against what they regard as a hostile takeover of their city.

Leid Stories - 12/03/13

Have An Opinion Worth Sharing?  Bring It to Open Forum!

 

Express yourself about issues and events having inordinate impact on our lives. 

Share your thoughts and opinions on Open Forum, where astute thinkers gather to exchange information, opinions and ideas.

Leid Stories - 12/02/13

Detroit Braces for A Hard Fall: An Insider’s View;

This Land’s Not Your Land: Aggressive Targeting of ‘Undesirables’

 

A bankruptcy judge is expected to deliver his decision tomorrow on the City of Detroit’s application to declare bankruptcy in order to restructure its reported $18 billion in debt and cover ongoing operating costs. If granted, it will be the largest municipal collapse in U.S. history.

Leid Stories’ guest Tom Barrow, former chairman of the state’s Board of Accountancy, says the city’s numbers simply don’t add up.

Israel’s Prawer-Begin plan to forcibly remove as many as 70,000 Arab Bedouins from their ancestral land in the Negev desert and corral them in “unrecognized” villages and towns triggered international protests over the weekend.

Leid Stories notes a disturbing global trend -- aggressive targeting of “undesirables” through displacement and deportation.

Leid Stories - 11/29/13

’Tis the Season for . . . A Kinder, Gentler Capitalism?

 

As sales calendars go, we’re officially in the holiday season, the time of year when U.S. consumer spending is prodded – by custom and huge advertising budgets -- to its peak. The holiday season accounts for between 20 percent and 40 percent of retailers’ annual sales.

Despite the downturn in the economy, the National Retail Federation is predicting that holiday sales will grow by 3.9 percent this year, to $602.1 billion. Human misery, but corporate profits.

Leid Stories ponders the theory by Raj Sisodia, a professor of global business, that capitalism can have a heart; it can be a win-win proposition. In fact, he says, several leading companies are proof that “conscious capitalism” works to the benefit of everyone.

Leid Stories - 11/27/13

Coming At You: A New Kind of Warfare;

A Simple Truth: Thanks Is Giving

 

Last week, Leid Stories reported the militarization of police departments all over the United States through a Defense Department program that arms them with military-grade equipment used for warfare. (See Archives, Nov. 21, 2013 program.)

Today, a former State Department chief strategist on counterterrorism and guerrilla warfare says that wars in the near future will be fought largely in sprawling coastal cities and in underdeveloped areas of the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Leid Stories observes the “National Day of Mourning” (aka Thanksgiving Day) with a contemplative dialogue on recalibrating ourselves to be useful agents of change in a dog-eat-dog, I’ve-got-mine-go-get-yours world.

Leid Stories - 11/26/13

Let’s Hear What You Have to Say! It’s Open Forum!

 

The world will be a far better place if you share your views on the issues of the day – and, if you’ve been keeping tabs, there’s no shortage of them.

Bring your best to “Open Forum” on Leid Stories, the gathering place for the exchange of information, opinions and ideas, and you’ll be rewarded with the respect and fellowship of deep thinkers.