The United States was scheduled for its regular review of its human rights violations by the United Nations Human Rights Council on November 7, but it refused to cooperate. As part of the process, activists in the US submitted a shadow report last April called "The Rights to Life and Health: How financing affects the right to health care in the US." Clearing the FOG speaks with Martha "Marti" Schmidt, a human rights expert and activist, about the findings in the shadow report, the legal basis supporting the human right to health care, the problems with the current healthcare system in the United States and what type of system would honor our right to health care. Schmidt also discusses successful healthcare systems in other countries and the importance of showing solidarity with countries that are targeted by the United States. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The United Nations Conference of Parties (COP) is holding its annual meeting in Brazil this year for the 30th time. Despite the creation of the Paris Climate Agreement nearly ten years ago, carbon emissions continue to rise, and the world is now experiencing the impacts of the 1.5° Celsius rise in temperature we sought to avoid. The time has come to shift our thinking and actions to what we can do locally to prepare for and protect our communities from the dangers of the climate crisis. Clearing the FOG speaks with Ed Jarvis, the leader of the Climate Majority Project's SAFER (Strategic Adaptation for Emergency Resilience) campaign. Jarvis discusses the campaign's efforts to bring greater awareness to the need for adaptation and shares what people are doing with a focus on climate justice. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The Syrian government under Bashar Al-Assad was so successfully demonized by Western imperialist media and governments that many celebrated when Assad was overthrown last December, even though the new puppet government was led by the extremist Al Nusra Front, an Al Qaeda terrorist group. Now, Syria is balkanized and the government is implementing forced displacement and ethnic cleansing. Clearing the FOG speaks with Dan Kovalik, co-author with Jeremy Kuzmarov of "Syria: Anatomy of Regime Change," about the long history of US interference in Syria, dating back to the 1946 coup, how the recent coup appeared to happen so rapidly and the current situation in Syria, as well as the impact of these events on the region. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The US military is the greatest threat to the planet, not just for the violence that it commits but also for its carbon emissions and environmental destruction. Clearing the FOG speaks with Abby Martin about her new documentary, Earth's Greatest Enemy, which exposes the harm caused by the military. Martin and her spouse, Mike Prysner, traveled around the world to cover the damage caused by the military, the failure to hold the US military accountable, and the people resisting US foreign military bases. Martin also discusses the military's greenwashing efforts. This program includes a portion of a previous interview with Mike Prysner recorded at the beginning of this project. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

There are more than 5,400 data centers in the United States, which is almost half of the number of data centers worldwide. In the past four years, there has been a surge in data center construction, particularly in poor communities in the South. Clearing the FOG speaks with Jai Dulani of Media Justice, who authored a new report: The People Say No: Resisting Data Centers in the South, and Kali Akuno of Cooperation Jackson, about the harms that these centers are causing in local communities, particularly in their enormous consumption of water and energy, and the risk they pose to the US economy. Akuno also addresses the bigger picture of the deleterious impact of artificial intelligence on our lives. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The United States has been escalating its attacks on Venezuela and has been positioning itself this year for a military invasion. The Venezuelan government recently requested action by the United Nations because it has good reason to believe that an attack is imminent. To understand the current threats and how Venezuela is preparing to defend itself, Clearing the FOG speaks with Roger Harris, a co-founder of the Venezuela Solidarity Network and member of the board of the Task Force of the Americas, as well as other Latin American solidarity organizations. Harris explains how the US has been trying to overthrow the Venezuelan government for decades, why Venezuela is a target of Washington and what people can do to try to stop an invasion. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

This week marks two years since the launch of Al Aqsa Flood and the beginning of the Israeli Occupying Forces' escalated genocide of Palestinians and forced displacement throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Clearing the FOG speaks with former senior United Nations official, human rights lawyer Craig Mokhiber, about the United Nations leadership's recent efforts to suppress criticism of Israel, which led to his resignation, and the failure to take effective action to stop Israel's crimes. Mokhiber discusses the history of the United Nations, what the General Assembly can do to hold Israel accountable and, given the failures of the UN to uphold international law, what people are doing to support Palestinian liberation. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

On September 8, the Trump Administration launched 'Operation Midway Blitz to increase the number ICE raids on immigrant communities in Chicagoland. As director of the Casa DuPage Workers Center, Cristobal Cavazos, explains to Clearing the FOG, this initially led to widespread feelings of fear by residents, but organizers turned that into power by creating rapid response teams throughout the region to alert people when ICE comes to their neighborhoods and confront the ICE agents. The teams also do outreach and hand out Know Your Rights information to community members. A growing coalition of immigrants' rights, faith, and other groups is holding protests daily, including at the Broadview detention center, despite the officers attacking demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets. Cavazos describes how activists throughout the country are sharing information and resources and why it is critical to be in the streets right now. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

From September 21 (International Peace Day) to October 2 (International Day of Nonviolence), there will be more than five thousand nonviolent actions happening around the world coordinated by Campaign Nonviolence. The focus this year is promoting nonviolence toward self, others, world and earth. Clearing the FOG speaks with author and activist Rivera Sun, who assists in organizing the actions, about the many types of violence people experience every day and how to move from a culture steeped in war to one of peace. Sun discusses the power of nonviolence, the growing interest in how to practice it and the global shift that is occurring to build a more peaceful society. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The situation with respect to the climate crisis is developing rapidly. Each new study seems to bring worse news. In addition, the media is rife with climate denial and misinformation. To help us understand what is happening on this planet, Clearing the FOG speaks with environmental journalist Robert Hunziker. Hunziker follows climate studies published in scientific journals and translates them into a language the average person can understand. He reports that top scientists are saying there has been a fundamental shift in the climate. Rainforests and tundras are now spewing carbon instead of sequestering it, and the oceans have reached their capacity for storing the planet's heat. Cascading weather events are making areas of the world uninhabitable. For More information, visit PopularResistance.org.