Leid Stories

Across the U.S., Police-Killing Cases Extremely Slow to Justice  Six 'Debates,' But Are They Talking About What Really Matters?Developments in several cases involving police killings point to a historic problem and pattern—the inordinately long time such cases take to investigate and prosecute, and the unusually high failure rate in securing indictments and convictions.The Republicans have had four of them; the Democrats, two. But are the superhyped QA sessions (Leid Stories refuses to call them "debates"), hosted by various media entities, really educating the public about what's at stake in the 2016 presidential election? Listeners cast their votes on the issue.

Terror, Terrorism, Terrorists: The State and Race-Based Psychological WarfareElection 2016: Six 'Debates' and What Do We Know About What Really Matters?It is indisputable, and universally agreed, that last Friday's multi-location attacks in Paris that left more than 130 people dead and hundreds of others wounded was an act of terror. It is also indisputable, however, that not all acts of terror are classified as such, and yet we seem to "know" what a terrorist is and what qualifies as an act of terrorism. How is this done? Leid Stories explains.The Republicans have had four of them; the Democrats, two. But are the superhyped QA sessions (Leid Stories refuses to call them "debates"), hosted by various media entities, really educating the public about what's at stake in the 2016 presidential election? Listeners cast their votes on the issue.

Backlash: Terrorist Attacks in Paris Unleash Islamophobia in U.S.Tariq Ali: A Prescient Lecture on What We Can Learn from TerroristsIt didn’t take long. Just four days after the terrorist attacks in Paris, and anti-Muslim sentiment has taken hold in the United States, with high-profile politicians leading the backlash.Activist, polemicist and author Tariq Ali offers a prescient overview of terrorism and what we can learn from it.

Terrorist Attacks in Paris and the Rise of the Orwellian State;Democratic 2016 Candidates Go Blank on Foreign Policy and Rise of ISISFrench journalist Gilbert Mercier, cofounder and editor in chief of the independent online magazine News Junkie Post, says that Friday’s terrorist attacks in Paris that claimed the lives of more than 130 people will be used by France and other global powers to justify unprecedented authoritarian rule. Mercier recently published The Orwellian Empire.The second QA session (not “debate”) with Democratic presidential hopefuls Saturday—featuring former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley—astutely avoided making any connection between U.S. foreign policy and the rise of ISIS.

Fight the Power! Frustrate the System! Free Your Mind!Welcome to the best peer-education program on the planet—Leid Stories’ “Free Your Mind Friday.” It’s an open forum for the exchange of information, opinions and ideas; analytical thinking is the star of the show.Share your intellectual wealth. Call in (888-874-4888) and help us all fight the power and frustrate the system by freeing our minds!

Thousands Protest ‘Electoral Coup’ in Haiti; Detroit’s Schools Failing Miserably; The Season of Grassroots Action?The results of the first round of Haiti’s Oct. 25 national elections, widely viewed as rigged to favor current President Michele Martelly’s candidates, have touched off a series of protests and deadly clashes between rival groups. Kim Ives, a co-founder and editor of the international weekly newspaper Haïti Liberté, reports.Under state-imposed management, Detroit’s public schools are performing dismally, with 96 percent of eight-graders found not proficient in math and 93 percent not proficient in reading. Elena Herrada, a “member-in-exile” of the Detroit School Board and an activist with Detroiters Resisting Emergency Management, discusses the grassroots uphill battle for quality education for the city’s mostly poor children.Two days after fast-food workers staged demonstrations across the nation calling a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights, students are taking to the streets today with a Million Student March demanding relief from student-loan debt, tuition-free colleges and a minimum wage for campus workers. Is this the season of grassroots political action?

On Veterans Day, A Reminder of Our Shared DutyOn April 4, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a keynote address at Riverside Church in New York City “to make a passionate plea to my beloved nation,” he said. Ending the Vietnam War was at front and center of that plea, as was a list of domestic social-justice issues that persisted because of it.On this day, as the nation observes Veterans Day, Leid Stories recalls the admonitions of Dr. King about war and the consequence of war, and our shared duty to check through civic action the propensities of the government to recklessly engage in war.

At the University of Missouri, Truly A ‘Teachable Moment’ About PowerFerguson, Missouri, Looks to Restore Trust with ‘Old-Style’ PolicingA weeklong hunger strike by University of Missouri graduate student Jonathan Butler  was the catalyst for broader action against an administration that repeatedly failed to address complaints of racism and discrimination at the flagship Columbia campus. The students’ demands were met yesterday with the resignations of President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor  R. Bowen Loftin. It’s a teachable moment, says Leid Stories.Meanwhile, about 120 miles away, the City of Ferguson says it’s trying to bridge longstanding rifts between the community and police that exploded after 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot dead on Aug. 9 last year by Officer Darren Wilson. Interim Police Chief Andre Anderson began making the rounds to community groups last weekend with the good news of “old-style” policing.

Netanyahu’s Back. This Time He’s Looking to Bag $40 Billion in Free MoneyHe’d brazenly interfered in U.S. domestic affairs when he hijacked a joint session of Congress on March 3 to urge legislators to scuttle U.S. and international negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program. He and several of his senior advisers have spoken, and continue to speak, rather disparagingly of President Barack Obama and his administration. But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s back in Washington today, and he’s looking for a $40-billion handout in military aid.

Make Room for New Stuff! Free Your Mind!Listeners share information, opinions and ideas in a lively open forum that encourages analytical thinking.Have something you’d like to contribute? Call in (888-874-4888) and free your mind!