Series Podcast: Unusual Sources

The Canadian book launch of "Extraordinary Threat: The U.S. Empire, the Media, and Twenty Years of Coup Attempts in Venezuela." Joe Emersberger and Justin Podur apply media analysis to the absurd claims that Venezuela represents an "extraordinary threat" to the United States, or that 'Chavizmo' transformed "once prosperous" Venezuela into a poorhouse. The U.S. desire to intervene in oil-rich Venezuela means that it needs to construct narratives to justify intervention. These self-serving stories denigrate the achievements in poverty reduction of the Bolivarian Revolution, while minimizing the U.S. role in disrupting the Venezuelan economy and civil society. Particular attention is given to "human rights organizations" such as Amnesty International, who minimize the effect of U.S. encirclement and coup-promotion, instead preferring to "referee" a supposedly level-playing-field in the country.

Brendan interviews veteran labour and anti-war activist Henry Evans-Tenbrinke about developments in Australia: There has been pushback by Australian labour, and also the Green Party, concerning the aggressive AUKUS military pact. Henry has submitted his own motion to Labour Council. There is a lot we can do in Canada to oppose the developing Cold War with China.

Rabbi David Mivasair provides some background on the events of the NDP convention concerning a resolution calling for an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. [Resolution 4-10-20]. He also discusses the growing threat to public discussion posed by the IHRA, including in Hamilton, and why it needs to be opposed.

Brendan describes the upcoming event, "Genocide in Xinjiang? A Discovery Zoom Panel." You can learn more, here: http://hamiltoncoalitiontostopthewar.ca/2021/03/15/xinjiang-event/

Activist and scholar of East Asian affairs K J Noh discusses the U.S. encirclement of China as a continuation of the 'War on Terror,' and the attempts to maintain U.S. hegemony in the face of increased economic integration in Asia. Noh examines the views and decisions of U.S. policy-makers concerning China, and how things unfolded into the aggressive attempt to 'contain' China. The U.S. desire to maintain unipolar global hegemony increases the risk of catastrophic warfare.

Although the Syrian government has succeeded in regaining much of its territory in opposition to a foreign-backed regime-change campaign, it faces a sustained campaign of crippling U.S. sanctions. Stephen Gowans points out that despite Syrian military successes against Contras and terrorists, the U.S. is determined to prevent Syria from regaining its footing. What is needed is greater international campaigning for the lifting of sanctions on Syria and other countries.

On August 31st, the Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War hosted a meet-and-greet via Zoom with Dimitri Lascaris. Lascaris, a journalist, lawyer, and activist, is currently running for the leadership of Canada's Green Party. Lascaris gave a 15-minute presentation about his values and goals, and was able to take many questions from interested participants. The full video, from which this recording is derived, is available here: https://youtu.be/fFzh8nrgQNQ

One day before the 75th Anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, Doug interviews Tamara Lorincz of Voice of Women for Peace on this tragic event and the need for Canada to sign the Treaty for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons. Canadian Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow, was a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for her work on this Treaty. Sadly, our Prime Minister would not meet with her, nor has he responded to her recent open letter. Tamara and Doug discuss Setsuko's letter, and the need for Canada to support nuclear abolition and sign on to the Treaty.

Aidan Jonah discusses his article in The Canada Files about the declining ability of Joshua Wong's Hong Kong political party to co-ordinate with foreign funders and planners under China's new legislation. Jonah argues that China is preventing a second Anglo colonization of China/HK by enacting new laws, and provides historical and contemporary context. Ultimately, many countries in the Global South empathize with China's situation, and have supported it at the United Nations.

Rick Sterling discusses his recent article about the 'Caesar sanctions.' In June, the U.S. introduced the "Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act," which is an intensification of sanctions against the beleaguered country. Sterling dismantles the sanctions and their justification: the original report was a propaganda exercise, and this will only intensify the burdens of Syrian civilians.