Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law
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Israel’s Unfolding Crime of Genocide of the Palestinian People & U.S. Failure to Prevent and Complicity in Genocide
We’re now in week four of Israel’s massive military assault against the people of Gaza and the West Bank, which began in response to Hamas’s brutal attacks in Southern Israel on Oct. 7th, which killed 1,400 people and resulted in more than 200 people being taken hostage.
Israel contends the military bombardments are justified as self-defense. But others, such as Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, insist that although the attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7 were “appalling,” Israel’s “collective punishment” of civilians cannot be justified under humanitarian laws.
Worse, according to the global charity Save the Children, in the past three weeks, more children have been killed in Gaza than in all of the world’s conflicts combined in each of the past three years. Defense for Children International-Palestine reported that 40% of the Palestinians killed in Gaza are children, and that as of October 30, Israeli forces have killed at least 3,450 kids, and over 1,000 more are missing.
On October 18, 2023, the Center for Constitutional Rights (also known as CCR) published an emergency legal briefing called, Israel’s Unfolding Crime of Genocide of the Palestinian People & U.S. Failure to Prevent and Complicity in Genocide. The 44-page document provides a sobering legal and historical analysis of the current situation in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
We are so grateful to have with us two members of CCR’s legal team working on the legal analysis of genocide.
Guest – Astha Sharma Pokharel, CCR staff attorney who specializes in international humans rights and in challenging racial and environmental injustice, and has represented individuals targeted for their Palestine solidarity advocacy.
Guest – Sadaf Doost, an attorney and Bertha Justice Fellow at CCR. Sadaf focuses on human rights in the context of Afghanistan and Palestine, and challenges unlawful detentions at Guantánamo Bay and environmental racism in Cancer Alley.
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Class Action Anti-Trust Case Against Metropolitan Museum of Art
George Grosz was a German artist whose work very effectively satirized the new Nazi regime in Germany for the thugs and buffoons that they were. As a consequence, he was forced to flee to New York City, where he taught for many years at the prestigious Art Student League. Our guest today, Bob Cenedella, was his student and later a teacher at the league. Like his mentor, Bob Cenedella is a political person and a fine artist. His work has not been acquired by any museum. Nor does he have representation by a gallery.
Five years ago Cenedella brought a class action anti-trust lawsuit against the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art and others in New York City. The basis of his lawsuit brought on behalf of himself and others, was that the museums, along with the galleries and auction houses control the art market and made it almost impossible for artists who expressed political sensibilities to be recognized or adequately compensated.
In his lawsuit, Cenedella says that “ I, firmly believe it has become my duty and responsibility to expose, what I believe to be, the corporate museum cartel for the role they play in the manipulation of the overall art market. The system today – put in place by galleries, auction houses, and art critics– has nothing to do with talent, development of skill, or maturation of the art world. I am taking extreme, legal measures – suing the museums – not just for myself, but for the innumerable other deserving artist as well.” Contemporary art has become a “Con”and “temporary .“
Guest – Robert Cenedella has been a member of the New York City contemporary art scene for more than four decades. He studied with George Grosz at the Art Students League of New York where he taught for many years. Cenedella‘s art work, as M.K. Flavell writes in her biography of Georg Grosz. “Chronicles the every day life and the change in rituals and mythologies of sex, sports, art, politics, money, making in contemporary America, with a combination of imaginative, vitality, precision, and humor.“ His lawsuit was dismissed by a federal court in New York City. Contact : artmutt (at) aol (dot) com
Hosted by attorneys Michael Smith and Maria Hall
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights, Political Prisoner, Prison Industry, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister, Whistleblowers
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Trilateral Security Alliance Meet to Request Assange Extradition
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in Washington last week meeting with Joe Biden. They discussed AUKUS, the trilateral “security” alliance between the U.S., UK and Australia, which is a bulwark against the perceived threat from China. AUKUS seeks to transfer U.S. and British nuclear submarine technology to Australia. But Australia’s support for a potential U.S. war against China over Taiwan, which China considers part of China, is not a foregone conclusion.
Also reportedly on the agenda for the high-level meeting was the U.S. request for extradition of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is an Australian citizen. Assange has been held for four years in a high-security London prison. He is facing 175 years in prison if extradited, tried and convicted in the U.S. for charges under the Espionage Act for revealing evidence of U.S. war crimes.
Albanese and a multi-party coalition of the Australian parliament, as well as 90% of the Australian population, want the prosecution of Assange dropped. Assange’s freedom is “widely seen as a test of Australia’s leverage with the Biden administration,” according to the Associated Press.
AssangeDefense.org
Guest – Stephen Rohde, is an author and social justice advocate who practiced civil rights and constitutional law for more than 45 years, including representing two men on California’s death row. He is a founder and current chair of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, former chair of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and former national chair of Bend the Arc, a Jewish Partnership for Justice. He is also a board member of Death Penalty Focus and is active in the Los Angeles branch of Assange Defense. Steve is the author of an article published last week by LA Progressive titled, “Is Biden Willing to Damage Relations With a Staunch Ally Like Australia in His Headlong Prosecution of Julian Assange?”
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State Laws Governing Deep Fake Videos
Artificial intelligence-generated fake videos, known as “deepfakes,” have become increasingly prevalent and sophisticated. This technology manipulates both audio and visual elements to fabricate fictitious events. In 2019, Deeptrace, an AI firm, identified a total of 15,000 deepfake videos online. Shockingly, 96% of these were of a pornographic nature, with 99% involving the superimposition of female celebrities’ faces onto pornographic content, also known as “face-swapped pornography,” all done without the celebrities’ consent. However, it’s important to note that non-celebrities are also frequent targets of deepfake abuse. Particularly concerning is the fact that women are often singled out, with AI tools and apps readily available that enable users to digitally remove clothing from their photos or insert their faces into explicit videos. These tools are easily accessible and require no specialized technical skills. Equally troubling is the fact that most of the time the women who are deepfake targets are neither aware of nor consent to their images being used in this way.
Social media platforms have become fertile ground for deepfake scams. Deepfakes are employed for various malicious purposes, including gaining a political advantage, spreading fake news, and disseminating “revenge porn.” In the case of pornographic videos, offenders may use deepfakes to groom, harass, or extort their victims. Additionally, deepfakes can be utilized to bully individuals or steal their identities. It’s worth noting that, although AI-generated deepfakes can appear highly realistic, most of them exhibit certain inconsistencies. These may manifest as peculiar facial features, awkward placements, or unnatural postures and movements. Creating deepfakes is a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, which results in most of them being relatively short in duration.
The prevalence of deepfakes has grown significantly, more than doubling between 2022 and the first quarter of 2023. In response to this trend, the FBI issued a warning in 2023 about “sextortion schemes” in which criminals collect photos and videos from social media platforms to produce “sexually themed” deepfakes, which they then use to extort money from their victims.
Guest – Criminal defense attorney Nicholas Toufexis joins us to talk about the impact off deepfake pornography on victims and the current state of the law governing these videos. Nick is a partner in the Texas law firm Saputo Toufexis Criminal Defense.
Hosted by Attorneys Heidi Boghosian and Marjorie Cohn
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CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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Editorial By Attorney Heidi Boghosian: Facebook’s Duty to Protect WhatsApp
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FBI Evidence Demonstrates Saudi Arabia’s Involvement in September 11 Attacks
The events on September 11, 2001 were a crushing blow to democracy and the rule of law in our country. The attacks paved the way for two illegal wars, first the American war against Afghanistan and then Iraq. It open the way for the national security state to develop expansively and implement a vast surveillance program on American citizens.
The attack on the World Trade Center and on the Pentagon happened 20 years ago and in retrospect was a turning point in American history. Law And Disorder Radio was launched three years after that event. Our mission was to defend both democracy and the rule of law.
The attacks were a crime against humanity. But instead of treating them as a crime it was turned into an occasion to launch aggressive and illegal wars. The Nuremberg trials against the Nazis who started World War II defined aggressive war as the ultimate crime because it held within it all lesser crimes.
In our show today we examine the new evidence on who was responsible for the attacks on September 11, 2001. The new evidence is a six year old FBI report released on President Biden’s order last month. Biden was told by the families of the victims of 9/11 that unless this report was released he was not welcome at any of the memorial services.
The FBI report demonstrates the complicity of the government of Saudi Arabia in the attacks. It was two Saudi Arabian government officials that helped the first two hijackers when they came to America. They were given money and help to get into flight school. They then hijacked American Airlines plane and flew it into. Senator Bob Graham was the head of the Intelligence Committee that investigated what happened on September 11th, 2001. Whistle blower Thomas Drake was a top official at the National Security Agency.
Guest – Paul Jay is the editor of the blog the theanalysis.news. We will discuss with him the kind of movement that is needed to reverse the nuclear arms race as well as to bring about a democratic organization of the economy.
Hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian and Marjorie Cohn
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Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Human Rights, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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A Few Things Oppenheimer Leaves Out
The atomic bomb was developed by physicist, J, Robert Oppenheimer and his team in Los Alamos, New Mexico. It was dropped unnecessarily on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and August 8, 1945. It was a war crime.
The summer blockbuster bio-pic “Oppenheimer“ does not tell this truth to the tens of thousands of people who have gone to see the movie. Historians have established that it was not necessary to stop the war because the Japanese were ready to surrender. Therefore the justification that it saved American lives because troops would not have to fight on the Japanese mainland is false. These two premises, that’s the bomb was necessary, and that it save lives is a lie obscured then, and carried forward until today.
The Cold War against Russia started on August 6 and August 8, 1945 when the US dropped two nuclear weapons on two Japanese cities to scare the Russians. The movie does not show the effects of the nuclear bomb. Between 200 and 300,000 old people, children and women were instantly incinerated. Hundreds of thousands got sick and died from radiation poisoning.
Oppenheimer was a great physicist and a humanist. Although, not a member, he sympathized with the U.S. Communist Party because of their anti-fascism, anti-racism, and union building.
He had second thoughts about what he did in developing the bomb and told President Truman in a meeting at the White House that he felt like he had blood on his hands and that in the future, nuclear weapons should be placed under international controls. Truman threw him out of his office, calling him a crybaby. Because of his association with the Communist Party, Oppenheimer was red baited, denied a security clearance, and ruined. He died age 62, a broken man.
The danger of red baiting in our country now is quite high. Trump is running on a platform, calling for American born socialists to be deported. The US Congress, with the support of many Democrats, overwhelmingly voted for a resolution denouncing what is it called “ the horrors of Socialism.“ Andrew’s Substack article
Guest – Andrew Cockburn, Washington DC-based journalist and author of Spoils of War: Power, Profit, and the American War Machine. Verso Books 2021. Washington Editor at Harper’s Magazine
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Peace Movement Attacks And A Renewed War With Korea?
Many political commentators believe the driving force behind growing U.S. actions and hostility towards China are being carried out in preparation for war with China; war with China if China cannot otherwise be contained as it more and more challenges the might and global reach of the United States. Indeed, China already now has the second largest economy in the world and is on track to soon surpass that of the United States. A McCarthyite redbaiting hit piece on the front page of the New York Times on August 6th, against the peace group CODEPINK, and others who are organizing against the growing demonization of China, is a particularly troubling sign. So, we will ask our guest: is a war with China inevitable? Does not the fact that China, as well as the U.S., are nuclear weaponized nations make such a war unthinkable?
We will also ask our guest Ann Wright about Korea. Korea, with its claimed right to possess nuclear weapons, has also been the target of administrations from both parties. The Korean War ended in 1953. And yet thousands of U.S. troops are still stationed in South Korea and, of course, there is still no peace treaty, no true formal ending of the war, and so the country still remains divided. And those who advocate for peace in Korea are also sharply criticized and redbaited by the U.S. government, and in the press.
Is a renewed war with Korea also a possibility? Col. Wright is also a retired U.S. State Department official, known for her outspoken opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq. Ann Wright received the State Department Award for Heroism, in 1997, for helping to evacuate thousands of people during the war in Sierra Leone.
Guest – Ann Wright is a 29-year US Army/Army Reserves veteran, a retired United States Army colonel and retired U.S. State Department official, known for her outspoken opposition to the Iraq War. She received the State Department Award for Heroism in 1997, after helping to evacuate several thousand people during the civil war in Sierra Leone. She is most noted for having been one of three State Department officials to publicly resign in direct protest of the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Wright was also a passenger on the Challenger 1, which along with the Mavi Marmara, was part of the Gaza flotilla. She served in Nicaragua, Grenada, Somalia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Sierra Leone, Micronesia and Mongolia. In December, 2001 she was on the small team that reopened the US Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. She is the co-author of the book “Dissent: Voices of Conscience.” She has written frequently on rape in the military. VoicesofConscience
Hosted by attorneys Michael Smith, Jim Lafferty and Maria Hall
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CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Liberties, Human Rights, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
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The Coming War On China
Today we re-broadcast a recent interview we did with the great Australian journalist John Pilger about his film titled The Coming War On China. With the exception of a short break at the conclusion in 1975 of the Vietnamese war, the United States has been at war continually. The momentum of what President Eisenhower warned us against and described as being led by, “the military industrial complex” has been going on with successive wars against Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now the American proxy war in Ukraine. The military industrial complex has been augmented by support from the CIA, Congress, and the corporate media.
As Pilger demonstrates, the United States, is building up for a war against China. This build up is both military and ideological and shaped by hostile propaganda. In this respect, an alarming full page New York Times article, 11 weeks in the making, and written by seven reporters, appeared on August 5, 2023. The article targeted the American peace organization CODEPINK as well as one of its financial backers. It is a hit piece that has alarmed many of us in the movement. John Pilger gives us the background to it.
Guest – John Pilger covered that war as a young reporter and understood that it was based on the lie that Lyndon Johnson told falsely stating that the North Vietnamese had attacked an American ship in the Gulf of Tonkin. Another 1 million people died in the Iraq war That war was based on the now well known lie that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction that he was going to use against us and that he was responsible for 911. A similar campaign of fear mongering is going on now about China. The major news media parrot the government’s fact free line that China is our enemy. In his article “The Coming War With China” John Pilger wrote “a US war against China beckons and we have a responsibility to speak out. We know what is coming. Silence must be broken.”
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Greenwashing Climate Change
As the US presidential election season heats up, so too does the planet. July 2023 was the Earth’s hottest month on record, and as climate scientist Friederike Otto told the Associated Press, “We should not care about July because it’s a record, but because it won’t be a record for long. It’s an indicator of how much we have changed the climate. We are living in a very different world, one that our societies are not adapted to live in very well.”
Indeed, millions of people are suffering at this very moment because of extreme weather, including unrelenting, deadly heat. One might expect that during election season, presidential candidates would be champing at the bit to promote their fabulous plans to save human life on earth, or at least slow its demise, right? I mean, who else has so much influence over changing the course of history than the President of the United States? Well, on the GOP side, the presidential hopefuls have mostly ignored the climate crisis, and some even dismiss it outright as a left-wing hoax.
On the Democrats’ side, we have Joe Biden. Now Biden does not shy away from admitting we have a problem. He appeared for an exclusive interview on the Weather Channel last week, calling climate change the number one issue facing humanity, and that combating climate change is a “core tenet of his presidency.”
Well, it might be a core tenet – a core principle and belief – but has that translated into action? When push comes to shove, in the office of President – and before that in the office of Vice President – has Joe Biden done everything he can to save humanity? Or is he just stating the obvious, because it’s what he thinks that’s what voters want to hear, but is he in any rush to make changes that might alienate big oil and other corporate interests? And what about when he was Vice President, during the Obama administration, which set the stage for the Biden presidency? Do we even remember anymore?
Guest – Andrew Perez, not only remembers, but he has tracked and documented the forks in the road where the Obama Administration could have, but chose not to, take actions that could have slowed the warming of our planet. Andrew Perez is an investigative reporter and senior editor for The Lever, which was just awarded the 2023 Izzy Award for outstanding achievement by Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College for its relentless work “exposing the corrupting influence of corporate power on government and both major parties.” The Center specifically highlighted Andrew’s work for exposing the largest known political donation in U.S. history — Chicago businessman Barre Seid’s $1.6 billion dark money transfer to conservative operative Leonard Leo who served as Donald Trump’s judicial advisor. Andrew relentlessly pursues hypocrisy and corruption among all of the powers-that-be, wherever they fall on the political spectrum: left-right-or-center.
Hosted by attorneys Michael Smith and Maria Hall
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CIA Sponsored Terror, Civil Liberties, FBI Intrusion, Human Rights, U.S. Militarism, Violations of U.S. and International Law, War Resister
– A Message From The Law and Disorder Hosts
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Julian Assange and Press Freedom
Facing the possibility of Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange’s imminent extradition to the United States, Reporters Without Borders recently launched a week of advocacy meetings and a mobile truck through the streets of Washington DC to urgently call for his release.
The actions were organized after UK High Court Judge Jonathan Swift in June rejected Assange’s appeal against the UK’s order of extradition to the United States. Assange, who is being targeted for revealing evidence of U.S. war crimes, is the first publisher prosecuted under the Espionage Act for disclosing government secrets. He faces a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
Rebecca Vincent, Director of Campaigns for Reporters Without Borders said: “US policymakers still have the power and the opportunity to make a difference in this case and take a stand for the protection of journalism and press freedom. Our call on the Biden administration is more urgent than ever before: drop the charges, close this case, and free Assange!”
Reporters Without Borders is the only non-governmental organization to have monitored Assange’s entire extradition proceedings despite extensive barriers to observation. In April 2023, its Secretary-General Christophe Deloire and Rebecca Vincent were arbitrarily barred from visiting Assange in Belmarsh prison where he’s been held for more than four years. Reporters Without Borders continues to seek access to the prison and campaign globally for Assange’s release.
Guest – Clayton Weimers, executive director of the US office of Reporters Without Borders. Clayton was previously the organization’s Washington-Based Deputy Director for Advocacy.
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Agent Orange Day: 63rd Anniversary
Although the Vietnam War ended in 1975, Vietnamese people today continue to suffer the debilitating effects of Agent Orange. That’s the deadly dioxin-containing chemical weapon that the U.S. military sprayed over 12 percent of South Vietnam from 1961-1971. Agent Orange poisoned both the people and the land of Vietnam. On August 10, “Agent Orange Day,” we mark the 63rd anniversary of the first spraying of the toxic chemical on Vietnam.
Descendants of the roughly 2 to 4 million Vietnamese people, hundreds of thousands of U.S. Vietnam veterans, and Vietnamese-Americans exposed to Agent Orange and other toxins still suffer. They register disproportionate rates of congenital disabilities and higher rates of several diseases. U.S. veterans receive some limited compensation from the U.S. government, but very little if any assistance has been given to the Vietnamese people, the intended victims targets of the defoliant Agent Orange.
The Victims of Agent Orange Relief Act of 2023 will be introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-California). If passed, the bill would increase benefits to children of veterans exposed to Agent Orange. It would also expand research about Agent Orange and its effects on the health of exposed individuals; and provide medical, housing and poverty reduction aid to Vietnamese people, and their children, affected by exposure. And it would help to clean up the many remaining dioxin “hot spots” in Vietnam.
Guest – Paul Cox served in the U.S. Marines during the Vietnam War. He now serves on the board of the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, a project of Veterans for Peace (on whose board Paul also sits). We are fortunate to have Paul with us today to discuss the horrific legacy of what the Vietnamese people call “The American War” and the campaign to provide compensation for the victims of Agent Orange. HR3518 Victims Of Agent Orange Relief Act 2021 / VN-agentorange.org
Hosted by attorneys Heidi Boghosian, Marjorie Cohn, and Julie Hurwitz
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