November 4 – Snowden’s Manifesto for the Truth; Mental Illness and Easy Access to Assault Weapons; Cruel and Unusual Cuts in Food Stamps

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with Edward Snowden’s open letter published in the German magazine Der Spiegel “A Manifesto for the Truth”, and get an analysis from a 27 year CIA veteran Elizabeth Murray who served as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for the Near East on the National Intelligence Council. We discuss the Snowden letter written in Moscow on Friday which accuses governments of trying to squash debate about mass surveillance “with a never before seen witch hunt”.

Part 2

Then we revisit the deadly intersection of mental illness and easy access to assault weapons which is the apparent reason behind the shooting at Los Angeles International airport. John Donohue, a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and author of “Shooting Down the More Guns Less Crime Hypothesis” joins us to discuss the irony that the victim was a TSA screener who Americans accept as someone preventing a terrorist attack however remote, but daily acts of gun violence that kill 2000 times more Americans than terrorists are apparently acceptable as the NRA ensures no laws can be enacted to stop mentally ill people from purchasing military-style weapons.

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Jim Weill, President of the Food Research and Action Center about the cruel and unusual cuts in food stamp assistance to over 47 million needy Americans with three quarters of the participants in households with children.  We discuss the political momentum against helping the least among us in the name of reducing the deficit, even though the deficit in receding at a record rate and while food stamps are considered one of the most efficient ways to stimulate the economy as every dollar in food stamps generates a dollar seventy in economic activity.