Billions Go to Ukraine as Pandemic SNAP Benefits Set to Expire

How Ukraine Is Reshaping European Politics, Right-Wing Double Standards On Surveillance, SCOTUS Rejects Hearing On NSA Surveillance

In this episode of By Any Means Necessary, hosts Sean Blackmon and Jacquie Luqman are joined by Professor Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Coimbra (Portugal) to discuss the effects of the conflict in Ukraine on the politics of countries in Europe, the likelihood of a political solution to the conflict to Ukraine and why the risk of escalation is growing, how the European media is growing much closer to US media as antiwar voices continue to be censored, and how Europe’s growing reliance on the US has further isolated the US and Europe on the global stage.

In the second segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by Ari Paul, Contributing Writer to Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting to discuss recent right-wing outrage over an FBI document on “radical traditionalist Catholics” and what was really happening in this case, the double standard from right-wing media denouncing this document on the grounds of religious freedom and its support for the surveillance of Muslim communities during the US war on terror, how this fits into the right-wing turn on the police in the aftermath of January 6th and other recent events, and what political implications of this document and the reaction to it may have as the US.

In the third segment, Sean and Jacquie are joined by technologist Chris Garaffa, co-host of the CovertAction Bulletin podcast to discuss the Supreme Court’s rejection of a hearing on a case brought by Wikipedia against the NSA on the agency’s dragnet surveillance of internet traffic, a new analysis of apps on the Google Play store and the gap between what they disclose about data privacy on the app store and what is contained in actual privacy policies, and a bill in the UK which would threaten the integrity of encrypted messaging.

Later in the show, Sean and Jacquie discuss the looming end of expanded SNAP benefits which began during the pandemic as food prices continue to rise, a report alleging that the FBI and Capitol Police failed to did not share information about credible threats they identified prior to the January 6th attack on the Capitol, and why Janet Yellen’s recent assurances of US support for Ukraine don’t change the geopolitical realities of the conflict.

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