PROFILE
FROM Berin Szoka
New Rules for the Internet FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is advocating that Internet providers be required to maintain " net neutrality ." The one-time chief lobbyist for the cable industry has turned on former employers, including Comcast and Time-Warner. That means cable and phone companies could not increase their profits by selling faster access to some websites while denying it to everyone else. Google, Netflix, Amazon, many businesses and consumer groups call that a major victory. But another battle in 10 years of warfare is just beginning. On a video that went viral last summer, comedian John Oliver told his viewers the FCC was asking for their opinions. Oliver may or may not deserve credit, but the agency has received four million public comments. And now, the joke may be on him. Tom Wheeler, the very man Oliver said wanted to "fix" a system that wasn’t broken, has now proposed what Oliver wanted.
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Venezuela spirals into economic and political chaos Venezuela, a country whose potential for prosperity is unmatched, finds itself on the verge of civil war. What sustains the repressive government? With time running out, guest host León Krauze looks at what the international community can do to pull the country from the edge of collapse.
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?
Terrorism and tweets, hate speech and murder Just days before an election, Britain is coping with a rash of deadly terrorism, and Prime Minister Theresa May is on the defensive. And again today, President Trump has tweeted criticism of the Mayor of London. Later, a double murder in Portland, Oregon has revealed the ugly past of a supposedly “progressive” city. One immediate question: is “hate speech” protected by the First Amendment?