Buried in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is a provision to automatically register all males at the age of 18 with the Selective Service System (SSS) that, if not stopped, will go into effect this December. Clearing the FOG speaks with Edward Hasbrouck of Resisters.info. Hasbrouck was a draft resister in the early 1980's who was sent to prison for refusing to register. He discusses how a small number of resisters, who were willing to speak out, proved that the government could not enforce a draft. He adds that this new effort will similarly fail and how we can abolish the system altogether, and stop the United States' endless wars. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The plutocratic power structure in the United States is clamping down on our right to know and to dissent by illegally detaining individuals who speak out or shutting down their access to financial services. Clearing the FOG speaks with political analyst Ali Alizadeh about the unlawful detention of Iranian public policy PhD student at Virginia Tech, Yousof Azizi, who is frequently a guest on major media outlets. The second guest is Rainey Reitman of the Freedom of the Press foundation, who discusses her new book, "Transaction Denied: Big finance's power to punish speech." For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

In recent decades, the railroad industry has consolidated from more than 40 Class One Rail carriers to only six with disastrous results for the rail workers and the public. Despite a 1990's moratorium on mergers, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are applying for a new merger, the first one to be transcontinental. Workers, passengers, farmers, and other industries are joining forces to stop this merger. Clearing the FOG speaks with Ron Kamikow, a co-founder of Railroad Workers United, about the state of our rail system, the impact of the potential merger and the campaign against it. Kamikow says the UP-NS merger would definitely lead to further consolidation and would disrupt the supply chain at a time when it is already fragile. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

The US-Israeli war on Iran and the resultant fuel shortages are already negatively impacting the global economy. One aspect that isn't gaining much attention is the impact of the war on an already fragile food system. Shortages and the rising prices of oil, fertilizer and pesticides are forcing farmers to make difficult choices and will lead to food scarcity this Fall. To understand where we are and what we can do to support food security, Clearing the FOG speaks with Kayla Dones of DD Geopolitics and Lauren Borsheim, a food policy analyst for Food and Water Watch who has been tracking the new Farm Bill legislation. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.