On Wednesday, March 23, 2022, the United States announced that it would freeze Russia's access to its gold. Russia has the fifth highest amount of gold in the world. Economist Michael Hudson explains that this action, which follows the US seizing Venezuela and Afghanistan's gold and assets, has effectively ended dollar hegemony, which has been in decline in recent years, and the free ride that the US has enjoyed abroad. Hudson states that we are now in uncharted territory as nothing like this has occurred in modern history. Sanctions on Russia are driving a shortage of fertilizer, which will lower food production and bring famine. Hudson predicts greater inflation, particularly for food and fuel, and shortages, which are all good for Wall Street profits, and more businesses being forced to close. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Unlike Ukraine, Venezuela successfully resisted the violent US-led coup attempt in 2014, and in other years, by right wing forces and the hybrid war being waged against it. Venezuela is recovering despite the ongoing economic blockade. Now, because the United States needs oil, the Biden administration has started talking to the Maduro government and there is hope that relations between the two countries may resume. For an update on this situation, as well as the future of Venezuela's US-based oil company CITGO, the status of Venezuela's gold in the Bank of London, the demise of Juan Guaido, and the kidnapping of Venezuelan diplomat, Alex Saab, Clearing the FOG speaks with Leonardo Flores, the Latin American campaign director for CODEPINK. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

Clearing the FOG speaks with political comedian Lee Camp about the sudden de-platforming that happened to him when RT America abruptly shut down after the Russian military intervention in Ukraine last month. Camp lost his program Redacted Tonight that aired weekly for the past eight years, and he was kicked off of other platforms such as Spotify. Camp talks about the big picture of growing censorship, the state of the media and freedom of the press, and the assault on the public's access to information that counters the narrative in the corporate media. Camp also discusses where we go from here to develop a democratized and independent media. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

This week, Clearing the FOG speaks with Brian Becker, a leader of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and the host of The Socialist Program, for a socialist perspective of the war in Ukraine. Becker discusses why it was a mistake for Russia to invade and how it has shored up support for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) even though Russia has legitimate security concerns and the United States did not appear to be willing to stop provoking an invasion. He also talks about the real racism exposed by this war, the impact of the media misinformation campaign on people on the left and the current state of the extreme right wing fascist movement. Becker offers an important lens for viewing the conflict and understanding what to do about it. For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.

On Feb. 24, Clearing the FOG spoke at length with Dr. Vladimir Kozin, a Russian military and global security expert. That happened to be the day that Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine. Dr. Kozin explains the goals of the mission and the events that led to it. He describes the eight year assault on ethnic Russians living in Eastern Ukraine that caused more than 14,000 deaths. He also describes how the current conflict can be resolved and the risk of a major, and possibly nuclear war, if a diplomatic solution is not achieved. March 1 to 7 is an international week of action to say No Wars! No Sanctions! No NATO! For more information, visit PopularResistance.org.