As Gibbs Attacks Progressive Critics, ACLU Says Obama White House Enshrining Bush-Era Policies12 Aug 2010As White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs attacks progressives for comparing President Obama’s polices to George W. Bush’s, we look at a new ACLU report on how the Obama administration is permanently enshrining into law many of President Bush’s most controversial policies. The report, “Establishing a New Normal,” warns: “There is a very real danger that the Obama administration will enshrine permanently within the law policies and practices that were widely considered extreme and unlawful during the Bush administration.” [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for August 12, 201012 Aug 2010UN Warns of More Pakistan Deaths Unless Aid Reaches Flooded Areas, US Denied Helicopters for Pakistan Relief Effort Due to Afghan War, Military Officials to Push for Delayed Afghan Withdrawal, Top Iraqi General: US Troops Should Remain Until 2020, Report: US Pressuring Allies to Target WikiLeaks Founder, BP Ties Compensation Fund to Gulf Coast Drilling Revenues, Texas Sues to Overturn Deepwater Drilling Freeze, Top 5 Insurance Companies Paid Execs Nearly $200M in 2009, Florida AG Unveils Anti-Immigrant Measure, Clinton Urges Senate Ratification of START Treaty, Gitmo Prisoner Sentenced to 14 Years, Argentina’s Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo Nominated for Nobel Prize, Lebanon Vows to Reject US Military Aid If it Limits Self-Defense, Wells Fargo Ordered to Repay Customers for Overdraft Fees, Dozens Injured in Massive Turnout for Subsidized Housing in Georgia, US Accused of Killing 3 Afghan Civilians
Legendary Activist Dolores Huerta Celebrates 80th Birthday with Call for “Weaving Movements Together”11 Aug 2010The legendary activist Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers of America with Csar Chvez, is celebrating her eightieth birthday this year. A veteran of the labor, civil rights, immigrant rights, and feminist movements in this country, she was instrumental in passing the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Bill, which resulted in the legalization of 1.3 million farm workers. To celebrate her birthday, Huerta is holding a benefit concert in Los Angeles Friday with guests including the guitarist Carlos Santana and Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine. Calling the event “Weaving Movements Together,” Huerta says she wants to join up immigrant rights, LGBT, feminist, environmental and labor activists.
David Sirota: Democratic Party Establishment Helps Defeat Progressive Challenger in Colorado Primary11 Aug 2010Statewide primaries were held Tuesday in four states. In Colorado, a record turnout saw Senator Michael Bennet beating out progressive challenger Andrew Romanoff in the state’s Democratic Senate primary. In Connecticut, the professional wrestling magnate Linda McMahon beat out former Congress member Rob Simmons in the Republican Senate primary. McMahon will face Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal to fill the seat left vacant by the retiring Senator Christopher Dodd. We speak to columnist, author and radio host David Sirota. [includes rush transcript]
Gagged for 6 Years, Nick Merrill Speaks Out on Landmark Court Struggle Against FBI’s National Security Letters11 Aug 2010For six years, the FBI has barred a New York man from revealing that the agency had ordered him to hand over personal information about clients of his internet start-up. Finally allowed to speak, Nick Merrill joins us in his first broadcast interview to talk about how he challenged the FBI’s use of national security letters. We also speak with Connecticut librarian George Christian. He and three other librarians also sued the US government after receiving a national security letter demanding information about library patrons. [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for August 11, 201011 Aug 2010Pakistan Evacuations Continue as Groups Urge Global Aid, Toll in China Flooding Doubles to 700, Primaries Held in 4 States, Obama Signs State Aid Bill After Dems Cut $12B in Food Stamp Funding, Storm Forces Delay of BP Relief Well Effort; Lawsuits to Be Heard in New Orleans Court, UN Envoy: Khadr Trial Could Undermine Child Soldier Protections, Rights Groups Ask WikiLeaks to Censor Afghan Docs, Graphic Provides Geospacial Rendering of Afghan Attacks, Venezuela, Colombia Restore Ties, Mexican Supreme Court: Mexico City Same-Sex Marriages Must Be Recognized Nationwide, Greenpeace: Russian Wildfires Could Spread Chernobyl Fumes, Israel Bulldozes Palestinian Cemetery, Rangel Rejects Ethics Charges in House Floor Speech, Waters’ Attorneys Accuse Ethics Panel of Double Standard, Gibbs: Critics of Bush-Like Obama Policies Should Be “Drug Tested”, New York City Allows Anti-Mosque Ads on Public Buses, Fmr. GOP Senator Ted Stevens Dies in Plane Crash
Latin American Historian Greg Grandin on Colombia After lvaro Uribe10 Aug 2010Colombia and Venezuela are expected to reestablish trade and diplomatic ties after their leaders meet today to defuse a simmering crisis. Colombia’s new president Juan Manuel Santos, who was inaugurated Saturday, will meet Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez in Santa Marta, Colombia, the site where South American liberation hero Simn Bolivar died in 1830. In his inaugural address, Santos, who was defense minister under former President lvaro Uribe, called for “frank and direct” dialogue with Chvez. Venezuelan President Hugo Chvez responded by calling for Colombian guerrillas to free all their hostages and give up their armed conflict.
Bolivian UN Ambassador: Despite Extreme Weather, US and Other Developed Countries Failing to Make Serious Pledges to Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions10 Aug 2010Even as the world faces a series of extreme weather events that scientists warn is related to global warming, international climate negotiations are moving at a glacial pace. The latest round of climate talks in Bonn, Germany, ended last week, and diplomats have just one more short meeting in China in the coming months to hash out their differences before the critical high-level climate conference in Cancn, Mexico, at the end of the year. We speak to Ambassador Pablo Soln. He is Bolivia’s permanent representative to the United Nations and was in Bonn last week. [includes rush transcript]
Meterologist: Record Heat Wave in Russia Could Kill Tens of Thousands10 Aug 2010Wildfires across Russia. Devastating floods in Pakistan. Deadly landslides and flash floods in India and China. Heat wave across the United States. Severe drought in Niger. Taken together, scientists warn the events match predictions for extreme climate events caused by global warming. This year is on track to be the warmest since reliable temperature records began over a century ago, mainly due to a buildup of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels. We speak to Jeff Masters, co-founder and director of meteorology for Weather Underground, a weather information website. [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for August 10, 201010 Aug 2010UN: 13 Million People Affected by Floods in Pakistan, Google and Verizon Propose Two-Tiered Internet System, Gates Outlines Pentagon Budget Cuts, UN: Civilian Casualties Jump 31% in Afghanistan in 2010, Medical Charity Identifies Aid Workers Killed in Afghanistan, Gen. Petraeus Aims to Build Support for Afghan War, Trial of Omar Khadr to Begin at Guantnamo, Vicente Fox Calls for Legalization of Drugs, Number of Oiled Wildlife Increasing in Gulf of Mexico, Hezbollah Blames Israel for 2005 Assassination of Al-Hariri, Israel Threatens to Pull Out of UN Flotilla Inquiry, Mia Farrow Testifies at Charles Taylor War Crimes Trial, Rep. Maxine Waters Faces Three Ethics Violations
Historian Tony Judt, 62, Dies After Battle with Lou Gehrig’s Disease9 Aug 2010Widely regarded as one of the most important historians of contemporary Europe, Tony Judt died on Friday, two years after being diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Judt is perhaps most controversial for his critique of Israel. A staunch leftist Zionist as a teenager, Tony Judt spent many summers on a kibbutz in Israel. But in 2003 he famously called Israel an anachronism and outlined the argument for a one-state solution with Palestinians and Israelis living in secular, binational state. We play excerpts of his remarks at a 2006 debate on the power of the Israeli Lobby. [includes rush transcript]
Nagasaki 65 Years Later: A Look Back at the Censored Dispatches of Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist George Weller9 Aug 2010Today, we remember the US bombing of Nagasaki through the story of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George Weller, the first reporter to enter Nagasaki, defying General MacArthur?s ban on the press in southern Japan. Weller worked for the Chicago Daily News and hired a rowboat to get himself to Nagasaki. He wrote a 25,000-word report on the horrors that he encountered. When he submitted his story to the military censors, MacArthur personally ordered that the story be killed, and the manuscript was never returned. Weller later summarized his experience with the government censors, saying, “They won.” [includes rush transcript]
Rwanda Holds Presidential Election Amid Crackdown on Opposition Candidates9 Aug 2010In the central African nation of Rwanda, voting is underway in the second presidential election since the genocide of 1994. Incumbent president Paul Kagame is widely expected to win, but the election comes amid a wave of attacks on political opponents. Human rights groups have accused the Kagame government of cracking down on any dissent before the vote, while the government-appointed media council has clamped down on independent newspapers publishing critical views.
Fatima Bhutto: Pakistan’s Devastating Floods Are President Zardari’s Katrina9 Aug 2010Pakistan’s government is facing rising national anger as the devastating floods along the Indus River show little sign of abating. Some 1,600 people have died, and upwards of six million people are directly affected, according to the latest estimates from the United Nations, which has compared the scale of the crisis to the 2005 earthquake. As landslides and continuing rain complicated relief efforts, entire villages have been washed away and many towns submerged. Several areas of the country have been cut off, including the Swat Valley in the northwest and parts of Pakistan’s breadbasket of Punjab and Sindh some 600 miles downstream the Indus River. With 1.5 million acres of croplands ravaged, the prices of basic foods have also skyrocketed. [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for August 9, 20109 Aug 201010 Medical Aid Workers Killed in Afghanistan, 1,325 Afghan Civilians Killed So Far This Year, 131,000 Jobs Lost in July; Unemployment Rate Remains at 9.5%, Romer Resigns as Obama’s Chief Economist, Kagan Sworn In as Supreme Court Justice, Devastating Heat Wave Continues in Russia, Ice Island Breaks Off from Greenland, Juan Manuel Santos Sworn In As Colombia’s President, Fidel Castro Addresses Cuban National Assembly, Mexican Journalists Call for Government Protection of the Press, Netanyahu Defends Assault on Gaza Aid Flotilla, Ex-US Cabinet Official Detained at Israeli Airport, Fareed Zakaria Returns ADL Award over Its Opposition to Ground Zero Mosque, Rep. Boehner Wants Congress to Consider Repealing 14th Amendment, Peace Groups Rally to Support Accused Army Whistleblower Bradley Manning
With Military Suicides on the Rise, Parents of Two Soldiers Who Took Their Own Lives Say Obama’s Words Ring Hollow6 Aug 2010A new US Army report finds the rate of suicide by soldiers in the Army has risen above the civilian rate for the first time since Vietnam. We talk to the parents of two soldiers who committed suicide: Gregg Keesling, the father of Chancellor Keesling, a US soldier who took his own life on June 19, 2009, while on his second tour of duty in Iraq, and Kevin and Joyce Lucey, whose son Jeffrey Lucey took his own life on June 22, 2004, after returning home from military duty in Iraq. They’re still waiting for letters of condolence from President Obama. [includes rush transcript]
Verizon & Google Enter Reported Deal for Tiered Internet Use, Is Net Neutrality in Jeopardy?6 Aug 2010The internet and telecom giants Verizon and Google have reportedly reached an agreement to impose a tiered system for accessing the internet. The deal would enable Verizon to charge for quicker access to online content over wireless devices, a violation of the concept of net neutrality that calls for equal access to all services. The deal comes amidst closed-door meetings between the Federal Communications Commission and major telecom giants on crafting new regulations. [includes rush transcript]
US Attending Hiroshima Memorial “Enormously Important,” Says Robert Jay Lifton6 Aug 2010Sixty-five years ago today, the United States dropped a bomb nicknamed “Little Boy” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. An estimated 140,000 people died immediately or succumbed to burns and radiation sickness soon after the blast. This year, Japan marked this somber anniversary with a representative of the US government in attendance for the very first time. We speak with leading American psychiatrist, author and longtime opponent of nuclear weapons, Robert Jay Lifton. [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for August 6, 20106 Aug 2010Pakistan Flooding Devastates New Areas, Afghan Civilians Killed in NATO Attack, Pentagon Demands WikiLeaks Return Afghan War Docs, Activists to Hold Rally for Accused Military Whistleblower, Sealing of Well Raises Questions Around BP’s Plans for Remaining Oil, Senate Confirms Kagan Nomination to Supreme Court, Clapper Confirmed as National Intelligence Director, Senate Fails to Approve Settlement for Black Farmers, Mexican Supreme Court Upholds Gay Marriage Law, Wyclef Jean Announces Haitian Presidential Bid, Activists Launch “US Boat to Gaza” Campaign, Bush Admin Returned Gitmo Prisoners to Secret Jails to Avoid Scrutiny, Kucinich Measure Would Bar Targeted Killings of US Citizens, Justice Dept. Accuses 14 of Supporting Somali Militant Group, Jobless Claims, Unemployment Rise, Missouri Voters Reject Insurance Mandates
Federal Judge Strikes Down California Same-Sex Marriage Ban in Major Victory for Gay Rights Advocates5 Aug 2010A federal judge struck down Proposition 8, the state’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriages, on Wednesday. In his ruling, US District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker wrote, “Proposition 8 fails to advance any rational basis in singling out gay men and lesbians for denial of a marriage license. The evidence shows Proposition 8 does nothing more than enshrine in the California Constitution the notion that opposite-sex couples are superior to same-sex couples.” [includes rush transcript]
Headlines for August 5, 20105 Aug 2010Federal Judge Strikes Down California Gay Marriage Ban, Scientists Challenge Admin Claims on Oil Spill Cleanup, Transocean Found Safety Flaws at Gulf Rigs, Senate Advances State Aid Measure, Verizon, Google in Reported Deal for Tiered Internet Use, Right-Wing Group Sues to Block Ground Zero Mosque; White House Refuses to Take Stance, Kenyan Voters Approve Constitutional Referendum, Palestinian Solidarity Activists Plan New Gaza Flotilla, Indonesia Could Follow Saudi Arabia, UAE Ban on BlackBerry Phones, Study: Increased Deportations Under Obama Admin, Treasury Authorizes Groups to Represent US-Born Cleric
Antonia Juhasz: BP’s “Missing Oil” Washes Up in St. Mary’s Parish, LA4 Aug 2010We speak with independent journalist Antonia Juhasz, who is just back from Louisiana, where she found what she calls some of BP’s “missing oil” on the wetlands and beaches along the waterways near St. Mary’s Parish, where no one is booming, cleaning, skimming or watching. [includes rush transcript]
Environmental Activist Jerry Cope on “The Crime of the Century: What BP and US Government Don’t Want You to Know”4 Aug 2010Environmental activist Jerry Cope has spent the last few weeks traveling along the Gulf Coast and experiencing firsthand the contamination in the air and water. In an article being published on Huffington Post, Cope argues that instead of celebrating the allegedly vanishing oil, we should be concerned about the disappearance of marine life in the Gulf. He describes the Gulf as a “kill zone” and looks into where the marine animals have gone, given that BP has reported a relatively low number of dead animals from the spill. [includes rush transcript]
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