http://www.myantiwar.org/LatestHeadlines Headlines from: Chomsky's ZNet Blog, Common Dreams, Democracy Now, Robert Fisk, World Crisis Web, ZNet keyvan@myantiwar.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/13/alabama_county_suffers_after_jpmorgan_scheme As Mississippi and Alabama hold their Republican primaries, we go to Jefferson County, Alabama, where the financial situation is so grim that it cannot hire enough staff to run the today’s election. Critics say Jefferson County, home to Birmingham, represents some of the worst consequences of the pro-corporate agenda backed by leading Republican candidates. Late last year, it filed the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history after failing to refinance nearly $4 billion in debt. Jefferson County was deep in the red after reaching a complicated scheme with Wall Street investors to finance the cost of rebuilding a broken sewer system. The county reached an agreement with the Wall Street giant JPMorgan to refinance through interest rate swaps, but later sued the firm after its debt ballooned on what was initially a $250 million project. Earlier this month, a bankruptcy judge ruled Jefferson County’s bankruptcy filing can proceed, rejecting the pleas of creditors including JPMorgan Chase Bank and Bank of America. For more we’re joined from Birmingham by Barnett Wright, a senior reporter who covers Jefferson County for The Birmingham News. [Rush transcript to come. Check back soon.] 2012-03-13 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/13/ari_berman_gop_war_on_voting On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice?s civil rights division blocked Texas from enforcing a new law requiring voters to present photo identification after ruling that the rule would discriminate against Latino voters. The move follows a similar decision late last year to block another voter ID law in South Carolina, the first such law overruled by the Justice Department in nearly two decades. We speak with Ari Berman, a contributing writer for The Nation magazine, who has been extensively covering the issue of voting rights in the United States. He is the author of the book “Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics,” just out in paperback. [Rush transcript to come. Check back soon.] 2012-03-13 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/13/naacp_slams_fox_news_attack_on The NAACP’s Benjamin Jealous responds to recent attacks on the late Derrick Bell, the first tenured African-American professor at Harvard Law School. Fox News host Sean Hannity played a video showing then-student Barack Obama hugging Bell during a protest over Harvard’s failure to hire minority faculty. Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Hannity’s program called Bell a “radical college racist professor.” “I think, quite frankly, Sean Hannity was afraid to talk to Derrick Bell directly, because this [video] has been out there for years,” Jealous says. “If he had, he would have encountered somebody of tremendous compassion, of tremendous intelligence and of tremendous patriotism.” [includes rush transcript] 2012-03-13 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/13/naacp_head_benjamin_jealous_in_geneva Since last year, 15 states have passed new voting laws that critics say suppress the votes of the poor, students and people of color. This is the topic of a major speech set for today by NAACP head Benjamin Jealous before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. The NAACP wants a U.N. delegation of experts to monitor the impact of voter identification laws, as well new restrictions on same-day registration, early voting, Sunday voting, and making it harder to run a voting registration drive. Its outreach to the United Nations has been compared to the group’s efforts in the 1940s and 1950s when it sought international support in its fight for civil rights and against lynching. Its visit to the United Nations also comes days after the group joined with thousands of people in Alabama to retrace the historic 1965 civil rights march in Selma. In what became known as “Bloody Sunday” on March 7, 1965, police attacked demonstrators at Selma’s Edmund Pettus Bridge as they tried to march for voting rights. Outrage over the crackdown led to passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. [includes rush transcript] 2012-03-13 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/13/ceasefire_reached_after_israeli_air_strikes As Israel and Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip reportedly agree to a ceasefire after four days of cross-border violence, we speak with Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the online publication, ?The Electronic Intifada.? Earlier today, an Egyptian official said both sides have pledged to end current attacks and implement “a comprehensive and mutual calm.” Israel’s latest strikes on Gaza killed at least 25 Palestinians. At least 80 Palestinians were also wounded, most of them civilians. At least four Israelis in border towns were wounded in rockets fired by Palestinian militants in Gaza. The rocket attacks began after an Israeli air strike killed Zuhair al-Qaisi, the head of the Popular Resistance Committees, on Friday. Most of the Palestinian victims were killed on Saturday, making it the deadliest 24-hour period Gaza has seen since the Israeli attack in December 2008 and January 2009 when some 1,400 Palestinians were killed, most of them civilians. ?Israel presents this as they?re attacking terrorists who are en route to commit some kind of attack, and that?s the claim they always make,? Abunimah says. ?But in fact, in almost every case, they?re attacking people in their homes, riding in cars, just walking in the street.? [Rush transcript to come. Check back soon.] 2012-03-13 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/13/headlines Hundreds of Afghan Students Protest Massacre of 16 Civilians, Insurgents Fire on Gov?t Delegation, Obama: Afghan Massacre Made Him “More Determined” to Bring Troops Home, Alleged U.S. Shooter in Afghan Massacre Suffered Traumatic Brain Injury, 6 Killed in U.S. Drone Strike in Pakistan, Lawyers Prepare Lawsuit Over Alleged British Role in Drone Attacks, Israel, Palestinians Agree to Ceasefire After 26 Palestinians Killed in Air Strikes, Obama Administration Blocks Texas Voter ID Law, U.N. Will Send Human Rights Monitors to Syrian Border Countries, U.N. Rapporteur on Torture Decries U.S. Treatment of Bradley Manning, 96 More Companies Pull Ads from Rush Limbaugh?s Program, Report: Drinking Water in California Contaminated by Nitrates, Voters Head to Polls for Republican Primaries in 3 States, American Samoa, Former Penn. Gov. Rendell Subpoenaed for Ties to Iranian “Terrorist” Group, British Police Arrest Rebekah Brooks, 5 Others in Murdoch Phone-Hacking Sweep, NRC: Fire at Nebraska Nuclear Plant Posed Serious Safety Risk, WTO: U.S. Illegally Subsidized Airplane Manufacturer Boeing, World Water Forum Opens as U.N. Report Predicts Surging Demand for Water, Group Calls for Probe of Journalist Killings in Honduras After Murder of Radio Host 2012-03-13 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/12/nuclear_engineer_arnie_gundersen_fukushima_meltdown The Obama administration is backing an expansion of nuclear power plants, but have the lessons of Fukushima been learned? We speak to former nuclear industry executive Arne Gundersen on the fallout from Fukushima, the design failures of the Mark I nuclear reactor used at Fukushima and many U.S. power plants, the economics of nuclear energy and the battle over nuclear power in his home state of Vermont. Gundersen is a former nuclear industry senior vice president who has coordinated projects at 70 nuclear power plants around the country. He is the chief engineer at Fairewinds Associates and co-wrote the new Greenpeace report, “Lessons from Fukushima.” [includes rush transcript] 2012-03-12 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/12/contamination_fears_linger_for_japanese_children We go to Japan to speak with Aileen Mioko Smith, executive director of the Kyoto-based group Green Action, as Japan marks the first anniversary of the massive earthquake and tsunami that left approximately 20,000 dead or missing and triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. It was the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. About 326,000 Japanese residents remain homeless, including 80,000 evacuated from the vicinity of the Fukushima facility. Residents evacuated from the zone set up in a 12-mile radius around the nuclear plant are especially struggling to rebuild their lives. We also speak with Saburo Kitajima, a contract laborer and union organizer from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. “The workers at the Fukushima plant are currently working under extreme circumstances,” Kitajima says. “In spite of being exposed to radiation, the levels of wages run to about $100 a day.” [includes rush transcript] 2012-03-12 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/12/kathy_kelly_on_afghan_humanitarian_crisis The anger provoked by the U.S. soldier’s attack on 16 Afghan civilians comes amidst outrage over civilian deaths from U.S. drone strikes and a growing humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Hundreds of Afghan children die daily from hunger even as the United States spends some $2 billion a month on maintaining its occupation. We speak with Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Nonviolence, who has just returned from Afghanistan to stand trial for her role in a protest at a U.S. base over the use of drones. “When is the United States going to understand the rage and the antagonism felt by civilians who have borne year after year after year of attacks ? unprovoked and uncaused attacks against civilians ? as the United States has used its occupation to try to dictate the future of people in Afghanistan?” Kelly asks. [includes rush transcript] 2012-03-12 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/12/afghan_massacre_peace_groups_call_for We go to Kabul to speak with an Afghan peace activist about the shooting spree by a U.S. Army sergeant in Afghanistan, which killed 16 Afghan civilians, nine of them children. Calls for a more rapid withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan have escalated after the U.S. soldier reportedly walked more than a mile from his base, breaking into three separate houses to attack families as they slept. Villagers say he then gathered 11 bodies and set them on fire, including the bodies of four girls younger than six. The attack comes as the United States and Afghanistan are negotiating the Strategic Partnership Agreement, the framework for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan after foreign combat troops leave at the end of 2014. “We feel that, surely, governments need to resolve this conflict through diplomacy and move away from the failed military strategy that has resulted in all that we are witnessing today,” says the Kabul-based peace activist who goes by the name “Hakim.” He is the coordinator for Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers. [includes rush transcript] 2012-03-12 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/12/headlines 16 Afghan Civilians Massacred by U.S. Sergeant, 21 Palestinians in Gaza Die in Israeli Air Strikes, Memorials Mark First Anniversary of Japan’s Nuclear Crisis, Santorum Wins in Kansas, Romney Takes Wyoming, Dozens Killed in Syria as Kofi Annan Leaves Without Deal on Truce, U.S. Drone Strikes in Yemen Kill 25, 100,000 March in Largest Bahraini Pro-Democracy Rally, Egyptian Military Court Acquits Doctor in Virginity Test Case, NAACP Seeks United Nations Help to Fight New Voting Laws in U.S., Coalition of Immokalee Workers End Six-Day Fast for Fair Food, AFL-CIO to Endorse Obama, Nobel Prize-Winning Chemist Sherwood Rowland, 84, Dies 2012-03-12 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/9/el_libro_traficante_tony_diaz_defies Self-described book smuggler Tony Diaz, nicknamed “El Libro-Traficante,” is set to launch a small caravan to bring carloads of controversial books into Arizona that were recently banned by public school officials in Tucson after the city suspended its acclaimed Mexican American Studies program due to a state ban on the teaching of ethnic studies. “When Arizona tried to erase our history, we decided to make more,” Diaz says. “We’ve unleashed this informal network that’s galvanized into a national movement… People are forming groups to read the protested books, to read the books that have been confiscated. They’ve actually brought so much attention to our community that I think right now we really are on the verge of a Latino Renaissance.” [includes rush transcript] 2012-03-09 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/9/beautiful_souls_eyal_press_on_the From corporate whistleblowers to Army refuseniks, a new book, “Beautiful Souls: Saying No, Breaking Ranks, and Heeding the Voice of Conscience in Dark Times,” explores what compels ordinary people to defy the sway of authority and convention for the greater good. “I feel like we have two very different discourses about whistleblowers in this country,” says the book’s author, Eyal Press. “On the one hand, when you see them cast in Hollywood movies, they’re invariably heroes, played by leading actors and actresses, and everybody salutes them… On the other hand, when we have whistleblowers actually speaking up in real time, the response is very different.” [includes rush transcript] 2012-03-09 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/9/us_faces_challenge_to_drug_war As Vice President Joe Biden wraps up a trip to Central America insisting the drug war must continue, a growing number of Latin American leaders are calling for the decriminalization or legalization of drugs. “This debate now is no longer going to be suppressed,” says Ethan Nadelmann, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Once U.S. officials are obliged to participate in the discussion and to do it in a real way, the smartest among them know there’s no way to defend the current U.S. strategy.” [includes rush transcript] 2012-03-09 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org http://www.democracynow.org/2012/3/9/headlines Report: U.S. Offers Israel Weapons to Stall Attack on Iran, Iran Accused of Covering Up Alleged Nuclear Site, Syrian Activists Reject Call for Assad Talks, Greece Secures Debt Relief to Obtain Bailout, Hundreds Rally for Palestinian Woman Prisoner on Hunger Strike, Senate Rejects Bid to Speed Keystone XL Pipeline Approval, DOJ Reviews NYPD Spying on Muslims, Report: NYPD Spied on 3rd-Generation Muslim Americans, Whistleblower: Bank of America Blocked Aid to Homeowners, Georgia Senate Passes Bill Requiring Drug Tests for Welfare, Haiti: Hundreds March to Demand Cholera Reparations 2012-03-09 Democracy Now http://www.democracynow.org