http://www.myantiwar.org/Channel/id/16 Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program airing on over 140 stations in North America. keyvan@myantiwar.org http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/3/noam_chomsky_on_crisis_and_hope Noam Chomsky, the MIT professor, author and dissident intellectual, just turned eighty years old this past December. He has written over 100 books, but despite being called “the most important intellectual alive” by the New York Times, he is rarely heard in the corporate media. We spend the hour with Noam Chomsky. He spoke recently here in New York at an event sponsored by the Brecht Forum. More than 2,000 people packed into Riverside Church in Harlem to hear his address, titled ?Crisis and Hope: Theirs and Ours.? In his talk, Chomsky discussed the global economic crisis, the environment, wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, resistance to American empire and much more. [includes rush transcript] 2009-07-03 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/john_pilger_blasts_us_lawmakers_on We play an excerpt of an extended interview with Australian investigative journalist, John Pilger. Speaking about the US healthcare system, Pilger says, “What is it about US legislators that they appear to be so in bed with such powerful interests such as the insurance companies, that they can’t represent their own people’s needs, their own people’s basic human rights.” 2009-07-02 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/up_in_smoke_how_the_tobacco President Obama signed into law a bill last week that gives the US government broad regulatory power over cigarettes and other tobacco products. Obama said the law would curb the ability of tobacco companies to market their products to children. But several public health professionals have come out strongly against the new legislation. They argue that it was largely shaped by Philip Morris, now called Altria Group, the largest cigarette company in the country. We speak with Dr. Joel Nitzkin, chair of the Tobacco Control Task Force of the American Association of Public Health Physicians. 2009-07-02 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/fordlandia_the_rise_and_fall_of We speak with NYU professor Greg Grandin about his new book, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City. The book tells the story of Henry Ford, the richest man in the world in the 1920s, and his attempt to build a rubber plantation and a miniature Midwest factory town deep in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. 2009-07-02 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/zelaya_vows_to_return_to_honduras The ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya has vowed to return to Honduras within the next few days in an attempt to reclaim power. Zelaya was forced out of office in a military coup d’etat on Sunday. He will reportedly return to Honduras accompanied by the OAS Secretary General, the presidents of Argentina and Ecuador, and the head of the UN General Assembly. But Roberto Micheletti, who was appointed interim leader by the Honduran congress, has given warning that Zelaya will be arrested should he return, regardless of who is traveling with him. We speak with Latin American historian Greg Grandin. 2009-07-02 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/nobel_peace_laureate_mairead_maguire_speaks Irish Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire speaks to us from her jail cell in Israel. She was taken into custody along with twenty others, including former US Congress member Cynthia McKinney, when the Israeli military boarded their ship in international waters as it tried to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. [includes rush transcript] 2009-07-02 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/2/headlines US Forces Launch Major Afghan Offensive, Mullen: No Limit on US Troop Increase in Afghanistan, Senate Dems Revise Healthcare Proposal, Obama Holds Health Forum with Pre-Screened Audience, Lieberman Opposes Public Health Proposal, US Suspends Military Cooperation with Honduras, Iraqi Soldier Killed in Baghdad Bombing, Amnesty: Israel Committed “Wanton Destruction” of Gaza, Poll: Pakistanis Oppose US Attacks, Afghan Occupation, Morales: Bolivia Trade Suspension Shows Obama “Lied to Latin America”, California Fiscal Crisis Intensifies, Staffer: SEC Officials Ignored Madoff Warnings, Obama Admin Accused of Relying on Torture-Induced Statements, Military Panel Urges Discharge for Gay Servicemember, Striking Workers Win Reinstatement, Back Pay, Hussein Stoked WMD Talk Out of Fear of Iran, Militants Capture US Soldier in Afghanistan 2009-07-02 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/1/how_can_we_have_sovereignty_when In Iraq, a deadly car bomb in the northern city of Kirkuk has killed up to forty people and injured another 100. Tuesday’s bombing came hours after US troops withdrew from major Iraqi towns and cities, marring celebrations on a day that is now officially declared as “National Sovereignty Day,” a public holiday. We go to Iraq to speak with Sahar Issa, an Iraqi reporter working with the Baghdad Bureau of McClatchy Newspapers. We also speak with investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill about his article, “Iraq’s ‘National Sovereignty Day’ is US-Style Hallmark Hype.” 2009-07-01 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/1/whats_behind_the_honduras_coup_tracing We take a look at ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya with journalist Nikolas Kozloff, author of Revolution!: South America and the Rise of the New Left. Despite initial conservative leanings, Zelaya took on powerful vested interests in Honduras. ”[Zelaya] was at odds politically with the Honduran elite for the past few years and had become one of Washington’s fiercest critics in the region,” writes Kozloff. “Even if the Obama Administration did not play an underhanded role in this affair, the Honduran coup highlights growing geo-political tensions in the region.” 2009-07-01 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/1/generals_who_led_honduras_military_coup Romeo Vasquez, a general who led the military coup in Honduras against President Manuel Zelaya, received training at the US School of the Americas. The SOA has trained more than 60,000 soldiers, many of whom have returned home and committed human rights abuses, torture, extrajudicial execution and massacres. According to School of the Americas Watch, Vasquez attended the SOA in 1976 and 1984. The head of the Air Force, Gen. Luis Javier Prince Suazo, also studied there in 1996. We speak with Father Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of the Americas Watch. [includes rush transcript] 2009-07-01 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/1/military_using_brutal_force_against_anti The ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is expected to meet with US diplomats in Washington today before attempting to return to Honduras Thursday, five days after being deposed by a military coup. Meanwhile, the streets in Honduras remain tense, and the crackdown on the media has reportedly not been lifted. We go to Honduras to speak with human rights activist, Dr. Juan Almendares. [includes rush transcript] 2009-07-01 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/1/change_to_win_is_dead_juan In a dramatic blow to SEIU’s efforts to raid UNITE HERE members and jurisdictions, fifteen of the nation’s leading unions pledged Monday to provide UNITE HERE with “material and moral” support, according to an article in the Huffington Post. Democracy Now! co-host and Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez says this is “a seminal moment in the American labor movement.” 2009-07-01 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/7/1/headlines Zelaya Vows Return as UN, OAS Condemn Coup, 40 Killed in Iraq Bombing, Iraq Oil Auction Attracts Single Bid, Israel Seizes Aid Ship, Kidnaps Activists, Israel Maintains Refusal on Settlement Freeze, Franken Declared Winner in Minnesota Senate Race, Supreme Court Delays Ruling in Davis Case, Ex-CIA Algeria Station Chief Indicted on Sexual Assault Charges, Groups Call for UN Probe in Iran, Shell Accused of Covering Up Nigeria Oil Spills, Wal-Mart Backs Employee Health Mandates, Ex-Alabama Governor Seeks New Trial 2009-07-01 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/30/michael_jackson_1958_2009_the_life Fans around the world are still mourning the passing of Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop.” Jackson catapulted to fame on the Motown Records label as the youngest member of the Jackson Five but soon embarked on a solo career that made him the biggest star in the country and one of the most globally recognized entertainers. Michael Jackson’s immensely popular music, dance moves and videos were known and loved across the world, but in the last decade of his life, it was his multiple plastic surgeries and allegations of child molestation that dominated media attention. We take a look at the life and legacy of the pop icon with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Margo Jefferson, author of On Michael Jackson, and Duke University professor Mark Anthony Neal. [includes rush transcript – partial] 2009-06-30 http://www.democracynow.org/2009/6/30/judge_sentences_madoff_to_150_years Bernard Madoff, the convicted mastermind behind one of the biggest financial frauds in US history, was ordered Monday to serve 150 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed. Madoff pleaded guilty in March to running a massive Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of some $50 billion. Federal District Judge Denny Chin said it was important that the severity of the sentence serve as a deterrent to future offenders. We speak with financial journalist, Bethany McLean of Vanity Fair. [includes rush transcript] 2009-06-30