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/2010/3/15/noam_chomsky_on_obamas_foreign_policy We spend the hour with world-renowned linguist and dissident, Noam Chomsky. In a wide-ranging public conversation at the Harvard Memorial Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Chomsky talks about President Obama’s foreign and national security policies, the lessons of Vietnam, and his own activism. “You just can?t become involved part-time in these things,” Chomsky says. “It?s either serious and you?re seriously involved, or you go to a demonstration and go home and forget about it and go back to work, and nothing happens. Things only happen by really dedicated, diligent work.” [includes rush transcript] 2010-03-15 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/15/headlines White House Predicts Passage of Healthcare Bill, Ambassador: US-Israeli Relations Face Worst Crisis in 35 Years, Report: Contractors Tied to Effort to Track and Kill Militants, 35 Die in Kandahar Bombings, 3 with Ties to US Consulate Killed in Mexico, FCC to Unveil High-Speed Internet Plan, Unemployment Rate for Young Veterans Reaches 21.1 Percent, Wife of Justice Clarence Thomas Creates Tea Party-Linked Lobbying Group, Texas Conservatives Approve Changes to School Curriculum, Fed Panel: NY Discriminated Against Arab Principal, Study Finds Link Between Childhood Obesity and School Lunch, Air Force Sergeant Discharged After Being Outed by Local Police 2010-03-15 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/12/study_median_wealth_for_single_black The Insight Center for Community Economic Development released a report on the gender wealth gap to mark International Women’s Day. The report found nearly half of all single black and Hispanic women have zero or negative wealth, meaning their debts exceed all of their assets. The median wealth for single black women is only $100; for single Hispanic women, $120. This compares to just over $41,000 for single white women. We speak with the chief author of the report, Mariko Lin Chang and C. Nicole Mason, Executive Director of the Women of Color Policy Network. [includes rush transcript] 2010-03-12 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/12/part_ii_michelle_alexander_on_the Part II of our interview with legal scholar, civil rights advocate and author Michelle Alexander. Her book is The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Alexander argues that although Jim Crow laws have been eliminated, the racial caste system it set up was not eradicated. It?s simply been redesigned, and now racial control functions through the criminal justice system. 2010-03-12 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/12/judge_instructs_fed_agencies_to_resume A federal judge has reaffirmed her earlier ruling blocking the congressional effort to de-fund the anti-poverty group ACORN. On Wednesday, Judge Nina Gershon cemented a decision from last year that such action amounted to an unconstitutional ?bill of attainder.? Judge Gershon has asked all federal agencies to allow ACORN funding without delay. We speak with National Housing Institute president John Atlas, author of Seeds of Change: The Story of ACORN, America’s Most Controversial Anti-Poverty Community Group. 2010-03-12 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/12/headlines Ground Zero Workers, NYC Reach Settlement on Toxic Exposure, 39 Killed in Pakistan Bombings, Israel Imposes West Bank Closure Hours After Biden Departure, British Journalist Freed in Gaza, UN: Millions Face Starvation in Yemen, Scores Killed in Somalia Clashes, Greeks Hold National Strike Against Austerity Program, Aftershock Hits Chile as New President Sworn In, Ex-Wife Criticizes Nelson Mandela for Deal Ending Apartheid, Reid Informs GOP of Healthcare Reconciliation Plans, House Dems Shun Anti-Abortion Provisions, Dodd to Unveil Regulatory Overhaul Without GOP, Obama Unveils Trade, Export Plan, Senate Panel OKs Weakened Drug Sentencing Proposal, Second NOLA Officer Pleads Guilty in Bridge Shooting Cover-up, Mississippi School Cancels Prom over Lesbian Student 2010-03-12 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/11/rep_dennis_kucinich_takes_on_democratic Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich joins us to discuss two House debates in which he’s played a central role this week. The Ohio Democrat is threatening to vote against his party’s healthcare reform package because it does not contain a robust public option. Meanwhile, Kucinich’s bill to force the withdrawal of all US troops from Afghanistan was taken up on Wednesday. After a rare three-and-a-half-hour debate on the war, the majority of House Democrats joined with Republicans to defeat the measure. [includes rush transcript] 2010-03-11 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/11/legal_scholar_michelle_alexander_on_the A new book by legal scholar and civil rights advocate Michelle Alexander argues that although Jim Crow laws have been eliminated, the racial caste system it set up was not eradicated. It’s simply been redesigned, and now racial control functions through the criminal justice system. 2010-03-11 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/11/dorris_granny_d_haddock_1910_2010 Doris “Granny D” Haddock, one of the leading fighters for campaign finance reform in the United States, died on Tuesday at the age of 100. In 1999, just shy of her ninetieth birthday, Granny D walked 3,200 miles across the country to promote campaign finance reform. She is widely credited for galvanizing the public support that helped pass the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Act in 2002. We replay an excerpt of a 2004 interview with Granny D in the midst of her campaign for the US Senate against New Hampshire incumbent Judd Gregg. [includes rush transcript] 2010-03-11 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/11/headlines PA Rejects Talks with Israel in Settlement Row, Report: Israel Plans 50,000 New Units in West Bank, Civil Trial Begins over Israeli Army Killing of Rachel Corrie, Gates Pledges Weapons Aid to Saudi Arabia, Prval: US Lawmakers Rejecting Direct Aid to Haitian Gov’t, Burma Bars Political Opponents from Elections, Labor Dept: Unemployment Increases in 30 States, Senate OKs $138B Jobs Measure, Proposed Consumer Agency Won’t Regulate Major Lenders, White House Faces Opposition to Overhauling Student Loans, Dems to Bar Federal Earmarks for Corporations, Judge Instructs Fed Agencies to Resume ACORN Funding, Kansas City Announces Major School Closures, Layoffs, UN Rapporteur: Obama Admin Should Probe Torture, State Dept. Awards 10 with International Women of Courage Award 2010-03-11 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/10/family_of_slain_us_peace_activist Rachel Corrie, a twenty-three-year-old student from Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza seven years ago as she stood before a Palestinian home facing demolition. Today, a trial opens in Israel in a lawsuit brought by Corrie’s family against the Israeli government. The eyewitness testimony is expected to challenge Israel’s version of events with evidence that she was clearly visible to the soldiers, standing before the bulldozer in her florescent orange jacket. We spend the hour with Rachel Corrie’s family: her father Craig, her mother Cindy, and her sister Sarah. [includes rush transcript] 2010-03-10 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/10/headlines Israel Announces Major Settlement Expansion Amid Biden Visit, NY Activists Protest Israeli Military Chief, Prval in US Ahead of Aid Request, EU: Climate Proposals Could Increase Emissions, India Advances Historic Measure on Women Lawmakers, Ex-UK Intel Chief: US Misled Allies on Treatment of Prisoners, Thousands Protest Insurers in DC , Utah Gov. Signs Anti-Abortion Measure, Study: Number of US Millionaires Increased 16% in 2009, Bank of America to End Overdraft Fees on Debit Purchases, 1st Gay Marriages Performed in DC, Veteran Activist Doris “Granny D” Haddock Dies at 100 2010-03-10 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/9/the_real_climategate_conservation_groups_align Major environmental groups are coming under criticism from within their own ranks for taking positions that some say are antithetical to their stated missions of saving the planet. In the latest issue of The Nation magazine, the British journalist Johann Hari writes, “As we confront the biggest ecological crisis in human history, many of the green organizations meant to be leading the fight are busy shoveling up hard cash from the world’s worst polluters—and burying science-based environmentalism in return?In the middle of a swirl of bogus climate scandals trumped up by deniers, here is the real Climategate.” [includes rush transcript – partial] 2010-03-09 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/9/105_000_tattoos_iraqi_artist_wafaa The official death toll from the war is 100,000, but it is widely estimated to be much higher, perhaps even as high as one million. In his latest piece of artwork, Iraqi American artist Wafaa Bilal tries to grapple with the enormity of these numbers. It’s a twenty-four-hour live tattooing performance called ”...and Counting” that began at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts gallery in New York Monday night. By tonight Bilal’s back will be tattooed with the names of Iraqi cities, 5,000 red dots representing dead American soldiers and 100,000 dots in invisible ink representing the official death toll for Iraqis. The dots representing the Iraqi death toll will only be visible under ultraviolet light. 2010-03-09 http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/9/headlines Obama Campaigns for Healthcare Reform, Former Rep. Massa Claims He Was Forced Out over Healthcare Bill, Protests Planned Outside Health Insurance Company Meeting, Gates: ?More Dark Days? Ahead in Afghanistan, Claim: Pentagon Pedaled Misinformation about Attack on Marjah, Nigerians Bury Dead After Massacre, Greek PM Calls for Crackdown on Financial Speculators, Biden: US Ties to Israel Are ?Unshakable?, Burmese Refugees in Bangladesh Face Starvation, UN Official Warns Against Full Body Airport Scanners, Midwestern Towns Sue Manufacturer of Atrazine Weedkiller, Interior Dept. Puts Off Listing Sage Grouse as Endangered Species, Obama Criticized for Adding Just Two Species to Endangered List, Conservationist Edgar Wayburn, 103, Dies 2010-03-09