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2012 Program Archive
December 4 - Military Spending and the "Fiscal Cliff" Follies; Who is Profiting From the Deliberate Destruction of the U.S.P.S.?; A Possible New Approach to the War on Drugs in Mexico
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We begin with the most bloated government program contributing to the deficit that appears immune to Washington’s handwringing over the “fiscal cliff,” and that is the military budget. The author of “Rumsfeld: His Rise, Fall and Catastrophic Legacy”, investigative journalist Andrew Cockburn, joins us. He has an article in Tuesday’s Los Angeles Times, “Defending Defense Cuts: When it comes to the U.S. Military Budget, the “Fiscal Cliff” isn’t all that Scary”. |
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Then we look into the role of Senator Feinstein’s husband Richard Blum, the head of the world’s largest commercial real estate company, who has an exclusive contract with the U.S. Postal Service to list and sell its valuable and historic public property as the Congress deliberately bankrupts the Post Office in the name free enterprise. U.C. Berkeley professor of Geography, Gray Brechin joins us to discuss the theft of our national heritage which the press is ignoring while only reporting that the Postal Service is in default, but not why, and who is profiting from its deliberate destruction. |
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Then finally we examine the newly sworn-in Mexican President Pena Nieto and the make-up of his cabinet with George Grayson, the author of “Mexican Messiah: Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador” and “The Executioner’s Men: Los Zetas, Rogue Soldiers and Criminal Entrepreneurs”. We discuss the possibility of immigration reform and a new approach to the failed war on drugs that has claimed over 50,000 Mexican lives in last six years. |
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December 3 - Obama's Red Line Warning to Assad on the Use of Chemical Weapons; The Phony "Fiscal Cliff" Debate; Hillary 2016 and the End of a Two-State Solution
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We begin with the growing alarm expressed by the White House that the besieged Assad clan in Syria might soon use chemical weapons against their own people. Rafif Jouejati, the English language spokesperson for the Syrian Local Coordination Committees, the umbrella group of activists inside of Syria fighting to overthrow the regime, joins us to discuss the likely response if the regime crosses that red line. |
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Then we look into the politics of the so-called “fiscal cliff” following the Republican counter-offer to the president’s proposal. Jeff Madrick, who writes a column on economics for Harpers magazine and is the author of “Age of Greed: The Triumph of Finance and the Decline of America, 1970 to the Present” joins us to discuss the absurd theatrics surrounding the phony urgency of going over a mythical cliff while the real issues facing the economy are not being addressed by the press or our politicians. |
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Then finally, we discuss Israel’s announcement of 3,000 more settlements on the West Bank and Hillary Clinton’s appearance at a pro-Israel forum over the weekend where, according to a provocative new article by the New Yorker editor David Remnick, she appeared to be laying the groundwork for a presidential run in 2016. Professor of International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, Steven Walt joins us to discuss the latest display of fealty to Israel while Prime Minister Netanyahu again pokes America’s president in the eye. |
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| MUSIC: Supper Furry Animals - It's Not the End of the World; The Beatles - Don't Let Me Down; Jim O'Rourke - Prelude to 110 or 220 / Women of the World |
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December 2 - Tom Lutz sits in for Ian Masters: Anti-War Activism, from Vietnam to Afghanistan; Obama's Second Term and the Supreme Court; "Boom and Bust in the New Old West"
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with guest host, Tom Lutz |
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First we are joined by Tom Hayden, the founder and director of the Peace and Justice Resource Center in Culver City and founding member of Students for a Democratic Society who went on to serve for eighteen years in the California legislature. We discuss anti-war activism, from Vietnam to Afghanistan. We continue the conversation about anti-war youth activism with Seth Greenland, a novelist, screenwriter and playwright whose latest book is "The Angry Buddhist." |
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Then we examine the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts and the possibility that the 5-4 majority may change in Obama’s second term. Don Franzen, a lawyer and UCLA professor, joins us. |
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Finally, we are joined by the Emmy award-winning journalist and the Fletcher Jones Chair of Literature and Writing at Loyola Marymount University, Rubén Martínez, to discuss his new book, "Desert America: Boom and Bust in the New Old West". |
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November 29 - Toby Miller sits in for Ian Masters: The State of Print Media in the UK; The Financial Crisis and what it Holds for the Future; Will Mexico's Incoming President Bring Change to the Media Landscape?
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with guest host Toby Miller |
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We begin and discuss a new report on the media in the UK with our guest Bill Grantham. |
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Then John Bellamy Foster joins us to explain the global financial crisis and what it holds in store for the US and other countries. |
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Finally, we speak with André Dorcé Ramos and discuss what the new sexenio in Mexico might bring to the media landscape. |
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November 28 - Maria Armoudian sits in for Ian Masters: "Preserving Life on Earth"; “Fiscal Cliff”: Reality or Political Tool?; How the Vote on Palestinian Statehood will Affect the Future of the Conflict
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with Maria Armoudian |
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First, we ask Bill McKibben, best-selling author and co-founder of 350.org, and Larry Schweiger, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation and author of "Last Chance: Preserving Life on Earth", if the international conference on climate will finally take action to thwart more disasters? |
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Then, we ask economist James Galbraith and George Zornick, a writer at The Nation, if the "fiscal cliff" is real or if it is a political tool to change the shape of government? |
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Finally, we talk about what the vote on Palestinian statehood means for the future of the conflict in Israel and Palestine. Mark Perry joins us |
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