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2013 Program Archive
April 18 - The Undemocratic Senate; The Understaffed OSHA and the 4,500 Workplace Deaths Per Year; A Report on How the U.S. Sought Revenge Through Torture
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We begin with the tyranny of the minority in the U.S. Senate who yesterday acted on behalf of a vocal minority, the NRA, that represents one percent of the population, thwarting the will of 90% of Americans. Joining us is Alec McGillis, who writes for The New Republic where he has an article “Did Our Founders’ Lack of Foresight Doom Gun Control? The Tyranny of Small States in the Undemocratic Senate”.
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Then we look into the massive deadly explosion in Texas at a fertilizer plant that was last inspected by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration 28 years ago in 1985 when they found five serious violations and fined West Fertilizer $30. Keith Wrightson, the Worker Safety & Health Advocate at Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division joins us to discuss the understaffed OSHA whose measly budget of $558 million oversees the workplace deaths of 4,500 Americans per year while hundreds of billions more is spent combating terrorists who since 9/11 have killed 238 Americans, an average of 24 per year. |
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Then finally we examine the new report, “The Task Force on Detainee Treatment” by the bi-partisan Constitution Project that calls upon the nation to avoid the mistake of seeking revenge through human rights violations, as was done after 9/11. Mark Danner, who was a long-time staff writer for The New Yorker and is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and the author of “Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib and the War on Terror”, joins us. |
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April 17 - How Secure is Our Homeland?; A Watered-down Gun Bill Shot Down in the Senate; Is the New Pope a More Appealing Salesman for the Same Old Product?
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Although the latest bombings in Boston don’t yet appear to have overseas fingerprints, we begin with an analysis of the national security issues that arise out this attack on Americans possibly by other Americans. Heather Hurlburt, the Executive Director of the National Security Network joins us to discuss how secure our homeland is.
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Then we examine the failure of the Senate today to even consider a watered-down bill on expanding background checks on weapons sales and the President’s angry response to what he called a shameful day in the nation’s capitol. Dennis Henigan, the author of “Lethal Logic: Exploding the Myths That Paralyze American Gun Policy” and John Donohue, the author of “Shooting Down the More Guns, Less Crime Hypothesis” join us to discuss how the gun lobby is able to thwart the will of 90% of Americans. |
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Then finally we examine the Vatican’s war against American nuns for promoting "radical feminist themes" that the new pope Francis, who has been warmly received by liberal Catholics, is continuing, reaffirming the hard-line doctrinal crackdown by his predecessor. Kenneth Briggs, who writes for the National Catholic Reporter and is the author of “Double Crossed: Uncovering the Catholic Church’s Betrayal of American Nuns,” joins us. |
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April 16 - The Possible Motives for Domestic Terrorism in Boston; A Bostonian on Their Greatest Day Turning to Horror; China's Defense White Paper; A Report on a Tense and Divided Venezuela
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We begin with indications that the bombings in Boston were acts of domestic terrorism and speak with Mark Potok, the Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project and editor of their Hatewatch blog. We discuss the rampant speculation surrounding the bombings and try to assess possible motives for domestic terrorist groups to engage in an act whose sole purpose seems to be to kill Americans. |
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Then we speak with Dan Kennedy who is a regular panelist on “Beat the Press’, a weekly roundtable program on media issues on WGBH – TV in Boston, to get a sense of how the city is dealing with this shocking tragedy and how its citizens are responding to comforting victims and their families and efforts by law enforcement to investigate who was behind the bombings. Dan Kennedy has an article at CNN “Our ‘greatest day’ turns to horror”. |
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Then we discuss China's release of a Defense White Paper revealing the structure of its military with China expert June Teufel Dreyer, who was Asia Advisor to the Chief of Naval Operations and is the author of "China's Political System: Modernization and Tradition". We look into the autonomy of China's military and the extent of political control over it. |
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Then finally, we go to Caracas, Venezuela to get an update on the tense and polarized situation following a very close election that has the winner, Maduro, accusing American imperialists of financing and directing acts of violence. Meanwhile the loser, Capriles, is demanding a recount, and has called off the planned rally to protest the results on Wednesday that the government has said it would not allow. Virginia Lopez, who covers Latin America and Venezuela for the U.K. Guardian and Sky TV joins us. She has an article at the U.K. Guardian, "Venezuela's opposition makes noise against Nicolás Maduro's victory." |
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April 15
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We begin with an examination of the bombings today near the finish line of the Boston marathon that have claimed 2 lives, including an 8 year old child, and wounded 110. James Corcoran a veteran journalist and Chairman of the Department of Communications at Simmons College joins us. He co-wrote, with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Morris Dees, “Gathering Storm: America’s Militia Threat”, and we discuss the possibility of domestic terrorism being involved in this atrocity that so far no person or group has taken responsibility for. |
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Then we look into National Security Advisor Tom Donilon’s efforts in Moscow today to re-set the reset in the tattered and strained relations between Russia and the United States. Fiona Hill, a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and author of “Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin”, joins us to discuss tit-for tats lists of banned Russians and Americans and what progress can be made in dealing with an elected autocrat who is turning back the clock on Russian democracy and human rights. |
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Then finally on tax day today we speak with Edward Kleinbard, who served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation, and, recently testified before the U.S. Senate’s Budget Committee at a hearing titled “Reducing the Deficit by Eliminating Wasteful Spending in the Tax Code”. We discuss the possibility of reforming the tax code to make it fairer and more progressive and whether tax forms can be made simpler for citizens to fill out and file. |
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April 15 - Initial Reports on the Bombings in Boston; The White House and the Kremlin Try to Re-set the Reset; Wasteful Spending in the Tax Code
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We begin with an examination of the bombings today near the finish line of the Boston marathon that have claimed 2 lives, including an 8 year old child, and wounded 132 others. James Corcoran a veteran journalist and Chairman of the Department of Communications at Simmons College joins us. He co-wrote, with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Morris Dees, “Gathering Storm: America’s Militia Threat”, and we discuss the possibility of domestic terrorism being involved in this atrocity that so far no person or group has taken responsibility for. |
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Then we look into National Security Advisor Tom Donilon’s efforts in Moscow today to re-set the reset in the tattered and strained relations between Russia and the United States. Fiona Hill, a Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies Program at the Brookings Institution and author of “Mr. Putin: Operative in the Kremlin”, joins us to discuss tit-for tat lists of banned Russians and Americans and what progress can be made in dealing with an elected autocrat who is turning back the clock on Russian democracy and human rights. |
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Then finally, since it is tax day today, we speak with Edward Kleinbard, who served as Chief of Staff of the U.S. Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation and recently testified before the U.S. Senate’s Budget Committee at a hearing titled “Reducing the Deficit by Eliminating Wasteful Spending in the Tax Code”. We discuss the possibility of reforming the tax code to make it fairer and more progressive and whether tax forms can be made simpler for citizens to fill out and file. |
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