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March 14 - The Man Who is the New Pope; Protecting our Defenders; An Update from CPAC
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We begin with an analysis of the new pope who is both a doctrinal conservative and a humble man who rides the bus and cooks for himself. Matthew Fox, the author of “The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How it can be Saved”, joins us. An internationally acclaimed theologian, Fox was hounded out of the Catholic Church by Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict. We discuss the unknown chapters in the background of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in particular why he and the church hierarchy were silent when Argentina’s Military death squads were torturing and killing fellow priests and bishops who practiced liberation theology. |
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Then we speak with Kirby Dick, the award-winning film maker whose latest documentary 'The Invisible War’ was nominated in this year’s Academy Awards. He attended Wednesday’s hearing in the US Senate on the epidemic of rape in the military where one in three military women are victims with 19,000 service members sexually assaulted every year. We will discuss the powerful testimony by women who have been victimized by assaults that are routinely covered up and questions about the Uniform Code of Military Justice that allows senior officers friendly to the assailants to overturn jury verdicts. |
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Then finally we will get an update from CPAC where conservative activists are gathering to hear from Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and other Republican rising stars. Adele Stan, Alternet’s Washington Bureau Chief joins us to report on a gathering dominated by what John McCain calls “Republican wacko birds” where moderates like Governor Christie are not invited but “birthers” like Donald Trump are welcome. Adele Stan has an article at Alternet.com “Rand Paul No Progressive Hero, Despite Anti-Drone Filibuster”. |
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March 13 - Italy's Dual Dysfuntion - The Vatican and the Parliament; How our Sailors on a Rescue Mission were Irradiated; Republicans Roll Harry Reid on Filibuster "Reform"
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We begin with the announcement of a new pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina and speak with Alexander Stille, Professor of International Journalism at Columbia University and author of “The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country with a Fabled History and a Storied Culture was taken over by a Man Named Silvio Berlusconi”. We discuss the dual dysfunction of a scandal-plagued Vatican under a new pope of the poor, Francis, and an Italian government in a state of political paralysis. |
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Then we look into the deadly legacy of the Fukushima meltdown two years ago in terms of the tens of thousands of US military personnel and their dependents who were exposed to radiation with some sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan suffering chronic and severe illness that has led them to sue TEPCO, Tokyo Electric Power Company. Roger Witherspoon a 40 year veteran reporter who now blogs at energymatters.com joins us to discuss how the NRC and the Navy were lied to by Japanese authorities while sailors of a rescue mission were breathing in radioactive air and the USS Ronald Reagan was sucking in radioactive ocean water into its desalinization system for the crew’s drinking and bathing. |
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Then finally we speak with Mike Lofgren a veteran House and Senate Staffer and author of “The Party is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy and Democrats Became Useless and the Middle Class Got Shafted”. We discuss meetings going on among Democratic senators about what to do about the Republican’s routine use of the filibuster to block Obama’s judicial and executive branch nominees following a “reform” deal Harry Reid made with Mitch McConnell over the objections of younger Democratic senators that has blown up in the Majority Leader’s face. |
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March 12 - The Vatican's Unholy Alliance; Elizabeth Warren Shames the Shameless; Bloomberg's Ban Busted
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We begin with the Vatican that is currently the subject of unprecedented and uncritical media attention in what amounts to a public relations bonanza for a scandal-plagued church, as the world press breathlessly focuses on what color smoke is coming out of a chimney. Barbara Crossette, who covers the United Nations for The Nation and was the New York Times bureau chief at the UN, joins us to discuss what the Vatican is up to at the UN joining with Iran and Russia to thwart efforts by the Commission on the Status of Women to protect women from violence and rape, arguing that traditional values justify violations of basic human rights. |
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Then we look into two important confirmation hearings before the Senate Banking Committee on Richard Cordray to head up the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Mary Jo White to head up the SEC. Lisa Gilbert, the Director of Public Citizen’s Congress Watch Division joins us to discuss today’s hearings where Senator Elizabeth Warren blasted her Republican colleagues for doing the bidding of big banks at the expense of regular people who have been cheated on mortgages, credit cards and student loans. |
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Then finally we speak with Dr. Gary Bennett, a professor of Psychology, Global Health and Medicine at Duke University about Mayor Bloomberg’s ban on big sugary drinks set to go into effect in New York today that was blocked by a judge. We look into whether this is a victory for big business over big government and whether efforts to curtail the epidemic of obesity have been damaged by an apparent victory in the name of personal freedom, of corporate profits over people’s health. |
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March 11- From Reverence to Rancor in Venezuela; Is Fascism Returning to Europe?; How the Fortune 500 Stashes Profits Offshore to Avoid Taxes
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We begin and go to Caracas, Venezuela for an update on the sudden change from reverence and mourning the death of President Chavez to bare-knuckle politics with the announcement of an election in 30 days that has the anointed Vice President Maduro calling his opponent Capriles a fascist and Capriles taunting Maduro by saying “the people didn’t vote for you kid”. Virginia Lopez, who covers Venezuela for the UK Guardian and Britain’s Sky TV joins us to discuss how much the decks are stacked in favor of the “Chavistas”. |
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Then we get an alarming report from an expert on Hungarian politics Kim Scheppele, the Director of the Program in Law and Public Affairs at Princeton University. She did research at the Constitutional Court of Hungary where today the ruling right wing government erased all of the Constitutional Court’s decisions, removing any checks and balances on a government that is displaying fascist tendencies and certainly tolerating, if not encouraging extremist attacks on gypsies and homeless people, activities that have an eerie echo of Germany in the 1930’s. |
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Then finally, at a time when 85 billion dollars in sequester cuts are dominating the debate, we get an accounting of how many trillions America’s Fortune 500 companies are hiding in profits stashed offshore to avoid taxes. Matthew Gardner, the Executive Director of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and an analyst with Citizens for Tax Justice joins us to discuss the enormous amounts of profits GE, Apple, Microsoft, IBM, Google and others hide offshore to avoid paying taxes. |
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March 10 - The War Within the War on Terror; Filibustering the New Head of the CIA; Rage on the Right and Outrage on the Left
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We begin with the capture in Jordan and the trial in New York of Osama Bin Laden’s son-in-law that is reviving the war within the so-called war on terror, with Republican Senator Lindsay Graham vowing to make sure Sulaiman Abu Gaith is tried in Guantanamo. Peter Bergen, CNN’s national security analyst and author of “Manhunt: The Ten Year Search for Bin Laden – From 9/11 to Abbottabad” joins us to discuss the battle over Guantanamo that the president has vowed to close and Republican senators seem determined to keep open. |
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Then we look into the issues raised by Senator Rand Paul’s filibuster against the new head of the CIA over the use of drones in assassinating American citizens, that have made Rand Paul something of a hero on the political left while at the same time his message resonates with his true base of support on the libertarian right and among anti-government militia groups. Paul Pillar, the CIA’s former National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia joins us to discuss the Central Intelligence Agency’s more Para-military role that John Brennan is inheriting and when and how concerns over drones that American citizens on the left and right have will be satisfactorily addressed. |
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Then finally we examine the new report by the Southern Poverty Law Center on the four year explosive growth of conspiracy-minded anti-government “Patriot” groups that have intensified rage on the right against America’s first black president. Criminologist, civil rights attorney and professor of Criminal Justice Brian Levin joins us. He was Associate Director of Legal Affairs of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Klanwatch/Militia Task Force in Montgomery, Alabama. |
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