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April 12 - Dangerous Truths Drip Out About Troubled California Nuclear Plant; Avoiding War With Iran; How to Stop the Killing in Syria
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We begin with one of the nation’s foremost experts on electrical power and energy David Freeman who has been inspecting the nuclear power plant at San Onofre, north of San Diego, which is leaking radiation and in his opinion should remain shut down. The former head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, New York Power, the Los Angeles DWP and the State Energy Czar who rescued California from the predations of Enron and company, David Freeman is the author of “Winning Our Energy Independence: An Energy Insider Shows How”. |
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Then we assess the upcoming talks this weekend between the P5+1 and Iran which might provide a diplomatic alternative to the impasse over Iran’s nuclear program that threatens to lead to war and a global energy crisis. The co-founder and president of the National Iranian American Council, Dr. Trita Parsi discusses possible areas of agreement to avoid war, given that there is no agreement even among the P5+1 itself on how to proceed. |
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Then finally we examine the fragile ceasefire that began today in Syria and discuss the stalemate between the Syrian rebels and the Assad regime, neither of whom can win in a civil war that is fast becoming a proxy war. Asli Bali, a professor at the UCLA School of Law who specializes in International Human Rights and the Laws of War, joins us. She had an article in Wednesday’s New York Times, “To Stop the Killing, Deal With Assad”. |
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| MUSIC: Sons of the Pioneers - Old Man Atom; Stiff Little Fingers - No More of That; Bright Eyes - Easy/ Lucky/ Free; Built to Spill - The Plan |
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April 11 - Justice Delayed and Denied Until Now; Warmongering Senators Try To Stop Talks; Crime, Corruption and Scandal In The Chinese Politburo
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We begin with the announcement by the Florida State Special prosecutor Angela Corey that she is charging George Zimmerman, the killer of Trayvon Martin, with second degree murder. Ken Adams, a professor of Criminal Justice at the nearby University of Central Florida joins us to discuss this incendiary case of justice delayed and denied up until two hours ago. |
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Then on the eve of the breakthrough talks between Iran and the U.S., we look into efforts by Senator Lieberman to undercut the Obama Administration’s diplomatic track with Iran and force his hand to take military action. Kate Gould, the Legislative Associate for Middle East Policy for the Friends Committee on National Legislation, a Quaker public interest lobby on Capitol Hill, joins us to discuss the Lieberman/Graham/McCain push for another war just as diplomacy gets underway. |
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Then finally we discuss the unfolding scandals inside the highest ranks of the ruling Communist Party in China. Gordon Chang, the author “The Coming Collapse of China” joins us to investigate the politics, criminality and national security issues surrounding the murder of a British businessman, allegedly on the orders of the wife of a rising star in the politburo whose right-hand henchman, a provincial Police Chief, had tried to defect to the U.S. consulate where he dropped off a cache of secret documents before being handed back to Chinese authorities. |
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| MUSIC: Sweet Honey In The Rock - Ella's Song; Jose Gonzalez - How Low; Bright Eyes - Let's Not S*** Ourselves; Manu Chau - Politik Kills |
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April 10 - Santorum In Suspension; The 99% Spring is Budding; How Your Taxes Are Spent
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We begin with the announcement today by Rick Santorum that he is suspending his campaign and discuss the reasons why with Will Bunch, an award-winning senior writer with the Philadelphia Daily News. He has followed the career of the former Pennsylvania senator who was soundly rejected by the state’s voters in 2006 and was likely facing a similar fate in the Republican primary two weeks away. |
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Then we speak with George Goehl, the Executive Director of National People’s Network. He is helping lead the “99% Spring” and “99% Power”, training 100,000 activists in April and organizing demonstrations at upcoming shareholder meetings of some of the biggest, most abusive and least accountable corporations in America. |
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Then finally, as tax day looms, we examine how your taxes are spent by the Federal government and how the spending is prioritized. Mattea Kramer, a senior research analyst at the National Priorities Project joins us. They just released the report “Tax Day 2012” that gives the numbers down to the penny on how your federal income taxes were spent in fiscal 2011. |
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| MUSIC: Metallica - Hollier Than Thou; The Rolling Stones - Street Fighting Man; Stiff Little Fingers - Alternative Ulster; Billy Brag - Ideology |
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April 9 - Money, Bibi and Mitt; The CIA's Man In Egypt; From Producers to Predators
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We begin with an analysis of whether super PACs will be able to buy the election for Mitt Romney and speak with presidential historian Allan Lichtman whose prediction system has correctly predicted the outcome of all US presidential elections since 1984. Since he has predicted an Obama victory, we look into whether money and a wildcard like Romney’s close friend Bibi Netanyahu could alter the equation. |
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Then we assess the chances of the CIA’s man in Egypt, Omar Suleiman, otherwise know as Egypt’s “Torture-in-Chief, becoming Egypt’s next president. We speak with Lisa Hajjar, a professor of Sociology at UC Santa Barbara and the co-editor of “Jadaliyya”. She has an article at Jadaliyya “Omar Suileiman, the CIA’s Man in Cairo and Egypt’s Torturer-in-Chief”. |
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Then finally we examine the state of American capitalism with William Lazonick, the director of the Center for Industrial Competiveness and the president of the Academic-Industry Research Network. He has an article at the Huffington Post and Alternet “How American Corporations Transformed from Producers to Predators.” |
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April 8 - The Gospel of Prosperity, Hate and Exclusion; "Christianity In Crisis"; Church, State and A Mormon President
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Part 1 |
We begin on this Easter Sunday with an examination of religion in America, the most religious of all advanced industrial nations. Frank Schaeffer, whose father was one of the founders of the religious right, joins us to look into the religiosity of the televangelical world of mega-churches that preach right wing politics, the gospel of prosperity, hatred and exclusion. |
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Part 2 |
Then Andrew Sullivan joins us. He has an essay at The Daily Beast “Christianity in Crisis”, and we discuss the politicization of religion in America and how Christianity might be returned to the core teachings of the prophet Jesus, a homeless man, who rejected materialism and ministered to the poor, the sick and the downtrodden. |
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Part 3 |
Then finally we examine the separation of church and state, and how it might apply to Mitt Romney and his relationship with his Mormon faith. A former priest who became a civil rights worker, anti-war activist and community organizer, James Carroll joins us. He is the author of “Jerusalem, Jerusalem: The Ancient City That Ignited the Modern World”. |
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