Occupy Iowa Protests Iowa GOP Caucus Begins 2012 Race

Year of Global Uprisings From the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street

Today we look back at 2011 — a year that saw the U.S. killing of Osama Bin Laden, the ouster of a dictator in Egypt and the death of one in Libya, the meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan and the expansion of the secret U.S. drone war in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Arabian Peninsula. As U.S. troops leave Iraq, thousands of private security contractors remain to guard the U.S. embassy — the largest in the world. The Horn of Africa was hit by the region’s worst drought in decades as the devastating impact of extreme weather was felt across the globe, while the world’s most powerful countries continue to refuse to join in a pact to address climate change. However, 2011 may be most remembered as a year of global uprisings. From the Arab Spring to Occupy Wall Street, millions of people took to the streets to oppose repressive regimes and an unjust economic system. We spend the hour today looking back at the protest movements that shaped 2011.


http://www.democracynow.org/

Why is there so little US Media coverage on Bradley Manning's Trial

Bradley Manning vs the US military - Listening Post - Al Jazeera English

Scott Olsen, U.S. Vet Wounded at Occupy Oakland, on Recovery, Protests, Iraq and Bradley Manning

Dan Choi - Eloquent support for Bradley Manning

and on Democracy Now:

The War at Home: Militarized Local Police Tap Post-9/11 Grants to Stockpile Combat Gear, Use Drones

A new report by the Center for Investigative Reporting reveals that since 9/11, local law enforcement agencies have used $34 billion in federal grants to acquire military equipment such as bomb-detection robots, digital communications equipment and Kevlar helmets. "A lot of this technology and the devices have been around for a long time. But as soon as they have, for instance, a law enforcement capability, that’s a game changer," says George Schulz, with the Center for Investigative Reporting. "The courts and the public have to ask, how is the technology being used by a community of people—police—who are endowed with more power than the rest of us?’" Local police departments have also added drones to their tool kit. In June, a drone helped local police in North Dakota with surveillance leading to what may be the first domestic arrests with help from a drone. The American Civil Liberties Union has issued a new report that calls on the government to establish privacy protections for surveillance by unmanned aerial drones, especially of people engaged in protests. "We believe that people should not be targeted for surveillance via drones just because they’re they are engaged in First Amendment-protected activity," says Catherine Crump, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. [includes rush transcript]

November 17, 2011

Former Seattle Police Chief Norm Stamper on Paramilitary Policing From WTO to Occupy Wall Street

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/17/paramilitary_policing_of_occupy_wall_street

Government Blocks Access to Manning Hearing

http://www.nationofchange.org/government-blocks-access-bradley-manning-s-hearing-1324658122Private First Class Bradley Manning is facing life in prison or even the death penalty for leaking hundreds of thousands of documents about US wars and diplomacy to the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks. Some of the documents in question are now posted online and have been the fodder for news articles and public discussion about world politics for well over a year. This case will show much about the United States’ tolerance for whistle-blowers who show the country in an unflattering light. Are we a nation that tolerates criticism and values transparency? Or are we willing to crack down on whistleblowers of conscience? Unfortunately, the military is taking steps to block access by the media and the public to portions of the trial, robbing the world of details of this critically important trial.Private First Class Bradley Manning is facing life in prison or even the death penalty for leaking hundreds of thousands of documents about US wars and diplomacy to the whistle-blower website WikiLeaks. Some of the documents in question are now posted online and have been the fodder for news articles and public discussion about world politics for well over a year. This case will show much about the United States’ tolerance for whistle-blowers who show the country in an unflattering light. Are we a nation that tolerates criticism and values transparency? Or are we willing to crack down on whistleblowers of conscience? Unfortunately, the military is taking steps to block access by the media and the public to portions of the trial, robbing the world of details of this critically important trial.


http://www.nationofchange.org/government-blocks-access-bradley-manning-s-hearing-1324658122

http://www.firstpost.com/world/mannings-legal-strategy-could-lead-to-plea-deal-167827.html

NATO Forced to Admit Air Strikes Killed Dozens of Libyan Civilians, Contradicting Initial Denials

Share689

NATO has admitted for the first time Libyan civilians were killed and injured during its seven-month bombing campaign that led to the ouster and death of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The acknowledgment came after a New York Times investigation revealed at least 40 civilians, and perhaps more than 70, were killed by NATO air strikes, including at least 29 women or children. Others were killed when NATO warplanes bombed ambulance crews and civilians who were attempting to aid the wounded injured in earlier strikes. We speak to New York Times senior reporter Eric Schmitt, who co-wrote the investigation with C.J. Chivers. "We only saw a small sampling of the strike sites that may have been affected, so the death toll is probably much larger," Chivers says.


"It would be hard to convey in words the visceral anger toward the United States now being felt and expressed in Pakistan. The sense that a deadly U.S. attack on a border post near the Afghan border was deliberate rather than friendly-fire has resulted in a halt to NATO supplies through that nation."

http://worldmeets.us/ http://worldmeets.us/thenationpk000150.shtml#ixzz1hXm3pbf1

Police Crack Down on Occupy Wall Street Protesters, Journalists on Movement’s 3-Month Mark

Bradley Manning Faces Life Sentence, While Criminals WikiLeaks Exposed Have Suffered No Consequences–Glenn Greenwald

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/12/19/bradley_manning_faces_life_sentence_while

"Worker-Owners of America, Unite": Will Cooperative Workplaces Democratize U.S. Economy?

As the Occupy Wall Street movement continues to protest record levels of wealth and income inequality, we turn to an author who says the U.S. economy might be becoming more democratic. Gar Alperovitz argues in an op-ed in today’s New York Times that we may be in the midst of a profound transition toward an economy characterized by more democratic structures of ownership. Alperovitz finds that 130 million Americans are members of some kind of cooperative, and 13 million Americans work in an employee-owned company. He says the United States may be heading toward something very different from both corporate-dominated capitalism and from traditional socialism. "I think we’re seeing a change in attitude, both increasing doubts about what’s now going on in the economy, deep doubts, very deep doubts—thanks to Occupation, it’s crystallized—but this other trend of saying, 'What do you want? Where are we going?' in some ways to democratize the economy in a very American way," Alperovitz says.

U.S. House passes Indefinite Detention Bill

Huffington Post 

Reject Indefinite Detention; Defend the Constitution

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/13/national-defense-authorization-act-ndaa-obama-detainee-policy_n_1145407.html

Constituents sent us here to safeguard their liberty 

-- I ask my colleagues to think long and hard about this vote.

USA Today 

U.S. House passes $662 billion defense bill

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2011-12-14/house-defense-bill-passes/51931160/1




The House is expected to vote today on a massive $662 billion defense bill that could usher in a radical expansion of indefinite detention under the U.S. government. A provision in the National Defense Authorization Act would authorize the military to jail anyone it considers a terrorism suspect anywhere in the world without charge or trial. The measure would effectively extend the definition of what is considered the U.S. military’s battlefield to anywhere in the world, even the United States. The White House has issued a veto threat with backing from top officials, including Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, and FBI Director Robert Mueller. Lawmakers are hoping several last-minute revisions will address the concerns and eliminate the veto threat, but critics warn the bill poses a major threat to basic constitutional rights. We speak to Chris Anders, the senior legislative counsel in the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington Legislative Office. "This is putting people in prison, potentially for the rest of their lives, based on nothing more than suspicion," Anders warns.

CBS News

WH OKs military detention of terrorism suspects

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57343287/wh-oks-military-detention-of-terrorism-suspects/

Corzine Grilled over MF Global Collapse After Witness Suggests Knowledge of Misused Funds

5,500 arrested occupy protestors - 0 Wall Street arrests! 


"Occupy is THE only opposition" 
Nomi Prins author of "It takes a Pillage" interviewed on Democracy Now




Jon Stevens Corzine is the former CEO of Goldman Sachs and of MF Global, and a former American politician, who served as the 54th Governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. OH SH!T!!!!

http://www.roibal.net/blog/2008/04/

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/12/14/corzine_grilled_over_mf_global_collapse

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAZxqQljYhY

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-12-15/here-s-one-big-thing-mf-and-corzine-got-right-commentary-by-jonathan-weil.html

George Papandreou Backs Occupy Movement

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/12/9/exclusive_ex_greek_pm_george_papandreou

Pepper-Spray Creator Decries Use of Chemical Agent on Peaceful Occupy Wall Street Protesters

UPDATE 12/2/11

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/01/investigation-of-uc-davis-wall-street-ties_n_1123466.html

Pepper Spray Investigation Lead By Group That Works For Wall Street Firms 

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/29/pepper_spray_creator_decries_use_of

http://peppersprayingcop.tumblr.com/post/13105427557/in-espana-we-can-sit-wherever-we-want-unless-we

http://www.niemanlab.org/2011/11/image-as-interest-how-the-pepper-spray-cop-could-change-the-trajectory-of-occupy-wall-street/

We speak with Kamran Loghman, the expert who developed weapons-grade pepper-spray, who says he was shocked at how police have used the chemical agent on non-violent Occupy Wall Street protesters nationwide — including students at University of California, Davis, female protesters in New York City, and an 84-year old activist in Seattle. “I saw it and the first thing that came to my mind wasn’t police or students, it was my own children sitting down having an opinion and they’re being shot and forced by chemical agents,” says Loghman, who in the 1980s helped the FBI develop weapons-grade pepper -spray, and collaborated with police departments to develop guidelines for its use. “The use was just absolutely out of the ordinary and it was not in accordance with any training or policy of any department that I know of. I personally certified 4,000 police officers in the early ‘80s and ‘90s and I have never seen this before. That’s why I was shocked... I feel is my civic duty to explain to the public that this is not what pepper spray was developed for.”

WikiLeaks, Julian Assange Win Major Australian Prize for “Outstanding Contribution to Journalism”

Over the weekend, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange accepted the award for Most Outstanding Contribution to Journalism at the 2011 Walkley Award in Australia, an honor akin to the Pulitzer Prize in the United States. We play an excerpt from Assange’s acceptance speech and get reaction from constitutional law attorney and Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald. Today also marks the one-year anniversary of "Cable Gate," when WikiLeaks began publishing a trove of more than 250,000 leaked U.S. State Department cables. In related news, the U.S. Army recently scheduled a Dec. 16 pretrial hearing for Army Private Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of providing the cables to WikiLeaks. Manning “faces life in prison, possibly the death penalty, for what was an act of conscience,” says Greenwald. [Includes rush transcript]

Democracy Now, The Nation, The New School, #OCCUPYEVERYWHERE

Occupy Everywhere: Michael Moore, Naomi Klein on Next Steps for the Movement Against Corporate Power

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/25/occupy_everywhere_michael_moore_naomi_klein

Foreclosures on Active-Duty Troops? No, Not Really!!!!

The U.S. Treasury Department is investigating whether Bank of America, Wells Fargo and eight other major banks may have illegally foreclosed on about 4,500 active-duty servicemen and women.

The U.S. Treasury Department is investigating whether Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Aurora Bank, Citibank, EverBank, HSBC, MetLife Bank, OneWest, Sovereign and U.S. BankAurora Bank, Citibank, EverBank, HSBC, MetLife Bank, OneWest, Sovereign and U.S. Bank.Aurora Bank, Citibank, Everbank, HSBC, MetLife, OneWest, Sovereign and U.S. Bank may have illegally foreclosed on about 4,500 active-duty service men and women.

Dec. 1st, 2011

http://www.nationofchange.org/did-banks-illegally-foreclose-active-duty-troops-1322758193

The U.S. Treasury Department is investigating whether Bank of America, Wells Fargo and eight other major banks may have illegally foreclosed on about 4,500 active-duty servicemen and women.

Occupy Homes: 

New Coalition Links Homeowners, Activists in Direct Action to Halt Foreclosures

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/11/11/occupy_homes_new_coalition_links_homeowners