RECENT SHOWS
Thursday, July 02, 2009
- Headlines
- “Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford’s Forgotten Jungle City”
- John Pilger Calls UK National Health Service a Treasure, Blasts US Lawmakers for Being “in Bed with Powerful Interests” and Neglecting “Their Own People’s Basic Human Rights”
- Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire Speaks from Israeli Jail Cell After Arrest on Boat Delivering Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
- Up in Smoke: How the Tobacco Industry Shaped the New Smoking Bill
- Zelaya Vows to Return to Honduras Despite Threats of Arrest by Coup Leaders
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
- Headlines
- “Change to Win is Dead”–Juan Gonzalez on Labor Movement Struggle
- Generals Who Led Honduras Military Coup Trained at the School of the Americas
- How Can We Have Sovereignty When We Don’t Have Electricity or Water to Bathe? Iraqi Reporter on US Troop Pullback
- Military Using “Brutal” Force Against Anti-Coup Protests in Honduras
- What’s Behind the Honduras Coup? Tracing Zelaya’s Trajectory
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
BLOG
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Coup in Honduras: See full Democracy Now! coverage
Check out all of our coverage of the first coup d’etat in Central America in more than a quarter-century.
Filed under News
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“Undo the Coup”
The first coup d’etat in Central America in more than a quarter-century occurred last Sunday in Honduras. It was led by a graduate of the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas, a military facility that has trained some of Latin America’s worst torturers, murderers and human rights abusers.
Filed under Weekly Column
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“Free Speech vs. Surveillance in the Digital Age”
Tools of mass communication that were once the province of governments and corporations now fit in your pocket. As these technologies have developed, so too has the ability to monitor, filter, censor and block them.
Filed under Weekly Column
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EPA Declares Public Health Emergency in Libby, Montana
The Environmental Protection Agency has declared a public health emergency in the town of Libby, Montana, where hundreds of people have died from asbestos contamination. It is the first time such a declaration has been made by the EPA. For decades, W.R. Grace and Co. mined asbestos-contaminated vermiculite in Libby.
See extended Democracy Now! coverageFiled under DN Archives
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“Congre$$, Heal Thyself”
As the Obama administration pushes for a vote on health-care reform before Congress recesses in August, has health-industry money too thoroughly polluted the process for anything good to come of it?
Filed under Weekly Column
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“The Free Market’s Marked Men: From the Niger Delta to the Amazon”
Ken Saro-Wiwa and Alberto Pizango never met, but they are united by a passion for the preservation of their people and their land, and by the fervor with which they were targeted by their respective governments.
Filed under Weekly Column
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“Dr. George Tiller Didn’t Have to Die”
Dr. Tiller was assassinated while in church in Wichita, Kan., on Sunday, targeted for legally performing abortions. His death might have been prevented simply through enforcement of existing laws.
Filed under Weekly Column
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“Chevron, Shell and the True Cost of Oil”
Profits are higher than ever at oil companies Chevron and Shell. Yet across the globe, from the Ecuadorian jungle, to the Niger Delta in Nigeria, to the courtrooms and streets of New York and San Ramon, Calif., people are fighting back against the world’s oil giants.
Filed under Weekly Column
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More Blog Posts »
Podcasting & Torrents
Harsh New York Rockefeller Drug Laws Turn 30: Hip Hop Pioneer Russell Simmons & Anthony Papa Who Served 12 Years for a First-Time Offense Call for Repeal of the Laws
Three decades ago today, New York became the first state in the nation to require harsh prison sentences for all drug offenders.
The new laws were pushed through the state legislature in 1973 by then-governor Nelson Rockefeller.
The laws require a minimum sentence of 15 years for minor possession of drugs. Enforcement of the laws rarely hit drug kingpins. Instead, judges were forced to imprison mostly first-time, low-level, nonviolent drug offenders. Most of them are poor, most are people of color.
Dozens of other states and the federal government rushed to adopt their own versions of the Rockefeller drug laws when New York State set the precedent.
Today, New York and California alone retain their mandatory minimum sentences.
The movement to scrap the laws is continuing to grow. Last year, former New York Senator John Dunne appeared in a TV commercial. He said: “In 1973, I sponsored the Rockefeller drug laws, which have been a well-documented failure.”
- Anthony Papa, was convicted of a first-time, non-violent drug possession charge in 1985 under the tough anti-drug laws signed by Governor Rockefeller which left the judge no choice but to impose a harsh prison sentence of 15 Years to Life. At the time, Papa, married with one daughter. Papa spent the next 12 years behind bars at Sing Sing prison. During that time, he earned degrees in behavioral science, theology and paralegal studies. He also learned to paint. Papa became an accomplished and acclaimed artist, painting a powerful collection of images relating to his prison experience. One of his pieces, “15 Years to Life,” was exhibited at the Whitney Museum.
- Russell Simmons, the founder of Def Jam Records and one of the most successful recording executives, producer, promoters in the hip hop world. Last year he helped form the Hip-hop Summit Action Network.
- Randy Credico, director of the William Moses Kunstler Fund for Racial Justice.
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