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Sami al-Haj is a free man today, after having been imprisoned by the U.S. military for more than six years. His crime: journalism. Targeting journalists, the Bush administration has engaged in direct assault, intimidation, imprisonment and information blackouts to limit the ability of journalists to do their jobs. The principal target these past seven years has been Al-Jazeera, the Arabic television network based in Doha, Qatar.
Filed under Weekly Column
Democracy Now! has been selected as an Official Honoree at the 12th Annual Webby Awards in three categories: News, Political and Podcast.
Filed under D.N. in the News
Food riots are erupting around the world. Behind the hunger, behind the riots, are so-called free-trade agreements, and the brutal emergency-loan agreements imposed on poor countries by financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund.
Filed under Weekly Column
Amy Goodman appeared on The Tavis Smiley Show Thursday on PBS discussing her new book. Watch excerpts of the interview.
Filed under D.N. in the News
As the media coverage of the Democratic presidential race continues to focus on lapel pins and pastors, America is ailing.
Filed under Weekly Column
Sen. Barack Obama is clearly a bad bowler. But it was not too long ago that African-Americans were not allowed in some bowling alleys. In Orangeburg, S.C., three young African-American men were killed for protesting against that town’s segregated bowling alley.
Filed under Weekly Column
The American Psychological Association is in the midst of its own heated presidential campaign. The central issue is whether APA members should be banned from participating in “harsh interrogations.”
Filed under Weekly Column
It has been 40 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn., while standing on the balcony outside his room at the Lorraine Motel. King was there to support striking sanitation workers, African-American men who endured horrible working conditions for poverty wages. While King’s staff was opposed to him going, as they were scrambling to organize King’s new initiative, the Poor People’s Campaign, King himself knew that the sanitation workers were at the front lines of fighting poverty.
Filed under Weekly Column
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The House is set to vote Tuesday on the $500 billion 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. Hidden in the bill is a major energy package that would boost government financing for the nuclear industry. It would provide loan guarantees of up to $25 billion for new nuclear reactors. We speak with Harvey Wasserman, editor of nukefree.org. [includes rush transcript]
Ohio’s top election official, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, announced Friday that the voting systems that decided the 2004 election in Ohio were rife with “critical security failures.” We speak with Harvey Wasserman, author of “What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election.” [includes rush transcript]
Bolivian President Evo Morales formally received a copy of the country’s new draft constitution on Saturday, as tens of thousands of supporters marched through the capital of La Paz. But four of Bolivia’s wealthiest regions have declared autonomy in protest of the plans. We speak with Jim Shultz of the Democracy Center in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was handed his first electoral loss since winning the presidency seven years ago when he narrowly lost a controversial referendum on 69 proposed changes to the constitution earlier this month. Chavez conceded defeat in the referendum and said he would leave office in 2012. We host a debate with Greg Wilpert, author of “Changing Venezuela by Taking Power,” and Francisco Rodriguez, the former chief economist of the Venezuelan National Assembly. [includes rush transcript]
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin has refused to delay a vote on his proposed changes to rewrite media ownership laws. The vote is set for Tuesday. We speak with Craig Aaron of Free Press, a national media reform organization. [includes rush transcript]