Democracy NOW! DN! Today is April 15th, Tax Day, when millions of Americans scramble to file their income taxes on time. It’s also a day when people across the country are planning to protest the use of tax dollars to fund war. In dozens of communities across the country, demonstrations are planned at IRS offices, federal buildings and weapons factories to protest ongoing massive U.S. government expenditures on drones, missiles and bombs. According to a new pie-chart released by The War Resisters League, 47 percent of federal taxes goes towards war in some form or the other. To protest paying for lethal weapons, some Americans are taking a stand by personally refusing to fund the military. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! Creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Hugo Chávez’s former foreign minister and vice president, Nicolás Maduro, narrowly won Sunday’s election to fill out the remainder of Chávez’s term following his death from cancer last month. The National Electoral Council of Venezuela says Maduro received 50.7 percent of the vote, besting opposition leader Henrique Capriles Radonski’s 49.1 percent. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Tens of thousands of immigrants from around the country joined allies from the labor movement and beyond to Rally for Citizenship Wednesday in Washington, D.C. The demonstrators urged Congress to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws and provide a path to citizenship for 11 million undocumented
residents. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Amira Hass, the only Jewish-Israeli journalist to have spent almost 20 years living in and reporting from Gaza and the West Bank, recently suffered a torrent of hate mail and calls for her prosecution after she wrote an article defending the right of Palestinians to resist violent occupation. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! Creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! We broadcast from the National Conference for Media Reform in Denver, where some 2,000 people are expected to gather to look at how media, technology and democracy intersect. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Wenonah Hauter, the executive director of Food and Water Watch, joins us to discuss her new book, Foodopoly: The Battle Over the Future of Food and Farming in America. Hauter tackles the corporations behind the meat, vegetables, grains and milk consumed by millions every day, including some of the most popular organic brands. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
While President Obama has forcefully called out Congress for not passing gun control, the United States has been one of the leading countries blocking a global treaty to regulate the $70 billion international arms trade, torpedoing it last summer and dragging its feet on it this week at the United Nations. While Iran, Syria and North Korea are generating headlines for officially blocking the treaty, less attention has been paid to the role of the U.S. — acceding to pressure from outside groups including the National Rifle Association — in stalling its progress. We’re joined by Andrew Feinstein, author of "The Shadow World: Inside the Global Arms Trade. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! We play extended excerpts of James Steele: America’s Mystery Man in Iraq, which exposes the role the retired U.S. colonel James Steele, a veteran of American proxy wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua, played in training Iraqi police commando units. Maggie O’Kane, who notes the investigation was sparked by memos found in the Iraq War Logs released by WikiLeaks. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Investigative journalist Dahr Jamail reported throughout the early stages of the U.S. invasion of Iraq 10 years ago. Now with Al Jazeera, Jamail has just returned from Iraq once again, finding what he calls a failed state living in utter devastation. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! We look at the Iraq War’s 10th anniversary with Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi-American blogger and political analyst. Jarrar led the first civilian casualty survey in Iraq as the country director of Civic Worldwide and has closely monitored the issue of civilian casualties as well as the larger fallout from the U.S. invasion for the last 10 years. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! The total number of people who have died from the Iraq War, including soldiers, militants, police, contractors, journalists, humanitarian workers and Iraqi civilians, has reached at least 189,000 people, including at least 123,000 civilians. Financially, the report estimates a cost to U.S. taxpayers of $2.2 trillion. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Freelance foreign correspondent Reese Erlich joins us to discuss Saudi Arabia’s involvement in the Syrian conflict. Two years after leading a Gulf intervention force to crush the protests in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia is playing an increasing role in Syria. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! We are joined by Rim Turkmani, an astrophysicist and member of the Syrian Civil Democratic Alliance who’s in New York meeting with Security Council members discussing possible political solutions to the situation in Syria. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! A new report has revealed the U.S. government refused or censored freedom of information requests from the public more last year than at any other time during the Obama presidency. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! As John Brennan is confirmed to head the CIA, we examine one of the most controversial U.S. targeted killings that occurred during his time as Obama’s counter terrorism adviser: the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki. The U.S.-born cleric died in a U.S. drone strike in September 2011, along with American citizen Samir Khan, Al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
As a purgative for the crappola fed to Americans about Chavez, my foundation, The Palast Investigative Fund, is offering the film, The Assassination of Hugo Chavez, as a free download. Based on my several meetings with Chavez, his kidnappers and his would-be assassins. Provided with permission from Greg Palast.
Democracy NOW! DN! We end our International Women’s Day broadcast with the Indian feminist, activist and thinker Dr. Vandana Shiva. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Millions are gathering in Caracas to mourn the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez on the day of his funeral. More than 30 world leaders are expected to attend today’s ceremony as Venezuelans brave long lines to see Chávez lying in state. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! We’re joined by five guests: Miguel Tinker Salas, Pomona College professor and author of two books on Venezuela; Venezuelan-American attorney Eva Golinger, a friend and adviser to Chávez; New York University professor and author Greg Grandin; Gregory Wilpert, founder of Venezuelanalysis.com; and Michael Shifter, president of the Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington-based policy forum on Western Hemisphere affairs. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! As we broadcast from the Freedom to Connect conference, we look at one whistleblower who used the Internet to reveal the horrors of war: U.S. Army Private Bradley Manning. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! We look deep inside the $1-trillion-a-year processed food industrial complex to examine how decades of food science have resulted in the cheapest, most addictive and most nutritionally inferior food in the world. The vitamins added back to this packaged and fast food, which amounts to 70 percent of
calories consumed, come from nylon, sheep grease and petroleum. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Food companies have known for decades that salt, sugar and fat are not good for us in the quantities we consume them. But every year, people are swayed to ingest about twice the recommended amount of salt and fat and an estimated 70 pounds of sugar. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! As President Obama unveiled a statue of Rosa Parks at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, the Supreme Court considered overturning a key achievement of the civil rights movement: the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Signed in 1965 by President L. Johnson, the law requires several states and counties with a history of racial discrimination to clear election-related changes with the federal government. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! New Yorker staff writer Sarah Stillman has just been awarded a George Polk Award for her article, "The Throwaways," which investigates law enforcement’s unregulated use of young confidential informants in drug cases. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! While the secretive Donors Trust has given millions to a variety of right-wing causes, denying climate change appears to be its top priority. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Since 1999, the nonprofit charity Donors Trust has handed out nearly $400 million in private donations to more than 1,000 right-wing and libertarian groups. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Along with his rise to worldwide stardom, the musician and actor Harry Belafonte has been deeply involved in social activism for decades. "What is missing I think from the equation in our struggle today is that
we must unleash radical thought. America has never been moved to perfect our desire for greater democracy without radical thinking and radical voices being at the helm of any such a quest." Provided to you under Democracy NOW!
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Democracy NOW! DN! highlights from the "Forward on Climate" rally that drew tens of thousands to Washington D.C.’s National Mall Sunday. Protesters from across the United States and Canada. Provided to you under Democracy NOW!
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Democracy NOW! DN! President Obama’s nominee to run the CIA, John Brennan, forcefully defended Obama’s counterterrorism policies, including the increase use of armed drones and the targeted killings. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! A federal appeals court has ruled the government can continue to keep secret its efforts to pursue the private information of Internet users without a warrant as part of its probe into the WikiLeaks. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! The Obama administration’s internal legal justification for assassinating U.S. citizens without charge has been revealed for the first time, in a secret Justice Department memo. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Part 1-2 Amidst a spate of killings by Israeli forces of unarmed Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, we turn to the stunning Oscar-nominated documentary, "The Gatekeepers." The film brings together six former heads of Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet, collectively speaking out for the first time ever. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, the new documentary "Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield" follows investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill to Afghanistan, Somalia and Yemen as he chases down the hidden truths behind America’s expanding covert wars. We’re joined by Scahill and the film’s director, Rick Rowley, an independent journalist with Big Noise Films. Provided
to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! In an inaugural address many saw as a blueprint for a more progressive second-term domestic agenda than his first. He also stated that we did not need to be in a "state of perpetual wars". We are joined by Scahill and the film’s director, Rick Rowley, an independent journalist with Big Noise Films. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! A new study shows hundreds of women in the United States have been arrested, forced to undergo unwanted medical procedures, and locked up in jails or psychiatric institutions. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! In Algeria, at least 22 foreign hostages remained unaccounted for in what has been described as one of the biggest international hostage crises in decades. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Four years after vowing to close Guantánamo and 11 years after it opened, President Obama has signed the National Defense Authorization Act, barring the use of federal funds to transfer detainees from the notorious prison to U.S. soil. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! We turn to Steubenville, Ohio, where members of a high school football team allegedly raped an underage girl and possibly urinated on her unconscious body. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! President Obama is expected to unveil the nomination today of former Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska as the next secretary of defense, replacing Leon Panetta, a Vietnam War veteran. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! The controversial use of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," that is behind the country’s natural gas boom has come
under scrutiny in the new Hollywood drama, "Promised Land," and met stiff resistance in New York state, where a four-year moratorium against the process could soon expire. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! After much drama, the "fiscal cliff" has come to an end — for now. We look at what is in the Senate deal approved by the House Tuesday night with economist Juliet Schor. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
A new campaign for indigenous rights and environmental justice is spreading across Canada. The "Idle No More" movement began as a series of protests against a controversial government Budget Bill C-45, but has since expanded into a nationwide movement for political transformation. Provided to you under
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Democracy NOW! DN! After losing both her father and her brother to gun violence in St. Louis and later being victimized by domestic violence, Goldie Taylor purchased a gun for her own protection. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! We air an excerpt of an address by the legendary filmmaker Michael Moore delivered just hours after the Newtown massacre. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Veteran journalist Charles Glass joins us to discuss his recent trip to Syria and its largest city, Aleppo. Addressing U.S.-led warnings that the Assad regime could deploy chemical warfare. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! Sharif Abdel-Kouddous reports from Egypt as it braces for new protests today over President Mohamed Morsi’s hotly contested effort to hold a referendum on a controversial draft constitution. and Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! The United Nations Climate Change summit ended Saturday after negotiators agreed to a weakened deal that will do nothing to halt rising world greenhouse gas emissions. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! We speak with Claudia Salerno, the top negotiator for Venezuela at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Doha, who is known for her dramatic action at the conference three years ago. and Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! The billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch are known for funneling vast donations into Republican campaigns in the United States. As the United States is accused of blocking progress at the U.N. climate talks in Doha, a new report says the Koch brothers may be the biggest force behind the climate stalemate. and Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.
Democracy NOW! DN! A massive humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Central Africa where fighting has displaced tens of thousands in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Provided to you under Democracy NOW! creative commons license.