Listen to This Radical Day in History

… about the first Jazz record album

Produced by Radio Rootz.

Radio Rootz works in public schools to train teens in media literacy and radio production. Rootz Youth analyze and critique the media, and learn how to create news that reflects their voices, issues, and communities. For more information, visit www.radiorootz.org

“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” — conservationist, Aldo Leopold

Now that Suharto is dead, we’ll examine the real legacy of this brutal, US-backed Indonesian dictator; LAUSD threatens LA’s Eco-Village – we’ll speak with local activists; and a conversation with Alex Gibney about his Oscar-nominated documentary about torture in Afghanistan and Iraq: Taxi to the Dark Side; plus this week’s Who Said That? contest.

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GUEST: Laura Flanders, author of “Blue Grit: Making Impossible, Improbable and Inspirational Political Change in America”, host of Radio Nation

In his hour-long, final State of the Union address, President Bush yesterday spoke about a large variety of issues, from the economy, taxes, health care and education, to trade and the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. More specifically, he called on Congress to pass his tax rebate package, announced a modest $300 million in scholarships for low-income children, lauded successes in Afghanistan and Iraq, and completely ignored the Israeli siege of Gaza. Although the state of the economy is top-most in the minds of most Americans, Bush only briefly touched on it, and instead spent far more time discussing Iraq. The speech was interrupted nearly …

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GUEST: Amie Williams, LA-based film maker, Uprising correspondent, Gem, a political analyst in Kenya

Despite a visit from former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, violence in Kenya has reignited, with dozens of people being killed, and thousands displaced in the last five days. Annan intends to mediate between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader, Raila Odinga, over the controversial and contested results of a recent election. Odinga’s party, the Orange Democratic Movement, insists that the election was rigged in favor of Kibaki, a view widely held by local and foreign election observers. Most of the attacks are split along ethnic lines, with members of Kibaki’s Kikuyu ethnic group clashing with members of the Luo and Kalenjin groups that favor the opposition. Thousands of internally displaced refugees have …

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GUEST: Daniel Brezenoff, Clinical Social Worker, former Congressional Candidate for the Green Party

Last Friday, Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich announced his decision to drop out of the race for the presidency. A long-shot to win the Democratic nomination, Kucinich will now shift focus on winning his seventh term in Congress. To the left of the major Democratic Party candidates, the Cleveland Congressman made his second bid for the nomination as he felt his party was not acting decisively enough to end the war on Iraq. The criticism is not only shared by Kucinich, but by the alternative Green Party as well. The Greens are also critical of groups such as MoveOn.org and Americans Against Escalation in Iraq for their recent decision to scale back anti-war efforts. …

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GUEST: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade

Empire Notes are weekly commentaries filed by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today’s commentary is about the Israeli siege of Gaza.

Empire Notes is online at www.empirenotes.org.

Listen to This Radical Day in History

… about Bear River Massacre

Produced by Radio Rootz.

Radio Rootz works in public schools to train teens in media literacy and radio production. Rootz Youth analyze and critique the media, and learn how to create news that reflects their voices, issues, and communities. For more information, visit www.radiorootz.org

“The whole history of the world is summed up in the fact that, when nations are strong, they are not always just, and when they wish to be just, they are no longer strong.” –- Winston Churchill

Author and political commentator Laura Flanders joins us in studio to dissect Bush’s last State of the Union Address; a live report from Kenya by Uprising correspondent Amie Williams as violence re-ignites; and the Green Party critiques Moveon.org and other groups for compromising on the war to get a Democrat in office. Plus this week’s Empire Notes with Rahul Mahajan.