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In his more than an hour-long, first State of the Union address yesterday, President Barack Obama outlined his agenda for the future by contextualizing his first year in office. Cognizant of declining approval numbers just one year after taking office by overwhelming defeating his Republican opponent in the presidential election, Obama stated, “I campaigned on the promise of change – change we can believe in, the slogan went. And right now, I know there are many Americans who aren’t sure if they still believe we can change – or at least, that I can deliver.” A major point the President went on to address in his speech was the legislative struggle over health insurance reform. Obama acknowledged his own mistakes in presenting the issue to the public but reiterated the goals …

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The Nasomah Village Massacre

Back in the day on January 28th, 1854, the Nasomah Village Massacre took place in Southern Oregon. Tensions between Native peoples and whites had been mounting in the area as incursions and settlements inflamed temperaments. Two years prior to the bloodshed, gold had been discovered at the mouth of the Coquille River leading to a rush of miners along its banks where many natives made their home. After isolated skirmishes, whites issued an ultimatum to the Chief of the Coquille people who then returned one in kind. Shortly thereafter, a vigilante group of forty miners known as the Randolph Minute Men surrounded the village of Nasomah. In the siege, homes were burned down to the ground as sixteen natives were killed. A Superintendent of Indian Affairs …

“Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” — Howard Zinn

We’ll spend the hour analyzing the President’s first State of the Union Address with expert guests and your calls.

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Suicide bombers in Iraq’s capital killed dozens this week in a wave of attacks in response to the hanging of General Ali Hassan al-Majeed, also known as “Chemical Ali.” The General was executed for ordering poison gas attacks on Iraqi Kurds in 1988. Insurgents on Monday conducted a triple bombing on three of Baghdad’s landmark hotels catering to foreigners and media. Tuesday’s bombings targeted a Ministry of Interior forensics office. While the bombings may be a symbolic response to Gen. Majeed’s hanging, the practical effect could include destabilizing the government ahead of elections this March. The 2007 U.S. troop “surge” initially succeeded at co-opting Sunni rage at the foreign fighters of Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI). However, Gen. Raymond Odierno, the top U.S. general in Iraq, said that AQI …

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On Monday, California’s plan to reduce the state’s prison population by 6,500 inmates over the course of the year went into effect. Approved by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger last year as part of an announced effort aimed at addressing prison overcrowding and budgetary woes, the new policy will affect inmates deemed “low-risk” offenders and parolees. The plan will allow such prisoners, including many non-violent offenders, to reduce their sentences by participating in work, education and rehabilitation programs. Parole agents will also see a decrease in workload from 70 to 48 cases as “low-risk” offenders will not be supervised upon release and hence would not returned to prison for technical violations. Law enforcement groups have criticized the plan saying that it would result in increased …

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The US Senate is due to vote on a second term for Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke tomorrow. The President nominated Bernanke for another term despite the fact that many of the most egregious failures of the financial system took place under his watch. A number of progressive leaning Democratic senators including Bernie Sanders and Russ Feingold have led an opposition to block Bernanke’s reappointment, especially given the increasing public disillusionment with the financial crisis and how it is being handled by the White House. In a speech earlier this month Bernanke attempted to explain the origins of the crisis by saying that it was because of “not only weaknesses in regulators’ oversight of financial institutions, but also, more fundamentally, important gaps in the architecture of financial regulation around the …

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Paterson Silk Strike

Back in the day on January 27th, 1913, eight hundred broad silk weavers walked out of the Henry Doherty Mill in Paterson, New Jersey. The workers took action in response to the introduction of the “four-loom” system that would have them operating four automatic loom machines at a time instead of two. Seeing the potential for increased work and decreased wages, the weavers opted instead to instigate what would become known to history as the Paterson Silk Strike. Local representatives of the Industrial Workers of the World called upon their national headquarters as Big Bill Haywood, Rebel Girl Elizabeth Gurley Flynn and others responded to organize the strike. The I.W.W. saw solidarity as the key and by the following month ribbon weavers and dye house workers joined …

“Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.” — Albert Einstein

We’ll hear how California is grappling with prison overcrowding with author and activist Ruthie Gilmore. And, Juan Cole joins us to analyze the resurgence of violence in Iraq. Plus, why the White House and Senate are backing a second term for Ben Bernanke as head of the Federal Reserve, and this week’s Who Said That contest.