Sonali Kolhatkar returns to Uprising to discuss the causes behind the “weird weather” and mega-fires sweeping the West with Chip Ward Also, Steven Hill analyses the austerity agenda and massive popular protests in Greece, Britain, and Spain, and Sonya Lunder from the Environmental Working Group on their 2011 Guide to Sunscreen. Plus this week’s edition of ReThink Reviews with Jonathan Kim.

Republicans on Wednesday greeted coolly President Obama’s challenge that they deal immediately with raising the debt ceiling and related issues, with one key GOP senator urging Democrats to give up their Fourth of July break to work on the issue.

At his news conference, Obama called on Congress to pass a variety of economic measures — free trade as well as patent reform. But he reserved his most direct language for the stalemate over raising the debt ceiling, repeating his call for a balanced approach that would include increasing revenues.

The House’s top Republican immediately decried the position of the president and fellow Democrats, saying again that the GOP would not accept any tax hikes.

“The president’s remarks today ignore legislative and economic reality and demonstrate remarkable irony,” Speaker John Boehner said in a prepared statement. “The president is sorely mistaken if he believes a bill to raise the debt ceiling and …

A decision expected today from the U.S. Sentencing Commission could potentially free thousands of inmates convicted of crack felonies, if the commission decides to apply retroactively Congress’ 2010 reform of drug sentencing laws.

The Fair Sentencing Act, signed into law in August 2010, was an effort to reduce the huge disparity in punishment of those convicted with cocaine possession or use versus those caught with crack. The law gets rid of so-called “mandatory minimums” and knocks down the disparity in length of sentences from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1. So punishment for crack offenders is now 18 times as harsh as it is for cocaine offenders.

“We hope that they will support full retroactivity for the over 12,000 people that would be eligible,” says Jesselyn McCurdy, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

There are three possible outcomes, McCurdy says. One, the commission could decide on full retroactive application of the law. Two, …

The U.S. has decided to formally resume contact with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood group – which does not recognize Israel – in a move that could further alienate some Jewish voters already skeptical of President Barack Obama, it was reported.

One senior U.S. official said the Brotherhood’s rise in political prominence after the forced departure of former President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year makes the American contact necessary.

“The political landscape in Egypt has changed, and is changing… It is in our interests to engage with all of the parties that are competing for parliament or the presidency,” said the official, who confirmed the news to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The Muslim Brotherhood – founded in 1928 to promote a conservative version of Islam in politics, culture and society – has previously had some communication with the U.S. through Brotherhood Members of Parliament who had been technically elected as independents. U.S. diplomats had …

Mark Halperin has been suspended indefinitely by MSNBC for calling President Obama a “dick” live on air.

The suspension came just hours after Halperin, a top editor for Time and a regular on “Morning Joe,” profusely apologized for the remark, which came during Thursday’s “Morning Joe” broadcast.

MSNBC’s statement read:

Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable. We apologize to the President, The White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.

Halperin also issued a statement:

I completely agree with everything in MSNBC’s statement about my remark. I believe that the step they are taking in response is totally appropriate. Again, I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the President, to my …

Stephen Colbert’s bid to launch a super PAC is no laughing matter, especially now that the comedian has won approval to raise unlimited campaign cash to influence the 2012 elections.

The Federal Election Commission today voted 5-1 to approve Colbert’s political action committee, giving him a shot at doing what political types such as Bush strategist Karl Rove and former Obama aide Bill Burton are already doing to finance TV ads ahead of next year’s elections.

Colbert sought a so-called media exemption that would allow him to use airtime, staff and other resources from The Colbert Report for the super PAC so that Viacom Inc., Comedy Central’s parent company, wouldn’t have to disclose them as in-kind contributions.

In an advisory opinion adopted by the commission today, the FEC said “some of Viacom’s activities would fall within the press exemption, others would not.

Read Full Story

LONDON — Hundreds of thousands of teachers and public-sector workers across Britain walked off their jobs on Thursday to protest the government’s proposed changes to their pension plans. Union officials warned that this could be the beginning of a wave of strikes this summer and fall over pensions and public-sector budget cuts.

“Today’s action across the country demonstrates the anger and distress that this government is causing teachers,” Christine Blower, head of the National Union of Teachers, said in a statement.

Michael Gove, the education secretary, told reporters that he was disappointed by the strike. “I understand that there are really strong feelings about pensions, and we absolutely want to ensure that everyone in the public, especially teachers, have decent pensions,” he said, visiting an elementary school in south London. “But I just don’t think it’s a good idea to have gone out on strike today.”

Many schools were operating with skeleton staffs; …

Due to unforeseen circumstances Uprising will not be live today. Tune into KPFK Pacifica Radio for special programming.

Sonali Kolhatkar returns to Uprising to discuss the austerity agenda and massive popular protests in Greece, Britain, and Spain with Steven Hill. Also, Iruka Okeke makes the case for better medical practices in Africa in conversation on her new book, “Divining Without Seeds,” and Chip Ward examines the causes behind the “weird weather” and mega-fires sweeping the West.

Enjoy the final day of three days of special programming with former KPFK host and OC Weekly’s Managing Editor, Gustavo Arrellano. Sonali Kolhatkar returns to Uprising on Thursday June 30th.