The Great War for Civilization
GUESTS: Robert Fisk, Middle East Correspondent for the Independent, author of “The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East”

Last week’s bombs in Amman, Jordan, killed 57 people – they are a taste of the daily realities in neighboring Iraq. Police have arrested an Iraqi woman who failed to detonate her explosives. The woman was identified as the sister of Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s former right hand man in Iraq’s volatile Anbar province. This is just the latest in a daily barrage of news from the Middle East and Muslim world in general, that apparently drives George W. Bush’s so-called War on Terror. This morning we’re joined in studio by one of the best known reporters in the world, who has spent decades on the front lines of the Middle East. Robert Fisk is based in Beirut, Lebanon as Middle East Correspondent for the Independent, holding more British and international journalism awards than any other foreign correspondent. He’s in Los Angeles with his latest book, “The Great War for Civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East.”

Robert Fisk will be appearing at the following times and locations:

Monday, November 14th, 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Grand Ballroom, Ackerman Student Union, UCLA. UCLA parking is $8.00. This event is free and open to the public. No reservations, first come, first serve. For more information, please call: (310) 206-5675 or (310) 206-2912

Tuesday, November 15th, 12 Noon – 2 p.m. USC Room 101, Mudd hall of Philosophy.
Robert Fisk will be signing copies of his latest book, “The Great War for Civilization.” For more information, please call (213) 740-0800 or email: lascis@usc.edu

Wednesday, November 16th
12 Noon – 1 p.m. at Cal Poly Pomona Bronco Student Center Centaurus Room 1329. 3801 West Temple Avenue, Pomona 91768.

Empire Notes
GUESTS: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade

We go now to our weekly commentary Empire Notes by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today’s commentary is about Europe and the United States. Rahul’s website is www.empirenotes.org.

Children of the Incarcerated
GUESTS: Nell Bernstein, author of “All Alone in the World.”

One in every thirty-three children in America has an incarcerated parent. The number is much higher in the African-American community affecting one in every eight African-American children. “All Alone in the World,” is the title of award-winning journalist Nell Bernstein’s new book. In it, she looks at the children of the incarcerated and how the ever growing prison system renders them largely invisible. By combining personal testimonies with facts and figures, Bernstein highlights how the impact of our society’s task of crime and punishment overlooks the plight of the children of those incarcerated. She also examines viable alternatives in the criminal justice system and recommends some concrete policy recommendations.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day:

A quote from “All Alone in the World,” by Nell Bernstien, “We are able to lock people up in the numbers that we do only so long as we see them as useless – extraneous individuals whom our society simply does not need. But the majority of prisoners are mothers and fathers: they are needed in the most fundamental way. The parent-child bond, beyond its private importance to the individuals who share it, is a social asset that must be valued and preserved.”