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This week on Uprising —

* Immigration Reform, Bush, and the 110th Congress
* Empire Notes on the State of the Union
* Clinton Announces Bid for Presidency
* Black Agenda Report on Self-Determination
* Blood of the Earth – a Conversation with Dilip Hiro

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Immigration Reform, Bush, and the 110th Congress

GUEST: Bill Chandler, Executive Director of MIRA, the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance

In the 2007 State of the Union address President Bush pledged to work with Congress to pass “comprehensive immigration reform” which includes his intent to implement a temporary guest worker program while at the same time increasing the number of border patrol agents and calling for workplace enforcement of immigration law. President Bush also vaguely alluded to a pathway for citizenship for some of the millions of undocumented immigrants already in the United States, but stopped short of calling for amnesty. Immigration has been raised consistently in Bush’s past State of the Union addresses. Meanwhile, pro-immigrant and labor rights activists have drafted a proposal of their own for immigration reform aimed at the 110th Congress. Adopted by the Mississippi based Immigrants Rights Alliance, or MIRA, the proposal for immigration legislation sharply contrasts with President Bush’s vision for reform on many key points. Concepts of the proposal include full legalization for all undocumented people, no expansion of guest worker programs, repealing employer sanctions and an end to the militarization of the U.S. – Mexico border.

Visit MIRA’s website at www.yourmira.org

Empire Notes on the State of the Union

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 on the State of the Union Address.

Empire Notes is online at www.empirenotes.org.

Clinton Announces Bid for Presidency

GUEST: Latosha Brown, Executive Director of the Center for Citizen Participation, and with Truth Speaks Communications

Recently Hillary Rodham Clinton announced her entry into the 2008 presidential election. In a videotaped announcement released on her campaign website, Senator Clinton said, “I’m in. And I’m in to win.” If elected, the Democratic Senator from New York would become the first female President of the United States. Entering an already diverse field of Democratic hopefuls that includes Bill Richardson, a Latino, and Barack Obama, an African American, Clinton has already taken an early lead in the polls. However, always a polarizing political figure, Senator Clinton angered many progressives with her 2002 vote to authorize U.S. military action in Iraq. Sensing a shift in popular opinion about the war in Iraq, Senator Clinton has recently come out against President Bush’s plan to send over 20,000 more troops. Clinton has said she will spend the next two years “doing everything in my power to limit the damage George W. Bush can do. But only a new president will be able to undo Bush’s mistakes and restore our hope and optimism.”

Black Agenda Report on Self-Determination

GUEST: Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report

This week’s commentary is called self-determination. Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Blood of the Earth – a Conversation with Dilip Hiro

GUEST: Dilip Hiro, writes regularly for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Observer, Sunday Telegraph, Guardian, and The Nation. His 28 books include The Iranian Labyrinth, Secrets and Lies: Operation “Iraqi Freedom” and The Essential Middle East: A Comprehensive Guide.

Prolific writer and journalist Dilip Hiro has just released a new book, “Blood of the Earth: The Battle for the World’s Vanishing Oil Resources.” The book is a vivid history of oil, and the way it has revolutionized civilian life, war, and world politics. The switch from coal to oil before World War I heralded a huge change in global politics, comparable to the introduction of gunpowder in 1040. In fact, since then oil became the chief strategic weapon of war. Today petroleum is an indispensable part of modern life, used everywhere from fertilizers and gasoline to plastics, polyethylene, and pharmaceuticals. It is likely to be the impetus for many future wars. Dilip Hiro details how the history of oil has set the stage for the coming oil wars of the 21st Century. Most importantly, the book provides a crucial context for the current raging oil war, in Iraq.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“The situation is so grim that we have no choice but to adopt and implement the slogan, “All at Once.” That is, we must pursue all the avenues of alternatives to petroleum for our energy needs at the same time.” — Dilip Hiro, from “Blood of the Earth”