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This week on Uprising:

* Afghanistan More Dangerous Than Iraq?
* Empire Notes on ‘the Unraveling of Barack Obama’
* Is Barack Obama a Progressive in Centrist Clothing?
* Black Agenda Report About ‘Obama’s Embrace of Bush’s Faith-Based Corruption’
* Bottled Water: Bad for Workers, Communities, and the Environment

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Afghanistan More Dangerous Than Iraq?

GUEST: Pervez Hoodbhoy, peace activist, Professor of Physics at Qaid-e-Azam University

The war in Afghanistan has intensified, becoming a more dangerous place for troops to serve than even Iraq. More US and NATO soldiers were killed in Afghanistan than Iraq in the second month in a row – a clear indication that the Taliban and their allies are rapidly gaining strength. Last month the Taliban staged a jailbreak that resulted in freeing nearly a thousand prisoners – they briefly took over a strategic valley outside Kandahar. Attacks attributed to the Taliban are already up 40% this year from 2007, particularly along the border region with Pakistan. NATO and US troops killed dozens of people they label “militants” or “insurgents” in the border region. These type of actions have ignited a nationalist spirit among Pakistanis in support of the Taliban and against the US. Pakistan is widely thought to be a training ground for the Taliban who slip in unhindered between the two countries. NATO spokesman Mark Laity remarked last week, “We know that as long as the insurgents operate safely on the Pakistan side of the border, then there can not be security in Afghanistan.” Earlier in the month, Afghan president Hamid Karzai threatened to send troops into Pakistan to target Taliban bases there. President Bush has acknowledged the worsening of the crisis in Afghanistan and has discussed adding more US troops to the 32,000 that are currently serving there.

Empire Notes on the Unraveling of Barack Obama

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 Unraveling of Barack Obama.

Empire Notes is online at www.empirenotes.org.

Is Barack Obama a Progressive in Centrist Clothing?

GUEST: Norman Solomon, elected Obama delegate, and author of War Made Easy, Syndicated columnist of “Media and Politics”

Economist and New York Times op-ed writer, Paul Krugman, wrote recently, “It’s feeling a lot like 1992 right now. It’s also feeling a lot like 1980. But which parallel is closer? Is Barack Obama going to be a Ronald Reagan of the left, a president who fundamentally changes the country’s direction? Or will he be just another Bill Clinton?” Many progressives who supported Barack Obama against Hilary Clinton during the Democratic primary elections, are disappointed by several recent moves made by the Illinois senator after he clinched the nomination. Among those are a fervently pro-Israel speech made to the Israeli lobby group, AIPAC, a Bill-Cosby-like Father’s Day speech aimed at failing black fathers, a rejection of public campaign financing, and his most recent announced intention to vote for the FISA bill which will legalize much of George Bush’s illegal wiretapping policies. Is Barack Obama using sound political strategy to woo the country’s independent and centrist voters? Will he ultimately reveal his true progressive colors if and when he makes it into the White House? Perhaps. Or maybe, progressive supporters of Obama are being extremely politically naive.

Black Agenda Report About Obama’s Embrace of Bush’s Faith-Based Corruption

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

This week’s commentary is called ‘Obama’s Embrace of Bush’s Faith-Based Corruption.’ Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Bottled Water: Bad for Workers, Communities, and the Environment

GUEST: Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food and Water Watch

Jobs in the bottled water industry are few, low-paying, and dangerous. This, according to an analysis of the industry released last week by the consumer advocacy group Food &Water Watch. According to the report, titled, “Unbottled Truth About Bottled Water Jobs,” in 2006, a typical bottled water plant employed only 24 workers. The report also revealed that the average salary for a bottled water worker was $10,000 less than the average manufacturing job, and that bottled water manufacturing had one of the highest rates of workplace injury and illness. The report will likely spur recent opposition to the bottled water industry. Environmentalists are calling for the revival of tap water, since the chemical makeup of plastic water bottles as well as transport costs, damage the environment. Some corporations have responded to the criticism by QUOTE “going green.” Meanwhile, across the country, city councils in small towns like McCloud, California, and Enumclaw, Washington, have been opposing Nestle Corp.’s proposals to build water bottling plants in their communities. Local residents fear that multinational corporations are privatizing a natural resource that is vital to survival.

For more information, visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“Water, like religion and ideology, has the power to move millions of people. Since the very birth of human civilization, people have moved to settle close to it. People move when there is too little of it. People move when there is too much of it. People journey down it. People write, sing and dance about it. People fight over it. And all people, everywhere and every day, need it.” -– Mikhail Gorbachev, President of Green Cross Intl’