Our weekly edition is a nationally syndicated one-hour digest of the best of our daily coverage.

Audio Stream | Podcast | Mp3 Download

This week on Uprising:

* Obama Addresses Congress: Norman Solomon Analyzes his Economic Plan
* Black Agenda Report on the economy and American manufacturing
* William Kleinknecht on Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street, America
* Empire Notes on Obama and Afghanistan
* Patricia Isasa: Conversation with an Argentine Torture Survivor

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Obama Addresses Congress: Norman Solomon Analyzes his Economic Plan

President Barack Obama addressed a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, in what was essentially a state-of-the union talk. Obama justified the stimulus bill he just signed into law, and outlined his ideas for reforming the economy through investing in renewable energy technologies, health care reform, and fixing public education. A poll conducted after the speech found that nine out of ten Americans approve of the President’s proposals. Many reacted to the speech as inspiring hope and confidence in tough times. But not everyone was impressed – Louisiana’s Republican Governor, Bobby Jindal delivered sharp criticism of Obama and his economic stimulus plan in his own speech. However Jindal was criticized by members of his own party for a lack-lustre rebuttal.

GUEST: Norman Solomon is a journalist, activist, and author of several books including War Made Easy

Black Agenda Report about the economy and American manufacturing

Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report. This week’s commentary is about the economy and American manufacturing.

Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

William Kleinknecht on Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street, America

Twenty years ago, one of the most lionized American presidents left office: Republican Ronald Reagan, whose legacy conservatives cite as quintessentially in favor of working Americans. Reagan still enjoys vast popularity in the American imagination, despite the fact that his economic policies, shorthandedly referred to as Reaganomics, set in motion today’s financial collapse. William Kleinknecht is a veteran reporter and crime correspondent for the Newark Star-Ledger. He is also a staunch critic of Reagan’s policies and has a new book called “The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America.” In it Kleinknecht argues that Reagan’s tax, regulatory and anti-trust policies are directly responsible for the current economic climate, and that his massive cuts to government programs have destroyed both small towns and urban centers.

GUEST: William Kleinknecht, veteran reporter and crime correspondent for the Newark Star-Ledger, author of “The Man Who Sold the World: Ronald Reagan and the Betrayal of Main Street America.”

Empire Notes on Afghanistan

Empire Notes are weekly commentaries filed by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today’s commentary is about Afghanistan.

GUEST: Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade.

Visit www.empirenotes.org for more information.

Argentine Torture Survivor Patricia Isasa Speaks Out

Patricia Isasa is a survivor of torture who has been fighting to bring her torturers to justice for decades. Kidnapped in her native Argentina at the age of 16, she was tortured for two years and finally released. Since then, as she pursues her case through the legal system in Argentina, Patricia has received death threats, been the focus of a documentary, and traveled to the US to join the annual demonstrations against the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia, where many of her torturers were trained. Uprising has been covering her story since December 2006. Patricia has returned to the US on a speaking tour in advance of her case going to trial this summer. I caught up with her at Pacifica Radio KPFK in Los Angeles where this program is produced.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” — Mahatma Gandhi