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This week on Uprising:

* Egyptian Military Brutalizes Women; Sparks Outrage
* Obama, Congress Pass Defense Authorization Bill With Little Discussion
* Bradley Manning’s Pre-Trial Hearing Reveals Potential Bias
* Twenty Year Fight Over Mercury Pollution Standards Results in Environmental Victory

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Egyptian Military Brutalizes Women; Sparks Outrage

Thousands of Egyptian women marched in Tahrir Square, Cairo, on Tuesday to protest the Military’s mistreatment of women. The marchers were a fusion of Christian, Muslim and secular women of all ages whose anger was sparked by a video that caused international uproar. The video in question shows Egyptian police on Saturday, December 17 violently stripping a female activist of her clothes, revealing her undergarments, then proceeding to stomp on her chest and beat her while she was apparently unconscious. The brutality the woman in question faced, has ignited fury all over Egypt and the Arab world. Military leaders, though initially hesitant to accept responsibility, have finally admitted that the assault occurred and have stated that the perpetrators would be tried. The military however, blamed such violence on provocations by protestors themselves. One official has gone as far as saying that the peaceful protests planned for January 25, 2012, the first anniversary of Mubarak’s ousting, are a ploy to launch a civil war in Egypt. In a statement this week US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton condemned the Egyptian Military’s crackdown on women protestors stating that the “systematic degradation of Egyptian women dishonors the revolution.” Despite this criticism, the Obama administration has maintained a largely laudatory view of the Military’s rule of Egypt with little indication that it will investigate the many accusations of abuses committed by the regime. The Muslim Brotherhood, currently leading the parliamentary elections in Egypt, has expressed resistance to joining secular activists in calling for the Military government to relinquish power, instead vying for the completion of the electoral process. Even though some media reports cite that the Egyptian public is growing weary of the protests, activists and opposition groups have called for a new mass demonstration on Friday, to condemn military violence and demand that power be transferred to a civilian authority by February 2012. The Egyptian Prime Minister, Kamal el-Ganzouri, who was appointed by the military, called for a national dialogue, and appealed for calm for two months to help restore security.

GUEST: Ghada Talhami, emeritus professor in the department of politics at Lake Forest College, author of “The Mobilization of Muslim Women in Egypt”

Obama, Congress Pass Defense Authorization Bill With Little Discussion, Codifying Indefinite Military Detention of US Citizens

Despite the nation’s economic woes, Congress this month easily approved a $670 billion Defense Authorization Bill, a chunk of the 2012 budget being negotiated. In a reversal President Obama dropped a veto threat late last week. Andrew Rosenthal at the New York Times decried the move as more “mumbling and fumbling” from the Obama administration. The Defense Authorization bill is laden with controversial provisions designed to advance the conservative agenda on foreign and domestic policy on everything from the National Guard Bureau to relations with Iran. The most hotly contested provisions of the legislation, however, are those that opponents say allow US citizens to be detained and jailed indefinitely as enemy combatants if arrested in the US on charges of supporting terrorism. President Obama said his reversal on the veto threat came in part from an amendment to language regarding the rights of citizens. Specifically the bill includes the caveat that nothing in it, “[be] construed to affect existing law or authorities relating to the detention of United States citizens, lawful resident aliens of the United States, or any other persons who are captured or arrested in the United States.” Appearing before the House, Republican Representative from California Tom McClintock argued that this language was meaningless. Despite opposition to its final form by some Democrats and Republicans, votes in both chambers of Congress show bi-partisan support. The House approved it on a vote of 283 – 136 and the Senate by a vote of 86 – 13.

GUEST: Shahid Buttar, Executive Director Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Visit www.bordc.org for more information.

Bradley Manning’s Pre-Trial Hearing Reveals Potential Bias

The pre-trial hearing of Bradley Manning, accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of classified government cables to Wikileaks in 2010, closed on Thursday. The military has weeks to decide whether to court martial Manning, a former intelligence analyst, on over 20 criminal charges based on the seven days of pre-trial testimony. Before arguments wrapped-up this week military prosecutors argued that Bradley Manning was in contact with Wikileaks editor Julian Assange before Manning allegedly leaked 250,000 classified cables. The prosecution described Assange as an active participant in obtaining the material, coaching Manning through decoding processes to access secret files on army computers. A digital forensics expert testified earlier in the week that 14 – 15 pages of online chat logs with a person believed to be Assange were found on Manning’s lap-top computer. A military forensic expert also testified that a military computer used by Manning contained 100,000 State Department cables in a corrupted file, and 10,000 diplomatic cables. Manning’s Defense disputed assumptions made about the chat logs and the files throughout the hearing. Forensic expert Spec. Agent David Shaver with the Army’s Criminal Investigation Command conceded that he had not matched any of the newly found cables with those passed to Wikileaks, nor could he verify the files had been shared at all. Shaver also affirmed that it would not be possible to prove who downloaded the files. The Defense also accused the official presiding over the trial of bias, citing the uneven number of witnesses granted to each side. The prosecution has been allowed 10 witnesses while, out of 38 witnesses requested by the defense, only two were approved.

GUEST: Greg Mitchell, award-winning author whose writes a blog on WikiLeaks for The Nation magazine, author of Bradley Manning: Truth and Consequences, and The Age of Wikileaks

Read Greg Mitchell’s work here: http://www.thenation.com/authors/greg-mitchell

Twenty Year Fight Over Mercury Pollution Standards Results in Environmental Victory

Hundreds of coal-and oil fired power plants around the country will be forced to clean-up their emissions after the EPA announced tough new mercury and pollutant standards this week. An obligation to regulate these toxic emissions was included in the 1990 Clean Air Act but the energy industry has lobbied hard against implementation for the past 20 years. Until now there has been no federal limit on the amount of mercury, arsenic, cyanide and other chemicals that spew from power plant stacks in cities across the nation. The new rule caps mercury emissions at 1.2 pounds per million BTUs of energy produced. The LA Times reports this is less than the 1.4 pounds fought for by industry lobbyists, one of whom told the Times the new rule is, “[o]ne of the most expensive air rules ever,” referring to the cost of compliance. However in announcing this landmark standard EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said on Wednesday, “[t]he Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will protect millions of families and children from harmful and costly air pollution. The benefits far outweigh the costs.” The Sierra Club points to power plants as the largest source of mercury, arsenic, cyanide and other air pollutants. Mercury can be devastating to the health of children and pregnant women. Studies show it can harm the nervous system of a fetus, and exposure is linked to learning disabilities, cancer, and asthma. Power plants have three years to comply and then may apply for extensions to allow time to install equipment. By 2016 the EPA estimates the new standards may result in 4,600 fewer heart attacks, 130,000 fewer cases of childhood asthma, and 11,000 fewer premature deaths annually.

GUEST: Mary Anne Hitt, Director of Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign

Visit www.sierraclub.org and www.beyondcoal.org.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save the environment.” — Ansel Adams