Sep
11
2013
Rightwing talk show hosts are up in arms over a planned march today in Washington DC organized by the American Muslim Public Affairs Committee (AMPAC) to draw attention to post-9-11 Islamophobia. The march, which was originally entitled Million Muslim March, was renamed to Million American March Against Fear. Apparently conservatives upset about the march being held on the anniversary of …
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Sep
11
2013
While some people might dismiss the antics of a 20 year old pop star’s television performance as juvenile and irrelevant, others would find a disturbing commentary on the status of women in our society. Miley Cyrus’ performance last weekend at the Video Music Awards caused quite a stir as viewers watched her twerking on stage dressed in her underwear. Cyrus …
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Sep
11
2013
We’ll speak with economist Max Fraad Wolf on a new study that shows how the top 1% of incomes in the US have recovered to unprecedented levels while the rest of us have seen our wages, if we’re lucky to have them, stagnate. And, we’ll hear part 1 of a 2 part conversation with Kalpona Akter, one of Bangladesh’s leading labor activists, working to organize garment factory workers. Plus, a new documentary Unacceptable Levels, explores …
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Sep
11
2013
“I feel myself becoming the fearless person I have dreamt of being. Have I arrived? No. But I’m constantly evolving and challenging myself to be unafraid to make mistakes.” — Janelle Monae …
Sep
10
2013
momentum for war has been temporarily thwarted. And, on the anniversary of 9-11, The Muslims are Coming… to a theater near you – we’ll cover the highly anticipated documentary about a group of Muslim comedians who take on American islamophobia. Plus, a race and sex analysis of Miley Cyrus’ antics and what they mean for young audiences. …
Sep
10
2013
The desperation of ordinary Syrians for an end to the civil war has even progressive-minded secularists reluctantly backing war. But history is not on their side.
By Sonali Kolhatkar
Jay Jihad Abdo is a familiar face to Syrians but most Americans have never heard of him. He is a well known actor, who, in Syria, was pressured by the Bashar Al Assad regime to denounce the rebellion. He refused, faced threats, and fled to the US with his wife Fadia Afashe. Fadia, an articulate and passionate women’s rights activist is an artist in her own right, creating paintings that depict the grim situation in her nation.
Both Jay and Fadia are a microcosm of an educated, secular Syrian population who vehemently opposed the Assad regime in their collective call for democracy and participated in their own way, in Syria’s Arab Spring movement. Fadia told me “I was very optimistic, to be honest with you.” She thought the same thing that happened in Egypt and in Tunisia with the fall of their dictatorships would happen in Syria initially.
But that didn’t happen. And now, Syrian activists like these two, at one time championed by left and progressive movements worldwide, find themselves at a difficult crossroads. Even if they understand US bombs will not liberate them, desperation for any sort of international attention sometimes veers unwittingly into support for military action.
…
Sep
10
2013
Uprising’s guest expert Robert Jensen, Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin, analyzes today’s news headlines:
Internet companies file lawsuits to be able to share just how much they have been forced to compromise with government spying requests. Companies like Yahoo and Google, realizing their reputation among consumers has greatly suffered since Edward Snowden’s revelations about their …
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Sep
10
2013
In a stunning turn of events over the past 24 hours, Russian officials have secured a tentative agreement from the Syrian government to turn over its arsenal of chemical weapons to the international community in a last minute bid to avoid military action from the United States. The move is apparently in response to an offhand comment made by US …
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Sep
10
2013
Hundreds of Los Angelenos showed up on Saturday September 7th 2013 in front of the Federal Building in Westwood to say “Hands off Syria.”
They joined antiwar activists in dozens of other cities around the nation to express public sentiment against war.
The event was held in conjunction with a protest in Washington DC in front of the White House, …
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Sep
10
2013
As President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry make breathless pronouncements about the “Red Line” Syrian President Bashar Al Assad crossed in allegedly using chemical weapons, climate activists are asking the question, ‘why, when there is such a real and existential danger to the entire planet, politicians do not declare a “red line” for fossil fuel use?’
350.org’s Phil Aroneanu this …
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