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This week on Uprising:

* Conversation with Huwaida Arraf, Chair of the Free Gaza Movement
* Empire Notes on the Afghanistan Offensive
* How Everyday Products Make People Sick: Toxins at Home and in the Workplace

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Conversation with Huwaida Arraf, Chair of the Free Gaza Movement

Congressman Brian Baird told a group of students in Gaza this past Monday that the United States should break Israel’s blockade of the territory. The Democratic representative from the state of Washington also suggested that President Barack Obama’s Mideast envoy visit and survey the damage Gaza sustained as a result of the Israeli assault there last year. Congressman Baird, who recently announced that he was not seeking re-election, noted that the U.S. could break the blockade by sea saying “we ought to bring roll-on, roll-off ships and roll them right to the beach and bring the relief supplies in.” The approach has already been utilized by international activists who in August 2008 sailed the first international boats to land in Gaza’s port in 41 years. Since that time, The Free Gaza Movement, as the activists are collectively known, have had subsequent attempts thwarted by Israel. This spring, however, the international activists are planning a joint venture with the Turkish Relief Foundation in sailing a flotilla of boats to Gaza in another attempt to break the blockade. Two cargo ships are expected to be among those delivering building supplies, educational materials and generators to the people of Gaza in the effort dubbed “Our Last Port is Freedom.” The Israeli imposed blockade has continued since 2007. I spoke recently with Palestinian American activist Huwaida Arraf who was briefly in the US, visiting from the Palestinian territories where she lives full time. Huwaida is the chair of the Free Gaza Movement and I began by asking her to explain how it all started.

GUEST: Huwaida Arraf, long-time Palestinian American activist, chair of the Free Gaza Movement

Empire Notes on the Afghanistan Offensive

Empire Notes are weekly commentaries filed by author and analyst Rahul Mahajan. Today’s commentary is about the Afghanistan Offensive.

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

Visit www.empirenotes.org for more information.

How Everyday Products Make People Sick: Toxins at Home and in the Workplace

On Tuesday California’s Environmental Protection Agency moved toward listing Bisphenol-A or BPA as a chemical known to cause cancer or birth defects. Under proposition 65 the state is required to inform consumers where known toxins and carcinogens are present. This formal acknowledgement of the health dangers posed by Bisphenol A opens the door to warning labels on products, and restrictions on its use. This week the Wisconsin legislature followed Connecticut and Minnesota in banning its use in baby bottles and cups for children 3 years and younger. Last month the federal Food and Drug Administration cited new studies that cause “some concern” about the potential effects of BPA, especially on the “brain behavior and prostate glands in fetuses, infants and young children.” Momentum to restrict the use of toxins like BPA is increasing, but at a pace too slow for many Americans who are aware of dangers in everyday products. A new book called How Everyday Products make People Sick, tells the story of how run-of-the-mill everyday objects pose health risks, from their production in the factory to their life on your shelf, and their use in your home. The author of the book, Paul Blanc, is a Professor of Medicine and holds the Endowed Chair in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.

GUEST: Paul Blanc, Professor of Medicine and holds the Endowed Chair in Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“When we pollute nature, we end up polluted ourselves.” — David Suzuki