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This week on Uprising:

* Are Hopes for the U.S. Economy Premature?
* Empire Notes on the Roots of the Somali Piracy
* Mexican Gun Traffickers Obtain Weapons From US Gun Stores
* Black Agenda Report on the Antiwar Movement and Obama
* Obama Could Overturn “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell”

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Are Hopes for the U.S. Economy Premature?

This past week, President Obama, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, and some economists in the media have expressed optimism about the state of the U.S. economy. Obama claimed to see “glimmers of hope,” while Bernanke cited statistics in home sales and constructions in February as reasons to be optimistic. The Wall Street Journal published a survey last week of private economists that suggested that the U.S. economy would begin to recover by this September. However, new data on foreclosures and housing construction illustrate that the real estate bubble burst that has been a root cause of the current recession hasn’t bottomed out yet. RealtyTrac, a research firm, reported yesterday that foreclosure filings in March rose 17% compared to last month’s figure. Furthermore, as the temporary moratorium on home foreclosures expired, the number of filings increased 46% in March as compared to a year ago at this time. The U.S. Department of Commerce also released new data yesterday that showed home constructions to be similarly down. The number of new homes and apartments being built dropped 10.8% in March in what was the second slowest pace of construction recorded in fifty years. With these most recent economic indicators in mind, coupled with the continuous hemorrhaging of jobs, is optimism about the end of the recession premature?

GUEST: Doug Henwood, author of “After the New Economy,” and editor of “Left Business Observer,” host of a Pacifica weekly program called Behind the News

Empire Notes on the Roots of the Somali Piracy

Empire Notes are weekly commentaries filed by Rahul Mahajan, author of Full Spectrum Dominance and The New Crusade. Today’s commentary is on the Roots of the Somali Piracy.

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

Visit www.empirenotes.org for more information.

Mexican Gun Traffickers Obtain Weapons From US Gun Stores

Thirteen people died last week in a violent shoot-out between Mexican soldiers and suspected drug traffickers in the southern Mexican region of Guerrero, as reported by the newspaper Reforma. The traffickers were heavily armed and also threw grenades at the soldiers, who stumbled upon them as they were reportedly transporting narcotics down from the mountains. Drug-related border violence has claimed more than 6000 lives over the past year. As President Obama stopped in Mexico on Wednesday to meet with his Mexican counterpart, Felipe Calderon, his administration has placed three more Mexican drug gangs onto a list for special sanctions as part of his strategy to combat the violence. Meanwhile, the Obama administration also announced that former federal prosecutor Alan Bersin was named to lead efforts to crack down on drug-related violence along the U.S.-Mexican border. Bersin served as “border czar” in the Justice Department under President Clinton, and also the former California Education Secretary and San Diego’s School Superintendent. Many experts have asserted that most of the weapons flow into Mexico from the United States, but a spokesperson for the National Rifle Association, the main pro-gun lobbying organization in the US, said recently that Mexican cartels do not “trifle with paperwork at U.S. gun stores.” Now, a new study refutes the NRA position by showing that Mexican gun traffickers were obtaining the majority of their weapons from the US. In fact, the Violence Policy Center showed that nearly two thirds of weapons obtained are military-style guns easily and legally available on the civilian US gun market.

GUEST: Kristen Rand, author of report “Indicted,” Legislative Director with the Violence Policy Center

Download the report, entitled “Indicted: Types of Firearms and Methods of Gun Trafficking from the United States to Mexico as Revealed in U.S. Court Documents,” here: http://www.vpc.org/studies/indicted.pdf

For more information, visit www.vpc.org.

Black Agenda Report on the Antiwar Movement and Obama

Glen Ford is a writer and radio commentator and the Executive Editor of The Black Agenda Report. This week’s commentary is on the antiwar movement and Obama.

Visit www.blackagendareport.com for more information.

Obama Could Overturn Don’t Ask Don’t Tell

Democratic Congressman and veteran of the Iraq War Patrick Murphy is expected to sponsor a House bill seeking to repeal the military’s longstanding “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” law. The Armed Services Committee member would assume the role, according to an unnamed Democratic aide, if current sponsor Congresswoman Ellen Tauscher is confirmed to a new position in the State Department. President Obama himself promised during his campaign that he would overturn the discriminatory policy against gay and lesbian service members implemented in 1994 during the Clinton administration. Since that time, nearly 12,500 military personnel have been discharged by the Pentagon for being openly gay, lesbian or bisexual. Both the bill seeking the repeal of the policy, and President Obama’s campaign pledge to do just that come at a time when popular support for repealing the policy is overwhelmingly high. According to the latest CNN/Opinion Research, 81% percent of Americans polled are in favor of gays serving openly in the military.

GUEST: Zoe Dunning, Retired Navy Commander, served 13 years in the military as a openly gay woman.

Sonali’s Subversive Thought for the Day

“Dare to be true: nothing can need a lie: A fault, which needs it most, grows two thereby.” — George Herbert

For more information, visit www.sldn.org.