Transcripts For KCSM Democracy Now 20141114 : vimarsana.com

Once known as the face of the mtv movie awards, he has since become one of the most prominent voices of the british left. He has taken part in antiausterity protests, spoken at occupy wall street and marched with the hacker collective anonymous. A recovering addict himself, Russell Brand has also become a leading critic of britains drug laws. It is not important we regard people suffering from addiction with compassion and there is a pragmatic rather than some bolick approach to treating it. I think [indiscernible] it is kind of symbolic and not really functional. Id. See how it especially helps. All that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. We are broadcasting from london. The top military officer in the United States has said he is considering sending u. S. Combat troops back to iraq. Testifying before a house panel, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff general Martin Dempsey said the United States could send a modest number of troops to help Iraqi Forces Retake mosul and other areas seized by Islamic State militants. Places along the path that i think will be fairly complex terrain for them, including, for example, mosel, and eventually as they need to restore the border between iraq and syria. I am not predicting at this point that i would recommend that those forces in mosul and along the border would need to be accounted by u. S. Forces, but we are considering it. Dempseys comments come after president obama has repeatedly vowed not to send combat troops back into iraq. Obama has already asked congress to approve a 5. 6 billion plan that would involve doubling the u. S. Troop presence in iraq with an additional 1,500 noncombat personnel. Dempsey spoke a day after iraqi Prime Minister Haider Alabadi fired 26 Iraqi Military commanders for incompetence and corruption. President obama is reportedly considering executive action that would protect up to five million undocumented immigrants from deportation. According to news reports citing unnamed sources said obama could announce the plan as soon as next week. The deportation of parents whose children are u. S. Citizens. The report comes as a majority of House Democrats have sent a letter to obama calling for him to take action on immigration. Republican House Speaker john boehner has vowed to fight any such action to and nail. An immigrant Advocacy Group meanwhile has filed a lawsuit against the department of Homeland Security over obamas record deportations. The National Day Laborer organizing network says the Obama Administration has violated the law by failing to respond to a rulemaking petition the group filed earlier this year seeking relief for millions of undocumented immigrants. House lawmakers are expected to pass legislation today to approve the Keystone Xl Oil pipeline. The senate is expected to vote next week on a similar prokeystone bill backed by louisiana democratic senator mary landrieu. Landrieu is facing a tough battle to keep her seat in a runoff next month against republican congressmember bill cassidy who happens to be the sponsor of the prokeystone bill in the house. The keystone xl pipeline would bring carbonintensive Tar Sands Oil from alberta, canada to the texas gulf coast. Its been in the works for more than six years amidst mass protests over its potential to accelerate Climate Change. Congressional republicans have elected new leaders following sweeping victories in the midterm elections. As expected, kentucky senator Mitch Mcconnell will head the new Republicanled Senate as majority leader. House republican leaders, including Speaker John Boehner have been reelected to their posts. On the democratic side, nevada senator harry reid will continue to lead his party, now as minority leader. And massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren has been given a newly created position in the senates democratic leadership which will see her serving as a liaison to progressives groups. As congress met on capitol hill, the workers who typically serve them food went on a oneday strike to push for a 15anhour wage and the right to form a union. In a historic first, workers at the u. S. Capitol building joined fellow foodservice and cleaning workers from the pentagon, smithsonian and other sites. In february, obama signed an executive order raising the minimum wage for federal contractors for 10. 10 an hour, but workers say that is still not enough to survive in the nations capital. In california, walmart workers have staged a historic sitdown strike which organizers say is the first of its kind in the companys history. The workers sat down in a Los Angeles Walmart with tape placed over their mouths to protest what they say are illegal attempts by the company to silence workers demands for better jobs. Workers at more than 2,000 Walmart Stores have signed a petition calling for a 15anhour wage and fulltime hours with protests planned across the country on black friday. A recent analysis by the Economic Policy institute found the six heirs to the walmart fortune make as much as the bottom 79 of black families in this country combined. Liberia has lifted a state of emergency to curb the spread of ebola after registering a decline in the disease. President Ellen Johnson made the announcement thursday. Isour estimation, and that and that of those who have consulted, the progress we have ongoingd coupled with interventions, all of which can sustained under the provisions of the Public Health law have combined to reposition our efforts to sustain the fight against the virus until it is finally eradicated from our country. The news in liberia comes as the west african nation of mali has confirmed a second outbreak of ebola after containing an initial one. Meanwhile, Clinical Trials of ebola treatments are due to begin next month at centers run by Doctors Without Borders in guinea and liberia. The trials will test drugs made by firms in japan and the United States. Israel reportedly has been a norwegian doctor from entering gaza for the rest of his life. He provided medical aid to gazans during the summers is really assault. He worked at the hospital and appeared on democracy now after the hospital came under attack by the israeli army. Israel has also vowed to deny entry into gaza to representatives from the u. N. Human rights council. Speaking to investigate potential war comes manager in the assault which killed nearly 2200 palestinians, most of them civilians. On thursday, secretary of state john kerry met with the israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordans King Abdullah and announced steps aimed at reducing tensions in jerusalem. A United Nations panel has criticized the excessive use of force by police in the United States one day after hearing testimony from the parents of michael brown, the africanamerican teenager shot dead by police in ferguson, missouri. U. N. Expert jens modvig questioned the mechanisms in place for Holding Police officers accountable. Ofthere are disturbing facts Excessive Force by Police Officers especially toward africanamericans another persons of color. We seem to demonstrate the current mechanisms of accountability are insufficient. We have information that many federal investigations against Police Officers from lawful and excessive use of force were closed without criminal charges because they did not present sufficient evidence of willful misconduct to give rise to a federal criminal prosecution for the Police Officers involved. As u. S. Officials defended the countrys record on human rights, a group of youth activists with the chicagobased group rose to their feet with their hands in the air to stage a silent protest. They wore tshirts with an image of dominique franklin, a 23yearold who died in june after Police Tasered him during an arrest for stealing a bottle of vodka. A member of the group, malcolm lundin, said the u. S. Response was inadequate. Every day in the city of report onlines a for anyone who wants to view it that documents every single day rights,ice violate abuse, Sexual Assault, murder, and kill, particularly people who look like me who are black and brown. And that is devastating. What the state brought today and ort at all cover answer this questions than it is inadequate. What we are dying in the streets in the state department is putting themselves on the back as they let us stand in a room . Are not fighting for the right to stand in this room. Were fighting for the right to be alive. The u. N. s scrutiny of the u. S. Came as part of a periodic review of u. S. Compliance with the u. N. Convention against torture. Other questions posed by the Panel Focused on solitary confinement and Sexual Assault of prisoners in the United States, as well as the u. S. Failure to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay and its delay in releasing videos of hungerstriking prisoners being force fed there. The American Psychological association is launching a review to determine whether it colluded with torture carried out by the u. S. Government. Psychologists played a key role in the bush administrations torture and interrogation program, helping to develop techniques and monitor sessions. The new probe was prompted by revelations in the new book, pay any price greed, power and endless war, by New York Times Investigative Reporter james risen. Risen reveals how after the abu ghraib torture scandal, the apa formed a task force that backed the continued role of psychologists in the program. One official from the association wrote an email expressing gratitude to an intelligence official saying your views were well represented by the very carefully selected task force members. The International Soccer organization fifa has published an internal report clearing russia and qatar of corruption in their bids for the world cups in 2018 and 2022. The move came despite records of illegal payments by qatari officials, which were noted in the report, and the destruction of computers and disappearance of emails related to russias bid. The announcement caused an internal rift within fifa after the investigator whose evidence was used in the report denounced the conclusions, calling them incomplete and erroneous. A new report by the department of Homeland Security details the cascading series of mistakes which allowed a man wielding a knife to scale a fence and enter the white house. The report obtained by the New York Times found the secret services alarm systems and radios malfunctioned. One officer stationed with an attack dog did not see the suspect, omar gonzalez, mount the fence, because he was in his van talking on his cellphone. The scandal led to the resignation of secret Service Director julia pierson. President obama is reportedly poised to announce billions in aid to help poorer countries deal with the impacts of Climate Change. According to the guardian, the Obama Administration will announce up to 3 billion over the next four years for the Green Climate fund. Poorer countries have long called for the funds as part of a global deal to curb emissions. The announcement comes as World Leaders gather in brisbane, australia for the g20 summit. On thursday, antipoverty campaigners with the group oxfam donned the masks of obama and other World Leaders as they called for World Leaders to take action against global inequality. Oxfam australia chief executive helen szoke said the gap between rich and poor is increasing. What we fear that many countries in the world are not getting the benefits of the profits that are gleaned, for example, by multinational companies. There has already been a recognition that we have to deal with the issue of tax havens. This is just one of the many things that can be done to actually ensure that we continue to lift people out of poverty. In hawaii, two agribusiness giants are suing maui county over a new law banning the cultivation of genetically modified crops. Monsanto and dow are asking a federal court to block the law, which was passed as a Ballot Initiative earlier this month. It imposes a moratorium on cultivating gmo crops until they are proved to be safe. The former ceo who oversaw a mine West Virginia that was the site of the worst coal mining disaster in four decades, has been indicted on criminal charges. The explosion at Upper Big Branch mine killed 29 people and subsequent investigations found rampant safety violations. More than four years later, Massey Energy ceo Don Blankenship has been charged with four criminal counts for deceiving inspectors and flouting Safety Standards in order to make more money. And a new report reveals the Justice Department is sweeping up data from vast swaths of the population by flying planes equipped with devices designed to mimic cell phone towers. According to the wall street journal, the sevenyearold program run by the u. S. Marshals service, allows the government trick tens of thousands of cellphones into reporting their location and identifying information over the course of a single flight. While the program is designed to target criminal suspects, it is reportedly ensnaring massive numbers of innocent americans. The device can also interrupt calls on certain phones. And those are some of the headlines, this is democracy now, democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Today we are broadcasting from london and are joined by Russell Brand. Up until last year, Russell Brand was best known for being one of britains most popular comedians. His resume include host of the Reality Tv Show big brothers big mouth, a stint as a bbc radio host and starring roles in the films st trinians, forgetting sarah marshall, and get him to the greek. He also hosted the mtv movie awards. But in recent years, Russell Brand has also emerged as one of the most prominent voices of the british left. He has taken part in antiausterity protests, spoken at occupy wall street and marched with the hacker collective anonymous. A recovering addict himself, Russell Brand has also become a leading critic of britains drug laws. Last year, he guestedited the new statesman, a political and Current Affairs magazine in britain. The issue included cover art by Shepard Fairey and articles by noam chomsky, naomi klein among many others. He then appeared on bbc newsnight in an interview with host Jeremy Paxman. The video became a youtube sensation. Is it true you did not vote . Yeah, i did not vote. How do you have any authority to talk about policies . The narrative a i look elsewhere for alternatives that might be of service to humanity. Means alternate political systems. Being . Say, heres the thing you should not do, should not destroy the planet, should not create massive economic disparity, should not ignore the needs of the people. The burden of proof is on the people with the power, not people doing the magazine. How do you imagine people get power . There has been hierarchy systems preserved throughout generations. Quite a narrow prescriptive imeter the changes within in a democracy, that is how it works. I dont think it is working very well given up the planet is being destroyed, given the economic disparity. Youre saying there is no alternative . Cant im saying if you be asked to vote, why should we listen to your political point of view . You dont have to. Im not voting out of absolute indifference and wariness and exhaustion from the lies, treachery, deceit of the Political Class that is been going on for generations now and which has now reached fever pitch where we have a disillusioned, despond it underclass that are not been represented by the political system, so but in fort is