I just broke the geneva convention. Listen carefully. The ldier who shot the afghan man has claimed he believed the man was already dead. The senate has approved a landmark bill to ban Workplace Discrimination based on Sexual Orientation and gender identity. Democratscans joined in supporting the employment nondiscrimination act. House Speaker John Boehner has opposed the bill, casting doubt on whether he will leave and get a vote in the house. The fda is taking steps to effectively ban harmful artificial trans fats from foods. The agency has proposed restrictions which would target transect containing oils found in products from frozen pizza the microwave pop corn. The fda chief said the rules could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7000 deaths from Heart Disease each year. The Pakistani Taliban has chosen a hardline militant commander as its new leader, dealing a blow to renewed peace talks with the pakistani government. Theah fazlullah order assassination attempt on the pakistani schoolgirl malala yousafzai. The United States lost its Voting Rights today the Global Cultural agency unesco after failing to pay its dues for three years in protest over the agencys recognition of palestine. U. S. Law compels the automatic withholding of funds from you and agencies that accept palestine as a member, which unesco did in 2011. Unesco protects sites with cultural significance and promotes issues ranging from press freedom to girls education. U. S. Contributions, which accounted for nearly a quarter of the agencys overall budget, the forced it to slash number of programs. The heads of britains three spy agencies faced questions before the British Parliament or state about surveillance practices revealed by edward snowden, including collaboration with the u. S. National security agency. Of mi6, sawyers, head claimed snowdens leaks have caused damage. Havee leaks from snowden been very damaging. They have put our operations at risk. It is clear our adversaries are rubbing their hands with glee. Al qaeda is laughing it up. Brazil and germany introduced a United Nations resolution to curb unfettered electronic surveillance. According to snowdens links, both countries have been targeted by u. S. Spying, including surveillance of their leaders. Results ambassador to the United Nations spoke before you in committee that deals with human rights. As president Dilma Rousseff stated, we are facing a situation in grave violations of human rights and Civil Liberties as the result of mass surveillance and personal communication and collection of data. She made clear in the absence of the right to privacy, there can be no true freedom of opinion and expression and no effective democracy. Surely, all of those in brazil and latin america who fought against authoritarianism and censorship are keenly aware of this reality. New revelations highlight the spying efforts of u. S. Agencies beyond the nsa. ,cording to New York Times the cia pays at t more than 10 million a year to mine its phone records database, which includes International Calls involving americans. The Company Cooperates voluntarily with the cia, turning over records from a vast collection that extends beyond its customers to include calls handled by its equipment. New details have emerged on the fbis surveillance of antiwar. Com. Documents received under a records request by the aclu of Northern California show the fbi monitor the site for at least six years, in part because it mistakenly believed a Founding Editor had threatened to hack the fbis website. In aclu Attorney Says the surveillance violated federal law. The federal Aviation Administration has released an initial plan for drones to be used in u. S. Skies more widely by 2015. The rules require agencies that will oversee domestic drone testing to release plans for privacy, but it does not lay out what the practices should be. In a statement, an aclu legislative counsel called for concrete restrictions on how data from drones can be used and how long it can be stored. More thanto the faa, 80 Law Enforcement agencies are already authorized to use drones. The toronto star has released a new video of embattled toronto mayor rob ford engaging in a profanitylaced tirade about how he wants to murder in unidentified person. [indiscernible] toronto mayor ford has faced months of controversy following reports of another video showing him smoking from a crack pipe and making bigoted remarks. Ford apologized for the latest video, saying he was extremely inebriated. He is facing increasing calls to resign. Illinoisrosecutors are refusing to bring criminal charges against a Chicago Police officer who fatally shot an unarmed africanamerican man in june 2011. Flint farmers death was the third shooting and a second totality in a span of six months by officer gildardo s. S admitted having multiple beers before work that night. Video from a dashboard camera appears to show officer s standing over farmer and shooting him in the back. He fired 16 shots, seven hit farmer. Prosecutors say he reasonably this took the cell phone for a gun. Police in our fatally shot an unarmed 19yearold in a pickup truck on the campus of Iowa State University on monday. Tyler comstocks father called police after his son took off in his truck following a dispute to buys fathers refusal him cigarettes. Police a comstock rand accuser a cruiser and refused to turn the truck off. The dispatch audio shows police were twice told to back off. This is the second of two warnings. So weknow the suspect, can probably back in awe. Less than a minute later, a voice announces comstock has been shot. Comstocks stepgrandfather told the Des Moines Register truckdnt shut the damns off. So lets fire six rounds at him . Were confused, and we dont understand. In springville, illinois, anticorruption activists range fake money onto the state house of representatives. Director josh silver said in a statement money talks in illinois, so we decided to speak to house members and the only language they seem to understand. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with juan gonzalez. Welcome to all our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. We begin today with a look at how tuesdays election signaled a seachange in new york city as voters chose a candidate who repeatedly emphasized papers his progressive vision. The citys public advocate, bill de blasio, crushed republican joe lhota and the remainder world race to replace billionaire mayor mike bloomberg. De blasio is set to become the first democrat to lead new york city in two decades. In his campaign, his signature message focused on what he called a talent is cities. Last year, the poorest 20 of new york households earned about 9000 dollars, and the richest 5 earned an average of nearly 400 37,000. 430 7,000. During his victory speech in brooklyn, de blasio bow to tax the rich and service of universal prekindergarten. The best and brightest are born in every neighborhood. We all have a shared responsibility and a shared state and making sure their destiny is defined by how hard they work and how big they dream and not i their zip codes. And not by their zip codes. [applause] call on the wealthiest among us to pay just a little more in taxes to fund universal creek a an afterschool programs universal prek and afterschool programs [applause] threatening anyones success. We are asking those who have done very well to ensure that every child has the same opportunity to do just as well as they have. [applause] thats how we all rise together. [applause] safety is a prerequisite for the thriving neighborhoods that create opportunity in the city, and so is respect for Civil Liberties. [applause] the 2 are not mutually exclusive. In fact, we must have both. We must work to promote a Real Partnership between the best police force in the world and the communities they protect from danger. Be it local or global. New yorkers on both sides of the badge understand this. We are all hungry for an approach that acknowledges we are stronger and safer as a city when police and residents work handinhand. The rich tong challenging stop and frisk, mayor elect de blasio rose to power with the help of the working Families Party, in independent Political Coalition sponsored by labor unions and focused on reducing social and political inequality. Since it launched 15 years ago, the party helped elect progressive candidates throughout the state and work to increase the minimum wage and raise taxes on the rich. Of 21 new City Council Members elected this week, more than half were backed by the working Families Party. The partys grassroots organizing efforts are not limited to new york. The group recently won landmark a just nation to tackle the student debt crisis in oregon, fought to corporate fought the corporate education reform agenda in bridgeport, connecticut, and one paid six in new jersey. Ys voters in new jersey also approved a constitutional amendment to raise the minimum wage by one dollar. Danmore where joined by cantor, executive director of the working Families Party. Welcome to democracy now in new york, you could vote for bill de blasio either on the democratic line or you could vote on the working Families Party. Correct. New york has an unusual Voting System in which the candidate can appear twice on the ballot. It is a way for the minor party to add some oomph. The votes are added together for the final tally. It is just a way to put a little extra message into the boat. But the real work is a must always inside the credit party primary, and that is where working families has focused its efforts oath in new york and other states trying to get progressives elected. That is how you do it. It is hard and messy, but when it works, as it did this last week in new york, it is a very exciting moment. One of the things i rate; and the daily news earlier this week, this is perhaps not only is it the first of the credit mayor in 20 years, but perhaps the most progressive overall government the city of new york has seen and maybe 50 years. You have to go back to the lindsay john lindsay, the liberal republican, to see a comparable situation. It is not just the mayor, but the public advocate you supported, all of these members in the city council that there settingential here for legislation. Elections are supposed to be about the society pausing and saying, how are we doing . The fact de blasio and his team and Council Members did, they recognized that things were not going so brilliantly for everybody. There has been the gilded age of bloomberg, in which things worked well for certain parts of society, the real estate crowd really understood they were on a major role. The de blasio said, no, it is not rking well for everyone and we need to pause and say that. What was beautiful about this election is that people heard it and responded overwhelmingly. Getting elected is easy compared to governing. De blasio has the wind at his back and the city council that is made up of some firstrate people. Proxy of a democratic of owner, andrew cuomo, who out of the gate said he is not going to necessarily back de blasio plus signature call for raising taxes on the rich to fund prek, so what is going to be supposedly a fellow democrat in albany. This will be the big battle, the big question mark going forward. We favor what de blasio has been saying but to make these investments in sjogren and other also favor we progressive taxation. The governor, for whatever reason, has come out against it and we think that is not the right place to be. We will fight that out in albany. I like our chances. It is interesting the way de blasio put it. All over the country, candidates get defeated when they say, tax the rich, tax the rich. ,hat he made it very specific and inclusive. When he talked about taxing those who have the greatest wealth to help children in kindergarten. It was hard for even those who will be having their taxes increased to oppose that. And in reality, even rich people know they are not being tight taxed quite enough if were going to have a society that works for everyone. We are probably under doing it. I know the conventional wisdom is it is debt for any candidate to say they are in favor of higher taxes, but it is not true, particularly when you say money is going to be used in a way that will provide bride betterment. Broad betterment. He still has to deliver. He won by 73 against joe lhota, who was 24 . 73 . This is one of the largest margins in the country. I cant remember one this large and long time in a major race. It is new york city. It has got a pretty progressive minded electorate. We have a Public Financing system. All of the candidates had the same amount of money. When they have the same amount of money, it means the best ideas have a better chance of being heard. To what degree do you think the relative success the past two years of the working Families Party can be replicated in other parts of the country . I know you have had some victories in a few states that you may want to talk about more, but how is the lesson of what you been doing here possible to expand to other municipalities and other states . The core idea is that people actually like commonsense progressive ideas. If you can get them heard over the money dan, over the media din, they will respond. That is the message. People actually like what were talking about when we say, wages ought to be higher, peoples lives on to be a bit more secure, transportation ought to be massive investment, so on and so forth. , quitere common sense popular, ideas. The trick is, are we patient enough to build a political for all of the things that over the last decade have produced this change in new york . It turns out we can. A very poor city in connecticut, bridgeport, around School Privatization in which parents and working families and teachers rebelled against the no child left untested crowd cometh that really wanted to privatize, and they won. A shocking victory. I think it will reverberate at least in the School Reform wars around the country. Oregon . In the legislative session, there have been some great victories. The most prominent one has to do it this notion of debtfree Higher Education in which students go to Public College tuitionfree and pay back out of their income afterwards, percentage based on if they went to a twoyear or fouryear college. It allows young people to get going with their lives instead of being saddled with these enormous debts. I want to ask you about the effect of occupy. A change in the conversation, even on the working Families Party. The time, new york citys public advocate, he visited. Sure the is to make City Government of new york is treating people properly. It is all of our jobs to protect the First Amendment and to honor the movement of a Heartfelt Movement that is speaking to what people are feeling all over this country. I say to the mayor, this is not the right way to proceed. You need negotiations. We have seen for weeks i want to show equal respect to the Police Department of new york city and the protesters move for weeks have worked together, have shown respect to each other and the surrounding community that is how we need to proceed. We need negotiations. There is still time to do it. It is up to the mayor and everyone at city hall now to change course and sit down with the from occupy wall street and find a peaceful way forward. That was bill de blasio visiting occupy wall street in october 20 7 2011. Worldre living in the occupy made, for sure. Whether or not theyre still in jakarta park, there are not, but we are the beneficiaries of what they did in terms of making this inequality. Which is the core issue of our time, racial inequality, economic inequality, and so on. That is a magnificent a congressman by the young people who did that. Now it is our task to bring that into the electoral moment, into governing, and so want to try to redress some of those things. I think it is impossible to overstate what that 99 meant in terms of peoples conscience. I want to ask you about the role of the organized labor unions in terms of helping people to spawn and nurture irking families parties. A handful of unions have been like be pivotal groups who have finance and get working families going. How is that relationship in terms of the governments of the working Families Party . We describe ourselves as a Community Labor coalition. As such, we have a rule. You dont get to sit at the table if you dont represent someone other than yourself. We think it is important people have a base. Leaders people are people that are followed. It is environmental organizations, issue activist, unions. The unions are integral to both our culture but not all the unions. It is a fraction of them. The more progressive minded ones are under attack. I think they alized they need a political voice as well. But i would not say it is a labour party. It is a party of labor, but not a labour party. You cant do any of those things in america. It is too complicated of the country to just the one cons