The Solution Zone - 11/03/11

Guest: Glenn Greenwald 

Topic:  Glenn Greenwald’s New Book – With Liberty and Justice for Some

The United States has become a nation that does not apply the rule of law to its elite class, which is another way of saying that the United States does not apply the rule of law.  Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com joins us to discuss his newest book.

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The Solution Zone - 10/27/11

With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful 

Guests: Taped interviews with Harry Reid and Glenn Greenwald 

The Program highlights the lack of accountability and justice for the nation’s elite since Barack Obama has become President.

In America’s two-tiered justice system –the political and financial elites have virtually absolute immunity from the rule of law even when they are caught committing egregious crimes, while ordinary Americans are subjected to the world’s largest and one of its harshest and most merciless penal states even for trivial offenses.

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The Solution Zone - 10/20/11

Guests Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Thomas Ferguson

  

Topic 1: Class Action Lawsuit Filed for 700 Brooklyn Bridge Protestors, also: NYPD & Wall Street Firms: Partners in Spying

Guest:  Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund

The Partnership for Civil Justice Fund  have filed a federal class action lawsuit against Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and 40 unnamed police officers on behalf of the 700+ protesters who were arrested on Oct. 1 in a march over the Brooklyn Bridge. 

The defendants are charged with mass violations of constitutional rights in the trap and detain mass arrest.

Topic 2: Big Money & National Political Leadership Parties, a Choking of the US Political Process.

Guest: Thomas Ferguson – Author, Professor of Political Science, University of Massachusetts, Boston

The centralized national political leadership that big money has created is choking the U.S. political process.

The Congressional party leadership controls the swelling coffers of the national campaign committees, and the huge fixed investments in polling, research, and media capabilities that these committees maintain and use these tools  to bribe, cajole, or threaten candidates to toe the party line.

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The Solution Zone - 10/13/11

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Iran’s Alleged Assassination Plot?  Something’s Fishy & 7 Protestors Arrested at DC Hearing

Guests: Ray McGovern – 30 years CIA Veteran, and Medea Benjamin – Code Pink

Last week Attorney General Eric Holder announced to the world that that an assassination plot, allegedly linked to Iran, has been foiled. The only source for information on this has been “justice” officials whose credibility is extremely suspect. Ray McGovern weighs in.

Meanwhile 7 protestors were arrested this morning in Washington DC for speaking and holding sings at the start of a meeting held by the House Armed Services Committee where Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was testifying.

The group put out a statement saying:

“We represent the 99 percent of Americans who have been hurt by these endless wars that have robbed us of trillions of dollars and destroyed our economy." Medea Benjamin of Code Pink provides an update.

The Solution Zone - 10/06/11

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TOPIC : People’s Protests Swell. 

GUESTS:  Greg Palast – Wall Street Protests and Vulture Capitalism, Margaret Flowers, Kevin Zeese  - DC Occupation,  Jordan Estevao , Occupy Chicago  

As voices across the country cry out for an end to billionaire control, the Wall Street Protests swell, the October 2011.org occupation kicks off in DC and the Chicago National  People’s Action movement  formalizes plans for their October 9^th protest of the Mortgage Bankers Association Greg Palast, Margaret Flowers, Kevin Zeese and Jordan Estevao join me to discuss the various forms of action building in our nation and their impact.

The Solution Zone - 09/29/11

REPEAT PROGRAM

The Solution Zone - 09/22/11

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Topic: President Obama's Claims to Protect US Whistleblowers Ring False

President Obama claimed in remarks yesterday that the United States is working to “expand protections for whistleblowers”, as part of an “Open Government Initiative.” Meanwhile his Administration continues an unprecedented crackdown on government whistleblowers, pursuing five cases since taking office, including the prosecution of PFC Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst who is accused of leaking classified information to WikiLeaks.

The Solution Zone - 09/15/11

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Topic #1:  Staggering Poverty Numbers – Can a New Jobs Bill Help?

Guest: Christy Rogers - Senior Researcher at the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity.

Another 2.6 million people slipped into poverty in the United States last year, according to the US Census and the number of Americans living below the official poverty line is now 46.2 million people. Christy Rogers discusses the study and what potential help President Obama’s Job’s Bill may offer.

Topic #2:  Oil Shale Developers Threaten Major Water Supply to 7 States 

Guest: David Ableson – Attorney - Western Resource Advocates 

At a time the Colorado River Basin water supply is facing unprecedented challenges due to over allocation and climate change, energy companies are proposing to move forward with oil shale development - a water intensive, inefficient source of energy that could become a major producer of greenhouse gas pollution. Attorney David Ableson discusses a new report on the dangers of oil shale development released on August 18 by the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The Solution Zone - 09/08/11

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Topic #1: Our Skewed National Spending Priorities

Guest: Mike Prokosch – New Priorities Network

Mike Prokosch discusses the New Priorities Network Campaign to pressure the Congressional “Super-Committee” to create jobs, end the wars, cut the Pentagon budget, and restore taxes on the rich – instead of slashing Social Security and Medicare; revealing statistics which show that Health Care spending, Education spending and Clean Energy spending actually  create more jobs than military spending does.

Topic #2: Obama Administration Ditches Clean Air Plans

Guest: Marsha Coleman-Ade-bayo Former senior EPA policy analyst, Author: "No Fear: A Whistleblower's Triumph Over Corruption and Retaliation at the EPA"

Author Marsha Coleman-Ade-bayo discusses President Obama's recent decision to delay implementation of clean air rules in favor of big business. In her new book she reveals her successful struggle in standing up to the EPA; winning her lawsuit against them, and helping to gain passage of the 2002 No Fear Act – the first Civil Rights and Whistleblower legislation of the 21st Century.

The Solution Zone - 09/01/11

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Topic:  THE REAL PEOPLE’S PROTEST!! – October2011.org

Guest: David Swanson – Author of "War Is a Lie" and "Daybreak and Progressive activist and blogger at DavidSwanson.org , WarIsACrime.org and toyysaction.org. 

On October 6th 2011 people from across the nation will come together in Freedom Plaza Washington DC to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent movement. We will make it our Tahrir Square, Cairo, our Madison, Wisconsin and through NON_VIOLENT civil disobedience we will force the halls of power to hear our voices, and take back our nation from the corporate machine that puts human and environmental needs before corporate profit.

The Solution Zone - 08/25/11

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Topic:

Corporate Martin Luther King Memorial Event Buries His True Legacy

Guests:

#1 Solomon Comissiong, Author, President of  SCMB Educational Consulting

#2 Jared Ball - Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Morgan State University 

On August 28, 2011, the dedication of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial will take place on the National Mall in Washington DC. This event will be attended and sponsored by the very entities DR. King, and the movement he led, struggled against, including, GE, JP Morgan, Rupert Murdoch’s Direct TV, Exxon, Target and Wal-Mart – and Barack Obama, a corporate war-mongering President whose disastrous polices include massive military expenditures, the slashing of social programs, and the promoting of an insurance friendly heath care plan that forces  millions of Americans into poverty.

Solomon Comissiong and Jared Ball discuss how these militarists, corporate robber barons, and faux journalists, (symbols of everything Dr. King was opposed to), have attached themselves to create a false national narrative that and that will systematically bury his true dream.

The Solution Zone - 08/18/11

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Topic #1: Austerity and the Roots of Britain's Turmoil

Guest #1: MURTAZA HUSSAIN – Blogger: Revolution By The Book

Britain’s rioting this past week triggered the worst social unrest to hit the nationin decades. Murtaza Hussien discusses how Government Austerity measures, in the form of cuts to social services have created a combustible climate of anger and frustration within British society, and whether our own debt crisis and the potential of cutting social services in the United States could lead to a similar violent outcome here.

Topic #2: Iraq – Latest Violence Does Not Justify Remaning After Decemeber

Guest #2: RAED JARRAR - Blogger – Raed In the Middle 

As the US moves through our 8th year of year military occupation of Iraq violence has erupted again. With coordinated attacks in 17 cities killing some 80 people and wounding over two hundred many US media pundits and politicians claim this new violence justifies our remaining in Iraq past the Dec, 31st, 2011 withdrawal date – Raed Jarrer - Iraqi expert and political analyst  for CNN, MSNBC, Al Jazerra and others explains why these new attacks should not justify prolonging our exit from Iraq.

The Solution Zone - 08/11/11

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Topic #1: YES! US CITIZENS CAN ACTUALLY SUE RUMSFELD FOR TORTURE

Guest #1: Kathleen McClellan - Government Accountability Project – www.whistleblower.org

Two Lawsuits filed by citizen’s of the United States against Donald Rumsfeld for torture are being been allowed to proceed. Both courts – one, a US District Court in Washington DC and the second, a US Appeals Court in Chicago, have rejected the argument that Rumsfeld should be immune from such lawsuits.

On August 2nd the Federal court in Washington, DC upheld a Constitutional Rights claim filed by a US translator who says that he was tortured and illegally imprisoned.

Then, less than a week later, on Monday, August 8th, the 7th District Appeals Court in Chicago upheld the lawsuit filed by US citizens Donald Vance and Nathan Ertel - ruling that the case could go forward to the discovery process. Kathleen McClellen - National Security and Human Rights Counsel from the Government Accountability project joins the program to discusses the impact of these rulings and whether they may lead to further accountability by Bush administration for crimes it has been accused of committing in Iraq.

TOPIC #2: Dollars or Democracy – Fight Corporate Financing of Elections www.dollarsordemocracy.org

GUEST #2: Rick Claypool - Public Citizen - Online Action Team

Last year the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, case opened the door for huge corporations to spend outrageous amounts of money in secret campaign donations and drown out the voices of real people.

Today Public Citizen is speaking out with an Auguest 11th online drive called “dollarsordemocracy” that encourages people to type an unlimited number of dollar signs all day long  in protest of how Corporate money drowns out their voices. Rick Patel from Public Citizen joins us to discusses the current $ campaign and the enormous influence corporate dollars currently have on our election.

The Solution Zone - 08/04/11

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Debt Ceiling – Manufactured Crisis forces Bad Bill, and Creates Unconsitional Super Congress

Guest: Jane Hamsher – Producer, author, founder and publisher of the blog FireDogLake. www.firedoglake.com

On Monday, President Obama signed the atrocity known as the Budget Control Act of 2011. 95 house democrats went along with this plan; supporting a bill that is not about financial responsibility – but about using an artificially induced crisis (sound familiar – think Bailout), to enable the wealthiest 2 per cent of Americans to continue getting away with not paying their fair share of taxes.

The groups behind this fake crisis are not concerned about the financial state of the United States of American or about its people, they are concerned with lining their own pockets. They have purchased the political influence they needed to pass a bill that It Takes the legislative authority away from the many and illegally delegates it to a few. It is anti-democratic, irresponsible, Bad policy, bad practice, bad faith And constituently illegal.

The Solution Zone - 07/28/11

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Guest: Ali Gharib is a national security reporter for ThinkProgress covering U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East, particularly Iran. http://thinkprogress.org/author/aligharib/

Topic: Right-Wing Pundits Jumped To Blame Muslims And ‘Jihadists’ For Norway Attacks – Are Muslims the Only Terrorists?

On July 22nd, when news broke of the terror attack in Norway, right-wing pundits quickly moved forward with speculation that that the attacks, since they appeared to be “terrorism” must be therefore be associated with Muslim extremism.

It was soon discovered, that, on the contrary, the terrorist Andres Breivik, was a blue-eyed, blond haired Christian, who’s  anti-Muslim whose 1500 page manifesto which justified his horrific acts in the name of a combined hatred of Muslims, Marxists, multiculturalists and feminist women. Journalist Äli Gharib discusses why, in American political discourse, acts of “Terror” have more and more come to be defined as: violence committed (only) by Muslims whom the West dislikes, no matter the cause or the target.