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Toronto's massive security clampdown for the G8/G20 Meetings is the most expensive in Canadian history; a CODEPINK activist is detained for over 48 hours at the Canadian border after being denied entry to Canada; indigenous activists protest the G8/G20 meetings in Toronto; indigenous leader Art Manuel says that "indigenous people are the first ones impacted" by Western-driven resource extraction; indigenous groups lead the struggle against Canada’s Tar Sands; and Canadian activist Stefan Christoff is targeted by government surveillance and harassment ahead of the G20 summit. "Democracy Now!" is a daily independent newshour.

The Olympics have seen more than their share of controversy this year, from the death of a Georgian luger early on to the ongoing debate about policing, spending and co-opting Native land for sports. But many people still love the games, and tune in to watch sports that get forgotten the other three years--or to see dream teams put together to compete for gold. To talk about the good, the bad, and the corporate at the Vancouver games, we're joined by two veteran sports journalists, Ann Liguori of WFAN and Robert Lipsyte, PBS contributor and former New York Times contributor. And of course, we couldn't talk sports without touching on the media's ongoing fascination with Tiger Woods... You've seen them: the signs that pop up everywhere, with just a phone number and a seemingly-unbelievable promise. "We Buy Houses" "Make $45 an Hour." They're becoming even more common during this recession, the Huffington Post Investigative Fund has found, and they made this video in Baltimore with Robert Strupp, director of research and policy at the Community Law Center. President Obama revealed his health care plan this week, and activists across the country are gearing up to push to actually pass health care reform. In this video from Ramblin' Man Films, we check in with protesters in Los Angeles outside of Anthem Blue Cross's office, angered by a 39% rate hike by the insurer. Frank Schaeffer, author of Crazy for God and Patience with God, has had enough of claims that America is now in a "post-racial" era; if that's true, he asks, why does so much of the opposition to Obama's actions seem to have a nasty undertone? Last week, while Esther Armah held down the fort here at GRITtv, Laura was in Santa Fe meeting with activists. Of course, she took a camera with her, and captured this interview with Maude Barlow, author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water and one time Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly. We've also got the trailer for the documentary film FLOW, which Barlow also appeared in. Jose Alcoff was in Honduras recently, and contributed this exclusive report recapping the turmoil, and checking in with the social movements there about what's happening next. Finally, Laura and Mother Jones magazine have some suggestions for what we could do with the bankers' $20 billion.

Not long ago on GRITtv, Hamid Dabashi told us that the Iranian protests are turning into a civil rights movement with long-term potential for change. Wel talk to Hooman Majd, author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran, Hadi Ghaemi, director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, and Kelly Golnoush Niknejad of Tehran Bureau about the protests, the regime, and what happens next. On Jan. 29, Barack Obama took questions from House Republicans at their "issues retreat," televised on CSPAN. David Corn of Mother Jones joins Laura via Skype to explain why he thinks more events like this can make the political debate in Washington and around the country better. The Winter Olympics are headed to Vancouver, British Columbia, but activists are pointing out the way international sporting events lead to police crackdowns and displacement of locals. Thanks to our friends at the Vancouver Media Cooperative for the video. The 2010 census is starting up, and as New America Media shares, for Southeast Asian community, organizers are making sure that they get the proper representation, and not undercounted. Did you know that in Utah, you're more likely to get chlamydia than the chicken pox or the flu? Well, a Republican State Senator, who says he's from the most conservative part of the state, is leading the fight to allow teachers to teach contraception. Health care reform isn't dead yet, and a coalition of progressive groups, including Bold Progressives and Democracy for America, are increasing the pressure in Washington for Democrats to pass reform--by any means necessary. Finally, in this new documentary, filmmakers David Ridgen and Nicholas Rossier follow Norman Finkelstein, the son of Holocaust survivors called a self-hating Jew for his response to Israeli and US policy over Palestine, around the world in pursuit of his principles.

Discussions on the future of journalism are happening so often now that they're almost trite. But Robert McChesney, John Nichols, Tracy Van Slyke and Kate Giammarise are not only interested in saving journalism; they're interested in having all of us have a say. Nichols and McChesney have a new book out, The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again that documents the decline of the commercial press and makes the case for publicly-funded media, and Van Slyke has a book out as well, co-authored with Jessica Clark, Beyond the Echo Chamber: How a Networked Progressive Media Can Reshape American Politics, documenting the rise of a new media culture. Giammarise is featured in Nichols and McChesney's book and since being laid off from the Toledo Blade has founded Rustwire.com. Brave New Films takes a look at the ongoing complaints about budget deficits, and the way the war in Afghanistan has overextended spending in one area and forced Obama to cut spending on desperately needed domestic programs. Julian Zelizer, Princeton professor, joins us to talk about his new book, Arsenal of Democracy: The Politics of National Security - From World War II to the War on Terrorism. He lays out a history of national security policy in the U.S. and makes the point that bipartisanship has largely always been a myth here. Obama, he suggests, should take a lesson or two from the past. Meanwhile, in Canada, the controversy over troops in Afghanistan, prisoner abuse, and torture has come to a head: Prime Minister Stephen Harper has shut down the Parliament in a move known as prorogation, and his opponents accuse him of doing so to avoid the torture inquiries. This video from the Real News Network takes a look at Harper's moves, and the growing popular movement against his power grab. Carvens Lissaint is a Haitian-American poet and performer from New York City. Here he performs his poem, "Haiti," written a year ago, with a startling prophetic tone in the wake of recent tragic events in Haiti. Thanks to Every Drop Counts for the video. Finally, the health care bill might be in limbo in Congress, but YO! Youth Outlook took to the streets in San Francisco to remind all of us how many people still need coverage.