code pink

The revolution in Egypt at first was less about poverty and labor than it was about police brutality and the mistreatment of the people by a repressive regime. But now, Khaled Fahmy notes, the growing labor movement in Egypt is coming to the fore, following two years of concerted effort and protest by workers across the country.The protests continue, and Fahmy tells us that many of the functions of the government have been nearly completely shut down by the protesters, who remain in the streets and vow to stay until Mubarak is gone."I had the feeling it might happen," says Medea Benjamin of CodePink of the ongoing revolution in Egypt. Recently back from Cairo, Medea has been traveling through Egypt to get to Gaza for a while, and she says that the feeling in that country was of too many people angry, frustrated, and willing to fight their government to go on another 30 years without fighting back.Medea joins Laura in studio to discuss her recent experience in Egypt, including nearly being arrested at gunpoint, and having had friends detained for hours by state security forces.The revolution continues in Egypt, and in addition to creating new coalitions and partnerships as different groups come together in the streets, it's inspiring artists around the world. Jasiri X and M-1 of Dead Prez have a new track, "We All Shall Be Free," illustrated with scenes from the protests in Cairo.This weekend saw something revolutionary — not just in Egypt, but in Congo. ; The V-Day foundation , led by playwright and GRITtv guest Eve Ensler, opened its first City of Joy, a compound that will help Congolese women, many of them rape survivors, heal and learn, as V-Day puts it, to “turn their pain to power.”

The favorite bogeyman of the Right, Social Security insolvency, is rearing its ugly head once again. Obama's deficit commission has been told that no solution is off the table, and Dean Baker notes it wouldn't be the first time that a Democratic administration went forward with plans that a Republican couldn't sell to the American people. Baker joins us via Skype to remind us once again that Social Security is solvent for many years, and that there are simple fixes for it if there are problems. He also notes that austerity is a lousy prescription for an economy suffering from a lack of spending. Yesterday we spoke about the problems with charitable giving by billionaires at the expense of paying their taxes. For many charitable givers in the United States, a bigger problem looms; laws about providing "material support" for terrorism have placed a stranglehold on where donors can send their money. Ghassan Elashi, co-founder of the Holy Land Foundation, faces a 65 year sentence for providing material support through his foundation, which was the largest Muslim charity in the U.S. before it was shut down by the Bush administration in 2001. Elashi's daughter Noor, a writer and activist, joins us in studio along with Medea Benjamin of Code Pink to discuss what these cases mean for other organizations trying to help civilians in war-torn areas like Gaza. The United Nations has declared the flooding in Pakistan one of the worst disasters in the organization's history, calling for its largest disaster response effort, but it's gone largely unreported here. 14 million people have been affected, and at least 1600 killed. Funds have been slower to come in than in many recent disasters, and agencies are calling for donations to help the victims--you can find links below to donate. Finally, Laura has some thoughts on Verizon and Google's plan to disrupt Net Neutrality--and what it means for shows like GRITtv.

America is the land of the free and the home of the brave that welcomes people of all creeds and colors and promotes family values, right? Nope. Think again. Ellen Bravo of the Multi State Working Families Consortium joins us in studio and Sylvia Herrera, organizer with Puente Arizona joins us via Skype from Arizona to discuss how just the atmosphere of SB1070 not only endorses racism and apartheid, but is tearing families of suspected illegal immigrants apart. Luckily, many of those who oppose the bill are using these dramatic aspects to gain momentum in the fight for justice. Remember! GRITtv is in Pledge Mode. Can we make it to $100,000? You tell us.

This Monday, suicide bombings rocked two stations in the Moscow Metro, killing 39 people. This is only the latest in a series of attacks on Russian civilians, stemming from the conflict over the Russian occupation of Chechnya. Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation, joins us to talk about the attacks, "Black Widow" suicide bombers, the tension between Prime Minister Putin and President Medvedev, and how all of this affects U.S.-Russia relations. GRITtv's media panel returns! This week, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Karen Hunter and Newsweek's Karen Fragala Smith join us once again to break down the good, bad, and ugly in this week's media--in this case, CNN's Haiti coverage and failing ratings, Sarah Palin's possible TV stardom, and Karl Rove's inability to handle anyone's disagreement with him. We'll leave you to judge which is good, bad, or ugly. We report, you decide. To put people back to work and end the "jobless" part of the "jobless recovery," our friends at ColorLines brought us this video, featuring Chris Rabb of Afro-Netizen. He looks at the ways that communities are organizing to define what green jobs are for them, and creating those jobs in their neighborhoods. Finally, Laura takes a closer look at the problems with banks and state revenue streams.