colorado
GRITtv: Nov. 9, 2010
"Democrats are more concerned with raising money than raising hell," says Jamie Court, author of The Progressive's Guide to Raising Hell. Meanwhile, he argues, ballot measures in California were victories for populism, for campaigns against big oil and big corporate money (and self-financed billionaire candidates). ; With Republicans back in control of the house, Court says, Democrats are going to have to learn something from California.He joins us via Skype to talk about the wins in California, losses elsewhere, and has some surprising suggestions for places Congressional Democrats can find common ground with Republicans on health care reform."The word terrorism is meaningless," says journalist and author Reese Erlich, who points out that the definition has become so flexible, it can be applied to anything--including U.S. foreign policy. With George W. Bush on his book tour, claiming that waterboarding is legal and necessary and that even knowing what he knows now, he would have invaded Iraq, it's especially important to look back at our definitions of terrorism and the "War on Terror."Erlich joins Laura in studio to talk about his book and his conversations with terrorists, from former members of the IRA to current leaders in the Middle East, and to unpack the blanket definitions that lump politically-motivated groups with popular support in with groups like Al-Qaeda.Finally, the sentence for Oscar Grant's killer came down this weekend: two years and time served. What's going on with our justice system? Laura has some thoughts.
Email this pageGRITtv: The F Word: Let the Punishment Fit the Crime
Let the punishment fit the crime, they say. Well, we now know the punishment for the BART officer who shot Oscar Grant: 2 years and time served. He could actually be out of prison in seven months—for killing a man. His involuntary manslaughter charge normally carries a four-year sentence, and could have included California's “gun enhancement,” which would've raised his sentence to 14 years. Instead, his short sentence has been decried as less than Michael Vick was given for killing dogs. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Got Docs: Way Down In The Hole
Trinidad, Colorado saw one of the country's bloodiest labor battles in 1913-1914, during the legendary coal miner's strike there. Now a new documentary, Way Down In The Hole, looks at the conflicts that led to the violence, between laborers and bosses, organizers, immigrants, agents for hire, and more. Filmmaker Alex Johnston is a graduate of the Social Documentation (Soc Doc) program at UC Santa Cruz.
GRITtv: Changing Police Violence and "Way Down in the Hole"
Sean Bell was shot by New York City police officers four years ago on the night before his wedding day. This summer, the city settled the case against it, agreeing to pay $7 million to Bell's family and friends, including his two children. But settlement dollars aren't enough to fundamentally change police departments around the country, from Oakland to New Orleans to right here in New York. Zaire Baptiste was a friend of Bell's, and is working on a documentary about the life the media likes to ignore, and Sunita Patel is an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights. They both join us in studio to discuss Bell's death, and what's really needed to change a policing strategy that relies on racial profiling and fundamental disregard for life--for certain lives, anyway. Trinidad, Colorado saw one of the country's bloodiest labor battles in 1913-1914, during the legendary coal miner's strike there. Now a new documentary, Way Down In The Hole, looks at the conflicts that led to the violence, between laborers and bosses, organizers, immigrants, agents for hire, and more.
GRITtv: Can Marijuana Save the Economy?
An initiative in California for marijuana legalization is slowly moving toward an appearance on the November ballot, and several other states have taken steps to legalize the drug for medical purposes, or to decriminalize possession, reducing it to a misdemeanor charge. Since the start of the economic crisis, many -- including the venerable Economist magazine -- have called for legalization and taxing in order to boost revenues. Could marijuana save the economy? Would the benefits -- both for government money and for those who use the drug for medical purposes -- outweigh the negatives? We ask Ryan Grim, correspondent for the Huffington Post and author of This Is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America, Brendan O'Flaherty, professor of economics at Columbia University and author of City Economics, and Terrence Farley, former prosecutor for Ocean County, NJ and former director of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice.
GRITtv: Feb. 8, 2010
An initiative in California for marijuana legalization is slowly moving toward an appearance on the November ballot, and several other states have taken steps to legalize the drug for medical purposes, or to decriminalize possession, reducing it to a misdemeanor charge. Since the start of the economic crisis, many -- including the venerable Economist magazine -- have called for legalization and taxing in order to boost revenues. Could marijuana save the economy? Would the benefits -- both for government money and for those who use the drug for medical purposes -- outweigh the negatives? We ask Ryan Grim, correspondent for the Huffington Post and author of This Is Your Country on Drugs: The Secret History of Getting High in America, Brendan O'Flaherty, professor of economics at Columbia University and author of City Economics, and Terrence Farley, former prosecutor for Ocean County, NJ and former Director of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. Dr. Gabor Mat? has learned a lot from a long career of working with addicts. In his new book, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, he explains the way our society adds to our stresses, creates addictions, and then punishes people for their problems, and the best way to actually help people break out of the cycle of addictive behavior. He joined Laura recently to talk about the book. In what looks like a fairly narrow victory, Victor Yanukovich is projected to become the next President of Ukraine, beating out Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. Natalia Antonova, editor of GlobalComment.com, checked in via Skype from Kiev with this commentary on the election. U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry cabled his concerns about a troop increase to Obama months ago, and the New York Times recently released the full text of the memos. In this video from Brave New Films' Rethink Afghanistan series, Daniel Ellsberg, Matthew Hoh, and other analysts look at Eikenberry's words and explain their concerns. President Obama promised change in Washington, but one year in we've got nothing but gridlock. Professor Lawrence Lessig has known Obama for years, and in this video from our friends at The Nation, Lessig calls on Obama--and all of us--to push for real change: change in Congress. We'll be discussing this issue with Lessig and others on the show soon! Finally, Laura calls for greater transparency on the issue of US soldiers in Pakistan.
