olympics

Ralph Nader talks about the GOP filibuster of unemployment benefits bill, the collapse of the consumer financial protection agency proposal, and the latest auto recalls; photographer Kike Arnal and Ralph Nader discuss Arnal's new book “In the Shadow of Power: and Poverty in Washington, D.C.”; and "Democracy Now!" producer Aaron Maté traveled to Vancouver to look at an issue lost in the two-week spectacle: the struggles of a low-income community in the Olympics’ shadow. "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...

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.

In this video from our friends at the Vancouver Media Co-Op, activists from around the world -- including our friend Dave Zirin -- explain why they are organizing against the "Olympics industry," calling it out for colonialist practices, misuse of indigenous land, and overspending public money on the event -- and policing -- while cutting back on much-needed public spending.