Democracy Now - 13 sep 2011

An alternative daily newschannel. One hour with news as you do not see it elsewhere.

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Headlines for Sep 13, 2011

- Taliban Launches Coordinated Attack on U.S. Embassy, NATO Headquarters in Kabul
- Report: Iran to Release Detained American Hikers in Two Days
- Obama Proposes to Cut $467 Billion in Tax Breaks For Companies, Wealthy Americans
- Bank of America Announces Plan to Cut 30,000 Jobs
- Libyan Opposition Leader Addresses 10,000 Supporters in Martyrs' Square in Tripoli
- Amnesty International Alleges War Crimes on Both Sides of Libya Conflict
- Palestine Plans to Seek Statehood Next Week, Despite U.S. Veto Threat
- Romney Takes Perry to Task on Social Security, Jobs Record
- Number of Borrowers Defaulting on Student Loans Jumps Significantly
- Officials: No Radioactive Leaks Following Explosion at Nuclear Facility in France
- Oakland Children's Museum Cancels Palestinian Youth Art Exhibit
- On Anniversary of Attica Rebellion New Recordings Reveal Nixon, Rockefeller Praise For Crackdown


Special reports

- Noam Chomsky: Looking Back on 9/11 a Decade Later

Ten years ago, at a time when lawmakers from both sides of the isle joined together to authorize endless war, Noam Chomsky's was the leading voice to call for the United States to take a look in the mirror - for a re-thinking of U.S. actions in the Middle East and across the globe. His 2001 book simply titled "9-11" became a surprise bestseller. The book collected a series of interviews Chomsky had given on the roots of the 9/11 attacks and his prescription for a just response. A decade later, Chomsky has just released an updated version titled, "9-11: Was There An Alternative?," which refers to the U.S. assassination of Osama bin Laden and the continuity Chomsky sees between the Bush administration's foreign policy and President Obama's. "Right at this moment, Obama has succeeded in descending even below George W. Bush in approval in the Arab world," says Noam Chomsky. "The policies change, but they are hostile. We should understand where atrocities come from. They do not come from nowhere. If we're serious, we should try to do something about what is the basis for them."


- Noam Chomsky: U.S. To Veto Palestinian Statehood Bid Despite "Overwhelming International Consensus"

President Obama publicly confirmed Monday that the United States will oppose any attempt by the Palestinians to achieve statehood at the United Nations, but Palestinians leaders are still vowing to move ahead with their bid for statehood this week. What will the ramifications of a U.S. veto be? For more, we speak with Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus Noam Chomsky. "If the Palestinians do bring the issue to the Security Council and the U.S. vetoes it, it will be just another indication of the real unwillingness to permit a settlement of this issue in terms of what has been for a long time an overwhelming international consensus," Chomsky says.


- Noam Chomsky on the U.S. Economic Crisis: Joblessness, Excessive Military Spending and Healthcare

President Obama sent his new jobs proposal to Congress on Monday with a plan to pay for the $447 billion package by raising taxes on the wealthy. Noam Chomsky says "huge military spending, a very low taxes by the rich [and corporations] ... those are problems, fundamental problems that have to be dealt with if there is going to be anything like successful economic and social development in the United States." As Republican presidential candidate, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, calls Social Security a "ponzi scheme," and Democrats buy into the narrative that the program is in crisis, Chomsky notes that, "To worry about a possible problem 30 years from now, which can incidentally be fixed with a little bit of tampering here and there, as was done in 1983, to worry about that makes absolutely no sense unless you're trying to destroy the program."

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