Links to today’s show transcripts:
CIA Nominee Gina Haspel May Testify for First Time in Public About Her Role in Torture at Black Site
The Trump administration’s push to install the CIA’s controversial deputy director, Gina Haspel, as the agency’s new director faces mounting scrutiny as Haspel is set to begin a Senate confirmation hearing this Wednesday. The Washington Post reports the hearing almost didn’t happen, after Haspel attempted to withdraw her name from consideration over opposition to her role in the CIA’s torture program under George W. Bush. Wednesday’s hearing will mark the first time Haspel has been forced to speak publicly about her role in the U.S. torture program and the destruction of CIA tapes documenting the torture. Haspel’s nomination as CIA director has been “sold like a box of cereal” by the agency, says John Prados, senior fellow at the National Security Archive, but with no transparency about her record. As of now, says Prados, there’s no public document listing Haspel’s duties in her more than 30 years at the CIA.
Nearly 90,000 Hondurans May Be Deported to Danger and Poverty as Trump Ends Their Protected Status
The Trump administration announced Friday it is ending temporary protected status for nearly 90,000 Hondurans now living in the United States, saying they must return home. TPS is an immigration status granted to foreign nationals who can’t safely return to their home countries, and allows them to legally live and work in the United States. Hondurans were first given TPS in 1999 after Hurricane Mitch devastated the country. Critics note Honduras remains the one of the world’s most violent countries. The Trump administration has also ended protections for El Salvador, Haiti, Nepal, Nicaragua and Sudan. Only South Sudan and Syria were renewed. An estimated 300,000 people will be impacted overall.
Meet the 2018 Teacher of the Year Honored by Trump Whom the White House Doesn’t Want You to Hear
When Mandy Manning received her 2018 Teacher of the Year award at the White House Wednesday, the press was barred from her speech, and President Trump did not mention who she teaches: immigrant and refugee children. While she was at the White House, Manning handed President Donald Trump a stack of letters from her refugee and immigrant students, while billionaire Education Secretary Betsy DeVos looked on. She also wore six politically themed buttons as she accepted her award from Trump, featuring artwork from the 2017 Women’s March, a rainbow flag and the slogan “Trans Equality Now!” Mandy Manning joins us from Spokane, Washington, where she is an English and math teacher at the Joel E. Ferris High School. She was named 2018 National Teacher of the Year by the Council of Chief School State Officers.
Writer Arundhati Roy on Impunity for Rape in India & How Violence Is Used as a Tool of the State
World-renowned Indian author and activist Arundhati Roy speaks about the increasing incidence of rape in India, as police there say they have arrested the main suspect in an alleged gang rape and murder of a teenage girl. Dhanu Bhuiyan and his accomplices are accused of burning the 16-year-old girl alive on Friday. She was reportedly murdered in the eastern state of Jharkhand after her parents complained to the local village council that she had been raped. The council told accused rapist Dhanu Bhuiyan to do 100 sit-ups and pay a 50,000 rupee fine—that’s $750—as punishment. The men were allegedly so enraged by the penalty that they beat the girl’s parents, then set her on fire. The attack is just one of the most recent of a series of brutal incidents of sexual violence against minors. Meanwhile, there were 40,000 rapes reported in India in 2016, and 40 percent of the cases involved child victims.
The Sacred Space of Self, the brand new 2018 Spring Reading, is now available for pre-order. This set of 12 video presentations will cover Chiron’s transition into Aries, and Mars retrograde in Aquarius over the summer. Pre-order soon for best value. You may read more about what Eric will be covering in your Spring Reading here.