It’s been a good week for voter rights. Image: video still
Voting rights advocates have won a number of major victories that could reshape the November election. Over the past 10 days, a series of court rulings have struck down new voting restrictions in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Kansas and Texas. In North Carolina, judge Diana Motz wrote, “We cannot ignore the recent evidence that, because of race, the legislature enacted one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history.”
Meanwhile in Wisconsin, U.S. District Judge James Peterson also struck down a voting rights law, writing that the objective of the law was to “suppress the reliably Democratic vote of Milwaukee’s African Americans.” A week earlier, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down a Texas law which has been described as the nation’s most restrictive voter ID law.
For more, Amy Goodman spoke with Ari Berman, senior contributing writer for The Nation, where he covers voting rights. Berman’s recent piece for The Nation is called “The Country’s Worst Anti-Voting Law Was Just Struck Down in North Carolina.”
Last week in Philadelphia, a caravan of Nuns on the Bus pulled up to the Democratic National Convention after visiting 13 states, where they hosted conversations with ordinary Americans on both sides of the political spectrum in an effort to bridge the divide. To learn more about their journey, Amy Goodman sat down with the caravan’s leader, Sister Simone Campbell. She’s a lawyer and poet and the executive director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice.
Last week at the Democratic National Convention, one of the most powerful speeches came from Khizr Khan, the father of a U.S. soldier who died serving in Iraq in 2004. Onstage in Philadelphia, Khan asked Donald Trump whether he’d ever read the U.S. Constitution, and he offered Trump his own copy. In response, Trump attacked Khizr’s wife, Ghazala Khan, who appeared onstage alongside her husband. Trump’s comments sparked widespread outrage—including from the Khans themselves, who denounced Donald Trump, saying he is “totally unfit for the leadership of this country.”
We are honored to offer this broadcast as part of our affiliation with the Pacifica Network. Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.
Eric is about to begin creating the new 2016 Midyear Reading, BALANCE. Covering Jupiter in Libra and other forthcoming astrology, this exciting reading will carry you well into 2017. Seize your chance to get all 12 signs for the bargain price of $47. Grab your copy today. Image from the 2012 Blue Marble by NASA GSFC.
Protesters at the DNC make their message clear. Image: video still
The tumultuous opening of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia began one day after Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned following the release of nearly 20,000 emails revealing how the Democratic Party favored Hillary Clinton and worked behind the scenes to discredit and defeat Bernie Sanders. On Monday morning, protesters booed and heckled Wasserman Schultz at a Florida delegation breakfast.
Hours later, Senator Bernie Sanders spoke about the DNC email scandal in a meeting with his delegates. Later in the meeting with his delegates, the room erupted into boos when the Vermont senator repeated his support for Hillary Clinton. Supporters of Sanders chanted “Run! Run! Run!” and “Bernie or Bust!” The tension continued on to the floor of the DNC hours later. Democracy Now! was on the floor at the opening gavel of the convention and spoke with several delegates.
The show hosts a debate between Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein and Ben Jealous, former NAACP president and CEO and a Bernie Sanders surrogate. Later there is a second discussiion between Clinton supporter Robert Reich, who served as labor secretary under President Clinton, and Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who backs Sanders.
Before the Democratic National Convention officially began on Monday, Democracy Now! was there when Senator Bernie Sanders addressed his 1,900 delegates and threw his support behind his former rival, Hillary Clinton. Today’s show features highlights from the night’s speeches and speak with several Sanders delegates, who say “it pains me,” but that they now plan to vote for Clinton. Others say they remain undecided and are at the DNC to ensure Sanders’s values are represented.
We are honored to offer this broadcast as part of our affiliation with the Pacifica Network. Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.
Eric is about to begin creating the new 2016 Midyear Reading, BALANCE. Covering Jupiter in Libra and other forthcoming astrology, this exciting reading will carry you well into 2017. Seize your chance to get all 12 signs for the bargain price of $47. Grab your copy today. Image from the 2012 Blue Marble by NASA GSFC.
CodePink’s Medea Benjamin diverts media attention out of those tiny, tiny hands. Image: video still
In a scene few would have predicted 12 or even six months ago, real estate mogul Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican presidential nomination. In an hour-and-15-minute speech, Trump warned the nation was facing an imminent crisis at home and abroad, and that he alone was qualified to solve it. Trump’s speech included so many factual inaccuracies that The Washington Post called it “a compendium of doomsday stats that fall apart upon close scrutiny. Numbers are taken out of context, data is manipulated, and sometimes the facts are wrong.” Amy Goodman spoke with three guests: David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter and author of the forthcoming book, “The Making of Donald Trump”; Jamil Smith, senior national correspondent at MTV News; and Vincent Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
CodePink’s Medea Benjamin disrupted Donald Trump’s acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention by holding up a banner reading “Build bridges, not walls!” Her protest diverted cameras away from Trump’s speech. Benjamin was removed after the disruption and says she was later interviewed by the Secret Service. Democracy Now! spoke to her on the street afterwards.
For months Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has been calling for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. Since he has risen to prominence, civil rights groups have cited increasing attacks and threats against Muslims in America, often against women wearing headscarves. Muslim groups are now campaigning to register a million new voters in a bid to keep Trump out of the White House. But some American Muslims will vote for Trump. According to a survey conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations, 11 percent of Muslims in the U.S. are Trump supporters.
The show hosted a discussion between two guests. Saba Ahmed is president of the Republican Muslim Coalition and a Donald Trump supporter. She recently met with Trump and his vice-presidential pick, Mike Pence, here at the Republican National Convention. We also speak with Aisha Samad, who is CAIR-Cleveland’s board secretary and a longtime activist in the Muslim community in Cleveland. Also appearing was Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi-born activist who works with the American Friends Service Committee.
When Fox News Chair Roger Ailes, amid multiple accusations of sexual harassment, resigned on the same day the Republican Party welcomed its new presidential candidate, Democracy Now! talked to several top TV news hosts who are in Cleveland covering the convention, including Jake Tapper of CNN, Shepard Smith of Fox News, Willie Geist of NBC, John Heilemann of Bloomberg and Chris Matthews of MSNBC.
This week’s Republican National Convention has taken place in the Q, which is short for the Quicken Loans Arena. We take a look at billionaire owner of Quicken Loans, Dan Gilbert. Gilbert owns casinos, is facing a pending lawsuit and has a reputation for launching attacks on journalists. Award-winning journalist Matt Taibbi explains that Quicken Loans, one of the country’s largest mortgage companies, was a “symbol” of the subprime mortgage crisis that decimated cities like Cleveland.
A group of young Cleveland activists gathered near the gates of the RNC to protest Republican Party priorities they say have decimated their city—economic policies that left thousands unemployed and blighted neighborhoods, racial discrimination that’s made Cleveland one of the most segregated cities in the U.S., and a police force that infamously shot dead African American Tamir Rice within two seconds of pulling up next to the boy as he held an airsoft BB gun.
On Thursday night, Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel made history by becoming the first speaker at a Republican National Convention to declare that he was “proud to be gay.” Thiel made headlines earlier this year when he confirmed to The New York Times that he personally spent $10 million to secretly fund a controversial lawsuit by wrestler Hulk Hogan against Gawker Media. Hogan sued the company for invasion of privacy after Gawker posted a sex tape, and in May a jury awarded the wrestler $140 million, forcing Gawker to declare bankruptcy. Thiel set his eyes on Gawker after the site published a 2007 article headlined “Peter Thiel is totally gay, people.”
We are honored to offer this broadcast as part of our affiliation with the Pacifica Network. Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.
Almost provokes nostalgia for Cheney-Bush. (Then again, maybe not.) Image: video still
As Indiana Governor Mike Pence is added to the Republican ticket as Donald Trump’s running mate, we look at his religious right-wing track record as governor of Indiana and, before then, as an Indiana congressman. “The enemy, to them, is secularism,” says guest Jeff Sharlet of Pence’s faith-based supporters. “They want a God-led government.” Sharlet is the author several books, including “C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy.”
The Repug delegates are revolting. Image: video still
Thousands of Republican Party delegates are here in Cleveland, Ohio, for the 2016 Republican National Convention, where the party is expected to formally nominate Donald Trump as the party’s presidential nominee. But not all delegates are happy about Donald Trump, and on Monday the RNC briefly descended into chaos as members of the Never Trump movement launched a revolt by demanding for a roll call vote—a lengthy process that would allow every state to have their vote count. However, when the time came to present the proposed rules to the full convention, the Trump campaign and Republican Party leadership quashed the rebellious faction by instead opting for a voice vote—quickly declaring the opponents lacked enough votes. Pandemonium erupted on the floor, with shouts for a roll call vote being drowned out by Trump supporters chanting “U.S.A.! U.S.A.!” Democracy Now!’s Deena Guzder reports.
On Monday afternoon, the RNC briefly erupted in chaos when some opponents of presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump stormed off the convention floor and others chanted in protest at their failure to win a symbolic vote opposing Trump’s candidacy. The high-profile floor fight pitted the Trump campaign and Republican National Committee leadership against a faction of delegates from the Never Trump movement, shattering any notion of a unified Republican Party. While Trump’s detractors acknowledge they were unlikely to be able to vote down the rules, they say they were seeking a roll call vote to register their dissent over a Trump candidacy. For more, we host a debate. Kendal Unruh is a Colorado delegate at the Republican National Convention and a leader in the national Never Trump movement. Raju Chinthala is an Indiana state delegate who is backing Donald Trump.
On Monday night, Donald Trump’s wife Melania Trump gave the keynote address. But the speech was not without controversy. Many commentators have accused Melania Trump of plagiarizing parts of first lady Michelle Obama’s speech from the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Amy Goodman asked two Republican delegates for their reaction.
We go to Baltimore to get reaction to the acquittal of a third police officer on all charges for his role in the arrest of Freddie Gray, who died of spinal injuries last year after he was arrested and transported in a police van. Lt. Brian Rice, the highest-ranking officer on the scene, faced charges of involuntary manslaughter, misconduct in office and reckless endangerment. Judge Barry Williams had dropped a charge of second-degree assault at the trial’s midpoint. Amy Goodman spoke to Sheryl Wood, a former federal prosecutor and legal analyst; and Kwame Rose, a Baltimore activist and producer with The Real News Network. He was convicted for failing to obey an order from law enforcement while protesting the December mistrial of Officer William Porter. Rose’s appeal begins today.
As the Republican National Convention began on Monday, thousands rallied outside to protest Donald Trump’s candidacy. In the largest protest of the day thousands took part in the “End Poverty Now, March for Economic Justice.” Democracy Now! spoke with activists and organizers who took to the streets after a concert by Prophets of Rage, a new project of Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello.
The show examines the record of Donald Trump and his running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, on LGBT rights and restricting women’s access to reproductive healthcare with Dawn Laguens, executive vice president and chief experience officer of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. In 2015, Pence signed into law the highly controversial anti-LGBT Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which gave businesses license to discriminate against LGBT people. The law caused a nationwide backlash. Dozens of companies and professional sports teams and leagues, including the Indianapolis-headquartered NCAA, threatened to boycott Indiana. Apple CEO Tim Cook slammed the law, likening it to the Jim Crow laws of the American South. Ultimately, Pence was forced to enact a revision specifying the law does not authorize anti-LGBT discrimination. As governor, Pence also oversaw a cut in Planned Parenthood funding in the state and signed legislation, since blocked, that would have restricted abortion access statewide. In 2011, he threatened to shut down the entire government if Congress didn’t defund Planned Parenthood.
Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef is also covering the Republican convention. His former show was known as “The Daily Show” of the Arab world for its satire of politics in Egypt and the Middle East. The program “El Bernameg” was launched after former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was ousted from power in the 2011 uprising. It became the most popular TV series in Egypt’s history, with as many as 30 million views per episode. During Mohamed Morsi’s presidency, “El Bernameg” came under increasing pressure, and in 2013 an arrest warrant was issued for Youssef for allegedly insulting Islam and Morsi. Youssef was interrogated and subsequently released on bail, but the pressure continued under the next regime, and in 2014 he announced he was taking the program off the air, just days after General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was elected president. Once he could no longer make fun of Egyptian politics, he moved to the U.S. to satirize American politics. His new show, “Democracy Handbook,” airs on Fusion.
We are honored to offer this broadcast as part of our affiliation with the Pacifica Network. Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.
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Pres. Obama remarking (again) on the problems with current gun legislation. Image: video still
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is expected to endorse former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today at a joint rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The rally comes less than two weeks before the start of the Democratic National Convention. Clinton assumed the mantle of the party’s presumptive nominee after winning the California primary in June, but Sanders refused to concede the nomination in part to give his campaign greater power to push the party to adopt a more progressive platform. On Sunday Sanders sent out a release praising the adoption of what he called the “most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party.”
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) was one of the five people picked by Bernie Sanders to serve on the Democratic National Convention’s Platform Committee. “It takes a position in favor of $15 and a union for a federal minimum wage. It takes a position on a whole range of things, including the environment, that are progressive steps forward,” Ellison said. “What do we not achieve? Compete opposition to fracking; we don’t have that. What is else not achieved? There’s some things on foreign policy fronts that, I think, would and could be better; some saber rattling with regard to Iran that I don’t think is helpful.”
The Democratic Party platform committee held its last meeting in Orlando, Florida, over the weekend ahead of the party’s convention at the end of this month. The meeting of Clinton and Sanders delegates resulted in what’s being called the most liberal Democratic platform in a generation.
The draft platform still needs to be ratified at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, but it is already widely being touted as a victory for Sanders. Sanders appointed five members to the committee earlier this year, including scholar and racial justice activist Cornel West, leading environmentalist and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben and Minnesota Congressmember Keith Ellison, who chairs the House Progressive Caucus.
The new platform includes Sanders’ call for a $15 per hour minimum wage, Social Security expansion and a carbon tax to price its impact on the environment. Award-winning documentary filmmaker and Sanders delegate Josh Fox guests on the show. He’s the director of “How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and is now playing on HBO.
Ahead of the Democratic National Convention, the television and film actress Shailene Woodley has launched a cross-country caravan campaign to bring people to the DNC in Philadelphia. Dubbed the “Up To US Caravan to the DNC,” Woodley is hoping to bring grassroots activists — including many Bernie Sanders supporters — to the DNC. Woodley appeared in the TV series “Secret Life of the American Teenager” and has starred in films including “The Divergent Series” and “The Fault in Our Stars.” She received a Golden Globe nomination for her role as Alex King in “The Descendants,” in which she starred alongside George Clooney. She spoke to Amy Goodman.
President Obama is speaking in Dallas, Texas, today at a memorial service for the five Dallas police officers killed by a sniper Thursday evening. Dallas authorities said Micah Johnson, the sniper, managed to amass a personal arsenal including a semiautomatic SKS rifle, bomb-making materials, bulletproof vests and ammunition. Over the weekend President Obama warned that the easy access to guns nationwide has exacerbated divisions between the police and local communities.
We are honored to offer this broadcast as part of our affiliation with the Pacifica Network. Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.
Hillary Clinton theatrically criticizing the Drumpf and looking all regal and stuff. Image: video still
In a major economic address in Ohio on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton warned the election of Donald Trump would be disastrous for the U.S. economy and result in what she dubbed a “Trump recession.” “He’s written a lot of books about business. They all seem to end at Chapter 11. Go figure,” Clinton said.
But Hillary Clinton’s economic policies are still facing criticism from her own party. Last week, in an address to supporters, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders told supporters he planned to go to the Democratic convention next month in Philadelphia to push the party in a more progressive direction.
Thomas Mair, the British man who killed British parliamentarian Jo Cox last week, reportedly yelled out “Britain First” during the attack—a reference to the far-right, anti-immigrant political party of the same name which is pushing for Britain to leave the EU in tomorrow’s Brexit referendum. In court on Friday, Mair gave his name as “Death to traitors, freedom for Britain.” Cox was a vocal advocate for Britain to remain in the European Union.
More information is coming to light about Mair’s ties to neo-Nazi groups in the United States and Britain. Meanwhile, a former paid FBI informant named Todd Blodgett has revealed he met Thomas Mair at a neo-Nazi gathering that the informant set up in London in 2000.
In a major victory for environmentalists, California is going nuclear-free, ending atomic energy’s more than half-century history in the state. On Tuesday, one of the state’s largest utilities agreed to a proposal endorsed by environmental groups and labor unions to shutter California’s last operating nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, by 2025.
California is the world’s sixth largest economy, and it was among the first states to embrace nuclear energy in the 1950s. Diablo Canyon began operating in 1985 and stirred controversy from the start. For years, anti-nuclear activists called for the plant’s closure because of safety concerns over its precarious location near several major earthquake fault lines.
We are honored to offer this broadcast as part of our affiliation with the Pacifica Network. Find out where the Democracy Now! crew is visiting next during the show’s 100-city tour, celebrating 20 years on the air.
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Demonstration against the AIM pipeline. Image: video still
A key figure in Brazil’s interim government has resigned after explosive new transcripts revealed how he plotted to oust President Dilma Rousseff in order to end a corruption investigation that was targeting him. The transcripts, published by Brazil’s largest newspaper, Folha de São Paulo, document a conversation in March, just weeks before Brazil’s lower house voted in favor of impeaching President Rousseff.
Romero Jucá, who was then a senator but became a planning minister after Rousseff’s ouster, was speaking with a former oil executive, Sérgio Machado. Both men had been targets of the so-called Car Wash investigation over money laundering and corruption at the state-controlled oil firm Petrobras.
In the conversation, the men agree that ousting President Rousseff would be the only way to end the corruption probe. In the transcript, Jucá said, “We have to change the government so the bleeding is stopped.” Machado then reportedly said, “The easiest solution is to put Michel in”—a reference to Vice President Michel Temer, who took power once Rousseff was suspended. Maria Luisa Mendonça, director of Brazil’s Network for Social Justice and Human Rights, spoke to Amy and Juan:
AMY GOODMAN: Can you explain what’s happening and the significance of these audiotapes?
MARIA LUISA MENDONÇA: Yes. They actually see and prove very clearly something we have been saying from the beginning, that this is a coup, because there is no reason, no legal basis, for the impeachment of President Dilma, that the main reason to do this was to actually stop investigations of corruption. And it was clear from the beginning, because the interim president, Michel Temer, appointed seven ministers that are now facing charges of corruption. And also one of the first things he did was to eliminate the Controladoria-Geral da União, which is a state agency that controls contracts between the government and private businesses. So it was clear that it was a way to stop investigations of corruption. And then, the second main reason was to implement austerity measures in the right-wing agenda that has been rejected by Brazilian society since 2002. So, the right-wing forces have not been able to win elections. The only way for them to take power was by orchestrating the coup.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And could you talk, as well, about his elimination of all these other ministers that deal with social issues within the—within the government?
MARIA LUISA MENDONÇA: Yes, exactly. Just a few hours after taking power, he eliminated the Ministries of Women, of Agricultural Development, of Human Rights and Racial Equality, of Culture, of Communications. So, it was a huge structural change, with very serious consequences. And for instance, the Ministry of Culture is an institution that promotes Brazilian culture all over the world. So you cannot justify that by any argument, even economics. It doesn’t make any sense. Since then, there have been huge demonstrations. Just over the weekend, this past weekend, several office buildings have been occupied by artists. At least in 20 states, the offices of the Ministry of Culture are now occupied. And we have seen huge concerts with demonstrations against Michel Temer. And even in stadiums, in soccer stadiums, we are seeing demonstrations all over the country. So it’s very clear that this agenda will be rejected.
Also, for instance, in the case of the Ministry of Women, there now is a secretary. It lost its status as a ministry. Michel Temer invited five women, academics and artists, that rejected the invitation. So I think it’s actually interesting to see that no woman wants to be part of the new government, which is a positive sign considering what this government looks like. And just yesterday, finally, he found someone for that position, and it’s a former congresswoman who is herself being accused of corruption.
In the case of the communications, the public communications system is actually very concerning. Just a few hours after taking power, Temer fired the head of the public broadcasting system in Brazil and replaced him with an executive from TV Globo, the very powerful network that is calling for demonstrations against the government for over a year right now. So, that is a huge change. Imagine if suddenly the head of NPR was replaced by a Fox News executive. That’s a comparison that we can make. So he eliminated several very important public institutions.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And you mentioned Globo. What has been the role of the mass media, of the commercial media, as all these events have been unfolding?
MARIA LUISA MENDONÇA: Yeah, that is a key role. What we—I have been saying that—imagine if here in the U.S. all TV stations were like Fox News, and they all started to call for demonstrations against the government and were broadcasting those demonstrations live all day long, and at the same time the large demonstrations in support of the government, in support for democracy in Brazil, were mainly ignored. So, I think it’s very important for people to understand that this was created—this idea of that the main problem in Brazil was corruption was pretty much created by corporate media, and now it’s very clear that, with the recent release of this transcript, that the main goal was to actually stop the investigations of corruption and to implement an agenda, a neoliberal agenda, that not only cut important social programs, but changes legislation, as you were mentioning in the beginning of the show.
For instance, in the case of the spending, governmental spending, for education, right after the end of the military dictatorship in Brazil, the new constitution determined that in local and state administrations, 25 percent of the budget is the minimum that has to be applied, invested on education, and the same as the federal—in the federal level. That is, a minimum of 18 percent. And Michel Temer now is proposing to change legislation so the state is not obligated to spend a minimum on education, which will have a huge impact. This is not going to improve the economy. This will create more economic inequality and more instability.
Today marks six weeks since Verizon workers walked out over contract changes and the company’s refusal to extend high-quality broadband as promised to customers. Striking worker Pamela Galpern explained about the broadband issue.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: Pam, I wanted to ask you about this—the issue of FiOS, because obviously it’s one of the best broadband networks, if not the best, in the country. But in many places where FiOS was established as a cable and internet service, Verizon made certain promises that it would roll out FiOS to its—to the public. In New York City, they’re years behind what they were supposedly going to do as part of a cable franchise they got during the Bloomberg era. Could you talk about this and why it’s taken the company so long to actually fulfill the promises it made when it won that franchise?
PAMELA GALPERN: Sure. Well, when Verizon got the franchise agreement from the City of New York in 2008, they agreed that they would make FiOS available to every New Yorker who wants it by 2014. And we have been working hard to build FiOS during that entire time. It’s a huge build. In 2014, the company said, “We’ve completed our obligations to the City of New York. We’ve passed every home.” Now, every Verizon worker and many, many customers know that that’s not true that they could get FiOS. To say that they’ve passed the home doesn’t mean it’s available. So, there is a FiOS build—a lot of FiOS build left to do in New York City. As Bob said, it’s the landline workers who are doing that build. And we want to continue doing it, but Verizon is essentially holding to its position that it’s completed its obligations. To say that you’ve passed a home, but that you’re two blocks away, going down the avenue, and when that customer calls Verizon, and Verizon says, “It’s not available to you, and I can’t tell you when it will be available,” indicates to us that they haven’t completed the build, they haven’t fulfilled their obligations to the City of New York. Beyond New York, of course, there’s whole communities—Syracuse, Buffalo, Albany, lots of other parts of the footprint—where they’re not going to build at all. FiOS is a great product. People want it. We’re building it. It helps preserve good jobs. It’s really a win-win for the company to continue the build, to meet its obligations. And we believe that’s what they should be doing. And what they really need to do is hire more workers in order to complete the build.
Last but not least on today’s show: In Peekskill, New York, just about an hour north of New York City, residents have launched a blockade in efforts to stop the construction of a gas pipeline slated to run only hundreds of feet from the aging Indian Point nuclear power plant. The proposed project has sparked concerns from residents and nuclear experts that a pipeline break could cause a catastrophic nuclear disaster that would threaten the entirety of New York City.
The pipeline is being built by Spectra Energy and is officially known as the Algonquin Incremental Market Project, or AIM pipeline. Well, only hours ago, Peekskill residents and activists escalated the campaign to stop this pipeline’s construction by installing a fully sustainable shipping container at the entrance of Spectra’s work yard—complete with two activists living inside.
We are honored to offer this broadcast as part of our affiliation with the Pacifica Network. Find out where the Democracy Now! crew is visiting next during the show’s 100-city tour, celebrating 20 years on the air.
