In 1994, newly elected Mayor Rudy Giuliani and his police chief Bill Bratton unveiled a plan to restore a city suffering from a crack epidemic and high crime. Under "quality of life" policing, the NYPD began enforcing a zero-tolerance policy of even minor infractions. A key feature of the new strategy targeted marijuana use. Marijuana misdemeanor arrests soared from fewer than 1000 in 1991 to over 50,000 in 2000. Now, new findings suggest blacks and Hispanics have disproportionately borne the brunt of these arrests. Jonah Engle has more.

In 1971, John Young, a San Francisco police officer was killed. Members of the Black Panther party were arrested, charged and then tortured by San Francisco and New Orleans police. It is said the police used torture to extract their confessions. Eventually, the charges were dismissed. Now more than 35 years later, the case has been reopened. On January 23rd, 2007, some of those same men were arrested again. In this special documentary from the Freedom Archives, we hear from some of the accused men themselves. They describe the torture and how they were targeted for their political activities. Featuring: Ray Boudreaux, John Bowman, Richard Brown, Hank Jones and Harold Taylor, former Black Panthers; Soffiyah Elijah, attorney. Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio. Program #08-07- Begin date: 2/21/07. End date: 8/21/07 Please call us if you carry us - 510-251-1332 and we will list your station on our website. If you excerpt, please credit early and often.

The US dollar has steadily depreciated against major currencies in the last five years. Recently, the decline has been even sharper. In early November, the US dollar hit its lowest level against the euro since that currency?s debut in 1999. The value of the British pound is the highest its been to the US dollar in 26 years. Dr. Frank Braconi, Chief Economist at the City Comptroller?s Office, joins us in our studio in Times Square to discuss how the weaker dollar is affecting New Yorkers.

John Perkins' latest book, "The Secret History of the American Empire: Economic Hit Men, Jackals, and the Truth About Global Corruption," is a follow-up to his earlier "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man." Perkins says the work he did in Latin America was designed to squelch the economies of poor countries- and the U.S. government was in on it. He says his new book includes more stories, but this time from other once-corrupt individuals, not just himself. Perkins says the new book is more up-to-date, too, and gets into U.S. policy in the Middle East and Iraq. Perkins spoke at Town Hall Seattle on June 18th, 2007. Elliott Bay Book Company sponsored the talk.

Part One: Moral Bankruptcy In a competitive system like capitalism, there are bound to be winners and losers. But what if the winners kept changing the rules so that the losers never had a chance? And what if the winners where all the same color and gender? Well, to most of us that would be pretty unfair, or perhaps even corrupt, but that is exactly what has been going on in America for the last 230 years. Money is power, and rich white men have used their money and power to rig the game in their favor. A new book titled ?The Color of Wealth? examines precisely how minorities, women, and immigrants have historically been the victims of the morally bankrupt political, legal, and economic policies of white men in America. Predictably, the consequences of the unjust laws and double standards imposed by these powerful white men are still haunting us today. Michael Jones talks with one of the authors of ?The Color of Wealth? Meizhu Liu. Part Two: Rich Man?s Burden It?s pretty easy to ridicule the rich for complaining about high taxes, but there is a powerful and effective lobby fighting on behalf of some of America?s richest and most influential families to repeal or reform the estate tax permanently. These families often use the power of political donations and campaign funding to ?convince? some politicians of the evils of the ?death tax? and to force them to draft legislation that would eliminate or greatly weaken it. But is there a moral obligation for the rich to pay more in taxes? Couldn?t the estate tax be seen as a way for the richest Americans to further contribute to the land that helped to make them rich? With great power comes great responsibility, and in this time of crisis, shouldn?t more be expected of America?s richest citizens? We continue our discussion with Lee Farris, senior advisor on the estate tax for United For a Fair Economy.

Click here for an interview with Professor Keith Hart, an anthropologist with a focus on how human cultures deal with money. Now, for those of you confused right now, anthropology is the study of humans in their society. Anthropologists don't focus on a certain society, but instead look at the culture of every society to compare and contrast. Professor Hart commutes from Paris to teach about how human societies organize economic systems. He wrote a book called "The Memory Bank, Money in an Unequal World" in which he warns that unless we take a good look at what money has become for the modern world, we're headed for disaster and doom. Greg Shimada, 20 years old, got Professor Hart on the phone to explain his take on "bread".

Filmmakers Zach Niles and Banker White talk with P.O.V. about making their film "Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars". Their film is about a group of refugees in Sierra Leone who fight back with the only means they have - music.

Out of jail for about a year and three months, Shareef Cousin, a New Orleans native, is the most level headed person you will want to sit to conversation with. In an intimate 8 minutes, Cousin, pronounced Ku-zan, relives the twisted circumstances that had him on death row at the tender age of 16. He talks honestly, from an insider's perspective, about an issue that has stirred up many conversations in recent months. When is it alright to kill a human being? Does the state do all it can to ensure the protocol is fair? Can the American justice system shed its history of bias against people of color?

100,000 Chinese immigrated to America during the second half of the nineteenth century. They first came as miners during the California Gold Rush and then as railroad workers. Soon, anti-Chinese immigration became a political issue. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was passed, preventing people of Chinese descent from entering the United States. Now, the Chinese Historical Society of America has put together a traveling exhibit called Remembering 1882.

Alfred McCoy is Professor of history at the University of Wisconsin. He wrote: The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity. In this one on one - none telephone - interview he stresses the need for changing U.S. & U.N. policies towards the use and drugs. He analyses the core of the problems of losing what is called the war on drugs. Each victory in the war on drugs, thats seizes a shipment actually stimulates the price of drugs through the mechanisms of supply and demand thus self defeating. He talks about the consequences and effects of possibly legalizing drugs and the change of the penintiary and incarcelation policies.

South Africa has undergone enormous change in the last ten years; it's a young democracy with an overwhelmingly young population, half under age twenty-one. Now, the generation which came of age after apartheid is shaping the future of the nation. Their music is kwaito, a homegrown electronic "mix masala" of South African and Western pop music genres. From WBUR's Inside Out Documentaries, correspondent Sean Cole reports on how kwaito began in the long-suffering townships of Johannesburg and became the soundtrack for a generation. Unlike the imported hip-hop and house tracks thumping in the city's nightclubs, kwaito is delivered in the vernacular: an admixture of English, Zulu and other native languages as well as Africaans and a township dialect called ?totsi-taal? (?thug language.?) The lyrics range from party fare to head-on confrontations with problems South Africa is facing in the wake of desegregation: AIDS, crime, poverty, racial conflicts and xenophobia. Like hip-hop, kwaito climbed from the underground into the mainstream, affording young blacks opportunities the likes of which their parents could only dream. Today, kwaito stars influence the culture, language and economy of the nation in ways that were simply unthinkable during a century of government-imposed racial segregation. Kwaito has become a full-fledged youth culture with influence on television, fashion, magazines, literature and politics. Sean Cole takes us to places the average white tourist will never see, and introduces us to the musicians, promoters, authors, cultural commentators, fashionistas and youths at the nexus of this vital component of life in South Africa today. "South Africa's Kwaito Generation: Inside Out" is accompanied by a series of three short pieces suitable as drop-ins. PRSS satellite uplink 7/28/05, 8/2/05 "South Africa's Kwaito Generation: Inside Out" may be considered "evergreen." For more information about this and other Inside Out Documentaries, please contact Namita Raina, National Program Administrator, WBUR Boston. (617) 353-8160 nraina@bu.edu

Part One: Prescription Profit: The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that back in 2004 pharmaceutical companies spent 4 billion dollars on TV commercials marketing new prescription medicines directly to American consumers. That expenditure paid-off and handsomely! The Kaiser Family Foundation conducted a study on this ?direct to consumer? marketing and found that 44% of the people who requested prescriptions for drugs they?d seen in such ads, got them. Dr. Larry Sasich, a Research Associate for Public Citizen and a pharmacist at the Lake Erie College of Medicine talks with Kathy Golden about how direct marketing campaigns have changed the doctor/patient relationship. Part Two: Marketing Medicine: Prescription drug representatives clog our doctor?s waiting rooms, lingering for their chance to hawk the benefits of their company?s latest and greatest pills. Doctors, the traditional gate keepers of our medical care are now besieged from all sides to prescribe, prescribe, prescribe. But just beyond our northern border, Canadian pharmaceutical companies are under severe restrictions from Health Canada regarding what they can and cannot say about their drugs. Maryknoll?s Director of Media Relations, Howard Schwartz discusses the variance in drug marketing policies between the U. S. and Canada with Ray Chepesiuk, a Commissioner on the Canadian Pharmaceutical Advertising Advisory Board and with Dr. Phil Gold, Professor of Medicine at McGill University.

9th grader Adomako went to his NYC high school and interviewed students and teachers about their thoughts on alcohol and drug use and abuse. Additional production was done by Michelle Suarez.

While Mandela and other political leaders languished in prison, the government cracked down. It seemed that resistance to apartheid had been crushed. But on June 16, 1976, a student uprising in Soweto sparked a new generation of activism. Hosted by Desmond Tutu. See series information for more text, promos, website, etc.

September 22nd marks the 100th anniversary of an infamous 1906 race riot in the southern U.S. city of Atlanta, Georgia . Violent mobs of white men killed dozens of African-Americans during the four-day rampage, which at the time received worldwide newspaper attention, but which now has been largely forgotten. Still, many believe the legacy of the 1906 Atlanta riots still influences race relations in the city. A group of Atlantans is preparing to mark the Centennial and to use the occasion to open a new dialogue on race.

Once in awhile you come across an American town or county that has long been virtually all-white, even though surrounding communities have substantial black populations. It may not always be an accident. In the six decades after the Civil War, in more than a few rural communities, white mobs violently expelled virtually all of their black neighbors. A new book, Buried in the Bitter Waters, describes a dozen of these racial expulsions. Among the places living with this uneasy history is Corbin, Kentucky, a small railroad town in the Appalachian foothills.

On April 27, 1994, Nelson Mandela was elected South Africa's first black president. But it didn't come easy. The four years between Nelson Mandela's release and the transition to democracy were some of the most volatile and painful in the country's history. Hosted by Desmond Tutu. See series information for more text, promos, website, etc.

In 1960, with the African National Congress banned, the movement, went underground. Faced with increased government crackdown, Mandela launched Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), a military wing of the ANC and the armed struggle began. Two years later, he was arrested and sentenced for high treason. Mandela and eight others are sentenced to life in prison. Hosted by Desmond Tutu. See series information for more text, promos, website, etc.

Saluting the legendary figure in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, Nelson Mandela was born on July 18th, 1918. This show is a collection of music from his beloved homeland, honoring this timeless freedom fighter. Mandela was imprisoned in a cell on Robben Island for 27 years, and was finally freed in 1990.

This week on War News Radio, we take an in-depth look at the war in Afghanistan. First, we find out about Afghanistan's most controversial crop: poppies. We also learn about what life is like for Afghan refugees. Then, we hear about two people who are working to improve the lives of Afghan women. In Afghanistan 101, we tell the story of Afghan President Hamid Karzai. And finally, we investigate the changing face of music and radio in Afghanistan. (Show repeated from January 18, 2008)

The show will air the week of July 25th on those stations carrying Talking History. It may be used prior to, or after that week. For use the week of July 25th: 1968: The Year That Rocked the World According to Bryan Le Beau's guest this week, Mark Kurlansky: “There has never been a year like 1968, and it is unlikely that there will ever be one again.” Kurlansky discusses his reasons for this statement and his latest book, 1968: The Year That Rocked the World. And Robert Brent Toplin joins us to comment on why the opposition to the war in Iraq seems muted in comparison to the Vietnam era. Robert Brent Toplin is Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Part Two- Violence or Non-Violence: From Germany to Sweden to Norway, we report on anti-racism activists who use varying means to counter Neo-Nazis and anti-immigrant policies. This report looks at what is happening on the ground and arguments for and against violence. 8 min. Phillip Martin, Reporter.

I produced this piece about a month ago about homeless youth. My program directors told me to cover the homeless youth issue and from that I took a shotgun approach: talking to as many people I could who had anything to do with homeless youth, and especially the youths who were homeless themselves. I found it interesting that nearly everything about the homeless youth issue is different from the framing of the homelessness issue in general. The reasons why youths are homeless differ, the way youths view their homelessness greatly differs and the approaches youth service providers takes has to differ because of these differences. Specifically I was struck by how nearly every single homeless youth I spoke with said that they actually want to be homeless. In fact, those of us with 9 to 5 jobs and working to support our houses and other expenses were the ones who need help. An example of this romanticism being homeless is when one youth on the street told me they prefer to be called gypsies. Calling a homeless person homeless is like calling a black guy a nigger. The reason for this romanticism is most likely because they choose to be homeless because their home life is unbearable through drug-addicted parents, physical or sexual abuse, etc. Further, because they want to be homeless you cannot simply provide jobs and subsidized housing for them. They won't accept it. Homeless youth service providers are aware of this and have basically make sure they don't kill themselves are relatively stay out of trouble until they are ready to get out of homelessness. So what can be done with this group until they are ready to not be homeless? And how can we prevent these kids from having to choose the streets?

Part one: ?CRUEL AND UNUSUAL?? The Supreme Court has recently ruled on 2 major cases relevant to the efficacy of the Death Penalty. It turns out that even the forensic pathologist who devised the lethal injection protocol now feels that the method veterinarians use to ?put down? a pet, an overdose of sodium pentobarbital, is far preferable. The method in use in most states currently use a 1st chemical to anesthetize, a 2nd to paralyze the muscles that permit breathing and a 3rd to stop the heart. But doctors have testified that an inmate may appear unconscious while actually experiencing suffocation and coronary arrest. In fact lethal injection may breach the 8th constitutional amendment against ?cruel and unusual punishment. We talk with actor, activist and chair of Death Penalty Focus, Mike Farrell. Part Two: MORATORIUM Several of the U. S. states that still administer the death penalty are considering moratoria on executions due to significant scientific advances that have exonerated 122 death row inmates in recent years. Our system is fallible and most reasonable citizens would never knowingly sanction depriving an innocent person of their freedom, let alone their life. In the case of death row inmate Mr. Paul House, a DNA test has excluded as the attacker of a rape and murder victim, the Supreme Court has approved a new hearing. We speak with one high-profile supporter of a proposed moratorium in the state of Georgia, co-founder of The Carter Center and 38th former First Lady, Rosalynn Carter.

Homeless people voting in NY

Open up a newspaper, flip on the tv, turn your computer on ? and the heard of elephants in the room is aggression, violence, and war.? Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Liberia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, East Timor, Kosovo, Bali, Haiti, Colombia, Brazil, and the United States of America?to name just a few. Join me Andrew Reissiger on this edition of World Tour as we listen to the words of some of our past presidents. We?ll hear the speeches of Eisenhower, JFK, LBJ and Reagan alongside the words of Nelson Mandela and MLK, poets and musicians and perhaps we might learn something of the possibilities of peace. This was an excercise for me as a producer to create a narrative about peace, war, and indifference using only the words of others over the course of the past ~50 years...seeing as how violence appears to persist in this globalized and interdependent world.

When kids are drawn towards a world of gangs and drugs, it can be tough to intervene and help them get on another path. Sometimes what it takes is guidance from someone who's been there and back. Craig LeMoult of NPR member-station WSHU met Kenny Jackson, who's helping kids in Bridgeport, Connecticut deal with some of the same issues he faced growing up there. And for one young man, that guidance made all the difference.

Continuing violence in Zimbabwe is threatening the health and safety of children across the country. Since the disputed elections of March 29th, thousands of Zimbabweans have fled their homes and hundreds have been injured in politically motivated attacks. UNICEF spokesperson in Zimbabwe, James Elder, says that the rise in beatings, killings and arson is worrisome as the country prepares for a runoff election scheduled for some time before July 31. ?Children are either watching their family?s homes burn and livestock killed or worse ? themselves being beaten or attacked in some way. It?s an enormouslyworrying time and one that UNICEF deplores in the strongest possible terms.?

Unions worldwide are taking seriously Karl Marx' plea, "Workers of the World Unite!" It's their essential answer to the globalization of capital that has enabled multi-national corporations to heavily exploit workers in this country and abroad for their own great profit. The corporations have been able to keep pay and working conditions at low levels by playing one country's workers off against another country's workers. But unions are starting to act together to globally to combat the exploitation.

Privatizing government services has accelerated at an alarming rate over the last 25 years. Military functions, federal government jobs, schools, health care, utilities, and prisons are now being contracted out to the private sector. Until the scandals at Abu Graib came to light, few people were aware of private contractor invovlement in U.S.-run prisons. "Crime Pays: A Look At Who's Getting Rich From The Prison Boom" is a one-hour documentary that explores the extent to which the U.S. prison system has been privatized. This program takes an in-depth look at the corporations that have profitted greatly from the prison system--private prison companies, telephone operators, for-profit prison health care providers, prison transportation companies, building contractors, and corporate vendors. This documentary was written and produced by JoAnn Mar, an award-winning independent radio producer. She has produced documentaries and feature reports for National Public Radio, Pacifica Radio, Soundprint, Justice Talking, Prime Time Radio, and Voice of America.

OBAMA: Over the last few days, we have seen clearly what's at stake in this election. The news from Wall Street has shaken the American people's faith in our economy. The situation with Lehman Brothers and other financial institutions is the latest in a wave of crises that have generated tremendous uncertainty about the future of our financial markets. This is a major threat to our economy and its ability to create good-paying jobs and help working Americans pay their bills, save for their future, and make their mortgage payments. Since this turmoil began over a year ago, the housing market has collapsed. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had to be effectively taken over by the government. Three of America's five largest investment banks failed or have been sold off in distress. Yesterday, Wall Street suffered its worst losses since just after 9/11. We are in the most serious financial crisis in generations. Yet Senator McCain stood up yesterday and said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong A few hours later, his campaign sent him back out to clean up his remarks, and he tried to explain himself again this morning by saying that what he meant was that American workers are strong. But we know that Senator McCain meant what he said the first time, because he has said it over and over again throughout this campaign -- no fewer than 16 times, according to one independent count. ad_icon Now I certainly don't fault Senator McCain for all of the problems we're facing, but I do fault the economic philosophy he subscribes to. Because the truth is, what Senator McCain said yesterday fits with the same economic philosophy that he's had for 26 years. It's the philosophy that says we should give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down. It's the philosophy that says even common-sense regulations are unnecessary and unwise. It's a philosophy that lets Washington lobbyists shred consumer protections and distort our economy so it works for the special interests instead of working people. We've had this philosophy for eight years. We know the results. You feel it in your own lives. Jobs have disappeared, and peoples' life savings have been put at risk. Millions of families face foreclosure, and millions more have seen their home values plummet. The cost of everything from gas to groceries to health care has gone up, while the dream of a college education for our kids and a secure and dignified retirement for our seniors is slipping away. These are the struggles that Americans are facing. This is the pain that has now trickled up. So let's be clear: what we've seen the last few days is nothing less than the final verdict on an economic philosophy that has completely failed. And I am running for President of the United States because the dreams of the American people must not be endangered any more. It's time to put an end to a broken system in Washington that is breaking the American economy. It's time for change that makes a real difference in your lives. If you want to understand the difference between how Senator McCain and I would govern as President, you can start by taking a look at how we've responded to this crisis. Because Senator McCain's approach was the same as the Bush Administration's: support ideological policies that made the crisis more likely; do nothing as the crisis hits; and then scramble as the whole thing collapses. My approach has been to try to prevent this turmoil. In February of 2006, I introduced legislation to stop mortgage transactions that promoted fraud, risk or abuse. A year later, before the crisis hit, I warned Secretary Paulson and Chairman Bernanke about the risks of mounting foreclosures and urged them to bring together all the stakeholders to find solutions to the subprime mortgage meltdown. Senator McCain did nothing. Last September, I stood up at NASDAQ and said it's time to realize that we are in this together -- that there is no dividing line between Wall Street and Main Street -- and warned of a growing loss of trust in our capital markets. Months later, Senator McCain told a newspaper that he'd love to give them a solution to the mortgage crisis, "but" -- he said -- "I don't know one." In January, I outlined a plan to help revive our faltering economy, which formed the basis for a bipartisan stimulus package that passed the Congress. Senator McCain used the crisis as an excuse to push a so-called stimulus plan that offered another huge and permanent corporate tax cut, including $4 billion for the big oil companies, but no immediate help for workers. This March, in the wake of the Bear Stearns bailout, I called for a new, 21st century regulatory framework to restore accountability, transparency, and trust in our financial markets. Just a few weeks earlier, Senator McCain made it clear where he stands: "I'm always for less regulation," he said, and referred to himself as "fundamentally a deregulator." This is what happens when you confuse the free market with a free license to let special interests take whatever they can get, however they can get it. This is what happens when you see seven years of incomes falling for the average worker while Wall Street is booming, and declare -- as Senator McCain did earlier this year -- that we've made great progress economically under George Bush. That is how you can reach the conclusion -- as late as yesterday -- that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Well, we have a different way of measuring the fundamentals of our economy. We know that the fundamentals that we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great --that America is a place where you can make it if you try. Americans have always pursued our dreams within a free market that has been the engine of our progress. It's a market that has created a prosperity that is the envy of the world, and rewarded the innovators and risk-takers who have made America a beacon of science, and technology, and discovery. But the American economy has worked in large part because we have guided the market's invisible hand with a higher principle -- that America prospers when all Americans can prosper. That is why we have put in place rules of the road to make competition fair, and open, and honest. Too often, over the last quarter century, we have lost this sense of shared prosperity. And this has not happened by accident. It's because of decisions made in boardrooms, on trading floors and in Washington. We failed to guard against practices that all too often rewarded financial manipulation instead of productivity and sound business practices. We let the special interests put their thumbs on the economic scales. The result has been a distorted market that creates bubbles instead of steady, sustainable growth; a market that favors Wall Street over Main Street, but ends up hurting both. Let me be clear: the American economy does not stand still, and neither should the rules that govern it. The evolution of industries often warrants regulatory reform - to foster competition, lower prices, or replace outdated oversight structures. Old institutions cannot adequately oversee new practices. Old rules may not fit the roads where our economy is leading. But instead of sensible reform that rewarded success and freed the creative forces of the market, too often we've excused an ethic of greed, corner-cutting and inside dealing that threatens the long-term stability of our economic system. It happened in the 1980s, when we loosened restrictions on Savings and Loans and appointed regulators who ignored even these weaker rules. Too many S&Ls took advantage of the lax rules set by Washington to gamble that they could make big money in speculative real estate. Confident of their clout in Washington, they made hundreds of billions in bad loans, knowing that if they lost money, the government would bail them out. And they were right. The gambles did not pay off, our economy went into recession, and the taxpayers ended up footing the bill. Sound familiar? And it has happened again during this decade, in part because of how we deregulated the financial services sector. After we repealed outmoded rules instead of updating them, we were left overseeing 21st century innovation with 20th century regulations. When subprime mortgage lending took a reckless and unsustainable turn, a patchwork of regulators systematically and deliberately eliminated the regulations protecting the American people and failed to raise warning flags that could have protected investors and the pensions American workers count on. This was not the invisible hand of the market at work. These cycles of bubble and bust were symptoms of the ideology that my opponent is running to continue. John McCain has spent decades in Washington supporting financial institutions instead of their customers. In fact, one of the biggest proponents of deregulation in the financial sector is Phil Gramm -- the same man who helped write John McCain's economic plan; the same man who said that we're going through a "mental recession"; and the same man who called the United States of America a "nation of whiners." So it's hard to understand how Senator McCain is going to get us out of this crisis by doing the same things with the same old players. Make no mistake: my opponent is running for four more years of policies that will throw the economy further out of balance. His outrage at Wall Street would be more convincing if he wasn't offering them more tax cuts. His call for fiscal responsibility would be believable if he wasn't for more tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, and more of a trillion dollar war in Iraq paid for with deficit spending and borrowing from foreign creditors like China. His newfound support for regulation bears no resemblance to his scornful attitude towards oversight and enforcement. John McCain cannot be trusted to reestablish proper oversight of our financial markets for one simple reason: he has shown time and again that he does not believe in it. What has happened these last eight years is not some historical anomaly, so we know what to expect if we try these policies for another four. When lobbyists run your campaign, the special interests end up gaming the system. When the White House is hostile to any kind of oversight, corporations cut corners and consumers pay the price. When regulators are chosen for their disdain for regulation and we gut their ability to enforce the law, then the interests of the American people are not protected. It's an ideology that intentionally breeds incompetence in Washington and irresponsibility on Wall Street, and it's time to turn the page. Just today, Senator McCain offered up the oldest Washington stunt in the book -- you pass the buck to a commission to study the problem. But here's the thing -- this isn't 9/11. We know how we got into this mess. What we need now is leadership that gets us out. I'll provide it, John McCain won't, and that's the choice for the American people in this election. History shows us that there is no substitute for presidential leadership in a time of economic crisis. FDR and Harry Truman didn't put their heads in the sand, or hand accountability over to a Commission. Bill Clinton didn't put off hard choices. They led, and that's what I will do. My priority as President will be the stability of the American economy and the prosperity of the American people. And I will make sure that our response focuses on middle class Americans -- not the companies that created the problem. To get out of this crisis -- and to ensure that we are not doomed to repeat a cycle of bubble and bust again and again -- we must take immediate measures to create jobs and continue to address the housing crisis; we must build a 21st century regulatory framework, and we must pursue a bold opportunity agenda that creates new jobs and grows the American economy. To jumpstart job creation, I have proposed a $50 billion Emergency Economic Plan that would save 1 million jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure, repairing our schools, and helping our states and localities avoid damaging budget cuts. I worked with leaders in Congress to create a new FHA Housing Security Program, which will help stabilize the housing market and allow Americans facing foreclosure to keep their homes at rates they can afford. Going forward, we need to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as we know them with a structure that is focused on helping people buy homes -- not engaging in market speculation. We can't have a situation like the old S&L scandal where its "heads" investors win, and "tails" taxpayers lose. That's going to take ending the lobbyist- driven dominance of these institutions that we've seen for far too long in Washington. To prevent fraud in the mortgage market, I've proposed tough penalties on fraudulent lenders, and a Home Score system that will ensure consumers fully understand mortgage offers and whether they'll be able to make payments. To help low- and middle-income families, I will ease the burden on struggling homeowners through a universal homeowner's tax credit. This will add up to a 10 percent break off the mortgage interest rate for 10 million households. That's another $500 each year for many middle class families. Unlike Senator McCain, I will change our bankruptcy laws to make it easier for families to stay in their homes. Right now, if you're a family that owns one house, bankruptcy judges are actually barred from helping you keep a roof over your head by writing down the value of your mortgage. If you own seven homes, the judge is free to write down any or all of the debt on your second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth or seventh homes. Now that may be of comfort to Senator McCain, but that's the kind of out-of-touch Washington loophole that makes no sense. When I'm President, we'll make our laws work for working people. But as we've seen the last few days, the crisis in our financial markets now reaches well beyond the housing market. That's why it's time to do what I called for last September and again this past March -- and it is only more overdue today. Our capital markets cannot succeed without the public's trust. It's time to get serious about regulatory oversight, and that's what I will do as President. That starts with the core principles for reform that I discussed at Cooper Union. First, if you're a financial institution that can borrow from the government, you should be subject to government oversight and supervision. When the Federal Reserve steps in as a lender of last resort, it is providing an insurance policy underwritten by the American taxpayer. In return, taxpayers have every right to expect that financial institutions with access to that credit are not taking excessive risks. Second, we must reform requirements on all regulated financial institutions. We must strengthen capital requirements, particularly for complex financial instruments like some of the mortgage securities and other derivatives at the center of our current crisis. We must develop and rigorously manage liquidity risk. We must investigate rating agencies and potential conflicts of interest with the people they are rating. And we must establish transparency requirements that demand full disclosure by financial institutions to shareholders and counterparties. As we reform our regulatory system at home, we must address the same problems abroad so that financial institutions around the world are subject to similar rules of the road. Third, we need to streamline our regulatory agencies. Our overlapping and competing regulatory agencies cannot oversee the large and complex institutions that dominate the financial landscape. Different institutions compete in multiple markets - Washington should not pretend otherwise. A streamlined system will provide better oversight and reduce costs. Fourth, we need to regulate institutions for what they do, not what they are. Over the last few years, commercial banks and thrift institutions were subject to guidelines on subprime mortgages that did not apply to mortgage brokers and companies. This regulatory framework failed to protect homeowners, and made no sense for our financial system. When it comes to protecting the American people, it should make no difference what kind of institution they are dealing with. Fifth, we must crack down on trading activity that crosses the line to market manipulation. The last six months have shown that this remains a serious problem in many markets and becomes especially problematic during moments of great financial turmoil. We cannot embrace the administration's vision of turning over the protection of investors to the industries themselves. We need regulators that actually enforce the rules instead of overlooking them. The SEC should investigate and punish market manipulation, and report its conclusions to Congress. Sixth, we must establish a process that identifies systemic risks to the financial system like the crisis that has overtaken our economy. Too often, we end up where we are today: dealing with threats to the financial system that weren't anticipated by regulators. We need a standing financial market advisory group to meet regularly and provide advice to the President, Congress, and regulators on the state of our financial markets and the risks they face. It's time to anticipate risks before they erupt into a full-blown crisis. These six principles should guide the legal reforms needed to establish a 21st century regulatory system. But the change we need goes beyond laws and regulation. Financial institutions must do a better job at managing risks. There is something wrong when boards of directors or senior managers don't understand the implications of the risks assumed by their own institutions. It's time to realign incentives and CEO compensation packages, so that both high level executives and employees better serve the interests of shareholders. Finally, the American people must be able to trust that their government is looking out for all of us - not the special interests that have set the agenda in Washington for eight years, and the lobbyists who run John McCain's campaign. I've spent my career taking on lobbyists and their money, and I've won. If you wanted a special favor in Illinois, there was actually a law that let you give campaign cash to politicians for their own personal use. In the State House, they called it business- as-usual. I called it legalized bribery, and while it didn't make me the most popular guy in Springfield, I put an end to it. When I got to Washington, we saw some of the worst corruption since Watergate. I led the fight for reform in my party, and let me tell you -- not everyone in my party was too happy about it. When I proposed forcing lobbyists to disclose who they're raising money from and who in Congress they're funneling it to, I had a few choice words directed my way on the floor of the Senate. But we got it done, and we banned gifts from lobbyists, and free rides on their fancy jets. And I am the only candidate who can say that Washington lobbyists do not fund my campaign, they will not run my White House, and they will not drown out the voices of the American people when I am President of the United States. That's how we're going to end the outrage of special interests tipping the scales. The most important thing we must do is restore opportunity for all Americans. To get our economy growing, we need to recapture that fundamental American promise. That if you work hard, you can pay the bills. That if you get sick, you won't go bankrupt. That your kids can get a good education, and that we can leave a legacy of greater opportunity to future generations. That's the change the American people need. While Senator McCain likes to talk about change these days, his economic program offers nothing but more of the same. The American people need more than change as a slogan-- we need change that makes a real difference in your life. Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it. I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America. I will eliminate capital gains taxes for small businesses and start-ups -- that's how we'll grow our economy and create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow. I will cut taxes -- cut taxes -- for 95% of all working families. My opponent doesn't want you to know this, but under my plan, tax rates will actually be less than they were under Ronald Reagan. If you make less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increase one single dime. In fact, I offer three times the tax relief for middle-class families as Senator McCain does -- because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class. I will finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And I will stop insurance companies from discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most I will create the jobs of the future by transforming our energy economy. We'll tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest 150 billion dollars over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy -- wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and five million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced And now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. But in exchange, I will ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American -- if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education. This is the change we need -- the kind of bottom up growth and innovation that will advance the American economy by advancing the dreams of all Americans. Times are hard. I will not pretend that the changes we need will come without cost -- though I have presented ways we can achieve these changes in a fiscally responsible way. I know that we'll have to overcome our doubts and divisions and the determined opposition of powerful special interests before we can truly reform a broken economy and advance opportunity. But I am running for President because we simply cannot afford four more years of an economic philosophy that works for Wall Street instead of Main Street, and ends up devastating both. I don't want to wake up in four years to find that more Americans fell out of the middle-class, and more families lost their savings. I don't want to see that our country failed to invest in our ability to compete, our children's future was mortgaged on another mountain of debt, and our financial markets failed to find a firmer footing. This time -- this election -- is our chance to stand up and say: enough is enough! We can do this because Americans have done this before. Time and again, we've battled back from adversity by recognizing that common stake that we have in each other's success. That's why our economy hasn't just been the world's greatest wealth generator -- it's bound America together, it's created jobs, and it's made the dream of opportunity a reality for generation after generation of Americans. Now it falls to us. And I need you to make it happen. If you want the next four years looking just like the last eight, then I am not your candidate. But if you want real change -- if you want an economy that rewards work, and that works for Main Street and Wall Street; if you want tax relief for the middle class and millions of new jobs; if you want health care you can afford and education so that our kids can compete; then I ask you to knock on some doors, and make some calls, and talk to your neighbors, and give me your vote on November 4th. And if you do, I promise you -- we will win Colorado, we will win this election, and we will change America together. END

Barack Obama - The journey to the White House, reMixed in words & music-introduced by Robert F. Kennedy and featuring Bill Cosby, Oprah Winfrey, John McCain, Chris Rock, Colin Powell, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Steve Harvey, Will. i. am, Hillary Clinton, The Pointer Sisters, The Drifters, John Legend, Homer Simpson, Moby, Bruce Springsteen, Ted Kennedy, FDR, The Little Rascals, Kevin So, Branford Marsalis, M.C. Yogi, Martin Luther King Jr, Sam Cooke, John Lewis, Quiet Village, David Letterman, Tim Russert. Katie Couric, Charles Gibson, Matt Damon, Roy Budd, Iron & Wine, Dephazz, Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions, The Edwin Hawkins Singers, various politicians, excited voters...and Barack Obama.

Yes We Can!

Retired pharmacist Ben Sifuentes was only 10 years old in 1938 when his father died, the year after his grandfather died. The oldest of five kids, Sifuentes did whatever he could to help feed his family in an era before food stamps, before free school lunch, and when Mexican-Americans faced severe discrimination. This is a first-person oral history.

Through most of the 1950s, Cuba was ruled by brutal dictator Fulgencio Batista. In Havana, however, a second government, no less powerful and no less brutal, ruled. Mob bosses Meyer Lansky and Charles "Lucky" Luciano turned the island's largest city into a devil's playground of gambling, prostitution, and drugs. "Havana Nocturne" examines the rise and fall of the mob as the revolutionary forces of Fidel Castro triumphed over it, the Bastista government and U.S. corporations.

Haiti, a nation of only eight million people, is home to some 300,000 restavecs -– young children who are frequently trafficked from the rural countryside to work as domestic servants in the poverty-stricken nation's urban areas.

Parents send their children away, often to wealthy looking strangers, hoping that they will be fed and educated in exchange for performing domestic work.

As poverty and political turmoil in Haiti increases, human rights observers report that the number of restavecs continues to rise dramatically.

Documentary photographer Gigi Cohen spent a month in Haiti photographing Josiméne, a 10-year-old restavec. Cohen's is one of 11 stories that are part of Child Labor and the Global Village: Photography for Social Change, a project of The Tides Center and Julia Dean & Associates.

Cohen's month with Josiméne evolved into more than a simple assignment –- the two forged a close relationship. Freelance producer Rachel Leventhal asked Cohen if, in addition to her photographic assignment, she would also make recordings for the radio. Using Cohen’s recordings, she tells Josiméne's story.

Josiméne lives in a two-room cinderblock house outside of Port-au-Prince. Her parents, who have seven other children, are small farmers in Haiti's remote and mountainous heartland.

Among her other duties, Josiméne cares for two younger children, cleans the house, washes dishes, scrubs laundry by hand, runs errands and sells small items from the family's informal store. She has lived this way for over two years, since she was seven. It has been over six months since she has seen her family.

Riots and a Civil War! When the dissident southern states issued their Ordinance of Secession to break from the Union, there was no mention of States Rights, or Tariffs or any of the other so-called key economic reasons for the breakaway. Of the ten reasons cited, eight of them dealt specifically with slavery. (For plantation owners that was the dominant economic issue). Lincoln was elected with a minority of the popular vote; his main concern was preserving the Union. Many of his war policies were highly unpopular - not just in the South, but even in New York - whose mercantile-and-maritime economy was strongly tied to the southern plantation owners and their crops. The Emancipation Proclamation only attempted to free slaves in the rebel Confederacy, not the non-seceeding Border States. But, when coupled with the Conscription Act of 1863 (first ever national Draft) it triggered bloody riots and Civil War. How all these political, war-time issues unfold and play out nationally and locally (as exemplified by the NY City Draft Riots and Battle for Ft. Wagner) makes for an informative and fascinating Segment #12.

African-American spirituals and slave songs are an area of expertise for Seattle-based author Andrew Ward. Not only has he written acclaimed books on the role of music in slavery, but the songs of African-Americans recur and resonate in Andrew's personal life. Andrew Ward is the author of "The Slaves' War: The Civil War in the Words of Former Slaves" and "Dark Midnight When I Rise: The Story of the Fisk Jubilee Singers" Andrew Ward tells Dave Beck at KUOW, Seattle, about the special connection Andrew feels to the song "Steal Away" KRAK

PART 1: By the late 70?s most of us thought that the darkest days of racial hatred and violence were well behind us. We were premature in our optimism. On November 3, 1979, a nine car caravan of armed Ku Klux Klan and Nazis shot 15 demonstrators at an anti-Klan rally, killing 5 people as local TV news cameras rolled. The shooters than left the scene without any police interference. Despite the fact that all the perpetrators were clearly identifiable on film, 2, all white juries acquitted the shooters because the victims were identified as members of the Communist Workers Party. Kathy Golden speaks with Signe Waller, survivor and widow of murdered Dr. James Michael Waller. PART 2: Dr. King implored our nation ?to live out the true meaning of its creed, that all men are created equal?. Unfortunately in everyday America, not all of us embrace that principal. While slavery died 200 years ago, at the current pace, college graduation parity between blacks and whites will not be reached until 2075. Dr. King brought us part of the way? the rest we have to do ourselves. Kathy Golden talks with Roger Gottlieb on his latest anthology, devoted to those who have inspired social progress and then we hear from the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In his autobiography, Senator Barack Obama writes that he found inspiration in the life of the activist Malcolm X. Last month, as part of a lecture series sponsored by the African and African American Studies Student Council at University Park, a Penn State historian conducted a thought experiment: What would Malcolm X say about the candidacy of Barack Obama?

This week on AVR we?re going to explore America's history of slavery. - Our country and our economy was built on the backs of millions of Africans and Native Americans who were kidnapped from their homes and families and forced to live out a life of hard labor to enrich white Europeans and White Americans. For centuries twisted religious and moral beliefs spawned the industrial abuse of fellow human beings. -This system was so entrenched into the ideals of this country that 140 years since the end of the civil war our history of slavery still has an underlying hand in shaping our foreign and domestic polices and our continued struggle to gain true equality fro every man woman and child in America. Many may think that the Union Victory of the civil war ended the slave trade for White Southerner, but a new book shines a light on a forgotten portion of history that had Americans continuing to traffic in kidnapped human beings long after Appomattox Courthouse. This week and next week we welcome to the program Gerald Horne, he is Morris Professor of African American studies at the University of Houston?his newest book is the Deepest South The United States, Brazil and the African Slave Trade. Also: MUSIC FROM MIKEY DREAD

The prevalent, accepted myth is that enslaved Africans in North America pretty much docilely accepted their enslavement. The evidence is quite to the contrary. The number of revolts and runaways - especially in the north - are early, and significant. (The NY Colonial Legislature passed a law mandating the death penalty for any slave found 40 miles north of Albany). Highlighting that early struggle, and how it literally paved the way for what would, almost a hundred years later, come to be known as the Underground Railroad, makes for an enlightening Segment #5.

Jeremy Shine is a Photojournalist who was raised in Chicago, IL.  He was recorded while canvassing in Gary, Indiana for the Obama Presidential Campaign.  Originally aired on Vocalo.org, WBEW-FM.

As a teen, Judge Hassan El-Amin saw hip hop as an underground expression of New York urban lifestyle. When he became a father of 7, hip hop became the day's news. He enlisted Washington DC-area high school students to explain their favorite music.

Nearly two million Americans have fought in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  On this edition, reporter Aaron Glantz takes us inside the war as it comes home to our communities, with a focus on the special role our educational institutions can play in helping former soldiers adjust to civilian life.

This week on War News Radio, we hear what an Iraqi women's rights activist is doing to change laws and attitudes in her country. 

Then, we talk with Ellen Spiro, co-director of the documentary "Body of War," about how the young veteran featured in the film overcame depression to become an anti-war activist. 

Finally, we hear the story of an aid worker in Kabul who found life in the Afghan capital both frustrating and rewarding. 

Since the Darfur Radio Project began reporting in fall 2007, we've produced one show each month, taking an in-depth look at conflict in Sudan. Our stories have ranged from political analysis to cultural perspectives to personal accounts of life in Sudan.  This month, as we prepare to go on our summer break, we take a listen to the highlights of Spring 2009. 

First, we learn about the fate of Sudanese refugees in Israel.

Next, we examine the much-talked about relationship between China and Sudan–who’s benefiting, and why?

Then, we hear Sudanese responses to the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

And, a look at the growing refugee crisis in Sudan’s next-door neighbor, Chad.

In some ways, the Scottish historian Niall Ferguson is the Russell Crowe of the academic world: charismatic, unconventional, and definitely controversial. He's also a big fan of the British Empire -- and wants the United States to follow in its footsteps. That means it's our job to form colonies in hot climates, for years on end. Are we up for this? While Niall would like that to be the case, he doesn't really think so, because, he says, we're an empire "in denial"... ThoughtCast's Jenny Attiyeh met with Ferguson in his office at Harvard University... ( Attiyeh is pronounced Uh-TEE-uh...) NOTE: This interview is available in two lengths -- 3:55 minutes and 15:26 minutes. Guess which one I think is better... Thanks!

In late February, the Pakistani government engaged in controversial negotiations with militants in the volatile Swat Valley. War News Radio's Emily Hager spoke with Helena Malikyar, a journalist who covers Afghanistan for Radio Free Europe, to find out more about what the negotiations might mean for Pakistan, and for Afghanistan's security.

The piece was first featured in "Center Stage" on February 20, 2009.

Research shows that, in some parts of the country, as many as 76 percent of African American males don't graduate from high school. About a third of them are either in jail, or on parole or probation. Youth Voices Reporter Mahadeo Persaud set out to determine if there's a link between those two disturbing statistics...

This is an oral history montage produced with audio collected by Alive in Truth: The New Orleans Disaster Oral History and Memory Project. We hear the voices of a number of different Katrina evacuees as they describe the way they survived and their relationships with authorities and other people during the aftermath of the storm.

Last week a bronze statue of Ronald Reagan at Bonita Canyon Sports Park in Newport Beach, California was remixed — painstakingly rendered, bent over, pulled down — in the same manner and position that Saddam Hussein’s statue was pulled down by Marines in Baghdad after our country’s illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq. Some thought it was thievery.  Some thought it was vandalism.  We know it was art.