Progressive Commentary Hour

Progressive Commentary Hour - Kids for Cash - 10/28/14

Kids for Cash - the movie and the corruption of the US Justice System for Juveniles. 

Robert May is an award winning film director, producer and founder of SenArt Films, a film company dedicated to creating meaningful, commercially viable films aspiring to the highest levels of storytelling.   He is the director of the recent documentary “Kids for Cash”, about the judicial scandal sending juveniles to prison for the financial benefit of a couple corrupt judges and their cronies associated with the prison system. Earlier Robert produced Errol Morris’ Oscar winning film “The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert McNamara” and Tom McCarthy’s “the Station Agent” which was recognized as one of the top 10 films of 2003 by the National Board of Review.  He has also produced “the War Tapes, which won Best Documentary at the 2006 Tribeca Film Fest and more recently the feature film “Bonneville” starring Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates and Joan Allen.  Listeners can visit the website KidsForCashTheMovie.com to learn more about the documentary and visit SenArtFilms.com

Emily Keller is a Staff Attorney at the Juvenile Law Center, the nation’s oldest non-profit public interest law firm for children. In addition to participating in the litigation of the Kids of Cash case, Emily focuses on litigation and policy efforts to improve the juvenile justice and child welfare systems.  Earlier, she was a law clerk in the US District Court for Connecticut.  She graduated magna cum laude at both Brown University with a degree in Public Policy and at the University of Michigan Law School, where she was also a founding member of the group Legal Advocates for Children and Youth.  The Juvenile Law Center’s website is JLC.org

Hillary Transue is a former client of the Juvenile Law Center. She is one of the subjects in the Kids for Cash documentary having been a victim of Judge Mark Ciavarella.

 

Progressive Commentary Hour - 10/21/14

The mass destruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, who's responsible, and why - with Dahr Jamail and Dr. Ann Jones. 

Dahr Jamail has become a world renown investigate journalist for documenting the human cost of the Iraq and the growing misery in the lives of Iraqi citizens. In 2003, frustrated with media reporting on the middle east by embedded journalists, Dahr went to Iraq to report on the realities of the war himself hence becoming one of the very few independent journalists in the country. He has also reported from Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan. He has been a journalist for Al-Jazeera’s human rights department and was its online news producer based in Qatar. His stories appear on Truthout, TomDispatch, The Guardian, Le Monde, The Nation and other progressive news outlets.   He has received many prestigious awards including the Martha Gellhorn Award for Journalism, the James Aronson Award for Social Justice, the Joe Callaway Award for Civic Courage and four Project Censored awards. Dahr has written several books. His most recent, co-written with William Rivers Pitt, is “The Mass Destruction of Iraq: The Disintegration of a Nation, Why it Happened and Who is Responsible”    His website is DahrJamail.net

Dr. Ann Jones is seasoned war journalist and investigative reporter, a photographer and the author of eight books, now translated into ten languages. Since 2002, Ann has reported from conflict zones in Afghanistan – where she was an embedded journalist --  South Asia, Sub Sahara Africa and the Democratic republic of Congo.  Her focus has been on the impact of America’s wars upon civilians and the American soldiers who fight our wars. Her most recent book is “They Were Soldiers:  How the Wounded Return from America’s Wars – The Untold Story,” which was supported by a fellowship from Harvard University, and paints a horrid picture of the dead, wounded and mutilated, brain damaged and drug addicted, and suicidal causalities within our military ranks and its effect on families and loved ones.  Her articles frequently appear in the Nation and TomDispatch.  Ann resides in Norway and her website is AnnJonesOnline.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - Solar Storms in our past and future - 10/14/14

With  Lawrence Joseph, author of Solar Cataclysm: How the Sun Shaped the Past and What We Can Do to Save Our Future, and Dr. Robert Schoch, PhD, professor of Geology and author of Forgotten Civilization: The Role of Solar Outbursts in Our Past And Future.

Progressive Commentary Hour - 10/07/14

What was really behind the Libyan revolution to oust Colonel Gaddafi and the US’s strategy to use Islamic terrorists, with James and Joanne Moriarty

James and Joanne Moriarty were successful business persons living in Libya from 2007 until the overthrow and death of General Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.  While in Libya, there product providing enzymes to rejuvenate oil wells and clean up sludge pits earned $5 billion and were in the midst of building a manufacturing facility when the revolution began. During the rioting and collapse of the Gaddafi government and the new rule of radical Islamic factions, the Moriartys and other foreigners attempting to leave on a rescue ship were captured and held by al-Qaeda type militias, then eventually released.  They have produced a video of their ordeal – Escape from Al-Qaeda, which includes evidence of the US and its allies planning of a forced coup well in advance.  Their website is LibyanWarTheTruth.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - 09/30/14

What is the US’s real agenda in the Middle East and why is the US and its allies supporting radical Islamic terrorist organizations to orchestrate regime change in the region?With Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya

US imperialism through its expansion of a global security state with Tom Engelhardt.