* GOP Blocks Advance of Financial Reform Bill * Goldman Faces New Allegations Ahead of Senate Testimony * US Extradites Noriega to France * Abbas Signs Order Barring Palestinians from Working in Israeli Settlements * Calderón Denounces Arizona Immigration Law * Study Claims Chernobyl Disaster Killed Nearly 1 Million * Oil Spill Grows in Gulf of Mexico * Terror Trial Begins for Jailed US Citizen Held in Lengthy Solitary Confinement * Appeals Court Upholds Wal-Mart Discrimination Suit
* James-cameron "Avatar" Director James Cameron Follows Box Office Success with Advocacy for Indigenous Struggles
On the heels of his record-setting Hollywood blockbuster Avatar, the film director James Cameron is taking on a new role as an activist, allying himself with indigenous struggles he says mirror the plot of his film. In Avatar, an indigenous species called the Na’vi resists the private military force of a powerful corporation bent on exploiting their planet’s valuable minerals. Democracy Now! producer Aaron Maté caught up with James Cameron to discuss Avatar, Cameron’s opposition to the Belo Monte in Brazil, last week’s peoples’ climate summit in Bolivia, and his reaction to seeing Avatar embraced by indigenous people worldwide, from the Amazon to the Occupied Territories.
John Ross on "El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City"
Independent reporter, activist and poet John Ross has been covering social movements in Mexico and Latin America for nearly fifty years. He is the author of ten books; his latest is El Monstruo: Dread and Redemption in Mexico City. Ross moved to Mexico City in the aftermath of the massive 8.1-magnitude earthquake in 1985 and has lived there ever since.
Rep. Grijalva Calls for Federal Non-Cooperation with Controversial AZ Immigration Bill
Outrage is growing over the passage of a controversial new measure in Arizona that forces police officers to determine the immigration status of someone they suspect of being an undocumented immigrant. We speak with Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), who is urging federal non-cooperation with the new law and is calling for a targeted economic boycott of Arizona. We also speak with Sunita Patel, an attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, which is filing a lawsuit demanding records related to ICE’s little known "Secure Communities" program.