Democracy Now - 11 jun 2010 torrent

* Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson On The Inside Story of How Obama Let The World’s Most Dangerous Oil Company Get Away With Murder

An extensive new investigation into the Obama administration’s handling of the BP oil spil disaster reveals that it was government mismanagement, delays, and absence of oversight that allowed the crisis to spiral out of control. In the article "The Spill, the Scandal, and the President" Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson writes QUOTE "Though George W. Bush paved the way for the catastrophe, it was Obama who gave BP the green light to drill." Dickinson explores how Interior Secretary Ken Salazar kept in place the oil industry-friendly environmental guidelines that Bush had implemented and ultimately let BP, an oil company with the worst safety record, to get away with murder.


* Mine Workers Union and Families Sue to Open Federal Probe Into Deadly Massey Coal Mine Explosion

Just a few weeks before the April 20th explosion on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf, 29 coal miners died after an explosion at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia. Although the Mine Safety and Health Administration has launched an investigation into the disaster, unlike the open federal investigation into the BP oil spill, the probe into Massey is taking place entirely behind closed doors. The United Mine Workers of America and families of victims killed in the West Virginia coal mine explosion recently filed suit in federal court to open up the federal investigation. We speak to journalist Jeff Biggers.


* "Upside Down World Cup": Raj Patel on How South Africa Has Cracked Down On the Poor and the Shackdwellers Movement Ahead of the World Cup

As the 2010 World Cup opens in South Africa, Rap Patel looks at one of the most overlooked aspects of this year’s tournament– the ongoing struggle of tens of thousands of shack dwellers across the country. Over the past year, shack settlement leaders in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town have been chased from their homes by gangs, arrested, detained without hearing and assaulted. As the World Cup begins, a shack dwellers movement known as Abahlali baseMjondolo are mounting what they call an "Upside Down World Cup" campaign to draw attention to their plight.