Democracy Now - 17 mar 2011 torrent

An alternative daily newschannel. One hour with news as you do not see it elsewhere.

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Headlines for Mar 17, 2011

- Japan Dumps Water on Reactor; Radiation Levels Rise
- Deaths, Arrests in Bahraini Protest Crackdown
- Thousands Protest as Michigan Enacts Emergency Management Laws
- Wisconsin Prosecutor Challenges Anti-Worker Bill
- Florida Advances Restrictions on Teachers
- CIA Agent Accused of Murder Freed in Pakistan
- Hundreds Protest Clinton in Tunisia
- Clinton Visits Tahrir Square; Won\'t Stay On Past 2012
- Palestinian Factions to Hold Unity Talks
- Study: 800,000 to Contract Cholera in Haiti
- EPA to Regulate Coal Power Plant Emissions
- Former Chicago Police Commander Begins Prison Term


Special reports

- \"Serious Danger of a Full Core Meltdown\": Update on Japan\'s Nuclear Catastrophe

Fears of a full-scale nuclear reactor meltdown are increasing as Japanese authorities use military helicopters to dump water on the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power station. The water appears to have missed its target and failed to cool the plant\'s reactors and spent fuel rods. \"The walls of defense are falling with the melting of the cores, the collapsing-we expect the collapsing of the vessel. And with these damaged containments, these are all open windows to the atmosphere,\" says Paul Gunter of Beyond Nuclear. Some experts say U.S. reactors are safer than those in Japan. But investigative journalist, Karl Grossman, notes a 1985 report by the National Regulatory Commission acknowledged a 50 percent chance of a severe core accident among the more than 100 nuclear power plants in the United States over a 20-year period.


- Report from Sendai: Fears of Radioactivity Are Hampering Relief Efforts

The official death toll from the earthquake and tsunami has risen to 5,000 and at least 9,400 people are missing. Some 850,000 households have no power and 1.5 million houses lack running water. Food and gas supplies have been nearly exhausted. We speak with video journalist, Tetsuo Jimbo, who is in Sendai, Japan, one of the areas worst hit areas. The city was formerly home to 20,000 residents, half of whom are now missing. Jimbo says fears of radioactivity are hampering relief efforts. \"The government is overwhelmed. They do not have enough personnel to devote to the response of the relief effort or rescue effort.\"


- Hiroshima Organizes Scientific Teams and Medical Treatment Centers to Receive Victims of Radiation Poisoning

For more on the emergency response effort, we speak with Steven Leeper of the Peace Culture Foundation, which manages the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima. \"In Hiroshima, we\'re pretty sensitive to radiation issues and very sensitive to disaster issues,\" Leeper says. \"We are known as the place that knows about radiation. A team of doctors left yesterday to go up into the area with their equipment to try to figure out what kind of radiation is up there. We have also prepared a lot of apartments and the hospitals are making preparations to people suffering from radiation poisoning.\"


- Prominent Japanese Environmentalist Keibo Oiwa Urges Global Movement to End Nuclear Power and Confront the \"Crazy System Based on Greed, Anger and Ignorance\"

We speak with leading Japanese cultural anthropologist and environmentalist Keibo Oiwa in Yokohama. He is the founder of the Sloth Club, Japan\'s leading \"Slow Life\" environmental group. \"I am realizing again that democracy is so hollow now. We do not have power,\" Oiwa says. \"We have been controlled by the government and Tokyo Electric Co., a private company. … We have to look at our lifestyle to live with harmony and in harmony with nature.\" (i will check this quote)


- 7 Years After Ouster in U.S.-Backed Coup, Former Haitian President Aristide Prepares to Return Home

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is preparing to return to Haiti after seven years in exile. Aristide has lived in South Africa since his ouster in a 2004 U.S.-backed coup. Reporting from Johannesburg, Democracy Now!\'s Amy Goodman speaks with Aristide\'s attorney Ira Kurzban and actor Danny Glover as they prepare to accompany Aristide back to his country.


- Libyan Rebels Maintain Benghazi Media Center to Battle Gadaffi Regime Through the Internet and Airwaves

Reporting from the rebel-held city of Benghazi in eastern Libya, Democracy Now! correspondent Anjali Kamat visits a new media center established by anti-government forces to report on their struggle against forces loyal to Col. Muammar Gaddafi.

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