Democracy Now! Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Today's Headlines

• Iraq FM: US Accepts Lifting Contractor Immunity
• Pentagon Spying on Iraqi Military
• Gitmo Trainers Based Interrogations on Chinese Techniques
• Pentagon Criticized for Plan to Move Chemical Weapons
• 4 Killed, Dozens Injured in Israel Bulldozer Attack
• Peru, Bolivia Spar Over Alleged US Military Base
• Mexico Police Video Shows Alleged Torture Practice
• Unattended NY Psychiatric Patient Dies in Emergency Room
• Obama Backs Government Funding of Faith-Based Initiatives

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  Forty Years After Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, US Tops World in Nuke Arsenal

  This week marks the fortieth anniversary of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, when nuclear powers agreed to eventually eliminate their nuclear weapons, and non-nuclear states agreed not to seek to develop nuclear weapons capabilities. Forty years later, there are 189 signatories to the treaty and nine nuclear armed states in the world. The United States and Russia still have the world’s largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. We speak with Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund and author of Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons. [includes rush transcript]

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  Acclaimed Actor and Playwright Anna Deavere Smith on Art in a Time of War

  Anna Deavere Smith has been hailed as the most exciting individual in American theater. She has won numerous awards, including two Obies, several Tony nominations and a MacArthur genius grant. She is best known for two plays examining race relations: Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and Other Identities and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992. Her latest solo show is called Let Me Down Easy. [includes rush transcript]

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  Obama Pledges to Expand Bush Program to Funnel Federal Money to Religious Groups

  Barack Obama has pledged to expand a controversial White House program that funnels federal money to religious charities. Many Democrats are reportedly saying it’s the most aggressive outreach to religious voters ever by the party’s presidential nominee. We speak with the Reverend Jim Wallis, founder and president of Sojourners, the largest network of progressive Christians in the United States.