Democracy Now! Thursday, July 10, 2008

Today's Headlines

• Senate Backs Expansion of Bush Admin Domestic Spying
• Kennedy Returns to Help Senate Reverse Medicare Cuts
• Iran Test-Fires Missiles for Consecutive Day
• Rice: Iran Test Proves Need for Missile System
• Rev. Jackson Apologizes to Obama for “Talking Down” Criticism
• McKinney Selects VP Running Partner in Green Bid
• Career NC Civil Servant Refuses to Honor Helms
• 7 Foreign Troops Killed in Darfur
• Thousands Protest Neoliberal Policies in Peru
• Katrina Contractor Admits Failing to Disclose Toxic Levels in Evacuee Trailers
• Conviction Overturned for Jailed Black Panther in “Angola 3” Case

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  African Dictatorships and Double Standards: Where is the International Criticism Over US-Allied Equatorial Guinean Leader Teodoro Obiang?

  As world attention is fixed on Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, there has been hardly any outcry from the international community about the dire human rights situation in another African country—Equatorial Guinea—where Teodoro Obiang has ruthlessly ruled for nearly thirty years. Obiang has been called the worst dictator in Africa, but since vast oil and natural gas reserves were discovered in the mid-1990s, he has become a close US ally. We speak with Ken Silverstein of Harper’s Magazine and Frank Ruddy, who served as US ambassador to Equatorial Guinea during the Reagan administration. [includes rush transcript]

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  Longest Walk 2: Thirty Years After Historic Cross-Country March, Thousands Walk From San Francisco to DC for Native American Rights

  Thirty years ago, some 40,000 Native Americans and their supporters participated in a historic cross-country march called the Longest Walk to protest Congressional legislation that would have abrogated treaties protecting Native American Sovereignty. On Friday, thousands are expected to gather in Washington, DC after another five-month long journey across the country to draw attention to the state of the environment and press for the protection of sacred Native American sites. We speak with the co-founder of the American Indian Movement, Dennis Banks.