Democracy Now! Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Today's Headlines

• July Becomes Deadliest Month for US in Afghanistan
• Taliban Launch Multiple Attacks in Gardez Killing 14
• Obama’s Guantanamo Task Force Misses Deadline
• Gates: Military to Expand by 22,000 Troops
• Watchdog: Financial Bailouts Could Cost Taxpayers up to $24 Trillion
• Police Accused of Bias After Arresting Harvard Scholar Inside His Own Home
• California Lawmakers Reach Deal to Close $26 Billion Budget Gap
• Gov’t Agency Withheld Research on Dangers of Cell Phones & Driving
• Salazar Bans New Mining Near Grand Canyon for Two Years
• Ex-Peruvian President Convicted of Embezzlement
• Number of Latino Workers Killed on Job Rises
• TV Commentators Criticized over Racist Remarks

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  Despite Pledge to Cut Military Ties to Coup Regime, US Continues to Train Honduran Soldiers at School of Americas

  While the European Union cut off aid to the coup regime in Honduras, the United States continues the money flow, and while the US says it has cut military ties, the National Catholic Reporter reveals Honduran army officers are still receiving military training at the notorious School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia. [includes rush transcript]

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  "From Arbenz to Zelaya: Chiquita in Latin America"

  “When the Honduran military overthrew the democratically elected government of Manuel Zelaya two weeks ago there might have been a sigh of relief in the corporate board rooms of Chiquita banana,” writes journalist Nikolas Kozloff. “Earlier this year the Cincinnati-based fruit company joined Dole in criticizing the government in Tegucigalpa which had raised the minimum wage by 60%.” Kozloff goes on to trace Chiquita’s “long and sordid” political history in Central America. [includes rush transcript]

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  As Obama Continues Push for Healthcare Reform, House Committee Approves Kucinich-Sponsored Measure to Keep Single-Payer Option Alive

  On Capitol Hill, Democratic leaders say they’re open to paring down a healthcare reform bill in order to sway “conservative” Democrats who’ve threatened to oppose the measure that would create a government-run public insurance option. We speak with progressive Democrat, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio). A House committee recently approved his amendment that would allow individual states to adopt a single-payer system. [includes rush transcript]

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  Frank McCourt (1930-2009): Late Author's Younger Brother Malachy Remembers Childhood Poverty Depicted in "Angela's Ashes"

  We remember the author Frank McCourt, who died Sunday at the age of seventy-eight. McCourt was best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir Angela’s Ashes. The book chronicles McCourt’s poverty-ridden childhood in Brooklyn and Ireland, a childhood he said he felt lucky to have survived. McCourt published the book after a thirty-year career as a New York City schoolteacher, which he also chronicled in a later memoir, Teacher Man. We speak with Frank McCourt’s younger brother, actor and writer Malachy McCourt. [includes rush transcript]