AJE on the Kochs, With Brad's Help

From Brad Friedman:

Al Jazeera English' Bob Abeshouse and Yasmeen Qureishi have put together an investigative report on the out-sized influence of the Koch Brothers on American democracy. The documentary premiered on AJE this week, and both starts and ends with the "Secret Koch Tapes" we exclusively published last month in a series of articles at Mother Jones and here at The BRAD BLOG.

There are a number of noteworthy points in this investigative look at the Kochs, co-owners of Koch Industries, the nation's second largest private corporation (the giant oil conglomerate inherited from their father), and how they are spending just some of the extraordinary $18 billion increase in personal wealth they've enjoyed over just the last three years under the tyranny of the Obama administration.

But among the interesting points revealed here, is the fact that this detailed exposé, a behind-the-scenes examination of two of the most powerful puppeteers behind American democracy, comes not from the far larger and better funded corporate news networks here in the U.S., but from from Al Jazeera. Go figure...

Inequality in America

If you can't watch Al Jazeera English, demand your cable or satellite company carry it - public demand working to get Al Jazeera carried by TimeWarner cable in New York City.

Tina Dupuy at Crooks and Liars:

Al Jazeera English posted this documentary (Wednesday) about wealth inequality in America. The highlight of the clip above is Congressman Paul Ryan being asked if his budget plan isn't undemocratic because the majority of Americans don't like it. He bolts from the reporter and tells her, her question is "rude."

Al Jazeera English does some good work. The piece also features economist Jeffrey Sachs stating flatly, "The rich not only became richer they became politically more powerful."

Al Jazeera - Not Just for Middle East News Anymore

The great broadcast networks of our childhood aren't dead; they're just operating under another name.

Wonder whatever happened with the BP oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, the one that spread heavy oil and toxic dispersants over thousands of square miles of sea floor, water and beaches?

One global news organization covers it, in an 8-part series on the BP oil spill.

David Dayen at Firedoglake:

I’ve heard the American media described accurately at a bunch of 7 year-olds at a youth soccer game. There’s nothing strategic about the game; all the kids chase the soccer ball in a pack. I thought of that when I read a story about enduring sickness in the Gulf of Mexico. It didn’t come from ABC, or NBC, or CBS, or Fox News, or CNN, or any local outlet. It came from Al Jazeera.

“I have critically high levels of chemicals in my body,” 33-year-old Steven Aguinaga of Hazlehurst, Mississippi told Al Jazeera. “Yesterday I went to see another doctor to get my blood test results and the nurse said she didn’t know how I even got there.”

Aguinaga and his close friend Merrick Vallian went swimming at Fort Walton Beach, Florida, in July 2010.

“I swam underwater, then found I had orange slick stuff all over me,” Aguinaga said. “At that time I had no knowledge of what dispersants were, but within a few hours, we were drained of energy and not feeling good. I’ve been extremely sick ever since.”

BP’s oil disaster last summer gushed at least 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, causing the largest accidental marine oil spill in history – and the largest environmental disaster in US history. Compounding the problem, BP has admitted to using at least 1.9 million gallons toxic dispersants, including one chemical that has been banned in the UK.

According to chemist Bob Naman, these chemicals create an even more toxic substance when mixed with crude oil. Naman, who works at the Analytical Chemical Testing Lab in Mobile, Alabama, has been carrying out studies to search for the chemical markers of the dispersants BP used to both sink and break up its oil.

If you read the article, you realize that the dispersants are causing the sickness as much as the oil. And, because they are mixing around in the water, they then participate in evaporation and precipitation, with the dispersant chemicals reaching more of the population through rainfall. Merrick Vallian, the friend of Steven Aguinaga, has already died from chemical exposure.

This is why Hillary Clinton said that Al Jazeera is real news, and by implication what passes for real news in this country isn’t. Merely touching the Gulf of Mexico is causing a host of serious medical problems. That’s happening right in our country. And if it weren’t for Al Jazeera, there would be a near-total media blackout. At least in the national media; from what I can tell, the Times-Picayune has had decent coverage.

Read AJE's 8-part series on the BP oil spill here.

And demand Al Jazeera on your local cable or satellite system here.

Libya's "Terrible Story" - Al Jazeera's Got It

Like Egypt, Libya is seven hours ahead of eastern standard time. Liveblog here.

February 22

1:26 pm Within the past half-hour, Al Jazeera's Jamal Elshayyal arrived at Sidi Barani, a town on the Egyptian side of the border with Libya, a little more than 500km east of Benghazi, the site of some of the biggest anti-regime protests and worst violence. Libyan emigrants have "rushed" to his crew to share memory sticks full of pictures and video from recent days. There is a "terrible" story to be told, Elshayyal says.

Protests Spread, and Al Jazeera is There

While Egypt celebrates and honors the Army that refused Mubarak's orders to run them down with tanks, protesters in Libya and Bahrain are not so fortunate.

10:55pm More footage of the shooting by the Bahraini army - watch this video to the end! Protester: "They had machine guns, not riffles or hand weapons, machine guns and they shot people who ran away."

There are fresh protests in Iraq.

Violent protests have taken place at various locations in Iraq, with anti-government protesters rallying against corruption, poor basic services and high unemployment.

And Djibouti:

Police use tear gas to disperse thousands demonstrating in East African nation to demand Ismail Omar Guelleh step down.

And Yemen observes "Friday of Fury":

At least three killed as tens of thousands of demonstrators, both pro- and anti-government, march in several cities.

Al Jazeera is maintaining multi-day liveblogs in each country at the links above.

Demand Al Jazeera English on your cable or satellite system. Click here and type in your zip code to send an email directly to your television provider.

Day 3 of the New Egypt, brought to you live by Al Jazeera

The live blog is here.

The military promises elections - in six months. Not everyone is satisfied, and small groups of protesters continue to occupy Tahrir Square. Local police have now joined the numerous labor unions seeking raises and better working conditions.

In other words, the birth pangs of democracy.

Demand Al Jazeera English on your cable or satellite system. Click here and type in your zip code to send an email directly to your television provider.

Day One of the New Egypt - Al Jazeera Has It Live

It's 1 a.m. in Cairo, five seven hours since Mubarak resigned, and the party is still going strong.

12:35am Palestinians in Gaza are waving Egyptian flags and chant 'Long live Egypt' in a rally of thousands to celebrate
Mubarak's resignation.

12:00am Mubarak is gone - missed it? Go back to our live blog from February 11- we will continue to bring you reactions to this from Egypt and all over the world.

Demand Al Jazeera English on your cable or satellite system. Click here and type in your zip code to send an email directly to your television provider.

A New Day in Egypt; A New Al Jazeera Live Blog

Barely an hour before the beginning of Day 18 of pro-democracy demonstrations in Egypt, dictator Mubarak turned celebrations into fury by announcing he would not step down.

Follow events here.

12:21am Israeli defence minister Ehud Barak responding to a question about Mubarak refusing to step down:

We should not pretend that we are more important than for the Egyptian people than their own interests. I don't think I have to respond to this. It's up to the Egyptian people to find a way and do it according to their own constitution, norms and practices.

12:03am In reaction to Mubarak's speech French president Sarkozy says:

I hope Egypt gets a democracy, not an Iran-style religious dictatorship.

Aljazeera English correspondent in Cairo thanks U.S. viewers:



Demand Al Jazeera English on your cable or satellite system. Click here and type in your zip code to send an email directly to your television provider.

Earlier today, a rainbow in the Cairo sky this afternoon seemed like it might be a good omen.

A New Day in Egypt; A New Aljazeera Live Blog

Day 17 of pro-democracy, anti-Mubarak protests began an hour ago. Follow events as they happen here.

12:05am Protesters remain camped out on the streets of Cairo as worker walk-outs contribute to the wave of discontent in Egypt.

From yesterday's live blog, just over two hours ago:

10:44pm There's a candlelight vigil going on at Tahrir Square tonight, in memory of those who have been killed in the 16 days of protest.

And here's a photo of the huge protests Tuesday:



Be sure to Demand Aljazeera English on your cable or satellite TV system. Click here then scroll down to the blue Demand Aljazeera in the USA box. Just type in your zip code to send an email to your TV provider.

A New Day in Egypt; A New Aljazeera Live Blog

As Day 16 of pro-democracy, anti-Mubarak protests begins, life is beginning to get back to normal in Cairo and other cities. The last days of protests passed with no opposition from pro-government protests, the despised secret police or the Army.

The Muslim Brotherhood and other opposition groups have agreed to negotiate with vice-president and former CIA asset Suleiman, but Mubarak remains in power.

Keep track here.

12:30am Omar Suleiman, Egypt's vice president, has said that Egypt currently lacks the necessary "culture of democracy" for the changes demanded by protesters.

The White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called his comments "particularly unhelpful".

12:05am Al Jazeera correspondent explains why Egyptian democracy will not come free of charge.

Be sure to Demand Aljazeera English on your cable or satellite TV system. Click here then scroll down to the blue Demand Aljazeera in the USA box. Just type in your zip code to send an email to your TV provider.

A New Day in Egypt; A New Aljazeera Live Blog

Day 15 of pro-democracy, anti-Mubarak protests began about 90 minutes ago. The live blog is here.

12:08AM Wael Ghonim, head of Google's Middle East operations, has been released by Egyptian security forces. He spoke to Mona al Shazly on DreamTV about his ordeal.

Twitter user and journalist @SultanAlQassemi live blogged the interview - find his translation of the broadcast with Wael Ghonim below the videos.

Be sure to Demand Aljazeera English on your cable or satellite TV system. Click here then scroll down to the blue Demand Aljazeera in the USA box. Just type in your zip code to send an email to your TV provider.

A New Day in Egypt: A New Aljazeera Live Blog

Day 12 of pro-democracy, anti-Mubarak protests began almost wo hours ago. The live blog is here.

12:06am: After a day of tension with the military trying to remove barricades set up by the protesters, one Al Jazeera correspondent says that things are relatively calm - more so than last night - as the crowd hunkers down in the rainy night in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Be sure to Demand Aljazeera English on your cable or satellite TV system. Click here then scroll down to the blue Demand Aljazeera in the USA box. Just type in your zip code to send an email to your TV provider.

"Why fear the Arab revolutionary spirit?"

Via Aljazeera:

Slavoj Žižek, writing for the Guardian, takes on the “breathtaking” hypocrisy of western liberals in prioritising stability over democracy in the Arab world.

"Why fear the Arab revolutionary spirit?"

Here, then, is the moment of truth: one cannot claim, as in the case of Algeria a decade ago, that allowing truly free elections equals delivering power to Muslim fundamentalists. Another liberal worry is that there is no organised political power to take over if Mubarak goes. Of course there is not; Mubarak took care of that by reducing all opposition to marginal ornaments, so that the result is like the title of the famous Agatha Christie novel, And Then There Were None. The argument for Mubarak – it's either him or chaos – is an argument against him.

The hypocrisy of western liberals is breathtaking: they publicly supported democracy, and now, when the people revolt against the tyrants on behalf of secular freedom and justice, not on behalf of religion, they are all deeply concerned. Why concern, why not joy that freedom is given a chance? Today, more than ever, Mao Zedong's old motto is pertinent: "There is great chaos under heaven – the situation is excellent."

Where, then, should Mubarak go? Here, the answer is also clear: to the Hague. If there is a leader who deserves to sit there, it is him.

Click here and scroll down to 9:47 p.m. for the video interview.

At Nightfall and Curfew in Egypt

From Aljazeera's Live Blog:

11:36am On a light note, Walk like an Egyptian gets a new meaning in this image posted on Twitpic by rania_hafez:

A New Day in Egypt; A New Aljazeera Live Blog

Follow events here.

12:23am: The head of Al Jazeera Arabic's bureau in Cairo and another journalist have been detained in the Egyptian capital. Details soon...

12:00am: Protests that have rocked Egypt are moving into a twelfth day.

Anti-government demonstrators are still demanding an immediate end to Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, but the president insists he will stay on until September.

Meanwhile, state television is reporting that the government has eased the night time curfew, shortening it by three hours - though the curfew has largely been ignored by protesters who remain in Cairo's Tahrir square.

No gunfire or petrol bombs so far tonight - that's an improvement over last night.

Be sure to Demand Aljazeera English on your cable or satellite TV system. Click here then scroll down to the blue Demand Aljazeera in the USA box. Just type in your zip code to send an email to your TV provider.

New Day in Egypt; New Aljazeera Live Blog

Find the latest here.

It's 1:30 a.m. Friday in Egypt - first day of the weekend. Monster protests are planned for today.

New Day in Egypt; New Aljazeera Live Blog

Here it is for Thursday, Feb. 3. A reminder: Egypt's time zone is seven hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Standard Time.

12:45 am AJE Web producer, reporting from Tahrir Square says large caliber shots are being fired by the Egyptian army. It seems that they're "shooting in the air.'

12:15 am Mustafa Hussein, a physician working in a makeshift hospital set up near Tahrir Square, tells Al Jazeera that the square is "in less chaos" and that the hospital is flooded with calls offering supplies. He also said that many of the injuries he saw today were head injuries as a result of protesters being pelted by rocks.

12:10 am AJE Web producer, reporting from Tahrir Square, reports no police presence at this point, and says that the anti-government protesters outnumbered the pro-Mubarak supporters.

A New Day in Egypt; A New Aljazeera Live Blog

Here it is.

3:10am A blog post circulating on twitter, and blogosphere titled: "A Guide: How not to say stupid stuff about Egypt". The post tries to demystify some of the stereotypes about Egypt as protests continue to make international headlines. One of the more vociferous arguments is the rejection that the ongoing protests may be dubbed "The Twitter revolution".

No, this is the Revolution of the Egyptian people. Egyptians resisted for decades. They were tortured, jailed and repressed by the Mubarak and Sadat regimes. Twitter and Facebook are tools. They did not stand in front of the water cannons, or go to jail for all these years to get the credit.

A New Day in Egypt; A New Al Jazeera Live Blog

Here it is.

And from the website, Army vows not to use force as Egyptians gear up for massive protest Tuesday.

New Day in Egypt; New Al Jazeera Live Blog

Click here to follow.

12:23am The atmosphere in central Cairo remains chaotic, according to a tweet from one of the Al Jazeera correspondents in Cairo:

Tense in Tahrir Square tonight. Random gunfire nearby; some people in the square are blaming the army for it, verbally confronting soldiers.

12:14am President Mubarak tells his new prime minister, Ahmad Shafik to keep government subsidies and cut prices.

From Sunday, which is the beginning of the work week in Egypt:

11:54pm In an Open Letter to President Obama, a large group of well-reputed American academics calls for the US leader to demand swift change in Egypt:

For thirty years, our government has spent billions of dollars to help build and sustain the system the Egyptian people are now trying to dismantle. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in Egypt and around the world have spoken. We believe their message is bold and clear: Mubarak should resign from office and allow Egyptians to establish a new government free of his and his family’s influence. It is also clear to us that if you seek, as you said Friday 'political, social, and economic reforms that meet the aspirations of the Egyptian people,' your administration should publicly acknowledge those reforms will not be advanced by Mubarak or any of his adjutants.