FLASHPOINTS

An AP reporter scoops up oil from the Gulf of Mexico with a bucket and displays it in his hands at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on May 10.

Catherine Austin Fitts talks about the devastation of the Gulf as the BP-Halliburton oil spill gets worse, and the economic impact of the environmental disaster; also, we get an update on the struggle to protect access for medical marijuana patients as Federal attacks continue across the country; and longtime marijuana advocate and activist Ed Rosenthal talks about the upcoming potential for full legalization in California and his new book, Ed Rosenthal’s Marijuna Grower’s Handbook.

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Guests:

Catherine Austin Fitts, Solari Network

Kris Hermes, Americans For Safe Access

Ed Rosenthal, marijuana advocate and activist

Noam Chomsky in a speech at the Oakland Paramount Theater, October 2009

Blackhawk helicopters at Wounded Knee

Blackhawk helicopters descend on Wounded Knee for May Day, we’ll talk to American Indian Movement founder Bill Means about the helicopters, the racist Arizona law, the Gulf spill and the arrest in New York; also, we’ll have our regular weekly visit with Catherine Austin Fitts on Community Business; and Olympia, Washington activists win a lawsuit against law enforcement for illegally spying on their anti-war activities.

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Guests:

Bill Means, American Indian Movement

Catherine Austin Fitts, Solari Network

Philip Chin and Brendan Maslauskas Dunn, activists in Olympia

Nesting brown pelicans, terns and seagulls are seen next to oil booms on Breton Island in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Lousiana Tuesday, May 4, 2010. Wildlife are vulnerable to the oil spill resulting from last week's explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. (Gerald Herbert)

The leading expert on avian toxicity speaks out about the profound dangers to birds, all marine wildlife, and the fragile ecosystems of the Gulf region as residents brace across the three states for the worst; also, we’ll take an in-depth look at the arrest in New York of a Pakistani-American with alleged connections to al-Qaeda; and Chicano students at the University of California at Berkeley begin a hunger strike to protest school cutbacks and the racist laws that were just passed in Arizona.

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Guests:

Dr. Michael Fry, leading avian toxicity expert

Ali Abunimah, Electronic Intifada

Jesse Strauss with Alejandro Lara Briseno, UC Student

BP Oil Slick Disaster

The massive BP oil disaster is moving quickly into the Florida Keys, we’ll speak to a shrimp fisherwoman and an indigenous activist whose ecosystems were destroyed in Alaska during the Exxon Valdez spill; also, we’ll have a report-back from Arizona, on the enormous protests that took place over the weekend in opposition of the anti-immigrant laws, as Sheriff Joe Arpaio considers a run for the governor of that state; and we’ll have a special report on a successful lawsuit brought by radical education activist Bill Ayers against the University of Wyoming for an attempt to ban him from speaking on campus.

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Guests:

Diane Wilson, shrimp fisherwoman and environmental justice activist

Lucy Beach, Executive Director of Gwich’in Steering Committee

Tupac Enrique Acosta, Tona Tierra

Bill Ayers, former member of the Weather Underground

Gulf Coast BP Oil Spill

Please note: Due to technical difficulties, the Best of Flashpoints this week is not available for download.

Tens of thousands of gallons of oil continue to spill into the Gulf of Mexico, endangering the lives and the livelihoods of thousands of Gulf Coast residents and the already-fragile eco-systems; also, Mexican paramilitaries ambush and kill members of a human rights convoy in Oaxaca; we’ll continue our reporting on the crackdown on the entire immigrant community and their supporters; we’ll update our reports on the protests against school budget cuts; and Flashpoints en Espanol.

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Guests:

Tyson Slocum, Public Citizen

John Gibler, FP Special Correspondent and author

Rene Saucedo

Evelina Molina

Cesar Cruz

Cesar Chavez

American Indian Movement leaders Tony Gonzales and Bill Means report from a United Nations permanent forum on Indigenous Affairs in New York City, we’ll speak to them about human rights standards on health, education and the environment for indigenous peoples on this continent; also, a commentary by Miguel Molina on the 17th anniversary of Cesar Chavez’ passing; and Flashpoints en Espanol.

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Guests:

Tony Gonzales and Bill Means, American Indian Movement

Francisco Herrera

Miguel Gavilan Molina

Miguel Perez

Earth Day

Today on a special Earth Day edition of Flashpoints, We hear from Bill McKibben at last year’s Copenhagen conference on Climate Change with Evelina Molina; and we re-broadcast excerpts of a conversation with environmental philosopher Derrick Jensen about the critical moment for this planet and its survival.

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Guests:

Evelina Molina with Bill McKibben

Derrick Jensen, author

Jordan Flaherty: Floodlines

New Orleans police officers harass, discriminate and sexually assault members of the Black gay and transgender community, we’ll speak to Jordan Flaherty who peels back the layers of state violence against people in New Orleans, we’ll also speak with a member of the trans community who is labeled as a sex offender and has been forced into sex by a police officer because of her transgender identity; also, Palestinians face rampant attacks by ultra-right wing Jewish settlers, we’ll speak with Jamal Jumaa of the Stop the Wall Campaign about the critical situation in occupied Palestine; and Ed Rosenthal stops by to talk about the prospects for legalization of marijuana in California.

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Guests:

Ed Rosenthal, author and marijuana advocate

Jamal Juma’, Stop the Wall Campaign

Jordan Flaherty, editor of Left Turn Magazine, journalist, and author, Floodlines

READ: New Complaints of Police Violence in New Orleans

Wendi Cooper, health worker, transgender activist and advocate

Jeff Biggers: Reckoning at Eagle Creek: The Secret Legacy of Coal in the Heartland

We’ll take a look at how civilian killings in Afghanistan are paid for by war taxes; plus, we’ll have a pre-tax day edition of Community Business with Catherine Austin Fitts; also, an update from West Virginian on an investigation into the Massey coal mine disaster that killed 29 workers last week; and we’ll continue to follow the work of Canadian filmmaker and minister Kevin Annett in his quest for justice, as he attempts to hold the Pope and the Canadian church accountable for the child molestation scandals and the genocide against indigenous communities all across Canada.

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Guests:

Dave Lindorff, author and investigative reporter

Kevin Annett, radical minister and filmmaker

Catherine Austin Fitts, Solari Network

Jeff Biggers, author

ICE Raids

Please note: Best of Flashpoints not available online this week.

ICE continues to expand its crackdown on migrant workers, their families and supporters, we’ll speak with Rene Saucedo about how the Obama administration is even worse than Bush when it comes to these persecuted workers; also, a Salvadoran leader and indigenous chief talks about his return to El Salvador and his fight to protect original language and agriculture; we’ll also report on a major change just announced by the Sierra Club which has come down four-square against the US-Mexico wall; and Flashpoints in Espanol will also talk about El Salvador and the wall.

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Guests:

Francisco Herrera

Rene Saucedo

Miguel Gavilan Molina

Dan Mills, Sierra Club/No More Deaths

David Escobar

Chief Antonio Chevez

Miguel Perez