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The battle in Wisconsin, now spreading to other states, is not about cutting budgets — it’s about the fundamental right of public employees to engage in collective bargaining.  JOHN NICHOLS will report from Madison  as the unions fight for their lives against Republicans.  John of course is Washington Correspondent for The Nation and write s “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com — we saw him on “The Ed Show” on MSNBC on Friday.

Also: “LENNONYC” –– the new documentary on John Lennon’s life in New York City from his arrival in 1971 to his murder in 1980.  We’ll speak with MICHAEL EPSTEIN, director/producer/writer of the film, about Lennon’s music and politics in those crucial years when he stood up against the Vietnam War and fought Nixon’s attempt to deport him.

LENNONYC, which premiered at the New York Film Festival, is our featured premium in the KPFK Fund Drive this afternoon — please call 818-985-5735 and pledge your support — or pledge online HERE.

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In Egypt, workers are having a revolutionary February.   In the United States, by contrast, February is shaping up as the cruelest month workers have known in decades, as Wisconsin Republicans go after the state’s public employee unions – that’s what HAROLD MEYERSON says — he’s a columnist for the Washington Post op-ed page and Editor-at-Large of The American Prospect.

ALSO: “NOT JUST A GAME”: DAVE ZIRIN, sports editor for The Nation, shows how sports have reflected, and at times shaped, the political battles and social struggles at the heart of American society.  “If there were an award for ‘Most Valuable Sportswriter,’ I would vote for Dave Zirin.”- Howard Zinn.
Dave’s documentary film, “Not Just a Game,” will be our featured fund drive premium this afternoon in the 4pm hour – please call and pledge, 818-985-5735.

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MARK LEVINE reports live from Cairo on the day’s events in Tahrir Square, where Tuesday’s demonstrations were the biggest ever, perhaps 200,000 people.  Mark, a historian at UC Irvine, is the author of Heavy Metal Islam: Religion, Popular Culture and Resistance in the Middle East. His new piece about Egypt is in the Huffington Post, HERE.

Also: Justice and health for girls in prison: LESLIE OCOCA heads the National Girls Health and Justice Foundation.  Today 1 in 5 of the nearly two million youth being held in detention nationally are girls, many of whom have serious physical and mental health needs that are not treated adequately.

Plus: Obama and Egypt: Why won’t our president speak out for democracy when the Egyptians are risking their lives for it?  ARI BERMAN comments: he’s an investigative journalism fellow at The Nation Institute and he wrote about Obama and the Egyptians for The Nation HERE.

For the record: my show today on KPFK is preempted for special programming: “Building a powerful left in the U.S.”

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The day after Obama called for investment in infrastructure and cutting the corporate tax rate in his State of the Union speech, he travelled to Manitowoc, Wisconsin – our JOHN NICHOLS was there and will report.  John of course is Washington Correspondent for The Nation and writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com.

Also: Last night’s State of the Union was a speech about Obama’s view of where jobs come from: from government help for corporations.  But those corporations have not been hiring workers in the US, says  HAROLD MEYERSON: he writes a column for the Washington Post op-ed page and he’s editor at large of The American Prospect.

Plus:  Baby Doc is back.  AMY WILENTZ returned last week from Haiti on the first anniversary of the earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people – and after the ominous return of former dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier.  Amy wrote about Haiti for the L.A. Times. “Haiti Stories” conference at UCLA Sat. 1/29: info HERE.

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Jared Loughner’s Glock:  KATHA POLLITT says “it used to be that after a spectacular killing there would be a lot of hopeful/ rueful talk about keeping in from happening again.”  But now the Democrats have abandoned gun control — even though “it was the gun.” Katha wrote about guns for her latest column in The Nation.

Plus: TOM WAITS is the brilliant singer/songwriter with the growly voice and the haunting music.  Barney Hoskyns talks about his life and music – his bio, Lowside of the Road , is out now in paperback.   Playlist: “Jersey Girl,” “16 Shells from a 30 ought six,”  ”I’m Big in Japan,” “Get Behind the Mule.”  (originally aired 7/22/2009)

Also:  One, Two, Many Chinas: Chinese President Hu Jintau is meeting in Washington today with Obama – we’ll have comment from JEFF WASSERSTROM, he writes for many places including The Daily Beast, Foreign Policy, and The Nation, and he has a new co-authored piece at Time.com this week.  His new book is China in the 21^st Century – What Everyone Needs To Know.

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HAROLD MEYERSON says the lesson of the attack on Gabrielle Giffords and 19 others in Arizona is that “conservatives promote a paranoid culture that makes America a dangerous land.” Harold’s new op-ed for the Washington Post cites Glenn Beck as exhibit number one.

Plus: Obama goes to Arizona: ARI BERMAN says the president should follow the example set by Bill Clinton after the Oklahoma City bombing: Clinton told the far right, “There is nothing patriotic about hating your government.” Ari writes for The Nation; his new book is Herding Donkeys.

Also: historian IRA BERLIN talks about recent immigration from Africa and the Caribbean — his book The Making of African America is out now in paperback.  (originally broadcast 3/17/10).