as the main presidential candidates in the u.s. make their last ditch attempts to curry favor in crucial swing states our team prepares to give a floor to those also running for the top job but being left out of the spotlight. greece gears up to grind to hold has people from all walks of life start a week of strikes in protest at a government sets to cut spending even further. u.n. resolution on syria is certainly desiring to meet the situation to create a gracie's for regime change russia accuses western and arab states of encouraging the syrian opposition to step up their fight and set of looking for ways to stop the bloodshed.

one pm of the russian capital you're watching r t i'm marina joshing we start with the u.s. presidential race where barack obama and mitt romney are in the last gasp dash to win votes in the so-called battleground states polls but the rivals uneconomic on the forty eight percent each and the heat of an extremely tough campaign most americans forget they actually have a bigger choice than just two candidates out he's been reminding them of the alternatives. here it is the venue for the next presidential debate with the alternative candidates in this election our studio in washington d.c. though it's not very big as you can see it will make sure there is lots of room for discussion on issues that somehow don't fit into the mainstream media discourse here alternatives to obama and romney have effectively been pushed out of the major national debates we ask how and why they are. pushed out and quite

literally jule styne presidential nominee from the green party was arrested on the day of the second presidential debate between mitt romney and barack obama in medicare we're right outside the venue where it took place she was there protesting her exclusion from the debate we were tightly bound with plastic restraints and tied to chairs for eight hours for daring to stand up and demand open debates will turn out if presidential candidates had their own debate in chicago they brought up issues which the big party candidates never came close to discussing like the legislation signed by president obama which allows the government to indefinitely detain american citizens without charge or due process it's an incredible the trail of our civil liberties on foreign policy the alternative candidates argue there's practically no difference between mitt romney and barack obama regardless of

whether or not romney gets elected or obama gets elected three things are going to happen we're going to find ourselves with a continued heightened police state in this country we're going to find ourselves continuing to militarily intervene in the world which results has resulted in hundreds of millions of enemies to this country that wouldn't otherwise exist the similarity of views that president obama and mitt romney showed during their foreign policy debate became a matter of numerous jokes on foreign policy it appears that all that's left for the presidential race is this one model. i mean at least we still get our choice of color but. the us mainstream media are entirely focused on the two party race the majority of americans know very little if anything about alternatives jule styne of the green party why sit down with before her arrest is not going to be represented on the ballot papers in every state the american system is designed to

eliminate political opposition like some of the. dictatorships that we criticize that have rigged political systems in many ways the american system has also read but in ways that are not as straightforward and with the like of interest from the mainstream media small the party see the deck stacked against them in a national vote but not only are americans stuck with the two worst race but they're also not guaranteed to get the president to the majority cast their votes for in a us presidential election a candidate can win the majority of the popular vote and still lose the election because it's not the popular vote but the electoral college that decides the outcome of the presidential election here so how does it work every state but made in nebraska gives the candidate a certain number of points and the winner has to collect the magic number two hundred seventy points even if a candidate loses a state by just say three votes they get zero points that's how george w.

bush won the election in the year two thousand although he lost in the popular vote he won due to the tricky state to stay score system according to gallup poll a record forty percent of americans now identify themselves as independents the chief of the federal election commission on the george w. bush michael toner told me in the us alone control system you don't have much choice if you move away from a winner take all electoral system and once or proportional representation i think you would have far more successful political parties here in the states because there are a large number of americans actually the most. most of the biggest share biggest increase in voter registration today in america is not democrats it's not republicans it's independents if you look at the states large numbers of people now are identifying it as an independent now they often will vote pretty reliably republican or democrat but that's a pretty good indication that there's a million tens of millions of people who if they had their choice by pick another

party but one group that stands to win from the lack of choice are the corporations that contribute lavishly to political campaigns trying to buy support for their companies what we have in this country in many respects is covert corruption legalise corruption in the political system itself being held hostage by special interests is a form of corruption each candidate on the republican and democratic side now spend nearly a billion dollars each in order to get to the white house i mean i think our founding fathers would be spending it in their graves if they could see this while in office mr toner oversaw a campaign finance of the elections the most sophisticated companies what they do is they're in good shape no matter who wins right they hire lobbyists on both sides of the aisle they often make political contributions both sides of the aisle this is called hedging your bets here in america as you would say in las vegas. and even

vegas as they say no matter how you play it the house always wins speaking of us selections one could say no matter how you vote business as usual wins it won't be business as usual during the alternative candidate is debate this monday night the candidates will be here in this studio were chosen by online voters as the winners of the last third party debate held in chicago about two weeks ago we block has that debate life no mainstream us news channel that so an important point to make here is that by giving a media platform to these candidates does not mean that we're indorsing their views it's an honor for us to host the event as we're trying to show what others don't and we also think it's going to get a lot of viewers you're welcome to be one of them i certainly well from our debate ready or almost ready studio here in washington i'm going to. now don't miss this special event to watch the third party candidates debate live on our team this money evening at nine pm yesterday. two parties keep us politics

a one way street. or will new voices disrupt the power parallel. to what is america changes trucks u.s. election a close guide monday november fifth on or treat. from ben man to bank clerks greece is set to contest standstill as a week of strikes and protests has started and the debt ridden country it comes as the government plans to vote for a fresh package of cost cuts and tax hikes in order to get another cash injection from its international creditors peter oliver is in athens it's been rather ominous lee called the devils we kid some parts of the greek media not stoop to the fact that nobody knows what state greece is going to emerge from the coming days worth of protests strikes and potentially crippling austerity measures now the first strike is have walked out we've seen taxi drivers some journalists and others

walking out on monday the main strikes though taking place on tuesday and wednesday that's when the main labor unions get involved taking industrial action and be out on the streets of athens as well as other cities around greece to protest against what they see as unfair measures being taken by the greek of greek government as the government looks to save point five billion euros the reason that greece is having to do this is that they've been told to do this by their main creditors the so-called troika on sunday opposition politicians put it to mr summers lighting you negotiate the terms of this next round of austerity measures with our creditors and he said well they're even negotiated because it wasn't open for negotiation this was dictated to him by greece's lenders this prompted the opposition to say that they wanted to see new elections in greece and they called on the greek people to use the demonstrations coming up over the next few days to rise up peacefully and

take back their country. and while government struggle to plug holes in their finances british m.p.'s are choosing the most exotic and expensive this nation's for lunch or your business trips to report that later this hour. russia's foreign minister says western efforts over syria are so were aimed at inflaming the situation on the ground and carrying out change sergey lavrov also said such a position is only leading to for a more bloodshed in the rest of country artist llosa coughing up has the details sergey lavrov is on a middle east tour after a tenuous cease fire in syria broke down during a tragically so during the holiday of aid but on the very same day as russia is trying to restart diplomatic efforts to come to some sort of diplomatic solution to the syria crisis members of the fractured syrian opposition groups are meeting in qatar under u.s.

backed efforts to bring together a new opposition leadership a government this is something that people have interpreted to mean a splintering of the international community on how to resolve the syrian crisis that has earned some quite harsh remarks the from the foreign minister he had said he had urged and comments to the press for folks to stick together to the agreements that the international community had come to in june that in the geneva declaration of which i called among other things for the creation of a transitional governing body he also inner furring to this u.s. backed effort sensually accuse the west for giving up on their commitments by refusing to work with the syrian government on the issue working only with the opposition which he says is quote a path to a very dire situation. in geneva four months ago we all agreed that power was say the same to the warring sides in syria. this is exactly what russia is doing saying

this to both the government and opposition groups some of the nation's boot. western and regional telling the opposition go on fighting your cause is right you will win it's up to you to decide who's position is creating the danger of more and more deaths in syria. pressure the session has the force been to come to some sort of a diplomatic non military solution to this tragic crisis which unfortunately continues to unfold a day by day weather more tragedies more casualties reported on a nearly daily basis. now the israeli army is on alert after the fighting in neighboring syria range closer to its border israel is increasingly concerned the conflict in the arab nation could become its business as well and explains there are fears that a change in syrian power could lead to another war in the region. remember this. this hour of live from has

a generation of young people in number so some friends finding something to dispense with a country in just under two years the rage against dictators seems to have turned in a new direction. the capital of the caliphate the capital of the united states the arabs. the arab spring uprisings primarily sought to do away with their own regimes they known creasing we seem to turn against israel with the old leaders out of the pictures the first new government's little to do with the old ways of tacit compliance if not friendship with israel's existence a pattern that didn't escape israel should get used to a different middle east for all means and. i think that the most important thing is the barak. coming to the fore with the muslim brothers it is definitely

definitely much more difficult middle east for as well spruance of the revolutionary spirits which took over the region appeared to have shot up even in places considered soon by israel here in the golan heights some twenty thousand jews consider themselves syrian their home country is just across the road has a daily reminder of the home they have lost and though it may be in the grips of a civil war many of them with gladly make their home in an unstable syria rather than in israel golan heights were annexed by israel during the six day war with syria forty five years ago. though the current unrest in syria is viewed differently by residents of this village they are united why one thought. israel is a stable country but we are historic you are part of the syrian nation and it's our culture we want to be on the syrian authority even under the suppressive regime we want to be part of syria before the civil war took over damascus was said to be

involved in talks over a peace accord with israel clinton's time ones to power in syria be transferred to the opposition the result will surely mean peace and stability for tel aviv of course when assad was in full control the family in syria. knew what it's going to get from the us and family so to speak i mean the notion was what you see is what you what you see is what you get. although for residents of the golan heights the future of territory is much clearer in this period of the arab spring they too are prepared to bring great just what you learned so far would . go back to syria what was taken and will have to come back and rule. here we go. golan heights. now protests across the arab world have drawn much attention from countries in the west but critics say it often smacks of double standards. u.s.

does not want to see its control over the region slip away by something piddling as the democratic aspirations of the people. washington turns a blind eye to thousands of protesters in kuwait while at the same time praising the opposition forces in countries such as syria. tucked in between the russian mainland japan and the island is the island of minute on name toff. discovered it it is described as the pride of the sakhalin region we'll take a look at what's in store for us here. until two thousand and four the island was part of the borders own and was completely restricted to visit is now this picture is place is open to tourists unique plants and animals are its top attraction.

treaty has been exploring the deaths of the world sees for several decades but it's here at more your own island where he has finally found what he'd been looking for . the water here is very clear the visibility is very good and the underwater world here is extremely rich i've been to many diving locations across the planet including the on the. tops my list while some go to the cycling region to enjoy the sights convert the island's nature's riches into a healthy dollar it is home to the biggest seafood processing factory in russia the tonight shock hundreds of thousands of tons of fish get caught in the nets too late to produce delicious salamon caviar and necessary attribute of anything. the owner of the enterprise says a good fishing season can bring in more than one hundred million dollars net profit

. and to large extent this is old to do what succulent offers environmentally the tonight show operates in only and natural habitats and mild climate unique natural sights and delicious seafood. for a diverse holiday for those who are not afraid to travel ten thousand kilometers from europe the question is whether this distant land would ever be able to become a major tourist destination. well for the. science technology innovation all the least of elements from around russia we've got the future covered. of the six america votes for its next president. who takes the wheel as the us

drives into the feature. get the news the mainstream misses with up close election coverage the u.s. election up close. and dotcom. sigrid laboratory. was able to build a new most sophisticated robot which fortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tim's mission to teach creation why it should care about humans and. this is why you should care only. welcome back you're watching our teeth now local activists in kuwait say security forces have detained dozens of pro-democracy campaigners in the latest clampdown on a rally in the gulf nation riot police use stun grenades and smoke bombs against thousands of demonstrators who defied

a ban on public gatherings protesting against new voting rules the opposition claims changes in the electoral system hand an advantage to the pro-government candidates in next month's election sunday's rally became the third major protest in the past few days geo political analyst eric draitser says golf martine's confidently take on democratic measure comfortably in the knowledge they have to support the us. the government is terrified look at protest movement developing in saudi arabia one that's continued to go on in bahrain we see the same around the arab world more generally and kuwait looks at itself or rather the government does and they see that they really stand no chance at maintaining power maintaining control of that country unless they are able to successfully suppress the and repress the opposition these are client states of the united states bahrain is the u.s. fifth fleet the navy kuwait as we all know the role that it played in both wars against iraq kuwait is very much dependent on saudi arabia and the united states and so all

of this is part of the geo political calculus of us that germany us this not want to see its control over the region slip away by something as piddling as the democratic aspirations of the people of the region. and has just mentioned the bahraini regime continues to mute anti-government slogans on the streets on our website r.t. dot com find out the latest on the protests which have been ongoing for more than twenty months now. and the u.k. set for a clash with its partners over how much britain pays for its membership it seems there's still a chance to save taxpayers money back at home it's been revealed that m.p.'s there are spending tens of thousands of pounds flying to exotic destinations on so-called fact finding mission artists are first reports. rio china miami we might all dream of just being off to some exotic destination but unfortunately in the middle of

a double dip recession with thirty measures. we're being kept to ground. for some lucky and just think of the some of those fall flying at destinations on fact finding missions one fact that has been found is that these trips costing millions in taxpayers' pounds so take a look at the figures they regularly come in at more than forty thousand pounds per trip one shit singapore in china cost a whopping seventy two thousand pounds something has clearly gone wrong when you have a coach trip costing eight to ten thousand pounds per member of parliament on the trip there either either staying in luxury hotels when they could with a more modest accommodation or they're using business class travel when they could travel most of the rest not surprisingly the public's not impressed i certainly think it's excessive and i think they i can't say taking the piss but they're taking advantage there's absolutely no question. that because i find

a good place if you have the patience to look on the right side and if the m.p.'s need some advice on how to save the pennies the public has a symbol for the. central meaning you know you're ok guys i think you know what we'd all love to just fall into the sunset to help us deal with the economic crisis those excessive expenditures are going to leave many m.p.'s looking like they simply got their heads in the clouds so. london. and war stories are available on our website r.t. dot com and quoting begin there's no as big again. online and we've got the story of one super. model and her billionaire husband planning to stage an al cent poll in the stock market titans fiftieth birthday. painted black and orange

categorically dot com where we wind up our story a one creepy course station perfectly colored for halloween. now the case of wiki leaks is once again hitting the headlines and that's after the u.s. national archive blocked any search tamps containing the name of the whistle blowing web site the move on the recommendation of washington was said to be protecting classified information about boss kay leader of the u.k. pirate party believes what happened is a clear sign of censorship mission of the library of congress that is trying to preserve a collective body of knowledge the job of any line reach shortly should be to share that knowledge well it's frankly not surprising that such organizations that are

under pressure to actually conform to these these kind of classification law but essentially this is still censorship and censorship laws it's actually stepping on freedom of speech we often see the united states and it's very quick to criticize states' broader stepping on prince speech would seem an able to say to uphold the same standards at home we can see how no one thought that the a certain principle of whistle blowing to go through germany was the man for democracy. and it was a couple of minutes the latest episode of cross stuck stay with us for that again. culture is that so much of a given to each musician minute cried mark when democracy promotion the export of

a universal set of values or the means to change and control the global order twenty years after the. download the official ati application to cell phones choose your language stream quality and enjoy your favorites from atsushi t.v. is not required to watch on t.v. all you need is your mobile device to watch our team any time of the. wealthy british style. that's not on my list.

market why not come to. find out what's really happening to the global economy with max cons or for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines tune in to kaiser report on r t. two we speak your language any time of the war not a day of. school music programs and documentaries in spanish matters to you breaking news a little tentative angles keeping stories. for you here. detroit altie spoilage to find out more visit. all tito it's called. get off sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lengthly you think you understand it and then you

glimpse something else you hear or see some other part of it and realize that everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm tom harpur welcome to the big picture.

start a. new. hello and welcome to cross talk on funeral of health democracy promotion the export of a universal set of values or the means to change and control the global order twenty years after the end of the cold war the united states and many of its allies continue to support individuals and groups around the world with the goal of influencing or even overthrowing foreign governments as america's influence declines relative to the rise of others is democracy promotion still in washington's interest. started. to cross-talk the export of democracy i'm joined by my guest in washington john glaser he's an assistant editor and blogger for antiwar dot com thomas.