no i really don't think it's good business i think that the united states has been. an empire i think clearly the inequality is a wealth that we're seeing in the united states is an empire i mean this is clearly . one of the domestic a military general and you see here that how when he when he comes to anything that's important domestically in the united states such as health care reform it's almost impossible to get any serious health care reform done but when it comes to military intervention i mean it's just done overnight i mean obama just says we're going to do this we're going to. there's no discussion no. no no and no kind of congressional oversight we just go ahead and bomb the same goes with any kind of war it's all you know we had last week we had a stories in the new york times about obama ordering assigned gentlemen much more to discuss a fascinating discussion but we've run out of time many thanks to my guest today in new york and in wasilla and thanks to our viewers for watching us here r.t. see you next time and remember last time. you. want. to see goo

if the united states is at the table and there's a unit, there's a whole different equation that chinese have to take into account. virtue of -- it advantage s us for the chinese to be out. they have been ribbed and kind of made fun of in various meetings when the subject comes up because we're not a member. they look and say you're not a member. you don't have standing to bring this up. people need to weigh that as we go forward here. >> admiral papp, we sit here every day and it isn't often that our intelligence is insulted but for you to come here and tell us that we can't resolve a border dispute with canada because we're not a member of this law of the sea treaty really does that. i'm sorry that you chose to go down that route because i think those kinds of representations really undermine the statements and the logical arguments made by others who want to see this treaty authorized. i was surprised as all of you testified that the south china sea wasn't mentioned until we got to admiral locklear. i was going to go down the same route that senator corker did in that regard and i'll

jonathan hunt at the united nations here in new york. course, talk about what the president is about to say and the situation with europe. but i think it's important that we give you an update on a story we reported on earlier that jonathan hunt is covering from the united nations and to get that i'm going to read from that this computer. jonathan we just gotten a dispatch from the reuters news agency that indicates the russian president vladimir putin said a short time ago that syrians should be the ones to decide whether president bashar assad remains in power. apparently contradicting reports that he no longer backs the syrian leader. you and i reporting what david cammeron's folks said to reuters. putin made the comment shortly after the british prime minister david cammeron and russian leader made it clear he doesn't want assad to remain in power. all hopes that the russian president had backed off that appear now dashed. backed him into a corner there has been a diplomatic effort by the u.s. and by the u.k. to put the russian presid

transparency helps level the playing field for united states companies. combats the trupgs that the world bak identified as quote, the single biggest obstacle to economic and social development, end of quote. toward this end, united states government should be moving forward with full implementation of the 2010 carden-lugar amendment which requires all the companies listed on the new york stock exchange to publish their payments to foreign governments for oil, natural gas, and mineral developments. [ applause ] failure to fully impment the language would squander an opportunity to transform the development scenarios, a of resource rich countries that are now mired in poverty. while foreign assistance

the united states. i watch and they run down my property and about this the more you see. all these people. the wire is protecting the country the kind of guy who doesn't mind goodness dirty so i come out here you know we're all immigrants that we all came from somewhere else. she didn't. bridge sure. was able to build the roads most sophisticated robot which on fortunately doesn't give a darn about anything to submission to teach religion why it should care about humans and. this is why you should care only on the r.-g. dot com. welcome back to cross talk i could really go to remind you we're talking about soft power in international relations. and. ok craig i'd like to go back to you in washington who cares about soft power my goodness if you have hard power you're going to get what you want so who really cares i mean it's an academic exercise you know i've studied a soft power for a long time and i think it's an interesting concept but you know if you're strong you get what you want and it doesn't matter what the rest of the world thinks go ahead you know i've heard thi

engage in these kinds of activities i think it hurts their soft power but that doesn't mean that the united states does not have soft power or the capacity to leverage some of its political values or its foreign policy to achieve some sort of foreign policy objective i think it's not so clear cut a picture for the united states and its software if i could say with you could you give me an example where a positive soft power you get a positive outcome when looking at u.s. foreign policy. well we one of the things that people have talked about is whether or not the events in the middle east represent a victory for soft power such as the arab spring and on the one hand you can look to this as an example of democracy as a political value succeeding or at least starting to succeed in the region on the other hand right it's not necessarily the case that this is a quote unquote victory for american soft power america doesn't own the institution of democracy it's not uniquely american but on the same of the same token right it's important to recognize that soft power isn't necessarily about the act

foreign assistance is a key component of the united states national security strategy. especially since the tragic events of september 11th, 2001, it'se it's evident that poorly governed states with impoverished nations can pose grave threats to our national security. wars and extended military operations are enormously expensive in lives and in dollars. we have spent hundreds of billions of dollars in recent years fighting wars and preparing for military scenarios in underdeveloped regions of the world. if properly targeted, foreign assistance programs can mitigate national security risks and improve the united states connections to peoples and governments. they may well save huge military expenditures down the road. this is one of the reasons why the defense department has been a strong advocate of a robust foreign affairs budget in the united states. beyond the national security imperative, i strongly believe that no global superpower that claims to possess the moral high ground can afford to relinquish itsline in preventing global disease, hunger and ignorance. more

internationally by russia and by china in the case of the opposition they're being supported by the united states britain france and the client regimes the gulf states saudi arabia qatar turkey and so you see a civil war but it civil war with international dimensions in the international situation will of course have a direct impact on the outcome i believe that there is going to be protracted conflict i think the syrian government is fighting to the finish and their allies russia in this case recognize that if they were to be overthrown the united states would create in syria a proxy client regime as they have in iraq and as they have in libya ok if i go to you and i ask the question who would be the winners and losers when considering what we just heard here only the syrian people lose. the syrian people and this is it is said because. of the crisis but all of the. more than ten thousand people killed so this is. to see. is the name. in my view the civil war all of this unfortunately and people. for four or four months and from the from from a regional person who i am afraid that. intern

this war will end with winners and losers who will be well let's start peter by making clear that the united states government the western powers england france the former colonizers of the middle east have actually promoted civil war they promoted civil war because their goal in the case of syria as it was in libya as it was in iraq is to overthrow the existing independent government now is syria unlike libya and unlike iraq has a different set of political and social contours clearly the syrian government has amassed popular base the opposition also has a base of mass proportions in the case of syria they are being assisted internationally by russia and by china in the case of the opposition they're being supported by the united states britain france and the client regimes the gulf states saudi arabia qatar turkey and so you see a civil war but it civil war with international dimensions and the international situation will of course have a. direct impact on the outcome i believe that there is going to be protracted conflict i think the syrian government is fighting to the finish and their

being attacked by the powerful united states strongly condemn the black people all illegally should. be tamed without charge but that doesn't stop. the day. that can change the world tomorrow. during the last few years. today i speak to two giants of the intellectual if noam chomsky read noun linguist rebel think tara kelley street fighting novelist the military historian i want to find out what these two act towards think where is the world going. to go. terry. two thousand and eleven two thousand focus being storage here for liberation movements in many places across the world did you see it coming i didn't see it coming i don't think most people saw it coming but what's interesting is that you have these arab uprisings in a part of the world which commentators was saying people aren't interested in democracy the muslims are genetically all started to go crazy and you have these ups ages and then they spread because it's the occupation of buried square in cairo that inspired activists all of the united states even in russia who would have expected these movements suddenly to come u

i would like to see the united states lead. first of all, first and foremost, i would like to see the president of the united states stand up for the people of syria, say this massacre is terrible. it's abominable. all of us should condemn it. the other day the president of the united states spoke and he didn't say a word. he said talk about the annan plan, my god, the annan plan? so one of the reasons why historians will judge ronald reagan, one of the greatest presidents in history is because even in the face of criticism he stood up for the people who are behind the iron curtain. he gave them courage. he gave them the belief that we were with them. can't the president of the united states stand up and speak for the people of syria? can't he say the massacre is unacceptable and must stop? so that's the first thing i would do is speak up for them. speak up for them, and you know how much that matters to people that are struggling? it really matters. nathan was mentioned in a speech by ronald reagan back during the cold war and

of the units. i might note that as of today, no permits have yet been filed to correct the notice of violations, to either remove them or to legalize the units. >> what are the nature of the complaints? >> the conditions of the habitable spaces, lack of smoke detectors and so forth. commissioner clinch: how many units are currently permitted? >> the legal use of the building is for two units. >> i have a question. on your report, it says there is and an improved second means of egress. >> there is no second means of egress. it is a converted apartment house. the only path of travel is through that walkway, through that sad walkway. that is the only way in and out. >> when you go straight back, does it go into a backyard? where does it go? >> i have not been to this property myself. as far as i know, my understanding is it just goes straight back. there is no second way out of the property other than retracing steps back to the front entrance. >> and even though you can go forward or backwards in tha

the united states ought not to be left behind. and finally, what i would say ted you, elliott, is that if the decision is made to move forward and if the wells are drilled, yes, it will be done with every safety precaution that is available to us or -- so nothing will happen and the preparations are extensive and intensive that have been underway. and there will be deployed as exploration does occur. we as americans should not be afraid of finding out that the resource values of their because i think often what happens in the world of energy, and it relates back to the part of the conversation that i started up the speech with, that as we live in a world of -- a fairy tale world and then there is the real world of energy, and the real world of energy it is important to have the best of formation and the best science. how can you have an honest conversation about places like the viejo lease or the atlantic wendy information that we have their is so outdated that we don't know what is there. the seismic, no other information really o

it would have been very helpful if the united states as well as u.s. companies, including verizon had been able to use the convention deter future violations. finally, the convention will help the united states government and affected companies respond when countries attempt unlawfully to acquire licenses or permits before submarine cables can be laid or repaired. for example, verizon is a co-owner of the cable system which passes over the continental shelf co-owned by malta. even though the current agreement allows for transit, malta's resources threaten legal action if a license is not paid and the fees add additional costs and raise the spector of coastal nations imposing similar requirements for the soul purpose of raising revenue at the expense of the operators and owners. by signing onto the convention, they will be able to enforce the treaty's freedom to lay and maintain submarine cables without fees lev vieed by coast states. companies can work with the appropriate u.s. agencies to enforce the freedoms to lay and repair cables saving millions of

the united states had some native allies. in many ways this is a continuation of that struggle. >> professor eustace, is it fair to look at the war of 1812 as round two of the revolutionary war? >> i think in some important respects it was and in other respects it wasn't but it was sort of spun that way. one of the first primary sources that i came across that got me really interested in looking at patriotism during the war, which is the focus of my research, was this fascinating book, the multipart title. the title was "the champions of freedom." it makes you think it's a war about freedom. next part of the title was "or the mysterious chief." the mysterious chief turns out to be an indian ghost and final part of the title is ""romance f the 19th century based on events of the war between united states and great britain that terminated in march of 1815." this title collects a lot of different ideas. it collects the idea it was a rematch and this was about a struggle for liberty between the united states and great britain whic

the united states has this technology. president obama has said that the administration should be more transparent about it. is there not any concern that the administration has that there is a precedent being set? you've just heard assad this week blame the massacre that took place in hula on -- >> everyone knows how preposterous that assertion is. >> and countries claim terrorism as a justification for their actions all the time. even positing that the united states under any president only acts righteously every time. is there not any concern that a precedent is being set, either for some future -- >> jake, without getting into -- >> or any other country? >> without getting into very sensitive issues that go to the cover our national security interests, i can say this president this, commander in chief, pus a great deal of thought and care into the prosecution and implementation of the policy decisions he makes and that includes in the effort to combat al qaeda, in the af-pak region and around the world. there is no ques

it's an emerging area of great interest to the united states. as i understand it, we're the only country that borders the arctic that is not a member, has not ratified the law of the sea. explained a little bit more how that -- as these discussions are taking place. >> senator, i'm the commander of northern command and it's my area of responsibility. arctic is a fast changing environment. it's harsh. there are few assets available. working together is really at a premium. it's the opening of a new frontier, danger and uncertainty, and also opportunity. so the idea that strongest, the fastest, the most aggressive party can define the customary international law is not the approach to any of the eight arctic nations decided to take. it would empower me as i provide leadership on behalf of the united states in the arctic to start with that rules-based framework, the firmness of treaty law and order to start sorting through the uncertainty that we face up there. and as i said, there is a large premium working together in the arctic right now. >> than

i'm damian trujillo, and today we celebrate the 50-year anniversary of the united farm workers. today we speak with cesar chavez's son and the president of the united farm workers, plus a special concert. this is your "comunidad del valle." ♪ >>> we begin this special show here on "comunidad del valle" with rich casey. president on a great endeavor over in west africa. welcome to the show, sir. >> thank you, damian. >> you sent us a video clip and it shows the map of where you go, here it is, it's a long trip. tell us what you do and why you do t. >> what we do is try to prevent babies from getting aids from their infected mothers. as you know, the aids epidemic has shifted to africa, where 70% of the new cases happen and we think the most tragic parts is when babies get infected at birth, so our objective is to prevent all of those, and, in fact, our motto is getting to zero, zero infections of newborns within five years. >> how is it you decided let's do this half a world away, this is where we need our efforts. >> to give you a background, the project was started in 1989 when

of the always quite class conscious business classes really felt they were on a roll so in the united states for example. well we all know the facts over the past generation there's been. wealth created but it's gone into very few pockets the extreme inequality in the united states is weighted very heavily by a literally a tenth of a percent of the population mostly the hedge fund managers c.e.o.'s of major corporations and so on but talking about the united states but the phenomena are basically worldwide takes a egypt one of the most exciting places you know the the movement that that started off the top or square demonstrations a year ago it's called the april sixth movement and there's a reason. april sixth two thousand and eight was the day of a large scale a labor protests at the major industrial installations in egypt supporting demonstrations and so on the there was a small group of my tech savvy professionals who tried to who wanted to participate and help help them out with social media and so on. the it was crushed by the dictatorship but that group of professionals is the

it's influencing the united states very directly and european markets. the situation in china is in direct contrast to the approach to clean energy that we have taken here in the united states. many of our efforts to promote clean tech in the united states are addressed in an unpredictable fashion with funds and incentives that expire and come back to life and expire again. and they lack a clear directional policy that would allow industry to plan for the future. i believe that the inconsistent approach that we've been pursuing has put the united states at a disadvantage in competing with china for a share of the -- of clean energy markets, both at home and abroad. many here in the united states argue that we should allow the free market to determine the fate of domestic industries. there is clearly truth in that suggestion, but it fails to take into account the industrial policies and practices of competing nations as well as hidden costs in the current energy system. the u.s. cannot compete on a level playing field with countries that have strong indust

this is a thumb in the eye to the united states. russians plan planting their flag saying syria is our property, our client, our state and we are o going to do as we wish and the united states has a president who not only says anything to oppose that or to critique is but says we are working with them because i'm confident they don't condone the massacres wilmington what is the second thing you picked up. >> the subtlety of the gibbe gibberish he offered on europe which is the only thing he can do because the fact that he didn't have anything to say or to offer is the perfect reflex oreflection of the decline of american influence everywhere in the past few years. a bigger decline in all area of the world. in the middle east. in syria. in europe. economically and every other way than any three and a half years since the end of the is second world war. this is a president who speaks for the united states so weakly that nobody cares what he says. the europeans care what merkel says. they don't give a damn what the united states says b

what's the worry that catholics have in the united states? go ahead. >> they'll only listen to the pope. >> that they'll only listen to the pope, that they're loyal to the pope before and instead of being loyal to the united states, and you can't be a good citizen, particularly if you're overly obedient to the pope and the clergy you can't be independent citizen required in the american public so this is a way of saying, hey, we're being good citizens and participating in the war effort even as we are still overtly practicing our catholicism. more of these kinds of expressions of dual identities. fast forward after the civil war a little bit. this is a famous st. patrick's day parade, again in new york city, in 1871. where else have we seen a picture of st. patrick's day before? anyone remember? >> the nast cartoon. >> the day we celebrate. a lot different, right? that was a picture of a drunken riot. this is the opposite. it is orderly, calm, peaceful. and that's not a coincidence. the irish are very conscious in the public displays as anyone

currency of the united states. it was constant in its purchasing power and in its definition, but for the interruption of the civil war, until 1934. so the value of a currency defined by statute in gold weight had many examples in this feeble, imperfect laboratory of human history of a very stable purchasing power. what edward i think is getting at is that there were always bankers and politicians who wished to prorobe the monetary system in order to finance political subsidies to privileged classes, including cartalized banking systems or military establishments. for example, it is a fact that the bank of england was established not to be the lender of last resort, despite the comments of chairman bernanke in his lecture in washington, the bank of england was established to finance the fisk of the united kingdom. the first central banks of germany, the reich bank of prussia, was established to finance the prussian army. napoleon's establishment of the bank of france was not -- but it was established to finance napo

london and a statement released from the embassy of ecuador parts of it read quote as a signatory to the united nations universal dekker declaration of human rights with an obligation to review all applications for asylum we have immediately passed his application on to the relevant department in quito and while the department assesses mr assad as application mr sonner will remain at the embassy under the protection of the ecuadorian government goes on to say that although the government is considering mr assad his application it will not interfere in the judicial process of either the u.k. or so. in now all of this comes just one week after the supreme court of the u.k. rejected a bed by a saunders attorney to reopen extradition into the case joining me now for more on this developing case is jasmine radek national security and human rights director for the government accountability project she's also also the author of this book the whistleblower and the american taliban welcome to the show jazz lead so i guess first off want to get your reaction to this news doesn't come as a surprise i thin

will expand suddenly this is some kind of news which would hardly be very welcome in the west in the united states in particular which have been growing a very much war with china's growing military might and the recent visit by the u.s. secretary of defense mr panetta to the asian pacific region basically confirmed all these worries with producing statements like the united states must be vigilant in the face of. china's growing military power but beijing is also growing very impatient and very irritated with the actions of the united states which in particular this visit often they're saying that the growing military presence in the region may destabilize the whole situation we certainly are waiting to see whether there will be any reaction coming from washington on these statements coming from beijing but definitely the fact that russia and china are growing their military ties certainly adds a very interesting spin to global geopolitics. u.s. secretary of defense is wrapping up his asian charm offensive with the last stop in india brian becker from the antiwar answer coalition says amer

why is it important for the united states to join the convention now? to begin, the united states would gain legal protection for sovereignty. sovereign rights and jurisdiction in offshore zones. the freedom of maneuvering action for military forces and protection for economic and marine research interests at sea. u.s. firms would be able to obtain essential internationally recognized and exclusive rights to explore and exploit deposits of minerals on the ocean floor beyond national jurisdiction and secure recognized title to the recovered resources. the convention as revised by the 1994 agreement on implementation provides the commercial regime needed for private sdprea it fully satisfies the criteria articulated in 1982 by president reagan. allow me to site a few specific practical reasons of how remaining outside the convention damages the united states's national interest. these are not ak emic or philosophical points, but examples of how we are under cutting our national interest by failing to join. first, the convention is now open for amendment a

corporations have the right to explore and exploit the deep seabed regardless of whether or not the united states is a part. these are the facts. collectively they indicate there are real costs and foreseeable risks that the u.s. will undertake if it joins the convention. proponents claim there are no costs whatsoever. the u.s. will only enjoy benefits for membership. if only the u.s. would join the convention, everything would work out just fine. in light of the facts, i believe it's the proponents claims that are based in methodology and blind faith. thank you again for inviting me to testify today. i look forward to any questions that you have. >> thank you very much. i really appreciate it. that's a good articulate position of the summary. i'm thrilled to be able to tell you i am very happy it's between republicans. i'm going to look to you to thrash it through. it's interesting to me that they are working hard to get something done which president nixon concede of and president reagan support and pushed president george herbert walker bush refined. i don't think that's inconsequential

we'll hear from the president of the united states. we'll also hear from mitt romney at some point today. we'll get his reaction. we'll get the president's reaction. the bottom line, though, in all of this, is that the president's health care reform law will in fact remain the law of the land. we'll take a quick break. much more of our coverage coming up right after this. ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. assure my patients get evthe very best care.ake but look at our health care system. everyone agreed we needed reforms -- but this new health care law -- it just isn't fixing things. president obama promised my patients that they could keep me -- but what if because of this new health care law -- i can't keep them? i've looked at this law. i know the consequences: delayed care and worse yet -- denied care. studies show the president's health care law is projected to add hundreds o

the united states is the greatest maritime power in the world. greatest maritime power the world has ever seen. we have the strongest navy and our economy relies heavily on our imports and exports that move by sea. as a result, we have an enormous stake in ensuring a stable and predictable set of rules for the oceans. joining the treaty helps us do this. so with that, i welcome our distinguished witnesses again. thank you for bringing your expertise to this committee at this important moment. we look forward to hearing your insights. senator lugar? >> thank you, mr. chairman. i join you in welcoming our distinguished military panel and foreign relations committee. i want to underscore for my colleagues a fundamental starting point for this hearing. the commander in chief, the joint chiefs of staff, the united states navy, the united states coast guard, and individual combatant commanders are asking the senate to give the advice and consent to the law of the sea convention. our uniformed commanders are telling us unanimously that u.s. exception to