Democracy Now!

Rachel Corrie, a twenty-three-year-old student from Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington, was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza seven years ago as she stood before a Palestinian home facing demolition. Today, a trial opens in Israel in a lawsuit brought by Corrie’s family against the Israeli government. The eyewitness testimony is expected to challenge Israel’s version of events with evidence that she was clearly visible to the soldiers, standing before the bulldozer in her florescent orange jacket. We spend the hour with Rachel Corrie’s family: her father Craig, her mother Cindy, and her sister Sarah. [includes rush transcript]

• Israel Announces Major Settlement Expansion Amid Biden Visit
• NY Activists Protest Israeli Military Chief
• Préval in US Ahead of Aid Request
• EU: Climate Proposals Could Increase Emissions
• India Advances Historic Measure on Women Lawmakers
• Ex-UK Intel Chief: US Misled Allies on Treatment of Prisoners
• Thousands Protest Insurers in DC
• Utah Gov. Signs Anti-Abortion Measure
• Study: Number of US Millionaires Increased 16% in 2009
• Bank of America to End Overdraft Fees on Debit Purchases
• 1st Gay Marriages Performed in DC
• Veteran Activist Doris "Granny D" Haddock Dies at 100

The official death toll from the war is 100,000, but it is widely estimated to be much higher, perhaps even as high as one million. In his latest piece of artwork, Iraqi American artist Wafaa Bilal tries to grapple with the enormity of these numbers. It’s a twenty-four-hour live tattooing performance called “..and Counting” that began at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts gallery in New York Monday night. By tonight Bilal’s back will be tattooed with the names of Iraqi cities, 5,000 red dots representing dead American soldiers and 100,000 dots in invisible ink representing the official death toll for Iraqis. The dots representing the Iraqi death toll will only be visible under ultraviolet light. [includes rush transcript]

Major environmental groups are coming under criticism from within their own ranks for taking positions that some say are antithetical to their stated missions of saving the planet. In the latest issue of The Nation magazine, the British journalist Johann Hari writes, “As we confront the biggest ecological crisis in human history, many of the green organizations meant to be leading the fight are busy shoveling up hard cash from the world’s worst polluters—and burying science-based environmentalism in return…In the middle of a swirl of bogus climate scandals trumped up by deniers, here is the real Climategate.” [includes rush transcript]

• Obama Campaigns for Healthcare Reform
• Former Rep. Massa Claims He Was Forced Out over Healthcare Bill
• Protests Planned Outside Health Insurance Company Meeting
• Gates: “More Dark Days” Ahead in Afghanistan
• Claim: Pentagon Peddled Misinformation about Attack on Marjah
• Nigerians Bury Dead After Massacre
• Greek PM Calls for Crackdown on Financial Speculators
• Biden: US Ties to Israel Are “Unshakable”
• Burmese Refugees in Bangladesh Face Starvation
• UN Official Warns Against Full Body Airport Scanners
• Midwestern Towns Sue Manufacturer of Atrazine Weedkiller
• Interior Dept. Puts Off Listing Sage Grouse as Endangered Species
• Obama Criticized for Adding Just Two Species to Endangered List
• Conservationist Edgar Wayburn, 103, Dies

On Sunday, March 7th, 1965, Alabama state troopers and local police attacked a peaceful march by 600 civil rights demonstrators from Selma to Montgomery. The day would be remembered as Bloody Sunday. The marchers were just a few blocks into their planned route when they were tear-gassed and beaten by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River. Bloody Sunday was the first of three attempted marches from Selma to Montgomery, which was finally completed under federal protection and led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is widely credited with helping pass the 1965 Voting Rights Act. [includes rush transcript]

Sunday was an historic day in Hollywood. Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman in history to win the best director award at the Oscars. Bigelow’s film The Hurt Locker won a total of six Oscars, including best picture and best screenplay. And Geoffrey Fletcher became the first African American to win an Oscar for best writing. He won best adapted screenplay for the film Precious. Meanwhile, Mo’Nique won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role as Mary Jones in Precious. Mo’Nique is only the fifth black woman to win an acting Oscar. In her acceptance speech, she cited Hattie McDaniel, who won the same honor for Gone with the Wind seventy years ago. Hattie McDaniel was the first Academy Award ever given to a black performer. [includes rush transcript]

The Obama administration is working to gather international backing for a fourth round of UN sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. While the United States has circulated proposals on further sanctions, it has yet to present a draft resolution, and a vote at the Security Council is thought to be months away. This comes amidst a new report by the New York Times that reveals the US government has given more than $107 billion to companies which are also doing business with Iran despite a ban on US companies trading with Iran. Leading Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi argues the UN should focus on pressing the Iranian government to restore democracy and human rights, rather than imposing economic sanctions. [includes rush transcript]

Thousands of events are being held around the world to celebrate International Women’s Day, an idea that was launched 100 years ago when a group of women from seventeen countries gathered in Copenhagen, Denmark to champion the rights of women. Activists across the globe are drawing attention to a variety of concerns, including discriminatory laws, the high rate of pregnancy-related deaths in many parts of the world, the skewed sex ratio in China and India, the disproportionately high number of women who are killed and victimized by wars, the comparatively heavier burden of poverty on women, and the continuing disparity between men and women in terms of the quality of available employment and wages received. [includes rush transcript]

• Vote Counting Begins in Iraq; 38 Killed on Election Day
• British War Resister Sentenced to Nine Months in Jail
• US-Backed Somali Troops Prepare Major Offensive
• Hundreds Killed in Nigerian City of Jos
• Biden Heads to Israel as Palestinians Agree to Indirect Talks
• Protests Set to Mark US Visit by Israeli Military Official
• Report: US Gives $107B in Contracts to Firms Busting Iran Sanctions
• Voters in Iceland Reject Payment of $5.3 Billion Foreign Debt
• Unemployment Rate Remains at 9.7%; 36,000 Jobs Lost in February
• Rep. Massa to Resign; Rep. Delahunt Not to Seek Reelection
• Pentagon Shooter Railed About Property Rights and the Monetary System
• Texas Judge: Death Penalty Unconstitutional
• Seven Muslims Detained in Nevada for Praying Outside
• Video Shows Police Beating Student Protesters in California
• Historic Night at Academy Awards

As the Obama administration touts No Child Left Behind and the “Race to the Top” competition for school grants, we speak to leading education scholar and former Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch. She’s long been known as an advocate of No Child Left Behind, charter schools, standardized testing, and using the free market to improve schools. But she’s had a radical change of heart, as chronicled in her latest book, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. Ravitch says, “The evidence says No Child Left Behind was a failure, and charter schools aren’t going to be any better.” [includes rush transcript]

Students and teachers held hundreds of demonstrations on Thursday as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education. Hundreds of thousands took part in what was the largest day of coordinated student protest in years. We get a roundup of the action on the streets, from California to New York. [includes rush transcript]

At least fourteen people have been killed and nearly sixty wounded in a string of attacks in Baghdad on the first day of voting in Iraq’s parliamentary elections. Iraq opened its polls on Thursday for early voting, including for hundreds of thousands of soldiers, police officers and prisoners. We speak to Nir Rosen, an independent journalist who has covered the Iraq war since 2003. [includes rush transcript]

• Students, Teachers Take Part in Nationwide Protests Against Education Cuts
• Gunman Dies After Wounding Two Police Officers at Pentagon
• White House Hosts Insurance Execs, Dems on Healthcare
• House OKs $15B Jobs Bill
• House Panel Votes to Recognize Armenian Genocide
• Levin Questions Blackwater Bid for $1 Billion Deal in Afghanistan
• Study: 1 in 3 US Drone Victims in Pakistan is a Civilian
• Aftershock Hits Chile as Gov't Lowers Death Toll
• Clinton: US to Restore Honduras Aid
• Dems Urge Admin to Probe Honduran Abuses
• Mexico City Enacts Gay Marriage Law
• Utah Rep. Revises Sweeping Anti-Abortion Bill
• Va. GOP Lawmaker: Disabilities Are God's Punishment for Abortions
• AIG Units Settle Allegations of Discriminatory Lending
• Report: Admin to Scrap Civilian Trial for Alleged 9/11 Mastermind
• Suit: Energy Giants' Emissions Worsened Katrina Impact

The Obama administration has declassified part of its plan to bolster cyber security, which calls for greater cooperation between private companies and the National Security Agency. Privacy and civil liberties advocates have sounded alarms about the NSA’s expanded role in security because of the secretive nature of the agency and its role in the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. [includes rush transcript]

In 2005, a coalition of Palestinian civil society groups called for people all over the world to engage in a nonviolent campaign to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel until it complies with international law. The call was inspired by the international boycott and divestment initiatives applied to South Africa in the struggle to abolish apartheid. We host a debate between Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the BDS campaign and a Palestinian human rights activist and commentator, and Rabbi Arthur Waskow, a longtime antiwar and civil rights activist who is the founder and director of the Shalom Center. [includes rush transcript]

Thousands of students in at least thirty-two states are planning to walk out of classes today as part of the National Day of Action to Defend Public Education. The call for nationwide protests originated in California following last November’s student strikes and building takeovers in response to undergraduate fees rising 32 percent. Budget cuts in California have led to teachers furloughs, canceled classes, and entire academic departments being eliminated. We speak to University of California, Berkeley professor Ananya Roy and Ricardo Gomez, a third-year undergraduate student who started the group Berkeley Students Against the Cuts. [includes rush transcript]

• Obama Backs Reconciliation Vote on Healthcare Reform
• 9 Killed in Iraq Bombings
• Biden Vows Ongoing US Combat Operations After Pullout
• Report: High Number of Birth Defects Seen in Fallujah
• Iran Arrests Opposition Activists
• US Circulates New Draft of Iran Sanctions
• Clinton: US "Deeply Concerned" about Venezuela
• Arab League Backs Resumption of Mideast Peace Talks
• HRW: Attacks Increasing Against Honduran Coup Opponents
• Report: US Mulls Ending Training Ban on Atrocity-Linked Indonesian Unit
• Rangel Takes Leave as Ways and Means Chair
• General: Wars Hamper Training of US Troops

Over the last five years, Britain, the United States and other countries have written off billions of dollars in loans to the world’s poorest countries. But a small group of vulture funds have been trying to divert that money into their own pockets. Investigative journalist Greg Palast traveled to the West African country of Liberia to investigate how vulture funds have been operating there and why Liberia lost a $20 million case against two vulture funds in a British court. [includes rush transcript]

The death toll from Saturday’s massive earthquake in Chile has reached close to 800 and is expected to rise. Aid has yet to reach many areas hardest hit by the quake, including the southern city of Concepción, which accounts for nearly half of the death toll. We go to Chile to discuss the latest developments with Eva Salinas, editor of the Santiago Times. [includes rush transcript]