Author David Sirota stopped by the Tattered Cover, Denver's locally owned independent book store, on Wednesday, the 16th of July, to talk to the local audience about his book The Uprising.

Check it out as he talks about anger on the left and the right, and the difference between elections and social movements.

Join us at www.theuptake.org.

Jay Rosen, Professor of Journalism at NYU, offers up his definition of citizen journalism. Do you agree?

You can find Jay's thinking on how the press is changing at pressthink.org .

Filmed at the Netroots Nation conference in Austin, TX by Chuck Olsen of The UpTake, theuptake.org .

(Blood & Oil – documentary – 52 min – directed by Jeremy Earp – narrated by Michael T. Klare)

If you want to understand how the US got into the predicament we're in with oil and the wars we fight to get it, Blood & Oil, the Media Education Foundation's newest documentary, is required viewing.

(Full Disclosure: Jeremy Earp and his team at MEF were instrumental in the making of FOX ATTACKS! Iran. They provided much of the early FOX footage during the lead up to the Iraq war, and I'll always be grateful for their assistance.)

Last year, I reviewed MEF's terrific documentary, War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death, and was mightily impressed with the long, non-partisan view of how the media and the US government convinces Americans of the "necessity" of going to war. After seeing Blood & Oil, I now realize that this long view might be MEF's signature strength. Narrated by Michael T. Klare, correspondent for the Nation and one of the world's top experts on energy and security issues, B&O takes you through the complete history of America and oil, from when the US produced nearly 100% of its own oil (and used it to win World War II) up to the embarrassing, self-destructive mess we now find ourselves in, where more and more of our paychecks go towards buying an increasing amount of oil from governments that don’t like us.

While WME did a fantastic job of smashing the myth of a “liberal” media that is oddly enthusiastic about repeating the government’s warmongering propaganda, B&O dispels the right wing myth that the US never goes to war for oil. From FDR to Jimmy Carter to the Bushes to Bill Clinton, America’s hunger for and pursuit of oil has been at the heart of US foreign policy for the past 60 years. Like WME, B&O lets no party or administration off the hook. The film contains footage, declassified documents, and excerpts from presidential doctrines to show that the US government has long believed that control over the world’s dwindling supply of oil is worth sacrificing countless American lives and dollars while supporting some of the world’s most repressive, anti-democratic regimes.

The idea that the US goes to war for oil is not a liberal conspiracy theory — it’s America’s officially-stated foreign policy. In most cases, America’s foreign policy and energy policy are virtually indistinguishable. The problem is that Americans overwhelmingly do not view oil as a suitable reason to go to war, which is why “freedom”, “new Hitler”, and “WMDs” becomes the justification while we give billions of dollars a year to a country that forbids women to drive.

The Shock Docrtine author Naomi Klein debunks Bush's offshore drilling plan on Fox Business News' Happy Hour Program.

Apropos of Josh Marshall's post, Richard Clarke discusses the series of recent foreign policy shifts from McCain and Bush -- all toward the Obama position.

SEIU demonstration 7.17.08 outside McCain for President HQ, calling on John McCain to take action against tax loopholes for corporate buyout tax breaks for people like his supporter, Henry Kravis.

For more, check out the War on Greed .

What would it be like if Facebook was actually played out in real life? 

Comedy from http://www.idiotsofants.com

As featured on BBC Three show 'The Wall' see: http://www.bbc.co.uk/thewall

Olbermann says the McCain camp doesn't deny he said it, only that McCain doesn't recall it.

I got a few minutes to speak with DNC Chairman Howard Dean after his keynote address at Netroots Nation. It was late last night, and we were both pretty tired, so ignore my rambling, arm- waving question. I was asking Dean about his role as in some ways the founder of what has become known as the netroots:

Here's another excerpt from one of our interviews at Netroots Nation. Here retired Gen. Wesley Clark discusses the darkening situation in Afghanistan.

A former child soldier from Sudan's civil war has found a new forum for his message. Emerging international hip-hop star Emmanuel Jal is trying to convince world leaders to take action now in Sudan by rapping at the UN. This is his story, in his own words.

Five years later, we now see where that poor judgment and lack of insight has gotten us. The Taliban has regained large swaths of Afghanistan, al Qaeda has reconstituted itself, Osama bin Laden still is free, and Afghanistan is in crisis. All of that lends itself to our nation being that much less secure, and in much greater danger of another terrorist attack from extremists from the Pakistan/Afghanistan region.

Via theseminal.com

Today at Netroots Nation, Harold Ford, chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council said he has "great great respect and admiration for his colleagues" at Fox News. The crowd responded accordingly.

With Meet the Bloggers, Brave New Foundation has created a new live show that features some of the best unconventional minds on the internet today.  So they would have been remiss not to have media luminary Arianna Huffington as their first featured guest on today's premiere. 

Huffington sat down with Meet the Bloggers host Cenk Uygur and Brave New Films Founder Robert Greenwald to discuss the bourgeoning role of online journalistic outlets like The Huffington Post.  According to Huffington, her site fuses the traditional journalism's talent for "ferreting out the truth" with what the new media does best, following up on stories with an almost obsessive-compulsive energy.  Greenwald points out that what also matters is the need for these online outlets to "connect the dots," creating a larger picture of how issues are interconnected.  There is also the growing concern that the new media must think outside the netroots (h/t Jim Gilliam), just as it's crucial for the mainstream media not to succumb to a beltway mentality. 

Catch the full episode of Meet the Bloggers at meetthebloggers.org.  And be sure to tune in every Friday at 1PM ET.  Next week's guest will be Sen. Harry Reid, so get you questions ready!

Brave New Foundation hosted a reception in honor of Cristina Lara, the first winner of the Brave Nation Young Activist award. Cristina was selected out of 350 other young activists as this year's recipient and received her award at the reception. In addition, Brave New Foundation president, Robert Greenwald was featured in conversation with activist and author Tom Hayden. It was incredible to celebrate the beginning of a young activist's career while hearing words of wisdom from those who have been entrenched in social movements since the 1960s.

See the full video at bravenation.com

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman tells TPM that the DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility is dragging its feet in investigating whether his prosecution was politically motivated.

Send Karl Rove to Jail!

U.S. Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) sits down with Jacob Soboroff of Why Tuesday? in Washington, D.C., and becomes the first member of Congress to report as a Why Tuesday? correspondent!

Rep. Israel recently introduced the Weekend Voting Act into the House in an attempt to move election day from "the Tuesday after the first Monday in November," as it has been since 1845, to Saturday and Sunday. Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI) introduced the same bill into the Senate earlier this year.

For more information: http://whytuesday.org

This from the AP:

In an interview with Glamour magazine, Obama said attacks on his wife are "infuriating." The likely Democratic presidential nominee blamed the conservative press for going after his wife as if she were the candidate.

"If they have a difference with me on policy, they should debate me. Not her," Obama told the magazine.

Rightly so. Really, has anyone ever seen a Republican candidate’s wife get attacked the way the Republicans and the media go after the wives of Democrats? And don’t give me the line that the “discussion” about Michelle Obama’s patriotism is actually a real issue, because it isn’t unless you believe the paranoid Republican myth that a first lady who isn’t appropriately patriotic would encourage the destruction of her own country. Besides, John McCain has repeatedly said he “really didn’t love America” until he was a POW, and McCain’s “econ brain” Phil Gramm recently said that America is a “nation of whiners,” and no one has questioned their patriotism or the effect it could have on a (shudder) McCain presidency.

This sounds like a dream, doesn't it?   Well, it's not.  We have a unique opportunity right now to send Karl Rove to jail, but only if we take immediate action.

All we have to do is pressure the 40 members of the House Judiciary Committee, make them hold Rove in contempt and send him to jail.  We've never had such a direct opportunity to hold Rove accountable.  No, this is not enough punishment for his years and years of crimes, but it's a huge start, and will send a very clear message to the entire Bush administration.

We put together this video to explain the issues surrounding Rove's failure to testify before Congress, and why Rove should be held in contempt and sent to jail.  Check out Send Karl Rove to Jail, and sign our petition to ensure that the HJC holds Rove in contempt. 

Today at 1pm ET / 10am PT, the first episode of Meet the Bloggers will air live, and Karl Rove will be the big topic of discussion with bloggers Marcy Wheeler, Liliana Segura, Baratunde Thurston, and special guest Arianna Huffington.  The video will be featured on the show, sign the petition, forward it to friends (don't forget to Digg it), and go to meetthebloggers.org to send in your own thoughts, and join the discussion at 1pm ET. 

If you can't watch live, you can always see what was discussed on the show anytime you want at meetthebloggers.org.