there's very little of substance in the pipeline for vulnerable Americans. Look around, is there any meaningful plan in place to help a working family you know? Do people really believe that shoring up banks will improve their lives? Barack Obama is playing a treacherous game: what are all those political wizards in the West Wing thinking? That people will listen to pleas for patience, forever?

Baba Israel, a Hip Hop theater musician, artist, and educator has been influenced by the culture and politics of various movements and generations. His parents were part of the legendary living theater and he has bridged the activism and art of his childhood with his own foray into the world of hip hop, music, and theater.

MATT TAIBBI, ROBERT JOHNSON, and MICHAEL LUX on Goldman Sachs's record profits, the company's big bonus plans, and how backroom deals and taxpayer dollars were used to resuscitate the banking industry. Are they simply bold risk takers or the most brilliant financial coup makers in the history of capitalism?

The House Democrats unveiled their eagerly anticipated healthcare bill on Tuesday. That’s right, three key committees managed to agree on a single bill. Beltway insiders think this show of unity is a big deal. But remember, the House Dems can be expected to pass whatever legislation is put in front of them because they have a healthy majority and no filibuster.

The NAACP turns 100 and the civil rights organization is celebrating this week in New York. Looking back, looking ahead what’s changed and what hasn’t? With the financial crisis disproportionately impacting African Americans, the first black president in the White House, and the nomination hearings of Sonia Sotomayor we review the past few days and the last 100 years. Hilary Shelton, Director of the Washington, D.C.

The NAACP turns 100 and the civil rights organization is celebrating this week in New York. Looking back, looking ahead what’s changed and what hasn’t? James Rucker and others on the state of the NAACP inside and outside the beltway. Hip Hop theater musician, activist, and educator Baba Israel talks about living history and remixing the ritual. And why auditing the Fed matters.

I said it June, I’ll say it again. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor is up for confirmation and some jackasses are still – still -- saying she has to explain her “wise Latina" comment?

There are few first person testimonies of life in Kim Jong Il's North Korea available for western viewers. NC Heikin's film, Kimjongilia: A Film About North Korea, named after the hybrid red begonia created in honor of Kim Jong Il’s 46th birthday, seeks to lift the veil on what remains the most isolated and closed society in the world.

For those of you worried that The Uptake, after covering the Franken/Coleman saga, would leave the national scene, rest assured. The independent media collective is covering all angles of the Sotomayor confirmation hearings. It just so happens that the hearings will be Al Franken's first appearance on the national stage as a senator.

When banks ran into severe trouble late last year, the government responded quickly with a massive bailout, but very little has been done to address a major structural flaw that has left our economy so vulnerable: rampant income inequality.