The U.S. Social Forum kicked off this week in Detroit, with over 20,000 attendees from around the country determined to create solutions for the many problems the country faces.  One of the ongoing struggles that fans of GRITtv will understand is the fight to create a thriving, independent media without corporate dollars--one that puts the concerns of real people ahead of profits.

Don Rojas, Executive Director of Free Speech TV (GRITtv's satellite home on DISH network and now DirectTV as well) joins us to talk about the media collaborations happening at the Forum and beyond.  Check out Free Speech TV's livestream from the Forum--and keep an eye out for Laura on there this weekend.

Cigarettes come with health warnings on every package, reminding the smoker that the product he or she just purchased is harmful to his or her health. But what about Army ads?  Exhorting the viewer to be "Army strong," the ads are everywhere, but make no mention of the possible side effects of joining the military.

David Swanson of WarIsACrime.org created this parody video, speculating on what Army ads would be like if they did have such a health warning.

The United States incarcerates more of its population, both in aggregate numbers and per capita, than any other country in the world--four times as much as China, which has more people and makes no pretense at being a democracy.  This is just one of the troubling facts about the prison industry in the US that Robert Perkinson uncovers in his book, Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire. He traces the modern prison complex to its Southern roots, and connects its racial disparities to the backlash against the civil rights movement.

All this might sound depressing, but Perkinson and Leonard Noisette of the Criminal Justice Fund of the Open Society Institute note that the economic crisis and a new administration have combined for one of the best chances for real prison reform since the Johnson administration. They join Laura in studio to discuss.

Finally, McChrystal is out, Obama looks "tough"--but the media continues to make this a story about, er, manhood instead of policy.