Papantonio joins us via Skype to talk about the coming year in politics: conciliation from Democrats, attacks from the Right, and maybe more revelations from WikiLeaks, who just revealed that the U.S. State department has been doing the bidding of corporations--ones like Boeing, who outsource jobs by the thousands while dictating U.S. policy.

The price of freedom from an overly harsh sentence in Mississippi? Apparently, one kidney. That's the promise Mississsippi governor Haley Barbour extracted from Gladys Scott--that she would donate a kidney to her sister Jamie in order for both of them to have their sentences commuted. The sisters had served nearly 17 years in prison for an armed robbery worth $11, and a prolonged grassroots effort finally paid off in achieving their freedom--though it may have more to do with Barbour's attempt at making up for his recent approving comments about the White Citizens' Councils.

Joining us to discuss are Anthony Papa, author of 15 to Life and manager of media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance, and from Mississippi, Jaribu Hill, executive director of the Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights.

Finally, the snow is mostly melted here in New York City, but the chilling effect is being felt around the country as conservatives attack public employees. Laura discusses.

Nationally, billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been the toast of town for cutting budgets -- and resisting raising any kind of taxes on Wall Street. He proposed to that snowed-in folks enjoy the snow day by taking in a Broadway show, but residents of Brooklyn and Queens weren't lazing about, they were digging themselves out, or waiting for help -- that didn't come. And that wasn't just the fault of the polar weather but their mayor's priorities.

The conservative rumor mill did its best to make sure people never put two and two together. They spent their week blaming the Right's new favorite target: unionized public employees. ??As Dave Johnson at the Campaign for America's Future notes, propaganda machines begins with a simple narrative, repeat it endlessly, and then tie current events to the narrative to drive the point home.  The blizzard narrative became  tat it's not tax cuts or layoffs that trigger state shortages and service crashes. It's the workers. Public Services fouled up? It must be public service workers' foul play.

In this case, the New York Post ran a story based on three unidentified plow workers claiming that the streets weren't plowed because the union was slowing down work to protest the aforementioned layoffs. 900 State Workers lost their jobs in New York on New Year's Eve. ??Because the story fit the narrative, FOX News and others ran with the rumor and then the mainstream media jumped in. CBS News ran a story on the “report” of the slowdown, and the New York Times reported “public unease”.

Buckle your snowshoes for more of this in the coming year, a lot of attacks from newly elected representatives and state officials on public sector workers -- and their unions. New Republican Wisconsin governor Scott Walker is bragging that he's going to “force” state workers' benefits in line with everyone else, New York's new Democratic governor just announced a pay freeze, and John Boehner is calling for austerity. For the state and its workers, mind you, not the super-rich few. ??Let's make a New Year's resolution not to get snowed.

Carolina Ferreyra was one of those employees, and when she found a flyer for the Retail Action Project, she helped to launch a protest that led to her boss's arrest.  She joins us in studio with Phil Andrews of the Retail Action Project and Paul Sonn, legal co-director of the National Employment Law Project, to talk about wage theft, the problems workers face across the country--and what Obama's administration is doing to fight them.

Shirky rejoins us at GRITtv along with Juan Carlos de Martin, founder and co-director of the Nexa Center for Internet & Society at Italy's Polytechnic University. They discuss the case, the implications for Google and YouTube, and how the Web continues to change and shape our understanding of the world.

Continuing our coverage of the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti, we bring you more footage from the Ciné Institute, and Victoria Marquez, a member of the Service Employees International Union, tells her story--of struggling for fair treatment in the workplace, and why the U.S. needs comprehensive immigration reform now.

The owner of several downtown New York boutiques was arrested recently and faces four years in jail as well as civil lawsuits for up to $1.5 million. His crime? Not paying his employees for overtime, and paying some of them a flat rate of $340 a week for over 60 hours of work.

Carolina Ferreyra was one of those employees, and when she found a flyer for the Retail Action Project, she helped to launch a protest that led to her boss's arrest.  She joins us in studio with Phil Andrews of the Retail Action Project and Paul Sonn, legal co-director of the National Employment Law Project, to talk about wage theft, the problems workers face across the country--and what Obama's administration is doing to fight them.

Gentrification is a problem all over the world, not just in the urban areas of the U.S.  In this video from visionOntv, a group of activists in Barcelona, Spain fight back against the pressure on their neighborhood.

Finally, if Warren Buffett is afraid of bankers, why can't regular people get some protection?