March 13 - Italy's Dual Dysfuntion - The Vatican and the Parliament; How our Sailors on a Rescue Mission were Irradiated; Republicans Roll Harry Reid on Filibuster "Reform"

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Part 1	We begin with the announcement of a new pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina and speak with Alexander Stille, Professor of International Journalism at Columbia University and author of “The Sack of Rome: How a Beautiful European Country with a Fabled History and a Storied Culture was taken over by a Man Named Silvio Berlusconi”. We discuss the dual dysfunction of a scandal-plagued Vatican under a new pope of the poor, Francis, and an Italian government in a state of political paralysis.
Part 2	Then we look into the deadly legacy of the Fukushima meltdown two years ago in terms of the tens of thousands of US military personnel and their dependents who were exposed to radiation with some sailors from the USS Ronald Reagan suffering chronic and severe illness that has led them to sue TEPCO, Tokyo Electric Power Company. Roger Witherspoon a 40 year veteran reporter who now blogs at energymatters.com joins us to discuss how the NRC and the Navy were lied to by Japanese authorities while sailors of a rescue mission were breathing in radioactive air and the USS Ronald Reagan was sucking in radioactive ocean water into its desalinization system for the crew’s drinking and bathing.
Part 3	Then finally we speak with Mike Lofgren a veteran House and Senate Staffer and author of “The Party is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy and Democrats Became Useless and the Middle Class Got Shafted”. We discuss meetings going on among Democratic senators about what to do about the Republican’s routine use of the filibuster to block Obama’s judicial and executive branch nominees following a “reform” deal Harry Reid made with Mitch McConnell over the objections of younger Democratic senators that has blown up in the Majority Leader’s face.