Guests: Reporter Spencer Ackerman and MovieLine’s Chris Rosen

Even though it’s casual Friday, it’s hard to kick back and relax with the shit-storm of “not good” in Japan, the Middle East and here in the US.

First on the “stop the world, I wanna get off” tour is the Middle East. On Thursday the UN Security Council authorized a No Fly Zone over Libya. Russia, China, Germany, India and Brazil abstained from the vote. While there was a claim from Gaddafi about a cease fire, all reports now say that the rebel stronghold of Benghazi is facing heavy assault from multiple sides.

Next stop Japan. Though we are heartened every time there’s a story about rescuers finding someone alive after 8 days under rubble, the nearly 11,000 people still missing and almost 7,200 confirmed dead makes clear the ongoing tragedy.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) is working to get power to the Fukushima nuclear plant to attempt to restart water pumps needed to cool overheated nuclear fuel rods. If a meltdown is averted because of TEPCO’s work they will be seen as a hero, though their disturbing past may make them more of a goat:

The unfolding disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant follows decades of falsified safety reports, fatal accidents and underestimated earthquake risk

Last stop on our disaster world tour is the US. Spencer Ackerman, reporter for Wired.com’s Danger Room joins us to talk about our shiny new war in Libya, and his take on the supposed Libyan cease fire.

The Senior Editor of MovieLine.com Chris Rosen reunites with Sam after getting stood up for Madison, WI last week. Sam demotes Chris to “junior” editor after he fails to pick a Netflix movie (though in all fairness to Chris Netflix’s selection has been pretty sucky over the past few weeks). 

Amazon On Demand: Inside Job (not released on Amazon until April 7th – way to go Chris!) and The Fighter
Netflix: No pick from Chris, but may we recommend H. Jon Benjamin’s Archer-Season 1

It seems as if our train left us at the Crazy Station. Even though the US can’t seem to pull out of this economic downturn and we need Congress to focus on job creation and handling the crumbling world around us, they found enough time in their busy schedules (while voting themselves a nice Spring Break vacation) to hold an emergency session to defund NPR. Representative Anthony Weiner had something to say about that:

And thank god that the White House has their priorities in order:

The White House today proposed sweeping revisions to U.S. copyright law, including making “illegal streaming” of audio or video a federal felony and allowing FBI agents to wiretap suspected infringers.

If you are not a Majority Report member you miss out on the Members Only Show podcast. Join today! 4 out of 5 doctors recommend more Sam in your daily routine.

In honor of the branding-challenged Sam, we’ve quickly added “Flip Side” to the Members Only logo. Today Sam makes sure we know it’s Name Drop Friday, we find out that even Myla knows that Dorsey has a girl’s name, and Sam responds to IMs.

Breaking: Judge blocks Wisconsin’s anti-union law

On Saturday’s Ring Of Fire Radio Sam will have interviews with author Rick Perlstein and Chris Hayes. Listen live at 3pm EST.