World
Trade Watch Radio
November 29, 1999
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Audio
On this program, we [World
Trade Watch] explore some of the key issues expected to be discussed at
the World Trade Organization ministerial in Seattle including labor rights,
environmental standards and corporate involvement in WTO negotiations.
Tuesday, November 30,
1999 - on Corporate Watch
On this program, we [World
Trade Watch] assess the significance of the massive protests taking place
in Seattle as the World Trade Organization starts its official deliberations
today. We also look at the impact of WTO policies on farmers in the United
States and abroad. And, we explore key differences among trade delegates
from developing countries and those of industrialized nations.
Wednesday, December 1,
1999 - on Corporate Watch
On this program, we [World
Trade Watch] report on the heavy police crackdown against anti-WTO demonstrators
in the streets of Seattle. Correspondent Pratap Chatterjee reports from
inside the WTO ministerial on the failed multi-agency law enforcement efforts
to keep the WTO talks on track. A member of the U.S. congressional delegation
to the WTO summit shares an insider view of WTO negotiations. We also talk
with workers from South Africa, Mexico and the United States about work
conditions and the impact of free trade policies on their jobs.
Thursday, December 2,
1999 - on Corporate Watch
On this program, we [World
Trade Watch] get an on-the-ground perspective on the protests in Seattle
from the viewpoint of a demonstration organizer. We also discuss the environmental
impacts of multinational oil companies in Latin America and Nigeria and
how the WTO could affect those impacts by ruling against environmental
standards in member countries. We get reaction to President Clinton's address
to the WTO from two policy analysts. Correspondent Pratap Chatterjee reports
on Cargill, one of the largest agricultural corporations in the world.
He also explores how multinational agribusiness is affecting the WTO's
biotechnology proposals. And, we take a look at WTO plans to eliminate
or lower tariffs on forest products and the environmental consequences.
Friday, December 3, 1999
- on Corporate Watch
On the last day of the WTO
ministerial many key issues among trade ministers appear to be unresolved.
We discuss some of the sticking points and how trade representatives from
the United States and other industrialized nations are trying to exert
influence over less developed countries within the World Trade Organization.
Also, our guests reflect on the past week's events, and what it all means
for activism and organizing around economic and environmental justice.
Correspondent Pratap Chatterjee reports on a Clinton administration decision
to not crack down on poor countries that make generic versions of HIV/AIDS
drugs, making these life saving medicines more affordable. Correspondent
Monica Lopez reports on the impacts of trade on women, often hit hardest
by the effects of globalization. And, we discuss the fifteenth anniversary
of the Bhopal gas disaster in India which left nearly 8000 workers and
nearby residents dead, one of the worst industrial accidents in history.
For full coverage of the
WTO conference in Seattle and World Trade Watch reports, visit Corporate
Watch, National Radio Project
and the Institute for Public Accuracy
web sites.
Other Coverage:
A
Global Pro-Democracy Movement
By Norman Solomon, Media
Beat, FAIR, 12/6/99
Economic
Reporting Review: WTO
Fairness and Accuracy in
Reporting (FAIR), 12/6/99
WTO:
The Whole World Is Watching-- Except Ted Koppel
Fairness and Accuracy in
Reporting (FAIR), 12/3/99
In
Seattle, Free Trade's Happy Face Peels Off
By Norman Solomon, Media
Beat, FAIR, 12/2/99
Initial
Reports from Seattle Gloss Over WTO Issues
Fairness and Accuracy in
Reporting (FAIR)
The
Battle of Seattle
By Daniel Zoll, San Francisco
Bay Guardian
Fair
Trade
By Norman Solomon, San Francisco
Bay Guardian
The
Battle in Seattle
Democracy Now!
World Trade Watch is co-produced
by the National Radio Project: www.radioproject.org,
Corporate Watch: www.corpwatch.org,
and the Institute for Public Accuracy: www.accuracy.org.
Syndicated columnist Norman
Solomon and veteran radio journalist Julie Light are co-hosting World Trade
Watch, a series of five daily programs from the historic WTO Summit in
Seattle November 29 through December 3, 1999.
12,000 Protest the School
of the Americas
November 23, 1999
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Audio
The US Army School of the
Americas, based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American soldiers
in combat, counterinsurgency, and counternarcotics. Also nicknamed the
School of the Assassins, graduates of the School of the Americas have been
responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America.
School of the Americas graduates have participated in human rights abuses
that include the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the El Mazote
massacre of 900 civilians, and the 1989 slaughter at the Central American
University in El Salvador. Calling for the shutdown of the School of the
Americas, nearly 5,000 protesters risked arrest by crossing the line onto
the Fort Benning military base in protest of the school's bloody history.
The demonstration itself honored the six Jesuits, their housekeeper and
her daughter on the 10th anniversary of their murder at the hands of School
of the Americas graduates. Joining us to talk about the ongoing battle
to shut down the School of the Assassins is Father Roy Bourgeois, co-director
of School of the Americas Watch, and Bay Area activist Charlie Litke.
Journalist Terry Allen
Fired After Norwich University Story
November 23, 1999
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Audio
On October 4, 1999, Terry
Allen, a freelancer and part-timer for a Vermont newspaper, scored a journalistic
coup. A front page piece she wrote for that day's Boston Globe revealed
that Indonesian students at Norwich University, a private military college
in Northfield, Vermont, had links to the Indonesian Army's feared special
forces. Thus read the opening line in a November 11 Boston Globe story.
The article went on to reveal that Allen was fired from her job at the
Vermont paper, likely as a result of her reporting on Norwich University
for the Globe. Terry Allen was never told why she was fired, although she
discovered some disturbing facts about ties between her paper's publisher
and Norwich University. We spoke with Terry Allen from her home in Vermont.
She is a freelance journalist and a contributing editor to "In These Times".
She began by summarizing her cover story for the Boston Globe which caused
such serious repercussions.
New Lawsuit Against Pacifica
November 23, 1999
- Request
Audio
On November 19, 1999, twelve
long time Pacifica radio listeners- sponsors from all five Pacifica station
areas served Pacifica Executive Director Lynn Chadwick with copies of legal
documents. The documents requested the California Attorney General to grant
the listeners the right to sue the Pacifica Foundation on behalf of the
public interest. Their suit is an attempt to remove the Board of Directors
for breach of a charitable trust and to revise the bylaws. Joining us by
telephone to talk about the new lawsuit is the attorney representing the
plaintiffs, Daniel Robert Bartley, based in Novato. Joining us in the studio
is Carol Spooner, a 37-year KPFA listener-sponsor from Santa Rosa who organized
the grassroots Committee to Remove the Pacifica Board. Spooner collected
2,700 declarations from listeners-sponsors calling for the court to remove
the Pacifica Board.
Russia:
The Ongoing Assault on Chechnya
and Reports of Russian Cash Laundered Through the Bank of New York
November 19, 1999
- Request
Audio
Russian troops today continued
their massive military assault on the breakaway republic of Chechnya, this
despite mounting criticism by the West. The Russian military now claims
that the Chechnyan capital of Grozny is 80 percent surrounded. The Russian
invasion was justified by Yeltsin as an attempt to crush Islamic militants
who he holds responsible for a rash of bombings in Russia a couple of months
ago and for fomenting revolt in the neighboring Russian republic of Dagestan.
Thousands of Chechen civilians have been killed in the conflict, and more
than 200,000 others have fled to refugee camps in neighboring areas. Yesterday
at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
Russian President Boris Yeltsin defiantly told gathered members that they
have no right to criticize Russia over Chechnya. The OSCE today issued
a statement urging Russia to seek a political solution with Chechnya. All
this comes on top of recent reports that huge amounts of illicit Russian
cash has been laundered through the Bank of New York.
State Department Issues
Inaccurate Statement about the Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal
November 19, 1999
- Request
Audio
In response to inquiries
by Austrian trade unionists about the case of Mumia Abu-Jamal, the US State
Department issued a written summary of the case for the US Embassy in Austria.
On the November 10th cover letter, State Department official Katherina
Gellner-Sweet said that the case, quote, "has been thoroughly reviewed
by numerous judicial bodies, as well as by the United Nations. All have
concluded that his legal rights were not violated." The text of the document
makes charges against Mumia that even the Philadelphia authorities do not
make. Mumia Abu-Jamal is a journalist and former Black Panther who was
sentenced to death in 1982 for the killing of a police officer in Philadelphia.
Since then, court hearings have exposed the false evidence and unjust trial
that convicted him. His case is now on appeal in the Federal District Court.
Joining us by phone to talk about the new State Department memo on the
case is Clark Kissinger, member of the national council of Refuse &
Resist, based in New York City, and an expert on the legal issues in the
case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Leonard Peltier:
Art Exhibit in San Francisco
and Campaign for His Freedom Builds
November 19, 1999
- Request
Audio
Momentum is building in
the Washington DC campaign to free native American political prisoner Leonard
Peltier. Peltier was accused of murdering two FBI agents in 1975, although
there was no evidence to support such a charge. In fact, government officials
withheld key information that would have established Peltier's innocence.
Prosecution witnesses were terrorized by the FBI into lying. Officials
have admitted they do not know who fired the fatal shots. Yet Peltier has
still not been awarded a new trial. His health continues to deteriorate
as a result of years of brutal treatment in prison. Global Exchange and
activists from around the world are now gathering in Washington DC to participate
in the 1999 Freedom Campaign for Leonard Peltier. An art exhibit of Peltier's
work just opened last night in San Francisco, and a rally will take place
this Sunday in San Francisco in support of his case and the rights of all
native Americans. Just before air time, I was joined in the studio by Karen
Pickett, an organizer with Earth First, and Rigo99, an award-winning visual
artist who installed the Leonard Peltier exhibit for the DeYoung Museum.
Rigo is known for his large scale murals displayed in downtown San Francisco
and seen daily by thousands of pedestrians and motorists. Also joining
us by telephone from Washington, DC was Jennifer Harbury, director of the
human rights campaign for Global Exchange. She is heading up Peltier's
campaign in Washington, also working with the National Leonard Peltier
Defense Committee out of Kansas.
The Plutonium Files -
Eileen Welsome
November 18, 1999
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Audio
On today's program, an in-depth
interview with the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Plutonium Files."
You'll hear about secret, deadly medical experiments performed on innocent
citizens without their knowledge.
Korean Customs turns
away Labor Activists Steve Zeltzer
November 17, 1999
- Request
Audio
Last Friday, labor video
producer and media activist Steve Zeltzer was thrown out of South Korea
by customs officials at an airport in Seoul. Zeltzer had flown in to speak
about the crisis of organized labor at an international conference on labor
and communications issues. The conference was cosponsored by the Korean
Confederation of Trade Unions, a group banned by South Korean authorities.
Joining Flashpoints yesterday was Steve Zeltzer, who is a frequent labor
contributor to Flashpoints, and also, from Korea, Myoung Joon Kim, a producer
at Labor News Production in Seoul and one of the organizers of the conference
that Steve was trying to attend. Steve began by describing what happened
after he stepped off the plane in Seoul.
Nationwide Movement to
Democratize Public Broadcasting
November 17, 1999
- Request
Audio
Democratizing the governance
and programming of a community public media outlet - the issue is deer
to the heart of many KPFA and Pacifica listeners who have been following
the continuing crisis within the Pacifica network. On a broader scale,
there is now a nationwide movement to democratize and reform public broadcasting,
based on a structural criticism of the media system. A new group trying
to do just that is Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting, which
works to remove public radio and TV from under the thumb of corporate underwriters
and careerist bureaucrats. Joining me now is Jerry Starr, executive director
of Citizens for Independent Public Broadcasting. Starr is a Professor of
Sociology at West Virginia University, and is author of the forthcoming
book "Air Wars: The Fight to Reclaim Public Broadcasting," due out next
year.
Pacifica Historian Matthew
Lasar on the Gag Rule
November 17, 1999
- Request
Audio
On November 1, 1999 Dan
Coughlin, Pacifica National News Director, was removed from his position
and reassigned, without his consent, to a newly created Task Force on Programming
and Governance. This came just days after Coughlin aired a 20-second news
segment on the one-day boycott of Pacifica programming by more than a dozen
Pacifica affiliates last month. While Pacifica's reasons for Coughlin's
removal have not yet been definitively established, there are strong indications
that this is yet another case of Pacifica's enforcement of the gag rule,
which prohibits programmers from airing what's called "dirty laundry."
Pacifica historian Matthew Lasar has recently written about the gag rule
and its use at Pacifica over the years.
East Timorese in Militia-
Controlled Camps in West
Timor
November 16, 1999
- Request
Audio
Many East Timorese were
jubilant on October 19th, 1999 when the Indonesian Parliament recognized
East Timor's independence. But more than 220 thousand East Timorese - one
fourth of the population - have had little to celebrate. They remain trapped
in camps in West Timor controlled by the same militia and military forces
that carried out the violence during the rampage immediately following
the vote for independence. They face terror and abuse in the camps, where
they are virtual hostages. The Indonesian government is not taking steps
to bring the refugees home. Even so, President Clinton seems to be normalizing
relations with the new President of Indonesia. Joining us in the studio
is Pamela Sexton, a representative of the Boston-based human rights and
development group Grassroots International, which has just released a report
titled "Refugees: The Other Side of the Crisis in East Timor." She just
returned from a visit to the camps in West Timor last week.
Michael Parenti at the
Hearings on US/NATO War Crimes
November 16, 1999
- Request
Audio
On Saturday, the Independent
Commission of Inquiry to Investigate US/NATO War Crimes against the People
of Yugoslavia held a public hearing in San Francisco. The grassroots hearing
held the US and NATO accountable for their violation of multiple international
conventions during the bombing of the former Yugoslavia. Yesterday we played
the opening speech of former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark from this
event. Today, we are very pleased to play for you the speech of Michael
Parenti at the same event. Parenti is a noted political analyst and author
of numerous books, including "America Besieged," "Against Empire," and
most recently "History as Mystery".
Ramsey Clark Speaks on
Yugoslavia and Lori Berenson
November 15, 1999
- Request
Audio
The Independent Commission
of Inquiry to Investigate US/NATO War Crimes against the People of Yugoslavia
held a public hearing on Saturday in San Francisco. The hearing held the
US and NATO accountable for their violation of multiple international conventions
during the bombing of the former Yugoslavia. Sponsored by the International
Action Center, Saturday's event featured former US Attorney General Ramsey
Clark as the opening speaker. Flashpoints producer Dennis Bernstein introduced
Clark at the event, and Clark began by talking about Dennis Bernstein's
role in today's media. We will play for you his speech in its entirety.
But first we turn our attention to the case of Lori Berenson. Berenson,
a young American journalist and activist, was sentenced to life in prison
by the government of Peru almost 4 years ago. She has been held under inhumane
and life threatening conditions. Ramsey Clark managed to visit Lori Berenson
one week ago today, and Dennis Bernstein had the opportunity to talk with
him on Saturday about his rare meeting with her. Clark began by explaining
the circumstances of her arrest.
NATO War Crimes Tribunal
November 12, 1999
- Request
Audio
The 78 day air war against
Yugoslavia and the devastation it brought upon all people of the region
was a violation of multiple international conventions. The grassroots Commission
of Inquiry for the International War Crimes Tribunal on the US/NATO War
Against Yugoslavia is holding public hearings on these violations in 8
countries and 25 cities. The San Francisco hearings will take place this
weekend. The Commission will hold the US and NATO responsible for targeting
civilian infrastructure, using cluster bombs and depleted uranium, bombing
the Chinese embassy and other atrocities. A recent article in the Toronto
Star shows that many of NATO's claims of atrocities by the Serbs against
Albanians were either grossly exaggerated or non existent. Western forensic
investigators working for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia have shown, for example, that there were 5 bodies in what the
US described as a mass grave of 350. Joining us in the studio are Dr. Michel
Chossudovsky, Professor at the University of Ottawa and co-author of "NATO
and the Balkans," and Richard Becker of the International Action Center
- both featured speakers along with Ramsey Clark at tomorrow's War Crimes
hearing.
Where Does Indonesia
Go From Here?
November 12, 1999
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Audio
Indonesia has a new president,
a Muslim cleric and former pro-democracy activist. Indonesian troops have
left the newly independent East Timor. And mass demonstrations in the Indonesian
province of Ache are calling for independence from Indonesia. Within this
context, Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known by the
name Gus-dur, visited the White House today. Joining us earlier was Sylvia
Tiwon, professor of Indonesian studies at UC Berkeley. I began by asking
her about President Wahid's latest statements, during his visit with Clinton,
that he plans to pardon former president Suharto if Suharto is convicted
for stealing billions of dollars from Indonesia.
Reemergence of the Neo-Nazi
Movement
November 11, 1999
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Audio
From the survivors of Hitler's
last days emerged a group of diehard extremists who carried the torch that
still inspires a new generation of neo-Nazis, fascists, and white supremacists
that are making dramatic headlines around the world today. A character-driven
non-fiction thriller, "The Beast Reawakens" by Martin Lee literally weaves
a thread from the inner circle of the Third Reich to the militant forces
behind the Oklahoma City bombing, the horrific racist dragging death in
Jasper, Texas, and other terrifying hate crimes. Based on more than one
hundred interviews and thousands of pages of once classified US government
documents, Lee's book tells how fascism survived the military defeat of
World War II to mount a comeback since the end of the Cold War. Flashpoints
spoke with Martin Lee about the reemergence of the neo-Nazi movement in
the context of the tenth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Lee
began with background from his book on the connection between the
Third Reich and the current extremist movements in Europe and the US.
Corcoran Guards Acquitted
November 10, 1999
- Request
Audio
Eddie Dillard is an inmate
at California's Corcoran State Prison. Back in 1993, Dillard was raped
and tortured by a fellow inmate, a known prison sexual predator. The State
of California, after a five year delay, brought charges against four prison
guards at Corcoran accused of setting up Dillard's rape and torture; the
state's case was aided by a whistle blower at the prison, a guard named
Roscoe Pondexter. On Monday, however, the four guards were acquitted of
all charges. Joining us now to talk about the case, the acquittal, and
its implications is Catherine Campbell. She is an attorney and president
of California Prison Focus, a prison rights group.
'Lockdown America, Police
and Prisons in the Age of Crisis'
November 10, 1999
- Request
Audio
The last two decades have
seen an expansion in the criminal justice system - more cops on the beat,
more cops in cars, more heavily armed departments, and an expansive boom
in the building of prisons. Indeed, the prison industry is a major growth
industry in America. A new book by local writer Christian Parenti hits
the issue head on. In 'Lockdown America, Police and Prisons in the Age
of Crisis', Parenti offers a comprehensive analysis of the criminal justice
system. In 'Lockdown America' Parenti also discusses the expanded use of
S.W.A.T. teams and the militarization of the US/Mexico border. He paints
a troubling picture of the politically useful criminalization of the ever
expanding segments of the population. In a recent interview with Flashpoints,
Parenti began by explaining the basic thesis of his book.
Women Prisoners Denied
Medical Care at Chowchilla
November 10, 1999
- Request
Audio
Pamela Murphy was due to
be paroled from Chowchilla Prison in the year 2000, plagued with AIDS and
hepatitis she was anxious to get out of the system to spend quality time
with her family at home. But Murphy never made it. According to other prisoners
she was visibly sick and yet refused crucial care for months prior to her
death. There was a constant flow of blood from her nose and friends said
she was constantly sniffling as if she had a cold to prevent the blood
from running down her face. They reported that her abdomen was swollen
to the point that she appeared pregnant and so jaundiced that her eyes
were the florescent yellow of a caution sign. Despite these obvious signs
she was neglected and died a painful and terrible death behind bars. The
case of Pamela Murphy, unfortunately, is not atypical, hundreds of women
with profound medical needs are allowed to fester in prisons in California
and around the country without medical care. This Saturday, November 13,
there will be a demonstration at the Chowchilla Prison to protest the lack
of proper medical care and mistreatment of women behind bars. Joining us
to talk about the situation for women in prison and the planned protest
are Judy Greenspan of California Prison Focus and Karen Shain of the California
Coalition of Women Prisoners.
Economic Human Rights
Bus Tour
November 9, 1999
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Audio
Congresswoman Barbara Lee
and Food First embark on an economic human rights bus tour. Representative
Lee talks about her efforts to bring about a Progressive agenda to a range
of human rights violations in America. The Oakland-based, policy think
tank Food First, also called The Institute for Food and Development Policy,
will kick off its Economic Human Rights Bus Tour this Thursday. The tour
begins in Atlanta, and calls for a minimum wage increase and universal
health coverage in the context of reordering our federal priorities toward
meeting the needs of the poor. Food First has also just released a book
titled "America Needs Human Rights," which takes a fresh look at hunger
and poverty in America through the lens of human rights. The editors of
the book conclude that current social policy in the United States violates
recognized human rights standards. Just before air time, we were joined
in the studio by Peter Rosset, Executive Director of Food First and a teacher
at Stanford University. He is the editor, along with Anuradha Mittal, of
the new book "America Needs Human Rights" and the co-author of "World Hunger:
Twelve Myths." We were also very pleased to be joined by telephone from
Washington, DC by Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Representing Berkeley, Oakland
and the surrounding area, Barbara Lee is one of the key members of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus. She will be one of five representatives
joining Food First and meeting with communities throughout Georgia as part
of the Economic Human Rights Bus Tour later this week.
Linguistic Human Rights
and Proposition 227
November 9, 1999
- Request
Audio
The language you speak -
at home, in school, and in the public arena - is a very political issue.
Nothing demonstrates better than Proposition 227, which ordered California's
public schools to make a quick transition to English-only instruction.
And just south of California, indigenous groups in Mexico, supported by
movements like the Zapatista uprising several years back, are agitating
for official recognition of their language rights and practices. Joining
us earlier today were two experts in the emerging field of linguistic human
rights, Dr. Reynalo Macias, a UCLA professor, and chair of the Cesar Chavez
Center for Interdisciplinary Instruction there, and Dr. Enrique Hamel,
a linguistics professor at the Autonomous Metropolitan University in Mexico
City. They are, incidentally, part of a panel presentation on language
policy and multilingualism going on right now, and until 7:30, at San Francisco
State at the Seven Hills Conference Center. Dr. Macias began our conversation
with comments on Proposition 227, approved by California voters in June
1998.
One Million Rally in
Indonesia
for Democracy
November 8, 1999
- Request
Audio
Today we continue our in-depth
coverage of East Timor and Indonesia. Joining us again is journalist and
human rights activist Allan Nairn. Nairn was recently arrested in East
Timor covering the bloody attempt by the Indonesian military to suppress
the results of the recent referendum for independence there. Meanwhile,
the movement for a democratic Indonesia appears to be growing with as many
as a million people coming out into the streets today for a pro-democracy
rally on the Indonesian island of Ache.
Puerto Ricans Unite to
Route the US Military from Vieques
November 8, 1999
- Request
Audio
The Puerto Rican island
of Vieques was seized over fifty years ago by the US military and used
ever since as a war training ground for American operations abroad. Eight
miles off of Puerto Rico's eastern coast, Vieques has been used repeatedly
for mock amphibian invasions under live fire from submarines, ships and
jet bombers. The US used Vieques in preparing for invasions in Cuba, the
Dominican Republic, Granada, Panama, the Gulf War and most recently Yugoslavia.
The environmental and human devastation of fifty years of war games is
immeasurable. Left over munitions and heavy metals, accidental killings,
and rising cancer rates have all taken their toll. In April, US marines
unloaded two 500 pound bombs miles from the target, killing an innocent
civilian. There have been protests on the island ever since. In response,
the White House has temporarily halted war games on the island, and local
residents are trying to make this permanent. Joining us is Carlos Zenon,
a leader of the resistance camps in Vieques and John Lindsay Pollen, director
of the Fellowship of Reconciliation task force on the Caribbean.
Former Black Panther
Johnny Spain on Criminal Justice
November 8, 1999
- Request
Audio
"The powers that have created
our current Criminal Justice structure have not only set in motion a continuous
growth-made industry, but have devised a system that even wields effective
control over those forces that would oppose it." Those are the words of
Johnny Spain, who knows the criminal justice system inside out. Johnny
Spain helped shape the ethics of an entire generation through his activities
with the Black Panther Party. He was a defendant at the San Quentin Six
case and spent 21 years in prison in California, beginning when he was
a teenager. Since his release in 1988, Johnny Spain has taught criminal
justice courses at Stanford University, UC Berkeley and New College of
California School of Law. He has lectured at 30 colleges and universities
across the country. Spain is the subject of the biography "Black Power,
White Blood: The Life and Times of Johnny Spain," about his transformation
from imprisoned revolutionary to lecturer and activist on penal reform.
He has recently completed three years of research on how progressives might
more effectively organize and address Criminal Justice issues.
The Future of KPFA
November 5, 1999
- Request
Audio
On today's show we speak
with two new Pacifica board members, Karolyn van Putten and Tomas Moran,
about a range of issues that affect the future of KPFA. Last weekend at
its meeting in Houston, the Pacifica National Board selected three new
members. They include Wendell Young from Washington, D.C. and two new members
from the San Francisco Bay Area, Tomas Moran and Karolyn van Putten. Tomas
Moran is a member of the KPFA 50th Anniversary Committee. Moran was appointed
to the Governance Committee of the Pacifica Board. Karolyn van Putten is
President and CEO of Western Public Radio, a nonprofit radio production
and training facility based in San Francisco. She has been appointed to
the Pacifica Board's Technology Committee and the committee that deals
with programming.
Heroin Linked to Explosion
of AIDS in Southeast Asia
November 5, 1999
- Request
Audio
While heroin use and the
risks of HIV infection have been well established in Asia, the role of
overland heroin trafficking routes in HIV spread has not been understood
until very recently. Most of these routes come out of Burman, which produces
approximately 60% of the world's heroin, and is bordered by Thailand, China,
Laos and India. A new paper presented in late October at the 5th International
Conference on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific evaluated the roles these heroin
export routes play in the spread of drug use and AIDS in neighboring countries.
The paper was presented by Dr. Chris Beyrer, a leading expert on AIDS in
Southeast Asia, who joins us today on Flashpoints to talk about this and
many other aspects of the global AIDS epidemic. Dr. Chris Beyrer is an
epidemiologist at John Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public
Health and director of the Johns Hopkins University Fogarty International
AIDS training program. He is the author of the 1998 book "War in the Blood:
Sex, Politics and AIDS in Southeast Asia."
Pacifica Censorship
November 4, 1999
- Request
Audio
Norman Solomon on the ongoing
censorship at Pacifica.
Civil Liberties Under
Attack by the FBI
November 3, 1999
- Request
Audio
The FBI has been charged
with combating the very real threats of terrorism in the US. The ways in
which it has done so, however, have alarmed many legal experts and civil
libertarians, including David Cole. Cole's new book, "Terrorism and the
Constitution: Sacrificing Civil Liberties in the Name of National Security"
looks at how the FBI and other federal agencies have violated the First
Amendment and other rights of US residents in the name of combating terrorism.
Flashpoints recently spoke with David Cole, a law professor at Georgetown
University and a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Last month we presented the first part of the interview, about the FBI's
investigation of Central American activists in the early 1980s. We now
go to the second part of our conversation, which begins with the case of
the LA 8. In early 1987, FBI and INS agents in Los Angeles arrested a total
of seven Palestinians and one Kenyan, with the intention of eventually
deporting them. The charge was that these eight people, known as the LA
8, were affiliated with the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine.
David Cole, who has been on the LA 8's legal team from the very beginning,
talked about how the ordeal of the LA 8 began.
'Street Soldiers' Youth
Radio Show Canceled
November 3, 1999
- Request
Audio
In July, San Francisco's
KMEL-FM radio canceled its public interest programming and substituted
a more profitable all-music format. This crackdown of programming serving
the community was the result of a planned corporate merger between the
stations owner - am.fm Inc - and Clear Channel Communications, two companies
based in Texas. A terrible casualty of this corporate crackdown was the
popular syndicated program "Street Soldiers," which ran for the last seven
years on KMEL. The program is a call-in show targeting at risk youth and
gang members, many of whose lives have been profoundly affected by the
program. "Street Soldiers" provides a unique platform for youth to speak
about the most pressing problems confronting their communities, such as
gang violence, teen pregnancies and drugs. We are very pleased to be joined
in the studio today by Dr. Joseph Marshall, creator and co-host of "Street
Soldiers." Marshall is also the co-founder and executive director of the
Omega Boys Club, a violence prevention organization in San Francisco. He
has been the recipient of numerous awards including a MacCarthur Foundation
"genius grant," the Congressional Freedom Works Award, and the Essence
Award. He is the author of the best-selling book "Street Soldier: One Man's
Struggle to Save a Generation, One Life at a Time."
Gentrification of San
Francisco
November 2, 1999
- Request
Audio
On this year's election
day, w turn our attention to the increased numbers of evictions in San
Francisco that are forcing poor and working people out of the housing market.
As San Francisco continues it's process of gentrification, in the last
three years alone there have been about 15,000 legal evictions. Residential
hotels have been destroyed by fires and there are thousands of homeless
people living on the streets. Very little has been done to stop this destruction
of homes for low income people. Last Friday, the first "March of the Evicted"
took place in San Francisco, and more actions are planned. Joining us in
the studio today are three advocates for the evicted from San Francisco.
They are Richard Marquez, co-coordinator f Mission Agenda; James Tracy,
coordinator of the Eviction Defense Network; and Maria Poblit, coordinator
of the Single Room Occupancy Hotel Project for St. Peter's Housing Committee.
Pacifica Update from
Attorney Dan Siegel
November 2, 1999
- Request
Audio
We continue our coverage
of the fallout from last weekend's Pacifica National Board meeting in Houston.
Joining us is Dan Siegel - he is an Oakland-based lawyer and represents
the plaintiffs in a lawsuit brought against the Pacifica Foundation by
local advisory board members at four of the five Pacifia stations. The
lawsuit asks the court to strike down certain governance changes adopted
last February that made the Pacifica Nation Board self-selecting and self-perpetuating.
And before we bring Dan in, the urgency of this struggle continues today
as Pacifica Executive Director Lynn Chadwick announces the search for a
new station manager for KPFA, yet another indication that Pacifica is not
and will not consider the reinstatement of Nicole Sawaya. A new Pacifica-appointed
station manager, to replace the current interim General Manager Jim Bennett,
may well pose a threat to free speech at KPFA given the Pacifica National
Board's recent decision to give each station head discretion on whether
and how to enforce the gag rule.
Environmental Activists
Under Attack
November 1, 1999
- Request
Audio
Since the redwood summer
and the bombing of Judi
Bari, radical environmentalists
have been under attack from extreme right wing logging activists to violent
police and federal agents. Indeed, those attempting to restrain and prevent
the destruction of the planet have been increasingly under attack by both
law enforcement and those various agents for the corporate raiders. In
Colorado, activists are facing jail sentences for refusing to answer questions
from a top secret grand jury. The grand jury was impaneled to investigate
the 1998 fire bombing of the Vale ski area in Colorado. In Minnesota, activists
face beatings and torture with pepper spray for attempting to prevent the
building of an unnecessary freeway. Here in California, the battle to save
old growth redwoods continues, and those fighting it continue to face violence
and intimidation as well. In order to fight back, environmentalists recently
attended a National meeting of environmentalists who have been targeted
for their environmental activism. All three of our guests were there. Joining
us in the studio is Alicia Littletree, Earth First activist and close collaborator
with the late Judi Bari. On the telephone, we're joined by Dana Wilson,
a member of Ancient Forest Rescue and graduate of the University of Colorado,
from where she speaks to us. Also joining us is Solstice, a community organizer
with Earth First, AIM and neighborhood coalitions to stop the reroute of
highway 51 in Minneapolis.
Pacifica Board Meeting
Report
November 1, 1999
- Request
Audio
Guests report back and discuss
the Pacifica National Board meeting held in Houston this weekend. Guests:
Alice Chan of North Bay for KPFA; Van Jones of the Ella Baker Center for
Human Rights and Bay Area Police Watch; Barbara Lubin of the Middle East
Children's Alliance; Weland Southon, Co-Director of KPFA's apprenticeship
program; Liam Kirsher, member of Media Alliance
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Monday thru Friday
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on KPFA 94.1fm in
Berkeley, California,
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and here on the Internet
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