ANNOTATED LOGS AND AUDIO OF SHOWS
Nov 21 << WEDNESDAY Nov 20, 2002 >> Nov 19
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 WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 -- As his colleagues hurriedly tried to give the president a domestic security bill, Senator Robert C. Byrd took the floor this morning to tell them of a "truly great" senator from the first century A.D. named Helvidius Priscus. One day this Roman was met outside the senate by the emperor Vespasian, who threatened to execute him if he spoke too freely. "And so both did their parts," Mr. Byrd said. "Helvidius Priscus spoke his mind; the emperor Vespasian killed him. In this effeminate age it is instructive to read of courage. There are members of the U.S. Senate and House who are terrified apparently if the president of the United States tells them, urges them, to vote a certain way that may be against their belief." (read more)
Wednesday, Nov 20, 2002 - Start Audio 
-00:00 Dennis Bernstein:  introduction: Largest oil spill in history.. Colombian general's visa yanked.. Interview with Alexander Cockburn, about Christopher Hitchens and his bomb Iraq policy..
-00:44 Robert Knight and the Knight Report.. Robert: with virtually no debate, the US Senate voted 90-9 to create a Dept of Homeland Security.. limits vaccine lawsuits.. creates a research center at Univ Texas.. restricts access to Freedom of Information Act.. John Poindexter's history of suppressing access to government information.. Dept of Defence says Poindexter's work to perfect the tool, not operate it.. Senator Joseph Loserman, er.. Lieberman says we're doing what the American people wanted us to.. says he will seek the presidential nomination in 2004.. W. Virginia Senator Robert Byrd: (2 min audio) 'this is the most cynical, the most devastating polical game .. this administration would rather protect its backside.. will result in lost lives.. after the new year, and this body goes Republican'..
-06:14 Dennis: tragedy in the ocean.. tanker sunk off the coast of Spain.. twice the amount of oil than spilled by the Exxon Valdez.. now w Dr. Charlotte de Fontaubert of Greenpeace.. Dr. Fontaubert: the prognosis is very, very bad.. most of the oil is still in the ship, and will leak out.. but because of the great depth we will be un able to monitor.. just a question of time.. all we can do now is damage control.. the ecological implications are dreadful.. all you can do.. clean what you can.. too little too late.. Spanish government failed to pump the oil out of the sinking tanker into another ship.. instead they towed it out to deep water.. where the pollution will be unmonitored.. you may not be able to see it, but there are very important organisms at the bottom of the ocean.. effects will be felt widely.. more oil is going to hit the shore.. Dennis: 77 thousand tons of oil.. Dr. Fontaubert: Greenpeace has been sounding the alarm for years.. we must end our dependence on oil.. oil inevitably is transported by sea.. about the small discharges everyday, in total worse than major spills.. this ship carrying a flag from the Bahamas.. now finger pointing here and there.. we will never get to the bottom of it.. no one will ever face justice.. Dennis: Africa mad that they tried to tow the ship to Africa.. Dr. Fontaubert: this is the kind of things western governments do everyday.. good to see the Africans speaking up.. this ship maybe owned by Russian mafia, unseaworthy.. a problem of transparency.. who does the oil really belong to?.. about this completely unseaworthy vessel.. there are hundreds of boats equally as bad as this one.. and no one doing anything about it.. they will find a scapegoat.. probably the captain will be charged in a Spanish court.. the real culprits will escape justice.. the media saying the environment will recover, nonsense.. you can never clean up an oil spill.. if you turn over a rock in Prince William Sound you find oil, regardless of what Exxon says..
-17:44 Dennis: Have you heard? Christopher Hitchens will speak at the Mario Savio Memorial lecture tomorrow night at UC Berkeley.. now w Alexander Cockburn of Counter Punch.. Dennis: were you surprised to see old lefty Hitchens come out in support of Bush's imperial aims?.. Cockburn: not really, he doesn't really want you to know, but he was against the Gulf War.. but since then he has been in favor of every imperialistic move by the US or England.. Dennis: what do you think about KPFA eagerly advertising Hitchen's speech at the Savio thing?.. Cockburn: is this is really the opinion of KPFA?.. to support Hitchins?.. if this is what KPFA has come to, disgusting.. I met Savio's widow recently at a dinner at a friends.. we were talking.. she told me Hitchens was going to speak.. 'absolutely demented,' I told her, 'why would you want to invite him?'.. she was surprised, she made that it was an issue of free speech.. Hitchins has many venues.. I wrote a thing in CounterPunch.. like having a MLK conference featuring an FBI speaker saying CoIntelPro was 'right on, brother'.. Dennis: but Hitchens says *we've* lost *our* minds.. Cockburn: quite a little campaign going on.. Todd Gitlin, Marc Cooper, David Corn, Hitchens, etc.. David Corn wrote the most disgusting piece of all.. and has even written praise about one of the most horrible CIA operatives ever, Ted Shackley.. they're saying the 100,000 anti-war demonstrators in SF Oct 27 were just dupes of the socialists.. lecturing people who turned out to protest the suffering of Iraqi children.. in the 60's the biggest anti-war protests were organized by the Communists.. but the vast number of demonstrators were not Maoists or.. the hard work of organizing.. Hitchen's speech is repulsive.. Dennis: about Hitchen's 'Bomb Iraq' policy.. opens the door for a crushing of the Palestinians.. I would think he would understand that.. Cockburn: I don't think he will be writing long articles in Vanity Fair about Palestinian rights.. this whole scenario of preemptive attack on Hussein has been around a while.. they'll invent a missile they say was fired at Israel.. anything is possible.. Dennis: Hitchens is.. a leftist doing a quick flip and profiting from it.. Cockburn: he became a right wing guy.. applauded Margaret Thatcher.. says he is not distressed about the plight of indigenous people.. about his record as a snitch.. he even fingered his friend, Sidney Blumenthal (link2).. at Counter Punch we're starting a *jam pot file*.. will cronicle those who find the grass greener on the right side of the fence.. Hitchens now made IF Stone fellow at Berkeley.. poor old Izzy Stone.. there will never be any shortage of grant money for Hitchens.. he'll have a happy life.. Dennis: the US has started a disinformation campaign against Blix.. do you think there is a hope for peace?.. Cockburn: so easy, Bush just says we no longer have confidence in Blix.. easy to say, Saddam is concealing something, and they'll let fly.. they were formulating a new map of the Middle East many years ago.. they Kurds have it as good now as they'll ever have it.. do you think the US will really want a *Kurdistan* imposed on Turkey?.. demented empire builders.. at Counter Punch read
Jack McCarthy: Snitch Envy.. and read Will Youmans: Goodbye and Good Riddance, The End of the Two State Solution.. the whole idea of the two state solution, given the settlements.. we should return to the idea of a democratic unified state respecting the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians.
-34:00 Dennis: US yanks the visa of Colombian General Rodrigo Quinones.. involved in drug trafficing and mass murder.. on his way to Israel.. US still aiding Colombia though.. now w Larry Birns of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.. Birns: the US displayed its displeasure with General Quiniones activities.. his drug dealing, not his mass murder of Colombian civilians.. Israel a major provider of weapons to Colombian military.. Quinones has a notorious reputation for death squads, for letting paramilitary death squads operate in his territory.. about the bombing of a civlian village in Colombia.. a small village, 35 civilians beaten to death by paramilitaries in front of their families.. committed with total impunity, no investigation even.. state's attorneys who do investigate such crimes, are routinely murdered.. if the drug trafficers/ the paramilitary can't buy a judge, they threaten a judge, if that doesnt work, they kill a judge.. the FARC does not cultivate drugs.. but the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) (link2) , the paramilitary does.. (Paul Wellstone's letter to Bush).. Dennis: this drug dealing, mass murdering general offered the job of military attache to Israel?.. what is going on down there?.. Birns:I can't understand the Israelis suffering terrorism, and inviting this Colombian terrorist into their country.. the US removing the separation between fighting drugs and fighting guerillas.. the leftist guerrila now adopting an urban strategy.. bring the war downtown.. will lure the US more and more deeply in the Colombian civil war.. what is occuring in Colombia has nothing to do with *terrorism* .. AUC the moral enemy of FARC.. comrades in arms with the Colombian military.. no instance of the Colombian military protecing civilians from AUC or fighting back the AUC.. Dennis: back to the general and his drug trafficing, is the Colombian military full of drug trafficers?.. Birns: it is usually the case in Latin America that the militaries are notorious drug trafficers.. US closed its eyes, in exchange for cooperation in other areas.. a lot of dirty hands here.. but the White House always says the situtation is improving.. they have to.. Dennis: about the Unical pipeline in Colombia that the US is going to help defend.. will the US military be working with drug dealing military?.. Birns: Clinton had to waive human rights restrictions because most of the Colombian military (is dirty).. their overall human rights record.. is deplorable.. Dennis: about the situation in Venezuela.. confrontations in the street.. Birns: the parallel with Chile in 1973.. a number of Chilean officers executed for being opposed to a coup.. the Christian Democrats questioned the military's manhood.. now in Caracus non-stop protests, round the clock conspiring to bring down a democratically elected popular government.. a portion of the military may try to overthrow Chavez.. Dennis: the US eager to see Chavez go because of his role as president of OPEC.. Birns: the US Embassy a couple weeks ago said it would not approve of a coup.. people were amazed.. compare with the attempted coup and US cozying up to the plotters.. now the US saying it will not recognize a coup government.. maybe just a smokescreen, to give US *cover*.. or maybe a way of saying if Chavez guarantees a free flow of oil (in event of an US invasion of Iraq) the US will support him.. but the opposition has blood on its mind.. at the same time Chavez has.. made some good tactical moves.. a very delicate situation.. a coup attempt could come anytime..
-54:44
Mary Bishop: wrapup..
-55:25 End today's show. today's review by john lionheart
most current show Search/View All Archived Shows for recent archive see below
Tuesday November 19, 2002 - new NATO 'Find and Strike' force to operate outside international law.. extended wire taps approved by a U.S appeals court.. Homeland Security Act rider protects drug manufacturers from being sued for defective vaccines..
Monday November 18, 2002 - Iran-Contra criminal John Poindexter, hired by the Pentagon to play big brother.. Mexico's new role as US southern security guard.. Kathy Kelly's Baghdad Journal.. Updates from Gaza and the West Bank..
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Friday November 15, 2002 - interview with two American activists in Baghdad.. US military now requiring US high schools to provide students' personal contact information.. interview with the Irish author of Eyewitness Bloody Sunday, about the massacre by British paratroopers, Jan 20, 1972
Thursday November 14, 2002 - Linda Evans, a former woman political prisoner and two Puerto Rican women activists talk about Vieques.. about this weekend's National Conference on Civil Rights at UC Berkeley.. the truth about military use of depleted uranium
Wednesday November 13, 2002 - It's about more than oil, the US and Britain want to redraw the entire map of the Middle East.. Israel continues to steal Palestinian Arab land.. Rainforest Action Network targets CitiGroup.
Tuesday November 12, 2002 - A troubling human rights report says 4 million people could die in a new Iraqi war; are weapons inspections an alternative to war or a prelude to war?.. 2,500 California prisoners in solitary confinement, some go on hunger strike to protest the 'lousiest' lockups in America.
Monday November 11, 2002 - Flashpoints Veterans Day Special: veterans' stories of past wars and how to resist the next one.. devoted today to those who risked their lives.. phone in show with Dennis Bernstein and Barbara Lubin..
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Friday November 8, 2002 - interview with Kathy Kelly of Voices in the Wilderness in Baghdad.. Diana Buttu, PLO legal advisor.. US groups rally on Monday to demand weapons inspections at Lawrence Livermore Labs in Berkeley.
Thursday November 7, 2002 - the world one step closer to war, new UN Resolution almost approved, interview with Dennis Halliday.. in depth look at Indonesia after the Bail bombing, interviews with Kurt Biddle and Sylvia T. Wan
Wednesday November 6, 2002 - US war machine sets up a forward fighting base in Dijbuoti.. SEC chief Harvey Pitt resigns under a cloud, about the Corporate Roques Gallery operating in the Bush Administration.. Interviews with Charles Cobb Jr. and Tyson Slocum
Tuesday November 5, 2002 - CIA roadside air-sniper missile killings in Yemen, interviews with Phyllis Bennis, Francis Boyle, Marjorie Cohn.. and John Junkerman, director of Power and Terror, a new film about Noam Chomsky
Monday November 4, 2002 - John MacArthur publisher of Harpers Magazine: how Democrat Tom Lantos leads the propaganda machine against Iraq.. hear from Lantos's opponent, Maad Abu-Ghazalah.. Greg Palast on tomorrow's rigged election in Florida
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Friday November 1, 2002 - about the US's deadly discrimination against Haitian immigrants.. interview w Leonard Peltier's daughter, Marquita.. Jewish settler violence at an all time high as Palestinian farmers try to harvest their olives
Thursday October 31, 2002 - FTAA protests start today in Ecuador.. Death row in Illinois.. Arab Film Festival starts in Berkeley, SF, and San Jose
Wednesday October 30, 2002 - Jewish settlers kidnap and torture Odnan Ahmed, a Palestinian olive picker.. interview w Tariq Ali on the US 'War On Terror' in the Middle East and Latin America.. National workers strike in Colombia
Tuesday October 29, 2002 - death toll from the storming of the Russian theater continues to rise, about the gas agent used.. implications for bio/chem warfare treaties.. arrests, violence increase against Palestinian civilians..
Monday October 28, 2002 - COMPLETE AUDIO: John Pilger, new film documentary, 'Palestine Is Still The Issue', on the illegal and brutal Israeli occupation
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Friday October 25, 2002 - Venezuelan military plots a new coup.. secret FTAA meetings in Ecuador.. Jeb Bush on the ropes in Florida?.. about tomorrow's anti-war protests in SF and DC.
Thursday October 24, 2002 - about the giant anti-war mobilizations this coming Saturday.. more from John Pilger, about his excellent new documentary, Palestine Is Still The Issue.
Wednesday October 23, 2002 - John Pilger, new film documentary, 'Palestine Is Still The Issue', on the illegal and brutal Israeli occupation
Tuesday October 22, 2002 - excerpts from 'The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm' documentary, about depleted uranium.. Ramsey Clark on US as renegade state.. Vieques update
Monday October 21, 2002 - US continues to backtrack on Iraq war.. about 'Winning the War, Losing the Peace', a new documentary about the misery and poverty in post-war Afghanistan.
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Friday October 18, 2002 - more excerpts from the documentary, The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm.. conversation w Barbara Lubin back from Iraq and occupied Palestine.. Action Alert for October 26
Thursday October 17, 2002 - excerpts from the documentary, The Hidden Wars of Desert Storm.. protests planned this Friday over the ongoing medical abuses of California prisoners.
Wednesday October 16, 2002 - Robert Fisk on the Bali bombing, war on Iraq.. a new documentary on the Pinochet arrest.. interview with Richard Ray Perez and Joan Sekler, the producers of Unprecedented: 2000 Presidential Election
Tuesday October 15, 2002 - excerpts from an excellent new documentary on the stealing of the US 2000 presidential election.. US reveals secret testing of chemical warfare agents on unsuspecting US citizens.. Vieques update
Monday October 14, 2002 - excerpts from an excellent new documentary on the stealing of the US 2000 presidential election.. US reveals secret testing of chemical warfare agents on unsuspecting US citizens.. Vieques update
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Friday October 11, 2002 - Marwan Bishara on the perils facing the Middle East.. Starhawk leads protests at the SF Federal Building and Diane Fein$tein's office.. more excerpts from The Trials of Henry Kissinger (part 2) Thursday October 10, 2002 - about a great new documentary, The Trials of Henry Kissinger (part 1) Wednesday October 9, 2002 - Ramsey Clark, just back from Iraq.. Greg Palast on Hugo Chavez.. Oklahoma bombing victim, Bud Clark, speaks out on the death penalty.. 250 SF garment workers win lawsuit for unpaid wages Tuesday October 8, 2002 - The Case Against War, w Professor Stephen Zunes.. South African anti-apartheid veterans target Israel.. Bush invokes Taft Hartley against West Coast ILWU Monday October 7, 2002 - Israeli missile strike kills 14 Palestinian civilians including four children.. interviews with Netta Jorgesen in Gaza.. International Solidarity Member, Adam Shapiro.. Professor of Political Science, As'ad Abu-Khalil
* * * * * * * * * * * *Friday October 4, 2002 - interview w authors of the new book, 'Freedom'.. Oakland police scandal.. Queer prison activists.. about the 'Forum on Peace' workshop and 'Not In Our Name' demonstrations this weekend.
Thursday October 3, 2002 - Conversation with a man who spent four years on Oklahoma death row for a crime he didn't commit.. Activists ready for FTAA summit in Ecuador this coming Halloween
Wednesday October 2, 2002 - an hour with M. J. Akbar, Indian newspaperman, and author of The Shade of Swords; Jihad and the Conflict between Islam and Christianity.
Tuesday October 1, 2002 - 18 people die in Kashmir during elections.. interview w Dr. Angana Chatterji.. Norman Solomon: delegation to Iraq returns; Congressman Dennis Kucinich speech in Berkeley two weeks ago.
Monday September 30, 2002 - 350,000 march in London.. *National Security Strategy*.. rightwing *Campus Watch* website targets US academics.
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The following inspirational piece by new paradigm author, Marianne Williamson, excerpted from her book, "A Return to Love" and quoted by Nelson Mandela in his 1994 inaugural address: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light--not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves--who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous ?
Actually, who are you--not to be ?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small-- doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking, so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
We are liberated from our own fear; our presence automatically liberates others.
"The attitude of great poets is to cheer up slaves and horrify despots" ...Walt Whitman
My heart rouses
thinking to bring you news
of something that concerns you
and concerns many men. Look at
what passes for the new.
You will not find it there
but in despised poems.
It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack of what is found there.
-- William Carlos Williams
'The theory of a free press is that truth will emerge from free discussion, not that it will be presented perfectly and instantly in any one account.' Walter Lippmann
" Love them all. Por favor mantengan las víctimas de la tragedia en sus corazons. Amor a todos. Please keep the victims of the world's tragedies in your hearts. ", from all of us at Flashpoints.net
peace in our time |
