August 7, 2006: Rustbelt Radio
Intro
Welcome to this week's edition of Rustbelt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of the news from the grassroots, news overlooked by the corporate media.
On today's show...
- Members of Prometheus Radio Project speak about community media in Pennsylvania
- People across the US and in Pittsburgh commemorate the 61st anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
- An independent journalist is jailed in San Francisco
- CocaCola and Pepsi soft drinks are banned in parts of India
- and also our local and global headlines....
Rustbelt Radio airs live every Monday from 6-7pm on WRCT 88.3FM in Pittsburgh, PA, every Thursday from 11am to noon on WARC-Meadville from the campus of Allegheny College, and every Saturday from 5-6pm on WVJW Benwood, 94.1 FM in the Wheeling, West Virginia area. And we're now on WPTS 92.1FM from the campus of the University of Pittsburgh, also Saturdays at 5pm.
We're also available on the internet, both on WRCT's live webstream at W-R-C-T dot ORG and for download, stream or podcast at radio dot I-N-D-Y-P-G-H dot org.
We turn now to local headlines.
Headlines
Local News
[0:45] Soldier charged with murder of local Soldier
A soldier from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was charged on Wednesday August 2nd with premeditated murder in the wartime shooting death of a soldier from Beaver County. Army Specialist Chris Rolan, age 22, is accused of killing 20 year old Private. Dylan Paytas while both were stationed at Forward Operating Base Warhorse in Iraq.
Private Paytas joined the Army after graduating from Freedom Area High School in 2003 and became friends with Specialist Rolan. An argument between the two soldiers escalated to violence ending in Paytas being killed on Nov. 16, 2005.
Rolan is accused of using his military-issue 9 millimeter handgun to shoot Paytas several times. He also is charged with the attempted murder that same night of Private Master Michael Ramsey of Milwaukee. Mr. Ramsey, who has since been discharged from the Army, was not injured. Specialist Rolan is also charged with violating General Order No. 1, which prohibits soldiers from drinking alcohol in a war zone.
In addition to the drinking, murder, and attempted murder charges, Rolan was charged with aggravated assault in a prior confrontation with another soldier, Richard Scarlett.
No date has been scheduled for Rolan's court-martial, said Tracy Bailey, a spokeswoman at Fort Benning, Ga., which was home post to the soldiers. She said Rolan is in jail in Georgia, though not at Fort Benning, awaiting his court-martial.
[5:00] Lebanon Protest
As The bombs continue to drop on the civilian population in Lebanon, People around the world continue to speak out against Israeli Agression in both Lebanon and Palestine. They're demanding a ceasefire as the the death toll in Lebanon has reached 1,000 of which 90% of are civilians. The Israeli Death Toll has reached 75. About 200 people gathered at the Islamic Center on Thursday August 4th to protest Israel's activities in the Middle East. Rafat Chungai of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh described Americans role in the conflict:
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rafat.ogg: 4:30
that was just Rafat Chungai speaking at a Rally at the Islamic Center last thursday. This Saturday Thousands will be gathering in DC for National Emergency March on Washington to Defend the People of Palestine and Lebanon. Buses will be leaving from PIttsburgh for the Rally. For more information about this trip and upcoming events in Pittsburgh you can go to www.pgh-psc.org/
[5:00] Women Ordained in Pittsburgh
Last Monday, 12 women chartered a boat in Pittsburgh and became ordained as clergy in the Roman Catholic Church. This was the first service of its kind to be held in the United States. Current Church law prohibits the ordination of women, though Bridget Mary Meehan, Doctor of Ministry and one of the women who was ordained as a priest, says this has not always been the case.
Meehan went on to explain why the ordinations are valid.
Some wonder whether reform within the Catholic Church is even possible, espeically in the field of women's rights. Meehan disagrees.
Meehan spoke of her hopes for her ordination in her homes in Virginia and Florida.
That was Bridget Mary Meehan, ordained as a priest Monday. Special thanks to Blast Furnace Radio for the audio.
[2:00] Mountain Justice Summer takes on Governor's Convention
This past weekend the Mountain Justice Summer (MJS) campaign was in Charleston, South Carolina, bringing demonstrations and street theatre to the site of the National Governors Association. MJS is a grassroots campaign comprised of coalfields residents and their allies working to halt mountaintop removal coal mining across Appalachia and transition the Appalachian economy away from dependence on coal and toward a clean energy future.
Actions included: a plane flying over the Governors' exclusive island golf outing with a banner message for West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin, "Stop Destroying my Mountains"; protests outside the various food and entertainment events for the Governors; a rally outside the governors' press conference; and a fake wedding between King Coal and the Appalachian states' governors.
One MJS participant, Randal Pfleger, ran with a handful of governors and their guests in a 5K run/walk for a Healthy America. He said, [quote] "After the governors run for their health this morning, I encourage them to run back and make strong stands against mountaintop removal. We cannot run from climate change or air pollution, and children can not run from asthma and coal dust."
Protests wrap up today, August 7th, as the campaign calls on the nation's governors - especially those from West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee - to address the environmental and cultural effects of mountaintop removal, strip mining, and air contamination.
[3:00] Spanish Students Union
People gatherered at the Thomas Merton Center in Garfield last week to reflect on the history of the Spanish Civil War in 1936. Brais Fernandez a member of the Spanish Student Union and the Militante Tendency participated in the event and later spoke to Rustbelt Radio about the work of the Spanish Student Union or the Sindicato de Estudiantes.
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He told us more about the recent elections in Spain and the Anti- War movement
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Fernandez described one of the Student Union's effective actions.
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That was just Brais Fernandez speaking about the Spanish Student Union.
Wrapup
For more on local news, you can visit pittsburgh dot I-N-D-Y-M-E-D-I-A dot org.
[ HMB BREAK RUSTBELT - 0:20 (fades down 0:10 in to start global intro) ]
Global News
Intro
You are listening to Rustbelt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of news overlooked by the corporate media. We turn now to news from other independent media sources around the world.
[3:00] Guantanamo set to Expand
The fight to shut down the Guantanamo Bay detention center is now faced with a setback, as the Pentagon is preparing to open a new permanent prison at the Cuban site within the next few weeks.
The Pentagon recently confirmed that a new state-of-the-art maximum-security jail, named Camp 6, will be built by a Halliburton subsidiary. The 30 million dollar, two story prison has capacity to hold 200 prisoners.
Commander Robert Durand, a spokesperson for Joint Task Force Guantánamo, said the site was due to open at the end of September. He added: "Camp 6 is designed to improve the quality of life for the detainees and provide greater protection for the people working in the facility."
This new development will once again spark the controversy surrounding the jail, which still holds 450 prisoners from the "war on terror." Campaigners working to shut down Guantanamo saw positive steps in the fight earlier this summer, when the EU Parliament overwhelmingly passing a resolution calling for the detention center’s closure by a vote of 80 to 1.
Also, Bush stated this past June that he would quote “like to close Guantanamo”. And just weeks after he made his comments in June, the Supreme Court ruled that the administration's system for trying prisoners using military tribunals breached US and international law. They said Bush had overstepped his authority in forming military commissions to try detainees. The authority, the court said, belongs to Congress, and the Senate committee is now hearing testimony on how the Guanta-namo prisoners should be dealt with.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said last Wednesday that the US government could ‘indefinitely’ hold foreign ‘enemy combatants’ at sites like the US base in Guantanamo. Gonzalez remarked to the Senate Armed Services Committee “We can detain any combatants for the duration of the hostilities.” He continued, “If we choose to try them, that’s great. If we don’t choose to try them, we can continue to hold them.”
At the time of the Supreme Court ruling, some campaigners predicted the decision marked the beginning of the end of Guantánamo Bay. Since then, however, the Bush administration has signaled its intention to introduce new legislation that would circumvent the court's ruling. The revelation that Camp 6 is poised to open is proof that it intends to keep using the prison.
Speaking in June following the suicide of three prisoners, Bush said: "I'd like to close Guantánamo, but I also recognize that we're holding some people that are darn dangerous, and that we better have a plan to deal with them in our courts."
An investigation earlier this year by New Jersey's Seton Hall University showed that, only eight percent of prisoners are accused of fighting for a terrorist group, and that 86 percent were captured by the Northern Alliance or Pakistani authorities quote "at a time when the US offered large bounties for the capture of suspected terrorists."
[4:00] Independent Journalist Jailed in San Francisco
Independent journalist Josh Wolf was taken into custody on Tuesday, August 1st at a hearing in San Francisco. Wolf refused to testify at a Federal Grand Jury or to turn over unpublished video footage of a July 2005 anti-G8 demonstration, which is being investigated by the Grand Jury. Josh’s tape allegedly contains footage of damage to a San Francisco police car. The SFPD, however, failed to file a damage report at the time and many demonstrators claim that, in fact, no damage was ever done to the car. Josh maintains that he has no such footage on his tape. Josh has been charged with civil contempt and jailed until further notice without being convicted of a crime. He is being held at FCI Dublin.
At a press conference held at one of Josh’s earlier hearings on Wednesday July 20, an attorney put his case in the context of the current situation regarding politics and the media:
Later Josh spoke about his own case:
More than 30 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws protecting newsgatherers from unjustified subpoenas. Such statutes often are referred to as “shield laws.” Newsgatherers seek protection from these subpoenas for a variety of reasons. If newsgatherers cannot guarantee the confidentiality promised to some sources, they say, those sources will refuse to provide information that often is critical to important investigative reporting. Newsgatherers also claim that requests for nonconfidential, unpublished information interfere in news gathering by making them investigative arms of the government and by forcing them to spend time and money in court proceedings. Newsgatherers also cite the potential abuse they would suffer if litigants unhappy with a story or a book could routinely subpoena them to appear in court. California does have a shield law but so far Josh has not benefited from its protection.
[2:00] Court Opens Some Ballot Boxes in Mexico
Mexico's top electoral court ordered a partial recount on Saturday in the fiercely contested presidential election between former Mexico City mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and pro-business candidate Felipe Calderon, angering leftists who are threatening mass protests unless all votes are counted again. The recount will occur largely in northern states resoundingly won by Calderon.
If they show Lopez Obrador with more votes than in the original result, pressure will increase to open more ballot boxes. But if the results are unchanged, Lopez Obrador would come under intense pressure to halt his protest campaign calling for a full recount of the more than 41 million votes cast in the July 2 election. Calderon's margin of victory was less than six tenths of one percent.
Dozens of leftists shouted "Traitors!" outside the court building after the ruling. "Without a solution, there'll be revolution," they yelled.
Obrador's supporters shut down central Mexico City all week and are threatening to extend the protests.
"Not just a small part of the vote returns, we want all the polls re-opened," Lopez Obrador told thousands of supporters Friday night in the capital's vast Zocalo square.
He met with his closest advisors on Saturday afternoon to plan his next move. Some supporters warned of violence ahead.
Pilar (pee-laar) Saavedra, a university office worker said "We want all the polling stations, all 130,000. They are closing the path to democracy and the only thing left to us will be violence because we are not going to back down."
Demonstrators left four fake coffins outside the court building with the message: "Democracy, R.I.P."
Fearing further unrest, the federal government has raised security at Mexico City's international airport, power plants and oil refineries.
The electoral court's judges must rule on all legal challenges by the end of August and declare a president-elect by Sept. 6.
[3:00] Coke and Pepsi contain harmful pesticides in India
An Indian non-governmental organization says samples of Coca-Cola and Pepsi products are showing even worse levels of pesticides than in a previous study.
The Centre for Science and Environment, or CSE, said their investigations revealed that the drinks contain harmful residues, posing a health risk. CSE tested 57 samples of 11 soft drink brands, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, from 25 different bottling plants across 12 states and found pesticide residues in all samples. The study found a "cocktail of between three to five different pesticides in all samples." These pesticides include known neurotoxins and carcinogens.
This report follows an earlier CSE report in 2003, which resulted in Pepsi and Coca-Cola strenuously rejecting claims that their drinks were unsafe. Again, the soft drinks manufacturers have condemned the latest findings.
On Wednesday the Indian Soft Drink Manufacturers Association (ISDMA) said in a statement "Soft drinks are completely safe. The soft drinks manufactured in India comply with stringent international norms and all applicable national regulations."
CSE Director Sunita Narain told journalists in Delhi that samples from 12 states showed that Pepsi products contained 30 times more pesticides than found in 2003. And on average, the pesticide residues were 24 times higher than EU standards and those proposed by the Bureau of India Standards, the government body responsible for standardization and quality control. Likewise the Coke samples had 25 times the amount of pesticides found three years ago.
CSE Director Narain alleged that despite the public outcry over the issue following the first report, the government has failed to set up the necessary quality-control standards for the soft drinks industry. Currently, India does not have any purity standards for soft drinks, only for bottled water.
In 2003, an Indian parliamentary committee upheld the CSE findings on the presence of pesticide residues and recommended that standards should be set for soft drinks too. The Indian Food Processing Industries minister, Subodh Kant Sahay said the government would look into the matter when it receives an official complaint.
While Indians wait for The Health Ministry’s Experts Committee to examine the situation and present recommendations, three Indian states announced today the prohibition of selling Coca Cola and Pepsi. Other soft drinks are also included on the blacklist.
These three regional governments from various parts of the sub-continent forbade the sale of these drinks in governmental schools and offices, after a similar decision in the northern state of Rajastan.
Other criticisms of the Coca-Cola Company’s operations in India include creating severe water shortages, unsustainable use of water, polluting agricultural land and groundwater, illegally occupying land, evading taxes and treating workers unfairly.
[1:00] Cybercrime treaty ratified in US
Last week, the US Senate ratified an international treaty called “The Convention on Cybercrime.” The treaty was written to aid law enforcement in enforcing computer and communication laws across international boundaries, but has attracted criticism from Civil Liberties groups.
One such group, The Electronic Frontier Foundation, issued a statement on their website that says [quote] “The treaty requires that the U.S. government help enforce other countries' "cybercrime" laws - even if the act being prosecuted is not illegal in the United States. That means that countries that have laws limiting free speech on the Net could oblige the F.B.I. to uncover the identities of anonymous U.S. critics, or monitor their communications on behalf of foreign governments. American ISPs [Internet Service Providers, the companies that provide Internet access] would be obliged to obey other jurisdiction's requests to log their users’ behavior without due process, or compensation.” [unquote]
Wrapup
You can read more independent global news stories by visting indymedia: I-N-D-Y-M-E-D-I-A dot O-R-G.
Features
Intro
Welcome back to Rust Belt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of news from the grassroots.
[14:00] Prometheus Radio Project - community wireless
* interview recorded at WRCT studios earlier in the day
[8:00 ] August 6th Bechtel Protests in Pittsburgh
August 6th and 9th, mark the 61st anniversaries of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan. These attacks marked the first use of nuclear weapons in war and resulted in the killing of as many as 210,000 people. To commemorate the thousands of innocent people who lost their lives, or who were permanently scarred by the bombings, people all over the world are gathering to protest, rally and vigil between the 6th and 9th to demand an end to the wars in the Middle East and to call for the global abolition of nuclear weapons.
This year in particular, activists in the US are choosing to target facilities run by the Bechtel Corporation, one of the world's leading nuclear weapons contractors, war profiteers, and violators of human rights. Activities are taking place under the banner: From Hiroshima to the Middle East: No Nukes! No Wars! No War Profiteers!
Yesterday, simultaneous actions took place at several Bechtel facilities located across the country including California; Nevada; Tennesee; Texas; Los Alamos, New Mexico where the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima was developed; and right here in Pittsburgh. Local activists with the August 6th committee chose to target the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, operated by Bechtel which is located in West Mifflin, just south of Pittsburgh.
The first-ever march to Bettis was part of three days of education and action to expose U.S. nuclear hypocrisy and confront Bechtel, the region's largest war profiteer, which has a $4.2 billion dollar contract with the Department of Energy to operate Bettis. Over 100 activists took part in the march.
Organizer Scilla Warhaftig described what was taking place during the event:
One man from Elizabeth Township shared his reasons for participating in the march against Bechtel.
Once the march reached the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory, activists laid on the ground, while others drew chalk outlines of their bodies. This action, known as the Shadow Project, is an international effort to symbolize the people who were vaporized and killed by the August 6th and 9th bombings and also the people who continue to be killed by wars across the globe.
A survivor of the attack, Keiji Tsuchiya (soo-chee-ah) traveled to Bechtel’s Livermore Lab near San Francisco, California to take part in the nationwide protests. He provided a statement, which was read by Edith Bell, a local woman helping to organize the events in Pittsburgh, who is a survivor of the Holocaust. Edith reads Keiji’s (kay- gees?) words:
At the conclusion of the day’s events, Rustbelt Radio spoke with Mimi Yahn, a West Mifflin resident and peace activist who we also featured on last week’s show. She gave us her impression of the action.
That was just Mimi Yahn describing yesterday’s actions against the Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory in the Pittsburgh region. For more information on all the events taking place around the country to commemorate the anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, log on to August 6. org.
Ending
[1:30] Calendar of events
And now we present the Indymedia calendar of events:
- Tuesday the 8th will be the third and final public hearing on a proposed power plant in Robinson Township. Supervisors must decide on Robinson Power's applications, either with or without conditions, within 45 days. The hearing on the proposed 272-net-megawatt waste-coal-fired power plant, fly ash dump and related facilities begins at 6 p.m. in the Fort Cherry High School auditorium in Mcdonald, PA.
- This Thursday, August 10th, Rustbelt Radio is sponsoring the Prometheus Radio Project's Summer Wireless Spectacular. The Prometheus Radio Project is going on a state-wide roadshow to tell Pennsylvanians about the possibilities of community wireless networks and how they play a role in bigger media and democracy issues. Prometheus will have up-to-the-second information on cable franchising, municipal and community wireless, the looming deregulation of corporate media ownership, and the future of the internet, from allies across the state and the diverse national groups of the Media and Democracy Coalition. They'll also have video, audio, and photographs showing how communities across PA, the country, and the world are building their own media solutions. This event will take place at Carnegie Mellon University, Baker Hall, room 136A of the Adamson Wing. For more information you can contact us at radio@ indypgh.org
- This Saturday August 12, there will be a national emergency march on Washington to protest Israel's attacks on Lebanon and Palestine. The Islamic Center of Pittsburgh has reserved two buses from Pittsburgh to travel to DC for this event. The buses will be leaving the Islamic Center at 6:00 AM and leave Washington to return to Pittsburgh at 6:00 PM. The cost is $30 per person. If you would like to register a seat on the bus please contact Mohamed Nomany at (412) 805-8452 or by email at mfn@ noamany (THATS N-O-A-M-A-N-Y).net For more information, log on to www.pgh - psc.org
Outro
[ Outro music ]
Thanks for tuning in to Rust Belt Radio here on WRCT Pittsburgh, WARC Meadville, WVJW Benwood and WPTS Pittsburgh.
Our hosts this week are Morgan Ress, Andalusia Knoll, and Ellen Pierson; with additional contributions from Andalusia Knoll, Donald Deeley and Matt Toups. This week's show was produced by Donald Deeley. Special thanks to all of our hosts, producers, and contributors.
You can get involved with Rustbelt Radio! To contact us, or to send us your comments, email RADIO at I-N-D-Y-P-G-H dot ORG. All of our shows are available for download or podcast on our website at RADIO dot INDY-P-G-H dot ORG and this show can be heard again Tuesday morning on WRCT at 9 AM after Democracy Now!
Tune in next week at this time for another edition of Rustbelt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of news from the grassroots.
radio.indypgh.org
Rustbelt Radio for August 7, 2006 [ogg vorbis]
by Indymedia Rustbelt Radio collective
Tuesday, Aug. 08, 2006 at 10:28 AM
radio@indypgh.org 412-923-3000 WRCT 88.3FM
audio: 
ogg vorbis at 24.2 mebibytesaudio: ogg vorbis at 24.2 mebibytes
radio.indypgh.org
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