PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Script for Radio show on 25 May 2004
by IMC Radio Collective Thursday, May. 27, 2004 at 11:26 AM

The script used for the radio show on 25 May, 2005.

Pittsburgh Independent Media Center Radio Show

AP News
Musical Intro (Fanfare for the Common Man) [ Track 1 3:34 ]
Music fades out
Spoken Introduction
ANNOUNCER: Welcome to the second season of Pittsburgh Indymedia Radio at WRCT Pittsburgh. This summer: bringing you news from the underground, the stories that are under-covered in the mainstream Pittsburgh media.

On today's show: People Against Police Violence demand the resignation of District Attorney Zappala. 500 pig-snout wearing activists raised hell at Halliburton's annual shareholder's meeting in Houston, Texas. Steve Donahue brings us an update on public transportation in Pittsburgh. And we visit the Sustainable Pittsburgh conference in downtown Pittsburgh. All that and more in the next hour; but first, the local news.

Music fades back up
Local Newswire

SUNSHINE PROJECT
The University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University are among nine institutions that have failed to comply with public information laws related to their research in the field of bio-technology, according to the Sunshine Project . The Sunshine Project, a German and Texas-based non-profit organization that strives to avert the dangers of new weapons stemming form advances in biotechnology, has lodged a federal complaint with the National Institute of Health's Office of Biotechnology Activities (NIH OBA). They seek immediate suspension of federal funding to the institutions and a fifteen day deadline for compliance.

In 2001, the federal government rejected the protocol for declarations and inspections of Biotechnical labs, which is a step towards weakening the Biological Weapons Convention. The federal government then put more money into biodefense research. As a result, a lot of studies are being done in secret in major laboratories. Pittsburgh is host to the highest number of the secretive labs, in both Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh.

PEOPLE AGAINST POLICE VIOLENCE
On Malcolm X Day, May 19, 2004, People Against Police Violence (PAPV) held a press conference in which they demanded that Stephen A. Zappala, the District Attorney of Allegheny County, resign from all cases of police violence and that Governor Rendell name a special prosecutor. Volunteers with the Independent Media Center were there to record the press conference. Here are the representatives of People Against Police Violence, in their own words.
* People Against Police Violence segment [ Track 3 2:16]
More segments from the press conference can be downloaded at INDYPGH.ORG. For more information about PAPV and the victims of police violence discussed in the press conference, visit http://WWW.PAPV.ORG.

FOIE GRAS
Local animal-rights activists have been campaigning hard against local gourmet eateries in an effort to convince them to stop selling foie gras. Foie gras, a spread made from inflamed goose and duck liver, is produced by force feeding the fowls in a process that the activists charge is inhumane.

Two area restaurants have agreed to stop selling foie gras: Baum Vivant in North Oakland, and Carlton in downtown Pittsburgh. Lucca an upscale Italian restaurant on North Craig Street, remains one of the only restaurants in Pittsburgh to sell the spread. Protesters have been leafleting and picketing in front of the restaurant at least twice weekly, and are encouraging concerned individuals to contact Lucca and other restaurants to express their displeasure with foie gras. For more information, http://WWW.PGHFOIEGRAS.COM

PROTESTORS ABUSED AT BUSH PROTEST
A crowd of 200 gathered on Monday, April 19, outside the David Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh to express opposition to President Bush. Bush was holding a fundraising dinner, charging wealthy Republicans thousands of dollars a plate to raise money for the re-election of PA Senator Arlen Specter.

The crowd was a couple feet off of the sidewalk and into the driveway of the convention center, with people participating in the black bloc tactic acting as a buffer between the rest of the crowd and the police. Barking dogs intimidated the crowds, and after a good amount of time the police, for no apparent reason, suddenly used their bikes to push the crowd out of the driveway and onto the sidewalk.

The mood then quieted a little, with people sitting around and some people going home. A few people wearing black started walking down the sidewalk away from the crowd, and were hassled by the police and ultimately hit, thrown to the ground, and 4 were arrested. When more people went up and tried to see what was going on, they were arrested, too. The targets appear to be community leaders and women.
* Recording of noise at crowd [ 0:48 ]
According to the most recent reports, the case against the 4 protestors has been dropped as long as they agree not to sue or press charges against the Pittsburgh Police Department.

That's it for local news. The Indymedia newswire is composed of stories contributed by ordinary people in the Pittsburgh community. Listeners like you could contribute your own news. Visit indypgh.org for more information on these stories or to submit your own.

Musical break [ Track 4? 2:46]

Global Newswire

And now, news from Independent Media Centers around the nation.

COLOMBIAN GENERAL STRIKE
In protest against the Free Trade Area of the Americas, thousands of workers marched in all the large cities of Colombia Tuesday during the national strike, called by the Comando Unitario de Trabajadores (CUT).

In Cartagena 15,000 demonstrators were violently repressed by the forces of order. On the other side of the country near the Ecuadorian border, in Pasto, thousands were attacked by the police but resisted against those in uniform. In Bucaramandga, Cali, Popayán and many other countries the workers began a 24 hour strike and left their places of work to take to the streets. More that seven million students attending public schools were left with out classes when 300,000 teachers joined the strike.

The common call was: "NO TO THE FTA - NO TO THE FTAA

GURANI NATURAL GAS BLOCKADE
FROM Bolivia IMC -- The people of the Guaraní in the Bolivian Chaco region are about to accomplish a de-facto blockade of the gas producing conveyor systems, which are owned by the transnational oil companies Maxus, Repsol, Petrobras and TGS.

The most important demand of the Guaraní is the annulment of the coal hydrocarbon law which was approved by the former president Gonzalo Sánchez de Losada in 1996, and which finally opened door and gate to the profits of the companies by leaving the production and marketing.of the oil wells to their free availability .

"We don't want to die any longer because of hunger", says Nelly Romero, the vice president of the assembly of the Guaraní people (Asamblea del Pueblo Guaraní - APG) in Carini - where the social protest movement started on the 30th of april - and stressed determinatatedly that "there will only be negotiations in presence of the president Carlos Mesa".

BURMESE NOBEL PRIZE WINNER REMAINS UNDER HOUSE ARREST
May 20th marked the first anniversary of an attack on a Burmese human rights leader. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese Opposition leader who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for non-violent activism, remains under house arrest in Rangoon as she has been for most of the past fifteen years.

In May 2003, Suu Kyi and her supporters set out on a road tour of Burma. Everywhere she went, huge crowds gathered in testament to the passion she still generates among Burmese people. On the night of 20th May 2003, thousands of men armed with sticks, clubs and rocks attacked a convoy led by Suu Kyi and supporters from her National League for Democracy (NLD). As many as 70 people may have died in the violence, according to exiled opposition groups, who blame the attack on the ruling military junta. Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained that night along with several party colleagues. Many more have since been put under house arrest or taken into custody.

HALLIBURTON PROTEST
500 pig-snout wearing activists raised hell at Halliburton's annual shareholders meeting in Houston, Texas on May 19. Chanting "corporate invasion is not liberation" and "Halliburton, Kellogg, Brown and Root, Go to Iraq and Loot, Loot, Loot" they disrupted the Halliburton meeting to send a message that not all Americans support the war profiteering and corporate cronyism that Halliburton epitomizes. Halliburton is U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's former company and has been the number one financial beneficiary of the war and occupation of Iraq with $9 billion on contracts. Renee Phelps with Free Speech Radio News reports.
* Haliburton Segment [ Track 2 4:38]

The Indymedia Global Newswire is made up of stories submitted to Independent Media Center's around the world, as well as news submitted to Free Speech Radio News, a fellow Pacifica Affiliate. To learn more about these stories and others, visit INDYMEDIA.ORG

Now, as we will each week, we bring you Steve Donahue to talk about Public Transportation.
* Steve Donahue Minute [ Tracks 8, 9 0:22, 5:17]
Musical Break

TOP STORY
"The mission of Sustainable Pittsburgh is to affect decision-making in the Pittsburgh region so that it integrates economic prosperity, social equity, and environmental quality. On Friday, May 21st, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center radio team visited their annual Smart Growth conference at Soldier's and Sailor's Hall in Oakland. Here are just a few of the interviews that we conducted.

* Sustainable Pittsburgh segments [ Tracks 5, 6, 7 0:29, 2:59, 2:29]

For more information, visit Sustainable Pittsburgh's website at http://WWW.SUSTAINABLEPITTSBURGH.ORG or call (412) 258-6642

Pittsburgh Indymedia Calendar

Tonight at 7:30: "From Baghdad to the West Bank"
Eyewitness Accounts from Pittsburghers Vince Eirene and Jonas Moffat
Come and hear their stories and see their pictures, and learn what life is like living under occupation.
Monumental Baptist Church, 2240 Wiley Ave, Hill District, Pittsburgh, PA

Friday, May 28th, you are invited to the monthly Critical Mass bike ride. Critical Mass is a a rip rockin bike ride with a hundred or so of your colsest friends through the city. let the car drivers know that bikes belong! Meet at the Carnegie Library in Oakland near the dinosaur at 5:30 PM.

And the Pittsburgh IMC is having it's next general meeting on Saturday, June 5th at 2:00 PM at the Kiva Han in Oakland. Newcomers are always welcome. Visit INDYPGH.ORG for more information.

* Big Idea announcement [ Track 10 0:28]
You can submit your own events to the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's calendar at INDYPGH.ORG

Thanks for listening. To contact the radio show directly, email radio@indypgh.org. The Independent Media Center Radio Hour is put together each week by Andalusia, Quinten Steenhuis and Matt Toups. Our producer is Beejal Lakhavani. Special thanks to the WRCT Public Affairs crew, Steve Donahue of Save Our Transit, and the contributors to the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center website.

add your comments