PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Indymedia Rustbelt Radio show for Tuesday, September 21, 2004
by Pittsburgh IMC Radio Collective Tuesday, Sep. 21, 2004 at 9:33 PM
radio@indypgh.org (email address validated)

"Indymedia Rustbelt Radio" -- PGH IMC Radio Show on WRCT 88.3FM Recording of the Tuesday, September 21st show. ogg vorbis and mp3 formats (55 minutes). The transcript is below.

audio link: MP3 at 37.5 mebibytes

September 21, 2004 ImcPittsburgh Radio Show (Rustbelt Radio)

Aired at 6pm on WRCT Pittsburgh, 88.3FM, and webcast.

SHOW SCRIPT:

Welcome to this week's edition of Rustbelt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's bi-weekly review of the news from the grassroots that the corporate media overlook. We will be alternating this semester every-other week with Left Out, a talk show that presents news and opinions from a perspective "left out" of the mainstream media.

On today's show...

* Saying that privacy concerns are over-blown, the City of Pittsburgh has been given a grant to build an extensive video surveillance network across the city.
* The group Save Our Transit is lobbying Harrisburg for two bills that they say will save public transportation across the State.
* The People's Caravan for Food Sovereignty is sweeping across Asia and Europe. Radio Mundo Real has that report.
* And Free Speech Radio News brings us two stories: A student march across California and the first ever Presidential election in Indonesia.
* Finally, We speak with Jared of the group Anti-Racist Action. Anti Racist Action is organizing in Philadelphia to oppose the gathering of a white-supremacist group.

Headlines

Local News

Save Our Transit Rallies for Increased Bus, Light Rail Funding

Early this summer, just before their recess a bipartisan group of Pennsylvania law makers introduced legislation that moves the state a long way toward establishing a more reliable and stable source of dedicated revenue for public transit operations all across the commonwealth. Senate Bill 1162 and its companion House Bill 2697 will increase state funding for public transit by $282 million. The Port Authority�s share of this will be around $64 million. Absent these bills bus and light rail riders in Allegheny County will likely face major service cuts in 2005 so that the Port Authority can balance its $30 deficit budget as state statute requires. As almost happened in FY03-04 the service cuts implemented by the Port Authority would about destroy all weekend and night time bus and light rail service.

On Monday, September 13th, members of the transit advocacy group Save Our Transit rallied at the City-County Building downtown to support the two bills.

From Pittsburgh's Blast Furnace Radio, Vincent Eirene has more.

[ Audio Clip 2:35 ]

Vigils For Peace on Eve of 1,000 American Deaths in Iraq

Code Pink, along with other peace organizations, sponsored an emergency candlelight vigil in Frick Park on Thursday, September 8th. A group of about 100 gathered on the corner of Forbes and Braddock Avenue to remember the 1000 Americans and 13,000 Iraqis who have died.

Among those present were WWII veteran Dan Bolef, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge; Regina Birchen, a Pittsburgher who was recently elected International President of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, and Judy Focareta of Code Pink.

Hundreds of similar vigils were held around the world at the same time to mark the occasion, some of them organized by the online organizations MoveOn?.org and TrueMajority?.

Shrugging Off Big Brother Concerns, City Will Install Surveillance Network With Federal Grant

The City of Pittsburgh has received a nearly $500,000 grant from the Justice Department to begin installation of a network of computer-controlled security cameras in neighborhoods across the city, part of federal anti-terrorism initiatives that have seen even larger camera networks installed in New York City, Washington DC and Chicago.

Some Pittsburgh City Council members were worried about privacy implications of the extensive camera network, but City Operations director Bob Kennedy shrugged those concerns off, saying that the network would be used mainly for massive emergencies, like the evacuation of Downtown on September 11th 2001, and would not be a "Big Brother"-type monitoring network.

In DC, installation of a similar network of cameras 2 years ago met extensive scrutiny by local elected officials, who demanded specific criteria for the camera network's use and argued that internal Police Department policy was insufficient. For example, guidelines suggested that police might record over any material after 72 hours, although they did not require that step.

Pittsburgh's City Council has yet to set any specific guidelines or legislation for the use of the camera network.

Wrapup

For more on all of our local news stories, visit pittsburgh dot I-N-D-Y-M-E-D-I-A dot O-R-G. We're going to take a short break and then return with global news headlines.

[ Musical Break ]

Global News

Intro

That was Ben Harper, Fight For Your Mind. Welcome back to Rust Belt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's bi-weekly review of the news that the corporate media overlook. We turn now to headlines from Independent Media Centers around the world.

RNC Legal Update

Three weeks ago at the Republican National Convention, 1,793 people were arrested in what was the largest mobilization at a political convention in history. The majority of those arrests took place on Tuesday, August 31, when activists engaged in dozens of direct actions, ranging from stopping traffic on Wall Street to blocking delegates busses near Madison Square Garden. There is widespread evidence that the NYPD committed series of abuses.

The NYPD violated the rights of protesters by using such tactics as trapping people with orange netting to make mass arrests and using scooters and metal barriers to contain protests. RNC arrestees were corralled at a razor-wire lined bus garage on a West Side pier nicknamed "Guantanamo on the Hudson." People were crammed in on top of each other, forced to sit in a ground filled with burn-causing toxic chemicals, and had minimal access to toilets. There are also reports the RNC may have paid for the rental of Pier 57. After arrestees experienced widespread delays in getting released, a Judge ordered NYPD in contempt of court and fined the City $1,000 per protester per hour held longer than 24 hours.

The Bloomberg administration boycotted a recent New York City Council hearing on police abuses at the RNC. Several civil suits also have been initiated, with more on the way.

Kofi Annan Declares Iraq War "Illegal"

In an interview with the British Broadcasting Company last week, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that the Iraq War was illegal. He spoke with the BBC World Service's Owen Bennett-Jones in this interview.

[ Audio Clip - 30 seconds ]

Mr Annan also said in the interview the UN would give advice and assistance in the run-up to the elections, but it was up to the Iraqi interim government to decide whether such a vote should go ahead.

He warned there could not be "credible elections if the security conditions continue as they are now".

Mr Annan's comments provoked angry suggestions from a former Bush administration aide that they were timed to influence the US November election.

"I think it is outrageous for the Secretary-General, who ultimately works for the member states, to try and supplant his judgement for the judgement of the member states," Randy Scheunemann, a former advisor to US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the BBC.

But, says the BBC's Susannah Price, Mr Annan has made similar comments before.

He has said from the beginning the invasion did not conform with the UN charter - phrasing that was seen as a diplomatic way of saying the war was illegal.

Racist Violence in Greece

Despite fearmongering about the potential for a terrorist strike, the Olympic Games ended peacefully in Athens last month. But there is another form of terror that has engulfed Greece. Only a week after the closing ceremony, racist violence against Albanian immigrants was spread around Greece, following the defeat of Greek national soccer team by the by the Albanian national soccer team.

Before the soccer match between Greece and Albania, mass media in Greece made an effort to provoke racism. Images of crazy Albanians ready to kill all Greeks appeared in the TV news. Before and during the game there were also several acts of provocation from Albanian nationalists in Tirana.

After the match thousands of Albanian immigrants went to the streets of Greek cities to celebrate peacefully the victory of the Albanian team by 2 to 1, not unlike how the Greeks behaved after their EURO 2004 win in Portugal. The reaction of Greek nationalists was immediate: they organized themselves into groups and they start beating every Albanian they found. This happened in more than 10 cities of Greece. The result: Gramos Paluca, an Albanian immigrant, was murdered by Panagiotis Kladis, a Greek-American. At least 50 others wounded in several incidents that evening.

People's Caravan For Food Sovereignty

Hundreds of peasant organizations and support NGOs, representing millions of poor Asian farmers, are currently participating in the People’s Caravan 2004 for People’s Food Sovereignty that is sweeping through 15 countries across Asia and Europe. After a first caravan in 2000, this year's caravan bears the theme "Asserting Our Rights to Land and Food" and will culminate in Nepal with a public rally and the Conference on Alternatives to Globalization on September 30.

The People's Caravan 2004 kicked off in Malaysia. While two legs are heading through Sri Lanka and India, the third is covering several South East and Central Asian countries and is now in the Philipines. In addition, a small group travels through Europe where they will attend the protests against the Agricultural Biotechnology International Conference in Cologne (12-13 Sept) among others.

The Caravan aims to raise awareness on the issues involved in food sovereignty, including the World Trade Organization, genetic engineering , pesticides, agrochemical transnational corporations, workers' rights, and the promotion of sustainable agriculture.

Radio Mundo Real has this report from the kick-off to the caravan in Malaysia.

[ Audio Clip - 5 minutes ]

March for Education in California

Last Wednesday, a group of UC Santa Cruz students set out on an 8 day march for education to highlight budget cuts and lagging student enrollment. The trek from San Jose, CA to UC Berkeley will take participants to 17 different university and community college campuses in an effort to dialogue with students, faculty, & staff. FSRN's Vinny Lombardo reports from the march.

* FSRN_march4edu_lede_edited.ogg: march for education

[ (4:17) Clip ]

Argentine Workers March for Expropriation Law

Last Tuesday a delegation of workers from some of Argentina's roughly 200 re-occupied factories marched in Buenos Aires (BUE-NOS AYE-RES). These workers march in groups called MTDs, which stands for Movimiento de Trabajadores Desocupados or Unemployed Workers Movement, and are commonly known as piqueteros (PEE-CAY-TER-OS) for their use of direct action tactics, especially 'piquetes', or blockades. They demanded that the government definitively legalize the expropriation of factories and other bankrupt enterprises which were abandoned by owners and run under direct workers' control after. This followed Argentina's economic collapse in December 2001 after a period of close adherance to US-promoted neoliberal policies. These policies, that followed loan agreements the International Monetary Fund, slashed tariffs, privitised state services, brought in multinational corporations, and pegged the Argentine Peso exchange rate to 1 US dollar.

A delegation of 170 activists – 100 workers from Zanon ceramics factory and 70 from social movements supporting the factory – arrived in the morning in Buenos Aires to march to a local court and national congress in defense of a possible government eviction of Zanon. Workers from Chilavert printing factory, Bauen Hotel, Brukman suit factory, Conforti printing factory, Renacer electronics from Usuhia, Junin health clinic, Ados health clinic, Gattic shoe company, Sasetru pasta company, and various unemployed workers organizations participated in the march.

After the crisis of December 19 and 20, 2001, the Argentine government gave many workers occupying businesses temporary permits to function inside offices and factories. However, these agreements had a two year limit. Some of the permits are set to expire before the end of 2004. It is uncertain how the current government will negotiate the conflict.

Indonesia likely to have new President

Indonesians went to the polls in their first ever presidential elections and a former general promising to fight terrorism and clean up government looks likely to defeat current president Megawati Soekarnoputri. The election commission said that former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Megawati's one-time chief security minister, had 59 percent of ballots with a fifth of the vote counted, while Megawati had 41 percent. Both Megawati and Yudhoyono have been competing for US support. After a meeting with US Secretary of State Collin Powel months ago, Yudhoyono claimed he had American support and said that the US was his second country after Indonesia. From Jakarta, FSRN's Meggy Margiyono files this report.

[ (3:33) Clip ]

Wrapup

You can read more about our global news stories by visting I-N-D-Y-M-E-D-I-A dot O-R-G. We'll be back after a brief break.

[ Two Public Service Announcements 1:07 - Million Worker March and :32 - Car Free Day ]

Features

Intro

Welcome back to Rust Belt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's bi-weekly review of the news that the corporate media overlook.

Anti-Racist Action Interview

A group that claims to be America's largest Nazi party, the so-called National Socialist Movement, will be rallying in a public park in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania this Saturday, the first day of Yom Kippur. The self-identified facist organization openly reveres Hitler and the German Nazi party, but they say the decision to hold their rally on Yom Kippur was an accident. Saying that they don't want to bring the group more attention, the Anti-Defamation League, the NAACP, and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia have decided not to hold a counter-rally, although their groups might hold vigils or sign statements.

Speaking with us by telephone today is Jared from the Philadelphia Chapter of Anti Racist Action. Anti-Racist Action is a group that openly confronts facists wherever they show their faces in public. They say in their mission statement that they don't rely on the cops or the courts to protect their rights, and they plan to organize hundreds of like-minded citizens to demonstrate against the Nazi group and outnumber them 4 to 1. Jared - welcome.

{Possible questions:}

What has the organizing been like for this event?

What do you think about the decision by the ADL, the NAACP, and the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to ignore the facists?

To what extent do you feel that the approach of the ARA has been successful, given that there are still pockets of hatred and white-supremacism all over the country, particularly in Pennsylvania, and particularly in Central PA?

How can people get in touch?

Jared, thank you. You've been listening to Jared of the Philadelphia Chapter of Anti-Racist Action, organizing a counter-demonstration to a white-supremacist rally in Valley Forge, PA, to take place this Saturday at 11:00 AM. You can get in touch with the group by visiting their website: aranet.org/forge.

[ Musical break -- Pete Seeger, Hold the Line? ]

Western Psych Nurse's Strike

Pete Seeger, Hold the Line on WRCT Pittsburgh. You're listening to Rust Belt Radio.

In the first strike ever known to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Nurses at UPMC-Western Psychiatric picketed outside the hospital for three days last weekend in an effort to get better compensation packages so that they can attract more nurses.

At the present time, the nurses at UPMC are paid "significantly less than our colleagues at area hospitals," according to Susan Forejt, RN, a nurse who has been with Western Psych for the past few years. She commented that psychiatric nursing is a difficult field to recruit new nurses for in the first place, and the salary deficiency is just making it more difficult. At the present time, there is a 21% vacancy rate in the nursing staff at Western Psych, this is three times the vacancy rate at other area hospitals. Nurses at Western Psych work an average of 3 weeks of overtime a year in order to compensate for the vacancy.

Pittsburgh Indymedia's Gwendolyn Schmidt reports.

* WPsych-strike.mp3: Western Psych Strike interviews

[ (5:15) Clip ]

Ending

[ Musical Break ]

Calendar of events

That was Billy Bragg - There Is Power in a Union. Now, upcoming events:

* TONIGHT, 8:30 PM -- U. Pitt's Amnesty Intl. holds a Vigil on Torture
o William Pitt Union Patio, Fifth and Bigelow (Oakland)

* Wed Sep. 22, 4:00 PM -- The Battle for Accountability in Election Systems
o McConomy? Auditorium, CMU Campus 5000 Forbes Avenue

* Thurs, Sep. 23 @ 5:00 PM -- "American Empire and Affluence: The Search for New American Values," by Dr. Robert Jensen (Univ. of Texas)
o William Pitt Union, Lower Level Lounge, University of Pittsburgh Campus

* Friday, Sep. 24 @ 5:30 PM -- Pittsburgh's monthly Critical Mass bike ride
o meet at the Carnegie Museum Dinosaur, Forbes Ave. in Oakland

* Sat, Sep. 25 @ 11:30 AM -- A Counter Rally Against NeoNazi?'s in Valley Forge PA
o Valley Forge National Battlefield, organized by Philadelphia Anti-Racist Action

* Tue Sep. 28, 7:30 PM -- "Mumia Abu Jamal: Journalist vs. Death Penalty"
o Giant Eagle Auditorium @ CMU's Baker Hall, near Schenley Park

* Sat Oct. 2, 9:00 AM -- Underground Action Alliance Students' Rights Workshop
o Oakland -- CMU 125C Porter Hall, CMU Campus
o for more info Contact: Anne Geever bigcheese@undergroundactionallianceSTOPSPAM.org

* Sat Oct. 2, 2:00 PM -- Pittsburgh Indymedia General Meeting
o Get Involved in Pittsburgh Indymedia!
o Kiva Han, Craig St. & Forbes Ave, Oakland

* Tue Oct. 5, 7:00 PM Protest Henry Kissinger's Visit to Downtown Pittsburgh
o Heinz Hall, 6th and Penn Downtown

Outro

Thanks for tuning in to Rust Belt Radio here on WRCT Pittsburgh. We'll be back in two weeks; next week tune in to at this time, 6-7pm to hear "Left Out," a talk show that presents news and opinions from a perspective "left out" of the mainstream media.

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by Pittsburgh IMC Radio Collective Wednesday, Sep. 22, 2004 at 7:41 AM
radio@indypgh.org

audio: ogg vorbis at 21.4 mebibytesaudio: ogg vorbis at 21.4 mebibytes

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