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Indymedia Rustbelt Radio show for Tuesday, November 2, 2004
by Pittsburgh IMC Radio Collective Wednesday, Nov. 03, 2004 at 3:11 AM
radio@indypgh.org (email address validated) WRCT 88.3FM

Aired at 6pm on WRCT Pittsburgh, 88.3FM, and webcast. 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... * The Critical Mass bike ride is under attack in New York and elsewhere in the US * A scam to trick young voters into changing their voter registration strikes students in Pittsburgh * and the elections: commentary on voting from local activists, and voices from the streets on election day

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  • Headlines
  • Features
  • Ending

    • November 2, 2004 ImcPittsburgh Radio Show (Rustbelt Radio)

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

    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...

    Headlines

    Local News

    Candidates and Surrogates Visit CMU

    Pennsylvania has gotten more visits by the two presidential candidates than any other state; and Pittsburgh has received its share of that attention. On Wednesday, October 20th, John Kerry stopped on the campus of Carnegie Mellon University with CMU alumnus Ted Danson. The rally was heavily attended, but many students complained that it was difficult to get to class. A banner dropped by students greeted the candidate with the message "KERRY WILL NOT STOP THE WARS - DO IT YOURSELF," but was quickly taken down.

    The next day, Thursday, October 21st, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice gave a private address to the Carnegie Mellon campus community. Attendance to the event, sponsored by the International Relations department, was heavily restricted, but some students found a way to make their voice heard anyhow. According to an anonymous statement published in the Pittsburgh City Paper, about 12 CMU students orchestrated the dropping of three banners questioning the Bush Adminstration's record on both civil liberties and Iraq. They remained up for several hours until the students were requested to remove them.

    Kerry Rally and the East Liberty Anti-War vigil

    Usually the corner of Penn and Highland avenues in Easy Liberty is the scene for a quiet weekly anti-war vigil held by Black Voices for Peace. This Saturday, the same corner was occupied by a large stage, sound system, and the street corner was closed to traffic. The Kerry/Edwards Campaign had arrived ready to rally African-American voters, along with DJs from WAMO, a local hip-hop radio station.

    [ everybody_votes_beats.ogg: clip #1 from east liberty rallies -- ~10 sec ]

    [ wamo_dj.ogg: clip #2 from east liberty rallies -- ~11 sec ]

    We spoke to some pedestrians in Penn Circle.

    [ calvin_quote.ogg: clip #3 from east liberty rallies -- calvin, 0:44 ]

    Local Unions were present at the event, also.

    [ here_pres.ogg: clip #4 from east liberty rallies -- HERE president, 1:15 ]

    However, activists still hoped to hold their weekly anti-war rally at the same time. In addition to the regular vigil held by locals, a tour called "Wheels of Justice" arrived. This tour has been travelling cross country in a colorful biodiesel bus educating people about Nonviolence and action against war and occupation in Iraq and Palestine for justice and universal human rights Some demonstrators wore costumes to dramatize the casualties of war in Iraq. This led to conflict with the Kerry campaign event.

    [ cops_vs_vftw_voiceover.ogg: cops kick vitw guy from the corner, with voiceover -- 0:22 ]

    After being removed from the corner of Penn and Highland by Pittsburgh police, one of the costumed demonstrators spoke to us.

    [ vitw_quote.ogg: quote from vitw guy -- 1:20 ]

    After the rally, Sala Udin, democratic City Council Member from the Hill District apologized to Voices in the Wilderness. He said that the event organizers mistook the protest for a right-to-life group which had antagonized people at previous events.

    Wheels of Justice Tour

    The folowing day Brian Buckley of the Wheels of Justice Tour spoke at Cafe Bliss in Point Breeze about his experiences if Najaf, Iraq and East Jerusalem. He discussed many of his first hand experiences dealing with soldiers and Iraqui citizens and also made comarisons between the war abroad and at home.

    audio clip: brian buckley

    Election Updates

    The Pennsylvania Department of State last week released the first look at updated figures on state-wide voter registration. Interest in the election, combined with the close race in Pennsylvania, led to a significant increase in voter registration totals. Overall, Democrats registered slightly more new voters than Republicans -- 108,000 -- since the primaries this summer.

    In Pittsburgh, that trend was reversed, although the Post-Gazette attributed this trend to declining populations in Pittsburgh and slightly growing populations in the more conservative suburbs.

    An analysis of a larger set of voter registration data conducted by Pittsburgh Indymedia reveals one thing that the Post-Gazette did not report: the only group of registered voters in Allegheny County that increased in absolute numbers from 2002 was the Pennsylvania Green Party; as a proportion of the overall voter registration rolls, it more than doubled. The number of independent and other-third party voters also increased during that time, while the absolute numbers of Democrats and Republicans both decreased.

    Voter Registrations Changed in Scam

    Governor Rendell on Wednesday has vowed to investigate allegations that contractees hired by the group "Project America Votes" tricked students at at least three campuses -- the University of Pittsburgh, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and Montgomery County Community College -- into registering as members of the Republican Party, by asking them to sign petitions for a variety of causes, including a pro-marijuana legalization petition and a petition to lower auto insurance rates for young drivers.

    In some cases, students who were clearly not eligible to register to vote were registered in the scam, including students who were citizens of other countries. The impact for the election today is not clear; for most students, the change in their registration will have no effect, although some students may have their polling place changed without being aware of it. In that case, they may be unable to vote.

    We spoke with two students who were affected by the scam; one a student at the University of Pittsburgh, and one at the Community College of Allegheny County. Here are their versions of what happened.

    [ Audio Clip ~ 3:30 registration_scam_edited.ogg: ]

    The organization whose canvassers appeared to have perpetrated the fraud, Project America Votes, belongs to Sproul and Associates, a group under contract to the GOP. It has come under fire recently in several other states where some canvassers have said that they had been told to refuse to register Democrats or to discard their registration forms after they had been completed.

    Anti-Gay Protest at Pitt

    The Free Gospel Church of Export, PA staged an anti-Gay protest on Forbes and Bigelow last Monday, and were soon met with counter-protesters from the University of Pittsburgh's Gay-Straight Alliance.

    Free Gospel Church members started making appearances on the corner of Forbes and Bigelow before noon to distribute Chick Publications, cartoon booklets with a christian fundamentalist message, and protest the rights of Gays. The members of the church included several high school aged children, and one adult male holding a sign that read, "Sodomy to die for" on one side and "Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve; AIDS, Judgement or Cure?" on the other.

    By 2:30pm, a small crowd of a couple dozen Gay Student Alliance members and other Pitt students had gathered in an anti-protest, carrying signs that read "We deserve the freedom to marry" and "I choose Love, not Hate". As of 3pm, the clash was still going strong, and cops were starting to enter the cluster of folks from both sides to break things up. By 4:15pm, the crowd had completely dispersed.

    Transit Update

    The future of public transit across Pennsylvania rests in the hands of lawmakers in Harrisburg. If the two transit bills currently up for debate, Senate Bill 1162 and House Bill 2697, are not passed by November 30th, massive cuts will occur in Pittsburgh and across the state. For the Port Authority System in Allegheny county, the failure of the bills would mean:

    In response, the advocacy group Save Our Transit is holding a rally Thursday at 10 AM at the State Office Building at 300 Liberty Avenue downtown. The rally will end in a march to a public comment hearing on the cuts at the Sheraton Station Square. Hearings begin at 11:00 AM.

    People Against Police Violence October 22nd Demonstration

    On Friday, October 22nd, People Against Police Violence led about sixty people from Freedom Corner in the Hill District to the Federal Building then to the Allegheny County Courthouse to demand justice for local victims of police violence. The march was part of the October 22nd Coalition's National Day of Action to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation. Similar actions happened in 32 cities across the country.

    PAPV members read the names of local victims of police violence and awarded DA Zappala a [quote] certificate of appreciation [end quote] from killer cops. Two weeks earlier Zappala had announced that he was not going to prosecute the officers responsible for the shooting death of a 26 year-old unarmed black man named Bernard Rogers. Protestors condemned Zappala for his failure to prosecute, as you can hear in this audio recording.

    [audio clip: 1:30]

    October 22nd's protest was one of the most lively and colorful of PAPV's demonstrations, featuring puppetry and visuals thanks to visiting puppeteer-activist David Solnit, lively drumming thanks to Pittsburgh Organizing Group, and moving spoken word thanks to Jeremy, a member of the Pittsburgh Slam Poets. Here is a brief audio clip from the demonstration.

    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.

    [ Audio clip: 1:00 spoken word about police brutality ]

    Global News

    Intro

    That was spoken word from the October 22nd demonstration against police brutality. 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.

    Police kill student with less-lethal weapon [1:30]

    On October 21, Victoria Snelgrove, a 21-year-old Emerson College student, was shot and killed by a police officer using a [quote] less-lethal weapon. Snelgrove was celebrating the Red Sox victory over the New York Yankees when hundreds of police officers were called in to [quote] control the crowd.

    The weapon used in the shooting appears to be a FN303 Less Lethal launcher that fired an Oleoresin Capsicum-filled, .65 caliber polystyrene body projectile. According the manufacturer, [quote] The projectiles have been specially designed to break up on impact, thereby eliminating any risk of penetration injury." [endquote] However, the officer shot Snelgrove in the eye, in defiance of the manufacturer's recommended use and basic common sense.

    The irony is that if the police were carrying only their REAL lethal weapons the other night, they would have been forced to show more restraint and Snelgrove might still be alive.

    The same weapon was used against protesters at the 2003 Miami Free Trade Areas of the Americas Ministerial last November as well as at Direct Action to Stop the War's protest on the Oakland docks on April 7, 2003. Dozens were injured as a result. Just two weeks prior to the Snelgrove shooting, it was used to fire on Bush protesters in Oregon.

    Save Our Civil Liberties has launched a campaign to ban less-lethal weapons starting with Boston but then extending throughout the country. For more information visit www.saveourcivilliberties.org.

    New Report Estimates 100,000 Civilian Deaths in Iraq

    According to a research study released by the Lancet, a London-based medical publication, poor military planning, air strikes by coalition forces and a "climate of violence" have led to more than 100,000 civilian deaths in Iraq. The study also shows that the risk of death in Iraq is 58-times higher than before the US-led invasion in March of 2003. The new study shows a much higher estimate of deaths than past surveys, which have estimated 10,000 to 37,000 civilians deaths following the US invasion. The Lancet study does not take into account the US invasion of Falluja.

    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.

    [ Musical Break ]

    Features

    Intro

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

    Critical Mass crackdown

    Critical Mass is a monthly celebration which brings attention to alternative forms of transportation. A large mass of bicycle riders, in hundreds of cities around the world, come together monthly to ride on the last Friday of each month. In Pittsburgh, critical mass meets at 5:30PM in Oakland at the Dinosaur near the Carnegie Library.

    After years of successful rides, Critical Mass in New York City has been harassed by the New York Police Department since a huge ride at the end of August greeted the delegates to the Republican National Convention, or RNC. Since then, bike riders and the NYPD have both appeared in Federal District Court in a legal battle over the right to ride bikes in the streets of New York.

    Rustbelt Radio spoke to Bill DiPaola from Times Up, a direct-action environmental group that uses events and educational programs to promote a more sustainable, less toxic city.

    [ nyc_critmass_full_edited.ogg: Interview with Bill from Times Up -- 7:55 ]

    Also, on Saturday, one day after the October Critical Mass ride this past friday, Rustbelt Radio spoke to Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields as she visited Pittsburgh, and asked her to comment on critical mass.

    [ Interview with fields_on_cm.mp3 Manhattan Borough President on Critical Mass] ]

    Unfortunately New York isn't the only city where critical mass has faced legal and violent challenges.

    The Critical Mass bike in Portland, Oregon was also interrupted by local police there, where a handful of arrests were made and dozens of tickets issued.

    In San Diego, a driver in a Toyota 4-Runner ran over a person's bicycle during critical mass as well as hopping a curb and rear-ending another vehicle. The motorist fled the scene in a hit-and-run.

    Shortly after the incident, a San Diego Critical Mass rider spoke to RadioActive? Radio about what happened:

    [ Clip from San Diego: sandiego.ogg: edited 1:07 clip on san diego critical mass from radioactive radio ]

    Critical Mass in Pittsburgh has been riding successfully for years, but in April 2003 Pittsburgh Police arbitrarily made four arrests and issued many tickets, which were later invalidated. This came the day before a large anti-war demonstration, just as the NYC Critical Mass crackdown began days before the Republican Convention and associated protests began. Last week's ride, deemed "Critical Masquerade" every October in celebration of Halloween, faced no police repression but was unfortunately marred by rain.

    Critical Mass will continue on the last Friday of this month, the 26th, at 5:30pm in Oakland, by the Dinosaur at the Carnegie Library.

    [ Musical Break ]

    Don't Just Vote

    While millions are taking to the polls, progressive activists nation wide are encouraging people to take advantage of this election year to emphasize the power of direct action and to present direct democracy as a viable alternative to representation. Emphasizing health care, education, the dangers of current US foreign policy, and drawing attention to mass-disenfranchisement and the flaws in the electoral system in the United States, "Beyond Voting" demonstrators will hit the streets in over 30 cities, including Washington DC, Chicago, Toledo, New York, Vermont, San Francisco and Pittsburgh.

    Locally, Pittsburgh Organizing Group has organized an "elections offensive," which kicked off last night with a "corporate victory party" in Garfield. It is part of a larger week of action for peace and justice involving the Thomas Merton Center, Pittsburgh Organizing Group, Black Voices for Peace, the Anti-War Committee, and Code Pink.

    We will now speak with various members of these groups.

    stuff recorded by BagLady:

    Here are the events that will take place later this week.

    Tomorrow, Wednesday, November 3rd, Pittsburgh Organizing Group will hold a post-election day rally and march to demand an end to war abroad, justice at home and real change. The event begins at the Software Engineering Institute in Oakland at 4500 Fifth avenue. Pittsburgh joins 30 other cities in holding similar "beyond voting" demonstrations.

    On Thursday, November 4th, Save Our Transit will hold a rally and march to protest public transit cuts at the Port Authority’s public hearing. The rally begins at the State Office Building, at 300 Liberty Ave., Downtown, at 10:00am.

    On Friday, November 5th, the Thomas Merton Center will hold a Justice For Janitors Solidarity Rally at Centre City Towers, which is located Smithfield and Seventh St., Downtown. The rally begins at 11:45am.

    Then on Saturday, November 6, the Thomas Merton Center and Students in Solidarity will hold a public forum entitled, "Building a Progressive Movement." It will take place from 10am to 3pm at William Pitt Union at the University of Pittsburgh.

    Following the forum, the Thomas Merton Center will hold an anti-war rally on the William Pitt Union Patio at 3:30pm.

    [ Break ? ]

    Election Coverage

    Today is election day in the United States, and people are voting in Pittsburgh from 7AM until 8PM -- many voters will vote for the first time. Polls we visited said that voter turnout was unusually high, with lots of young and first-time voters.

    Election observers from the non-partisan group Election Protection were in Pittsburgh from all over the country, including this young woman we spoke with at a polling place in Oakland.

    [ audio clip 1:00 ]

    Among the groups turning out voters was the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or Acorn. We spoke with the Pittsurgh-Area president of Acorn in East Liberty at East Liberty Presbyterian Church this morning, where buses were lined up to bring residents to the polls.

    [ Audio clip ]

    In the Hill District, we spoke to poll-watchers of various flavors.

    We spoke to a voter in the Hill District who had problems with voting machines as well as poll staff.

    In Ohio, a judge ruled....

    Other reports of voting irregularities, according to The League of Pissed Off Voters:

    New Orleans, LA: There have been over 80 complaints of voting problems in New Orleans so far (10:30 AM). Shana from New Orleans Election Protection and the League of Pissed Off Voters reported that there have been machine malfunctions and in some places there are no backup ballots available. Election Protection says that New Orleans is one of the top sites of voting irregularities nationwide.

    St. Petersburg, FL: A voter registered in St. Petersburg in Pinellas County, FL reported to the League of Pissed Off Voters that he had been told he was not registered to vote (10:45AM). He registered in and received voting information from Pinellas County, and then moved to Hillsborough. When he went to vote this morning at the Robinson Recreation Center at 1248 50th St. in Precinct 166 of Pinellas, he was told that he was not registered to vote there and was directed instead to the Hillsborough County Center at 601 East Kennedy St. In Hillsborough he was told that he was not registered there either and that a provisional ballot would not count.

    Toledo, OH: Voters in the predominantly African-American community of Toledo's Old West End were turned away from the polls this morning at Glenwood Elementary in Toledo, because the ballot boxes were locked in the principal's office and no one had the key, said Evan of the League of Pissed Off Voters. An hour and a half after the polling site opened, they ran out of pencils, bringing voting to a halt. Voting could not continue until 11AM, by which time 50 to 100 more people had walked away.

    Beloit, WI: This morning in Beloit, WI a lawyer for the Republicans was challenging Beloit college students saying that they could not register same day with their Beloit student ID’s. In response, the Beloit college president came down to the polls with a notorized list of the students and lawyers to fight for the students' right to vote. Now students are witnessing registrations, the lines are out the door as they have been since 8 am this morning, and the majority of those in line are college students.

    Milwuakee, WI: In wards 72, 314, and 297 in Milwuakee, voting machines are broken. All three wards are predominantly African-American. Luckily, in some of the target wards in Milwuakee, voting turnout has already reached 50% of registered voters at 1PM.

    Detroit, MI: Reports from the Detroit Election Protection Team state that polling sites in Detroit have Republican challengers making poll staff check everyone's ids. Detroit is a heavily African-American area.

    ...and another update from Toledo, OH -- This afternoon, the U.S. District Court of Toledo has blocked Secretary of State, Kenneth Blackwell's ruling to deny provisional ballots to voters who have not received their absentee ballots. Voters who have been turned away at the polls today for being registered as absentee, are now eligible to vote, and are strongly encouraged to return to their polling places to exercise that right.

    Ending

    Outro

    Tune into Democracy Now! tomorrow morning for special two-hour post-election coverage, starting at 8AM tomorrow morning on WRCT Pittsburgh.

    Thanks for tuning in to Rust Belt Radio here on WRCT Pittsburgh. You can download free audio recordings of our past broadcasts on our website, radio dot I-N-D-Y-P-G-H dot O-R-G. To get involved with Rust Belt Radio, or to send us your comments, email R-A-D-I-O at I-N-D-Y-P-G-H dot O-R-G. We'll be back in two weeks; next week tune in 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, Nov. 03, 2004 at 3:11 AM
    radio@indypgh.org WRCT 88.3FM

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