March 14, 2005: Rustbelt Radio

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

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. The show airs every Monday from 6-7pm on WRCT 88.3FM in Pittsburgh, PA and every Saturday from 5-6pm on WVJW Benwood, 94.1 FM in the Wheeling, West Virginia area. And we're also available on the internet, both on W-R-C-T's live webstream at W-R-C-T dot ORG and archived at radio dot I-N-D-Y-P-G-H dot org.

On today's show...

• we speak with Diane Santoriello, local mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, who will be speaking at this Saturday's demonstration marking the two-year anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq.
• a report from a forum on conscientious objection and the draft held by the Pittsburgh-based organization CONSCIENCE
• and farmworkers won a major victory last week after years of campaigning against Taco bell

Headlines

Local News

SOT at the City Council Meeting, transit resolution

The Allegheny County Port Authority Transit system will only be secure until July of this year, despite proposals by Governor Rendell to flex highway funds to cover a gap in public funding for transit.

The governor proposed shifting funds previously for highway construction and maintenance. His proposal allocated enough money to cover the gap in transit funding until the end of 2006. However, the proposal needed the approval of the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission, and the commission declined to flex the amount that Governor Rendell proposed. The measure was blocked primarily by commission members representing rural constituencies. They argued that public funding of transit is a drain on their communities since it would primarily benefit cities.

Last Wednesday, several members of Save Our Transit succeeded in urging the Pittsburgh City Council to pass a resolution in favor of the highway funds flexing.

[2:30 ] Molly Rush and Father Jack O'Malley Arrested at Bush Visit

Two Pittsburgh residents were arrested last Monday during a protest against a visit by President George W. Bush. The president visited a local family support center and spoke briefly at the Community College of Allegheny County's North Side branch. He was in town in part to present an award for volunteerism to Jennie Roth, a junior at La Roche college.

Only a select crowd was allowed in to the auditorium to listen to Bush speak, but students and community members came out in small numbers to voice their objections to Bush policies. As has become a pattern at Bush rallies and speeches, while supporters were allowed to get close to the President, protestors were kept as far away as possible in a so-called "free speech" zone.

Father Jack O'Malley of Highland Park and Molly Rush of Dormont, PA both decided that they weren't going to wait for the president in the designated protest area, which was far from the location where the President was going to speak and out of sight of his motorcade route. Instead they stood across the street from the gym where he was going to speak.

Soon after Rush and O'Malley had settled in to wait, Molly Rush told Rustbelt, several police officers asked them to move. Father O'Malley and Molly Rush posed a security threat, the officers said. Father O'Malley told the officers that neither he nor Molly was a security risk, and the officers were free to frisk them if they wanted. They said they didn't want to move because they wouldn't be able to see the president if they moved any further.

The officers replied that they didn't want to arrest them, but asked them to move again. Rush said (quote) "who said anything about getting arrested?" According to Rush, the officers seemed sincere in their desire not to arrest a little old lady and a Catholic priest, and were practically begging them to move. However, Rush and O'Malley agreed that they weren't going to give up their right to protest the president from a spot that he could see.

Both Father O'Malley and Rush were arrested and charged with defiant trespass. The two spent 13 hours in a holding cell and were released early Tuesday morning, at approximately 3:30 AM.

O'Malley and Rush are not the only Pittsburgh residents to be arrested while exercising their free speech rights outside of a designated free speech zone. In 2002, 65 year old Bill Neel was arrested at a Bush appearance on Labor Day at Neville Island in Pittsburgh. He was later acquitted of all charges. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania is currently suing the Secret Service and the Federal Government for their practices at Bush rallies and speeches.

Molly Rush told Rustbelt that she was at Neville Island when Neel was arrested, but she had stayed inside the free speech zone that time. She told herself that she would never let herself be coralled that way again. Father Jack O'Malley and Molly Rush will be in court again this Wednesday at 8 AM.

[3:45] Sister Dianna Ortiz Visits Pittsburgh

Sister Dianna Ortiz spoke in Pittsburgh two weeks ago about her experiences being tortured at the hands of the Guatemalan military, and the complicit role of the United States in her torture. The public forum was called "Torture is a Form of Terrorism" and also featured Professor Jules Lobel of the University of Pittsburgh. The event was sponsored by the Center for Constitutional Rights and Amnesty International. Here is an excerpt from Diana Ortiz's talk.

[ Audio excerpt ]

Thanks to Blast Furnace Radio for that recording.

[1:30] M19 Preview

This Saturday marks the second anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war. Pittsburgh residents will mark it with film screenings, an 20-hour candlelight vigil, and a mass rally and march. Two years ago, 122 Pittsburgh residents were arrested after more than 1,000 residents took to the streets of downtown for a march that snaked through the city for hours. More than 1,500 came out to protest the war again a year later.

The Thomas Merton Center Anti-War Committee is organizing a permitted mass march and rally that begins at 2:30pm, Saturday, at the corner of Forbes and Murray in Squirrel Hill. Following a concert and rally, the march will proceed to the University of Pittsburgh's William Pitt Union in Oakland for a concluding rally. The event features Rusted Root's Jim Donovan, nationally acclaimed slam poet Vanessa German, and State Senator Jim Ferlo as well as other speakers and entertainers.

This Thursday is St Patrick's Day and Pittsburgh Indymedia is organizing a film screening of Deep Dish TV's series "Shocking and Awful: a Grassroots Response to the War in Iraq." The screening includes never-before-seen footage of the war in Iraq shot by videographers David Martinez and Urban Hamid. Deep Dish producer and New York City Indymedia member Brandon Jourdan will be on hand to discuss the project. Also screening is "Mandate?", a short documentary about the January 20th counter-innaugural protests. The Thursday event will be held in Porter Hall 100 on the Carnegie Mellon University Campus at 7 PM. A complete calendar of events can be found online at pittsburgh end the war (all one word) dot org.

Pittsburgh's evemts are part of a global weekend of protest on two-year anniversary of the Iraq war called by United for Peace and Justice. More than 250 cities across the country are holding demonstrations, as well as numerous countries. Later on this program we will speak with Diane Santoriello, mother of a soldier who died in Iraq. Diane will be the keynote speaker at a rally on Saturday following the march.

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 .... Welcome back to Rust Belt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of the news overlooked by the corporate media. We turn now to headlines from Independent Media Centers around the world.

(2:00) University of Colorado President Resigns Amid Controversy

According to the New York Times, controversial University of Colorado President Betsy Hoffman tendered her resignation last week. The University had faced allegations that the school's athletic department had used bribes of prostitutes and alcohol to build recruitment for its football program.

Ms. Hoffman had also been in the news for her statements defending University of Colorado professor Ward Churchill who was the target of a Fox News led campaign. Hoffman described the campaign against Churchill as a (quote) "New McCarthyism" and said that Churchill would not be punished for any controversial statements that fell short of actual misconduct.

Churchill wrote an essay shortly after the World Trade Center bombings in which he described some of the victims in the twin towers as (quote) "little Eichmanns" who were complicit in American misdeeds, and compared American foreign policy to that of Nazi Germany. After the essay was widely publicized before a planned speech at Hamilton College in Upstate New York, the college canceled his lecture citing security concerns. Death threats and hate mail poured in.

Churchill later defended his position, calling the selective quotations from his essay a mischaracterization of his statements. He added, (quote)

• The bottom line of my argument is that the best and perhaps only way to prevent 9-1-1-style attacks on the U.S. is for American citizens to compel their government to comply with the rule of law. The lesson of Nuremberg is that this is not only our right, but our obligation. To the extent we shirk this responsibility, we, like the “Good Germans” of the 1930s and '40s, are complicit in its actions and have no legitimate basis for complaint when we suffer the consequences.

(end quote)

The Colorado University board of regents intiated a wide-reaching investigation into Churchill's other writings and is reportedly considering offering him a settlement to leave the university despite his tenured position.

In an interview with CNN, a member of the board of Regents refused to comment on whether Ms. Hoffman's statements defending Professor Churchill were related to her decision to resign.

[4:00] Agent Orange lawsuit dismissed

Rustbelt Radio reported two weeks ago on the federal lawsuit brought by Vietnamese victims of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange against the US Chemical companies who manufactured it for use against their country. The lawsuit charged that dozens of United States chemical companies committed war crimes against some four million Vietnamese citizens.

Last Thursaday a federal district court judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying the plaintiffs could not prove that Agent Orange had caused their illnesses and that their claim had no basis in law. However, 10,000 US Military veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange have won compensation.

Fred Nguyen of WBAI in New York City and Ryme Katkhouda (REEM cat-HOO-da) of WPFW in Washington DC report:

[ agentorange_edited.ogg: agent organge -- 2:38 clip ]

At the International Conference on effects of Agent Orange & Dioxin in Paris this past weekend, 300 officials, historians, scientists, journalists and activists met to study the effects of Agent Orange on a population. The President of the France-Vietnam Friendship Association called upon the world community to support the legal efforts of Agent Orange victims to obtain compensation.

William H. Goodman, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the class action, said the decision would be appealed. Goodman said the United States Supreme Court could eventually decide the issue.

[1:30] Michigan State Police withdraws from MATRIX database

The Michigan State Police department announced last week that it will drop out of a controversial data-sharing program that had come under fire for possible privacy violations.

The Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange (or MATRIX) is a massive database that compiles detailed personal information from public records and private companies. Though the privately-run database has gained the financial backing of the federal government, it has also raised the ire of civil libertarians concerned over potential abuses of the unprecedented amount of personal information compiled by the program.

Since its inception, MATRIX has lost rather than gained support, with most of the thirteen states participating in its pilot program withdrawing. When Michigan ends its use of the database in mid-March, only four states will remain.

The American Civil Liberties Union had sued the Michigan State Police on behalf of several Michigan residents on the grounds that the state's participation in the program violated a state law prohibiting police from sharing information about Michigan citizens with federal law enforcement agencies.

The Michigan police attributed the decision to costs and the diminished value of the program as fewer states participate and said that the ACLU lawsuit was not a major factor in the decision to withdraw from the program.

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 ]

[6:00] Bad Cop No Donut

It's time for our weekly police abuse update from the show Bad Cop, No Donut. From CKLN Toronto, here's Ron Anicich (an IH sich) with news from the police department of Middlesex Pennsylvania, near Harrisburg.

[ bcnd_middlesex.ogg: BCND middlesex clip - 1:05 ]

Following Rustbelt Radio's continuing coverage of Tasers and so-called less-lethal weapons, we have an update from Ron Anicich on this week's taser news.

[ bcnd_taser.ogg: bcnd taser segment -- 4:30 ]

Features

Intro

That was .... Welcome back to Rust Belt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of the news overlooked by the corporate media.

[ 7:15 ] Diane Santoriello

Diane Santoriello, local mother of a soldier killed in Iraq, will be speaking at this Saturday's demonstration marking the two-year anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq. We spoke with Diane by telephone earlier this weekend.

[ Audio clip - 7:00 ]

[10:00 ] Conscientious Objectors Event -- Conscience Pittsburgh

Two weeks ago, the Pittsburgh-based organization CONSCIENCE, a group seeking to provide counseling and education on consicentious objection, held a panel on the draft, conscientious objection, and stop loss. Rustbelt recorded the forum and the subsequent question and answer session, and we have some excerpts from it for you today. We begin with Bill Galvin from the Center for Conscience and War, based in Washington, DC.

• 01-conscience_panel_bill.ogg: 8 minutes

Local attorney Mike Healey was also among the members of the panel. He spoke about a pending case brought against the Department of Defense by several former reservists. They had been offered a one year trial return to the army, and when they decided that they didn't want to continue, they were told that they had to stay.

• 02-conscience_panel_mike_healey.ogg: 1:30 minutes

You can listen to the remainder of the discussion on our website, pittsburgh dot i-n-d-y media dot org.

[ Musical Break ]

[14:00] Coalition Of Immokalee Workers victory against Taco Bell

On March 8, after nearly four years of struggle and amidst the momentum of the 2005 Taco Bell Truth Tour, farmworkers from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers scored a decisive victory in their national boycott of Taco Bell. Caving under the weight of an immense grassroots campaign, the fast-food giant has agreed to work with the Florida-based farmworker organization to improve the wages and working conditions of farmworkers in the Florida tomato industry by paying a penny-per-pound raise demanded by the workers. The farmworkers' sub-poverty wages have been stagnant and declining in real terms since 1978.

Farmworker GERARDO REYES CHAVEZ described the importance of this victory.

[ DN CIW quote 1 0:41 ]

The boycott of Taco Bell has grown over the years largely due to support from college students. Under pressure from students, 22 colleges removed Taco Bell from their campuses as a part of the Boycott. This year's national Taco Bell Truth Tour was already under way when the victory was announced.

[ DN CIW quote 2 0:41 ]

Lucas Benitez, Co-Director of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, spoke at a press conference last week about their agreement with Taco Bell and Yum Brands, the parent company of taco bell.

[ Pressconference clip 4:55 ]

Jonathan Blum of Yum Brands and Taco Bell also spoke about their agreement with the CIW.

[ Pressconference clip 1:53 ]

This victory, which comes after four years of campaigning, will give hope to labor and anti-sweatshop activists everywhere. But as the Immokalee Workers have said, it is just one step. Farmworkers and immigrant workers in food and other industries still face serious hardships. We now turn to Rolando Salez, an Immokalee worker. Rolando spoke at a teach-in in Cleveland less than two weeks ago, shortly before the Taco Bell Victory.

[ teach-in clip, 4:09 ]

That was Rolando Salez of the Coalition of Immokalee workers, talking about the conditions faced by tomato pickers in south Florida.

Thanks to the Austin Independent Media Center, Cleveland Independent Media Center, and Democracy Now! for audio clips used in this story.

[ boycott bell song? ]

Ending

Calendar of events

And now we go to the Indymedia calendar of events:

• Tuesday, March 15 at 6:00 PM, the Thomas Merton Center will be hosting a screening of “The Land, the People, the Square” about the Argentine uprising. The Thomas Merton Center is located at 5125 Penn Ave. in Garfield.
• On Wednesday, March 16th, the film "The Revolution will not be Televised," about the attempted Venezuelan coup d'etat will be screened on the University of Pittsburgh Campus at 7:00 PM in the William Pitt Union. The event is organized by the Western PA organizing committtee for the World Festival of Youth and Students.
• Thursday, St Patrick's Day -- The Pittsburgh Independent Media Center is hosting the "Shocking and Awful" film series about the Iraq War, at the Carnegie Mellon University Campus at 7:00 PM.
• Fri, Mar 18th, 2005, @6:00pm- Saturday, 2:30pm All-Night Candlelight Vigil
  • Sandy Hazley, Forbes and Murray Ave., Squirrel HIll, Phone: 412-323-1884
• Sat, Mar 19th, 2005, @2:30pm- 5:00pm MASS MARCH AND RALLY Forbes and Murray Avenue

Outro

[ Cue Outro music? ]

Thanks for tuning in to Rust Belt Radio here on WRCT Pittsburgh and WVJW Benwood.

Our hosts this week are [ Abie Flaxman ] and [ Etta Cetera ] with contributions from [ David Meieran, Quinten Steenhuis , Matt Toups ]. This week's show was produced by [ Matt Toups and Quinten Steenhuis ]. Special thanks to all of our hosts, producers, and contributors.

Your audio submissions are welcome! To get involved with Rust Belt Radio, 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 on our website at RADIO dot INDY-P-G-H dot ORG

Tune in next week at this time for another edition of Rust Belt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of the news overlooked by the corporate media.