March 21, 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...

• On the second anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, antiwar demonstrators take to the streets in Pittsburgh and around the world.
• Norman Finkelstein...
• and an interview with this week's featured local grassroots organization, Prevention Point Pittsburgh

but first, these headlines.

Headlines

Steve Donahue's Birthday

Rustbelt Radio wishes local activist Steve Donahue a happy 50th birthday.

Peace Vigil on the Eve of Iraq war anniversary [ Audio Clip ]

Starting early Friday evening, peace activists gathered in Squirrel Hill for an all night silent vigil to honor the victims of the Iraq war. The event organizers estimate that more than 100 people participated throughout the night. Rustbelt talked to some participants about what they were doing and why.

[ Clip - 1:51 ]

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Stay tuned to rustbelt radio for more coverage of the weekend's antiwar protests later in the show.

Merge Forum II

On Friday March 18th, Pennsylvania Cleanways and the Urban Ecology Collaborative sponsored an environmental forum known as Merge II. The forum highlighted grassroots organizations. Marna Taylor spoke on behalf of the Wilkinsburg Clean and Green a group dedicated to increasing environmental awareness and community pride in Wilkinsburg. Andalusia Knoll spoke about the Free Ride! recycled bicycle cooperative and the connections between bicycles, sustainability and self empowerment. Dianne Swan spoke about the Rosedale Block Cluster a S. Homewood group that trains youth in horticulture. IN addition to these speakers the event brought together many grassroots groups that discussed potential ways to help make Pittsburgh more environmentally friendly.

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.

[ optional music break ]

Global News

Intro

You are listening 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.

Kevin Martin, new FCC appointee (:50)

On Friday, President Bush announced the appointment of Kevin Martin to head the Federal Communications Commission. He will replace Michael Powell as the chairman of the organization. Powell is leaving after seven and a half years on the commission including four years as chairman. Kevin Martin was appointed to the FCC in 2001. Martin is considered an advocate of reducing government's regulation of telecommunication companies and increasing the monitoring and enforcement of so-called indecent content on the airwaves. He pleased Christian conservative groups when he dissented from an FCC decision not to fine the NBC television network for singer Bono's use of an expletive during the 2003 Golden Globe Award ceremony. He has also been in favor of stiffer penalties against media companies that broadcast indecent material.

Previous to Kevin Martin's FCC job, he served on the Bush-Cheney transition team and was general council for Bush's 2000 Presidential campaign. His wife, Cathie Martin is a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. Now she works in the White House as a special assistant to the President for economic policy.

Repression at anti-CAFTA protests in Guatemala

On Tuesday, March 8 the government of Guatemala began the process of ratifying the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA. Guatemalan popular organizations managed to delay a vote with large protests. The organizations, which included farmers, indigenous communities, students, and teachers, say CAFTA will destroy their livelihood. They took to the streets again to prevent the Congress from voting only for the business interests. This time, the police responded with force.

According to reports from Guatemalan organizations and Amnesty International, after CAFTA was ratified by the Guatemalan Congress on March 14, tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets. Police used tear gas and a water cannon to disperse them. Nineteen people were injured and 16 were detained. The next day, Guatemalan army forces fired on protesters in the western city of Huehuetenango, killing two people, Juan López and José Sanchez Gómez, and injuring many more. The civil-society organizations representing the protestors have called for additional demonstrations throughout the country. Many fear that the government will engage in more violence to repress the popular rejection of CAFTA. The Guatemalan popular movement is calling on international solidarity to denounce these actions and pressure the government for an end to violence.

In addition to violence against protestors, Amnesty International issued an Urgent Action Appeal on Friday on behalf of journalists in Guatemala that have received death threats for reporting on the anti-CAFTA demonstrations. The threats and intimidation directed towards Journalists Marielos Monzon and Gabriel Mazzarovich are part of what appears to be an effort to force them to stop reporting on the demonstrations.

Wolfowitz nominated to lead World Bank

Last week George W. Bush announced his nomination for the next President of the World Bank, current US Deputy Secretary of Defense. Wolfowitz is most notable for his role as chief architect of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and is seen as an extremely hawkish neo-conservative idealogue.

Former chief economist of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz, has launched an attack on US plans to appoint Wolfowitz. Stiglitz is a Nobel laureate, one of the world's most influential economists, and author of Globalization and its Discontents.

Stiglitz said (quote) "The World Bank will once again become a hate figure. This could bring street protests and violence across the developing world."

The mission of World Bank is to (quote) "fight poverty and improve the living standards of people in the developing world."

However, World Bank has been criticised for doing just the opposite, from causing environmental damage in the developing world to of doing more harm than good to struggling economies when pushing for privatisation. The process for selecting a World Bank President has also drawn fierce criticism from the business community. Traditionally the President of the World Bank has been nominated by the US President, a process the Financial Times of London called a politicised insiders' game.

Across Europe, as well as across the developing world where the bank's policies are most felt, opposition to the nomination of Wolfowitz has been widespread and vocal.

The Congress of South African Trade Unions said that it was "shocked" at the nomination of (quote) "such a conservative into a position which ought to be advancing the interests of the poor" (end quote). However, African Nations have very little say in the matter. This despite the fact that World Bank directly effects the African continent more than any other.

Gold Train Holocaust Settlement (1:30)

Lifting the veil on one of the least advertised and least edifying scandals of the Second World War, the US government has settled a complaint that American army officers requisitioned an entire train loaded with valuables seized by the Nazis from Jewish families in Hungary and then kept much of the contents for themselves.

The US Justice Department confirmed that it will pay $25.5 million to the Hungarian Jewish community in America to make up for the confiscation of the contents of what has been dubbed the “Gold Train.” The train left Hungary on March 30th, 1945 and as the war ended it was seized by the US army. The money will be paid primarilly to Jewish charitable causes, and, according to Gideon Taylor of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the money amounts to (quote) “a symbolic acknowledgment of an isolated and unfortunate chapter of the Americans’ role in the Holocaust”

The sum may represent only a fraction of the true value of the contents of the train, which consisted of 29 box cars crammed with treasures surrendered to Nazis by hundreds of Hungarian Jews, many of whom died in concentration camps before the war’s end.

When the Americans took control of the train it agreed that they would arrange for the return of the contents to the families many of whom had receipts provided by the Nazis. That, however, is not what happened.

According to the complaint filed in the lawsuit, US army officers not only failed to secure the goods, most of which went into a warehouse in Salzburg, Austria, but then turned a blind eye when US soldiers made off with many of the items. It was also alleged that the US government auctioned off remaining treasures in New York in 1947 to help pay the costs of refugees at the end of the war.

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 ]

Bad Cop No Donut

This week, Bad Cop No Donut reports on a police brutality case in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, as well as a charge of domestic violence against a police officer in West Virginia.

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Features

Intro

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

[11:30] Norman Finkelstein

On Monday March 14, 2005, Norman Finkelstein spoke at CMU as part of a Palestine Awareness Series. Finkelstein is the renowned author of The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering, Image and Reality of the Israel-Palestine Conflict, His talk was entitled Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History which is also the title of his new book.

The lecture was pushed back a month on the request of members of the Hillel-Jewish University Center, who argued that too many speakers who opposed Israeli policies had been coming to the university in too short a time. During that time Tartans for Israel and Hillel organized many events in support of Israel. During the month that the talk was postponed Hillel asked the "Pittsburgh Jewish community to quietly fill the lecture hall with those who cannot be influenced by Finkelstein's rhetoric because (quote) "Through filling the hall with Jewish students and community we will minimize participation of those who can be influenced by his propaganda." CMU also allowed for a 10 minute talk by Prof. Small as a "rebuttal."

Previous to his speech RustBelt reporter Mitchell Kulkein had the opportunity to interview Norman Finkelstein. We will now listen to exerpts of that interview finkelstein 1 (5:05)

Finkelstein spoke about his search for truth and his research uncovering "faulty scholarship" He quoted Benny Morris, israeli historian, author of "righteous victims: a history of the Zionist-Arab conflict" about his thoughts on ethnic cleansing. finkelstein 2 (3:00)

Finkelstein likened Palestinians resistance to Israeli Occupation to Native Americans resistance to European colonists. finkelstein 3(2:30)

[ Musical Break ]

[ 15 minutes ] March 19th Protests

More than 750 communities around the world held protests this weekend to mark the second anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq War. In Pittsburgh, almost 3,000 protestors marched from Squirrel Hill to the University of Pittsburgh's William Pitt Union in Oakland.

[ Clip 1 - 7:20 ]

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Diane Santoriello (San tor ELL oh), mother of a solider who was killed by an improvised explosive device was among the speakers at the rally following the march.

[ Clip - 2:00 ]

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Her daughter Amy also spoke.

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Vanessa German, Pittsburgh-based hip hop artist, recently won an award for her poem "Thank You, George Mother F-ing Bush." We have an excerpt from her performance of it at Saturday's rally.

[ Clip - 1:47 ]

The final speaker was Tim Vining of the Thomas Merton Center.

[Clip - 2:17 ]

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You're listening to Rust Belt Radio.

Prevention Point [11:00]

This week we will introduce a new segment of rustbelt radio - a highlight of a local grassroots organization. This week we will have an interview with Prevention Point Pittsburgh, a group that runs a needle exchange program and overdose prevention education. The first exchange program in Pittsburgh began in 1995 when two AIDS activists setup a sterile needle program in the Hill District. In 1998, after pressure from some individual, the police officially closed down the needle exchange. But 3 years later the Allegheny County Board of Health declared the high levels of HIV and Hepatitis C infection among Intervenous Drug Users a public health emergency, allowing Prevention Point to become a center for legalized needle exchange in Allegheny County. Rustbelt spoke with Renee Cox, the executive director of prevention point and with Alice Bell the overdose project prevention coordinator.

[ prevpointedit.ogg: 8:55 ]

The needle exchange takes place in Oakland in the back of the Health Department at 3333 Forbes ave every sunday from 12:30 to 2PM. if you would like to contact prevention point you can call them at (412) 247 3404 and for info about the exchange call 491 0916 and their website is http://www.pppgh.org/

Ending

Calendar of events

And now we go to the Indymedia calendar of events:

• the weekly Thomas Merton Center video screening will be “Incident at Oglala” about the American Indian Movement on Pine Ridge reservation and the Leonard Peltier case. That's Tuesday at 6PM, 5125 Penn Ave. in Garfield.
• The Pittsburgh Social Movements Forum presents "Labor Movements in a Global Age" features lectures and a roundtable discussion. That's Thursday March 24th at the University of Pittsburgh, Posvar Hall room 2500.
• The Big Idea Infoshop will hold a new volunteer training at 11AM on Sunday March 27. The bookstore is located on 504 Millvale Ave. near Liberty Ave. more information on the big idea infoshop can be found at the big idea p g h (dot) org

Outro

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

Our hosts this week are [ ______ ] and [ ______ ] with contributions from [ ______ , ______ ]. This week's show was produced by [ ______ ]. 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.