On today's show...
* we'll hear from activists opposing military recruitment in Pittsburgh including Justin Sane, singer from the Pittsburgh-based band Anti-Flag
* also, Jeff Halper will speak about Israel's policy of Home Demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
* and our weekly report on police brutality and misconduct in the region and around the country.
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.
This week marks the one year anniversary of Rustbelt Radio. Our first show aired on May 25, 2004 on WRCT. Rustbelt Radio began as a bi-weekly show on WRCT run by three people, and has since grown to a weekly schedule on two radio stations, with over a dozen contributors. And we plan to keep growing in our second year -- and you can get involved too! We need more correspondents and editors. Equipment donations are also greatly appreciated. Email radio at indypgh.org to volunteer or donate.
On today's show...
we'll hear from activists opposing military recruitment in Pittsburgh including Justin Sane, singer from the Pittsburgh-based band Anti-Flag
also, Jeff Halper will speak about Israel's policy of Home Demolitions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
and our weekly report on police brutality and misconduct in the region and around the country.
but first, these headlines from Pittsburgh Indymedia.
Headlines
Local News
[1:30] Port Authority moving towards privatization
The Port Authority of Allegheny County may turn over some routes and bus maintenance to privately-run businesses, warned the advocacy group Save Our Transit today. The move would cut jobs and potentially drive down wages.
The possible move towards privatizing parts of the county-wide bus system comes in the wake of a
newly discovered $19 million dollar deficit. The deficit has materialized despite the help of the "flex" highway money that Governor Ed Rendell diverted last March. The announcement comes at the same time that the Port Authority is negotiating new contracts with its 2,600 bus drivers, maintenance workers and supervisors, represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 85.
The Port Authority is not the only regional service that is facing pressure to privatize. The State Legislature in Harrisburg has pressured the City of Pittsburgh to privatize some of its own services as a result of ongoing budget problems.
Earlier today Save Our Transit co-founder Stephen Donahue told Rustbelt that [quote] "now they have the pretext to demand that publicly funded transit agencies like the Port Authority cut costs through union concessions and through privatization." He adds that many public transit activists have seen this coming and are convinced that state law makers have deliberately let this crisis continue into union contract time.
Transit agencies that have contracted out service have experienced a wide disparity in wages and benefits between those who operate bid out service and those who don't. In Denver one private company that bid for Denver Regional Transit routes, TCT Services was offering an hourly wage of $6.50 and "no experience required for its drivers."
Save Our Transit says that they are not going to let the state of Pennsylvania "Wal-Mart-ize" the Port Authority.
[1:00] McKees Rocks mural "too colorful"
The mayor of McKees Rocks has deemed a mural too ‘colorful’ and demanded that it be repainted. The mural painted by Maurice Solomon and Kyle Holbrook depicts a four-year-old boy known as Tink who was struck by a van, while the artists were planning the mural. Members of the Hays Manor tenant council have objected to the mural because they say the colors are too loud and that the color red has violent connotations. The Mural is on the side of Le Loc Van’s nail salon and Mr Le was told by Mayor Jack Muhr that if he wants an occupancy permit for his salon he will have to paint over the mural. Holbrook, the mural painter, said in response to the controversy "we have had constant problems with people because we have Black people in our paintings,"
The artists have also encountered problems with an anti-smoking mural they painted. The mural which is 20-by-100-feet covers the side of the Adona Printing Services building and depicts a group of strong, healthy children standing on a bunch of crushed cigarettes while others engage in smoke-free, athletic activities such as swimming, cycling and dancing.
The mural is next to the McDermott Funeral Home whose owners have erected a wall planter and a series of yew trees to block it. Donna DiGiulio?, the owner of the Adona Building said there were no complaints until children with African-American features were added to the mural.
[1:00] Valley Protein Site Reclaimed for Biodiesel Production
The former Valley Protein brownfield on Neville Island will soon be the home of a new center for the conversion of waste vegetable oil into diesel fuel if a collaboration between the Neville Island Development Association and Capital Technologies International moves forward, the Post-Gazette reported last week.
The Neville Island Development Association is collaborating with Capital Technologies International to convert an abandoned chemical site into a center for research and production of so-called biodiesel fuel. If successful, the center could create hundreds of new jobs.
Capital Technologies International is an alternative energy based startup that has ties to Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to its research in biodiesel, Capital Technologies is also invested in the cleanup of oil spills and reclaiming areas damaged by petroleum production.
As Rustbelt Radio has previously reported, biodiesel fuel is an alternative fuel source that can be created from used vegetable oil. Sources of vegetable oil can include local fast-food restaurants. It is biodegradable, renewable, non-toxic and free of most of the harmful emissions associated with petroleum-based fuel sources.
Existing diesel powered trucks, buses and cars can be cheaply and easily converted to run on biodiesel fuel.
[1:15] Wind Energy Talk
Canaries in the Coalfields, a group working to raise awareness of the true costs of coal power in Pittsburgh, sponsored a talk on wind energy by Devon Yates last Friday at the Thomas Merton Center. Yates has been studying wind energy at the Danish Technical University, and reported that in Denmark, 20% of the country’s power needs are met by wind. In the United States, the cost per kilowatt hour of wind energy is currently fairly competitive with energy from conventional sources. Yates said that expansion of wind power facilities in the US is held back by the lack of clarity and long-term consistency in the government incentive programs that have existed to date.
In Denmark, government incentives were critical in the early years of wind energy development. Another area in which wind power technology is advancing is improved, lower-cost small turbines for on-site electricity generation. A small turbine about the size of a streetlamp post, suitable for residential homes, will be available shortly at a cost of 2500 dollars. Yates also addressed the environmental concerns associated with wind turbine installation, saying that wind power developers were working to improve the technology to prevent bird and bat kills, and that these environmental impacts, while serious, are less grave than the impacts of current power sources.
[2:30] Darfur advocacy groups protest Sudanese speaker at Pitt
On this past Saturday, Abdel Bagi Kabeir, a Sudanese deputy ambassador to the US, spoke in David Lawrence Hall at the University of Pittsburgh. The speaking event was organized by the Muslim Students Association at Pitt as well as the Sankore’ Institute of Pittsburgh. Kabeir spoke about the intervention the Sudan government has taken in the crisis in Darfur. During the past two years, violence in the southern Darfur region has left up to 200,000 dead and 2 million displaced to crowded refugee camps. Now, 3 million people are starving and drought threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands of others.
Much of the violence in Darfur has been attributed to a militia group of Sudanese Arabs called the Janjaweed, who are accused of genocide against the black African population there. The Arab-majority Sudan government, while claiming to have nothing to do with the Janjaweed, has been shown by many reports to be in collusion with the militias. Observers have noted that Janjaweed ground attacks have often been supported by air strike from the Sudanese Air Force.
A counter-demonstration outside of Kabeir’s talk was organized by The Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition in collaboration with the group Africa Peace Education. On Forbes Avenue outside of the lecture hall, the groups spoke out and held signs decrying the violence in Darfur that they say the government there has allowed to happen.
Groups from Schenley and Allderdice high schools turned out to protest along with other peace activists and were joined by local natives of the Sudan, including Pittsburgh's Lost Boys, survivors of Sudan's refugee camps. The refugees say they continue to lose family members to violence by the Sudanese government.
One Sudanese man, Robert Lino, a senior at Pitt, tearfully narrated the suffering him and his people are facing in Sudan. Peter Okema, a Uganda native, protest organizer and recent Pitt graduate, said the event’s intention was to give a good image to bad government and said the government has a horrible record on human rights. Kabeir's visit, he said, (quote) "will be used to misinform people."
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.
[1:00] ‘Driving While Gay’ in Dayton Ohio
In Dayton Ohio, undercover police are using sting operations to arrest gay men in parks and other public places. In these cases, plainclothes officers approach gay men asking for sex, then arrest them if they respond positively.
Dayton police arrested a man and charged him with public indecency, a fourth degree misdemeanor, for conversing with an undercover officer. Another man was arrested after an undercover officer struck up a conversation with him in a men's bathroom.
And outside of the parks, gay men in Dayton are also reporting incidents where they are pulled over if police see rainbow stickers on their cars -- which the men call “driving while gay.”
A complaint filed with Metro Park police in April by Dale Rogers says that he and his partner, John Adams, were pulled over by park ranger Eric Wetterich, detained for “45 minutes to an hour,” and harassed because of the gay pride and anti-Bush stickers on their car. They were not charged or cited with any offense.
[0:45] Halliburton protest
Police arrested sixteen people in Houston and used horses to trample and harm protesters outside Halliburton's annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday, May 18th. Inside the meeting, police applied "pain compliance" techniques to arrest people doing peaceful civil disobedience by blocking shareholders entrance to the gathering. Overall the action drew about 500 protesters from across the region, marking the second time that activists flocked to Houston to take on the notorious war profiteer that Vice President Cheney once directed.
Halliburton is the leading benficiary of the war on Iraq, having received more than seven billion dollars revenue from Iraq reconstruction in 2004. In advance of the meeting, the corporate accountability group CorpWatch? produced an "alternative annual report" called "Houston, We still have a problem" and presented it to shareholders and members of the media. Their report details everything from the company's unwillingness to prevent bribery, fraud, and corruption within its workforce to its inability to take proper precautions to protect its employees in Iraq. It also exposes the Halliburton's attempts to undermine US government regulations that protect drinking water, and side-step federal laws meant to prohibit Halliburton from doing business with corrupt and brutal regimes around the world. The complete report can be seen on-line at www.corpwatch.org.
[2:45] ACLU accuses FBI of 'spying' on activists
Last Wednesday the FBI warned a Congressional committee about the danger of "domestic terrorism". On the very same day, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) accused the FBI of using terrorism as a pretext to spy on activists who (quote) "oppose the war in Iraq, the USA Patriot Act, and other government policies."
While the FBI is making it a priority to investigate animal and environmental rights groups, other government officials are not as concerned over these particular groups.
CNN reports that there was a fair amount of skepticism from some senators about the FBI and DEA's assessment of the threat level from groups such as the Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front. Independent Sen. James Jeffords of Vermont noted that the number of people possibly threatened by any action of A-L-F or E-L-F numbered perhaps in the dozens, but (quote) "an incident at a chemical, nuclear or wastewater facility would threaten tens of thousands."
Meanwhile, the ACLU issued a statement stating, "the FBI and local police are engaging in intimidation based on political association and are improperly investigating law-abiding human rights and advocacy groups." The statement was based on information gathered from numerous Freedom of Information Act requests. The ACLU said it was filing a lawsuit in federal court to force the FBI to turn over "thousands of pages" of extra information that had been withheld.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the ACLU documents show that anti-terrorism agents are using ‘pretext interviews’ to obtain information, without the evidence of specific threats to justify the investigations.
ACLU branches in several states also announced that they were taking legal action to investigate more about the alleged FBI-spying on political activists. The ACLU of Massachusetts is sending in Freedom of Information Act requests, asking for all records kept by the FBI on groups such as the American Friends Service Committee, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the ACLU itself. The letter also seeks government files on 10 activists and political dissidents, including Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky.
Finally, Reuters reported on Tueday that the Senate panel which will review the USA Patriot Act ran into criticism almost immediately when it said it would conduct its review in secret. A spokseman for Republican Sen. Pat Roberts of Kansas said the meeting was in secret because it would discuss (quote) "actual intelligence operations."
ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement: 'One reason that people across the political spectrum are concerned about the Patriot Act is that so much of it is shrouded in secrecy. Now, lawmakers are trying to keep legislation to reauthorize the Patriot Act secret as well.'
[4:00] Immigrant death anniversary
May 14, 2005 marked the second anniversary of the worst human smuggling tragedy in US history. 19 undocumented immigrants died after spending hours crammed into a tractor-trailer with poor ventilation in Texas. Tara Ramos from KPFT News has the report
[ audio 4:00 ]
[3:00] CAFTA update
This summer, when US legislators vote on CAFTA -- the Central American Free Trade Agreement -- it will be the biggest free trade agreement the Congress has considered in more than 10 years. The trade agreement includes Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
Two weeks ago, the six presidents from Central America and the Dominican Republic toured the U.S. in an attempt to bolster the Bush Administration's efforts to convince Congress that CAFTA will be good for Central Americans. But at the same time, protests in Central American nations against CAFTA showed that popular organizations in Central America, like labor, environmental and fair trade groups in the US, also oppose the trade deal.
On Friday the 13th of May, the Popular Social Bloc (BPS) in El Salvador held a anti-CAFTA rally in front of the U.S. Embassy. Protestors had planned to shut down the street in front of the Embassy, but fully-armed riot police quickly moved in and broke up the demonstration. There were large anti-CAFTA protests in Honduras at the same day, and then on the following Monday, an estimated 20,000 Costa Ricans participated in a major anti-CAFTA mobilization, in which streets and highways were blocked in a continued effort to prevent that country's parliament from ratifying the accord.
And back in the US, earlier this month a town-hall forum on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) was held in Cleveland, and while there Cleveland Indymedia spoke to Maria Wilkinson of Ohio Conference on Fair Trade there.
[ clip - 1:31 ]
A vote in congress may happen in the US in as soon as the next few weeks. Right now Bush does not have enough votes in the congress to get the agreement passed. Trade activists have been organizing grassroots opposition to the deal for two and a half years, and are continuing to organize with an anti-CAFTA march in New York City on June 4th.
[1:00] NLG challenges crackdown on OAS protests
Soon Fort Lauderdale, Florida will be the setting for renewed protests against CAFTA as well as the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), when representatives from 34 countries gather for the Organization of the Americas General Assembly on June fourth through sixth. In the weeks leading up to the meetings, however, global justice organizers have been met with heavy handed repression reminicent of tactics used in Miami during the November 2003 Free Trade Areas of the Americas protests.
Last month Fort Lauderdale passed an ordinance prohibiting protestors from carrying certain items in public, except if the group is part of a [quote] "bona-fide religious sect or organization" carrying out a [quote] "well-established religious rite or practice." A similar law was enacted by the City of Miami prior to the November 2003 protests. Miami repealed the law in response to a lawsuit in early 2004.
On May 19th, the National Lawyers Guild filed a motion to repeal that ordinance as well as to bar law enforcement from enforcing a sweeping security perimeter around the site of the Organization of the Americas General Assembly. Local authorities are trying to keep protestors as far as 4,000 feet away from the General Assembly meeting site. In addition, the motion challenges a series of antiquated laws regulating the use of public property for expressive activities.
Fort Lauderdale city officials have pegged the OAS security cost at $6.7 million for overtime, riot gear and medical supplies.
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 ]
[5:30] Bad Cop No Donut
This week's Bad Cop, No Donut segment features stories from New Martinsville in West Virginia, Hilltown and Penn Township in Pennsylvania, and the taser news of the week. Here is Ron Anicich (AN-uh-sich) from CKLN in Toronto:
[ BCND clip - 5:13 ]
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.
[15:00] Counter Recruitment Actions/Interviews
Recruiting practices by the U.S. Army have recently come under close scrutiny after the passing of a special provision in the No Child Left Behind Act. Justin Sane, the singer of the band Anti-Flag spoke with us about the bands involvement in counteractions against this provision and other issues involving recruitment.
http://docs.indymedia.org/twiki/pub/Local/PghRadio20050523/JustinSaneinterviewedited.ogg [10:28]
On Friday, May 20, every military recruiting center across the country was closed for what the U.S. Army Recruiting Command called an "Army Values Stand Down Day." The so-called "stand down" was a retraining in ethics for the military's 7,500 recruiters, following a rash of complaints that recruiters are resorting to unscrupulous tactics to enlist new soldiers. One complaint that sparked public outcry and that contributed to the Army's decision was when a Houston Army recruiter threatened to arrest a local young man if he didn't report that day to the army recruiting station. The threat was recorded by the young man's answering machine.
http://webspace.utexas.edu/brb289/www/blog/recruiter.mp3 (army recruiter threat) [0:39]
In response to the Army's "Stand Down Day", counter-recruitment activists held protests and related actions in New York, Chicago, Baltimore, Washington, Philadelphia and other cities to demand the Army stand down permanently.
The previous week on Saturday, May 14th, activists gathered in Pittsburgh on Forbes Avenue in front of the recruiting center to educate the public about recruitment issues and provide alternative information. We spoke with a few of the activists.
http://docs.indymedia.org/twiki/pub/Local/PghRadio20050523/counterrecruitmentactionforbes.ogg [2:27]
[15:00] ICAHD interview
Last Monday Jeff Halper of the Israeli Coalition against Home Demolitions spoke in Pittsburgh at the theological seminary and at Carnegie Mellon University. The Israeli Coalition against Home Demolitions or ICAHD (i-cad) is a non-violent, direct-action group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. ICAHD also organizes against land expropriation, settlement expansion, by-pass road construction, policies of "closure" and "separation,"and the wholesale uprooting of fruit and olive trees.
Rustbelt Radio had the opportunity to speak with Jeff Halper about the role that home demolitions play in the Israeli Palestinian conflict and the current on the ground reality of the occupation.
More information about ICAHD you can go to their website i-c-a-h-d.org. This summer ICAHD will be accepting volunteers to help rebuild demolished Palestinian homes.
Ending
Calendar of events
And now it is time for the Indymedia calendar of events:
As part of the Women Say No to War Film Festival, Code Pink Women for Peace will be screening "Life and Debt" this Tuesday at 7:00 pm. This movie which discusses the effects of globalization and the IMF in Jamaica will be screened at Tazza d' Oro which is located at 1125 N. Highland Ave. For more information call 412-389-3216
This Friday May 27th will be the monthly Critical Mass bike ride throughout Pittsburgh. This cycling celebration will begin at 5:30 at the Dinosaur located next to the Carnegie Museums in Oakland.
And finally, this Sunday May 29th The Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network will be sponsoring a 'Safe Prom for All' from 6 to 11pm at the Hilton Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh. For more information contact GLSEN Pittsburgh at safeprom@glsenpghSTOPSPAM.org or 412-361-6996
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 [ Carlin Joy ] and [ Jessie Buckner ] with contributions from [ David Meieran , Gwen Schmidt ] and [Abie Flaxman]. This week's show was produced by [ Andalusia Knoll, 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
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