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.
On today's show...
* Weed and Seed, a federally funded law enforcement and community redevelopment program may cut the Garfield program's budget. We will hear from representatvies of Weed and Seed and Garfield Residents
* Part Two of an interview with Just Health Care, a community group working to bring about universal health care coverage in Pennsylvania.
* and we'll hear reactions to last week's bombings in London; from Londerers on the street on the morning of the attacks, as well as from Fox news commentators in the US.
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...
Weed and Seed, a federally funded law enforcement and community redevelopment program may cut the Garfield program's budget. We will hear from representatvies of Weed and Seed and Garfield Residents
Part Two of an interview with Just Health Care, a community group working to bring about universal health care coverage in Pennsylvania.
and we'll hear reactions to last week's bombings in London; from Londerers on the street on the morning of the attacks, as well as from Fox news commentators in the US.
but first, these headlines:
Headlines
Local News
[:30] E-Fest in East Liberty
This past weekend neighborhood residents celebrated the 7th annual E-Fest, an urban festival in East Liberty. The intersection of Highland and Penn Avenues was closed to car and bus traffic and open to music, art, food, lemonade and thousands of people. The weekend's festivities included performances by slam poets, hip hop artists, break dancers, and reggae and gospel performers. E-Fest is organized by a group of seven high school students who work with the East End Cooperative Ministry. According to one of the organizers it has been "going seven years strong." Rustbelt radio spoke with Michael Mills, a Schenley High School Student, about why he helped organize the festival.
[1:15] Allegheny County energy projects receive part of $10M funding
Last month the Pennsylvania Energy Development Authority awarded
10 million dollars to help finance 17 so-called "clean energy" projects
in Pennsylvania, four of which are in Allegheny County. The state is
splitting the funds between grants and loans for a variety of electric power
projects, including wind, solar, biomass, waste coal, and coal gasification.
Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty said the
Authority (quote) "refocuses our priorities on indigenous energy
resources by investing in clean, efficient energy made in
Pennsylvania."
However, while applauding the focus on solar energy
and energy conservation, environmental groups say that
the classification of waste coal power facilities as
"clean energy" is false and misleading. While
proponents of waste coal power say it is
environmentally beneficial because it disposes of the
waste coal piles currently littering Pennsylvania's
coal regions, environmentalists counter that the
problem is only made worse by burning this coal.
According to the environmental watchdog group Energy
Justice Network, waste coal contains much higher
levels of toxins than normal coal, and when it is
burned the toxins are either released into the air, or
are turned into ash. 85% of the volume of waste coal
becomes waste ash after burning, there are currently
no requirements for safe disposal of these large
volumes of ash, and at existing waste power plants the
ash is stored in open piles through which water can
leach and transport toxins into the surrounding
environment.
[5:00] Bikefest lecture
During last month's Bikefest in Pittsburgh, Paul Simpson, a physician from State College, Pennsylvania, gave a talk describing how bicycling is beneficial to individual health and to our communities, but is under threat from the current administration. The talk was called "If you're not with us, you're a bicyclist" and was held at Carnegie Mellon University.
clip: intro_to_talk [00:32]
Simpson described how this is being implemented....
clip: antiterror_educational_efforts [00:46]
....and what the results have been...(these are long maybe cut)
clip: bridge_closings [1:30]
clip: no_more_bikes_in_buildings [00:50]
Simpson also described how new threats to bicycle transportation are emerging because the administration views bicycling as a successful tactic of public demonstrators opposing its policies.
clip: miami_model [00:45]
this model was applied by the NYPD during the Republican National Convention last august.
clip: rnc_access_denied [00:29]
clip: rnc_results [00:08]
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 news overlooked by the corporate media. We turn now to headlines from Independent Media Centers around the world.
[1:00] Richmond Protest
The Mountain Justice Summer campaign against Mountaintop Removal Mining continued last week, as hundreds of people from across Appalachia converged on Richmond, Virgina. Richmond is the headquarters of Massey Energy, a company leading the way with mountain top removal and a target of the protest actions on Friday. Happening across Appalachia, mountaintop removal is a devasting form of coal mining where coal companies blast the tops of mountains, creating widespread and significant damage to the air, water, and ecosystem of the surrounding area.
Last Friday in Richmond demonstrators took to the streets to express their solidarity with both the Appalachin residents fighting mountaintop removal as well as G8 protests as part of the global day of action about climate change. The crowd marched to Massey Energy's headquarters, demanding to have a meeting with executives of the company. Three people chained themselves together and dozens sat down in solidarity, and remained in front of the building even past the time when the permit expired. They remained in position for nearly two hours, and while they were there the demands of the protesters were read aloud. Protesters claimed victory two hours later, when Massey executives sent security guards down to receive a copy of the demands of the protesters, and no arrests were made.
G8
After more than a year of preparations and campaigning, 250,000 mobilized to protest the 2005 G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland. The G8, or Group of Eight, is an annual meeting of representatives from eight of the most powerful countries in the world, including France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Russia. By the end the summit, at least 700 people were arrested.
Events kicked off on Saturday, July 2nd with a march called Make Poverty History in Edinburgh. Sunday saw the Make Borders History tour of Glasgow highlighting the racist asylum and immigration politics of the G8 and other states in closing their borders to people escaping poverty and political persecution. Sunday also marked the start of three counter-conferences in Edinburgh.
On monday, activists blocked and shut down Faslane, Scotland's nuclear submarine base. That same day, a "Carnival of Full Enjoyment" in Edinburgh took place to counter the daily grind of the institutions that dirve people into overwork, poverty and debt. It became quickly dubbed the "Carnival for Full Policing" as protesters, media and bystanders were cordonned-in for hours and police roamed the city, stopping and searching people for no obvious reason.
Different actions took place on Tuesday including a protest at the Dungavel Detention Centre where the authorities had found it necessary to evacute the centre of all detainees before the protests. An eco-village in Stirling became the focus of more or less continous searches of people getting in and out of the the camp.
On Wednesday, the first official day of the G8 meetings, 5000 people marched on Gleneagles and breached the fence protecting Gleneagles hotel. The day saw mass arrests, and the police used Chinook military helicopters to fly in more riot cops to secure the hotel grounds.
Actions on Thursday received far less media attention due to the bombings in London During the night, activists held a vigil while the campsite was encircled by hundreds of riot police blocking activists from coming in the morning. Mass stop and search tactics continued to hinder people, especially anyone leaving and entering the camp.
Friday, the final day of the G8 summit saw a subdued day of action on the causes of climate change with a street party in Glasgow and smaller actions in Edinburgh. The final day of the G8 conference was also meant to be a global day to raise awareness around the issues of Climate Change. There were solidarity actions around the world, including Richmond, Virgina.
[5:10] DR-CAFTA Passes in the Senate
Recently, a new trade agreement passed through the Senate. It's called DR-CAFTA, and it would deregulate trade between the US and six countries in central america, if it also passes through the House of Representatives. DR-CAFTA is a precursor to the Free Trade Area of the Americas, or FTAA . Homefries in Boston explains the implications of this trade agreement for the Central American region.
http://www.radio4all.net/proginfo.php?id=13114
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.
Features
Intro
That was .... Welcome back to Rust Belt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of news from the grassroots.
[10:00] Just Health Care Part II
Two weeks ago PghRustBelt radio presented the first part of an interview with Dr. Scott Tyson, a member of Just Health Care. Just Health Care is a local community group trying to raise public awareness about the health care crisis and to pass a state bill to create a single payer system of health care in Pennsylvania, one that would eliminate the need for private health insurance. We now bring you the second part of the interview with Dr. Tyson.
http://docs.indymedia.org/twiki/pub/Local/PghRadio20050711/eveyone.ogg
For more information about Just Health Care visit www.pushnow.org.
[ music break ]
[20:00] Weed and Seed
On June 13th members of the Bloomfield Garfield Corporation, members of various east end organizations city officials and state government representatives gathered in front of an abandoned building in Garfield. They chose that spot to highlight the "gang presence in the area" and host a press conference to express their outrage at possible federal cutbacks of the Weed and Seed Program. Weed and Seed is a federally funded program that was started after the 1992 Los Angeles uprising as a Republican-led response to what they saw as “the social and economic deterioration of America's inner cities." Since then, the program has spread to about 300 neighborhoods across the country, including many in Pittsburgh. The basic premise of Weed and Seed is to weed out criminals and prevent "Narcotics traffickers and violent criminals from distributing drugs and terrorizing local residents." 50% or more of the Weed and Seed funds go to increased law enforcement. The seeding is aimed at community projects that are devoted to “revitalizing distressed neighborhoods and improving the quality of life in the target communities.” Weed and Seed has been a controversial program since its inception. In Seattle in the early 90’s a coalition of 55 community organizations banded together to fight Weed and Seed. While the program was still implemented in Seattle, the organizations were successful in forcing limitations on police street tactics.
The press conference was hosted by Aggie Brose of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation. Speakers at the press conference stressed the importance of keeping Weed and Seed in operation. Some thought that the Government was possibly pulling their funding because Pittsburgh did not support Bush in the Presidential election. We will now hear from Aggie Brose and some of the other speeches.
While the press conference took place, many Garfield residents stood by. Some were confused because even though they lived in a target neighborhood they were unwarare of the program or simply had not been notified that the event was going to occur on their street. Others were there to express their outrage, not at the possible cutbacks to the program but instead their opposition to Weed and Seed itself. Julia, a longtime resident of Garfield voiced her opinion of Weed and Seed and the Bloomfield Garfield Corporation.
While most of the press conference focused on the Weeding and law enforcement aspect some speakers addressed the issue of seeding and the increased need for housing. However, many residents did not agree with the Bloomfield Garfield’s approach to redevelopment. We will hear from blank ( I have it written at home) and neighborhood residents Flo and Mike.
Some who attended the press conference thought it was tragic that funds were being cut and came out to show their support. We will now hear from Gwen Elliot of Gwen’s Girls.
Ricardo is an owner of Yard Sale books, a reading room and lending library on Penn Avenue. When we asked his opinion of Weed & Seed, he spoke about what he saw as the true origins of crime.
(mongezi clip already has it’s own intro maybe Ricardo clip can go right into mongezi)
[ Larimer Street (song about gentrification maybe 3:00) Utah Phillips ]
You're listening to Rust Belt Radio.
[7:30] Reactions to Attacks in London
As listeners may already know, London was rocked by simultaneous bombings on the public transportation system. As of today, 52 people have been confirmed dead, and many more injured.
Rustbelt Radio has compiled two very different perspectives on the bombings. First, Davey D. of Hard Knock Radio was in London on the morning of the bomings. From near the bomb site, he interviewed residents that live near Edgewear Road station. Then we'll also hear from Fox news commentators in the US, based on recordings on the website mediamatters dot org.
fox_losers.ogg: various Fox News commentary on bombings - (2:30)
You just heard Fox News commentators on last week's London bombings, and before that was Davey D. of Pacifica Affiliate station KPFA, interviewing Londoners on last Thursday morning, shortly after the London bombings.
Ending
[:30] Calendar of events
And now we present the Indymedia calendar of events:
Tomorrow at 7pm, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom will be screening “The Quiet Revolution”. This movie is free and will be held at Tazza d’ Oro at 1125 North Highland Ave.
And on Thursday at 7pm, a new film entitled “Venezuela Bolivariana: People and Stuggle of the 4th World War” will be shown at the University of Pittsburgh. The event will be held in room 358 of the Cathedral of Learning. For more information contact pgh solidarity at yahoo . com
Outro
[ Cue Outro music? ]
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 story 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 from the grassroots.
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