Rustbelt Radio for June 5, 2006

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.

On today's show...

• We bring you a report from Mexico City about a recent solidarity march for the political prisoners of Atenco
• Homewood Residents talk about a police chase that ends in two deaths
• We'll hear from the group Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants on issues facing immigrants in Pittsburgh and in the nation.
• And, local news on aids advocacy and the fight over mercury pollution controls currently raging in the Pennsylvania legislature.

Rustbelt Radio airs live every Monday from 6-7pm and again Tuesday mornings at 9AM on WRCT 88.3FM in Pittsburgh, every Thursday from 11am to noon on WARC Meadville 90.3 FM from the campus of Allegheny College, every Saturday from 5-6pm on WVJW Benwood, 94.1 FM in the Wheeling, West Virginia area, and also every Saturday at 5pm on WPTS 92.1 FM from the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.

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 for download or podcast at radio dot I-N-D-Y-P-G-H dot org.

First, local headlines from Pittsburgh Indymedia.

Headlines

Local News

[3:30] Legislature debates mercury standards

The Republican-led Pennsylvania General Assembly is set to consider legislation that would prohibit the state Department of Environmental Protection from adopting regulations to limit mercury pollution.

Five tons of mercury are released per year in Pennsylvania, an amount which is second only to Texas. 3/4 of the pollution comes from the smokestacks of coal-fired power plants. Mercury is a neurotoxin that moves from the air to waterways and accumulates in fish flesh. When ingested, it is acutely harmful to child development, interfering with the normal development of fine motor skills and cognitive functions. New research also links mercury exposure to autism and attention deficit disorder in children, and increased risk of cardiovascular disease in adults. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently estimated that one in six women of childbearing age have mercury in their blood above the level that would pose a risk to a developing fetus.

The Pennsylvania DEP, after a campaign from a broad coalition of health advocacy and environmental groups, is poised to enact new regulatory standards that would require power plants to reduce their mercury emissions by 90% by 2015. However, Senator Mary Jo White has introduced a bill that would instead require Pennsylvania to follow the far less stringent mercury rules of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. Senator White says that (quote) To put Pennsylvania under a different rule is to put the state at a competitive disadvantage. I would do this for a real benefit, but that's not what I hear. I cannot believe the stuff the DEP is putting out. (endquote)

The federal EPA rules would allow lesser and slower mercury reductions by Pennsylvania's 36 coal-fired power plants, and could allow some older plants that are among the biggest polluters in the nation to avoid making any emissions reductions. The EPA rules aim to reduce emissions by 70 percent by 2018. Power plants could delay installing controls for up to five years. And, because the EPA rule allows emissions trading between states, some of Pennsylvania�s dirtiest plants could avoid making any reductions in their mercury emissions by purchasing credits from cleaner facilities elsewhere.

State and national studies show the mercury tends to concentrate around local emission sources, creating �hot spots� of contamination. In Pennsylvania, mercury contamination is so widespread that the Fish and Boat Commission has issued an advisory cautioning people to not eat more than one meal per week of sport fish caught in any water body in the state. Because of the high level of local contamination, the DEP says Pennsylvania has (quote) a compelling case for seeking a state-specific rule. (endquote). Technology exists to retrofit coal power plants to remove 98% of mercury from smokestack emissions, at an estimated additional cost of 1 to 3 dollars per month for the average household electric consumer. Regulatory standards enacted in Massachussetts and Florida have acheived dramatic reductions in mercury contamination in less than a decade.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mercury emission rules take effect in July; states have until Nov. 17 to adopt stricter state mercury pollution standards.

This Tuesday June 6, the third and final committee hearing on Senator Mary Jo White�s bill will be held. DEP Secretary Kathleen McGinty and several public health experts are scheduled to speak. Representatives of the electric companies spoke at the previous hearings.

[1:15] biodiesal in Cumberland county

Government officials in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania have agreed to fuel the county�s fleet of 36 buses with locally produced biodiesel. The county may also use biodiesel for heating oil at its nursing home. The biodiesel will be a mix of 20% soybean oil and 80% standard diesel fuel produced by Keystone Biofuels, a Shiremanstown-based alternative energy firm.

Cumberland's demand could total hundreds of thousands of gallon annually.

County Commissioner Rick Rovegno said (quote) We recognize it is not a matter of if we convert to renewable sources of energy which are more environmentally friendly, it is only a question of when and on what terms. Simply put, the world's oil supply will be exhausted in, at most, a few decades. (endquote)

Accordign to Race Miner, founder and CEO of Keystone Biofuels, (quote) �Energy independence is occurring in Cumberland County and we're glad to be part of it. (endquote)

Miner said his company, which opened in March in a former Quaker Oats plant in Cumberland County, expects to produce 7 million gallons of biodiesel this year. Soybeans used in Keystone's fuel-making process come from a Northumberland County farm.

The Greenwood School District in Perry County also made a recent move towards biodiesel, when it awarded a five-year student transportation contract to Hunters Valley Transportation, which pledged to use biodiesel in its buses as much as possible.

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.

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 Sources around the world.

[2:00] Dixie Chicks new album tops charts

It was over 3 years ago when the country band, The Dixie Chicks, were attacked by conservative pundits over anti-Bush remarks. After lead singer Natalie Maines told an audience in London that she is embarrassed that Bush is from her home state of Texas, country radio stations across the country dropped all Dixie Chicks� songs from their rotation.

This self-censorship is still in effect today, allegedly because the country music listeners are red-state conservatives, and only two weeks ago CNN reported on a [quote] �growing rift between the trio and the country music market�. But recent events indicate this conventional wisdom is false.

Last week, the Dixie Chicks new album was released, and sold 526,000 copies on the day it was released, making it the number one album on both the Billboard Country and Billboard Top 200 charts.

Dixie Chicks lead singer Natalie Maines explains her criticism of Bush during an interview with Larry King last week.

• Maines.ogg: (1:01)

[0:45] Amnesty International Annual Report

Amnesty International released its annual report last week, which finds that 2005 was a year of contradictions, in which signs of hope for human rights were undermined through the deception and failed promises of powerful governments.

The report contends that the security agenda of powerful and privileged nations had hijacked the energy and attention of the world from serious human rights crises elsewhere.

There is some good news, however. The past year has also seen one of the greatest mobilizations of civil society in the fight against poverty and the struggle for economic and social rights according to Amnesty International.

This is Irene Khan, the Secretary General of Amnesty international.

• IreneKhan.ogg: :16

[1:00] Chile Students

Last week, students in Santiago and other cities in Chile held massive demonstrations for educational reform. The students� goals are to obtain free transportation to and from school and a waiver of university entrance fees.

On May 30th, the Chile�s police special forces, the Carabineros, used water cannons and tear gas, and resorted to violent assaults to break up the street protests. According to Human Rights Watch, the protests started peacefully, but groups of hooded demonstrators who had mingled with the students later threw rocks at the Carabineros and their vehicles. Carabineros reacted with indiscriminate violence against all the protesters, most of them teenage high school students. The Carabineros reported making 730 arrests during the day.

Members of the Special Forces reportedly violently attacked at least four journalists covering the protests. Some of the incidents were shown later on the television news. Also, three female students reported that they were sexually abused while they were detained.

A police official on Tuesday night called the attacks on the journalists unjustifiable excesses, and said that an investigation was under way. And, following a meeting on Wednesday with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, the director of Carabineros removed the two highest ranking Special Forces officers for Santiago from their posts due to that unit�s violent conduct during the protests, saying that he would not tolerate abuses. Eight other officers are currently under investigation.

Meanwhile, negotiations between the Chilean government and student leaders over the weekend have not led to any agreement, and the students intend to hold a strike on Monday.

[1:30] Required retention of Internet data

US government officials, including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, met with representatives from major US Internet companies, such as America Online, Microsoft, Google, and Verizon, to discuss requiring them to retain information about customers' internet use.

Justice Department officials want Internet service providers to keep record of internet use. Gonzales has said that prosecution of child pornographers has been hindered because the necessary information has not been kept. Despite his initial claims that this information is needed only for child pornography investigations, Gonzales has also said retaining this data is necessary to stop terrorism. Members of the Justice Department have also said that they want the information kept for other investigations, such as intellectual property cases.

Representatives from the Internet companies have said that the government would like information about who has visited certain websites, who has searched for certain terms, and information about with whom users exchange email. The Justice Department would like the data retained by the company for two years, and handed over to the government if subpoenaed.

Some representatives from the companies claim that retaining this information is infeasible, and is expensive, complicated, and violates users' privacy.

It has recently come out that telephone companies gave the National Security Agency access to information about phone usage, without legislation requiring them to cooperate. In addition to these meetings between Justice Department officials and representatives from technology companies, there is proposed legislation which would require internet data retention. Democratic Congresswoman Diane DeGette has proposed a bill that would require the permanent retention of all records of internet use.

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.

Features

Intro

You're listening to Rustbelt Radio.

[7:00] Atenco Solidarity March

On Monday May 8th, Rustbelt Radio reported on the police invasion and brutal repression of the Mexican town of San Salvador Atenco. The police raid with over 3000 riot cops on May 4th, left over 200 people detained, beaten, and sexually abused, 5 foreigners deported, one 14 year old boy murdered, and another 20 year old student in a coma. One month later, 30 people from Atenco remain in prison. 21 of the political prisoners are maintaining a hunger strike, until they are free. Included in the hunger strike, is one woman, who was raped by the police during her arrest and as a result, is now pregnant. Similarly, 30 other women have reported to human rights officials that they were sexually abused and/or raped during their arrest.

Throughout the month of May, solidarity actions for the prisoners from Atenco were held across Mexico. The Other Campaign, led by the EZLN and Subcomandante Marcos, called for a national march on Sunday, May 28th in support of the people of Atenco and the political prisoners. On this day, over 40,000 people from all 31 Mexican states and the Federal District participated in the march. Maintaining their stance of misinformation surrounding the events in Atenco, the mainstream media reported only 6 thousand people took part in the demonstration.

Rustbelt Radio will now bring you the sounds and speeches from the march:

• march blend 31 seconds.... leads into... woman speaking 1:20 (needs female voice over) 1:52 total

A contingent of 90 people from Chiapas including Zapatistas, activists, organizers, and internationals travelled 14 hours to attend the march. Rustbelt Radio asked two individuals why they decided to make the trip to Mexico City:

• entrevista 1:10 (needs 2 voice overs, one female for 9 seconds, another male for 1 min)

To conclude the march, Subcomandante Marcos, also known as Delegate Zero, addressed the crowd with his thoughts on the police repression in Atenco, the complicity of the government, and the promotion of the Other Campaign as a form of resistance to this year�s Presidential election, which takes place on July 2nd.

• Marcos 1:52 (needs male voice over... last 15 seconds or so are chanting and clapping... this can be the outro)

[16:30] Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants

Part 1 (12:00)

Last Thursday, we spoke with organizers from the local group Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants on local organizing for immigrants' rights, Saturday's Regional Conference on Immigrants Rights, detentions and deportations, and what we all should know about recent Congressional immigration bills. Ceci Wheeler, the group's main organizer, gave an introduction on PFOI's work.

ceciintro.ogg (3:33)

Linda Theophilus spoke about the prison industry's role in the construction of detention centers, as well as the experiences of those being detained and deported.

lindadetention.ogg (2:20)

On the recent Senate bill designating English as the national language, this is what Linda had to say:

spanish2.wav (1:29)

Ceci Wheeler spoke on language as it's passed through different generations of immigrant families:

cecispanish.wav (0:32)

Karl Belin, who also does work with Pittsburgh Friends of Immigrants, discussed the relevance of immigrants rights issues to local youth.

karl.wav (1:05)

Linda Theophilus told us where to find information on detentions, deportations, and issues affecting immigrants. immresources.wav (0:53)

Subhash Kateel, the representative Theophilus mentioned from Families for Freedom, a New York immigrants rights group, discusses policy changes at Saturday's conference on Immigrant's Rights from the time of the 1996 immigration reform laws to today�s HR4437. One important development has been the implementation of the term �aggravated felony.�

subhash_1.ogg (1:31)

In order to deal with this and other immigrants� issues, Kateel and Families for Freedom have devised new ways to target the U.S. government and press for change.

subhash_2.ogg (2:25)

[9:30] Homewood Police Chase

Inoperable brake lights on a pickup truck driven by Devon Miles on May 26th led to the death of two people in a car accident in Homewood. Police officers in an unmarked car attempted to pull Miles over for the broken brake lights and then proceeded to chase him when he did not stop the vehicle. This high speed chase ended with Miles crashing into a full van at the intersection of N. Lang avenue and Bennet St in Homewood. Michelle A. Rankin, 35, of Wilkinsburg, and Jerome D. Smith, 34, of Stanton Heights died in the accident and the other 4 people in the car were injured. While the police are placing all responsibility with the operator of the fleeing car, many Homewood residents are questioning why a high speed chase ensued over a broken tail light. BPEP, the black political Empowenment Committee and the NAACP, sponsored a community forum at the sight of the accident on Wednesday may 31st. Rustbelt Radio asked residents and concerned citizens their opinions about the accident. Karen Gillian:

* karen37.ogg: 1st one 37 seconds

Tim Stevens, chairman of BPEP spoke about police guidelines for high speed car chases.

* tim152.ogg: tim152.ogg

Elwood Gayther stated that this high speed car chase was not the first problem that residents in Homewood have had with traffic violations. He hoped that this would lead people to drive more carefully on Bennett street.

* traffic50.ogg: 3rd one 50 seconds

Derrick Butlen a Homewood resident. blamed the police for this accident and spoke of their treatment of people in the neighborhood.

* badcops141.ogg: 4th one 1:41

Adriene Young of the organization Tree of Hope felt that this conduct was explicable and was based on racial profiling.

* dwb28.ogg: 5th one 28 seconds

William Andersen, a council member of BPEP said he feels the blame lies both with the police and the vehicle operator. He also spoke about police community relations and why some people might be inclined to flee the police.

* william60.ogg: 6th one 60 seconds

Many of those who gathered felt that tragedies like this would continue unless police were more restrictive in their usage of car chases and there was inmproved community policing.

[7:30] AIDS activist

25 Years in the age of Aids. This was the theme of an event held last Tuesday May 30th at the East Liberty Presbyterian Church. The Partnership for Minority AIDS/HIV Prevention and the SouthWestern Pennsylvania Aids Planning Comission organized this event proclaiming �The Future is Know�. Phill Wilson the featured speaker is the founder and Executive Director of the Black AIDS Institute whose mission is to stop the AIDS pandemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing Black institutions and individuals in efforts to confront HIV. Here are Wilson's words

• philwilson.ogg: 7:15

That was just Phill Wilson of the Black AIDS institute speaking at East Liberty Presbyterian Church. For more information you can go to blackaids.org or pmhap.org

Ending

Calendar of events

And now we present the Indymedia calendar of events:

• On Tuesday the 6th at 10am immigrants' rights advocates and supporters will speak before the Pittsburgh City Council. That's in the City-County Building, Suite 510, 414 Grant Street, in downtown Pittsburgh.

• The Allegheny County Board of Health has scheduled a public hearing for comments on proposed regulations for needle exchange programs. The hearing will be held Tuesday, June 13, at 1 p.m., at the Health Department�s Clack Health Center, Building 7, 39th Street and Penn Avenue, Lawrenceville. Testimony must be scheduled in advance, no less than 24 hours before the hearing, by calling 412-578-8008. Speakers will be limited to five minutes and should bring a written copy of their testimony. Anyone unable to attend the hearing may submit comments in writing until June 30.

• A rally in support of the single-payer healthcare reform bill HR-676 is planned for June 7, 2006, 12-1 p.m. at the Highmark Building, Downtown Pittsburgh.

• There will be an Emergency Protest Against U.S. Massacres in Haditha and throughout Iraq sponsered by the Pittsburgh Organizing Group and Pittsburgh CodePink. It will be held at the Liberty & Baum Triangle (across from the Mariott), in Shadyside. for more information, contact Francine at 412-389-3216

Outro

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

Our hosts this week are Abie Flaxman and Ellen Pierson with contributions from Abie Flaxman, Carlin Christy, Andalusia Knoll, Jessica McPherson, Ellen Pierson, Vani Natarajan and Jessi Berkelhammer. This week's show was produced by Matt Toups and Don Deeley. 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 or call 412-923-3000. All of our shows are available for download on our website at RADIO dot INDY-P-G-H dot ORG, and this program can be heard again on Tuesday morning at 9AM after Democracy Now on WRCT 88.3FM Pittsburgh.

Tune in next week at this time for another edition of Rustbelt Radio, the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center's weekly review of the news from the grassroots.