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(New Content posted (03/15/09
AUDIO FILE: M15-09 Rally and March in Salem Oregon
On this sixth anniversary of the criminal invasion and occupation of Iraq, those who oppose this foreign policy gathered in Salem, Oregon, demonstrating to stop the wars at home and abroad, and also to keep the Oregon Guard home from these wars of Empire.
Audio of Salem March 15, 2009 March and Rally
There has been an ongoing effort to pass legislation in Salem, HB 2556–which empowers the Governor to limit service of the Guard when a federal deployment is not based on a valid Congressional authorization, and a resolutions–HR 4–which calls on the Governor to withhold the Guard from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.
The bills are the result of work done by the national Bring the Guard Home–It’s the Law! campaign, which emphasizes that current law disallows Governors to object to the “purpose, location, type or schedule” of a deployment, but does not address the question of whether the underlying authorizations are valid. HB 2556 is not specific to the Iraq or Afghan conflict, while HR 4 expresses the opinion that the 2002 Iraq Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) has expired because its limited conditions no longer apply, and the 2001 “War on Terror” AUMF is too broad as it delegates powers to the President to call up the Guard perpetually.
Prior to a march through the streets of downtown Salem, about 300 people assembled on the steps of the Capitol to not only give voice to their resistance to war, but to demand money for jobs, education, healthcare and housing; for a just peace for Palestine-Israel conflict; and to stop the scapegoating and protect Immigrant rights.
Over sixty organizations statewide co-sponsored or endorsed the action today. I saw banners from Military Families Speak Out, and banners from various Veterans for Peace groups from all over Oregon. Also present were Jobs with Justice of Portland and Salem, Alliance for Democracy, CAUSA, and various peace and church groups from all over the state.
Also present was a photograph honoring Rachel Corry, who died in Palestine, crushed by an Israeli tank as well as photographs of the many Iraqi victims of this Occupation.
The event was moderated by JoAnn Bowman, Executive Director of Oregon Action who after brief introduction of the event made a special point to honor Michele Darr who has been fighting to keep the National Guard of Oregon home for months and has been arrested on the Capital Steps for violation of some curfew or local ordinance. She has gone on at least one forty day hunger strike maybe two and has held her own for a long period of time.
First JoAnn introduces Benji Lewis, Oregon Iraq Veterans Against the War. Benji was deployed to Iraq in 2004 and 2005, being honorably discharged in 2007. He has been involuntarily activated by the U.AS. Marine Corps, an activation he is publicly refusing.
Following Benji is Linda J. Burgin, president of SEIU Local 503, OPEU. Next to take the microphone is Ramon Rameriz, President of PCUN, Tree planters and Farm Workers United , who forcefully Ramon addresses the racism against Latino workers.
Wael Elasady speaks next. He is a Palestinian-American student of Middle East Studies at Portland State University. Wael is co-founder of Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights.
Following Wael is Johanna Brenner, Member of Portland Solidarity, a feminist and anti racist organization, and last is Amy Dudley, Rural Organizing Project.
The action today in Salem also corresponds with the Rural Organizing Project’s Annual Rural Caucus & Strategy Session, held March 15th and 16th in Salem. The ROP gathering includes a statewide strategic session on Sunday and a legislative visit day on Monday.
After the speeches, the crowd was entertained by songs by the Raging Grannies, who provide an introduction and an ending to the audio file.
Audio of Salem March 15, 2009 Rally and March
(New Content posted (01/21/09
AUDIO FILE: Campaign to Keep Oregon’s Guard in Oregon
On Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at the State Capitol, the 8-month-long Campaign to Keep Oregon’s Guard in Oregon held its official “launch event.” Campaign organizers delivered the signatures of over 7000 Oregonians to officials along with a demand that our state militia not be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan.
(I borrowed heavily from the Launch Campaign Press Packet for this report.)
The Oregon Campaign begins with a news conference in the Capitol press room (#43 in the basement) at 12:00 noon, followed by delivery of the petitions. The Campaign, part of the national “Bring the Guard Home! It’s the Law” campaign, seeks to prevent the upcoming deployment of roughly 3000 Oregon Guard members to Iraq because the terms of the Congressional authorization have expired.
A bill has been drafted in order to enable the Governor to refuse a federal call up unless it is being done “pursuant to a constitutionally authorized federal directive” (LC 1122). A companion resolution will declare that the Authorizations for Iraq an Afghanistan are not valid. The proposed measures, once combined, should empower Governor Kulongoski to prevent the Oregon Guard from the deployment planned for this spring.
The Conference was moderated by Joann Bowman, Executive Director of Oregon Actionand a former Oregon State Representative from Portland.
Joann first introduced Dan Handelman, who is a founding member of Peace and Justice Works in Portland, as well as the state coordinator of the Campaign to Keep Oregon’s Guard in Oregon.
Dan gives a brief synopsis of the campaign, why many feel that it is necessary and what they hope to achieve. Legislators in over a dozen states plan legislation ending the unlawful overseas deployment of their National Guard units. The legislation limits Guard units to service within their respective states, unless called into federal service following a declaration of war or a duly enacted federal statute.
Guard units currently in Iraq are there under the 2002 Authorization for the Use of Military Force. The 2002 AUMF having expired, the legislation recognizes, there is no lawful basis under which state Guard units may be released into national service for deployment to Iraq.
The first speaker is Adele Kubein from Corvallis of Military Families Speak Out-Oregon, the mother of an Oregon Guardsmember who was permanently disabled in Iraq.
Following Adele is Benji Lewis, a community activist in Corvallis and a current war resister a founding member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Oregon. Lewis is a former Marine Corps Corporal who served in Haditha and Fallujah, Iraq.
And last to speak is Dan Mayhew of Portland, the father of an Oregon National Guard 41st Brigade soldier who is scheduled to be deployed for the second time in the spring.
Following the presentations Joann opens the floor to questions, which are for the most part answered by Dan Handelman.
Contacts: Dan Handelman, Peace and Justice Works (Portland) 503-236-3065
Leah Bolger, Veterans for Peace Chapter 132 (Corvallis) 541-207-7761
After the presentations and a short question and answer period, the speakers and other representatives from the 53 organizations involved in the campaign delivered copies of the petitions to President of the Senate Peter Courtney, Speaker of the House Dave Hunt, and Governor Ted Kulongoski, and to each of the 88 other representatives and senators in the state capitol.
The National Campaign, active in 18 states, on this same day held its own Launch Event News Conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, Representing Oregon at that event, Leah Bolger of Veterans for Peace Chapter 132 (Corvallis) sought to tie the national message, the restoration of war making powers to the Congress and not the President, to the local event.
(New Content posted (01/18/09
AUDIO FILE:Salem Clean Energy Rally
About 300 people attended a Rally in Salem today, in part to protest the attempt to site liquefied natural gas terminals along the Oregon coast. But more importantly, they gathered to affirm Oregonians resolve to determine their own destiny and be the cutting edge of new renewable energy awareness and technologies. The event was moderated by Brett VandenHeuvel, Staff Attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper, who introduced about 10 speakers. Each of these speakers spoke briefly and to the point, stressing that we need to protect our precious resources and provide jobs for our people, present and future
It was emphasized numerous times that these proposed terminals will provide few jobs compared to the development of alternative, renewable energy which will guarantee long term, permanent employment for Oregonians.
One sign, “Think Future Generations,” was more than just a sign, but rather a sign of the times, pointing a direction which those who attended this rally have demonstrated the vision and the capability to travel. So many reasons were expressed to oppose LNG, but to me the most convincing was the fact that natural gas and its infra structure are archaic, past tense technologies, while newer, greener, sustainable technologies are being held back by force of habit and the greed of those whose profits are on the chopping block.
Speaker after speaker encouraged those gathered on the Capital steps to urge their Legislators to display the vision and the courage it will take to reach out and engage the future, throw down the addiction to past technologies and create new energy sources. Wind and solar technologies are improving rapidly and have for some time now been a proven success in many other countries.
Oregon can be on the cutting edge of that energy revolution, but not if it allows itself to be mired in LNG technologies that will increase our dependence on foreign oil. Canada, and to a smaller extent, the Rockies, provides and will continue to provide all of the natural gas needs of Oregon. We should take advantage of our natural capacity to be innovative in growing wind and solar technologies.
There was more going on this day in Salem than a Rally on the Capitol steps. It was also an Environmental Day of Action on Tuesday where citizens came together with allies across the state to mmet with their Representatives and Senators to call for investments in energy efficiency and clean energy.
Also, today, after more than three years of controversy surrounding LNG terminals in Oregon, a group of legislators, conservationists, farmers, foresters, and climate change activists announced new legislation – the “LNG Public Protection Act “- to strengthen Oregon’s authority over three proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals in Oregon.
When passed, this legislation will be more than an instrument to prevent the siting of LNG facilities in the state; it will also strengthen the ability of Oregon to determine it’s own future through existing Federal Clean Air, Clean Water and Forest Plan Legislation. (Dan Serres one of the organizers behind the resistance to LNG appeared on the local Public Access program, “A Growing Concern,” last week to discuss and update viewers about this issue.)
LNG Discussion on Public Access, 45 minutes in length.
(New Content posted (01/15/09)
AUDIO FILE:Divest and Boycott Israel
On Tuesday, January 6th, approximately 600 people gathered at Terry Schrunk Plaza across from the Federal building. This event was followed by various gatherings, all well attended by both Arab and non Arab supporters.
The message has been consistent and simple: “Killing children is a crime;” “Free Palestine, Free Gaza;” and “Israel out of Gaza now!” Yet the war crimes against Human Rights continues and escalates, with casualties mounting rapidly, mostly on the side of innocent Palestinian civilians, men, women and children.
At the rally on Saturday, January 10, members of Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights (AUPHR) requested that people divest any assets with all companies having ties with Israel and also to boycott Israeli products.
This report features a link to a 10 minute audio file of those speakers encouraging divestment and boycott of these companies and products.
Divest and Boycott Israel
SAY NO TO STARBUCKS, SAY NO TO NESTLE Standing in the middle of Pioneer Square, surrounded by signs and Palestinian flags and a chanting crowd, Hala Gore of AUPHR provided the bar code number which designates products manufactured and exported by Israel. “Any food that you buy, anything that has on it the prefix 729 on the bar code is made in Israel. Do not buy it; boycott places that sell it…..now why don’t we want to drink Starbucks?”
“The chairman and CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz, is an active Zionist,…….who has won awards for how much money he has given the Zionist entity.”
She requests that people stop drinking Starbucks until Schultz draws his financial support from the government, or until the Occupation of Palestine by Israel comes to an end. Hala also names other companies, Victoria’s Secret, Bath and Body Works, the Home Depot, Disney, Estee Lauder, Nestle, Timberland Clothing, all providing financial assistance to the Zionist Occupation of Palestine.
This last name, Timberlane Clothing, brought a feint groan from a few in the crowd. Hala responded, “I hear some cries here. Our people in Palestine are sacrificing with their lives. Say no to Timberland. The president and CEO is an active Zionist.” “Another one, Kimberly Clark, owns Huggies, Kleenex, Kotex…..if you want to help us with the new campaign to divest and boycott Israel, if you want to help us to prevent money from killing our people…….join the new campaign in Oregon…..we can work together to prevent our money from going back to steal our land, to kill our people. Say no to Genocide!”
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CONNECTIONS
Peter Miller, also of Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights then addressed the crowd. “Israel has gone so far now that mainstream Americans are starting to wake up, there is a crack in the wall of complicity. Columnists are openly saying how ashamed they are of what we are supporting and what Israel is doing. We’re tired of this war on Terror which is taking so many innocent lives….It’s up to us though, our politicians are in lock step with this massacre.”
Following Peter,a third speaker suggested that people work to convince the Portland City Council to divest from Israel. And also encourage all local companies here that do business with Israel to stop and desist.
“We want the defense contractors that are sending the precision targeting computers that are located here in Wilsonville to stop selling weaponry to Israel. We have to stop it on a political level and we have to stop it on an economic level. We have to stop it here because it has local connections.”
Contacts for this grass roots effort are pdxboycottisrael@riseup.net and 503-421-6845.
STAND UP FOR THOSE WHO STAND UP
Earlier in the Rally I interviewed local attorney Greg Kafoury, who spoke about the importance of standing “up for those Americans who stand up for Palestine. People like Ralph Nader, in Congress Dennis Kucinich, and a handful of others. In the media, Glenn Greenwald of salon.com; Naomi Klein of the Nation; and most recently and perhaps most importantly, John Stewart of the Daily Show, who did a remarkable show….who went after Congress, the Media and Israel, for presenting this as a one-sided Israeli show. That’s a big deal!”
Interview with Greg Kafoury
Greg also encourage people to begin thinking long term, and compares the suggested boycott of Israel to a successful boycott of Apartheid South Africa. “That would entail people putting their money where their mouth is, you don’t invest in any business that does business with Israel. The universities need to be pressured to divest their investments with companies that do business with Israel.” “When Alumni are contacted to contribute to their old college, they should say that I’m only going to contribute to a fund which will only go to the college when it embraces a boycott of Israel.”
“It has worked before, and the similarities between Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and the white south Africans treatment of the blacks under Apartheid are strikingly similar and in some cases even worse.”
When Greg was asked to comment on people claiming that Israel is just protecting it’s borders, he answered that “It’s garbage! The death and injuries over that last years are 100 - 200 to one. The idea that they need to defend themselves from Gaza, which has no Air Force, no Army, no Navy, is a joke. The handful of rockets that are fired, 99% of them land in empty space, and the notion that Haamas is in any way the aggressor is total non sense to anyone who knows the story.” Greg goes on to say that, contrary to typical media reports, that it was Israel who broke the cease fire and that it was Israel, “which has been choking off Gaza, not letting in food, fuel, medicine, slowly strangling and freezing the people there during the entire time of the cease fire, trying to force Haamas to respond in the only way they could.” According to Kafoury the absolute support afforded Israel by Americans is a myth. Actually, by his reckoning, it’s mostly Republicans that support Israel, but the Democrats are cowered by the powerful Israeli lobby, “who dominate media coverage and can take out any Congressman who can stand up to them.”
“What we need to do is put pressure on the other side; to make it not okay to stand with Israel, to make it risky to stand with Israel, because the people of America are on our side.”
PEACE FREEDOM DIGNITY AND TRUST Besides these strong words the Demonstration was punctuated by loud and passionate chanting and spontaneous marches around the Square and off into the heart of downtown Portland. Children, teen agers and young adults often took the megaphone to pour out their love for Gaza, Palestine and Lebanon and cry out for Justice.
Everywhere there was the Palestinian flag, waving at motorists and the Max train driving by, waving in groups in the Square to the rhythms of chorused heart felt chants, waving by individuals dancing with friends or acquaintances caught up in the exhilaration of the event.
All, speaking out for freedom and justice for those innocents caught up in a turmoil thousands of miles away; speaking out for those whose lives are ended suddenly by precise munitions guided by computer products provided by our tax dollars and perhaps manufactured and shipped from Portland.
We can perhaps do little, but we can do something. The magnitude of what we do by doing nothing, by saying nothing, by standing down, demands that we support with word and deed the campaign to shame and economically force Israel to a Cease Fire.
Twice during the event a young girl strummed her guitar and sang words way beyond her years which speak to all oppressed peoples in all times and in all places. She sang of what people need to survive, what they must have from one another to flourish, what nourishes the soul and provides proper conditions for all people to exist together.
She sang of Peace, Freedom Dignity and Trust. Her words shame those politicians and spiritual leaders whose only solution to disagreements is war, who support and justify the bombing of civilians targets and who absolve their societies of any culpability in the suffering and death on all sides of the conflict.
She sang of Peace, Freedom, Dignity and Trust.
(New Content posted (10/31/08)
AUDIO FILE:AGENT ORANGE VICTIMS SEEK JUSTICE AND SUPPORT
By Bette Lee, an activist for justice and peace.
For more information, go to Vietnam Agent Orange Campaign, which was the source of many facts used in this article.
The war in Vietnam was one of the most horrific and destructive wars the US has fought. More bombs were dropped on Vietnam by the US government than in Europe during World War II. In 1961, President Kennedy approved the use of toxic herbicides in Vietnam under “Operation Ranch Hand.” US airplanes and helicopters sprayed chemicals, including Agent Orange, throughout southern Vietnam to destroy crops and foliage that could provide food and cover to the insurgency. Spraying was also used to make areas unlivable in order to drive the Vietnamese villagers into “strategic hamlets.” The main victims were civilians who were repeatedly exposed when they ate the crops or drank water that had been contaminated.
Agent Orange was the most commonly used chemical, so-called because it was shipped in barrels with an orange stripe. The 2,4,5-T herbicide contained dioxin, which is the most toxic chemical known to science. The FDA banned its use in the United States in 1970. Scientific research has shown that lab animals exposed to minute quantities of dioxin suffered increased rates of birth defects. Dow Chemical, one of the major suppliers of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war, knew how dangerous it was to people as early as 1965. The US military also knew of its danger. Dr. James Clary, a former senior scientist at the Chemical Weapons Branch wrote: “When we initiated the herbicide program in the 1960s, we were aware that the military formulation had a higher dioxin concentration than the civilian version due to the lower cost and speed of manufacture. However, because the material was to be used on the enemy, none of us were overly concerned.” The US military continued to use Agent Orange and other chemicals between 1962 and 1971. An estimated 20 million gallons were dropped on southern Vietnam, including 13 million gallons of Agent Orange. Over 5.6 million acres of southern Vietnam were sprayed; some areas were sprayed twice or as many as 10 times. Vietnamese scientists have estimated that about 5 million Vietnamese civilians were exposed to these toxic chemicals.
The human cost to the Vietnamese people is staggering. Although the war ended in 1975, generations of Vietnamese people continue to suffer. 3 million Vietnamese victims have died or have been sickened from the effects of the US chemical warfare. An estimated 50,000 children were born with birth defects. The Vietnamese people have suffered increased rates of cancer, heart and lung problems, reproductive illnesses and birth defects.
Two of the women victims, Dang Hong Nhut and Tran Thi Hoan, came to Portland recently and told us their stories. They were accompanied by their interpreter, Dinh Thi Minh Huyen and Merle Ratner. They are touring ten U.S. cities on the 4th Vietnam Agent Orange Justice tour, organized by the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign. Both women spoke quietly, but their stories were compelling. Dang Hong Nhut is 72 years old. She told us that she fought in the resistance between 1961 and 1966. She was captured and imprisoned by the US-supported South Vietnamese government. She was incarcerated in the infamous “tiger cages” for some time, and she was tortured while in prison. “I had 5 miscarriages,” she told the audience at the Friends Meeting House on October 24. In 1977, she gave birth to a deformed still-born baby. “I had surgery in 2002 to remove an intestinal tumor,” she said. In 2003, she had another operation to remove a thyroid tumor. “I now have cancer, but I feel lucky to be alive,” she said. Many of her friends have died. Her husband, who was also a resistance fighter, was also exposed to Agent Orange. He died of cancer in 1999. She said, “The victims are also American soldiers who were there during the war. It is unjust that we have been forgotten.” She asked for our support in their lawsuit against Dow Chemical and Monsanto, which made millions in profits during the war.
Tran Thi Hoan, a 21-year old college student, spoke quietly and gently, as she recounted her story in English. She was born without legs and one arm because of her mother’s exposure to Agent Orange. “I couldn’t go to school because the kids were scared of me,” she told us. With the help of an American journalist, she was sent to Peace Village, where she was able to get artificial legs and go to school. She remembered that, “Everyday when I see parents visit their kids at Peace Village, they cry. They didn’t do anything wrong, but they have to suffer.” She said, “I hope the US government and the chemical companies will help us, and also to clean up the “hot areas” that are still contaminated.” She felt confident that they will win the lawsuit because “we have been given a lot of help and support from the American people.”
Both women spoke without self-pity, nor did they ask for our pity. Instead, they asked for our help and support in their fight for justice and support for the victims of Agent Orange.
Dan Shea, a well-known peace and justice activist in Portland, also spoke at the presentation. He reminded us that thousands of American soldiers were also exposed to Agent Orange while they were in Vietnam. Dan joined the Marines and was sent to Vietnam for 3 months in 1968, where he was exposed to Agent Orange. “I remember US planes dropping loads of Agent Orange when I was there,” he said. When he came home, he tried to put the war behind him. He fell in love, got married, and had a son, Casey, who was born with a congenital heart disease and a cleft palate. He recalled, “It took a long time before Casey could talk.” He told us of the many surgeries that Casey went through. In 1981, the doctors told him that Casey needed another operation. “I remember a cold chill went through me and I knew something was wrong when they wheeled Casey into the operating room. Casey was screaming, “Daddy, daddy!” After the surgery, Casey went into a coma for 7 weeks. My wife and I were at his bedside every day. When it was clear that he wasn’t going to make it, we took him off the respirator. He died in my arms. He was only 4 years old. It was so devastating that I considered suicide.” Then, “I came to the conclusion that it was insane to kill other people and their children,” he said. He resolved to “dedicate my life for peace and justice, and to rectify the horrible crimes against the Vietnamese people and US victims of Agent Orange.”
Merle Ratner, an activist with the Vietnam Agent Orange Relief and Responsibility Campaign, informed us that although the US government pledged $3.25 billion in the Paris Peace Accords to help Vietnam after the war, not one cent has been released. Congress authorized $3 million to clean up the contaminated “hot spots” but the funds have been tied up. This amount is insufficient to clean up the many “hot spots” in Vietnam. She told us that in 2004, the Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange filed a lawsuit against Dow Chemical, Monsanto and other corporations in a federal court in New York. But it was dismissed on the grounds that Agent Orange was not used as a chemical weapon. The victims have submitted a petition to the Supreme Court to appeal this decision. According to Ratner, Vietnam veterans in South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and England, who were affected by Agent Orange, have fought successfully to gain compensation for their sufferings. In South Korea, the veterans were able to win a lawsuit against Monsanto and Dow Chemical, due to their militant efforts. However, not a single Vietnamese victim of Agent Orange has received even a cent in compensation for their illnesses and injuries. She told us that the campaign and tours have been very successful in informing the American people and increasing their awareness of the sufferings of the Vietnamese people and the veterans.
The Vietnamese people do not blame the American people for their suffering because they know there’s a difference between the people and their government. With the support and help of the American people, they are hopeful that they will win their struggle for justice for the victims of Agent Orange.
(New Content posted (10/06/08)
AUDIO FILE: Hands Across the Columbia
About 100 people attended a Rally on the steps of the Capital building in Olympia Washington today, October 6, 2008, urging Governor Chris Gregoire to mount a legal challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of the Bradwood Liquefied Natural Gas terminal.
The Rally was moderated by Dan Serres of Columbia Riverkeeper, who introduced a wide variety of speakers.
Speakers included, from Washington State government, Rep. Dean Takko from Southern Oregon and Jay Manning, Director of Washington Department of Ecology.
From citizen organizations concerned about the detrimental effects of the proposal were Ruby Wolf of the Cascade chapter of the Sierra Club, George Exum of Wahkiakum Friends of the Columbia River, Gerald Pollet, Seattle City Light Study Group and Gail, a forest land owner.
These proposed terminals would effect Oregon and Washington lands, populations and businesses, and an organized resistance of citizens in Oregon has slowly persuaded Governor Kulongoski to take a harder look at the serious consequences of these facilities to Oregonians.
Now the same pressure is being exerted on Governor Gregoire to exercise her power and sue FERC to retain the authority of the state of Washington in the process, which to this point has been one of rubber stamping the wishes of industry.
Gerald Pollet: “Twenty two years ago, thousands of citizens from Portland, Oregon, Washington, linked hands on the Interstate Five bridge in Hands Across the Columbia River to say no to Hanford being the first national high level nuclear waste dump. Today, we’re linking hands. We want Hands Across the Columbia River, not pipe lines across the Columbia River.”
Included in this brief report is a 22 minute audio file of speakers at the event. Each spoke briefly and passionately concerning the effects of these facilities and the need for the citizens of both Oregon and Washington to say No to LNG!
(New Content posted (09/17/08)
AUDIO FILE: Father Bourgeous, School of the Americas
A talk given by Father Roy Bourgeous, founder of School of the Americas Watch, and organization dedicated to closing down the School of the Americas, a combat training school for Latin American soldiers, located at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Over its 59 years, the SOA has trained over 60,000 Latin American soldiers in counterinsurgency techniques, sniper training, commando and psychological warfare, military intelligence and interrogation tactics. These graduates have consistently used their skills to wage a war against their own people. Among those targeted by SOA graduates are educators, union organizers, religious workers, student leaders, and others who work for the rights of the poor. Hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans have been tortured, raped, assassinated, “disappeared,” massacred, and forced into refugee by those trained at the School of Assassins.
Father Bourgeous speaks for about 45 minutes, detailing his life from rural Louisiana, through his service in Vietnam, his call to the cloth, his service to the poor and expulsion from Bolivia and his ever expanding work to close down the SOA.
(New Content posted (09/12/08)
AUDIO FILE: Heart and Soul-diers
On Saturday, September 6, 2008, I attended an event in Portland entitled Voices of Vets, promoted to bring “together veterans and the community in an attempt to heal the distance between the warriors and those they protect and bridge the gaps between war and peace, trauma and renewal, pain and understanding.”
It was this and much more. It was on outpouring of the human heart and soul in response to the devastating effects of war on veterans and their families; it was grief, it was humor, it was a microcosm of the daily suffering of our soldiers and those who their experience directly impacts.
This event was the result of an earlier five day retreat which took place near Ashland Oregon in May of this year organized by the Welcome Home Project and co sponsored by Michael Meade and the Mosaic Multicultural Foundation.
As Michael Meade said during the introduction to the event, those attending the retreat were “specifically working directly into the traumatic experiences that everyone was bringing back from battle. The group involves some Viet Nam veterans, some from the current war in Iraq and some from Afghanistan…..the bravery that they had in battle they have now brought to their poetry….the poems will be an expression of their own souls”
What came out of this retreat were words straight from the agony of war, the loss of close comrades, the daily death and dying and all the aberrations introduced from the activities centered around the organized, systematic taking of human life.
The introduction by Meade was brief, and he soon led the group from a side room of the First Congregational United Church onto the platform facing 75 – 100 people who came to hear their words and support them in their attempt to heal and gather sense from their experiences. They somberly filed out and took their seat singing a two word chant, Azima Ho.
As Michael explains later, “Azima is a West African word for the Earth, but not the earth we simply walk upon, but the Earth as a star, singing in the sky, reminding us that we are children of the Earth…….. May we remember that we are children of the Earth; may we remember to treat each other like we are children of the Earth.”
One by one these brave people stood at the microphone and read their words, sometimes tearfully, sometimes hurling them out full of obscenities and raging at the loss of soul, at their unexpected breaking heart.
Though all weren’t poetic, they were all poetry, arising out of their common humanity, expressing confusion and pain and loss and hope. Some of their pain was healed during the retreat, I’m sure, just by the close proximity of others whose experiences mirrored their own. They arrive back home struggling to integrate this surprising and unsettling glimpse into the depths of evil that is war, evil though fought for any reason, for any reason, whatsoever.
The Wounded
One couple whose son, Rory, went off to war and came back horribly wounded spoke a few times throughout the evening, expressing their grief, but also the love they have for their son, and the pride they took in his phenomenal recovery with a 2% chance of survival.
His mother, Cynthia Lafever, after asking veterans in the audience to rise and be thanked for their service, read, as her first poem, sound bites from the letter she received from the Army detailing what had happened to her son. Words so many wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers through the ages have heard before, words they might have thought they were prepared to integrate, until they heard them in a letter, or over the phone, or dripping from a starched and stiff uniform standing at the door of the home, the home shared with their son, their daughter, their loved one.
“Hello….Yes….Mother…Captain?….Roadside…Cannot Say…Sustained….Don’t…Know….Baghdad…Critical… Open…Head…Wound….Our Boy!
Yes, heart wrenching, but too, soul searching, as each person in the room perhaps struggled to determine how they would, how they could react to this raw and life changing missive. They perhaps saw themselves standing at the door, by the mailbox, by the phone, numb, dumb and gasping for air through the tears and the snot running down their face and now smeared across their life..
Everyone who was present in that room loves, is loved, and so has braved the vulnerability necessary to love and be loved. This news is devastating, momentarily and forever.
Both Cynthia and her husband Stan traveled for one year back and forth from coast to coast, to Walter Reed Hospital, helping their son with his physical rehabilitation. Later Stan speaks of his surprise “at the number of wounded and the severity of their injuries.” His poem, the Halls of Knowing,” details his walking the halls of that hospital.
Walk the halls with your eyes open and you will begin to know the truth of it.
Look at each of them. Do not be afraid; they are still the same.
Look into their eyes, if they are still there. Look into their hearts if they aren’t.
Look into their missing limbs; they already know; you can’t avoid it, they already know
Look at their burns, their scars; they already know
You can’t avoid it; they already know
Changed forever, yet still the same, husbands, wives, fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, brothers and sisters,
They are changed forever; but they are still the same.
Those of us whose lives are lived outside the arena of these experiences can only guess what these cryptic sentences might mean, but the heartache, the upheaval, the insane distortions exploding into the lives of the Lafevers seep through their words and we are are blasted sane by the concussion of that agony.
Psychological Injuries
Moe, who has lived for 30 years with a Viet Nam vet suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) details the symptoms of that disorder, and how they have affected the lives of her family. Alternating periods of ups and downs, drug addictions, anger, despondency, and even attempts at suicide have made her life and the life of her son a living hell. But she persists, because of the great love in her heart, a love that accepts her vulnerability as she and her husband search for understanding, catharsis and healing.
Mike, in 1960, was an 18 year old medic in Viet Nam. His poem, “Procedure,” describes “step by step a common procedure I carried out while working on the intensive care ward. Number one, remove all tubes from the body; two, pack gauze into the holes to prevent leakage of fluids on their way home; tie the penis off and pack the anus with gauze; tie the right hand over the left and place on the stomach; tie the jaw shut and pack gauze into the nostrils and ears; tie the right foot over the left, and tie the body tag over the right big toe; and finally with reverence, and with somebody helping, I would place the body in the body bag.”
This ritual was also performed on the Vietnamese, and Mike performed this duty with the same reverence. But slowly, “after several few weeks of body bagging so many G.I.’s, I could grab a “gook” by the shirt, by the hair, I don’t care what it was and I could throw them in that body bag all by myself. No question, and I was happy”
Now, today, after taking stock of himself as the fourth step in gaining sobriety, Mike will not longer use that word, “gook” in referring to the Vietnamese soldier.
Many of these soldiers he bagged, he had already known as patients. “I got to know these kids, while bathing them, shaving, changing their bandages, feeding and changing their bedding. We would talk about their families, where they lived, their fears. “I don’t know how many men, brave soldiers I put in those bags. After six months I refused to do it any more. And now I do it in my sleep.”
The Healing of Humor
Devastating, war of one people on another. We hear and see the flag waving, the lofty rhetoric of bringing freedom, of liberating, of protecting the world against one scourge or another. Yet, behind it all are people bandaging, amputating, tying off limbs.
Behind it all are the trips to the hospital and the bedside vigil, the dreams and ambitions sacrificed to the gods of war. Behind it all are people whose homecoming didn’t reckon with the immense sensibilities of the human heart, on coming home to find their humanity outraged and discovering the unsuspected connection between day dreams and night mares.
Yet, people respond to trauma in different ways, and even the same person may do so in many inconsistent ways. A young soldier who had earlier introduced himself as a citizen of the Netherlands and a soldier of the world and who recently received his orders to redeploy, read a piece by Jake. Jake is another Iraq War veteran, who “came to the retreat because he wanted to be less of an asshole…… And I’m writing poetry because I want people to know why I’m such an asshole”
Jake carries a large range of medication with him at all times, and his poem, “This OAF Vet is Heavily Medicated for Your Protection” is about the veteran treatment plan he is on.
“What you get isn’t what you see. If you look closer, you will see a pharmacy.
I take some to kill the pain, but for some reason I can’t recall it’s name.
Come on now, this one is my friend; oh yea I got it now, its’ Vicodin.
I swallow down that little tab, it’s supposed to keep me from being sad,
As it hits my stomach I feel so soft; you all know it as Zoloft……”
Jakes poem takes us cleverly through Clonidine, Lorazepam, Prazosin, and Methocarbamol, this last at a dosage of 1600 milligrams, which “help to keep me numb. If I didn’t have these friends I’d cry and moan; come to think of it, damn I’m stoned. I told my story, and I’ll take a bow; I hope you all feel safer now.”
The Heart of a Poet
Many of those who attended the Retreat in May could not attend this event. Michael read a poem from Laura, now redeployed to Iraq “a young woman, a natural poet, a poet in her heart without question and,” then breaking down here with emotion, “someone who should not be in battle.” Michael wanted to read her poem “to invoke her presence, in order to bring her voice here.”
Her Poem, “Lima Charlie,” begins, “Dear God in heaven, or wherever. Perhaps because my humvee rolls through the valleys of the shadow of death in Jalalabad, in Kabul, or perhaps because this land looks so much like the picture bible of my childhood, I look for you in the swirling sands. Any of these mountain could hold a Jesus preaching blessings on all that I am not, not the meek, not the Peacemaker. I went to three chaplains with my cloven soul.” The first one gave me medals of your saints…….the second anointed my head with oil, but couldn’t tell me why my cup runneth over but all around me children die from want of drink and food, their thirsty bodies scream, while whispering quietly your name.”
“The third offered me holy water to dowse me with, while just outside two babies were sprinkled with shrapnel. From Minarets they call out your greatness, but the explosions drown out their prayers. And seeming greater still the mortar shell steal their children and the rockets crumble the men.” Laura speaks further of the daily devastation, of the Fire, enemy fire, the fire fights and the friendly fire, and says that it is past time for a monk to set themselves on fire for a cleansing fire, for the Prince of Peace, or a Dove to come down out of the sky.
She finishes, “….But the silence on your end God thunders into my skull so deafening loud and so unalterably clear.”
A Village As Strong As A War
I speak of and quote from only a few of the 17 or so whose attendance at the event brought home the suffering, grief, waste and shame of War. While they were speaking I realized that any race, any culture, any nation from any corner of this globe could be standing before me reading out the poetry of their grief and affliction. Anyone, in the modern era, Iraqi, Vietnamese, Afghani, but larger, soldiers and their loved ones down through the centuries, the millennium, whose lives have been marked indelibly, crippled, perhaps forever, by battle.
War is failure; there is no honor in this failure, only bandages and body bags and devastated lives bravely struggling to heal and work themselves back into their community. I applaud the poetry, though it crushes me momentarily. I respect and admire the warrior, though I detest and curse the war which brings the people nothing but grief .
We can only imagine what these people have suffered, though imagination staggers at the immensity of the pain,outrage and injury expanding in time to engulf not only the soldier but their families and their communities. This was brought into focus by the words of one soldier who said of the Retreat at the end of his talk:
“This will renew the strength of my scarred soul. Can we create a village as strong as a war?”
Audio files of the evening are available at:
Part One-50 minutes in length:
Voices of Vets, Part One
Part Two – 48 minutes in length:
Voices of Vets, Part Two
Part Three, 23 minutes in length:
Voices of Vets, Part Three
Video will soon be made available at: PhilosopherSeed, Embeded Video
(New Content posted (06/23/08)
AUDIO FILE: John Trudell
A talk given by John Trudell, Native American Spoken Word artist as a benefit for Give Love Give Life.
This organization asks that the men and women of America prioritize National Healthcare Insurance for the women and children as a first step towards national health care. John Trudell
Part of his talk speaks more specifically to the issue of Health Care for women and children. This audio is separate from the larger presentation.
Audio: Give Love Give Life
(New Content posted (05/01/08)
AUDIO FILE: New Approaches to Protecting Labor Standards in the Informal Economy
A Forum at the AFSCME Union Hall on Tuesday, April 29, sponsored by VOZ and moderated by Romeo Sosa of Voz.(Voice)
Presenters: Nik Theodore, Director of the Center for Urban Economic Development at the University of Illinois.
Pablo Alvarado, Director of the National Day Labor Organizing Network Organized by VOZ and the National Day Labor Network.
After some introductory remarks by Sosa, Nik Theodore speaks about a study recently concluded by the Center for Urban Development. This study is based on extensive interviews with 60 senior staff of Worker Centers in 15 states focused on the impact of these centers to improve working conditions, wages, safety, and the day labor market. Come and learn about the informal economy in the U.S. and the importance of Day Labor Worker Centers. As the opening of our own local Worker Center approaches, we look forward for the Community of Portland to participate.
Alvarado speaks about the Day Labor situation from the perspective of those who are seeking work.
For more information please call VOZ at 503-233-6787
(New Content posted (03/29/08)
AUDIO FILE: We the People, Building a Movement for the Future We Want. Antonia Juhasz and Rev. Lennox Yearwood
Speaking at a March 3, 2008 event organized by The Backbone Campaign
Antonia speaks for about 25 minutes and Rev. Yearwood for the remainder of this 59 minute audio file.
Building a Movement for the Future We Want, MP3
(New Content posted (03/17/08)
AUDIO FILE: March 15, Iraq War Anniversary Rally
Speeches from the March 15 Iraq War Anniversary Rally in downtown Portland at the Portland State University South Park Blocks.
(New Content posted (03/03/08)
AUDIO FILE: Tre Arrow Arraignment in Federal Court
Right out of the gate, the attorney for the prosecution moved to disqualify Paul Loney due to a conflict of interest stemming from a period of time when he shared an office at the Belmont Law Center with Stu Sugarman, who from June of 2000 to August of 2001, was the attorney for Jacob Sherman, one of the witnesses who will be testifying against Tre Arrow.
Claiming that a substantial part of the Defense would be to discredit these witnesses due to deals made with the government for drastically reduced sentences, the prosecution claimed that by sharing an office with Sugarman, Loney would have been privy to confidential information. This was vehemently denied by Loney, who says that there was no communication between him and Sherman, and all he did was stand in for Sugarman for a court date. He also added that this was a common practice and does not constitute conflict of interest.
The judge said that this was not his decision and that any final decision would have to be made by District Court Judge James A. Redden, who will be hearing the case.
The prosecution had two charges against Tre, but informed the judge that the first would be subsequently dropped, as it was not included in the request for Tre’s extradition from Canada.
Arrow’s attorney made a request as well. He requested that the indictments and attendant paperwork list Tre Arrow as Tre Arrow and not Michael Scarpiiti as some of the documents had done. The judge ruled that both names would go forward in the court documents at least for the time being.
Also Loney requested that a special diet be afforded Tre Arrow, who insists upon a raw food diet, according to the teachings of the Essene Faith. The judge ordered the Marshals to accommodate this request.
When the prosecuting attorney claimed that Arrow was a flight risk and a danger to the community, Loney reserved the right to a detention hearing for a future time concerning the question of bail.
Tre waived his right to a formal reading of the charges against him. Loney requested that Tre remain in the Multnomah County jail to be more easily accessible to attorneys, family and friends. But, the judge ruled that the Marshals had to make no special arrangements for Tre in this regard and left the matter in the Marshal’s friends.
Trial was set for May 6, 2008, giving the Prosecution 10 days to provide the Defense with what is legally referred to to as Discovery. It is the evidence intended to be presented against him in the trial and there is only a period of 21 days to submit legal Motions to the judge.
A brief interview with Shuana Scarpiti, sister of Tre Arrow, before the arraignment:
Shauna Scarpiti, MP3
A brief interview with Attorney Paul Loney, after the arraignment:
Paul Loney, MP3
Future developments on this case will be posted to Tre Arrow Website.
(New Content posted (02/23/08)
AUDIO FILE: Stephen Kinzer: A Voice Against War With Iran
On February 9, 2008 the American Iranian Friendship Council of Portland Oregon sponsored an event entitled the American Iranian Peace Forum 2008.
The Keynote speaker for the event was Stephen Kinzer, veteran correspondent for the New York Times and author of many books, including, “All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror,”
Kinzer speaks about the recent history of Iran, the meddling and machinations of the American Central Intelligence Agency which brought down a democratically elected parliament and prime minister who wanted to nationalize Iran’s oil reserves.
He also speaks about the importance that people be vigilant concerning the present Administration’s desire to attack Iran, using similar justifications which brought about the disastrous Occupation of Iraq.
He draws on a depth and breadth of experience living in Iran as a correspondent, which led him to write the book, “All the Shah’s Men,” and finishes with ways that we can work to stop this catastrophe before it is launched.
For an audio file of this presentation:
Stephen Kinzer, MP3
To watch a 43 ½ minute video of his presentation posted to Google.com
Stephen Kinzer, A voice Against War With Iran
(New Content posted (01/16/08)
AUDIO FILE: Toxic Toys Campaign
(From the January 16, 2008 Media Advisory)
On January 16, 2008, the National Day of Action on Toxic Trade, the United Steelworkers (USW) took the fight against the importation of toxic toys to 100 members of Congress at Congressional offices in 40 states to protect 100 million children.
In Portland, labor, environmental, consumer and fair trade advocates rallied outside the downtown office of Oregon Senator Gordon Smith to urge his support for the Food and Product Responsibility Act. The USW was joined at the event by members of the Oregon AFL-CIO, Working America, Portland Jobs with Justice, the Oregon Environmental Coalition, the Sweat Free Northwest Campaign, the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign, the Northwest Oregon Labor Council, the Oregon Public Interest Research Group, the Oregon Center for Environmental Health, and others.
“The recalls we keep hearing about week after week are the predictable results of shifting manufacturing to countries that don’t meet the same basic consumer protection standards that Americans deem critical,” said Arthur Stamoulis, director of the Oregon Fair Trade Campaign. “Threats to consumer safety go hand-in-hand with the massive job loss we’ve experienced as a result of our government’s backwards trade policy.”
The Unhealthy cheap goods that are coming into the country means that somewhere in the world, other workers are being exposed to low wages and higher levels of dangerous chemicals and work conditions than in the United States., added Eliana Machuca, of Portland Jobs with Justice.
“The door to the morality of the multi-national corporations has opened, and as we peer in we begin to understand they do not care about us, or kids, the future of the planet,” continued Tom Chamberlin, president of the FL-CIO. “They car about themselves; they care about profit at all costs. And to hell with everything else.”
Picket signs at the rally depicted forty different recalled items imported from China. Hazards associated with the recalls included excessive lead content in paint, risk of children swallowing small magnets, chocking and strangulation risk, even one which is known to have caused comas in two different children after swallowing several pieces of the product.
All of the recalled products on the signs at the Portland event were issued since September 2007. One of the recalls was issued this month. Many of the recalled items sat on the shelves and in the hands of consumers for months, and in some cases years before the item was recalled for refund or replacement.
End of Media Advisory Excerpt.
The event was moderated by Ronald Rodgers, United Steelworkers, event coordinator. Speakers from several organizations brought their particular perspective to this important issue. No Corporate media was in attendance, though this is an extremely important and popular ongoing story. Rodgers introduced the speakers, and they all spoke briefly and eloquently to the crowd of about 40 who had gathered in the cold outside the World Trade Center in downtown Portland.
Speakers for the Press Conference:
Eliana Muchaca, Portland Jobs with Justice
Elizebeth Swager, Sweat Free Northwest Campaign
Arthur Stamoulis, Director of Oregon Fair Trade Campaign.
Matt Wallace, Oregon Public Interest Research Group
Graham Trainor, Director, Working America-Oregon
Tom Chamberlin, President, Oregon AFL-CIO
This is a 21 minute audio file of the speakers, who give a good understanding of the issue and what’s at stake.
Get the LEAD Out: Stop Toxic Toys, MP3
After the presentations, Ronald announced that, since Sen. Smith’s office was short staffed that day, on one from the group would be allowed admittance. Instead, a representative would come down to accept whatever comments or materials were intended for the Senator. This has been an on going situation with Sen, Smith, choosing to situate his office in privately owned offices, who then can legally refuse access to citizens seeking audience with their elected Senator.
Numerous citizens have been arrested in 2007 merely for seeking to speak with Smith concerning his continuing support for the Occupation of Iraq. This link provides an 11 minute video of one of those visits which led to some of these arrests.
At this point Richard Krikava, field representative for Senator Gordon Smith came down and spoke briefly with those who were prohibited from entering the office of the Senator, paid for by the citizens of this country. Many wanted to urge that he vote for the S. 2081, the Food and Product Responsibility Act. Krikava stated that the bill was now in Committee, and that he had no idea when it would be brought out for a vote.
Examples of products to watch out for:
TEETHING RINGS: Many contain phthalates, a toxic chemical used to soften and smoothen plastics;
PLASTIC BABY BOTTLES AND SIPPY CUPS: (labeled as #7 plastics): Many contain polycarbonate, an ingredient in plastic, which can leach bisphenol-A, a suspected hormone disruptor that mimics estrogen. That can cause low sperm count, obesity and neurological problems.
PACIFIERS: Rubber pacifiers or bottle nipples can contain chemical nitrosamines, which can cause cancer. This chemical is often used in cosmetics and pesticides.
DIAPERS: Contained excessive levels of fungus.
For those wishing further research:
In the United States, the Consumer Product Safety Commission routinely posts recall information. Visit this site for up-to-date lists of recalled products and item numbers and for information about what to do if you have the products in your home.
Various USW- run Web sites related to Toxic Trade campaign:
www.usw.org for latest news and podcasts.
www.stoptoxicimports.org for campaign specific info, including online petition and online tool kit request form, Associate member application, event calendar and videos.
www.protect-our-kids.org same as the above web site.
www.uspainfonet.org United Steelworkers Press Association site contains read-made graphics, information about campaign, press release template and other helpful information. Need username and password.
(New Content posted (12/17/07)
AUDIO FILE: Naomi Klein, Q & A
This is the final 46 minutes or so of Naomi Klein’s presentation from December 7, 2007, containing the Q & A session.
Naomi handled the session differently than I had ever seen before, probably due to the extremely long line of those wishing to comment or ask questions of her. She would first take a number of questions from the audience while taking notes of them and then respond to this collection of questions at one time.
Interesting strategy, and she pulled it off well. She responded to a multitude of questions and comments, including impeachment and 911.
As I said, the lines were long, and she was extremely gracious, even to those who seemed more determined to offer their own viewpoints than ask a question of her.
(New Content posted (12/16/07)
AUDIO FILE: Portland Tea Party
Today, December 16, 2007, is the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, where American Colonists dumped tea into Boston Harbor to protest the passage of the Tea Act, “which allowed the East India Company to sell tea to the colonies directly and without ‘payment of any customs or duties whatsoever’ in Britain, instead paying the much lower American duty.”
“This tax break allowed the East India Company to sell tea for half the old price and cheaper than the price of tea in England, enabling them to undercut the prices offered by the colonial merchants and smugglers.” (Wikipedia) Not so different from today, when government gives wealthy Corporations the rights of living, breathing human beings and puts their profit margins above the interests of the People.
For this reason the tea was dumped into the harbor. And for these same reasons members of Code Pink, Veterans for Peace, Chapter 72, and other supporters of the Constitution, dumped bags of compost symbolizing tea over the side of the Hawthorne bridge soon after reading aloud the U.S. Constitution and a list of current grievances.
The reading took place at Salmon Spring fountain where the gathering had marched after singing rewritten Christmas carols to the Christmas shoppers at Pioneer Square. These Carols had been brought up to date to portray the situation in our Nation, the gradual loss of human and civil rights; the use and justification for torture against enemies, real and imagined; the “taxation for global domination.”
The event began at Peace Memorial Park on the East side of the Steel Bridge, where the group burned copies of the USA PATRIOT Act, before boarding the Max train to Pioneer Square.
The day was not without adversity. When the gathering had taken the Max train from the Peace Memorial Park down to Pioneer Square, a rambunctious, or maybe ambitious, Tri Met official demanded that the Protesters stop Caroling on the Max train and also that we stop taping him.
And, at the Square three citizens were outraged by the signs alluding to Bush Administration complicity in the 911 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. These three actually claimed to be against the war, and no friends of the Bush Administration, but believed that these allegations went too far and somehow denigrated those who died there that September day.
Yet the protesters met with numerous honks of approval from passers by, as well as nods and vocalizations of agreement from pedestrians in the streets and at Pioneer Square.
After dumping the tea into the Willamette River, the crowd slowly dispersed.
This is an audio file of the highlights of the event, about 25 minutes in length. It includes testimony from a few of the attendees, some of the revamped Christmas Carols, the Tri Met officer, the three citizens protesting the protesters and the reading of the U.S. Constitution with current grievances.
(New Content posted (12/12/07)
AUDIO FILE: Liquefied Natural Gas Protest in Portland.
Today, December 12, 2007, 200 people gathered at the offices of Northwest Natural Gas in downtown Portland Oregon to protest Liquefied Natural gas facilities proposed for the Columbia River Estuary by Energy speculators from Texas, New York and California.
The turn out was huge and the gathering was high spirited and well informed. Many were from the areas of Oregon which would be affected by the LNG facilities or the pipelines which would funnel the gas down to energy consumers in California. Farmers from Mollala and Gayles Creek, full time fishing guides, commercial fisherman, were just a few of the people who turned out to insist that this project be abandoned and to demand that Oregon Governor Kulongowski weigh in against this project.
This is a 20 minute audio file of the speakers from the days event. The Protest was moderated by Brent Foster, director of Columbia Riverkeeper who introduced a number of speakers. These weren’t activists or staff from conservation organizations, but every day working Oregonians, giving their perspective on the dire consequences of locating this facility in the Columbia river estuary.
Speakers were:
Susan Hansen, a farmer from Molala, where I believe the spur pipeline from the Oregon coast to California is going to pass through. She is with the groups, Northwest Property Rights Coalition and Citizens Against LNG
Bob Reese, a full time Fishing Guide.
John Platt, speaking for Columbia River Intertribal fish Commission.
Greg Jacob, representing the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Jack, a 3rd generation comercial fisherman on the Columbia River.
Monica, from Cascadia Rising Tide
Susan Fosberg, a forester from Gayles Creek.
And last, a farmer, who didn’t give his name, and his wife Nancy.
All spoke eloquently and passionately about how this facility and piple line would adversely affect their quality of life and that of Oregonians in general. From the destruction of family farms, to the destruction of the salmon to the enormous burden put upon Oregonians to construct an infrastructure based on unsustainable fossil fuels, everyone was here today to say that this is a bad idea. It is not a half step towards a sustainable energy future, as some would have us believe.
(New Content posted (12/11/07)
AUDIO FILE: The Shock Doctrine
Naomi Klein, whose most recent book, The Shock Doctrine: the Rise of Disaster Capitalism has been an international best-seller, spoke to an overflowing house in Portland Oregon on Friday, December 7, 2007.
The crowd completely filled the available space and the overflow were provided with television coverage in the basement of the First Unitarian Church where she was speaking.
Klein, whose parents went to Canada seeking political asylum because of the Viet Nam war, was born in Montreal in 1970, spoke for about an hour, answered questions for about an hour afterwards, and concluded her talk with a 6 minute video.
Engaging, but casual, smart and eloquent, but easily understood, her presentation charmed the crowd as much by its style as by its content. Though speaking from a podium, she seemed very much a part of, rather than apart from the gathering
She begins, “it’s wonderful to be at the heart of Portland’s legendary Progressive community; thank you for all the work you have done over the years in keeping up this fight. It is a revolutionary moment. There are moments when it feels less so, and Portland keeps on keeping’ on, which we appreciate.”
Arriving here from Los Angeles, which is still recovering from the wild fires of recent months, she was met with television images of people who have lost their homes to floods, highways collapses, mudslides and road closures. “These are very familiar images to me , because I’ve spent the last four years immersed in disaster zones. …It reminds me of what I’ve seen in Biloxi Mississippi after Katrina, or New Orleans after Katrina, or Sri Lanka after the tsunami.”
“We’re going to be talking about disaster tonight, we’re going to be talking about disaster capitalism, and it seems only appropriate for us to begin this discussion by thinking about these disasters unfolding in this region, in other parts of the country, around the world……Think about when we see these images, when a community is living through these disasters, what our initial human response is. ….”
“The initial human response to a disaster is not to exploit it for personal gain, that’s not what most people want to do. What most people want to do is help When they see i t on television from far away, they want to help. That was the response to the tsunami, that was the response to Katrina, that was the response in this state………The message that I have is that we are not inevitably exploited in the face of a disaster. There are choices at all of these junctures, and I think we need to remember that.”
“This phenomenon that I call Disaster Capitalism is really the opposite of that initial human response that we all felt….What Disaster Capital sees in a crisis is really the opposite of that. They see, this phrase which comes up over and over again in the book, in this research, a ‘blank slate,’ a ‘clean sheet.’ They somehow confuse rubble with renewable, and there is this idea, -I saw this in New Orleans just 10 days after the levees broke, meeting lobbyists and politicians, and that famous quote from Richard Baker the Republican Congressman who said that “we couldn’t clean out New Orleans housing projects, but God did.”
“That’s what he saw; he saw an act of cleansing.”
Klein continues, drawing deeply from the extensive research in her book, describing how disasters, natural and man made provide momentum for Disaster Capitalism, using shock and crisis, to reshape the world, for the profit of a few. Speaking of the War on Terror, “if you think of it as a military plan it doesn’t make much sense, but if you think of it as an economic plan it makes alot of sense. I think what we need to understand is that the Bush Administration is not an administration, they do not administer. They think other people should do that. They’ve outsourced administering. The role they have played in the War on Terror is not that of an administrator, but that of a venture capitalist, a deep pocket venture capitalist that says, okay, here is your business plan, here’s your market, fight evil everywhere forever. Terrorists and immigrants too while you are at it.”
This was an enlightening presentation, but it did so by drawing together many ideas and common insights lying loose in the minds of the audience and directed them lasar-like, to obvious conclusions. She weaves a fabric from many threads available to all who dig beneath the veneer of Corporate Media complicity in the social engineering which passes for political and religious belief systems.
This audio file is just under 1 hour in length.
(New Content posted (11/12/07)
AUDIO FILE: Cynthia McKinney Speaking in Portland
Cynthia McKinney, Green Party presidential candidate, appeared in Portland this evening, November 12, 2007, for a fund raising event at the First Unitarian Church in Portland Oregon, speaking for about 10 minutes and then answering questions for about another 40 minutes.
A room of about 50 people gathered to hear her speak and question her concerning her perspective about many things. The first questioner asked how it affected her to be around characters like Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld and Condoleza Rice. Her answer was that she was not affected by them so much as trying to affect them.
She was questioned about many things, and thanked for her stand for 911 truth, being given a thank you card by a local 911 Truth organization, signed with many signatures from that group.
Her answers were to the point, no dodging, hedging or dancing around. Refreshing. I found her to be a real lady and well as a lady that’s real. Here is an audio file, slightly edited, of the evening event.
(New Content posted (10/8/07)
AUDIO FILE: Nazis Not Welcome! Unite Against Racism!
In response to a three day gathering of white supremacists in the Portland area, community members and anti-racists gathered at Lents Park in S.E. Portland, Oregon to voice their opposition to racism and fascism.
This event, attended by about 150 people, was moderated by Peter Little of the Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism and Fascism, which has called the Rally in opposition to the “Hammerfest,” a three day event subsequent to the Rally found to be taking place at a hotel in Sherwood, Oregon.
Founded this September, the Ad-Hoc Committee is dedicated to monitoring and opposing white supremacist groupings in Portland and beyond. As large neo-Nazi rallies have often been preceded by attacks on Jewish people and people of color, sexual minorities, as well as activists, the Ad-Hoc Committee wishes to work with community groups and people of good conscience who want to respond to fascist mobilization. “If we come together, the bigots don’t stand a chance,” says one committee member, “This rally is only a beginning.”
Peter makes some introductory remarks and introduced speakers with experience from many different fronts of the ongoing threats from and struggle against racism.
Peter speaks about the racist past of Portland and the people’s struggle to protect themselves from racism. He states that racism takes many faces, is not only the obvious skinheads and neo nazi types, but also, among others, anti-immigration organizations.
This is an ongoing theme throughout the Demonstration- that racism is insidious and is hidden all around us.
First to speak was Walidah Imarisha, a spoken word war-rior woman who fights the power with protest poetry. She speaks eloquently about how these groups have co-opted the language of the left, often sounding like environmentalists and other progressive groups. Walidah finishes by reciting one of her poems.
Next to speak was Claire Oliveros, of the Portland Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines, followed by Pablo, who spoke in Spanish with a translator about the Latin American economic conditions leading to immigration to the U.S.
Pablo was followed by Amy Dudley, of the Rural Organizing Project, who spoke at length about the various racist and anti-immigrant organizations. She gives much information about these groups, how they are organized and how they easily slip beneath the radar.
Mic Crenshaw, from the rap group Hungry Mob
Last to speak, briefly was Chris Francisco, an Indigenous speaker from the Native Youth Movement.
This file is about one hour in length.
No Racism, MP3
(New Content posted (10/01/07)
AUDIO FILE: Government Persecution of Progressive Groups
Audio from an event which took place at the First Unitarian Church on September 27, 2007. The program for the evening was moderated by Alejandro Queral, Executive Director of Northwest Constitutional Rights Center
Alejandro spoke a little about his organization before introducing the speakers.
First to speak was Attorney Robert Meeropol, Executive Director of the Rosenberg Fund for Children and son of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg who were wrongfully executed in 1953 for conspiring to steal the secret of the atomic bomb.
The second speaker was Attorney Lauren Regan, Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center, a non-profit whose goal is to make the progressive social change movement stronger, more informed, and more effective by educating people about their rights, defending activists from corporate and government attacks, and exposing and confronting the persistent erosion of civil liberties and the Bill of Rights.
Government Persecution, RealPlayer
(New Content posted (09/30/07)
AUDIO FILE: S29 Rally in Portland Oregon
An audio file of the speakers from the S29 anti war Rally which took place in Portland Oregon on September 29, 2007.
The file features, for the most part, the entire presentations given by the various speakers, before, during and after the March from the NW Park Blocks to the World Trade Center. I think I missed part of the presentation by Ghourdz Eghtedari. and one speaker at the end.
The 30 minute or so file contains the two speakers from before the March, two during, and those after the March reached its destination.
(New Content posted (07/09/07)
AUDIO FILE: Reportback on Human “Dam” Blockade at PacifiCorp in Portland.
At noon today, August 14, 2007, three protesters blockaded the main entrance to PacifiCorp’s headquarters in NE Portland Oregon, locking down to four 600 pound concrete barrels and demanding the removal of the Klamath River dams.
(Excerpted from the News media packet.)
“We’re locked down to demonstrate our soldiarity with affected communities and the salmon of the Klamath River who are fighting for their health and survival,” said WIll Munger, one of the blackaders. “We demand the immediate removal of PacifiCorp’s dams.”
Another blockader, Cedar Knoll, said, “PacifiCorp is a climate criminal and salmon killer living in the heart of Portland.”
Continuing from the news media packet:
The protest follow the Convergence for Climate action which took place in Skamokawa, WA over the past week. Yesterday, protesters from the camp occupied the proposed Liquified Natural Gas terminal at Bradwood, Oregon for several hours. A simultaneous occupation took place in Asheville, North Carolina on Monday, where a Bank of America branch was shut down by protesters for its lead role in financing the coal industry.”
And, Today in London an affiliated “Camp for Climate Action” begins just outside of Heathrow Airport, where two thousand participants plan to target airline industry giants profiteering amidst the climate crisis. The London gathering has garnered front page media attention across the UK, where more that 1800 police have been mobilized and anti-terrorism laws have been activated for the camp’s surveillance.
I arrived late and missed the theater with hazmats suits and fake blood, intending to draw attention to the poisonous conditions on the Klamath River. But, I did arrive in time to interview three of those who were there, including two of the blockaders.
In one of the interviews, Will Munger speaks of conditions in Mexico, where similar outrages against the people are occurring. He urges people to go to the website, Root Force for more information.
Included in this report is an 8 minute audio file of the protest.
Human Dam Blockade, RealPlayer
(New Content posted (07/09/07)
AUDIO FILE: Interview with Agustin Aguayo at Anti-war Rally and March
This afternoon, July 9, 2007, a coalition of peace groups, PDX Peace, organized a Rally at Holladay Park in Portland Oregon and marched to the military recruiters office on NE Broadway. The event featured Conscientious Objector Agustin Aguayo, recently released from an 8 month prison term for desertion.
After serving a one year deployment to Iraq, Aguayo applied for Conscientious Objector status, which was denied and his unit was subsequently redeployed back to Iraq. Agustin refused to leave with his unit and went absent without leave (AWOL).
Since serving his prison term, Aguayo has been actively working with at-risk youth, dedicating his life to informing high risk youth of the other side recruits don’t see in military recruitment ads.
Various groups, including Portland Recruiter Watch, were involved in the event:
Veterans for Peace, chapter 72
Portland American Friends Service Committee
After a few words from Helga Aguayo, Agustin’s wife, the gathering moved off from the Park and headed towards the military recruiters office on NE Broadway. The march received scores of honks and vocalizations of approval from people walking and driving by, and arrived at the recruiters office for a few brief words from Agustin. After these words, they marched back to the Park, for more networking and words of inspiration from organizers of the event.
I was fortunate to get a quick interview with Aguayo after the event, and this is a 5 minute audio file of that interview.
(New Content posted (07/03/07)
AUDIO FILE: Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich Speaking In Portland
Democratic Presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich spoke to a large gathering Sunday evening, July 1, 2007 at Benson High School, his speech focusing mainly on the need for universal health care and Globalization.
His talk lasted abut 25 minutes, and the remainder of this 47 minute audio file is questions and answers from the audience. Oddly, he didn’t mention the Iraq war that much, or even his early ongoing opposition to it.
Dennis, as is usually the case, was very eloquent, to the point and demonstrated a way to take our country back from corporate control. Yes, he skirted the 911 issue; yes, he wasn’t extremely forthcoming concerning some issues dear to the far left. But, he only had so much time and I believe he made good use of this hour.
“This is the beauty of this country, because as we link peace and security and prosperity, we know that we can reject the entire basis that has formed this government that currently exists of war, fear and poverty. And we see the connection, what this campaign is about is standing for the truth, it’s about being able to challenge the corruption that underlies what’s wrong with America today. Let’s look at the links, okay?”
“War, oil, corruption, so that’s one; we have war because of a corrupt government which is all about oil. Let’s look at the next connection here. Lack of health care, private insurers controlling our health care system, corruption; that’s the link, think about that………..and then you think about so many people out of work, or not having the jobs they once had, and you think about NAFTA. It’s about a race to the bottom and even slave labor.”
And you look at the Immigration issue. At the root of the Immigration issue is corruption; it’s the use of slave labor and exploitation of people. So, does any of that represent who we are? What this election is about, this is a moment to explain who we are, the deeper meaning of ‘We the People.’”
Dennis was interrupted numerous times to thunderous applause and standing ovations, and deservedly so. He understands his Progressive constituency; he understands and laments the corruption of Democracy as it has been slowly and deliberately undermined by the present administration. He see clearly and speaks, I believe, from his heart.
But, hear his words for yourself. He hasn’t had the career of Ralph Nader, but he speaks the same language, speaks for the people. He hasn’t the connections of Hillary, the good looks of Edwards, or the charisma of Obama, but he has heart, and, from where I stand, this is exactly what is lacking in this disgustingly money dripping and hallow travesty foisted upon us as the 2008 presidential campaign.
(New Content posted (06/26/07)
AUDIO FILE: Demonstration to Support Immigrant Rights
This is a 44 minute audio file of the speeches which took place at the ICE building, before the march to Pioneer Square. The list includes, among others, a teacher, a Latino student, a representative from the Mayors office, someone from the labor unions, as well as a mother arrested during the raids.
For a more detailed report and some photographs, go to
The audio report begins with some spirited Latino music and is moderated by Shuzuko Hashimoto, of Portland Central America Solidarity Committee.
Immigrant Rights Rally, RealPlayer
(New Content posted (06/25/07)
AUDIO FILE: The Case Against Liquid Natural Gas
The program for the evening was introduced by Peter Huhtala of Pacific Marine Conservation Council.
Before introducing the first speaker, he mentions the second speaker, Dimitri who came from Russia to give a Power Point presentation on the legacy of Liquid Natural Gas production in his country, the point origin for a portion of the LNG which will be coming to this country through facilities proposed to be built in Oregon, along the Columbia estuary. Dimitri’s organization in Russia is Sakhalin Environment Watch, which has been monitoring the Sakhalin 11 Oil and Gas Project.
Since 1994, Shell has been spearheading an oil and gas extraction project in Sakhalin Island, a far eastern Russian territory. This development will affect the world’s last 100 or so western pacific grey whales; it will destroy the marine environment; and it will threaten the livelihood of local fishermen. This project is already well along the way to having already done so.
Peter then introduces the first speaker, Loretta Lynch, former President of the California Public Utilities Board. Both speakers provided Power Point presentations to accompany their remarks. Of the two, Loretta’s works best as an audio file, without the benefit of the visual component. But both do convey their content well enough to educate the listener to the importance of this subject to Oregonians in particular, and all U.S. citizens in general.
Basically what these International Corporations are seeking to do is lock us into this Liquid Natural Gas infrastructure as we were all locked into the petroleum energy structure in the last century. This is being done with promises of “clean energy,” fooling shallow thinking politicians who wish to appear forward thinking by providing alternatives to our addiction to coal and petroleum.”
According to Loretta Lynch, this is a false contention, as is the assertion that the production, transportation and storage of this highly volatile compressed liquid natural gas is environmentally safe. And, unfortunately, 90% of the liquid natural gas will be passing through Oregon to California.
Next to speak was Dimitri, who provided a power point presentation about what is happening in the Sakharin district of Russia.
There are many organizations who are dealing with this threat.
Friends of Living Waters (FLOW)
A Coalition, the Clean Energy Alliance, has also been formed under the auspices of Columbia Riverkeeer
(New Content posted (06/22/07)
AUDIO FILE: Road From Ar Ramadi
Tonight, June 22, 2007, Camilo Mejia, the first Conscientious Objector to walk off the front lines in Iraq spoke at the First Unitarian Church in Portland Oregon.
On May 21, 2004, a U.S. military court sentenced Staff Sergeant Camilo Mejia Castillo of the Florida National Guard to the maximum penalty of one year’s imprisonment for desertion. He had refused to return to his unit in Iraq, citing moral reasons, the legality of the war and the conduct of US troops towards Iraqi civilians and prisoners.
Amnesty International considers him to be a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned for his conscientious opposition to participating in war.
After a few brief introductory comments, Camilo Mejia read excerpts from his brand new book, “Road From Ar Ramadi”
Camilo joined the service at age 19, served as an infantryman for 8 years, was a staff sargant and squad leader. “I had done the training and had the knowledge and the expertise to do my job in Iraq.” Though trained to kill, and ignore the collateral damage of civilian casualties, he says that “there’s no training to prepare one for that type of experience.” He states further that “at 19 years of age we are not allowed to buy alcohol, yet when a young person decides not to participate in war they say that you knew what you were doing when you signed that contract.”
He recounts numerous experiences in Ar Ramadi, witnessing abuse, and worse, of civilians.
The presentation is about 38 minutes in length.
Camilo Mejia, RealPlayer
Camilo Mejia, MP3
(New Content posted (05/01/07)
AUDIO FILE: Whose Streets?
Today, May 1, 2007, the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center and the Portland Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild released the report, “Whose Streets? Recommendations to Improve the Portland Police Bureau’s Response to First Amendment Assemblies.”
The Press Conference was moderated by Alejandro Queral, Director of the Northwest Constitutional Rights Center. Alejandro spoke briefly about why these recommendations are necessary. “The report presents recommendations on what the Police Department needs to do to improve it’s crowd control tactics. Over the years we have seen time and again the Portland Police Bureau using excessive force against protesters, ranging from just a show of force all the ay to using impact munitions, such as bean bags and rubber bullets. There have been a number of incidents over the years involving pepper spray…we have also seen the use of mounted patrol as crowd control tactics which have resulted in injuries, panic by the crowd and adverse reactions by the crowd.”
“So what we are presenting here are a series of policies that are calling for, first a ban on pepper spray as a means of crowd control, particularly at first amendment assemblies. We’re also calling for a ban of less than lethal munitions and the use of horses to control crowds.”
After a few more brief comments, Alejandro introduced Ashlee Albies, Chair of the Portland chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, who first gave an a little history of the National Lawyers Guild. Ashlee then addressed the importance of First Amendment rights, “essential components of a Democracy. The right to express ones views in a public arena, and where that expression is one of disagreement with current policies, it deserves even more protection because we need to create a society where people feel comfortable expressing their disagreement with the government.”
She finished by stating that the two Civil Rights groups are “committed to stemming the abuses described in this report, and we strongly urge the PPD to adopt these modifications and to affirm the rights of Free Speech and Free Assembly.”
Next, two citizens who have experienced first hand the abuses of police power described in the report spoke a little of their experiences, both at the October 5, 2006 World Can’t Wait Protest and March through downtown Portland. Steve Geiger and Stacy Mullins both relayed their experiences at the march, and their outrage at police tactics against peaceful protesters.
A video was also played, demonstrating the police abuses this report intends to remedy. Shauna Curphy, staff attorney for the North West Constitutional Rights Center, narrated the video, pointing out and discussing various instances of police abuses and over reaction.
This video and narration is not included in the audio report, though the video itself is available on YouTube at:
Whose Streets, Video
This audio file is about 12 minutes in length.
(New Content posted (04/25/07)
AUDIO FILE: How Bush Drowned New Orleans and the Theft of 2008.
Greg Palast, investigative reporter visited Portland Wednesday evening, April 24, 2007, promoting the addition of two chapters to his most recent book, “Armed Madhouse.” The event was co sponsored by KBOO Radio, and was a benefit for the Portland Alliance Newspaper.
Palast was in town last year on his Armed Madhouse Tour, and this visit presented some of the same information. Though he did review much of the earlier material, the additional two chapters added much that was new, especially his investigation of the Federal Debacle in New Orleans leading up to and after Hurricane Katrina.
The event was extremely well attended, filling up the majority of the seats at the First Unitarian Church, probably about 300-350 people.
Greg began his one hour presentation with some of material from his last visit to Portland, his Armed Madhouse Tour. Since some of this is already familiar to those who have read his book, attended his lectures or seen the video on Public Access television or the internet, I’ve broken the audio files up into three sections.
To see a one hour video of Greg’s Armed Madhouse Tour to Portland
The first section goes over much of his earlier material and is about 20 minutes in length. He reiterates much of the statistics from his most recent book, “Armed Madhouse,” concerning the 2000 and 2004 elections., where millions of votes were not counted. According to Palast, over three million votes were thrown out and in various parts of the country the chances of your vote not being counted increased according to the color of your skin.
Greg Palast, Part One, RealPlayer
The second section, about 16 minutes, is about David Iglesias, the U.S. Attorney from New Mexico who was one of many U.S. Attorneys fired by the Justice Department for apparently political reasons.
Greg Palast, Part Two, RealPlayer
The third segment is about 24 minutes in length and addresses the Bush administration debacle in New Orleans.
Palast demonstrates, with documentation, how the problems which plagued New Orleans after Katrina made landfall were due to mismanagement and cronyism going back many years.
Greg Palast, Part Three, RealPlayer
(New Content posted (03/30/07)
AUDIO FILE: Col. Ann Wright (Ret.) Speaking at Military Recruiters Protest in Portland.
This is an interview with Col. Ann Wright (ret.), a 29 year Army veteran and diplomat who resigned in opposition to the invasion of Iraq. She was in attendance at the Surge Brigade protest in front of the military recruiters offices on NE Broadway today, March 30, 2007.
Accompanying her were members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War,
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 72,
Code Pink Women for Peace,
911 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows,
and the Portland Peaceful Response Coalition.
Many members of the Portland Peace Community were also in attendance, about 30 people in total
I interviewed Ann Wright for about 8 minutes, and also include a 5 minute talk she gave to the crowd. Altogether the audio file is 13 minutes in length. The file begins with music from David Rovics
(New Content posted (03/06/07)
AUDIO FILE: Lynne Steward Speaking in Portland
Radical human rights attorney Lynne Stewart is acclaimed for defending poor people, radicals of color and controversial figures. Because of this she has been falsely accused of helping terrorists. Now convicted, she recently received a 28 month sentence, but is free on bail pending appeal.
On Tuesday, April 9, 2002, she was arrested and agents searched her Manhattan office for documents. She was arraigned before Manhattan federal Judge John Koeltl. This is an obvious attempt by the U.S. government to silence dissent, curtail vigorous defense lawyers, and install fear in those who would fight against the U.S. government’s racism, seek to help Arabs and Muslims being prosecuted for free speech and defend the rights of all oppressed people.
Lynne Stewart was in Portland tonight, March 6, 2007, at Portland State University, as part of a West coast fund raising tour. She spoke for about 45 minutes, in part about her case, but much, much more. As she says at the outset, “this really isn’t about the case and me, as much as it is about lawyering and what has become of lawyering over the past five years……my perception about this is….that we have seen a freezing of the playing field upon which lawyers operate. And this has to do of course with the sense that we have of who controls the court.”
She continues speaking about her case, but mostly as an example of government overreaching and attempts to instill fear in the community of lawyers who defend American citizens. Her trial was a horrendous mockery, being held a few blocks from Ground Zero in New Your City, before a jury of local citizens, “who each had their own 911 story to tell.” And at one point in this trial a large photograph of Osama Ben Laden was somehow introduced to the jury. The judge permitted this. One of many grounds to fuel their appeal.
After much commentary on the Bush Administration and analysis of the what is going on, she gives some sound advice to those in the audience. “there’s much important work to be doing out here, but I really think that the most important thing we can do is to ‘keep on keeping on,’ as they used to say, and really make our voices heard, make ourselves an irritant, making the causes we champion, and we have different causes……..all of the causes that are out there that we can certainly bring to the forefront, and try to educate our fellow Americans to connect the dots, to see the Imperial design, to understand that this is not happenstantial, that we got into a bad place in Iraq by accident.”
“We have lots to do, that’s for sure; we are the grass roots, agitate, agitate, resist, resist. I cannot urge it more strongly.”
(New Content posted (02/23/07)
AUDIO FILE: RALPH NADER SPEAKING IN PORTLAND ABOUT HIS NEW BOOK 17 TRADITIONS
Ralph Nader was in Portland on February 13, 2007, appearing at the Baghdad Theater to speak about his new book, “17 Traditions.”
“I’ve never written a book like this before, and I want to explain why I wrote it, in addition to being a love story, for my mom and dad and my sisters and brother. I wrote it because…if you are looking for active citizens to help you make a better country or community, after a while you run out of exhortations and you ask yourself, ‘how do we get more active citizens?’”
“Sometimes you have a demonstration, you have a march, people come and they connect, or somebody has a tragedy and forms something like Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. Or they might come out of the Universities, perchance, having some sort of mission, whether in science, engineering, politics, economics, organizing, whatever. But it’s never enough, there are never enough active citizens.”
“And if you look at the generation of citizens who are active from the getgo, you go back to the family.”
From here Nader speaks about the Family in America, how it has become “a political football,” coming under tremendous “economic pressure, the separation hour after hour of the parents and the children, long commutes…..commercial pressure; we’re in the first generation of systematic direct commercial marketing to little children, bypassing their parents and undermining parental authority…..”
These remarks continue, criticizing what he calls, “corporate child molesters,” leading up to the foundation for his book, the upbringing he received by his parents. As he states early on, “the quality of the world is traced to the quality of upbringing.”
His parents arrived in America at age nineteen from Lebanon , having to learn a new culture and language, in great part from their children. “They had a tradition of reciprocity, their children of course immediately being born here….they taught the parents, and the parents integrated it into their own framework, ethical and advisory framework. And the tradition of reciprocity never left us.”
Nader slowly goes through the 17 traditions by which he was raised., the first of which was learning to listen. His stories are close to his heart and therefore, I believe, will strike a resounding cord in anyone who listens to his words. Flush with anecdotes of life at home and brimming with love and respect for his parents, this presentation is much different than the usual Nader critique of government and society, though such criticism is at the heart of the need for these traditions.
He finishes with, “their strengths were my metabolism, they propelled me to try to reach as many people as I could, and to try to show them that most of our problems have solutions, if only people would give of themselves enough time to stand up and be counted. And if only some of us would stand up and lead. For the people do have the power, but only if they recognize it and take the time to apply it.”
“That is the biggest IF in politics, isn’t it? But that is the best reason for trying to make the flowers of Democracy bloom.”
This presentation is about 45 minutes in length, including a brief exhortation by Greg Kafoury, a local lawyer and a close friend of Nader, urging folks to check out the documentary about Ralph Nader, An Unreasonable Man, which will be playing at Cinema 21 on NW 21st Avenue in Portland from March 2 through March 8.
And, many thanks to Will Seaman, who taped the event, from which this audio file was produced.
(New Content posted (02/03/07)
AUDIO FILE: LT. EHREN WATADA SPEAKING IN SEATTLE, JANUARY 27, 2007
Today,just 9 days before facing a military court martial for refusing deployment to Iraq, Lt. Ehren Watada spoke to an overflowing house at the Langston Hughes center in Seattle Washington. He is the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment, and has garnered enormous respect and support from the people of this country.
His keynote speech came at the end of a Seattle rally and march attracting at least 1000 people, protesting the war and Occupation of Iraq, as well as his upcoming court martial, scheduled for February 5, 2007 at Fort Lewis Washington. On that day there will be a gathering in support of his act of conscience, at the overpass to Interstate 5, exit 119, beginning sometime around noon.
Watada began by expressing his respect and admiration for all the GI’s who have opposed the Occupation. He then requested that all ” those listening keep in your thoughts and your prayers my step mother who just had a stroke at the Washington D.C. rallies,” referring to the demonstration held in D.C. on this same day which gathered 150,000 - 200,000 people.
From here, he goes right to the heart of the matter: “in opposition to my position, the argument will be made that soldiers don’t have the right to pick and choose their wars. I would respond that it is not only our right, but our constitutional duty. Many seem to forget that service members swear loyalty, not to one man or an institution, but to this country and its people. We don’t swear to fight in wars or just do our job, nor blindly obey orders, but to protect the promise, principles and laws of this country at all costs.”
“My intent is never to disparage the military or dishonor the sacrifices of troops ineither the past or present. Instead, I want to show you my fellow Americans, that while we focus on the minute issue of whether Lt. Watada is legally right or wrong, this country is falling apart around us. 66% of the 300,000,000 people in this country believe the war to be wrong, yet what are they dong to sacrifice something of themselves to stop it? Our own government has concluded that the mere presence of American troops in Iraq is making America less safe to terrorism. 80 - 90 % of Iraqis want us to withdraw within six months.”
Lt. Watada continues, “we aren’t there to protect America, we aren’t there to protect Iraqis……….we are all being used for the pride and profit of a few in our society, and we are all paying for it it blood and treasure.”
Following these remarks, Watada describes how his court martial will go, how he cannot in any sense of the word be given a fair trial. This is followed by a litany of the crimes and errors of the current Administration over the last six years, culminating in their imperialistic fumbling of the Occupation of Iraq.
“There are so many injustices committed by this administration….the Iraq war itself, founded by defrauding the American people has had the most devastating and obvious effects.” He goes on to list a mountain of misery visited upon this country not only by the Bush Administration, but also by the people of this country. These deaths and living miseries began not just with the recent invasion and occupation, but with Desert Storm, the use of thousands upon thousand tons of Depleted Uranium munitions and then the long years of sanctions, which tortured the people, but left those ruling the country without harm.
“This is what I learned in just a year and a half alone. The pieces are there. Finding them and putting the puzzle together takes just a little effort. Our country is being led in the wrong direction, an illegal and immoral direction. But to know that our country was sent to war and devastated another civilization over falsehoods is something I will never stand for.”
“There are some things that we just cannot do. Without principles, without sacrificing for what we believe, what is the point? Send me to prison, torture me, or kill me, I will never enable or condone the waging of war on another country over lies.” At this point the audience broke into repeated loud cheers, chanting and stomping the ground, “they’re our brother, they’re our sisters, we support war resisters.”
Watada then continued, “We as a free society live under the rule of peace, law and justice. We should never stand for this. It is our duty as children of God, it is our duty as human beings. No longer can we sit on the fence, no longer can we remain ignorant. If we ignore this responsibility, then we are equally culpable in these crimes, regardless if we are directly responsible.”
Spoken quietly, deliberately, and eloquently, his words entered every heart and mind, exiting as loud applause and cheers of agreement and solidarity throughout this remarkable presentation. Watada spoke for 20 minutes, and in much greater detail than I have chronicled here in this brief report. He finishes, “my fellow Americans, I thank you for coming here today….you have taken the first step. We need to include all our brother and sister Americans in this fight against injustice and oppression by our country against its people and those around the world.”
“I ask of you to keep hope and always have courage. In the end, we will win.”
Please don’t forget that Lt. Watada needs our support on February 5, 2007 at his court martial. Supporters will be gathering off I-5 at exit 119 from around 11:00 until about 6:00 in the evening. Ongoing and updated information concerning details of this important event can be found at Courage to Resist
Other websites:
Iraq Veterans Against the War Deployed
(New Content posted (01/17/07)
AUDIO FILE: US VETERANS SPEAK OUT AGAINST IRAQ OCCUPATION
On Friday, January 5, 2007, I was honored to attend an event featuring former US servicemen who have the Courage To Resist the Occupation of Iraq. Dennis Kyne, a veteran of the first Gulf War, spoke for about 6 minutes, first a little about his own experiences and then setting the stage for Darrel Anderson, the feature speaker of the evening and a member of the organization Iraqi Veterans Against the War.
Coming from 4 generations of combatants, Dennis spent 15 years in the army. “My obligations since I have returned from the battlefield, even as a soldier, even though I stayed in after I got back, was to reach down one generation and talk to the young people.”
” I was in Desert Storm in 1991; Darrel was in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, there’s your 12 year generation gap. I’m 12 years older than him and our battles are 12 years apart. However, it’s the same war…………..the book, the Federal Administration Handbook of Federal Benefits, which I get because I’m a 20% disabled veterans, states specifically that the Gulf War started on 2 August 1990 and will end on a date to be determined by Congress. It ain’t over yet; Darrel and I were in the same war.”
Though Dennis was in Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm and the overall conflict in which Darrel served was called Operation Desert Fox, Operation Desert Watch etc., ” what you can see here is that in the old days you’d have one war and a bunch of battles,…… battle of the bulge, battles, battles battles. They don’t do that to us anymore, one war, a bunch of operations. Wordsmithing, Depleted Uranium used to be called Depleted Uranium Low Level Radioactive Material. After 1991 it was referred to as DU. The Department of Defense is professional at word smithing, that’s how they dupe guys like Darrel and I into thinking that we’re defending something when we’re actually aggressors.”
Darrel states that the armed services uses people up. He quotes from a book, “On Killing,” that we are using Pavlovian and R.E Skinner techniques to train soldiers. Whereas during World War ll, only “the statistics were that 15% of the troops would engage downrange and kill somebody,” today “96% of the soldiers will go downrange and kill. It’s not brainwashing, it’s just reprogramming.”
After a few more comments Dennis then introduces Darrel Anderson.
Darrel speaks for 30 minutes about how he came to join the service, his experiences in Iraq and what led him to refuse redeployment and oppose the Occupation. “In January ‘03 I decided to join the military because, I was broke. I was tired of dealing drugs on the streets and I was tired of living with my grandparents and I was tired of not going to school and I was tired of being an American without healthcare.” According to his own words, he figured he could get “join the military. They’ll give me 50 G’s for college; they’ll straighten me out.”
Though his mom freaked out, telling him that he’ll go to war, Darrel responded, “I want to go to war, I’ve been waiting my whole life to go to combat, to do something crazy like that. I don’t have much to live for, what’s me being dead going to matter? I’ll be remembered as a great person, instead of that dude who worked at the grocery store. So I signed up, shipped off, took a year of training.”
Eventually ending up in Iraq, Darrel found out that what was expected of him was much less than honorable, at least not honorable according to his own personal ethics. In the ranks around him he discovered a deep racism against the Iraqis.’ When I first got there I realized the racism that the soldiers had. It was obvious to me when they called them towel heads and every other name they could think of, and it really took me back. And I thought, wow, my whole life I’ve been taught that this is wrong, we can’t be treating people like this.”
” But it was obvious that it came from higher up than that….they were brainwashed into believing that the Iraqi’s were less than them., and they’re all terrorists, and if you kill an Iraq it’s okay, because another dead Iraq is a good Iraqi.. I didn’t agree with this.”
Soon after his arrival Darrel began witnessing the many war crimes by American soldiers inflicted upon innocent Iraqi civilians. And too, the pressure to join in these everyday, commonplace occurrences. With every US soldier lost in combat the temptation to kill anyone, anywhere in retaliation became stronger, especially since it was not only commonplace, but that it was expected of him by other soldiers and by his commanding officers.
“The more guys we lost the more drastic our procedures became. And we had some procedures that went like this: if we’re in this crowd and one of you, just one of you, you could all be peaceful protestors in downtown Baghdad, and if one of you shoots at me, my superiors told me, if you get shot at, shoot everybody that is there. Now this wasn’t our procedure in January, February and March, but once we were scraping our buddies off the concrete, we started to act out, just like they did in Viet Nam.”
Darrel then took the audience through two days of combat in Baghdad, days when he had to choose whether or not to shoot an unarmed young teenager, days when he did take part in a mortar attack which left 100 Iraqis dead, most of them innocent civilians. He says that the army trains these young men to kill and sends them to where that is what they must do to survive. Who is to blame, the soldier, society. Weighty questions to struggle with here in the safely of the U.S., but much weightier questions, questions of immediate life and death to those in active combat.
Leaving Iraq Darrel struggles with his conscience and the question of redeployment to Iraq. He decides to go to Canada and remains there for a year and a half, returning to stand beside those who have spoken out against the war, like Lt Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq. He mentions Watada by name, as well as many others who have stood up, risking ridicule, court martial and prison for their acts of conscience.
Concluding his talk, Darrell speaks a little about what the soldiers are doing to resist this Occupation and emphasizes how crucial it is to that the anti war movement work to support these actions. Both he and Dennis stress how important it is to go to Fort Lewis on February 5 to support the actions of Lt. Watada during his court martial, where he is facing up to six years in prison for his courageous stand.
During his talk he mentions another IVAW website, Iraq Veterans Against the War Deployed,
After Darrel spoke he fielded questions from the audience. I’ve included about 20 minutes of the interchange between the speakers and the audience. Many of the questions are more statements than questions, but the audience has a good grasp of the issues involved, and the interchange betweem them is enlightening and educational.
Here are a few websites about soldiers in resistance to the Iraqi Occupation.
Iraq Pledge of Resistance, founded in September of 2002, is a nationwide network of activists and organizations committed to ending the war in Iraq through nonviolent, Gandhian and Kingian resistance.
This event was taped by Jim Wrathal, Public Access producer, who produces and hosts an every other Saturday program from Portland Community Media. This program, the “TVSet,” has been airing since 1991, and features guests, video of local events, and a good selection of relevant material from the internet, including a segment of foreign cartoons.
For those with cable, this is worth checking out!
(New Content posted (01/11/07)
AUDIO FILE: PORTLAND RALLY IN RESPONSE TO TROOP ESCALATION IN IRAQ
About 500 people gathered at Pioneer Square this evening, January 11, 2007, to protest the imminent escalation of the U.S. Occupation in Iraq, as announced by George W. Bush in a speech to the nation the day before.
According to the first speaker this protest, organized in 36 hours by MoveOn.org, was one of about 1000 protests taking place nationwide. The speakers stood at the bottom of the Square, addressing the gathering who stood on the steps. The crowd covered the entire south side steps as well as a small portion of the ground level.
Kelly Campbell from American Friends Service Committee spoke briefly before introducing Daryl Anderson, and Iraqi war veteran who went AWOL to protest the war. Kelly says that “we not only have to stop this surge, but we have to stop this war….we need to use our energy to spread peace around the world rather than to spread war, which is what we are doing right now.”
Darryl, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War spoke about his experiences in Iraq and what led him to go AWOL and take refuge in Canada. After spending about 1 1/2 years in Canada, he was inspired to return by the actions of Lt. Ehren Watada, the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq.
Darryl spoke about the experiences which led him to take decisive action in opposing the war. “basically, my friends, my brothers, they beat prisoners to death, we did massacres in Baghdad, and I saw a lot of war crimes when I was over there. I came back and watched my fellow soldiers put themselves in holes or turn to drinking when we came back.”
Receiving a purple heart for injuries sustained in combat, Anderson soon “came to the decision that it was my obligation as a soldier to report these war crimes and speak out.” Returning from Canada he joined others who have taken the same path: Suzanne Swift, Ricky Clausen and Mark Wilkerson. He speaks passionately and asks for the support of the citizens of this country in what he and others are doing to end this war.
“The only ting that will stop this war is the GI resistance…..just realize that there are other resisters out there. They’re in jail they’re resisting in ranks; I’m in touch with a few guys in Iraq who are resisting there. And we’re putting our lives on the line, and all we ask is when we go to prison and we go to our court martials that you’re there. A lot of times the movement hasn’t been there for us. We’re asking the time is now. Don’t let us go to jail without a fight.”
Next to speak was Betsy Toll of Living Earth. She began ,” the moral authority of soldiers speaking out against war cannot be surpassed, and we have a level of opposition within the military to this war that has not been seen before in this country. We have to honor that, we have to stand behind our soldiers who are saying NO! She agrees with Darryl that we cannot expect much from the Democrats.
“The Democrats are not going to stand up for you and me, they’re not going to stand up for the GI’s, they’re not going to stand up for the people of Iraq. It is up to us to do that, and we have to hold our representatives feet to the fire. This war threatens the stability of the entire world and it has ripped apart the soul of our nation. It has ripped apart the soul of the people of Iraq. For that reason I would like us to acknowledge the solemnity, acknowledge how monumental this issue is.”
This was an introduction to a brief moment of silent reflection, after which the moderator introduced Curt Bell of Oregonians Against the War. Curt began by urging people to call their state representatives and ask them to oppose this war and call for it to end. In response to the presidents speech on Tuesday in which he announced that he will be sending 21,500 more troops into Iraq, Curt made two points.
The first was that this was an escalation of the conflict, not just the additional troops, “but we have what is close to a declaration of war against Syria and Iran. In the last few days we have seen an attack by the US military on Consulates for Iran in Iraq. We have seen the sending of a third carrier group to the waters of the Gulf, threatening Iran…The President said that one of the reasons we have not succeeded so far is that our military has been operating under restrictions. That means that over the next few months we may see further bombing of civilian areas of Baghdad, like we saw in Fallujah, and which we have not seen on our tv’s, but which has happened nevertheless.”
Curt also remarks that nowhere in the presidents speech did he mention the suffering of the Iraqi people in all this; no mention of the 650,000 dead, of the hundreds of thousands of wounded, of the 1.8 million refugees, of the lack of security, and the fear that has dominated Iraq. Nowhere was that mentioned…….the only issue for him ws whether the Iraqi deaths will serve American strategic interests.”
After this speaker had finished, Will, the moderator acknowledged the organization, Military Families Speak Out, who had a banner at the event, and at many of the past peace events here in Portland and across the nation. Another organization mentioned later was Code Pink
Will spoke harshly of the Presidents words on Tuesday, referring to when Bush took responsibility for the failures in Iraq. “If he would have accepted responsibility for not just the 3000 servicemen that he sent off to his great fun adventure in Middle Eastern dominance, but the 650,000 Iraqis who have died because of his criminal policy, I would say that would be accepting some responsibility.”
Here Will apprises the crowd of the upcoming march, which will go south to the offices of the Oregonian. He thanks the Oregonian for coming out against the surge, but wants to ask “a editorial right wing chicken hawk columnist Rienhart to come out and talk to us, and answer why he has not volunteered to go to Iraq.
At this point a person spontaneously spoke above the crowd, a medic from the Viet Nam conflict. Passionate, infused with anger and horror at what he sees unfolding before his eyes again. “I had blood on my hands and brains in my lap. When I was in Viet Nam George Bush had cocaine up his nose; when I was in Viet Nam Dick Cheney had five deferments to get out of the military. When I was in Viet Nam I was seeing the suicides, the homicides, the drug addictions, the shoot outs, the racial tension, I was seeing America disintegrate in Viet Nam, and that’s what we’ll see in Iraq. These guys are going to come back and they will be soldiers in pill bottles.”
The gathering then marched on the sidewalk up SW Broadway to the Oregonian. A few took to the streets, though the majority of the crowd remained on the sidewalks. There was very little police presence, at least visibly. No attempt was made to arrest the people in the street, and only a few of those on the sidewalk seemed upset by this action. Others might have had a different experience about this.
After collecting at the Oregonian for a few rousing chants, the crowd moved back down Broadway to Pioneer Square, for festivities, which included chants and music with improvised instruments. The evening finished off with a song, “All we are saying, is give Impeachment a chance.”
This is a 20 mintute audio file of the rally and march.
No Surge, End the War, RealPlayer
(New Content posted (12/23/06)
AUDIO FILE: PORTLAND RALLY IN SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE OF OAXACA MEXICO
Friday afternoon, December 22, 2006, Portlanders gathered at the downtown Mexican Consulate to voice their outrage at the Mexican governments treatment of the citizens of Oaxaca Mexico and demand an end to the many months of violence.
After giving a brief synopsis of the situation, the moderator then spoke a little about the current situation. Before the Rally had began, a group of people met with officials inside the Consulate. Part way through the rally, the group emerged, and a few of them updated the gathering on what transpired behind the closed doors.
There were no big surprises, as the officials inside the building, though listening respectfully to the delegation, denied that the Mexican government was perpetuating violence and death against its citizens.
After the gathering was updated on the situation, the organizers practiced some street theatre, which was then to be taken across the river to Holladay Park, near Lloyd Center. I did not accompany them to the Park, so, hopefully, someone else can report back on that aspect of the event.
This is an audio file of the speakers, including members of the delegation, most of which is given in both Spanish and English. The audio file is about 26 minutes in length.
Todos Somos Oaxaca, RealPlayer
Todos Somos Oaxaca, MP3
(New Content posted (11/20/06)
AUDIO FILE: NIGERIAN OIL ACTIVIST, OMOYELE SOWORE.
Omoyele Sowore is a Nigerian Oil activist traveling through the United States educating people about tragic conditions in his country caused by our planetary addiction to petroleum. He spoke of the pollution of the Niger delta in Africa, of torture, of rampant and escalating poverty in a country producing 2.5 million barrels of oil a day, 25% of which goes to the United States. Niger is the 6th largest producer of oil in the world.
Wednesday evening, November 15, 2006, at the Templeton Council Chambers at Lewis and Clark College, I expected to hear a litany of environmental degradations, of outrageous human rights abuses by a government in servitude to Big Oil. While these were indeed a part of his story, the story Sowore told was much warmer, much more connected to the earth, much more a telling of life growing up in the culture of Niger, Africa, and how this life and culture was slowly being destroyed..
As Sowore was growing up, his father always made excuses for what was happening to the land and water around them. “the kind of education that our parent had is such that they were conditioned, if not warned directly, not to let out these secrets ( of what was happening to the environment) to the children……so we would ask questions about the fish, the vegetation. my dad always had an excuse or something to tell us.”
His father would make excuses for the brackishness of the water, for the mass dying of fishes, for the death of their livestock, blaming it on natural conditions or on actions of the “gods.” But as Sowore grew older his father dropped the pretense and told him the truth. The fish or livestock were not dying because they lived out their life as all thing do in the natural cycle of things but because of Big Oil.
“We found out from my dad the the Niger Delta area was the middle of a network of pipes that have been constructed over the years that takes oil from the place where they call ‘the farm,’ where the actual drilling takes place, to the barge which takes the oil from the Atlantic ocean to maybe New Jersey of Amsterdam where it becomes refined and processed and becomes gas.” Oil exploration began in the Niger Delta region 1956, the first wells being drilled by Shell. Since that time, the government, at the behest of the petroleum industry scooping enormous profits from the area, have repressed, tortured and assassinated any who sought to organize against their fascist control of the country. Omoyele himself has been arrested and tortured on more than one occasion, and hopes that by telling his story he can help alert the world to the damage our addiction to oil is causing.
He tells the story of the ongoing destruction of the Niger Delta, not as a series of statistics, but as how it affected him growing up, affected his education and finally forced him to abandon his country in order to carry a message few people in the developed countries really want to hear or seriously consider. These remarks were not directed specifically to save his country, but more broadly, to include all people, all living things, all that exists upon this brightly spinning sphere.
As Emerson said so wisely, “our virtues come in moments; our vices are habitual.” The criminal destruction of our planet, our home is committed by millions of little acts, every day, every week, every month, every year, mostly unconsciously, by a relatively small portion of us who live upon it. These acts are habitual, entrenched, requiring a deliberate, conscious effort of conscience to break ourselves out of that track. This effort is already being made; this battle is well under way. Many voices are speaking in many languages and from many cultures. It is not a whisper, but nonetheless remains feint and hard to discern; it is not hysterical, but speaks to the scientific truth of our condition; it is not a scattered and dissolute, but comes strongly and directly from the hand, heart and head of the best that is in us all, the best that is in us all.
Omoyele Sowore is adding his voice to that effort, already visiting 30 of the states. He concludes his hour long presentation talking about the necessity of changing our behavior regarding energy consumption, and how this may be accomplished.
Omoyele Sowore, RealPlayer
Omoyele Sowore, MP3
To learn more about energy and environmental justice, visit
Energy Justice Network
Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative
Rising Tide North America
For perspectives on climate change and what can be done about it:
Climate Challenge
Oil and Autos
What are the youth of the world doing?
Energy Action Coalition
Campus Climate Challenge
A Website Guide to Breaking Our Addiction to Dirty Energy
Global Exchange, admit we have a problem
Oil Change International, separate oil and state
JumpStart Ford, jump-start detroit
Critical Mass, changing american mobility
Plug in America
Energy Action Coalition, start a rooftop revolution
New Energy Future, green the grid
Dirty Money, wean to green and fund the future
Rocky Mountain Institute, adopt a ‘low carb’ energy diet
Energy Action Coalition, take our campuses back
Adbusters, Global Media Democracy, reclaim the airwaves
(New Content posted (10/31/06)
AUDIO FILE: PORTLAND ACTION TO DEFEND OAXACA.
Audio from the October 31, 2006 Portland Action to Defend Oaxaca. I arrived at the Mexican Consulate in SW Portland at 4:00 and quickly found out that earlier in the day two people were arrested. A fairly large crowd gathered over the next 15 minutes or so, and during that time I interviewed Dan Denvir, of Portland South America Solidarity Committee (PSASC) Dan gave a brief synopsis of the situation in Oaxaca Mexico, as well as some commentary on the conditions leading up to the present invasion by Federal troops, which has left at least three dead, including an American reporter working with Indymedia New York.
Soon after this interview, Chris Ferlazo, also, I believe, with PCASC, described the lockdown earlier in the afternoon which led to the two arrests. Chris has recently been down to Oaxaca, and spoke briefly from his perspective about the events as they are unfolding in that area.
Audio file is about 9 minutes in length.
Oaxaca Solidarity Rally, RealPlayer
Oaxaca Solidarity Rally, MP3
(New Content posted (10/18/06)
AUDIO FILE: THE INTERNET AT RISK!
Today, October 18, 2006, United States Senator Ron Wyden spoke about Network Neutrality and the fight in Congress over the future of the internet at a press conference held at Powell’s Books on West Burnside in Portland Oregon. He was joined by local business owners and concerned citizens who delivered more than 20,000 petitions from Oregon residents supporting Net Neutrality.
(*Adapted from information in the Media Packet*)
Net Neutrality is the longstanding principle that ensures all Web sites and services are treated equally. This fundamental principle, in place since the Internet was created, prevents Internet service providers from discriminating against content or services traveling over their wires based on which companies pay them the most.
Big telephone and cable companies like AT&T, Qwest and Comcast are spending millions lobbying Congress to eliminate Net Neutrality. Congress is now considering a major overhaul of the nation’s telecommunication laws. The House Bill (H.B. 5252) passed earlier in the year and the Senate Bill (S.B. 2686) was passed out of Committee earlier this summer.
Wyden placed a hold on this major telecommunications legislation which was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee until clear language is included that prevents discrimination in Internet access. Read the
Wyden Press Release
How does the threat to Net Neutrality affect you?
* Entrepreneurs will be muscled out of the marketplace by big corporations that pay internet providers for dominant placement in the Web. Startup companies, left with inferior internet services, will be unable to compete.
* Political Groups could be slowed by a handful of dominant internet providers who ask advocacy groups to pay “protection money” for their Web sites to work.
* Bloggers’ costs to post video and audio clips may skyrocket–silencing citizen journalists and limiting the range of debate about important current events.
When we log onto the Internet, we take a lot for granted.
We assume we’ll be able to access whatever Web site we want, whenever we want, at the same speed-whether it’s a Big Media or mom-and-pop site. We assume that we can use any service we like-watch online video, listen to podcasts or instant-message-anytime we choose.
What makes all these assumptions possible is Network Neutrality, the fundamental principle that prevents Internet providers from discriminating against content based on its ownership or source.
Net Neutrality is the reason why the Internet has driven economic innovation, democratic participation and free speech online.
Net Neutrality has been part of the Internet since its inception, but now it’s in jeopardy.
As a consequence of the 2005 FCC decision, the longstanding protection against discrimination online was abolished. Now the cable and telephone companies are pushing to block legislation that would reinstate Net Neutrality.
The biggest cable and telephone companies want to decide which Web sites go fast or slow and which won’t load at all.
Content providers who won’t (or can’t) pay a toll will see their sites slowed down, and their applications and devices may not work as well. While big corporate sites ride in the fast lane on the information superhighway, the rest of us will be left behind on a winding dirt road.
The consequences of a world without Net Neutrality would be devastating and far-reaching
Innovation would be stifled, competition limited and access to information restricted,. Consumer choice and the free market would be sacrificed to the interests of a few corporate executives. The free and open Internet brings with it the revolutionary possibility that any Internet site could have the reach of a TV or radio station. The loss of Net Neutrality would end this unparalleled opportunity for freedom of expression.
For more information Save the Internet
An excellent report, “The Case for Preserving Network Neutrality: Keep Innovation and Competition on the Internet” can be found at: American Electronics Association, Competitiveness Series, Volume 11
And, let’s not forget that these same Bills take aim at Public Access television and seek to reduce or eliminate local control over the “rent” paid by internet and cable providers. These “franchise fees” have been determined locally, and should remain the province of local governments who know how best to serve their own technology and communication needs.
Some Web sites on this facet of the Telecom Bills:
Free Press, Defending Local Access
SaveAccess.org
The Press Conference was introduced by Michael Powell, Powell’s Books. Michael then introduced Senator Ron Wyden, who spoke about the importance of Net Neutrality and then introduced Laura Atherton of OSPIRG. Following Laura was Rich Bader of Easy Street Online Services, Alan Davidson of Google, and finally, Bruce Fife, American Federation of Musicians local chapter 99 and Oregon Alliance to Reform the Media..
All spoke eloquently about the necessity for Net Neutrality, in various facets of our lives. Their remarks took about 25 minutes and the remainder of the 38 minute file is open to Q & A. The questions are often muffled, but I think the gist of the question comes through and the answer often is pretty much self explanatory.
The Internet At Risk, RealPlayer
The Internet at Risk, MP3
(New Content posted (10/15/06)
AUDIO FILE: CINDY SHEEHAN SPEAKING IN PORTLAND
Cindy Sheehan was in Portland in early October discussing her book, “Peace Mom: A Mother’s Journey Through Heartache to Activism.”
After a few preliminary comments, Cindy begins to speak about her book. “It was a very hard book for me to write, because it was like burying my son all over again.” She then speaks about her meeting with Hilary Clinton, where she and another mother who lost her son in Iraq expressed their anguish over losing sons in a war she supported. She relates what she told Hillary: “when are you going to be a true Democrat, when are you going to be a true leader in Congress and speak out against this war.”
Though not a practiced speaker, her remarks drew frequent and thunderous applause. She took many stabs at George Bush and his administration dfor leading us into war on lies and deliberate deceit. During one part of her presentation she was heckled by some who held opposing views. Cindy handled this situation well, probably because it wasn’t the first time this had occurred. It certainly won’t be the last, either.
Unfortunately, the video of this talk was unusable, but the audio is decent enough. Thanks to Courtney Scott, an independent producer here in Portland, who made the effort to tape this event.
This audio file is about 30 minutes in length.
Cindy Sheehan, RealPlayer
Cindy Sheehan, MP3
(New Content posted (09/18/06)
AUDIO FILE: PROPOSED COPPER MINE AT MT. ST HELENS
These are audio files from an event sponsored by Gifford Pinchot Task Force which took place at the Hollywood Theatre on August 29, 2006.
In March of 2005, Idaho General Mines, Inc. of Spokane, WA applied for a lease from the federal government to land just north of Mount St. Helens. The mining company has stated in press reports that they hope to construct a 3,000 acre copper mine at the site. The federal government is expected to release a draft Environmental Assessment in consideration of the lease application in the coming weeks.
GP Task Force article about the mine
Though the first two speakers were accompanied by a power point presentation, their audio still gives a very good idea about the issue and the need for a strong citizen response at this early stage of the lease process.
First to speak was Ryan Hunter, Program Director for Gifford Pinchot Task Force Ryan spoke briefly about the GP Task Force and then detailed what Idaho General Mines was seeking to do in the Green River valley of Washington state, explaining the Federal process which normally takes 8 - 10 years before any ore can be mined.
The mine site is just north of the Mt. St. Helens crater, just outside the Mt. St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, south of Goat Mountain. Some of the land was acquired by the US Forest Service from the Trust for Public Lands, who originally obtained the land “using funds appropriated by Congress to purchase land for conservation and recreation purposes. And of course, Trust for Public Lands turned over these 700 acres to the Forest Service with the hope of protecting it from mining.”
Ryan details the many recreational uses that would be in jeopardy if a cooper mine of this size were to be excavated in the area. Sports fishing, hiking and horse back riding are just three of the many recreational uses for this area. Water pollution, hydrological damage, increased roads and traffic, and many more problems are detailed in this first talk, which deals specifically with this particular mine proposal.
17 minutes
Ryan Hunter, RealPlayer
Ryan Hunter, MP3
Next to speak was Stuart Levitt, Center for Science and Public Participation Stuart’s organization studies the lease petition and the area in which the mining is proposed, taking no sides, but basing their opinion on the scientific evidence.
Stuart speaks about mining in general, and makes some statements about how he believes this particular project would eventually be mined. Basically, there are three mining methods: Room and Pillar; Block Cave and Open Pit. Stuart believes that, due to the poor quality of the ore, open pit mining would be the only financially viable option. Also discussed are the various methods of remediation for the damage done to the area due to the mining process.
Also, there is an enormous amount of waste rock, or tailings, that must be stored, somewhere, unless it is economically feasible to backfill the mine, which, Stuart believes is not the case at this location. These tailings can “cause an incredible quantities of acid mine drainage problems.” Once the earth is opened up, this potential continues, perhaps indefinitely. Stuart mentions some mines in Montana that are still releasing acids into the water systems, decades after the mine have been closed.
Water resources can be impacted in a number of ways. Water availability in the area can be greatly reduced during the mining operation itself. Ground water quality will be impacted, leaching from the waste rock could potentially affect both the surface and ground water.
This is a particularly interesting presentation for those interested in mining and its possible consequences. Stuart calls his talk Mining 101, and it was indeed a fairly broad and deep introduction into what mining is and does.
21 Minutes.
Stuart Levitt, RealPlayer
Stuart Levitt, MP3
Last to speak was Ignacio Rodreguez, Alliance for Responsible Mining
Ignacio retired to New Mexico, where a mine soon polluted his ranch. He speaks, not about Mt. St. Helens, or the science of mining, but of his experiences with mining companies and their ability to persuade people to allow activities which will eventually pollute their drinking water and greatly inhibit their ability to enjoy their environment. Ignacio speaks of his experiences with mining companies and their public relations whose promises often allow the permitting process to go ahead with little or no opposition.
23 minutes
Ignacio Rodreguez, RealPlayer
ignacio Rodreguez, MP3
(New Content posted (09/17/06)
AUDIO FILE: IMPEACHING G.W. BUSH
This is a twelve minute interview with Styve, who has been diligently on the streets of Portland for many months now with signs encouraging the Impeachment of George W. Bush.
I videotaped these interviews on the corner of SE Madison and Grand, where Steve and Kathy were standing with their signs encouraging motorists to stand up for impeachment. Styve, who has “been protesting Bush since before he was elected,” gives a brief synopsis of the process which led him to his present stand, and both Styve and Kathy give their reasons why Bush deserves to be impeached. Among them, lying us into war and warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, in a sane society, should give the population and their legislators cause to indict.
“What I started doing this for was to raise some awareness, to try to motivate people to say, DAMN!, if this guy cares this much, that he’s doing this to and from work, why aren’t I doing this?”
Styve also makes a plea for folks to contact all members of the Portland City Council concerning an Impeachment Resolution which citizens are seeking to put before them. According to Styve, two commisioners are already on board, Sten and Adams, but neither wish to be the one to sponsor this to the Council. They all, including Mayor Potter, need to hear from their constituents emphasizing the necessity that we stand up to the current administration and their attack on Democracy.
He speaks about the “Jeffersons Avenue of Impeachment,” which basically “provides for rules of Pariamentary procedure for the House of Representatives……..there are ways for states and localities to initiate by local initiative, certain actions, one of which is impeachment of the President and the Administration. Jeffersons Manual allows for cities and states to pass Resolutions of impeachment, properly submit it to the House of Representatives,” where it is “granted priveledge, which means it superceeds other house business.”
Kathy says “I’d like to see our Democracy and our traditional American values preserved, and they are all in jeopardy because of the Bush Adminstration. I think Bush has been a failure; he’s crated a deficit to enrich his corporate buddies.” She gives particular emphasis to Bush’s sending “our troops undermanned and underequipped into Iraq and then cut the VA budget. So, to support the troops, we need to impeach him.”
This interview was taped to play on the Community Television program, “A Growing Concern,” airing live on Friday evening, September 15, 2006, soon after 7:00 pm. Replay times for the program are Sunday, September 17, at 10:00 pm on channel 23 and again on Thursday, September 21 at 10:00 pm on channel 22.
The audio file is the audio portion of that interview.
Styve, RealPlayer
Styve, MP3
(New Content posted (08/04/06)
AUDIO FILE: BRING THE SALMON HOME
On August 2, 2006 Native tribes who depend upon the salmon runs of the Klamath River for both subsistence and ceremony held a Rally in Portland Oregon to demonstrate the necessity that the dams on this river be removed.
The Rally began at Holladay park, near Lloyd Center. Arriving a little late I missed speakers, but caught the tail end of one impassioned speech by an Indigenous man. “We’re fish people, we’re people of the Klamath River; we were honored when we were born. Now it’s time for us to give something back and honor the resource, and more importantly, honor the children. I want to say something about the Klamath tribes of Oregon. These guys have not seen salmon since 1917, and that’s a travesty.”
“The Klamath tribe of Oregon have fought through their water battles, they’ve fought with the Federal government, and now they’re fighting to get these dams removed. they’re one of our strongest allies, along with the Karuk tribe and the Hoopa tribe, and we need to get these dams removed so that once again they can see a salmon in their home area.”
Following these remarks, a man with a hand drum took the microphone and introduced a song which had came to him in a dream He described the dream where, when standing by a river a salmon jumped out of the water into his arms. The words, in English, “jumping out of the river like a fish into the heart of the dreamer. I am the fish spirits magic song” He then sang his song accompanying himself on his drum.
Following the song, the people gathered for a spirited march to the Convention center, where international hydropower corporations were holding their bi annual HydroVision Conference. The march spanned at least three blocks, with loud chants, drumming and the honking of many, many horns in support. Once at the Center, and after a long period of chanting, the Master of Ceremonies, Craig Tucker, campaign coordinator for the Karuk Tribe, introduced leaders from the many tribes being affected by the dams.
First to speak was Leaf Hillman, vice chairman and ceremonial leader of the Karuk tribe of California. As is customary with Indigenous peoples, Hillman first thanked those whose country this is, meaning the local Native peoples, not the government of the U.S. Then he gave a Blessing in his Native tongue, and translated it into English. “This right here is our country, this is where we were born and raised, just like our long ago people, our ancestors. May it continue to always be so.”
This is the time. I’ve spent the last, too many years, 20 or so, talking about fish, talking about water, talking about people, the lives of our people, the future of our children. After many years, empty promises, -that’s being gracious I think. LIES! We have a new leadership at PacifiCorp. We are a time in history with the relicensing the Klamath dams. This is a historic and unprecedented opportunity.”
Hillman is referring to the fact that the 4 dams are coming up for 50 year relicencing by the Federal Energy Relicencing Commission. This is an opportunity for those who support Indigenous peoples, who support endangered species, who support subsistence living and religious freedom to assist these tribes in their desire to Bring the Salmon Home.
Hillman spoke a while longer and then Craig introduced the next speaker, Frankie Joe Meyers, a traditional fisherman from the Yurok tribe, who inhabit the mouth of the Klamath River. This speaker stated that he was asked to come to share his his feelings on what the salmon means to him. “I have a hard time answering because I don’t know what it means to all the people; I only know what it means to me. And to me it’s the connection to the way we once were, before we started having to fight for who we were. You know, we’ve been fighting for over 100 yers now for the salmon and for the river. It’s been under attack since the 1900’s, since they first started digging the ditches to divert the water.
Frankie Joe then speaks of the legends of the people, of how in ancient times the salmon offered to sustain the people. “And he has ever since. He sustained the people. He is what we eat, that’s how it is. Now it’s out turn to defend him…….we must never forget that salmon are more than just creatures of the water; they are people, just like me and you. They wouldn’t give up on us, we shouldn’t give up on them.
Craig then introduced the Vice Chairman of the Yurok Tribe, Thomas O’Rourke, who said that “the state of the Klamath River is in despair, th e waters are contaminated and polluted, our people can no longer swim in the riv3r without getting scabs on them, without getting sores on them. There’s a new algae that blooms behind these dams, a blue green algae that at certain times of year it reaches very toxic levels that are poison to the people, but not only to the people, but to the animals and to the salmon.”
Thomas came to speak for his people, and to speak for the salmon. In 2002, 70,000 salmon died in our river….these salmon can no longer speak for themselves, so we as a people that care, users of the salmon, users of the river, it’s our turn to stand up and speak out for the fish.”
Next to speak was Chuck Carpenter, cultural advisor, traditional fisherman of the Hoopa Valley Tribe. “We are here to honor our past as well as our present and our future of all these little young children running around here………we are here carrying on something very sacred to us. It just isn’t salmon, and it just isn’t water. It is our livelihood, our culture, our heritage, our customs and our beliefs of the native people that we are. We stand up for our future generations.”
After Chuck finished, Craig introduced Allan Foreman, Chairman of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon. The headwaters of the Klamath river is located in the homeland of the Klamath Tribe, which is the biggest tribe in the state of Oregon. “I come to you today as the leader of a sovereign nation and as an American. We’re here today, not out of choice, but out of necessity. We’re here because the right of Americans have been and are being violated. 146 years ago the U.S. government entered into a treaty with the Klamath Nation. The essence of that treaty stated that we the Klamath people would retain our right to hunt, fish, gather and trap within our homelands forever.” “Exactly 90 years ago construction began on the first of several power generation dams on the Klamath River. This action was taken by the California-Oregon power company and endorsed by the Federal government. This action subsequently blocks all runs of salmon and steelhead from our homeland, which they had done since the beginning of time. Promises were made to remedy the situation by providing fish passage. This action never materialized. Today there are 4 dams and two smaller dams on the Klamath River and the tribes are still without their salmon.”
Foreman spoke at length, about 12 minutes altogether, and was the final speaker for the afternoon. The total length of this audio file is about 30 minutes.
Bring the Salmon Home, RealPlayer
Bring the Salmon Home, MP3
(New Content posted (07/30/06)
AUDIO FILE: Speakers From the Peace in the Middle East Rally
Quotes taken from the Rally Press Release:
“An alliance of local human rights groups, faith organizations and individuals with family ties to the regions of Lebanon and Gaza now under attack by Israeli military forces gathered today in Pioneer Square. They called on the U.S. government to demand an immediate cease fire, and to provide humanitarian aide to those suffering from the violence and blockades.”
“Those organizing the event strongly advocate a peaceful and just resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict through negotiation based on international law and universal human rights. They protest what they describe as a grossly disproportionate military response by Israel, a nuclear power that is armed, funded and supported by the United States, which has bombed and killed hundreds of innocent civilians, displaced hundereds of thousands, destroyed the economy and civilian infrastructure in Lebanon and Gaza, kidnapped dozens of elected Palestinian leaders and destroyed their homes.”
About 500 people gathered to condemn the actions of Israel whose military incursions have killed a large number of civilians in their efforts to root out Hezbollah from Southern Lebanon. The Square was packed with signs calling for an end to the bombing in Gaza and Lebanon, descrying the lethargic response of the U.S. and much of the world community, and demanding an immediate cease fire and a genuine effort to support peaceful solutions.
Master of Ceremonies for the event was Mazen Malik, director of the Palestinian Arab American Association. After a few brief remarks of his own he introduced Rev. Canon Richard Toll, chair of Friends of Sabeel North America and the retired pastor of St. Johns the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Milwaukie Oregon.
The remainder of the speakers are listed here in order of their appearance.
Next to speak was Hala Gores, a Palestinian American attorney, born in Nazareth and immigrated to the U.S. with her family in 1973. She sits on the Advisory Board of the Portland State University Middle East Studies Center.
Then, Steve Goldberg, a graduate of Harvard, practicing law in Oregon since 1975, has been chairperson of the National Lawyers Guild’s International committee, and has represented the Guild at meetings in and delegations to South Africa, Cuba and Israel and Palestine.
Steve was followed by Clyde Ferris, a local physician who is an activist for peace and justice, grew up in Amman, Jordan and witnessed the earliest Palestinian refugees in the 1950’s.
Paul Aranas spoke next. Paul is the Pacific Green Party’s congressional candidate challenging Darlene Hooley in Oregon’s District 5.
Next, Mary Joe Tulley, Director, Ecumenical & Interreligious Affairs, Archdiocese of Portland.
Another candidate to speak was Joe Keating, the Green Party candidate for governor, a long time peace activist.
Lastly, Rima Ghadour, Lebanese-American lawyer active in National Lawyers Guild.
All speakers brought their personal fire and a sense of justice to the podium. Each spoke passionately for the innocent Lebanese people suffering and dying at the hands of the Israeli army and air force, all supplied with American weapons. This file is about 40 minutes in length, each speaker speaking briefly and powerfully.
The event concluded with a song sang by two women who had already sang songs separately during the course of the event.
Stop the Killing Rally Speakers, RealPlayer
Stop the Killing Rally Speakers, MP3
(New Content posted (06/24/06)
AUDIO FILE: REPORT BACK FROM PIONEER SQUARE PRO ISRAEL RALLY, 7/26/06
Audio files from the stage at the Pro Israeli Rally which took place in Pioneer Square today, July 26, 2006. Also included is a 16 minute interview with a Palestinian woman who was on hand to protest the actions of Israel in invading Lebanon.
All decried the actions of Hezbollah and condemned terrorism, calling for the successful defeat of both. Nothing was mentioned of state terrorism. Nothing was mentioned of the western terrorist creating machine recently placed in Iraq and now in Lebanon. There was a large amount of flag waving, often Israeli flags backed with the U.S. flag; little flags, big flags, waved by adults and children.
Perhaps a little surprising, at least to me, was the large turn out and the vehemence, even belligerence, of those supporters.
A handful of people showed up protesting Israeli activities in Lebanon, carrying pictures of Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people, and standing, for the most part, as silent reminder that there are two sides to every story.
The rally ended with the National Anthem of Israel.
Following the rally I interviewed a Palestinian woman who stood defiantly close to the stage throughout the presentations. She did not stand alone, and these few brave souls received a small amount of heckling at various times from those around them. Some of this comes through in the audio file towards the end.
Israel, RealPlayer
Israel, MP3
Palestine, RealPlayer
Palestine, MP3
(New Content posted (07/01/06)
AUDIO FILE: Rally Supporting Lt. Ehren Watada
Audio from the Tuesday Support Rally for Lt. Watada which was held on an overpass in Washington state, near Fort Lewis, where Lt. Watada is currently restricted to base for refusing to report for deployment to the war in Iraq.
This file is about 7 minutes in length, and contains brief interviews from a few of those who attended the rally. All speak out in support of Lt. Watada and extol his courage for standing up for his beliefs. Though many soldiers have chosen to go underground in opposition to this war, Watada is standing his ground in order to bring the public spotlight on what he considers to be an illegal and immoral war.
From Viet Nam veterans to elders, all speak from their heart about the senselessness and tragedy of this war. One woman has a son now stationed in Iraq; another young man says that Watada is standing up for the Constitution in his refusal to report to fight an illegal war; an elderly woman speaks of the Trials at Nuremberg, which ruled that “following orders” does not excuse one from the guilt of his actions; another women questions why a person can’t agree with a policy at first, but then change their minds later when they are in possession of the facts.
I personally did not attend this Rally, but am thankful to Nancy Newel who borrowed a video camera and took these interviews, and Courtney Scott who did the preliminary editing on this piece.
Lt. Watada Support Rally, RealPlayer
Lt. Watada Support Rally, MP3
For a 10 minute audio file of an earlier interview by Courtney Scott of Lt. Watada when he was in Portland:
EhrenWatada , RealPlayer
Ehren Watada, MP3
(New Content posted (06/24/06)
AUDIO FILE: INTERVIEW WITH LT. EHREN WATADA.
A 10 minute interview with Lt. Ehren Watada, U.S. army officer who has refused written orders for Iraq War deployment.
This interview was conducted by Courtney Scott when Lt. Watada was in Portland last Saturday, June 17, 2006.
Lt. Watada joined the army in March of 2003, believing the administration that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction and that Sadaam had strong ties to Al Queda and 911 He received his officers commission in December of the same year, served a year in Korea, and upon being redeployed back to the U.S., was informed that he would be deployed to Iraq within a year.
“At that time when I joined up I had no reason to believe that our leaders, the government, the administration would betray the trust of the people……..I felt that it was my responsibility as an officer to find out everything I could about war in general in order to better prepare my troops and train them for combat deployment. I also began reading a whole broadbase of articles on the Iraq war on what was going on there at the time and what has led us up to that point. What I found was deeply shocking, not only as a person but also as a member of the military……learning that the administration had betrayed the trust of the people, had deceived us into going into this war that was totally unnecessary and unrelated to the war on terrorism.”
Watadas reaction was one of shame, “knowing that our government was doing this in our name. I had to come to a decision on what I was going to do; inside I was in a lot of turmoil. On one hand I had my duty as I knew it, to obey every order without question, to do what I was told, what everyone else was doing, going over to Iraq and fight.”
“On the other hand I knew that we were not fighting for Democracy, we were not fighting just terrorist, we were fighting an indigenous insurgency who was resisting our occupation. And many lives were being sacrificed for what I thought was nothing. I came to the point where I could no longer look at the pain and suffering of so many members of the armed forces, so many families being devastated by these loses, and the grief and suffering of Iraqi citizens and all for what I felt was an intentional deception, to wage a war without any purpose, without any noble purpose.”
“So, I came to the point to where I believed as a person, not only as a human being, not only as a citizen of this country, but as a member of the military, that I could make a difference in helping to end this illegal war.”
Watada first submitted a letter of resignation, giving the military the option to permit him to leave quietly, based on his convictions. They refused to do that. “They said it doesn’t matter what your moral beliefs are or what your ideological beliefs, your commander in chief has commanded you to go and you’re going to come and fight with us. You really have no choice in the matter.”
I felt that I can better serve my soldiers under me, and all soldiers and all members of the military by speaking out against this administration in order to hold them accountable because if we don’t, if we stand silent, as Americans, as members of the military, we give those who orchestrated this war leave to do the same, to commit more illegal acts, to violate more of our laws all in our name and to the detriment of our society and to the world.”
And so now, June 22, 2006, Watada is restricted to base at Fort Lewis Washington. and forbidden to have any communication with non military personnel. A large amount of support for him is growing and a rally is planned for Tuesday, June 27 at the bridge over the freeway at exit 119, just outside Fort Lewis, from 4-6 pm.
It appears that Lt. Ehren Watada has a choice after all, and he is exercising that choice, in the face of gigantic repercussions. He finishes this interview by exhorting others to follow his lead and stand up for their convictions. “To whoever is watching this, the time has come to really stand up and sacrifice something to insure that true Democracy and true freedom are upheld within our own country. I would challenge anybody; I’m sacrificing my freedom, am willing to go to prison and be hated by millions for my beliefs and what I believe in this country, and what we all hold as our beliefs as Americans…..What are you willing to sacrifice.”
Two websites about this courageous stand:
Courage To Resist
Thank You Lt
Many thanks to Courtney Scott for producing this interview. This file is 10 minutes in length.
Lt. Ehren Watada, RealPlayer
Lt. Ehren Watada, MP3
(New Content Posted 06/10/06
AUDIO FILES: Honoring Our Indigenous Activists
Since Louise Benally and Carrie Dann will be here for a speaking engagement Sunday evening, June 11, 2006, here are some audio files of earlier presentations. They will be at St. Andrew Church at 806 NE Alberta Avenue at 7:00 pm for the first appearance in a speaking tour through Oregon and California.
The first file is Louise Benally, speaking here in Portland in late November of 2001at an informal gathering in the basement of It’s A Beauttiful Pizza. Her file is about 18 minutes in length.
Louise Benally, RealPlayer
Louise Benally, MP3
For more information about the forced Relocation of the Dineh people from their ancestral homeland,
Black Mesa Indigenous Support
This second file is of Carrie Dann and Julie Fishel speaking in Portland in May of 2006. Each speaks for about 13 minutes. Carrie begins her remarks in response to a video played during the first part of the evening. The U.S. government has been moving to steal the ancestral homeland of the Western Shoshone, using fabricated interpretations of the Treaty of Ruby Valley, signed in the late 1800’s.
Following these remarks, Julie Fishel discusses the Western Shoshone appeal to the United Nations. They received the support of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination, who issued a decision of March 6, 2006, urging the U.S. to freeze, desist desist and stop actions being taken or threatened to be taken against Western Shoshone Peoples of the Western Shoshone Nation. In its decision, CERD stressed the “nature and urgency” of the Shoshone situation informing the U.S. that it goes “well beyond” the normal reporting process and warrants immediate attention under the Committee’s Early Warning and Urgent Action Procedure.
Carrie Dann and Julie Ann Fishel, each about 13 minutes in length.
Carrie Dann & Julie, RealPlayer
Carrie Dann & Julie, MP3
Western Shoshone Defense Project
(New Content posted (06/06/06)
AUDIO FILE:BLOOD FOR NO OIL.
Investigative reporter Greg Palast spoke in Portland on Monday evening, June 5, 2006, to packed house at the First Unitarian Church. The event was sponsored by KBOO radio, 90.7 fm and the Portland Alliance newspaper.
His appearance was part of an international tour called, “Armed Madhouse: Dispatches From the Front Lines of the Class War.”
Palast was his usual flippant, humorous and sarcastic self. Yet, under this veneer, he unleashes serious facts and devastating statistics which, at least to my mind, leave no doubt as to the deliberate fraud perpetrated on the American voter during the 2000 and 2004 general election.
For instance, 2004 exit polls showed John Kerry ahead 51% to George Bush 49 among men and 53% to 47% among women. “Okay class, what is the third sex that put George Bush over the top…… the disappeared, the uncounted.”
“In American, 2004, November second, in Ohio, George Bush was announced the winner by 118, 000 votes. Not counting 239,127 votes, almost twice as many votes as the so called victory margin, were never counted. And you know, here is the nastier secret: it ain’t just Ohio; and in 2000 it wasn’t just Florida. That’s what they want you to think. Not counting the votes is as American as apple pie and there were 3,680,000 votes cast and never counted in the United States of America, not Ukraine, not Uganda. I got this from deep in the files o the Election Information Administration of the U.S. government for which we stand.”
Palast then goes on to describe the two categories of votes that aren’t counted, which are spoiled votes and rejected votes. 1,389, 231 spoiled votes were not counted. “Hanging chads, they hung around from 222, they multiplied…..punch cards that don’t punch, touch screens that didn’t think you touched them right, they weren’t in the mood.” These “glitches” were to a much higher percentage non white voters. “In the United States of American, the chance your vote will be lost or rejected for a technical reason, is 900% greater if you are an African American voter than if you are white; 500% higher if you are a Hispanic voter than if you’re white; and if you’re Native American, about 2,000% higher than if you’re white.”
“In that stinking, rotting pile of spoiling votes, 88% are cast by voters of color. Almost 9 out of 10, whose votes don’t count, whose votes spoil has a very dark hue.”
He speaks most eloquently of the war on Iraq, or more accurately, the war for the oil of Iraq. And here he brings out information that is not the usual perspective on U.S. designs on Iraq and the Middle East. Put in historical perspective, much of what the U.S. and other global corporations are doing in the Middle East is more to hold the oil reserves back, to keep the profits up as high as possible.
My intention is to wet your whistle on this excellent presentation, not blow the whistle on the many exposés and fresh perspectives offered by Palast to this eager audience of about 600 people. So, you’ll have to listen to his words for yourself. This audio file is well worth the listen. Likewise with the reason I chose “Blood for No Oil,” as the title for this report, taken directly from Palast, towards the end of his hour long presentation.”
Greg finishes off with striking words of advice, and actually a way we can hamstring and short circuit what will surely be a well planned out attempt to steal another election in 2008.
Greg Palast, Armed Madhouse, RealPlayer
Greg Palast, Armed Madhouse, MP3
(New Content posted May 2, 2006)
AUDIO FILE: MAY DAY 2006.
An audio file featuring about 50 minutes of the powerful and engaging speakers from the May Day ‘06 Rally in the South Park Blocks in front of Smith Memorial Hall at Portland State University on May 1, 2006.
The remarks delivered to the crowd, prior to their March through downtown Portland and back to PSU, are in both Spanish and English. Speakers include Ed Edmo, Native American Poet and Spoken Word artist; Carrie Dann, Shoshone elder and activist; a student speaking for students; a union member; a day laborer, and an African American speaker. Other spoke during this time and after returning from the March, but this is all I recorded.
All spoke passionately for their Latino people and for America, their country. The Rally was flush with American flags and signs, some declaring that “no human is illegal” that “immigrant rights are basic rights,” many reminding Americans that they too come from immigrant roots and that these Latino immigrants, despite being undocumented, have arrived with a strong work ethic and family values.
Think what you will about these people, “illegal” if you wish. Yet, if they don’t speak up, if they don’t remind us of our own roots, they will become a sub class of workers, not slaves, yet not free to the extent that others are free to bargain for a fair wage and contribute to American society. They are not the problem; they are a symptom of a greedy and corrupt U.S. foreign policy, that ravages and manipulates people, for the profit of a few, on both sides of the border.
How we respond to this “invasion” will determine, to a very large extent, the road that we as a nation will take towards a future we are just now in the process of defining. There is a myriad of arguments and facts to be jostled about on both sides of this issue. Ultimately, to my mind, the future will be determined either by our adherence to the rights of property or those of Humanity. These two disparities are slowly and inexorably moving into a collision course, a clash of cultures if you will.
The cultures are not necessarily the Latino and the American, no more than they are the Muslim and the Christian. These, cultures, religions, nationalities, are the interplay of shadows cast by the substance of the human spirit and it seeks to express itself and shake itself free from those individuals and groups who would circumscribe and subordinate human potential to material values.
Either we are “the land of the free and the home of the brave,” or we are not and will not endure, as no civilization has endured.
Either it is “liberty and justice for all,” or it is and will remain the sovereignty of the few over the masses, as it has always been, the divine right of priests, generals, and kings, usurping Human Rights perhaps only temporarily expressed and established by the Constitution of the United States.
If “all men are created equal…endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights……,” then it is up to all the people to guarantee these rights to each other. A piece of paper cannot do that; a government cannot do that; and certainly a religion cannot do that. The wealth of our nation could provide much that is lacking in the world, if it wasn’t bound up in military conquests, in ostentatious and pompous superficialities, ultimately in forms to protect the few from the righteous egalitarian demands of the many.
(New Content posted March 26, 2006)
AUDIO FILE: GRANNY D SPEAKS AT PSU.
In 1990 Dorris Haddock, affectionately known as Granny D, walked 3200 miles across the United States in her 90th year to draw attention to the need for campaign finance reform. Quoting an article about Granny D by Ralph Nader in Common Dreams, from the San Francisco Guardian:
“She called her march a “pilgrimage” for social justice and relied on strangers for food and shelter. Thousands of people have supported her, she says, a testament not only to their generosity but also to their passionate commitment to ending the corruption of our democracy by big-money interests. Along the way, Granny D has proved that one person can make a difference. Her walk has generated enormous media interest. She has appeared on NBC Nightly News, Good Morning America, National Public Radio, and many other programs to issue a clarion call for reform. Finally, her 14-month pilgrimage concluded in Washington, D.C. She began her final day’s trek in Arlington National Cemetery, beginning, she said, “among the graves of Arlington – so that those spirits, some of whom may be old friends, might join us today and that we might ask of them now, ‘Did you, brave spirits, give your lives for a government where we might stand together as free and equal citizens. Or did you give your lives so that laws might be sold to the highest bidder?””
The Full Article
Granny D recently spoke at Portland State University, in support of the petition gathering for the Oregon Campaign Finance Reform Measures 8 and 37.
Granny D is a celebrity not only for her deeds, this pilgrimage being only one of many direct acts of resistance over her long lifetime, but she speaks eloquently about the issues of the day, and articulates a clear message to a wide demographic, reaches deeply into the hearts of the young and elders alike, passionately, sincerely , and most of all, humbly. Though she speaks of the many problems and severe shortcomings of our present political system, she is full of confidence in the human spirit, about our ability to deliver ourselves from our current political and social dilemma. She may speak of hope, but her emphasis is on action; she may speak of the necessity to vote, but her emphasis is on directly and personally confronting the corruption that passes for business as usual in our nations capital.
“When people stand united with certain courage against oppression, they get their way. That is an axiom in the geometry of world history.”
She may speak the language of politics, but her message is firmly one of faith, in Humanity, in Democracy, in Community, in Love. I can’t remember when I last heard a presentation so passionate, so eloquent, so precisely on target, so full of life and inspiration. This is Granny D, though now 96 and increasingly frail, she always speaks to the heart of the matter by speaking directly to the needs and soul of the community. As, perhaps, only a grandmother could.
Don’t misunderstand me and think that Granny D speaks of lofty abstractions divorced from the grind and tedium of daily life. She knows that we’ve given our Democracy away as much as it has been taken from us. She emphasizes the need to take responsibility for that Democracy in our daily lives and fight for it. She reckons the highest good is service, and so service to our Community, -as to our family, cannot be achieved from a distance, but from intimate contact with both people and social institutions.
“We are not reds and blues. We share beliefs in common, freedom, justice, unity, brotherhood. It is only in our information that we differ, and those of us with better information have an obligation to share it, and by doing so, widen the unification of the American people whose interests are much the same. This we can do, we understand that truth is conveyed and minds are convinced, not by our words, but by our actions. To live free, to find and share joy, to earn our livings not at the expense of others or of the Earth.”
There is much work to be done, yet this work must be done in joy, not in fear. “Look at me, I am still alive; and I am looking at you, and you are still alive. This is our world as much as anyone else’s. We who are old enough or wise enough to see the edges of life can understand that we have a choice between fear and joy, and between victimization and service………..we do not turn our hearts away from injustice or suffering, but indeed, we mend them as best we can………………for no one can take away our joy.”
Included in this report is a 23 minute audio file of her remarks. She is an elder and afflicted with emphysema, her voice sometimes tires and drops off, so we must listen intently.
Granny D, RealPlayer
Granny D, MP3
(New Content posted 03/19/06)
AUDIO FILE: Rally and March, March 19, 2006
Today Waterfront Park and the streets of Portalnd were filled with voices for an end to the U.S. Occupation of Iraq and the policies which make war upon other nations inevitable. Signs everywhere, and in a thousand different ways spoke up and out for Peace. Peace. Reason, Humanity, and dialogue between the diversity of cultures, religions, nationalities and perspectives that is the richness and promise of the Human Spirit.
A great event! Thousands attended, rallied at Waterfront Park and marched to the tune of many different drums. The Portland Drum Corps, the March Forth Band, much music and spontaneous chants and an enormous outpouring of heart, soul, and physical reisistance to the growing evil being visited upon the people of this land and by the people of this land upon the peoples of the world.
Say what you will about the ineffectiveness of these mass demonstrations. I think that the thousands and thousands and thousands who attended this event might have cause to disbelieve you. The folks at this event were “ordinary” Americans, drawn to the streets by their resistance to tyranny and despotism, however nuanced by a lapdog media, however excused and justified by lofty phrases, often repeated and falsely passing for fact. These everyday, work a day human beings, chose to spend their day in the solidarity of peace, justice, and the spirit of humanity lacking in both our foreign and our domestic policy. Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, we see it will never end. We cannot depend upon our elected leaders to deliver us from the evil they have deliberately passed upon the world. By their aquiesence in approving and further funding this Occupation, our elected leaders have demonstrated that it is their values which have brought us and the rest of the planet to the brink of exhaustion. And it is up to the people to right that wrong, each in their own way, as One People of One Earth. From the music and speeches in the begining to the speeches and music at the ending, a joy filled the air, diametrically in opposition to the grief, the outrage, the untold abuse of the human spirit which passes for our daily ration in the Corporate Snooz. There is much work to be done, and there is no reason why we can’t sing and dance at times during the uphill implementation of Peace. This was the real demonstration today; yea, resist the war, in love and respect for the diversity of Human Beings, everywhere voicing our opposition to the tyranny exampled in Washington DeCeit and other world capitals who have bartered their souls for 30 pieces of silver.
Included in this report is a 25 minute audio file of speakers from the Rally before the march and one from the gathering immediately following. Speakers include:
Steven Deford, representing: Gold Star Families Speak Out
Military Families Speak Out
Veterans for Peace, Chapter 72
Northwest Veterans for Peace
Alfredo Cano, American Friends Service Committee youth speaker on counter recruiting;
Rev. Leroy Hayes, Sr. Pastor Allen Temple CME on Human Rights;
Ahmed Khamas, Iraqi journalist, translator and human rights activist who lives in Baghdad with husband and two daughters;
Ramon Rameriz, Leader of Nortwest Tree Planters and Farmworkers United
And after the March:
Steven Goldberg, former chairperson of the Nation Lawyers Guild International Committee, currently challenging the NSA wire tapping program.
This is a list of only those speakers I was able to tape which are inlcuded in the audio file.
M19_06 RealPlayer
M19_06 MP3
(New Content posted 03/14/06)
AUDIO FILE: CAPTAIN JAMES YEE, FORMER GUANTANAMO MUSLIM CHAPLAIN
Captain James Yee is the former Muslim military chaplain for the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Cuba, where the military is holding nearly 600 suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Yee, was recently in Portland at the First Unitarian Church. He had a sad story to tell concerning his treatment by the U.S. military.
After an exemplary service as chaplain, Yee was suddenly arrested when traveling to visit his family here in the U.S., held in solitary confinement for 2 months, and then released without charges. He has written a book about his life and his experiences called, “For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire.”
Captain Yee opens up by thanking Allah and the people for organizing the event, quoting an Arabic expression saying, “whoever does not thank the people, does not thank God Almighty.” He began his story by telling the audience “a little about who I am. I am a third generation Chinese- American, a West Point Graduate, and I come from a family that’s deeply rooted in the military………I’m a former soldier that was deployed to a declared combat zone in the aftermath of the first Gulf War.”
Yee converted to Islam in 1991 after he graduated from West Point, having been raised as a Lutheran. His conversion to Islam came after a personal self study, though this conversion was rather mediocre, as was his original devotion to Christianity. “…..I would be later inspired to learn more about Islam from traditional scholars. But what was it that inspired me to go an study in more depth? It was when I was deployed in the Gulf, in the aftermath of the first Gulf War in which I was deployed as a soldier to that combat zone.”
During this period in Saudi Arabia, a memorandum was passed allowing any Muslim soldier a four day pass to travel to the holy Islam city of Mecca. Here he was converted to a deeper conviction of the Muslim faith. “And when I returned to the base in Saudi Arabia I realized how much I wanted to further my education in Islam. I also began to wonder why there were no Chaplains of the Muslim faith in the military. With so many Muslim personnel, shouldn’t there be a Muslim Chaplain?”
He left active duty in 1993 after serving after serving as a lieutenant in the air defense artillery, with the intention of going overseas and studying with some Muslim scholars. Before pursuing this goal, he worked in corporate America for a year and a half as a pharmaceutical sales representative. Yee then made his major pilgrimage to Mecca, the Hajj, and ended up in Damascus Syria to study Islam. Damascus was chosen because “Syria is a secular country, and has a government which is very keen on insuring that political interpretations do not seep into the religious curriculum. You don’t find the ultra orthodox interpretations like you would find in Saudi Arabia or in Iran.”
Yee returned to this country in January of 2001, and became a Muslim Chaplain, reentering the ranks of the military. Then, in September, both the Pentagon and the World Trade Center towers were attacked. “Immediately I was called upon to talk of Islam to military service members, to soldiers in the army, and to distinguish Islam from terrorism and extremism. I was praised and recognized for bridging cultural understanding, for educating troops about Islam, because ultimately they would be deployed to places like Afghanistan and later to Iraq. And I received a lot of recognition, becoming a point man handling media requests from not only the Pentagon, but also the State Department regarding Muslim issues. I became the poster child for the U.S. military regarding Islam.”
“As a result of those contributions that I made, post 911, I was hand picked to go and become the Muslim Chaplain to serve down in Guantanamo Bay Cuba, the highly sensitive operation where we have a prison camp, which at that time had some 660 prisoners.” Though speaking in length about his successes and the esteem with which he was held by the military, Yee did not come across proud, or bloated with himself. He spoke humbly. He spoke as one who has accomplished much doing God’s work. He spoke plainly, not pompously or boastfully.
From here Captain Yee goes into detail about his experiences at the prison, his accomplishments, his commendations, and the Abuses he witnessed in his capacity as Chaplain. Yee emphasizes his commendations in order to throw his subsequent mistreatment at the hands of the military into proper perspective. “I would come home on a two week short break and fly back to the United States and land in Jacksonville Naval Air Station, the first stop for military service members when they come back from Guantanamo. And I would be stopped by the customs official who would search my bag……..customs officials would say that I had suspicious documents. And then these suspicious documents would be handed over to several military and intelligence agents who just happened to be standing by….It was a sting operation.”
This arrest led to 76 days in isolation, from accusations of espionage and spying, aiding the enemy, mutiny and sedition, all Capital crimes, carrying the death penalty. “After months of investigation I would be let out. The charges……would never materialize.”
A story well told and without rancor or animosity. Captain Yee finishes by hoping that his “story will inspire people to struggle for Justice and for those fundamental American values of diversity, tolerance and religious freedom. Values that we all hold dear, and values that we realize are so important to our way of life. And my story is a lesson; and it’s a warning that the current approach for fighting the so called War on Terrorism is certainly a threat to the Civil Liberties of everyday ordinary Americans, like myself and like yourselves.” “If it could happen to me, a West Point graduate, a third generation Chinese-American, from a family deeply rooted in the military, then it could happen to anyone. And we’ve seen that in this time, which I call the historic time, in which our Civil Liberties are quickly being eroded, we’ve seen people being swept up in the aftermath of 911, we’ve seen our Civil Liberties going by the wayside. But it’s up to us to do something about that……..” From here Captain Yee graciously asks for questions, both written and from the microphone , which lasts approximately 40 minutes. The Q & A period is not included in the audio file included with this report.
For audio files of just the 45 minute talk of James Yee.
James Yee, RealPlayer
James Yee, MP3
Schedules for the hour and a half program produced by Jim Lockhart through the facilities of at Portland Community Media
Channel 11:
Tuesday, March 28 at 2:00 pm.
Channel 23:
Thursday, March 16 at 1:00 pm and Saturday, March 18 at 3:00 pm.
New Content Posted 01/09/05
AUDIO FILES: GENETIC ENGINEERING AND FOOD SAFETY Audio files from the Genetic Engineering and Food Safety panel at the World Trade Organization Teach-In, which took place in Portland Oregon on December 17, 2005. The presentation consisted of five speakers from Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering addressing five different aspects of Genetic Engineering.
The first speaker at the WTO Teach-In was Mark Des Marets , who, after saying a few words about NWRAGE, gave a brief overview of genetic engineering and why it’s a problem.
Mark Des Marets, RealPlayer
Mark Des Marets, MP3
Second to speak was Lori Ann Burd, who drew the connections between the WTO and Genetically Engineered foods.
Lori Ann Burd, RealPlayer
Lori Ann Burd, MP3
Taylor Stevenson spoke next, focusing on International GE issues.
Taylor Stevenson, RealPlayer
Taylor Stevenson, MP3
The next speaker, David Fortney, connected the WTO and GE with U.S. Agriculture.
David Fortney, RealPlayer
David Fortney, MP3
And Last, Jennifer Polis, addressed local issues, the work of NW RAGE in Oregon, their campaigns, successes, and how one may become involved in the resistance against these threats.
Jennifer Polis, RealPlayer
Jennifer Polis, MP3
This Teach-In followed up after a large anti WTO march and protest from the preceding Saturday.
Audio files of the speakers from that event
Also, included in this report are audio files from an earlier panel, with remarks by Martin Hart-Landsberg, professor of Economics at Lewis and Clark College.
The Political Agenda of Capitalism, RealPlayer
The Political Agenda of Capitalism, MP3
(New Content posted 12/18/05)
AUDIO FILE: The Political Agenda Of Capitalism
I attended the WTO Teach-In Saturday, December 17, 2005, held at the Koinonia House at Portland State University in downtown Portland. Organizers were thrilled with the turn out and the event met or exceeded all expectations.
After a breakfast supplied by the sponsors of the event, attendees were able to choose from a range of three workshops: the Basics of International Trade and Neo Liberalism; Immigrant Rights in a Liberal World; and Labor and the Corporate Agenda. This was the first of three sets of workshops being offered throughout the day, providing our community an opportunity to gather information and participate in discussions on a wide range of topics concerning global and local economics.
This report is from the first workshop with Martin Hart-Landsberg, professor of Economics at Lewis and Clark College and Meredith Schafer, presently a business student who has worked with the ILWU and AFSCME in the recent past.
Martin Hart-Landsberg was the main speaker and Meredith, who, after a few brief comments of her own, facilitated the ensuing discussion. I was only able to get good audio from the main speaker, and am providing a 17 minute audio file of his presentation.
Martin began by speaking about what Neo Liberalism is. “It’s a theory, it’s a set of policies, and it’s a political agenda, a political strategy. And it kind of plays off these different things depending on how we confront it” He then discusses the situation in Iraq in which “we have a political agenda implemented by a set of policies covered by a theory. But you can really sense the political agenda part of it by also noting that within these Neo Liberal policies is the fact that the restrictions against union organizing would be kept……that people didn’t have the collective right to join together and say ‘do we want to control critical resources in our country and use the revenue to promote universal coverage in education or health care or economic stability or employment.’ Those kinds of freedoms don’t enter into the Neo Liberal theory or policy because they conflict with the Neo Liberal agenda.”.
“So what you really have with Neo Libralism is a very clear political agenda that designed to create the maximum freedom or profit maximumization for private capital, that gets implemented through a selected set of policies designed to promote that freedom, and then covered by this broad theory which is designed to explain why doing all this will somehow be beneficial for all of us.”
“But if you think about an Iraqi economy, where everything is privately owned, large parts of it are foreign dominated, where there is no control of the movement of capital in or out of the country, no protection for domestic industry, no right to unionize, no right for a democratic collective decision making about how to promote social values, how well do you think that economy will function for people? What’s the point of that economic activity which is being created?
Martin uses Iraq to demonstrate the strategies and goals of Neo Liberalism, which culminated in the formation of the World Trade Organization in Marrakesh Morocco in 1994. And all this was presented in only the first few minutes of the 17 minute talk.
This was an extremely educational presentation. I would recommend it for those who know very little about Globalization and Free Trade, but also even for anyone who might already have an understanding of the politics, policies and agenda of the World Trade Organization.
A link to more audio files taken from other local Forums on these issues. The first file, by Barbara Dudley addresses some of the same material as does Martin, but goes into more detail and also speaks to the many recent failures of the WTO to come to agreements, due in no small part to community resistance.
PhilosopherSeed. Globalization Page
Audio files in both RealMedia and Mp3 formats:
Political Agenda Of Capitalism, REAL PLAYER
Political Agenda Of Capitalism, MP3
(New Content posted 12/10/05)
AUDIO FILE: SPEAKERS FROM NO TO WTO, YES TO RIGHT TO ORGANIZE RALLY AND MARCH
Today, December 10, 2005, Human Rights Day, the Portland community took to the streets, demonstrating an immense solidarity with labor, the environment and human rights. The message was a resounding NO to the World Trade Organization, who will be meeting next week in Hong Kong, and YES to the rights of workers, through collective bargaining, to organize.
The crowd, which eventually topped 1000, gathered at the World Trade Center at SW First and Salmon in downtown Portland, enthusiastically listened to some brief speeches and then marched to various predetermined places in the city for more remarks from labor, environment and social justice speakers.
The activities at the World trade Center was moderated by Shazuko Hashimoto, of Portland Central American Solidarity Committee, who, after a few brief remarks of her own introduced the speakers for that segment of the event
First to speak was Marina, of the Seattle Audubon Society, followed by Barbara Dudley, professor of political science at Portland State University, and finally Ramon Ramirez, of Northwest Treeplanters and Farmworkers United (PCUN)
A 19 minute audio file of this segment of the days events:
RealPlayer
MP3
After these remarks, everyone marched along to the National Labor Relations Board, where a moderator introduced Stewart Acuff, Organizing Director for the AFL-CIO. Stewart is a powerful and inspiring speaker, insisting that human rights and worker rights are the same thing. Further, he remarked that those who were attending the rally were the forces of Justice, Compassion and the Future. He also mentioned the Employee Free Choice Act which allows employees to freely choose whether to join unions by signing cards authorizing union representation.
An 8 1/2 minute audio file of this segment:
RealPlayer
MP3
Next on the agenda was to gather at the Federal Building, where a number of people spoke concerning various local and national union struggles. This segment was moderated by Lydia, representing American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.Following these remarks, a representative of VOZ, a group which works for the rights of day laborers, spoke about globalization from an immigrant perspective, and its effect on the people of Mexico. Following this speaker, Stewart Acuff again took the mike for some closing comments.
An 18 1/2/ minute file of the final speakers:
RealPlayer
MP3
(New Content posted 10/13/05)
AUDIO FILE: SPACE 4 PEACE
A presentation by Bruce Gagnon, whose website is Space 4 Peace The Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power In Space.
Bruce Gagnon 1, RealPlayer
Bruce Gagnon 1, MP3
Bruce Gagnon 2, RealPlayer
Bruce Gagnon 2, MP3
(New Content posted 09/30/05)
AUDIO FILE: RECLAIMING OUR ELECTION PROCESS
In July of 2005, at the First Unitarian Church in Portland Oregon a forum was held concerning the legality of our recent elections, and the viability of the United States election process itself. This forum featured two speakers, Thom Hartman, author and well known radio talk show host; and Paul Lehto, attorney, who recently wrote a paper on election fraud, and who is involved in a lawsuit in King County Superior Court, against Snohomish County and Sequoia Voting Systems.
Here in this report, you will be able to access audio files of these important and urgent presentations, either in RealMedia format or in MP3 format. But first, an important announcement. This week end, September 30-October 2, 2005, a three day event is being held entitled, “National Summit To Save Our Elections.” Our community will have the opportunity to learn how corporate-owned electronic election systems affect their vote, and how they can help restore citizen ownership of our elections. Both Thom Hartmann, and Paul Lehto will be making presentations, as well as other well known, and unfortunately for our right to vote, less known speakers will be in attendance. A short list of speakers who might be familiar to Portlanders: Ronnie Dugger; co founder of the national Alliance for Democracy; Jesse Jackson Jr.; David Cobb, Green Party 2004 presidential candidate; Jo Ann Bowman; Dan Meek, local attourney who has been active in the ongoing attempt to move Portland General Electric out of corporate hands and into the hands of the people, as well as writing and sponsoring Oregon Campaign Finance Reform Issues. Other speakers, though nota swell known locally, are involved in other parts of the country to save our elections and win back our Democracy.
Two of the groups sponsoring this event are the Oregon Voters Rights Coalition and
Portland Alliance for Democracy
For a schedule of the event, including speakers and agenda, Summit Schedule
At the July event, Thom Hartmann started with the micro, with a few details and facts concerning the recent elections, then moved to the macro, the big picture, how we should view this. Paul Lehto, speaking next was to move it back to the Micro, what’s going on in Washington State, and then again back to the Macro, what we can do about this rugged state of affairs.
Hartmann began by giving some examples of voter irregularities that were public knowledge, citing first from an Associated Press story about the election in Texas, published in every paper in the U.S., right after the 2003 election. “A defective computer chip in the county’s optical scanner, misread ballots Tuesday night and incorrectly tallied a landslide victory for Republicans…..Democrats actually won by wide margins. How did they find this out? Republicans would have carried the day had not poll workers become suspicious when the computerized voting reading machines said that a Republican candidate was trouncing his incumbent Democratic opponent in the race for County Commissioner.” These workers knew that there weren’t as many Republican voters in the county and contacted the County Clerk, who contacted the voting machine company. “A new computer chip was flown to Snyder Texas from Dallas. With the new chip installed, the computer then verified that the Democrat won the election.”
“In another Texas anomaly, Republican State Senator, Jeff Wentworth won his race with exactly 18,181 votes; Republican Carter Castle won here state house seat in the same county with exactly 18,181 votes; and conservative Judge Danny Scheil won his seat with exactly 18, 181 votes.” This was in the same county in Texas. However, no poll workers asked for another chip and those elections stand. “By the way, it is interesting to note, the first letter in the alphabet is A, the 8th letter is H, so 1-8-1-8-1 translates into AHAHAHAHA.”
And, in Georgia, a similar wins by Republicans against a popular Democratic candidate, going against all pre election polls. This was in a state that had for the first time gone to 100% no paper trail voting machines . In another instance, “this guy went into his precinct and tried to put in a write in candidate, crashed the machine. They put him on a second machine, crashed that machine. They put him on a third machine, crashed that machine. He crashed all 7 machines in the precinct, simply trying to put a write in candidate. And when he asked what happened to all the votes that were on these machines, the best answer he could get was that we don’t know, we had to reboot the machines; as far as we know they are all gone.”
Hartmann continues, reading off a litany of errors and fraud from various parts of the country, all, apparently reported in various newspapers and common knowledge, if one were interested and inclined to pay attention. Quoting a Democratic candidate that lost to a Republican in another questionable elections: “They can take over our country without firing a shot just by taking over our elections.”
But to Thom, the real issue isn’t so much the various little crimes and errors, but the fact that the elections, of primary importance to the health of our Democracy, are being counted by electronic voting machines, with no paper trail;. And, by corporations who refuse to allow scrutiny of the software which count the votes. “It’s really important to keep our focus. When the people who put this country together, when the founders of this country who fought the Revolutionary war, the framers, who framed the Constitution, 10, 12, 14 years later, when they put together American Democracy, one of the things that they understood with absolute clarity was that there are some things that we do for ourselves, that We The People do for ourselves.From the beginning of recorded history up until the present time, “people have been ruled by either war lord kings, theocratic popes or mullahs or whatever……..or the rich, in a system known as feudalism. And in each one of these cases the rulers held the rights, and they gave the people some privileges…..They held all the rights and the people had only privileges. And what the founders of this country said was that we’re going to flip that upside down. And the first three words of the Preamble to the Constitution, ‘We The People,’ we are holding the rights”
In this audio file, which lasts about 33 minutes, Hartmann spoke eloquently concerning the importance of Democracy, that is rule of the people, by the people, for the people. And equally well about the terrible dangers faced by our Democracy from the rising strength of the few, who now control how our elections are tabulated.
Thom Hartmann, RealPlayer
Thom Hartmann, MP3
Following Thom, Paul Lehto began strong and clear. “Let’s be 100% clear about what an election is. An election is the place where power is transferred from the public, or the people, to the government, and often times, through Initiative and Referendum tax money is either transferred or taken away from the government. So we elect representatives, but it’s all about power transfer and money transfer, that’s what elections are usually doing. And the people that administer the elections are a select few, government representatives, who then keep those ballots secret. It’s virtually impossible to get a hold of ballots and count them for yourselves under any circumstances.”
Paul states that he can “say with 100% certainty that he has no basis for confidence in the elections. And I would encourage, what can you do? You can simply say all day, every day that we have no basis for confidence, and there is nothing that anybody can say that’s based in fact that can take you off that position because it is a 100% accurate position.”
This file is about 32 minutes in length, providing greater insights into the corruption in our election system, but also ways in which We The People can exercise their power and salvage Democracy.
Paul Lehto, RealPlayer
Paul Lehto, MP3
Besides the websites given above, Voters Unite and End Corporate Personhood
(New Content posted 09/26/05)
AUDIO FILE: Bring The Salmon Home - Un-Dam the Klamath!
author: quill
I went to the Klamath River Tribes film screening and presentation tonight. Many powerful still photos opened up the showing, allowing us to see some of the beauty of the Klamath River, and to understand a little about the way of life the Klamath River tribes are struggling to both restore and preserve. At issue is the 50 year dam relicensing application due in March of 2006, for the complex of dams along the rivers in the Klamath Basin, where there are currently 6 dams sited. There are already no salmon in the upper Klamath at all, because most of these dams have either no fish ladders, or inadequate ones. Salmon currently are being blocked from 350 miles of spawning habitat as a result of these dams. After the ‘bucket brigades’ by Klamath basin farmers, encouraged by Gale Norton, over 100,000 fish died on the Klamath directly resulting from lowered water levels.
When this licensing re-application process began, after Pacificorp announced their intention to apply for relicensure for another 50 year term, the public was invited to give input. The tribes offered their input and were invited to help Pacificorp develop a workable solution to meet the water needs along the Klamath. The tribes have worked for well over 3 years with members of each of the four affected tribal nations devoting several hours a week, using quality fishery biologist science, to address the issues of fish passage and water quality. But when Pacificorp came out with their final draft application, there was no mention of environmental impact, water quality, or fish passage provisions.
This is seen as an extreme betrayal of the effort the tribes have put forth to work out a solution with Pacificorp. The tribes then took their struggle to the parent company, Scottish Power, by traveling to Scotland. There they protested in front of Scottish Power during an annual shareholders meeting, where they educated shareholders, and were able to finally meet with the CEO, Ian Russell, who directed the board members to meet with the tribes and find a solution. Because Russell told them last year to keep in touch about how things were progressing, tribal members went back to Scotland this year to report to Russell that things are not progressing well, and that over 100,000 fish have just died, due to poor water quality and warming water temperatures.
This year when they went to Scotland, they were told that Scottish Power will be selling Pacificorp to a company called Mid-America, owned by Warren Buffet. The tribes maintain that since the sale will take at least 1 1/2 years to complete, Scottish Power still has time and a responsibility to work on solutions. The sale has yet to be approved by the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).
Pacificorp dams on the Klamath River provide less than 2 percent of Pacificorp’s total operating power; A study by the California Energy Commission found that already-operational power plants could easily replace any energy lost from decommissioning the Klamath River dams. It is much harder to put monetary value on culturally significant resources, but this is clearly a human rights issue. The health Kiruk people has suffered greatly with the loss of fish and other water-dependent plants from their diets; A recent study showed that the diabetes rate is 2 times the national average and that cardiovascular disease is 3 times the national average. 90% of the Kiruk people are living below poverty level.
Water Quality is now one of the main issues that the Klamath Tribes are working on calling attention to. Pacificorp was refusing access to information about the algae that collects above the dams. So independent water testing was done by the tribes this year. It was discovered a few months ago that in the summer with the heat and fertilizer runoff, there are huge algae blooms. When the air cools, the algae decomposes, lowering oxygen levels in the water behind the Copco and Iron Gate dams. In the Copco and Iron Gate reservoirs, one type of algae present is toxic to the liver, called microcystis aeruginosa. This algae was found in levels that exceeded 100 times the World Health Organization standards.
The Klamath Tribes in the upper basin have filed suit against Pacificorp for losses of historical fish runs. That case has still not been heard in court, and now that this company is being bought, it’s hard to know what will become of that lawsuit.
The sale of Pacificorp and the relicensing of the Klamath River dams are both still under consideration by the FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) and by the PUC (Public Utility Commission). Cascadians need to put pressure on these agencies, along with our legislators and governor. We need our legislature to take a more active role in the management of the Klamath basin. Fisheries and recreational and cultural values need to take as big a role in decision-making as agriculture. The loss of anadromous fish and all other plant and animal life that depends on the healthy functioning of this ancient ecosystem impacts all Oregonians. We have to speak out to preserve these rivers, and in doing so, preserving the way of life of indigenous peoples. To not do so is to condone genocide. We need to contact our legislators about this gross human rights violation and argue against the relicensure of these dams, and to argue for dam removal.
The groups working on this campaign to remove the dams on the Klamath Basin and raise awareness of the destruction of the native culture and economic and food base being caused by these dams, along with the ecosystem balance being destroyed, include: The Klamath Salmon Media Collaborative, The Klamath Forest Alliance, The Mid Klamath Action Network and others that I didn’t write down unfortunately. To get a copy of the dvd’s that were shown, or their first newsletter, The Black Oak, packed with amazing articles that will inform, inspire, and anger you about the issues surrounding these native issues along the Klamath Basin, you can email klamathmedia@hotmail.com
Karuk Homepage
Save the Salmon, RealMedia
Save the Salmon, MP3
(New Content posted 06/23/05)
AUDIO FILE: IRAQI LABOR TOUR 2005
Wednesday evening , June 22, 2005, at least 450 Portlanders had the rare opportunity to hear from two courageous Iraqi labor union leaders who struggled for years under Sadaam Hussein’s repression and who have now stepped forward to organize workers under difficult circumstances of violence and occupation.
The event began with opening remarks by Tim Nesbitt, president of Oregon AFL-CIO, and further moderated by Margaret Hallock. Tim began by stating that…”brothers and sisters, no matter what we may think about the causes and conduct of the war in Iraq, there’s little disagreement in our country and our union movement that we want now to see a free and democratic Iraq. And with that as our goal, we have a lot to learn from the brave union leaders of that country who fought and risked their lives for a free union movement under Sadaam Hussein and who continue to fight and risk their lives under a Provisional Authority.”
Tim introducers the modreator, Margaret Halllock, who, after a few remarks of her own introduces the two Iraqis union leaders.
Hassan Juma’a Awad AL Asade is chief of the Executive Branch of the General Union of Oil Employees in Basra. He was an opponent of the Ba’athist regime, a human rights activist, and unionist, who was imprisoned by the Ba’athist regime three times for “subversive” activity. He served for thrity-one years as a technician in various oil companies and is a founding member of the Oil Sector Union, being elected its Chief Executive in July of 2004.
Faleh Abbood Umara is General Secretary of the General Union of Oil Employees. He is a founding member of the oil workers union and a member of the local council in the Al-Hade district in Basra. In 1998, he was detained by the Hussein regime for his activities on behalf of his co-workers. He has serve on the union’s negotiating team with both the Oil Ministry and the British occupation authorities.
Both men would end the occupation immediately and state that the Iraqi people are perfectly capable of organizing and sustaining themselves, without U.S intervention. They do believe that they are better off without Sadaam, yet believe that the war was actually a war for oil and that under the current occupation, the people have no real power to determine their own fate. Hassan Juma’a Awad Al Asade stated that “we know that one of the main reasons for the invasion of Iraq was to control the oil resources in the Middle East, and because Iraq owns certain oil reserves in the world.”
And further, “I would like to indicate to you that the infrastructure of Iraq has been destroyed, because the war has not left anything for the Iraqis, only the oil.”
This is a rare glimpse into the life of the Iraqi people, through the eyes of two men struggling for the empowerment of their people. This audio file is about 28 minutes in length, the majority of which are the presentations and translations by the two Iraqi union leaders. Both translators are Iraqis, currently living with their families here in Portland.
Iraqi Speakers, RealMedia
Iraqi Speakers, MP3
(New Content posted 05/31/05)
AUDIO FILE: MAY BARK HIKE TO BEARKNOLL TIMBER SALE
The May monthly Bark Field Trip was to the Bear Knoll timber sale, where 16 people hiked in an almost continuous rain in order to compare Forest Service documents and maps to what they found on the ground in that location. This is called Groundtruthing.
The hike was led by Gradey Proctor, a hike leader who has led a few hikes to various timber sales in this area. He led off the hike with an explanation of what Bark is and what it does. In the audio file, Gradey defines bark as “the monitors of Mt. Hood National Forest. So basically what that means is that anytime a timber sale is proposed, we send out volunteers that go out and check over the areas, gather facts and see what we feel is going on one the ground. And then we’ll take that information and accrue it.” This information is posted to their Bark Website, where it is available for anyone who is interested in learning about any of the 50 or so timber sales currently in some stage of the timber sale process in the Mt. Hood National Forest.
Gradey then spoke a little about the Bearknoll timber sale itself. This timber sale had already been submitted in a much larger form a short while ago, but due to citizen opposition, was pulled and subsequently reissued, removing a large part of the proposed area to be logged. The areas which were removed were those areas scheduled as either regeneration (clear cut) or shelterwood cuts. Shelterwood cuts generally leave very few trees standing, and so quite often the increased sun and wind take a heavy toll on these few remaining trees.
This sale is one of three in the immediate area. Both Hilynx and Juncrock are close by, all three sales being planned in an area which has already been extensively logged.
At one of the first stops, a hiker commented that Bark is doing the work much of the survey and monitoring work that the Forest Service should be doing. Gradey response was that, due to budget cuts, Bark sometimes spends “more time in these timber sales than they have the resources to do.” Continuing, Gradey cites an example of someone, a botanist, who worked in the Hood River Ranger District, one of the four districts which comprise the larger Mt. Hood National Forest. This person, at one time had a team of three. Now he is just himself, and he does two districts out of the four. “They are losing scientists; the administrators are going strong, but all the -ologists…..?”
Later at another stop, the discussion turned to the Barred Owl, which is competing with and displacing the Northern Spotted Owl from their native habitat. It is successful at this because its natural habit is to live on the edge between two ecosystems. The problem is exacerbated by logging. “By thinning this, you create an edge, between old growth and plantation, and so often that’s where the barred owl will infiltrate. Also, roads create a whole series of edges, along which this owl can out-compete the spotted owl for food and habitat.
Also during this stop, about 10 minutes in to the audio file, Gradey defined a term he had been using during the first part of the hike: Late Successional Reserves. As it turns out, these “Reserves,” though sometimes uncut native forests, can often be areas which had been clear cut in the past and are far from recovering from the devastating effects of past Forest Service management practices.
This, as always with the monthly Bark Field Trips, was an education, in many, many way. Certainly, we learned about this particular Forest Service Timber Sale, and timber Sales in general. But, we also leaned a little about tree identification; about the diversity, interaction, and rhythms of flora and fauna; and too, how delicate is the thread and web of life that creates and sustains our water, our oxygen and the living fertility of the Earth.
And too, these hikes provide the opportunity for people from diverse life styles and experiences to converse and discuss issues which have far reaching implications for themselves, for other people, and for the planet itself. On these hikes there are those who are experienced Bark hikers, but there are many others who are out with Bark for the first time. Often new people, far from being “inexperienced,” bring fresh perspective and creativity to the hike, with experiences often arising from their own path in life. This is perhaps the most important part of the hike, the interaction of personalities, impressions and experience which make us all so different, yet so Human. We learn from the Hike Leader, but I’ve yet to see a hike where the education wasn’t a two way path, where those who attended didn’t bring some piece of their life, knowledge or experience which fit in to the rhythm of the daily lessons. All life is interaction; as harmony and melody, as sound and silence, as you and me.
Bearknoll Bark Hike, RealPlayer
Bearknoll Bark Hike, MP3
These monthly hikes provide the content for the monthly Community Television program, “Bark For Mt. Hood,” which is originally produced and cable cast through the facilities of Multnomah Community Television,.
and then submitted and scheduled to air through the facilities of Portland Community Media.
Currently scheduled to air at PCM are two programs: the March program, which features the February Bark Field Trip to the Mill Creek Timber Sale; and the April program featuring the March Field Trip to the Butte Creek Sale, offered by the Bureau of Land Management.
The program for May was to the Polallie-Cooper Sale This sale has recently been cancelled by the Forest Service, due in large part to the the activities of Bark and numerous citizens who groundtruthed the sale and provided comments.
This audio file, is taken from the May Field Trip, which will provide the content for the June program.
PCM Schedules
MCTV Schedules
(New Content posted 04/16/05)
AUDIO FILE: INTERVIEW WITH WARD CHURCHILL
While Ward was in town for his Reed college appearance, I had the opportunity for a quick interview with him. In this 30 minute interview, he explains and defends those comments which led to his recent notoriety.
Ward says that many people have written to him and remarked, by way of criticizing his stance on free speech, that free speech has consequences, insinuating, I suppose that he should be fired for his explanation of why the World Trade Center was attacked on September 11, 2001. “I would point out that if it has consequences, it’s not free; by definition. They’ve got no conception of it; they’ve got no conception of critical engagement; they’ve got no conception of the right to express and opinion; they do have a conception of order-an order to maintain business as usual, period.”
When asked about his calling those who lost their lives in the WTC attack “little Eichmans,” Ward stressed that they were “little,” that “they were what was symbolized by Eichman, that is, people who engage in pursuit of structural efficiency and perfection, of structure, of system, of process that generates human carnage as a result. They do so knowingly, amidst rationalization, justification, prevarication and so forth, in order to further their own interest irrespective of the cost and consequence to others.
If you can engage in that, if you can rationalize it, if you can moralize it to a justification, if you can do what ever is necessary in order to participate irrespective of the cost and consequence, then you are symbolized by Eichman, because that is after all, what he excelled at. He was the consummate technician, bureaucrat of genocide. He was not a killer. He didn’t kill anyone himself, he just made the killing not only possible ultimately efficient, to further the interests of the system in which he found himself”
When asked if this could be extended to consumers of that society, Ward said that “it could, it doesn’t necessarily. One consumes by virtue of existence and you are in the structure. The question is not whether or not you consume or whether you adopt particular postures and stylistic gestures in terms of lifestyle, it’s a question of whether you deliberately and in all consciousness do what you can do to oppose and transform the system that generates these results. You will participate, by virtue of breathing, the question is whether you offset that participation with opposition, and the people in the Trade Center that I was referring to were a sort of technocratic core of Empire, were not in opposition in any sense at all. They were vested in furthering and maximizing the efficiency or maximizing the profit, which symbolizes the efficiency of that system.”
And this is just the first 4 minutes of the interview. Ward continues describing the machinations of the U.S. Empire, in the Far East, in the Middle East, in South America, and closer to home, the holocaust visited upon the Indigenous populations of the American continent and U.S. complicity in the African slave trade.
April 16, 2005 Ward Churchill Interview, REAL PLAYER
April 16, 2005 Ward Churchill Interview, MP3
(New Content posted 04/16/05)
AUDIO FILES: THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL SECURITY
These are two audio files taken from a presentation given on February 3, 2005, at the First Unitarian Church, by Earl Blumenauer, U.S. Representative from Oregon’s 3rd District, and Mark Weisbrot, Co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, in Washington D.C. Mark is also co-author of “Social Security: the Phony Crisis” published by University of Chicago Press, 1999.
For those who have cable television, this event is now scheduled to play on Portland Community Television.
In the first audio file, the moderator immediately sets the tone for the presentations which were to follow. She begins by stating that “the struggle ensuing around the subject of social security privatization is actually an elaborate icon for a deeper ideological battle over what it means to be a human being in the United States of America and in the world community. at this particular historical moment. No doubt, saving and perhaps reforming Social Security is of enormous importance, but not because it is in crisis and not because the generations are competing against each other for scarce resources, but instead because Social Security represents a particular ideal of what a just society looks like……………We are also talking about a deeper and wider issues that I think points to some very serious questions.”
“What kind of society and world community do we want to live in?
What is our responsibility to each other, especially the most vulnerable members, regardless of age and other characteristics.?
And fundamentally, what kind of human beings do we wish to be?”
After a few remarks, regarding the conservative mentality, she introduces Earl Blumenauer., whose remarks and power point presentation last about 23 minutes.
Earl begins by stating that “there are some who truly believe that Unemployment Insurance promotes unemployment.. Some of you may laugh, but I have had people on the floor of the house of Representatives look me in the eye and say there would be a little dislocation, and it might be hard on a few families, but basically society would be better off and people would get out and get a job, and we’d be more productive and we’d be more wealthy as a country. This conversation has a lot to do with that type of mindset.”
Earl then begins his power point presentation with a picture of Ida May Fuller, the first U.S. citizen to receive a Social Security check, on January 31, 1940. He uses her example to demonstrate the power of this program and the commitment that we have made that the Ida May’s of this world would have this tenant of Social Security. Ida May lived to be 100 years old and received her checks that whole time, increasing along with the standard of living for all Americans.
The power point presentation continues for a total of about 25 minutes, with Earl delving into changes proposed by the Bush administration, and demonstrating how these changes will not help retirees, but actually make things worse.
Earl Blumenauer
After Blumenauer gives his remarks, Mark Weisbrot speaks to the issue for about 25 minutes. He begins by speaking a little about his organization, which was “started about 5 years ago to promote debate on exactly these kinds of issues, and with the idea that if people knew more about the major economic issues, that would be a positive influence.”
He begins by stating the System is not in trouble. “The truth is, according to the numbers that President Bush is using, the System can pay all the promised benefits for the next 37 years. And that’s without any changes at all………..in fact that makes it more financially secure than it’s been throughout most of the 69 year history of Social Security. So if there’s a crisis today, it’s been a lot worse most of the time that it’s been in existence.”
Apparently, there are two sets of statistics that people are using concerning Social Security. One is from the Social Security Trustees, which the Bush Administration uses; and the other is from the Congressional Budget office., which Weisbrot himself prefers. He says that this is his preference because the later organization tends to be more non partisan, though the Trustees are supposed to be non partisan, yet 4 out of the 6 members are political appointees.
Weisbrot states that the Bush administration is becoming increasingly political on this issue. In fact, “the New York Times reported that the Social Security Administration is telling it’s employees, instructing it’s employees, to carry out the message that Social Security needs to be changed.” And the SSA is currently refusing to respond to queries concerning their use of Public Relations firms to get out that message.
Weisbrot then speaks a little about how people got this idea about how Social Security got in trouble. “There is a number of tricks that have been used. One is to use really big numbers, that sound big and scary, and that’s not hard to do.” He then proceeds to debunk some of the administration usage of these numbers. Another trick. “You’ll see that there are now 3.3 workers for every retiree drawing benefits today. And they’ll say that if you go out 30 years it’s going to be down to two. Well, that’s like giving one half of a baseball score……..What happens every year is that productivity grows. Right? Back in 1870, half the labor force was in agriculture; now it’s only one per cent. But we’re still producing a lot of food aren’t we? And so productivity grows, and those two workers in 2035 will produce more than the 3.3 workers today. And so, that is just another trick.” A third trick they use is that they inflate the health care costs. “they say, look what’s going to happen to Social Security and Medicare in 50 years, and that is indeed as you saw, (in Blumenauer’s presentation) explosive, if you put Medicare on there. But Medicare is a separate program, so that has nothing to do with Social Security, and has very little to do with the aging of the population. It has everything to do with the fact that our health care costs are out of control. In the United States we spend nearly twice as much as the other developed countries do on health care and we still leave about 47 million people uninsured. That’s the real problem.”
Both of these are interesting and illuminating presentations, debunking Administration hype and fear tactics too often simply parroted by Corporate news organizations. I urge you to research this, and other available material, and correspond with your elected officials, letting them know how you feel about this. As there are those that feel Unemployment Insureance promotes unemployment, there are certainly those that believe that Social Security weakens both the indiviual and the nation. If you don’t believe this, please make your voice heard.
Mark Weisbrot
(New Content posted 04/10/05)
BARK FIELD TRIP TO POLALLIE-COOPER TIMBER SALE.
The Monthly Bark Field Trip for April was to the Pollalie-Cooper Timber Sale, located about 15 miles south of Hood River. This sale consists of three sales, Tartan, Clan and Kilt, which have been challenged by Bark, as lead plaintiff, in court.
A total of 11 people attended the hike, which was led by Sandi Scheinberg, Executive Director of Bark. Besides these timber sales, the area is threatened by a proposed development by Mt Hood Meadows, who are seeking to build a four-season destination resort and expand the Cooper Spur Ski Area right in the middle of a key deer and elk migration corridor.
According to Sandi, Bark has challenged the Polallie-Cooper sales for two reasons. The first is that the Forest Service has “failed to include any cumulative effects analysis considering the proposal for a 450 unit resort, nor an espanded ski area. And they are required in their environmental review, to look at any kind of effect to anything happening nearby. But they didn’t include any of those things, as if having almost a 900 acre logging project next to a massive resort development, next to a dramatically scaled up ski area would not have any cumulative effects. So, we sued to stop the timber sale, and wsaid that you need to analyze this, at a minimum, what the effects of this thing will be….”
And the second main reason they sued to stop the sale was that, they have failed to consider all the new and available science on fire. Much of the information Sandi provided during the hike had to do with the theme of fire and fire prevention, which is often used to justify logging.
There was much to learn, and not just about the timber sales and Forest Service management practices. Besides these subjects, Sandi spoke about how snags provide habitat for forest creatures; how down woodey debris contributes to the building of soils and fertility and absorb water for slow release to the forest during the drier seasons; she identified various plant tree species and spoke at length about the different habitat these species need, and the habitat they likewise provide to the overall balance of being that is the forest.
This area is a transitional zone, between the wet northwest fir forests and the drier, east of the Cascades pine forests. Both tree species exist, often side by side, and provide a unique landscape and ecosystem.
Many other groups, both in Portland and on the mountain are seeking to protect this fragile area from these timber sales and future development.
For information and to find out how you may assist in this effort go to Cooper Spur Wild And Free Coalition
This audio file contains excerpts from the Polallie-Cooper hike. An 18 minute audio file:
Polallie-Cooper Field Trip
(New Content posted 02/14/05)
BARK FIELD TRIP TO MILL CREEK TIMBER SALE.
The Monthly Bark Field Trip for February was to the Mill Creek Timber Sale, located about 15 miles south of Hood River, a few miles east of Highway 35. Twenty seven people attended the Hike, which was led by Sandi Scheinberg, Executive Director of Bark. Besides discussing this particular timber sale, Sandi talked about endangered species, the importance of snags to wildlife, the impact of roads on species, and throughout the hike, pointed out and identified various animal tracks. Among these were deer, weasel, snowshoe hare, squirrel and bob cat.
This audio file contains excerpts from the Mill Creek hike. Sandi start out by defining Bark, as a “forest conservation group, whose mission is to preserve the forests, waters and wildlife of Mt. Hood National Forest.” The timber sale is defined and the theme of the hike, “which is endangered species. There are a number of endangered species which inhabit this area. We have a winter run of steelhead that come up in the Northfork………….we have the northern spotted owl, and we have some other critters which haven’t been actually spotted out here, but they could be present out here if real good surveys were done, or if the area were managed real well in the future, this might be a good place for them to find a home.”
“One of the things I want to focus our attention upon while we’re around and about is our natural surroundings. Look up at the sky, check out the weather, notice the trees, look down at the ground, see if you see any tracks in the snow,” The day was a perfect blend of sun, snow, even of sun and snow simultaneously. The snow pack was unusually shallow for this time of year, so shallow in fact that snow shoes were unnecessary, the deepest snow we encountered being only about 4 inches deep.
Throughout the hike Sandi discussed various aspects of forest ecology, and how the timber sale could impact individual animal species and the diversity of species whose delicate balance of complex components accounts for the :forest” as we experience it. For instance, roads cut an impenetrable swath through the landscape that often will sever populations of small animals, who will not venture out into the openness of the road bed, for fear of predators. Logging also opens up large patches of the forest which create much the same problem. A deer can cross the road, a salamander or insect may not.
Another subject of conversation was the many dead standing trees called snags, which provide a multi tiered habitat for a variety of insects, fungus and the larger animals, such as birds, who feed off this abundance of life. These snags are an important part of the total rhythm, but unfortunately, many of those who set our forest policy don’t understand these complexities of forest ecology. “I’ve heard, actually our politicians when I’ve sat down with them, say that we have to get all that dead and dying wood out of the forest….it’s a mess, the forests are a mess.” Another opportunity for citizens to step forward, take the initiative and educate those whose concepts and ideas of Nature are outdated.
The day went quickly and too soon we arrived back at the cars, ready for the long drive off the mountain, returning to the city and the fast paced surge of traffic, of stop and go signs and list of things to do. But, we take a piece of Mother Earth back with us, a scrap of knowledge here, an insight there, a growing awareness that, despite her great power, Mother Nature is being needlessly harried and hurried and harassed for the profit of a few, and to the detriment of us all. A 20 minute audio file:
Mill Creek Field Trip
(New Content posted 02/10/05)
AUDIO FILE: LYNNE STEWART 2003 APPEARANCE ON PORTLAND COMMUNITY TELEVISION
Lynne Stewart, an attorney who has made a name for herself defending prominent leftists including black nationalists and members of organizations like the Weather Underground, was outrageously convicted today, February 10, 2005, of smuggling messages from one of her jailed clients to his terrorist disciples. Stewart was originally arrested in April 2002 on charges of aiding terrorism, charges which were dismissed by a Federal judge in Manhattan in July of 2004.
Quoting from her website: “This is an obvious attempt by the U.S. government to silence dissent and install fear in those who would fight against the U.S. government’s racism, seek to help Arabs and Muslims being prosecuted for free speech and defend the rights of all oppressed people.”
I had the good fortune to interview Lynne in April of 2003 in the Portland Community Media studios here in Portland. The interview was cablecast on Public Access channels in the Portland area as “Defending The Right To Defend..” Lynne Stewart impressed me as a wonderful, gracious and warm person, a grandmother, whose championing of human rights has brought her into the sights of John Ashcroft, who went out of his way to make a spectacle of her arrest and prosecution.
This is a dark day, and my heart is heavy for Lynne, who has been singled out for persecution by a government who, while pretending to go to war in other parts of the globe in the name of freedom, is slowly pinching off that freedom in this country. I really can’t see how what they call the “Dark Ages” in Europe under the tyranny of monarchies, aristocracies and the Church could have been any darker than the era which is yawning before us. Our current dilemma is perhaps even the darker, for our “lords” have been elected, their empire machinations have been supported and applauded by our servile elected representatives and a Corporate media equally servile, blinded by the same greed and arrogance which characterizes government policy.
Dark days indeed!
I post this up thinking that others might be interested in hearing her speak about her situation and the situation in which we find ourselves in this country. The following is a 58 minute audio file from that program. Here Lynne discusses the case and it’s possible ramifications as a chilling effect upon free speech and the lawyers who defend those rights.
(New Content posted 01/11/05)
AUDIO FILE: WINTER ECOLOGY TOUR
The monthly Bark field trip for January visited the Bearknoll Timber Sale in the Mt. Hood National Forest. This sale would log 531 acres and combined with four adjacent sales would constitute a loss of 5,134 acres from this very diverse area. Bearknoll also threatens water quality, increases the risk of wildfire, and puts many species at risk including Spotted Owl, Elk and Lynx.
Comments are due on this proposal by January 20th. They can be sent to:
Becky Nelson, Project Leader,
Hood River Ranger District,
6780 Highway 35, Mt. Hood/Parkdale, OR 97041.
Or they can be sent electronically: bnelson01@fs.fed.us.
To learn more about this sale, and 48 other timber sales in Mount Hood, check out:
Bark
Besides an education in this particular timber sale, hike leader Rolf Skar also provided information on the ecology of forests in winter. At 4000 feet in elevation, this hike was in snow, and it snowed during portions of the field trip. Forests in the winter have their own particular magnificence, and the ecology of these areas at this time of the year provide a whole new perspective on the interdependence of species, flora and fauna, in Nature. Though severely curtailed due to the cold and shortness of the day, there is still much activity in the winter forests. The drama of life and death, of feeding and being fed upon, all continue as during other times of the year, but with a flavor particular to winter.
Though the earth is cold and covered with snow, life continues in the Subnivian Layer , the layer between the snow and ground, where the many cavities and tunnels provide shelter and routes for tiny animals to search out the scant nourishment available to them. Life also continues in the canopy, home to forest creatures such as the flying squirrel and Red Tree Vole
As Rolf remarks, winter is a time of balancing caloric intake and activities which burn up the calories. Some animals gorge themselves and live out the winter in hibernation. Other animals, such as the field mouse or flying squirrel haven’t sufficient body size to do this, and so must feed through the winter, economizing on their expenditure of calories. The majority of energy derived from the food intake of warm blooded animals is spent in merely keeping warm. Hence, snakes, for example, eat perhaps once a week or so, but are depended on the heat from the sun to provide energy necessary to conduct the many activities necessary to life.
Much of the justification for this timber sale rests with Forest Service perception of diseases prevalent in the area. Indian Paint Fungus and mistletoe are both cited as examples of why we must “manage” these forests. Yet these diseases are part of the natural process, every bit as much a part of the ecology, the rhythm of the whole, as are the fungus that break down the fallen trees to eventually add to the water retention properties and nourishing ability of the soil. Nothing is wasted, nothing is without a place in the natural process, always balancing, always in motion, even in the extreme cold of winter.
The major problems with these diseases is the fact that they affect the marketability of the wood, not that they necessarily are at odds with the overall health of the forests. Since these forest survive, thrive, quite well with these diseases, indeed, perhaps in many ways along with them, it seems that the need to protect the wood from damage stems more from the need for “good lumber” than from the principles of forest stewardship. And, given that only about 4% of our forest products come from our national forests, perhaps it might be time to end commercial logging in our National Forests.
Logging, especially commercial logging, severely interrupts the balance which has sustained these forests for thousands of years. Areas that have been logged, even when partially logged, are much more open to the elements, wind, snow rain and heat, which may dry out the forest or blow down trees no longer protected in their natural stands. If one visits the forest, in any season, this is obvious. In summer the forest is cooler than areas without shade; in winter forests have less snow, and the snow melts slower in the spring, diminishing the dangers of flooding and providing water for the total ecosystem over a longer period of time.
In partial cuts, or shelter wood cuts, the logging also damages many of the trees left behind, which increases their susceptibility to diseases, such as Indian Paint fungus and mistletoe. This is why forest advocates call this partial cut prescription “slow motion clear cutting.” Besides damage to the actual trees, the soil is often compacted, inhibiting recovery; wildlife migrations are interrupted; biodiversity of flora and fauna are disrupted and often sacrificed; and the hydrology, the natural flow of water is altered, to name just a few of the most obvious.
Yet, we learned on this hike that there is much more to these forests, to the web of life than is obvious. Our Timber Sale Management practices often meddle in process vaguely understood, if not outright misunderstood. In this sale there is an irrigation ditch which provides water to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. This ditch, besides affecting the creeks below it, has caused unforseen problems with Frog Creek above it. According to Rolf, the streams in this area are accustomed to pulses of water at different times of year. By moderating the flow of the stream, Frog Creek is suffering from sediment buildup, normally flushed out during peak flows. This sediment, often a result of logging in the area, advesely affects the reproductive cycle of salmon by covering up their spawning grounds.
This sale was already challenged by Bark, and the Foresat Service subsequently reissued it, deleting some of the units. Remember, the comment period for the new Enviromental Assessment ends January 20, 2005. Check out Bark’s website for additional information concerning this sale.
These field trips are cablecast over local Public Access channels. This hike to the Berknoll sale should be the content for the February program. For a program schedule Bark For Mt. Hood
A 24 minute audio file of the hike includes music by John Rancher
Winter Ecology Tour
(New Content posted 12/15/04)
AUDIO FILE: GARY WEBB IN EUGENE OREGON, JANUARY 6, 1999.
After hearing about the recent death of investigative reporter Gary Webb, I searched my video tape archives and found a presentation he made in Eugene, Oregon in January of 1999.
Gary’s career in writing goes back to his high school days in Indianapolis, where he wrote for the school paper. Here he found his life’s work, and he details the event which brought him to this decision. An amusing anecdote, yet Webb weaves a philosophy from this and shoots it like an arrow into his present expose of CIA complicity in the crack epidemic detailed in his book, Dark Alliance
Webb states right off, “I do not believe, and I’ve never believed that the crack explosion was a conscious CIA conspiracy, or anybody’s conspiracy to decimate black America. I’ve never believed that south Central Los Angelus was targeted by the U.S. government to become the crack capital of the world. But that isn’t to say that the CIA, the US government’s hands are clean in this matter. Actually, far from it. After spending three years of my life looking in to this, I am more convinced than ever that the US governments responsibility for the drug problems in south central Los Angelus and other inner cities is greater than I wrote in the newspaper.
“But I think it’s important to differentiate between malign intent and gross negligence. And that’s an important distinction, because its what makes premeditated murder from manslaughter. That said, it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve got a body on the floor. And that’s what I want to talk about tonight, is the body.”
Webb discusses “how the collapse of a brutal pro American dictatorship in Latin America combined with a decision by corrupt CIA agents to raise money for a resistance movement by any means necessary led to the formation of the nations first major crack market in south central Los Angelus, which led to the arming and the empowering of L.A. street gangs, which led to the spread of crack to black neighborhoods across the country, and the passage of racially discriminatory sentencing laws that are locking up thousands of young black men today behind bars for most of their adult lives. But it’s not so much a conspiracy as a chain reaction. And that’s what my whole book is about.”
From here Webb goes on the explain in great detail the links in this chain. Webb was a meticulous researcher. His presentation style is direct and down to earth. I find it hard to believe that he would end his own life, that death offered the only viable option for him at that point in his life. His death, like so many who contest government activities, is suspicious, to say the least. Concerning this, I can only wait for further developments.
This 1999 event was video taped by Janet Marcley-Hayes, the widow of the late great Ace Hayes.Ace is best known for conducting the “Secret Government Seminars”, where he handed out large amounts of information in various subjects having to do with secret government activities. This sort of information has been marginalized and called “conspiracy theory,” yet over the years, much of what he spoke about has been subsequently proven to be fact. Ace was a “conspiracy realist,” and one of his favorite topics was CIA involvement in the drug trade, the story broke by Gary Webb.
Janet is cable casting these seminars through the facilities of Portland Community Media under the title American Revolutionary Television
Gary Webb’s remarks are about 39 minutes
Gary Webb
The remarks were followed by about 23 mintues of questions and answers.
Gary Webb Q & A
(New Content posted 09/30/04)
AUDIO FILE: A RETURN TO DEMOCRACY.
As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there’s a twilight where everything remains seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we must be aware of changes in the air, however slight, lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness. William O. Douglas, U.S. Supreme Court Justice(1939-1975)
With this quote, Thom Hartman begins the eighth chapter of his book, What Would Jefferson Do? A Return to Democracy. Hartmann is the author of numerous books, among them are, “Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance And The Theft Of Human Rights” and “The Last Hours Of Ancient Sunlight.” Since Hartmann was in town in October of last year he has written two more books. The opening quote was taken from the first of these two books; the second book is “We The People: A Call to Take Back America.”
Friday evening, September 24, 2004, at the First Unitarian Church in Portland Oregon, the author again visited Portland, his presentation drawing on his vast knowledge of American history and love of his country. This was an excellent presentation, which I have broken up into three segments unequal in length.
The first segment is 27 1/2 minutes in length. Here Hartmann lays the groundwork of the points he develops throughout the remainder of his talk, which lasted about an hour and 15 minutes. He speaks mainly about Corporate Personhood, how corporations have become the equal of individual persons, and by doing so have slowly gained control over many of the aspects of our lives.
Quoting from historical documents, Hartmann demonstrates how the famous Boston Tea Party wasn’t an act aimed at the British government so much as against the greed of the East India Company, a multi national corporation. He then develops the notion of the three tyrannies, as espoused by Thomas Jefferson. Hartman says: “It turns out that historically humans have always been governed….by warlord kings……the theocrats…….and rule by the rich, ….the shorthand definition of feudalism is rule by the rich.. What was significant about these three forms of government is that in each one of these three forms of governance……….the primary assumption was that the rights were held by the rulers.” The rulers decide what those privileges are, and they can change their minds, at any time.
Hartmann speaks much about the interaction between Jefferson, Madison, and many of the other Founding Fathers, their agreements and disagreements over many of the rights and privileges that comprise the Democracy we know today, and are in grave danger of surrendering. “Jefferson was of the opinion that simply by birth into the natural world, all living things had rights, and that those rights included the right to life, the right to liberty……and the pursuit of happiness.” This was in opposition to the common philosophy of the day, which professed, life, liberty and the ownership of private property. The Declaration of Independence was the first time in the creating and the founding document of any government in the history of civilization that the word happiness appeared.”
Following this, Hartman speaks about the Democracy inherent in Nature, as opposed to the generally accepted theory that the natural order in animals is to obediently follow the dominant animal, alpha male, alpha female.
REALMEDIA AUDIO
Thom Hartmann, Part1
MP3 AUDIO
Thom Hartmann, Part1
The second segment is 32 1/2 minutes in length. Here Hartmann briefly refers to the fact that in order to insure the new government against warlord kings, only Congress can declare war. Then he discusses the second tyranny, the theocrats and quotes from Jefferson’s diary concerning the clergy’s attempt to force George Washington into declaring his belief in the Christian religion. Hartmann says that Jefferson was not a religious man, but was deeply, intensely spiritual, as was Franklin.
Though not alone in the project, James Madison essentially created the Constitution, after studying every Constitution he could get his hands on for five years. Once the task was completed, he sent the finished document to Jefferson in France, where, in 1787, he was the U.S. Envoy to Paris. Jefferson wrote back praising the Constitution, admiring the fact that the President doesn’t have the power to make war and the division of power, among other things. Then he states: “And now I will tell you what I do not like about this Constitution. What I do not like about this is that it does not state explicitly…….the absolute primacy of human rights. It must absolutely assert human rights. And then he gives a list which is what is now the Bill of Rights. With two exceptions.”
The first exception arises from the fact that Jefferson had a great fear of standing armies during peacetime, saying that they “always got into mischief, sucking up the public purse and building power, and very often they end up overthrowing the governments which are their hosts….therefore we should have a militia.” The second exception is that we should have an absolute ban of monopolies in commerce. “Now a monopoly in commerce was a corporation doing more than one thing, living longer than the life span of a productive person, a corporation owning another corporation,…basically what he wanted to wrote into the Constitution a prohibition of anything even closely resembling the East India Company, ever raising its ugly head in North America.”
Hartman continues on, and finishes this segment discussing the Santa Clara County vs Southern Pacific Railroad case, where Corporations gained personhood. in 1886.
REALMEDIA AUDIO
Thom Hartmann, Part 2
MP3 AUDIO
Thom Hartmann, Part 2
The final segment, 16 1/2 minutes in length, discusses what can be done about this and what is being done. “There is a huge movement to do something about this right now, to rein in Corporate power, that is, to take these three tyrannies, and at least one of these three, the feudal power, that has claimed rights, and say ’sorry guys, you only have privileges,’ and put it back the way the Founders had originally intended. We’re going to return to Democracy.”
REALMEDIA AUDIO
Thom Hartmann, Part 3
MP3
Thom Hartmann, Part 3
(New Content posted 10/16/04)
AUDIO FILE: HEALTH EFFECTS OF WAR
This is the audio from a video produced from a powerpoint presentation composed by Physicians for Social Responsibility
Health Effects of War
(New Content posted 10/11/04)
AUDIO FILE: SUPERPATRIOTISM, SUPEREMPIRE.
A presentation by Michael Parenti at PSU on Wednesday, October 6, 2004.
I have broken the 70 minute or so talk into three unequal portions.
Parenti begins, “there is an enormous disparity between what Empires actually do and the way they are represented in history by their leaders and their apologists and their chroniclers. Empires are presented to us as creations of peace. They’re even given names of peace: Pax Romana; Pax Britanica; and we even hear of Pax Americana.”
He goes on to list the many attributes these Empires give themselves as represented in history, ….”often represented as selfless organizations, that bring order where there is disorder.” He adds that these Empires often represent themselves as having become established unintentionally, “the product of unconscious circumstance.” For example, “the British Empire was formed in a state of absent-mindedness….the U.S. was reluctantly thrust into the world of world leader, we found ourselves, this responsibility, this obligation has been put upon us.”
Having sufficiently established the view Empires have of themselves, Parenti continues to analyze the concept of Empire, stating that “in fact it’s the product of deliberate contrivance and manipulation, and very systematic force and interest involved.” He says that they are tremendously costly, “they cost more than they bring in, But it doesn’t matter because the profits go to one group and the costs go to another group. Empires are very profitable for their ruling elites and interest. And Empires are enormously costly for the common populace of the Imperial Nation. The Empire feeds off the resources of the Republic.”
Parenti then enumerate an incomplete list of the victories of the United States Empire, since World War 2. “…over the last 50 years the U.S. national security state has been a key force in overthrowing reformist, democratic governments in Guatemala; Guiana; the Dominican Republic; Brazil; Chile; Uruguay; Syria; Indonesia, under Sukarno; Greece twice; Argentina, twice; Haiti, twice, Haiti three times if you count a couple months ago; Bolivia; and other countries. And replaced them in each instance with pro capitalist military regimes, that open their resources, their markets and cheap labor to US corporate investors, on terms completely favorable to the investors…”
And further: “U.S. leaders have actively pursued covert actions or proxies mercenary wars against popular revolutionary governments in Cuba; Angola, Mozambique; Ethiopia, Portugal, SOUTH Yemen; Nicaragua; Cambodia; East Timor; Western Sahara; Iraq, and elsewhere.” Parenti then examines Iraq.
Towards the end of this first segment, Parenti states,”look at the fact that U.S. power has never been used to assist popular reformist governments or revolutionary movements of governments in any of these countries…never been used to assist broad, mass based revolutionary democratic agitation…the U.S. never gave them any help.”
He continues for a total of about 26 minutes.
Michael Parenti, Part 1
In the second segment, Parenti begins by looking at the role of U.S. Empire in Africa. He states that when progressive critics in America discuss U.S. Empire, they usually focus on Latin America. “But the story in Africa is really something. Through the World Bank and the IMF (International Monetary Fund)U.S. leaders have demolished African economies, including their public health and education sectors….most African nations have sunk into a debt structure that leaves them in peonage to western investors. U.S. leaders have also fueled 11 wars on the African continent since 1950, resulting in the death of some seven million people, with millions more facing starvation and ever deepening poverty. That’s why the Africans are so poor. It’s not that they can’t get it together………It’s because of the way they’ve been ravaged and stripped and forced down today. Washington has given arms and military training to 50 African countries, that is to the ruling elites and thugs who rule in 50 different countries. There is only 53 countries in all of Africa, so you see how they try to lock down the whole continent. All of this has helped Africa to become the most war torn region in the world.”
“The more war ravaged, the more poverty stricken the African nations become, the more they are ready to sell their labor and their abundant natural resources at rock bottom prices to the U.S. and other investors. Almost 80% of the strategic minerals that the U.S. requires are extracted from Africa.”
This segment continues for a total of about 20 minutes total.
Michael Parenti, Part 2
In the third and final segment, Parenti begins by discussing Iraq. “There are three basic reasons for U.S. intervention in Iraq, and these are the same three reasons that dictate U.S. interventions most elsewhere.
There’s first the systemic monopoly…the need to impose and maintain a global free market system. Iraq had an economy that was completely publically owned…..was self defining, self developing, not completely a free market client state.”
“Second, Iraq was also a bad example to other countries in the region that might want to be self defining. That’s the same reason the U.S. invaded Grenada, remember, in the Carribean…..we went in there…to serve notice to every other nation in the Carribean, that if you try this course, this is what will come down on you. If you get rid of these corrupt leaders who are our buddies…if you start doing these other kinds of subversive things like health care programs and new farming cooperative programs and all that, this is what you’re gonna get. And today Grenada’s unemployment is up 40% since the U.S. invasion. And those farming cooperatives have been turned into golf courses for the rich tourists….And the poorer you can keep people, the hungrier you can keep them, the harder they will work for less and less, and the richer I get. The more they will turn over their country to you.” So Iraq was a bad example…had the highest standard of living in the middle east…Iraq was taking a different course, other countries might get the same Idea.”
Third, in the case of Iraq, there’s that straight old colonization resource plunder consideration. Direct colonizing, grabbing the riches of the country. Iraq has 115 billion barrels of fine quality crude. At $50 a barrel, we’re talking close to 4-5 trillion dollars. I submit to you ladies and gentleman, that’s not a narrow economic interest….it’s the biggest oil grab in the history of the world. It’s a humongous, broad interest.
At this point Parenti speaks about the old ploy of Empire: Fear. “What the Empire does is that it teaches our fellow citizens to have a competitive, nationalistic, egoistic view of the virtues of their country. And it teaches them to live in fear. Fear of internal menaces, fear of external menaces.” He then quotes from a book describing how the Roman Empire used this ploy and draws parallels with current U.S. policy. This segment continues for a total of about 19 minutes.
Parenti was extremely illuminating, especially concerning the actual agenda of U.S. policies. Michael’s style is, as usual, animated, humorous and at times sarcastic. This presentation will be presented on Community Television in the future, sometime before the end of the year. Check out T.V. Schedule for scheduling.
Michael Parenti, Part 3
(New Content posted 10/03/04)
AUDIO FILE: OCTOBER 3 PORTLAND PEACE RALLY AND MARCH
Sunday, October 3, 2004, the citizens of Portland Oregon filled the streets to protest the ongoing Occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. Estimates vary, but there were at least 3000-5000 people marching through the streets, with signs, chants and a love for Democracy and Humanity.
This is a 40 minute audio file of the speakers who addressed the crowd before the March took to the streets. Among the speakers were Annette Broussard and Sean Cruz from Military Families Speak Out; Pastor Leroy Hayes; a veteran of 1991 Desert Storm, representing Veterans for Peace, local 17; and Keynote Speaker, Barbara Dudley, professor of Political Science at Portland State University. These are just the names I remember. A couple speakers spoke about fair housing issues, another about Palestine and the School of the Americas.
Barbara Dudley spoke last, but not least, for about 10 minutes. She gives a concise analysis of the situation in Iraq, speaking about the farce of the upcoming elections in January, as well as the decling morale of the soldiers over there. “Their tours of duty have been extended time and time again. The White House does not want these soldiers home before the election. Too many of them are disillusioned with the war, and their disillusionment would spread like a virus through their families and their hometowns……According to a story in USA Today this week, more than 1/3 of the individual ready reserves being reactivated for duty in Iraq have failed to report on time.”
“There is nothing postive that can come from continued occupation of Iraq. We are not preventing civil wear, we are only fueling it.”
Thanks to all those who took time out to speak their minds and demonstrate that there are many Americans who value life, all life; who value the principles upon which this country was founded, if not consistantly honor; who value the earth and the many diverse cultures of the earth and who take seriously the responsibilties inherent in the privileges of wealth and liberty we all enjoy.
For photos of the march go to: Indymedia Newspost
October 3 Peace Rally
(New Content posted 08/02/04)
AUDIO FILE: LET’S STOP BEATING AROUND THE BUSH
Jim Hightower appeared at the Baghdad this evening, August 2, 2004, stumping for his latest book, “Let’s Stop Beating Around the Bush.” He delivered his characteristic fare, great wit, affable but biting sarcasm, astute political observations about current administration policies, as well as sound advice about how to deal with these “Thieves in High places,” the title of his last book.
Hightower speaks about his new book, and so directs his remarks to uprooting the Bush administration, which he calls “the forces of ignorance and arrogance.” The first chapter of his book he speaks about is the chapter, “Bean Bush.” He quotes a little from this chapter: (Speaking about George Bush.)”It just seems like such a joyous, ethereal kind of existance, almost existential. Reality never intrudes into his consciousness. His own lies, including the big whoppers, seem sincerely to be believed; irony never strikes his noggin; hypocrisy, he hugs it, like an old trusted friend; doubt never darkens the door of his absolute certainty; and introspection is something he thinks happens when you take your car in for a check up. But for all his back slapping affability, King George the “W” is the front man for the most destructive regime in your and my lifetime.” He then recites a litany of Bush Administraton outrages aginst our Democracy. “In three and a half years these people have defoliated our environmental protections; They have looted our public treasury of hundereds of billions of dollars, for nothing more noble than to give the money away to their wealthiest campaign contributors, before any other national need was even contemplated; they have taken a sledge hammer to our Bill of Rights to our Civil Liberties; they’ve launched a class war, not merely against the poor folks but against the middle class as well; they’ve attempted to castrate labor unions; they are trying to privatize evertything from the Post Office to Social Security; and now they have launched us into a maniacal, messianic, testosterone driven global war to make the world safe for Halliburton. Now, imagine what they would be doing if they had actually won the election. And now imagine what they will do if they win this election.”
This is the crux of his book, and his message. Oust the Bush regime. In order to do this, we must take advantage of the only tool we have at our disposal: John Kerry. He doesn’t seem at all pleased with Kerry, and says that on November 3rd, we must hold his feet to the fire, much as Dennis Kucinich was saying a short while ago. This is also one of the reasons Ralph Nader gives for deciding to run again in ‘04. To not only provide alternative views and debate, but push the Democratic Party away from its ocurrent pitiful centrist position.
“What we have here are a bunch of people who are zealously attempting to remake our America, our Democracy, into their corporate image, a plutocracy, autocracy, and empire. Now this has been a trend, the rise of corporate over our peoples Democracy, been a trend for some 25 odd years, but the Bushites are in for the kill. This is the first adminstration in our lifetime that’s not merely in service to corporate power,…..these people are a corporate power.” Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, cabinet officers and mid level managers, “they all come out of the executive suite or corporate boardrooms. And what they are doing is not merely twisting a knob here or pulling a lever there, they are shifting the very fundamentals of our country without you and me approving it or even being consulted. They are changing America.”
Hightowwer then talks a little about what America is. “It is the pursuit of egalitarianism. We’vbe been striving to get there. We haven’t got there by any means, but we’ve been trying for 225 odd years. And thanks to the Abolistionists and the Suffragists and the Populists and the labor movement and the Civil Rights movements, women’s rights movements, environemntal movements over the decades we’ve been getting closer. But this is the great crime of these people. They are saying that we no longer have to strive towards egalitarianism. Indeed they say that we’ll just take care of the good fortunes of the few and wpn’t have to wory about the well being of the many. They get to thinking that they are the top dogs and we’re just a bunch of fire hydrants out here.”
It’s our very values that are at stake, and when I say values, I don’t mean those Family Values, so loudly preached but rarely practiced by the Rush Limbaughs and Newt Gingrichs and William Bennetts and the other goober heads of the kookie right. I mean the FOUNDING VALUES of our Nation.”
Hightower then goes on to list the three main Values of our Nation. “Economic fairness, that’s in our gut, from kindergarten forward, we got that one. Social justice, that’s in our heart, its rarely appealed to, but its there. Equal opportunity for all, that’s what America is.” He then quotes Benjimen Franklin: the destiny of America is not power; it’s light.” And, according to Hightower, in speaking about Washington D.C., our problem is “too many 5 watt bulbs in 100 watt sockets.”
During his remarks, Hightower mentions an organization, the Apollo Alliance which “is building a broad coalition within the labor, environmental, business, urban, and faith communities in support of good jobs and energy independence. They are developing public education campaigns and communications strategies to link allies and build a national constituency for a bold, broad based, and immediate program of public policy.(Taken from their website.) Hightower encouraged the audience to research these good folks and perhaps join them in their movement.
This presentation skillfully mixed some of his previous material with fresh material, fresh insights and information, but Hightowerss message comes through loud and clear, as usual. It’s up to the people themselves to protect and defend this Democracy from forces seeking to undermine it out of greed and stupidity.
This audio file is about 33 minutes in length. Well worth the listen.
Let’s Stop Beating Around the Bush
(New Content posted 06/24/04)
FCC COMMISSIONERS SPEAK AT MEDIA TOWN HALL.
This Evening, June 24, 2004, a Town Hall was held at the Portland Convention Center entitled “The Portland Town Hall On the Future of the Media. This event began at 5:30, and as I write this at 10:30, the public testimony is still being aired on Community Television, channel 30. An ambitious project, presented by Free Press, in partnership with the City Club of Portland; the Communication Workers of America, Local 7901; Jobs WIth Justice; the Money in Politics Research Project; the Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission; and the American Federation of Musicians, Local 99
This first part of the event was moderated by Jo Ann Bowman, who introduced two FCC Commissioners, Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein. This is a 20 minute file of the remarks by the two Commissioners. Many other people spoke, and later I’ll post more of what others had to say about the dangers faced by our Democracy due to media consolidation.
FCC Commissioners Copps and Adelstein
(New Content posted 05/22/04)
AUDIO FILE: AGAINST NUCLEAR WEAPONS.
At the First Unitarian Church, on May 15th, 2004 two speakers addressed the issue of nuclear weapons. The first to speak was Jonathan Schell, Professor at Wesleyan University and Peace Fellow at the Nation Institute. Author of numerous books, including “The Fate of the Earth” and most recently, “The Unconquerable World – Power, Nonviolence and the Will of the People”.
Schell is director of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute , an organization founded by Helen Caldicot, who was the second speaker at this lecture.
After introductions by a member of the Women In League For Peace and Freedom , we first heard some remarks by a veteran who served in the first Gulf War. In February 1991 he was in southern Iraq with the 24th Infantry Division. The tank in which he was serving was stationed on highway 8, the road between Baghdad and Basra, and their orders were to stop anyone traveling along that road. They soon engaged two trucks on the road, hitting one which exploded and splashed burning fuel on the remaining truck, whose occupants immediately exited their vehicle on fire.
“Now, the human reaction we all have when we see someone who is in a life threatening situation…is to help them, to get a fire extinguisher, a blanket, anything you can do to get them immediate medical care. But the military reaction is something entirely different. What they do to train you in the military is react to the threat. And that’s what we did……We opened fire with our machine guns and cut them all down. It was a moment which ended those people’s lives and changed mine and those who I served with forever.”
A few days later he found himself in his tent with a 45 caliber pistol in his mouth wondering whether or not to pull the trigger. At this point he came to a realization “that it doesn’t matter how justified a war might be, it doesn’t matter what the politicians say or that they think this is the right thing to do. No matter how justified a war might be it is always an atrocity. And so the work I am doing with Jonathan, Helen and others is dealing witht he ultimate atrocity, which is nuclear war. And that’s why we brought them here tonight, to talk about what could happen; both the horror of what could happen, but also the hope of what we can do to prevent it from happening.”
The veteran then introduced Jonathan Schell, who opened up his remarks speaking about “the context in which we need to consider the nuclear question these days. Throughout the nuclear age there has been a very strong tendency for this issue to exist in a kind of weird isolation from other matters…..it seeems to exist in some other sphere outsside human experience….. And so I think it’s especially important to try to set it in it’s larger context, and here we have really revolutionary changes in nuclear policy in recent years.”
From here he speaks a little about recent news about the U.S. torture atrocities in Iraq, and CIA complicity in “disappearing” people. “When it comes to justifying torture…….what would you do if there were a sort of ticking terrorist nuclear bomb, and you had some terrorist suspect in your hands and you could extract that information only through torture? My point here is that the nuclear danger has been invoked to sanction or rationalize these horrendous acts……….If we once accept the idea that because we are in danger, as we are, and as we have been throughout the whole nuclear age, if we accept that nuclear danger, the prospect that a city could be destroyed, or what ever, can be a sanction for abandoning our human decency, for tearing up our laws , for surrendering our liberties and our Constitution, then there is no limit to how far that can go.”
He then reminded us that “this entire, crazy war” in Iraq began with Weapons of Mass Destruction…..So the nuclear weapon is moving once again in a very new context, a new era, into the dead center of affairs, and it’s become, in my opinion, a kind of axle on which policy is once again revolving.”
Schell then defines that policy as “the ambition of the United States to become a global empire, a hegemonic power dominating the world with it’s incredible military force.” He then refers to how this is accepted, even among the left, the “bleeding heart imperialists,” as well as among the “cold hearted imperialists.” He then goes on to discuss this fantastic unprecedented concentration of power in the White House specifically and more generally in the Republican Party, and traces this back prior to the 911 terrorist attack on the U.S. which provided a wide justification for much of the policies implementing the imperialist agenda.
He then cites examples of the institutional abuse of this power: the attempted impeachment of Clinton for entirely frivolous reasons, and again in Florida, when the President was selected by the Supreme Court, not the citizens of the United States. “Unilateralism did not begin in Iraq, it began in Florida.” And further, in the gerremandering of congressional districts in Texas and other places, and the “electronic voting machine business that is so perilous to our Democracy….It’s kind of march through our institutions, a kind of creeping coup that is taking place if we don’t stop it.”
Schell next disusses corporate control, especially “the slavish media who parrrot the government view of this war, as well as other matters.”
I found this to be an extremely illuminating presentation. This synopsis barely outlines the depth and range of his remarks, and only covers less than the first half of his lecture, which is about 25 minutes in length. Well worth the listen!
This entire audio file, is about 30 minutes in length.
Jonathan Schell
(New Content posted 05/11/04)
THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULERS.
On Saturday afternoon, May 8, 2004, Amy Goodman, award winning journalist and host of Democracy Now! appeared at the Bagdhad Theatre in Portland Oregon as part of an 80 city book tour for her first book, “The Exception to the Rulers,” co authored by her brother, David Goodman.
Democracy Now! is aired over numerous community radio stations and Public Access television stations nationwide.
Portland Community Media
Multnomah COmmunity Television
Amy spoke for an hour, about the importance of alternative media, concluding with her first hand experience of the massacre in East Timor, where over 250 people, men women and children, were murdered by the Indonesian army.
This event was covered by Kellie La Bonty, who also contributed to this production.
Amy Goodman
(New Content posted 05/4/04)
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION IN OUR OWN BACKYARD.
On April 21, 2004, the most recent in a continuing series of Community Action Forums was held at Portland State University on the topics of Weapons of Mass Destruction in our own Backyard. Four speakers addressed the gathering on topics as particular as the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington and Umatilla Chemical Depot in Umatilla Oregon and as general as the latest information on the use of Depleted Uranium in munitions which have been used and are currently being used in Iraq.
Speakers for the evening in order of appearance were:
Paige Knight of Hanford Watch, update on current issues at Hanford and trucking of radiation waste through Oregon.
Rhett Lawrence from OSPIRG, speaks on the current status at Umatilla Chemical Depot.
Leuren Moret, independent scientist & international expert on radiation and public health issues. Wrote the scientific report for the U.N. Human Rights Subcommission and will speak on depleted uranium use off the coast of Washington and in Iraq.
And Catherine Thomasson, Physicians for Social Responsibility made a power point presentation on international treaties governing WMD Dept of Human Services, Human Health and Preparedness. Unfortunately, there were some technical difficulties with this part of the evening’s program, and this audio file cannot be included with the others.
For an audio file of the first three presentations in one file:
Weapons of Mass Destruction In Our Backyard
(New Content posted 04/28/04)
AUDIO FILE: AMBITION OF EMPIRE
Teuesday evening, April 27, 2004, at Portland State University, two speakers addressed a gathering of about 300-400 people on the topic: “Ambition Of Empire, The Radical Reconstruction of Iraq’s Economy and the Making of a Quagmire.” First to speak was Antonia Juhasz; second was Greg Palast, both in town on book tour.
Antonia Juhasz is the author of “Does Globalization Help the Poor?” Her article “Ambition of Empire,’ from which much of the evening’s presentation was taken, was just nominated for a Project Censored award.
“Antonia has an exceptional ability to weave diverse themes into a coherent and forceful call to action. She’s an analyst and writer with the International Forum on Globalization, and directs several IFG programs, including Alternatives to Economic Globalization, Globalization and the Commodification of Water, and Media Outreach. Antonia is an expert on international trade and investment agreements, from the World Trade Organization to the Free Trade Area of the Americas……both a policy expert and a grassroots organizer.”
Excellent presentation. She connects up the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq with worldwide Global Free Trade.
Audio file is 32 minutes in length.
Antonia Juhasz
Next Greg Palast addressed the audience. Greg Palast is the author of “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy.” Just a few days ago he released an “expanded election edition” of his book The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: The Truth about Corporate Cons, Globalization and High-Finance Fraudsters. The book contains new material just in time for an election season shaping up to be a bloodbath.
Palast’s remarks were punctuated with his characteristic wit, humor and sarcasm. He delighted the crowd, weaving old and new material together in an educational and entertaining presentation. His remarks cover the 2000 Florida election fraud, as well as the situation in Iraq.
Also about 30 minutes in length.
Greg Palast
(New Content posted 04/14/04)
AUDIO FILE: TWO SPEAKERS FROM COLOMBIA
On April 6, 2004 two speakers from COlombia appeared at Portland State University to discuss the conditions in their country. Luis Cardona, of SINALTRAINAL, the Coke Workers Union; and Miguel Cifuentes, of the Cimatarra River Valley Peasant Asasociation.
From the flyer for the event:
“Colombia is the deadliest country in the world to be a union organizer. Half of the grads of the School of the Americas in Ft. Benning Georgia now go to one country: Colombia. Colombia is one of five main U.S. military aid targets in the world, where there is a 40-year old civil war as well as the Bush Administration’s Drug War.”
Some articles from Indymedia on this issue:
International Boycott of Coke Launched
Coca-Cola boycott launched after killings at Colombian plants
Boycott/Girlcott Coca Cola
This audio file is 20 minutes in length
Miguel Cifuentes
This audio file is 35 minutes in length
Luis Cardona
(New Content posted 03/20/04)
AUDIO FILE: PORTLAND OREGON MARCH 20 RALLY AND MARCH
Portland Oregon joined scores of cities all over the world to protest the ongoing occupation of Iraq and Palestine, and to proclaim that there is a better way to conduct oneself towards other human beings.
The mc for the program was Laurie King of Portland Jobs With Justice who began with some statistics of what was going on elsewhere in the world before introducing the various speakers.
First to speak was Marvin Simmons of NW Veterans for Peace This group formed because of the first Gulf War in 1991, and is still working to assist Veterans. Following Marvin were three women: Ann whose son is now in Tikrit in the Gulf; Tina, who lost her oldest son in the 1991 Gulf War; and finally Deb, who is a Veteran of Desert Storm. Deb was followed by Grant Revington, president of the Veterans for Peace, chapter 72, which includes Oregon and Washington.
A couple websites:
Veterans for Peace
Iraq Coalition Casualty Count
United for Peace and Justice
Following Grant, Laurie introduced the Keynote Speaker, Ramon Ramiriz, of Northwest Tree Planters and Farm Workers United. Ramon spoke of a recent criticizm by Republican Rep. Jim Croft concerning this Mobilization This Representative questioned: “how dare those people oppose our troops.” Ramon retorted: “Shame on you. Those are not your troops, those are our people, working people, people of color, African Americans, immigrants, Mejicanos, Guatemaltecos, those are our people that are fighting. Those aren’t your people; those are our people.”
After his remarks, the gathering marched up Broadway towards the offices of the Oregonian, where a speaker addressed the issue of Israeli brutalities against the Palestinian people, and U.S. complicity in these crimes. She asked that the U.S. government be indicted for funding that brutal occupation, to the tune of almost 4 billion dollars a year; she asked that U.S. corporations be indicted, those that profit from Israels violent occupation; she asked that George Bush be indicted for calling the war criminal, Ariel Sharon, a man of peace. “Without U.S. backing the Occupation would come to a halt.”
Next the march stopped at the Federal Building and heard a few remarks by Barbara Dudley, professor of Political Science at P.S.U. Barbara said that she was at the event to represent all the teachers who are trying to teach about Democracy. “The USA Patriot Act, which is enforced in this building right here, is based on as big a lie as the war in Iraq is based. The lie is that in order to protect Democracy we have to give up civil liberties. Civil liberties are Democracy; without the right to dissent there is no Democracy.”
This was an inspiring day. People stood up and out against the Lie, the Dissemulating Media, the Cowardice at the heart of a system of government easily purchased and corrupted. The pall of deceit, the superficial veneer of false patriotism, the flimsy veil of puny bravado is slowly being striped away, showing the present administration in its true light, a light which has cast dark shadows upon the American soldier, the American worker, the American student, the American family.
As Grant, the Veteran for Peace, said: “Dissent Protects Democracy.” Yes it does, and the world has demonstrated that it is willing to stand up and protects its own, will stand up and demand that their bothers, sisters, children, all those who have been put in harms way be brought home. Portland did it’s part, yet as Ramon Ramirz says “we have mmuch more work to do.”
Audio file about 30 minutes in length.
Portland March 20 Rally and March
(New Content posted 03/11/04)
AUDIO FILE: THE FAILURE OF THE WTO-THE UNDERLYING ISSUES OF THE FREE TRADE DEBATE
This is a presentation given by Barbara Dudley, professor of Political Science at Portland State University. The topic was: the underlying issues of the free trade debate. With the WTO and the FTAA in polical limbo, is the Neoliberal agenda in trouble? What are the broader political and economic implications of the developing countries’ revolat against the Washington consensus? Can we find common ground in shaping a new agenda?
Barbara has appeared in various venues around Portland for at least the last three years, sharing her knowledge and perspective about the subject of Global Free Trade. More recently, she has been addressing the failures of the International Global Free Trade meetings to reach agreements, first in Seattle, then in Cancun, and finally last November at the Free Trade Area of the Americas meeting in Miami.
All these various past presentations were distilled down into a cogent and smooth accessment of the situation facing the world at the present time. As Barbara states towards the end of her 40 minute talk: “we are living through one of the more interesting, if not most interesting, political moment that we’ve been in in my lifetime. And what’s going to develop over the next three to four years, in terms of the trade agreement and the trade agenda of the developing countries is going to tell us alot about the future of the world.”
“When I teach about the W.T.O. here at PSU, I find it very useful to begin by reading the US. Constitution as a trade agreement, because, in many ways, that’s what it was. It was an attempt to take something, 13 states, 14 or fifteen by the time it was ratified, and take those states that had been as separate as the European states before the European Union was formed and bring them into a free trade zone. So that this country could grow economically on a continent wide basis. That was the vision of the Founding Fathers.” She continues, describing how each state had their own tariffs, did not necessarily recognize each others contracts, and even, in some instances, had their own currency.
From here Barbara moves slowly up to the present day, through the Reagan era, discussing how this trade agreement, known as the U.S. Constituion, gradually became the template for a planetary free trade zone. She goes into a fair amount of detail concerning the failures in Seattle, Cancun and Miami, and finishes her remarks with a few conjectures concerning the possible future of the W.T.O.
An educational, interesting and very well developed presentation, which lasts about 40 minutes. This will give one a fair idea of what Globalization is all about, and why it is in direct opposition to the emergence of Democracy on a planetary scale.
(New Content posted 02/16/04)
AUDIO FILE: RUSS REDNER, SPEAKING AT THE PELTIER MARCH IN TACOMA WASHINGTON, 2/7/04.
Redner, long time activist for Native American sovereignty and treaty rights issues, first addresses divisions within the Native Community driven by a recent trial in Rapid City S.D. Here a federal jury convicted Arlo Looking Cloud in the 1975 execution-style slaying of Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, thought by some at the time to be a government informant against the American Indian Movement.This is a long story, and here are a few links for those who are interested.
First Nations Issues of Consequence.
Black Mesa Indigenous Support
News From Indian Country
The rally took place after a 2 1/2 mile march from Portland Park to the downtown section of Tacoma. This is short video, 2 1/2 minutes, of the walk and a clip of Redner speaking to the gathering.
DSL/CABLE Stream
56K Stream
Redner says that Native peoples are pointing the fingers at one another and playing the game of the colonial masters. “I am here to say that as a long time activist that we can no longer play these colonial games. We have to begin to trust each other, because what we are after has nothing to do with the colonial system. It has to do with out liberation; it has to do with the pledges of our ancestors; it has to do with righting the many wrongs that has been purpitrated against us by a system, and by all the people who claim allegience to this system. In that regard we have to begin to think in terms of being de-colonized.”
“We are a free people; we have always been a free people. Our lands right now are no different than what’s going on in the Middle East. We are occupied! Just because we are occupied does not mean that we have to give up; it does not mean that we have to stop resisting.”
He then speaks of being in Mexico when the Zapatistas Liberation Army marched into Mexico City, and gives a description of their matriarchial organization. “The Comondantes who are the leaders of that movement, which is a global movement…are the grandmothers. There are 12 Commondantes, representing 12 districts, twelve fires. And they are the ones who determine the leadership, the leaders such as Marcos and others are accountable to the clan mother system. And the clan mother system represents the nation.” He says that he brings this up in regards to the death of Anne Mae Aquash. For, “whatever side you choose to support, Anna Mae Aquash was a native woman. It is a shameful day when we lose sight of the focus of the greater struggle and begin to act in a colonial manner, and take the lives of our own mothers.”
Redners words are specifically directed to the Native Community, yet speak deeply to all resistance against all oppresion, everywhere. We all have much to learn from those who walk the Red Road, as they have been at war with this colonial war machine for five centuries; they have suffered the genocide, the attempted stripping away of their language, their religion, their ceremonies, all that which makes them who they are. Throughout Turtle Island, their traditional culture has survived and is growing stronger. They are in resistance to the “suicide culture,” as David Korten calls it, which today has more subtle methods, colonizing our food and seeking to dominate the planet through control of trade, patents and information.
This audio file continues for a total of about 30 minutes.
Russ Redner
(New Content posted 02/07/04)
AUDIO FILE: KELLY WHITE, CANADA FIRST NATIONS, SPEAKING STRONG AT THE lEONARD PELTIER MARCH
Kelly White, well known Canadian First Nation woman, was one of a number of speakers at the Free Leonard Peltier Rally held at the Courhouse steps after a march from Portland Park, about 2 1/2 miles from the downtown section of Tacoma Washington. Leonard Peltier is a Native American political prisoner, who has been in jail for 28 years, in the death of two F.B.I. agents who were killed on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota in 1975.
Free Leonard Peltier
She spoke strong for her people, for all people in resistance to oppression. She ennumerates many of these people and their struggles, punctuating her English with words from her native Canadian tongue. “For all the relations who support our campaign, and the global community for demanding justice for the murdered and the missing women in our communities and the hearts of our cities and the unnatural tentacles of the so called free world. In the spirit of total resistance of Leonard Peltier and all that he has given us; in the spirit of Anna May Aquash and the strength that she has given us and will forever…..”
During the majority of her talk she plays her hand drum, and accompanied by the rhythmic clapping of the people, journeys them along to a fresh perception of justice and revolution.
Audio file about 12 minutes in length.
Kelly White
re
(New Content posted 01/29/04)
AUDIO FILE: KLAMATH BASIN WATER AND TRIBAL RIGHTS
The 9th annual Environmental Justice Conference, organized by the Coalition Against Environmental Racism, was held in Eugene Oregon over the week end of January 23-25, 2004.
Saturday afternoon I attended a panel entitled Klamath Basin Water and Tribal Rights. This is an audio report of the two speakers from that panel.
The first speaker was Don Gentry, of the Klamath Tribe.After playing a song on his flute and saying a prayer in his language, he spoke of the history of his people and the area which they share with two other tribes, those to the south and those to the east.
He laid a little foundation for what the next speaker had to say, focusing on “the living and thriving community of Native Americans where we are at. And, despite everything that has happened to us with the loss of our reservation over time, parts of our lifestyle and culture are still there, the hunting, fishing, gathering lifestyle that allowed us to survive, even Mt. Mazama blowing and creating Crater Lake. Those parts of our culture are still alive are valued today. We are still linked to our natural resources.”
He speaks of the establishment of his reservation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs management of it, and the loss of that Reservation which is now managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Yet, “we still hunt, fish, we gather; we still have legends we try to teach our people. And we’re trying to bring forth, with everything that’s coming against us, the things that are important and will allow us to survive into the future.”
He then goes into a history of his people, “how the treaty was established and the reservation was formed, and how the land has changed until we’re in the postion that we are in now. And give folks an understanding of why we have treaty rights even.”
Many non Indians question why Native people’s have these special rights, and this is especially the case when there is a battle over natural resources, such as whaling with the Macah, fishing rights in Washington state, or the recent struggle over access to water here in the Klamath basin. “I feel that it’s important for people to understand where we are coming from and the o nly thing we ask as a tribal people is that you consider our rights, so to speak. I believe the Creator placed us where we are at. Our legends have us created there. We’ve been in that basin according to archeological evidence for 14 thousand years.”
Don speaks eloquently and with passion for his people, and for a way of life they are struggling to maintain and prosper. He continues to speak for about a total of 20 minutes, setting the stage for the next speaker who will give a history of water usage in the area. Though the tribes reserved first rights of the water to themselves and the needs of their culture, the government slowly permitted developing needs to compete or eclipse the aboriginal rights of the Klamath tribe.
Don Gentry
The second to speak was Bud Ullman, an attorney for the tribe. He says that he wants “to deal with two matters having to do with land and water issues in the Klamath Basin from the standpoint of the Klamath tribes….First of all I want to deal with overappropriation of the water resource.” According to Ullman, “there have been committments made to Indian people’s that have been overwhelmed by subsequent committments to other people and all of them add up to more committments of water than Nature gives us….”
“The second thing I want to talk about is the experience in the Klamath Basin with disparaging resource related communities, particularly the Indian community and the really unfortunate precipitation of violence that occurred there two years ago.”
The goal of the treaty of 1864 was two fold: it wanted to open the area for settlement, but also to preserve the self sufficiency of the Indians people of the area. “This included a promise to continued access to fish and wildlife resources on which they depended, and a promise of enough water to support those resources….These were reservations made by the Indian people with the assent and the guarantee of the United States of rights that the tribal people always had.” This promise was to the Klamath in the north and the Karuk, Hoopa and Yurok tribes, which were the Federally recognized tribes on the California end of the river.
Over the course of the next century or so, other demands were made of the precious water resource, “to anybody who would do that hard work of homesteading in an arid land.” No attempt was made to reconcile these new demands with the treaty promises given to the native peoples of the area. “On top of that, the states of Oregon and California undertook their own water permitting systems in addition to the water permitting system that the U.S. had developed….these systems continue today unreconciled with the earlier committments of water that had been made to Native people……nor is their a system reconciling the state and federal water permiting system in the Klamath irrigation project.”
Two more demands were soon made of the water. The next was a hydroelectric system on the Klamath River, consisting of six dams, which, although these are not consumers of water, they have a great impact on the water quality and the timing of the flows, affecting the fisheries. And, “the construction of the dams completely extirpated the anadromous fish from the upper Klamath Basin….which at one time were the third largest run of anadromous fish on the west coast.” Again, this demand was added to existing demands with no attempt to reconcile them.
“And finally, the wildlife refuges. The Klamath Basin hosts about 80% of the birds on the Pacific flyway in the course of a year…..here again is another committment that has been made to keep these Refuges lively as refuges, that has not been reconciled with the other committments of water in the Basin.”
From here Bud talks about the second point of his presentation, the process of demonizing the “sucker fish,” and from there the people whose subsistance lifestyle depended upon them. A process that soon led to violence and discrimination and the endictment of some local people on hate crime charges.
This file is about 30 minutes in length.
Bud Ullman
(New Content posted 01/17/04)
AUDIO FILE: DERRICK JENSEN IN PORTLAND
On Saturday, January 10, 2004, Derrick Jensen, activist and award winning author spoke in Portland to an enthusiastic gathering of about 350 people at the First Unitarian Church. His earlier books include: Older Than Words; The Culture of Make Believe; Listening To the Land; Railroads and Clearcuts. A prolific writer, Derrick has recently released: Strangely Like War: the Global Assault on Forests; Walking on Water: Reading, Writing, and Revolution; and,The Other Side of Darkness
His presentation was both witty and humorous, demonstrating a wide and free ranging wisdom, as well as a decent grasp of the work of many prominent authors. Often spontaneously wandering off in all directions, he most usually navigated the crowd back to where he left off. Usually, and this is a matter of opinion.
For a critique of his presentation, and a fair amount of comments, many having to do with the question of violence can be found at:
Portland Indymedia
In this presentation,Derrick Jensen, discussed the book upon which he is presently working, a book on how to take down civilization. “One of the first rules of any propagandist is, what you want to do is, slide your premisses by people, If you can slide your premisses by them, you’ve got them…….so what I’m doing in my new book is, I’m going through and putting my premisses in bold face, I don’t want to slide them by people, I want to make them as explicit as posible so we can have this discussion.”
Derrick enumerates fifteen of these premisses. “The first premise of the book is that civilization is not and can never be sustainable.” Premise number two is that traditional communities do not of their own volition give up or sell the land and resources upon which their community is based. Three is that our way of life is based, requires, widespread violence.
The entire talk is woven around these 15 premisses. Due to the length of his remarks, I have broken them up into three segments. This first segment is 23 minutes in length.
Derrick Jensen, Part 1
This second segment begins with the fourth premise, and is 29 minutes in length.
Derrick Jensen, Part 2
The third section is 19 minutes in length. Here he goes into an interesting discussion of love and hope.
Derrick Jensen, Part 3
(New Content posted 12/27/03)
AUDIO FILE: HOWARD LYMAN ON MAD COW DISEASE
Howard Lyman, author of the book, “Mad Cowboy” is a fourth generation cattle rancher from Montana. Quoting from his website: “I was educated in modern agriculture, and I can tell you from firsthand experience — it is not sustainable. I followed all the modern advice and turned a small organic family farm into a large corporate chemical farm with a thousand range cows, five thousand head of cattle in a factory feedlot, thousands of acres of crops, and as many as thirty employees. I saw the organic soil go from a living, productive base to a sterile, chemical-saturated, mono-cultural ground produced by my so-called modern methods.”
In 1979 Howard found that he had a tumor on his spinal cord, paralyzing him from the waist down. He attributes this condition to the chemicals involved in the modern farming methods he had adopted.
Again. from his website: “I promised myself that, whatever the outcome of the surgery, I would dedicate the rest of my life to doing what I believed to be right — no matter what changes that necessitated.The period before and after the surgery gave me much time to think about the changes resulting form my methods of farming. Convinced that we were going the wrong way, I decided to become a voice for the family farmer and the land. In 1983, I sold most of my farm and started working for farmers in financial trouble. This led to my working for the Montana Farmers Union and from there to Washington, D.C. as a lobbyist for the National Farmers Union.”
I reached Howard at his home in West Virginia after the Christmas holiday, and he graciously took the time to answer a few questions. Before his illness, Howard discovered brain disease in his cattle and started paying attention to what was going on in England at that time, their problems with what later became called Mad Cow Disease. In 1986 they first discovered the disease and by 1990 it was an epidemic, due to the practice of feeding animal remnants,-brains and spinal cords, mainly-back to the cows, vegetarian ruminants.
The practice was also prevalent in the U.S. and Howard spoke out against it. From His website: after he sold his farm, he worked for five years on Capitol Hill for America’s family farmers. “In that time we had some small successes, such as passing the National Organic Standards Act. But even after the act became a law, it took the administration several years to allow funds for its implementation. I became convinced that the changes needed had to come from the producer and the consumers at the grassroots level. Until that alliance is put into play, the big money interest will continue to control public policy in the Congress of the United States.”
This audio file is about 8 minutes in length. Howard emphasizes the need for citizens to become involved, in order to force the Department of Agriculture to outlaw the cannabalistic practices prevalent in the feeding of cattle, which has indisputabley led to the recent outbreak of MCD in Washington State.
While cruising the internet, I found a wealth of information available on this issue, including scores of websites. One, on Howard’s website itself, details a recent discover thatfish, as well as deer and elk are susciptile to this disease.
Yahoo Article
Another author on this subject, who also wrote the book, Weapons of Mass Deception
John Stauber
Some websites on Mad Cow Disease.
Organic Consumers Association.
“>United States Food and Drug Administration.
Some websites on factory farming:
Sustainable Table
Sierra Club Factory Farms
Friends of the Earth
Waterkeeper Alliance
Food Routes
Farm Sanctuary
Factory Farm Project
A couple flash animations:
The Meatrix
Cows With Guns
(New Content posted 12/8/03)
AUDIO FILE: MIAMI REPORT BACK
On December 7, 2003 at the Portland First Unitarian Church members of the community gathered to witness a multi media report back from the Free Trade of the Americas protests in Miami Florida which took place in late November.
The program was introduced by Kate Lore, Social Justice Director of the First Unitarian Church, who, along with many other members of her congregation, were in Miami. The program began with an overview of the FTAA and the significance of what happened behind the closed doors in Miami by Barbara Dudley. Following Barbara, six people who were in Miami addressed different aspects of the Convergence: a lawyer, Brenna Bell talked about the arrests, the police abuse and disregard for civil rights; Chris Ferlazo of Cross Border Labor Organizing Coalition spoke about the labor organizing; Will Levin and Djen Whitney spoke about the direct actions; M2, of Portland Indymedia and Bette Lee, an independent photographer and journalist, spoke about media perspectives.
Following an 11 minute slide show and 2 minute excerpt from a 1 hour indymedia rough cut video, three people spoke briefly about where to go from here. At this point people either broke into groups for spontaneous discussions, or watched the 1 hour Indymedia rough cut video of the Convergence.
This a 1 hour and 6 minute audio file of those presentations.
Miami Report Back
To facilitate the understanding of this material, I’ve broken the talks up into individual audio files for each speaker, beginning with the introduction by Kate Lore and overview by Barbara Dudley, who began by stating that what happened behind the closed doors with the FTAA negotiations in Miami really began last month in Cancun Mexico, and even further back in Seattle in late 1999. “What happened was the developing countries found their footing. It started in Seattle……and what was going on in that meeting was that the developing countries were refusing to go along with the green room meetings, the undemocratic nature of the negotiations, and were really starting to say no to a number of aspects of what the US and the European Union were putting forward in the negotiations.”
This trend continued through the meetings in Dohar, Cancun, and finally through the FTAA Meetings in Miami. Barbara continues with her analysis for about a total of 12 minutes.
Introduction and Overview
Next to speak was Brenna Bell, a lawyer working with the Miami Activist Legal Defense, the group that did much of the legal organizing for the Convergence, as well as defending those who were arrested and also will be pursuing a multitude of civil suits resulting from police use of excessive force before and during the protest. She speaks from personal experience, as she herself was attacked and arrested.
“The main thing that people are coming away from Miami with is a sense of complete and utter repression………..the people who got arrested weren’t just some Black Block kids who tried to take down the fence…….people were getting arrested everywhere. If you were in Miami and you were downtown, you were a target. The way that the police chief John Timoney, who was also responsibile for the amazing respression at the Republican National Convention in 2000, the way that he described it was that “they were hawks picking mice off of fields.’ And that’s what it felt like.”
Brenna continues her presentation for a total of 10 minutes, about police violence and disregard for civil rights and civil liberties.
Brenna Bell
Following Brenna is Chris Ferlazo with the Portland Cross Border Labor Organizing Committee. Before Kate introduced Chris, she commented on how she “was clearly marked as a church lady,”, as were other Unitarians, some of the younger who were shot with rubber bullets and one arrested. Following this Chris spoke to some of the coalition building in Miami. He attests to the fact that Miami witnessed some amazing advances in this area.
“In Miami we saw some of the most sophisticated efforts ever to divide us in our coalition work.” Efforts were made to paint a picture of good protestors and bad proestors, seeking to divide loyalties and create dissention.
Chris then read some quotes from after the protests. One was from Tony Fonsetta, president of the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans, which is mostly retired union activists. Tony complains that, “thirteen of the buses he helped organize were turned away and many of the others were diverted, forcing senior citizens to walk up to two miles to attend the permanant rally…..and only 5 out of 25 buses were actually able to get in to pick people up at the end of the day.”
Chris continues for a total of about 13 minutes.
Chris Ferlazo
Next, two speakers talked about the Direct Action hat took place during the Convergence. First was Will Levin, who was in Miami for 17 days, before and after the main day of action. “To me Direct Action is much more than just storming barricades, although that is an important part of it….direct action to me means coming in to a town and not just breezing in, doing our thing and then leaving, but working on outreach. In Miami, for example, there was a trememdous campaign by the police, a propaganca fear campaign, that was very effective.” Storeowners in the business corridor were showed video footage of Seattle and told the protestors were going to break windows and burn their shops down. People were afraid. “And many of us spent a great deal of time literally going from door to door with a flyer in both Spanish and English….Great pains were taken to reassure the community of the intentions of the protest and encourage the business owners to remain open…..People were overwelmingly supportive, I would say, of us being there.”
Will continues for a total of about 5 1/2 minutes, giving many other examples of ways in which the visiting protestors reached out to support and reassure the local communities.
Will Levin
Following Will talking about the many facets of Direct Action, Djen Whitney spoke for three minutes or so about where, in her opinion, the movement needs to think about going from here.
“I really believe that the idea of Direct Action, the idea of taking what we want, demanding it, rather than asking and petitioning for it, is crucial and incredibley empowering.” She quotes an IWW slogan that “Direct Action gets the goods,” and feels that perhaps we’ve lost sight of what those goods are. She says that Direct Action is a philosophy and not merely a tactic.
“I feel that our actions are becoming more spectacular and more symbolic and less goal oriented, and I really want to win this battle, this struggle, and I don’t think that’s possible if we don’t start thinking and asking more questions.”
Djen Whitney
Next came two speakers from the independent media. First was m2 of Portland Independent Media Center, who began his remarks by giving a brief synopsis of what Indymedia is as a global network, and then some personal experiences in Miami about the repression of free speech and freedom of the press.
“This was a well orchestrated, extremely coordinated media blockout and corporate media controled.” He says that this was the most oppresive police state environment he’d ever witnessed. Police deliberately discrimated against the independent media, singling them out for abuse and arrest, especially, it seems, members of the Indymedia collectives. “They make a clear distinction between the media that is controlled and controlable-we call it the corporate whore press,….and the media that is free and open and trying to get the word out about what’s going on to the people.”
m2
Next Bette Lee, independent photographer and journalist, read a prepared statement. “….There’s nothing new about the Miami model police state tactics that the police haven’t used before against us. But it’s already being sold with a hefty price tag to other cities….ask any African American in Miami or any American city and they will tell you that their civil rights are violated daily by the cops…..what happened in Miami was that the illusion was shattered, and we saw the guns and the fist pointed at our head, openly.”
“The police are the instrument of class power, and they have been used as a very effective means of social control throughout history. Whenever the interests of the ruling elite are threatened, we can be sure that the police will be used to repress us, and to hell with our constitutional rights. History is full of accounts of attacks by police and armed forces against workers, the poor, people of color, immigrants and protestors.”
Bette Lee’s commentary was a penetrating analysis of state repression, not just here or there, but everywhere. Among other activities, Bette writes for the local The Portland Alliance
Bette Lee
Following an eleven minute slide show and two minute video collage of the Convergence, three people spoke briefly on some strateges on where to go from here.
Lynn-Marie Crider, of
Oregon AFL-CIO, spoke almost four minutes. SAhe began by saying how encouraging it is that the developing nations are working so successfully to overcome the dominance of the developed nations. “But, we can’t rely on the developing world to do our fight for us.First of all, it’s not fair.” She goes on to say that these developing countries, China, Brazil, etc. are goig to be coming under tremendous pressure, externally from the E.U. and the U.S., but also internally, “because in each of these countries there is going to be some sectors that are going to want particular things, like the various agricultural interests in Brazil…..It seems to me that we have to figure out how we are going to carry on the fight here”
Lynn-Marie Crider
Second to speak was Brush, who first offered what he and many others learned from both the Cancun and Miami Convergence. “This is a struggle about the future of the planet and about our future as human beings and our relationship with the world. Irt’s a struggle about an empire that has to collapse, and is in many ways already collapsing. But if something’s really going to happen, it’s because we, as a multitude of people and of movements have come together to create something different.”
A brief, under 3 minutes, but clear, poignant analysis of what those living in the developed nations must do to establish a world Democracy.
Brush
Last to speak was Djen Whitney, who also addressed this subject in her earlier remarks. She says that she had helped organize for 7 months before the Seattle protests, and that since then many have told her that this success “could never happen again because we’ve lost the element of surprise, as if that’s the only thing we had going for us in Seattle…..we organized, we were in the universities, the community colleges, the high schools the workplaces, the neighborhoods….the other thing we were doing was innovating. To innovate you need to think, you need to ask questions.”
Djen Whitney
Many have been saying that Another World is Possible, and organizing around this theme. To be sure, there is a better way than the many being ruled by the few, whether these few be priests, kings and aristocrats, or generals, as the case has been throughout history. Today we have a corporate aristocracy slowing emerging upon the world scene seeking to reduce the everyday life of all people to consumerism-to appetites deliberately enflamed and impossible to satisfy. In grasping to increase the bottom line of profit, no notice is taken of our relationship to Nature, to each other, or even to ourselves.
Yet, another World is Emerging, chronicaled by events in Seattle, Chiapas, Quebec, Genoa, Bolivia, Cancun, Miami, and countless other places where the people have stood up in the face of violent oppression and demanded that their voice be heard, their existance acknowledged and their rights as human beings protected. People have spoke up for the Earth, for the workers, for local sovereignty, for the spiritual values of brotherhood and equality which are at the heart of all Spiritual Paths and of Democracy itself.
Indeed, Another World is Emerging, right alongside the world of Free Trade, corrupt capitalism, and the drive to dominate and enslave. But no, rather, this Will to Democracy is rising up through the corruption and ignorance, demanding that the human reality is much deeper than how we feed, shelter and cloth ourselves. The human reality is respect for one another, reverence for life and for the Earth, and recognition of inherent spiritual values that superceed values founded in nationalities and trade.
This tradition is deep amongst traditional indigenous people. They have much to teach, and we of the developed nations have at least as much to learn as we have to teach. Miktakwe Oasyn, all my relations, from the Lakota Sioux; Namaste, we are one, from Nepal. Boh attest to a truth and a perception lacking in priests, aristocrats and generals as they seek to work their personal will upon the People.
As this value arises through the greed, the racism, the mace and percusson grenades and tear gas, it will slowly warm the cold heart of those who consider always first their own comfort and habitually disregard the basic dignity of others. Another World is Emerging.
Another World is Emerging.
(New Content posted 11/18/03)
AUDIO FILE: SYMPOSIUM ON THE FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS
On November 17, 2003, in solidarity with those in Miami and around the world protesting the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the Lewis and Clark Organization for Peace and Politics and the Campus Greens held a Symposium on the harmful effects of free trade.
Two speakers, Martin Hart-Landsberg, professor of economics at Lewis and Clark, and Barbara Dudley, professor of Political Science at Portland State University gave presentations on the FTAA and then took questions.
Martin said that he was going to give the context within which the whole series of treaties, from NAFTA to the Multilateral Agreement on Investments to the FTAA, operate, and Barbara was to speak more specifically about the Free Trade Area of the Americas.
Martin began by referring to the FTAA meeting in Miami as an important event in a long series of struggles against what these treaties represent. He quotes from the New York Times an article that came out after the collapse of the September 2003 WTO talks in Cancun. “The WTO was represented as a wonderful opportunity for the third world. What a sad thing that the WTO in Cancun didn’t produce anything.” Quoting the New York Times: “World trade meetings intended to help developing nations unexpectedly collapsed today, when delegates from Africa, the Carribean and Asia walked out……the Director General of the WTO said,’we must return to the task at hand with renewed vigor, to complete this round of trade negotiations. If we fail the losers will be the poor and weaker nations.’”
The Times articles continues, quoting statistics from free trade proponents, that if the Cancun round would have been successful, “global incomes would have increased by at least $520,000,000,000by the year 2015, and 144,000,000 people would have been lifted out of poverty. Martin continues, “the point is that these things are presented as, first trade agreements, and second, clearly being done by the developed capitalist world for the benefit of the Third World.”
These are not trade agreements. They are “more about restructuring economies and limiting national development.” Martin further states that “most of these studies which are designed to talk about how much free trade will help everyone are really quite bogus.” These studies have built in assumptions: “they assume that there will be full employment…that there is no capital mobility……and trade will remain balanced…. When you read things in the newspapers you got to start by realizing that these are ideological structures of what is actually going on.”
Martin speaks for about 18 minutes, a compact, scathing and detailed analysis of the weaknesses and harmful effects of free trade.
Martin Hart-Landsberg
Barbara Dudley, who teaches politics at PSU, first speaks about the founding of the United Nations and the ending of colonialism at the end of World War 11 with the emergence of a number of independent countries, either through revolution or through some sort of negotiation with their former colonial masters. “The U.N. was a whole different world of creation that was happening simultaneous with the so called Breton-Woods institutions, which are the GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which then morphed into the W.T.O and the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.”
Due to the pressure exerted due to the cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, “all these emerging states were having to choose sides in a war that had nothing to do with them, and to choose an economic system that had nothing to do with them . …Either the hyper capitalistic system of the U.S. after World War 11, or Soviet style socialism.”Yet, in the 1970’s some of these developing nations, the so called non aligned nations, began to find some space in between the two super powers to develop alternative economic and political agendas for their own countries.
The end of the cold war drastic altered this dynamic. “As the Soviet Union began to lose its power over it’s own colonies as it were, over it’s own block….all the other countries of the world that were neither Europe, Japan or the U.S. found themselves facing the military and economic power of the U.S. without any buffer…..It was at that time that the U.S. proposed it’s agenda in the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade.” In this they basically declared capitalism the winner of the cold war conflict and began to dictate to other countries how they were to fit into this capitalist system that now becoming global.”
Barbara then moves to the present time, to Cancun Mexico, to the collapse of the WTO negotiations there in September, “when the developing nations essentially walked out of the trade talks for the World Trade Organization and brought at least that institution to a screeching halt. [this] was the emergence of something like the emergence of a new non aligned movement.” She then cites a New York Times article from just before we invaded Iraq which declared global civil society to be a new world super power on the world scene. “And what I see happening in reality is that there is room now for a new non aligned movement to emerge between these two super powers. And it is global civil society that is providing the buffer and providing the impetus and forcing their governments, ours included, but all the other governments of the world, to do something which may not be in the interests of their business elites, but instead in the interests of their voting citizens.”
There are now 191 countries in the world; 148 of them are now members of the W.T.O. The governments of many of these countries are some sort of Democracy. The ministers attending these Ministerial have to reckon with the wishes of their citizens or their decisions could lead to the down fall of their government.
The presentation continues, addressing the current Free Trade of the Americas meeting in Miami. About 32 minutes in length.
Barbara Dudley
Some websites:
Focus on the Global South
FTAA IMC
Stop FTAA
(New Content posted 11/15/03)
AUDIO FILE: THE SALVADORAN STRUGGLE AGAINST FREE TRADE
On November 10, 2003, at SEIU Local 49 in Portland, Sara Quintanilla (an electrical worker and Secretary General of her union local) spoke about her union’s struggle to halt privatization and defeat the Bush Corporate Globalization agenda from taking over El Salvador and all of Latin America.
In spite of international protests and condemnations, the Bush administration hopes to complete the Central American Free Trade Agreement, (CAFTA) negotiations by December 2003. In order to pave the way for CAFTA the right-wing Salvadoran government wants to privatize healthcare, electricity, water, and education. The government has been trying to dismantle the unions, reduce wages, and abuse human rights, but the people of El Salvador and Central America are saying NO! And are calling on our solidarity to support their struggle against CAFTA and the FTAA.
In this audio file Sarah begins by discussing the impact that the privatization of telecommunications and energy have had. “Energy has not been completely privatized yet, that is, only the distribution of energy has been privatized at this time. What has happened with the privatization of telecommunications and the partial privatizastion of energy, there has been an increase of poverty in El Salvador, and of course an increase in the wealth of transnational corporations.”
She also speaks about immigration to the United States. “Another phenomenon is the increased immigration to this country. And within the immigration there is an additional problem of the disintegration of family.
Also, unemployment is a big problem. Since the year 1998 there have been more than 25,000 workers layed off. Sarah says that she is an example of this, having been layed off over a year ago. She continues, testifying to government repression against all the union members in the country. “Repression against our union began in 2001, and just since Friday August 31, there have been 55 people fired. The majority of those who have been fired are union leaders or members who are affiliated with our union. Our government is a major violator of labor rights.”
This presentation was sponsored by Portland Cross Border Labor Organizing Coalition, Portland Central American Solidarity Committee and the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador.
Portland Jobs with Justice
This file is 18 and 1/2 minutes in length.
Sarah Quintanilla
(New Content posted 10/18/03
AUDIO FILE: KILLERCOKE, A PRESENTATION BY JUAN CARLOS GALVIS
Juan Carlos Galvis is Vice President of SINALTRAINAL, the Colombian national food & beverage workers union, and President of the CUT, the Colombian national trade union confederation, in the town of BarrancabermejaHe is also a worker at the local Coca-Cola bottling plant. He is traveling in this country to bring attention to the human rights abuses being committed by Coca Cola in Colombia. These abuses include kidnapping and assasination.
Juan is also a human rights advocate and leader of the local coalition “Space for Human Rights Workers of Magdalena Medio.” Barrancabermeja is one of the areas in Colombia with the highest amounts of paramilitary violence, and as a result of this, Juan Carlos has survived numerous death threats and actual assassination attempts against his life, the most recent occurring on August 22, 2003. Juan Carlos is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against Coca-Cola filed in US Federal Courts evidence linking the Coca-Cola with the paramilitary groups that have threatened him because of his outspoken commitment to labor and human rights.
Friday evening, October 17, 2003, Juan spoke at the Musicians Union Hall in Portland Oregon, one of the presentations he has given in the Portland area this week.This is a 37 minute audio file of that presentation, given in Spanish with English translation
A boycott against Coca Cola has been called because of their activities in Colombia. And, according to Galvis, this multi national corporation has demonstrated the same lack of concern for human welfare in many other countries, and in India has snatched up water supplies and refused to allow local people access. Coca Cola has launched a public relations campaign to fight the boycott, and just today I discovered that they have taken a website named killercoke.COM, mimicing the activist killercoke.org.
Campaign Against Coca Cola
Portland has been fortunate to haave other speakers from Colombia spread the word about what is happening in their native land. One such speaker, Ramon Acevedo gave a talk some months back, discussing, in a historical context, the situation in Colombia. This was the first time I’d heard of the situation with Coca Cola. A 25 minute talk
Ramon Acevedo
An excellent report and commentary on this presentation by Galvis was posted to Portland Indymedia:
Portland Indymedia Report
This is a 37 minute audio file of that presentation, given in Spanish with English translation. Juan Carlos Galvis
(New Content posted 10/12/03
AUDIO FILE: JIM HIGHTOWER
Jim Hightower spoke to an enthusiastic crowd at Portland State University Wednesday evening, October 8, 2003. This is a 35 minute audio file of that presentation. His remarks were preceeded by a presentation by Lloyd Marbet who spoke about the upcoming vote to turn Portland General Electric into a Public Utility District and the most recent Campaign Finance Reform initiative
Articulate, humorous, witty, Jim Hightower is all of these, blended with perceptive grasp of the political arena, he demonstrates clearly the theme of his most recent book, “Thieves in High Places.”
Jim Hightower
(New Content posted 10/12/03
AUDIO FILE: PAUL KRUGMAN
Paul Krugman spoke to an packed house at the First Unitarian Church on Saturday evening, October 11, 2003.
Unofficial Website
Official Website
Professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University, and award winning NY Times columnist Paul Krugman is in town stumping for his latest book, ” THE GREAT UNRAVELING: Losing Our Way In the New Century”.
The book weaves together Krugman’s most influential Op-Ed columns from the The New York Times and other publications with substantial new material, including a powerful introductory chapter that places the outrages of recent years in context. This book tells a tale of promise betrayed. From irrational exuberance to corporate scandals, from the looting of California to the false pretenses used to sell an economic policy that benefits only a small elite, Krugman shows – with wit, passion and a unique ability to explain complex issues in plain English – how the nation has been misled. Paul Krugman has been named America’s most important columnist by the Washington Monthly and columnist of the year by Editor and Publisher magazine. His twice weekly Op-Ed columns in The New York Times are read by millions.
This is a 37 minute audio file of the Porland presentation.
Paul Krugman
(New Content posted 09/22/03
AUDIO FILE: THREE SPEAKERS FROM IMMIGRANT FREEDOM RIDE SEND OFF
Sunday, September 21, 2003, at 1:00 at Pioneer Square in Portland Oregon a rally was held to honor those who are traveling back to the east coast to focus public attention on immigrant rights and the injustices of current immigration policies.
Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride
Inspired by the Freedom Riders of the Civil Rights Movement, immigrant workers and their allies will set out from Portland and 9 other major U.S. cities and cross the country in buses on September 23rd 2003. They (over 900 Freedom Riders) will converge on Washington, D.C. to meet with members of Congress and then travel to Liberty State Park in New Jersey October 3, and then Flushing Meadows Park, Queens, New York for a mass rally on October 4, 2003.
The goal of the IWFR is to demonstrate a broad national constituency for meaningful reform of immegration laws while also encouraging civic paticipatiojnh by new and future citizens. In particular, IWFR will educate the public and elected officials about three key requirements of a new immigration policy:
* Reward Work by granting legal status to hardworking, taxpaying, law-abiding immigrant workers already established in the United States;
* Renew our Democracy by clearing the path to citizenship and full political participation for our newest Americans;
* Restore labor protections so thatr all workers, including immigrant workers, have the right to fair treatment on the job;
*. Reunite families in a timely fashion by streamlining our outdated immigration policies;
* Respect the civil rights and civil liberties of us all so that immigrants are treated equally under the law, the federal government remains subject to checks and balances and civil laws are meaningful enforced.
Unions and organizations represented there, those that I was able to identify from banners, etc. were: Oregon Action;
Hotel Employees Restaurant Employess, Local 9;
SEIU, Local 49;
United Food and Commerial Workers, Local 55;
PCUN
This is a 10 minute audio file of three short presentations made at that rally, in English and translated into Spanish. First was a speaker who spoke to why this Freedom Ride is necessary. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to catch his name. Next was Jeff Richardson of the Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees Union, Local 9, followed by Ramon Rameriz of PCUN, which is the Pineros Y Campesinos Unidos Del Noroeste, Northwest Treeplanters and Farm Workers United.
For more information about the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride contact the Portland IWFR Committee at: Jeff Richardson, HERE @503/230-2304; Judy O’Connor, NWLC @ 503/235-9444; or Samuel Davila, CAUSA at 503/763-1694; Ramon Rameriz at 503-989-0073.
Freedom Riders Rally
(New Content posted 09/13/03
AUDIO FILE: TWO SPEAKERS FROM SATURDAY ANTI-WTO RALLY
Today, Saturday, September 13, 2003 people gathered at Holladay Park near Lloyd Center to express their dissatisfaction with the World Trade Organization and show support for those protesting the WTO MInisterial happening this week end in Cancun Mexico. This report consists of two 6 minute audio files from that rally.
After opening remarks by Laurie King, of Portland Jobs with Justice, Barbara Dudley spoke ecstatically about what is taking place inside the conference halls in Cancun. Apparantly, 21 of the developing countries have presented an alternative proposal, focusing on Agriculture and Investments. Countries include Brazil, South Africa, Venezuala, India, China, Pakistan, the Philippines, with Egypt just recently joining. This is the first time countries other than the Developed nations have submitted proposals. Great News! Well, not maybe for George Bush and the global free trade agenda.
Barbara Dudley
Next to speak was Tim Nesbitt, president of Oregon AFL-CIO, speaking about the politics of deception known as Free Trade. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, since 1993, Oregon alone has lost 50,000 jobs lost due to plant closures. Hewlett Packard has shipped its high tech printer jobs to Mexico; Freightliner outsources its trucking components to Mexico; cheaper Canadian lumber forced the closure of dozens of mills throughout our state.
He cites numerous other examples of things going sour for the American worker, yet our politicians refuse to learn from these mistakes. He states that this is going to be a mainstream poilical issue in the 2004 elections.
Tim Nesbitt
(New Content posted 09/11/03
AUDIO FILE: BUFFALO FIELD CAMPAIGN INTERVIEW
The Buffalo Campaign Road Show came to Liberty Hall this evening, September 11, 2003, after making presentations at the Northwest Portland Farmers Market and People’s Food Cooperative. The Campaign is the only group working in the field every day to protect the Yellowstone Bison, America’s only continuously wild herd. BFC volunters defend the bison and their habitat, and document every move made against them.
Buffalo Field Campaign
PO BOX 957
West Yellowstone, MT 59758
406-646-0070; fax: 406-646-0071
Though not being able to stay for the entire event, I managed to capture a 7 1/2 minute interview with Darrell Geist, a board member of the BFC, traveling with the Road Show. The audio is not great, the interview being conducted near traffic and in a stiff wind. But, his words are clear and his message is an important one for those who love the earth and her creatures. The Bison are being slaughtered because they have the dissease Brucellosis. But, as Darrell points out, they have the antibodies, not infections, since the buffalo have natural resistance to this disease. Thugh the unnecessary slaughter of the bison is taking place in Montana, there is plenty that people living outside that state can do to assist BFC and the buffalo. Much of what is taking place there is federally funded, and this can be interupted by our members of Congress, if people let their representatives hear from them.
The Buffalo Field Campaign Newspaper gives a couple websites offering tips and samples on writing to members of Congress.
Congress.org
Congressional Fire Services Institute
(New Content posted 08/16/03
AUDIO FILE: TREVINO BRINGS PLENTY
Trevino Brings Plenty, Native American Spoken Word Artist, performing at a benefit for the Native American Youth Asociation on Tuesday, August 12, 2003.
Audio is a little rough, but worth the listen. This is being posted to give folks who haven’t heard his poetry an opportunity to hear him. He, along with Michael Molotv will be performing on Sunday August 17, 2002 at the Rabbit Hole, 203 SE Grand.
This file is about 9 minutes in length.
Trevino Brings Plenty
(New Content posted 08/14/03
AUDIO FILE: FEDERAL “DRUG CZAR” PRESS CONFERENCE.
U.S. Drug Czar, John P. Walters of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, visited Portland today as part of the White House’s “25 Cities Initiative” National Tour, seeking to reduce substance abuse in America’s largest cities.
According to the press packet, “in most communities in America, the drug problem is being actively addressed by federal, state and local agencies and organizations, but too often, their efforts do not work in concert with each other. This initative will seek to coordinate and focus these efforts in achieving shared goals.”
The News Conference was hosted by Judy Cushing, president of the Oregon Partnership, a state wide non profit. After introducing Portland Police Chief Mark Kroeker for a few brief comments, she then expounded a little on the “25 Cities Initiative,” which is a local approach to a national problem. “In Portland leaders have meet over the last month to look at the most salient issues facing the community. They have addressed and identified three local initiatives they will focus their attention on. The first is Meth education, which has to do with pre cursor chemicals; the second “has everthing to do with the education of the public, schools and parents and community leaders about the angers associated with marijuana. Marijuana today is much different the marijuana of yesterday, and young people are being harmed; the third initiative has to do with parents, and the fact that parents are the most powerful influencing factor in childrens lives.”
At this point John Walters gave his remarks for about 5 minutes and then opened the floor for questions from the media.
This file, including introductions and Q & A is about 40 minutes in length.
John P. Walters
Rather than give a synopsis of John Walter’s remarks, I’ll let the audio file of the News Conference supply that information. But, in my opinion, some comments need to be made about the Conference. Though asking the news media to take part in the efforts to lessen substance abuse in this country, no mention was made of the culture of legal drug use prevalent in this country. Quite often the first thing a doctor does is to prescribe durgs; televison adds offer chemical relief from everything from osteoporosis to arthritis; movies and televison air programs which glorify both drugs and the drug life style. Add to this the enormous power of the drug companies, and we have a climate which is moving in the oppposite direction from lessening drug use and abuse. In this climate, reaching the children to discourage beginning to walk that road is a formidable task, especially if this isn’t acknowledged at the outset.
And warming up to this task, during the Q & A period, he criticizes the manipulation of sick and crippled people by those whose agenda is only to legalize ALL drugs. How he knows this wasn’t revealed. I find it incredible that he can assign these alterior motives to a broad and growing movement and then summarily dismiss all attempts at legalizing a drug many feel has theraputic value in their suffering as wrong. There seems to be scientific research on both sides of this issue. It is one thing to hold to his side of the disagreement; it’s quite another to dismiss those who disagree with him as having a dispicable agenda, one that would increase drug addiction, especially among the young people of our nation.
Also, I found that his remarks concerning Medical Marijuana were extremely shallow and blatantly insulting. He says that smoking Marijuana may make people “feel good,” but that so would smoking crack or doing heroin. Hardly to the point. For many people that “feeling good” is often relief from debilitating and constant pain. Whether smoking crack would lessen ones pain isn’t the issue. The issue is that Marijuana does, and this is an avenue that it seems the Federal government itself might have an alterior agenda in prohibiting.
National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws
Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp
Nothing was mentioned about the conflict between state and government which in Oregon is not just about Medical Marijuana, but also about the doctor assisted suicide initiative passed a short time ago which is under attack by Attorney General John Ashcroft.
Death With Dignity
All in all, an attempt was made to make this a “feel good” News Conference. Yes, too many people use drugs; too many people, especially young people, are becoming addicted to drug use and to a life style which leads only to escalate their addiction and reduce alternatives; too much our our broader culture condones, even encourages, drug use and the glorification of the life style is part of the story line of many movies. Our children receive mixed messages from many directions in our society, and to criminalize one drug beyond all others, especially with our tolerance for the excesses of prescription drugs, tobaaco and alcohol, seriously undermines the credibility of not only the government, but all those in positions of authority.
(New Content posted 07/20/03
AUDIO FILE: TOWN HALL MEETING ON FREE TRADE.
On Saturday, July 19, 2003, citizens of Oregon and Washington gathered at the First Unitarian Church in downtown Portland to discuss and decide what kind of trade policy will work best for the Northwest.
The event was sponsored by at least 100 groups, many of which are actively opposing globalization as members of Local to Global
This was a well organized and attended event, lasting from 1:00-4:00, with a one hour break out session afterwards, featuring 5 workshops on various related subjects, from preparing for the next WTO protest to the “connection between globalized trade and what is at our dinner table,” given by Mark Des Marets of Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering
This report contains two audio files. The first is Barbara Dudley, speaking on “how trade became something everybody needs to pay attention to.” An excellent synopsis of both the history and long range goals of Globalization strategy.
Dudley, a Constitutional scholar, states that if you read the Constitution carefully, it is essentially all about creating a Free Trade Zone; “that and a few freedoms, but they come in the amendments, you might notice.” She further says that “the essense of a real free trade zone is that you have a level playing field, which means you have to allow for workers to organize; you even have to subsidize infrastructure and education.”
When the cold war ended a whole counter weight to the Globalization agenda was removed from the world scene. “There was no longer a challenge to multi national capital….and the developing world which heretofore had thought of itself as a third force, as a non aligned force, as playing a very careful balancing act between the Soviet block and the U.S….found themselves unable to pursue a third way because there was no counter weight to this superpower.”
According to Dudley, the anti trust laws of the end of the last century were a response to the growing power of corporations,which had grown so strong that states could no longer control them. Now nations states “are really not strong enough……to control multi national corporations, because they can move quickly, they can move money around quickly.” She concludes her 30 minute talk by mentioning the Yardstick for Assessing Trade Agreements, which is a statement of important principles which should guide trade and investment policy. Basically, in it’s nine points, it seeks to put people before profits, values human beings and cultures above trade, economics and profits.
Barbara Dudley
The second audio file is Lynn-Marie Crider, of the Oregon AFL-CIO, who enumerates the 9 points of the Yardstick, and breifly explains them. The first states that Trade Agreements should protect public interest laws from attack by private companies and other governments. The second, that Countries should have the right to ban products or practices that may present a risk to the public. The sixth, Trade Agreements should not pit workers against each other or drive down labor and environmental standards. All pretty much common sense, right? Yet current trade agreements violate all three of these values, and any country who has signed on to these trade agreements, and then seeks to protect their citizens by labor and environmental laws, find themselves sued by corporations and trade sanctions imposed upon them. An ugly story, and one which, with new trade agreements up for approval over the next few years, could get much worse.
Lynn-Marie Crider
The remainder of the Town Hall Meeting consisted of 3 minute statements by representatives of various organizations and elected officials. Due to its length, about 80 minutes, I have broken it up into two parts of about 40 minutes each. This sounds long, but each presentation is short, no more than 4 minutes, and they give a broad perspective of the many objections people have to Free Trade. The files move quickly, full of information and examples of NAFTA, GATT, and their many components, past present and future.
Part One,is about 40 minutes and freatures the following speakers and organizations:
Dick Schwartz, American Federation of Teachers.
Michael Arkin, Oregon Alliance of Retired Americans.
David Delk, Portland Alliance for Democracy.
Brad Witt, AFL-CIO.
Nancy Stevens, Common Cause.
Kevin, Card, Letter Carrier.
David Strader, International Longshoreman and Warehouse Union, Local 40.
Don Merrick, Earth Save.
Will Newman, Oregon Sustainable Land Trust.
Nancy Newall, Eastside Democratic Club
Ray Lewis, First Unitarian Church; and Environmental Justice Action Group.
Steve Kofohl, American Federation of Government Employees
Testimonials, Part 1
Part two is also about 40 minutes in length.
Jeff Crop of Portland Green Party
Walt Brown Of Socialist Party of Oregon
Kate Brown, Oregon State Representative
Jeff Merkley, Oregon State Representative
Serena Cruz, County Commissioner, District #2
Judy O’Connor North West Labor Council
Catherine Tommassin, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility
Chris Lang, Jubilee USA
Jason Reynolds, Oregon Consumer League
Abby Solomon, Service Employees International Union
Liisa Wale, Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering
Chris Ferlazo, Oregon Jobs with Justice
Madelyn Elder, Communication Wrkers of America
Testimonials, Part 2
This entire event was moderated by Representative Diane Rosenbaum of Portland.
This event will be aired on local Community Televison sometime in the near future. Please, check out Cable Access Schedules for playback schedules for this and other programs.
(New Content posted 05/11/03
AUDIO FILE: VANDANA SHIVA SPEAKING AT 21ST ANNUAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAND AIR WATER CONFERENCE.
The first two Keynote Speakers for the 21st annual Environmental Land Air and Water Conference was this year were Jim DiPeso, Policy Director of REP America, the national grassroots organization of Republicans for Environmental Protection. and Dr. Vandana Shiva.
Dr. Vandana Shiva spoke for about an hour.
This will also appear on Community Television in the Portland area in the near future. For schedules of selected productions:
Cable Access schedules
Vandana Shiva
(New Content posted 04/07/03
AUDIO FILE: MARION NESTLE: THE POLITICS AND SAFETY OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOOD.
Marion Nestle, author of the critically acclaimed book “Food Politics,” argues that ensuring safe food involves more than washing hands or cooking food to higher temperatures. It involves politics.
This was the main theme and substance of her presentation when she appeared at the First Unitarian Church on March 25, 2003.
The evening began with about a 10 minute presentation on food politics in Washington D.C., and was followed by a slide show. This audio file is from the first 10 minute presentation. There is a slight hiss in the background, but the file is easily audible.
Nestle quotes from a number of items about food safety occurring in the press from the last week of February through the middle of March to demonstrate why food safety is such a matter of politics. The first was an article announcing that the Deparatment of Agriculture had just appointed a new Director for it’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, the office that issues dietary guidelines to the public. The person in question was Dr. Eric Hedges. His previous job was with the National Pork Board…..and before that he worked for the National Livestock and Beef Board.
Another article, from the Los Angeles Times announced that they did an investigative report of the relationship of supplement manufacturers to Senator Orin Hatch, the Senator from Utah. The Senator was the most responsible for the passage of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, which virtually deregulated dietary supplements. It turned out that the Senator has a son who is a lobbyist for the supplement industry, and between 1998 and 2001, according to the Los Angeles Times, supplement manufactures gave 2 million dollars to Orin Hatch’s son, a million of which came from the maufacturers of Ephedra, the supplement responsible for the deaths of at least 100 people.
Later that week the Washington Post reported that a rider in the Federal spending bill was stuck in at the last minute by Dennis Hastert, speaker of the House, at the urging of the congressman from Georgia, who had received $4,000 from an organic meat producer in his district. Organic meat producers were unhappy that the cost of organic feed was so high, and so for the paltry sum of $4,000 they got their represenatative to put a rider in the spending bill that would allow the producers of organic meat to use a non organic feed anytime the cost of organic feed was twice the cost of inorganic feed.
She continues with case after case, article after article, for 10 minutes, finishing with an article from Food Chemical News concerning the creation of a single food agency in Washington that would be responsible for food safety. This would take care of the lack of coordination between the FDA, the USDA and the EPA, and would hold one agency accountable for the safety of our food supply. This did not meet with the approval of the Department of Agricultures Under Secretary of Food Safety, in spite of having the support of the General Accounting Office and many advocates of food safety.
For information on Biotechnology and Genetically Modified Organisms(GMO’s)
Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering
(New Content posted 03/31/03
AUDIO FILE: CALL TO PRESERVE THE ESTATE TAX
A presentation by Chuck Collins, founder of United For A Fair Economy and Bill Gates, Sr. on the topic of preserving the Estate Tax, known as the “death tax” by those who wish to repeal this tax. Both men recently wrote a book together: “Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax Accumulated Fortunes. A website, Responsible Wealth offers audio files, information about the book, and lists of articles on the subject.
Both men give many good reasons why we should maintain the Estate Tax, the most convincing being the need to control the power of concentrated wealth, which is anathema to a Democracy. Also, as both men point out, wealth is more easily accumulated in this country than anywhere else in the world. The United States provides a context whereby the ability to accumulate wealth is supported, and so, it is only fair to return a portion of one’s good fortune back to this system.
Multnomah Community Television
About 45 minutes in length.
Channel 11:
Thursday, April 10 at 11 pm
Channel 21:
Sunday, April 13 at 12-noon and Wednesday, April 16 at 11 pm and Thursday, April 24 at 8 pm
Portland Cable Access Schedules
Chuck Collins 22 minutes in length
Bill Gates, Sr. 20 minutes in length
(New Content posted 03/15/03
AUDIO FILE: ONE PEOPLE, ONE FAMILY, ONE HOUSE
John Lewis was the featured speaker today, March 15, 2003, in Portland Oregon at the Peace gathering at Waterfront Park.
(Taken from Peace and Justice Works flyer)
John Lewis has dedicated his life to building what he calls “The Beloved Community.” He organized sit-in demonstrations at segregated lunch counters in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which were organized to challenge segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. As chairperson of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), a keynote speaker at the historic “March on Washington” in August 1963, a leader in the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965, he has been a lifelong advocate and practitioner of nonviolent social change. Elected to the U.S. Congress in 1986, Mr. Lewis represents Georgia’s Fifth Congressional District.
In remarks (Autumn 2002) for a convocation at Howard University in Washington, DC, Congressman Lewis said: “It makes me so sad to see the President, the Commander in Chief, going from state to state, from city to city, beating the drums of war. Instead of helping the poor at home, we will bomb the poor abroad. Instead of educating our children, we will teach Arab children the hardships of war. Instead of concerning ourselves with the pollution that poisons our air, water and food, we worry about poisons that may or may not exist in a desert five thousand miles away. Bombing Baghdad may make us forget about our nation’s poor schools, but it will not educate our children. Invading Iraq may distract us from corporate scandals, but it will do nothing to replenish the nest eggs of American workers. It is time to lay down the instruments and tools of violence….We must beat our swords into plowshares and study war no more….As leaders of the Twenty-First century, you must use your talents, education and resources to build and not to tear down; to reconcile and not to divide; to love and not to hate; to heal and not to kill….Walk with the wind. Keep your eyes on the prize.”
John Lewis was equally eloquent when addressing the gathering at Waterfront Park. As a result of his non violent resistance he was arrested 40 times and beaten bloody and left unconscious. “I’ve seen violence, I’ve been a victim of violence……people around the world will not be inspired by our missiles and our bombs and guns; they will be inspired by our ideas, our ideas of freedom, our ideas of justice. I say to you today, each and every one of you, just continue to get in the way, and be judged by the spirit of history, and not by what they are saying in the White House.”
“It doesn’t matter what we’re black, or white, or Hispanic or Asian American, or Native American. We’re one People, we’re one Family, we’re one House.” This Audio File is about 10 minutes in length.
John Lewis
(New Content posted 03/09/03
AUDIO FILE: WINONA LA DUKE ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
This audio file is the conclusion of a talk given by Winona La Duke in Corvallis in January. Here she discusses alternate forms of energy, emphasizing wind power.
She states that the Great Plains are known as the “Saudi Arabia of Wind Power,” and that their are 23 Tribes on the Plains that have a total 350 gigawatts of wind potential. The present U.S. installed electrical capacity is 650 gigawatts. And locally, the Umatilla, Macaw and Yakama are all looking at this as a source of revenue.
“Wind power has some up front costs, but you don’t have to pay for your resource after that, and you don’t have to go to war to get it.”
The first Tribal commercial wind generators are scheduled to go up on the Rosebud Reservation, a 750 watt generator, and two are planned for the Pine Ridge Reservation.
She concludes saying that “we have many gifts as human and we certainly have many gifts and priveleges as North Americans….and with those comes our responsibility to make change, to do the right thing…….because in the end Natural Law is in fact the highest law, in the end we all have to drink the water, we all have to breathe the air. And one would do well to live in accordance with that.” This Audio File is about 10 minutes in length.
This entire presentation is playing on Community Television on Multnomah Community Television
Channel 11:
Thursday, March 13 at 11 pm
Channel 21:
Saturday, March 15 at 4 pm and Wednesday, March 19 at 11 pm and Friday, March 21 at 8 pm
White Earth Land Recovery Project
Honor the Earth
(New Content posted 03/08/03
AUDIO FILE: PORTLAND BREAK THE CHAINS POLITICAL PRISONER SUPPORT FORUM
This audio file is the first 16 minutes of a forum presented by the Anarchist Prisoner Legal Aid Network (APLAN). The first speaker was Ed Mead, a former political prisoner, co-founder of Prison Legal News, organizer of Men Against Sexism (a group that militantly opposed sexism, racism, homophobia and rape) inside the walls of the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla, and the creator of the Prison Art Project. He spoke on the formation of Seattle’s George Jackson Brigade (or GJB - a now defunct clandestine organization made up of working class anti-authoritarians and anti-imperialists) back in the ’70s, and the relevance of that group’s approach to organizing in the context of today’s political realities. Ed spent 18 years behind bars as a result of his alleged participation in the GJB-related activities.
The talk relates his activities in the 1970’s leading up to his incarceration, and the experiences and work for prisoners rights inside the prisons. Website for Ed Mead is Prison Art Project
This Audio File is about 16 minutes in length.
This entire presentation is playing on Community Television on Multnomah Community Television
Channel 11:
Sunday, March 23 at 9 pm
Channel 21:
Monday, March 10 at 11 pm and Thursday, March 13 at 8 pm and Monday, March 17 at 4 pm
Ed Mead
(New Content posted 01/29/03)
AUDIO FILE: BIODIVERSITY-THE ESSENSE OF SUSTAINABILITY.
Winona La Duke spoke in Corvallis at the University of Oregon in mid January, 2003. Her presentation was entitled, “Indigenous Thinking on Sustainability.” Winona is not only a skillful and eloquent speaker, but is extremely unpretentious and down to earth.
Her talk took about an hour, and I’ve broken it up into three portions, roughly divided according to subject matter. This first portion is about 15 minutes and mainly discusses the wild rice harvested by the Objibwa or Anishinaabeg people of the Great Lakes region of both the United States and Canada.
Before she talks about the wild rice, she talks a little about two major trends we are all dealing with. The first is Globalization; the second, which she says we should all be working on, is Relocalization of production and consumption. From here she moves specifically to the issue of wild rice, which is mentioned in the Migration stories of her people, where they are told to “go where food grows upon the waters.” Her people call this wild rice manomin or monoomin or mohnomin; I’ve found different spellings using the search engine on the internet. All ceremonies and feasts utilize wild rice, as Columbian tribes depend upon salmon.
Currently the status of this wild rice is under assault from two sources. A company called NorCal has patented the wild rice. Winona believes that patents are for gadgets, like toasters, and should not be issued for living things, and that there are moral and ethical questions involved in the patenting of life.
A second source of assault comes from the Wild Rice Research Institute who are genetically modifying the wild rice. They are bombarding wild rice genes with the white rice genes and visa versa, and are applying for a patent. Though Winona thinks the patent may be refused, there is a campaign to educate people about this and persuade them to write letters in favor of denying the patent.
There are a number of internet sources available on this subject. Winona’s project, White Earth Land Recovery Project This website contains e-mails addresses for the Commissioners at the patent office, along with an Anishinaabeg list of intents and rights.
Other resources on this issue:
White Earth Land Recovery Project
Native Harvest
Protect the Earth
Honor the Earth
Articles on this issue:
Indian Country Today article
Green Party Support
To Protect Wild Rice
The other two parts of this presentation will be posted soon. One will be on alternative energy, and the other a more general talk on Indigenous Thinking on Sustainability.
Essense of Sustainability
(New Content posted 01/26/03)
AUDIO FILE: OREGON COAST SPEAKS FOR PEACE
While visiting the Oregon coast over the week end of January 24th, I was fortunate to interview some folks in Newport and Waldport demonstrating against the war with Iraq. There have been ongoing demonstrations against the war at the Oregon coast since October 26, 2002, and the numbers are growing
Not surprisingly, folks had much the same perspective of an invasion of Iraq as do the people of Portland, and people around the world. Put the money into our economy; it’s really about oil; take care of the Vet’s injured and damaged during the Gulf War; it’s really about oil; we shouldn’t treat the planet like it’s our oyster; it’s really about oil; we should take care of this beautiful planet instead of waging war.
This audio file features four people from Newport, and two from Waldport, and is about 8 minutes in length.
The following is a list of these weekly events taken from the Portland Peaceful Response Peace Events lists:
ASTORIA PEACE GATHERING, 5-6 PM every Friday at the Post Office on 8th and Commercial. 503-325-1935, tduncan@pacifier.com
COOS BAY, Weekly, Saturday, 1-2pm, boardwalk at the end of Anderson Street; Monica Schreiber, 541-756-2042.
NEWPORT- PASSIONATE PATRIOTS FOR PEACE, Weekly Vigil, Saturdays noon-1PM Hwy 101 & 20; Contact: Dorothy Mack, 541-765-2383, dmack@centurytel.net.
WALDPORT- PASSIONATE PATRIOTS FOR PEACE,,Weekly vigil, 11 am-2pm,,Hwy 101 & 34 Contact: Joanne Cvar of Pacific Greens of Lincoln County, 541-563-3615 or cvar@oregonvos.net.
YACHATS PASSIONATE PATRIOTS FOR PEACE, Weekly Vigil, Saturday, 9:30-10:30am, Hwy 101, Contact: Joanne Cvar of Pacific Greens of Lincoln County, 541-563-3615 or cvar@oregonvos.net.
The interviews were punctuated by numerous horns honking in support, demonstrating the the peace movement is gaining momentum, not only in the cities, but in every corner of the country.
Coasting for Peace
(New Content posted 01/20/03)
AUDIO FILE: WE ARE IN THE SACRED HERE
On Monday evening, Rev. Roy Bourgeois, founder of the School of the Americas Watch, spoke to a crowded auditorium at Portland University.
School of the Americas is a training school for Latin American soldiers, many of whom have gone on to commit atrocities and human rights abuses in their respective countries, for dictators like Samosa in Nicaragua, and Pinochet in Chile. The school first began in 1946 and was located in Panama, and was eventually expelled by Manuel Noriega. Rev. Bourgeois founded SOA Watch in 1990, and it’s yearly demonstration has grown from the initial gathering of about 15 people to 10,000 in November of 2002
After briefy referring to his recent trip to Iraq in December of 2002, Rev. Roy began his presentation with a brief history of his life. He became well acquainted with violence in Viet Nam, where he began to see violence as a dead end street. Slowly he was called to give his life over to a different path, being ordained and going to Bolivia for 5 years, where, as he says, “the poor became his teachers.”
Bolivia at that time was a ruthless dictatorship, ruled by the wealthy class and exploited by a few large corporations for their abundant natural resources and cheap labor. Those who stood up, religious and labor leaders, most prominently, were murdered. A pattern that was later to emerge in other Latin American countries, El Salvador, Guatamala, Nicaraqua, Colombia. He was soon arrested and expelled for his humanitarian work.
His story is one of compassion for humanity, love of life, and a determination to, no matter what, always find joy in this gift of Life. He goes on to give an inspiring description of how he learned about the School of the Americas, how he formed SOA Watch, and how it grew to it’s present size and influence. He, like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., is committed to total non violence, saying that there is no other way, “there is no other option.”
Then he turned his attention to his visit to Iraq last December. Here he found many differences in culture, but two similarities: in both Latin America and Iraq, the people always ask why we are doing this to them; and, the abundance of natural resources-oil in Colombia and Iraq, coffee, copper and tin in Latin America.
He concludes stating that the world needs our voices, our energy, as peacemakers, and quotes Archbishop Oscar Romero, murdered in El Salvador, “let those who have a voice speak for the voiceless, for the victems of violence.” According to Rev. Roy, with the act of protesting this School of the Assasins, “we are in the sacred here.”
School of the Americas Watch
Portland Oregon contacts for this group are:
Celine Fitzmaurice at 503-285-5165and Ann Huntwork at 503-281-4970
File is about 30 minutes long.
Rev. Roy Bourgeois
(New Content posted 01/18/03)
AUDIO FILE: JANUARY 18, 2003 PEACE RALLY AND MARCH
Today, January 18, 2003, in Portland Oregon, at least 20,000 people gathered at the South Park Blocks near Portland State University in solidarity against a preemptive war against Iraq. This was the third Peace rally, after the October 5th and November 17th rallies, each larger than the one before it, mirroring the growing dissatisfaction in our country concerning the Bush Administrations’ myopic rush to war.
The large gathering was multi cultural and multi racial; it was composed of various religions and social classes. It was, mainly, an outpouring of the American spirit against throwing the first punch against a country whose threat to our way of life, our safety, has yet to be demonstrated.
Along with the call for peace, this event was also a celebration of the birthdy of Martin Luther King Jr., who spoke out against the Viet Nam war when it was not popular, or safe, to do so.
People gathered for music, for prayer, to be educated, to add one drop to the growing wave seeking a peaceful resolution to the escalating conflicts in the mid east. The mood was festive, as there was now ample testimony to even the most cynical that there is a large number of citizens in this country who believe that war is not a valid foreign policy, that any amount of blood, American or any other, is worth more than all the ocean of oil our leaders greedily covet.
This is about a 35 minute file from that rally.
Introductions were made by Geri Washington, of the Environmental Justice Action Group of Northeast Portland. First up was a powerful woman’s chorus, whose music uplifted the heart and gathered everyone together to one purpose. Following the music a Keynote Speech was given by John Linder, a local elementary school teacher, who brother Ben was killed in Nicaragua in 1987 by the U.S. backed Contras. A labor organizer spoke next, concerning Homeland Security and the continuing erosion of our civil liberties.
January 18 Peace Gathering
(New Content posted 01/12/03)
CRAIG ROSEBRAUGH’S PRESENTATION AT LAUGHING HORSE BOOKS
(The article below is a report on the event posted to Indymedia on 1/11/03)
Indymedia Report
Craig Rosebraugh delivered a lecture to an overflow crowd at the Laughing Horse Bookstore tonight. Folks were packed in as tight as sardines, and spilled out onto the sidewalk, but listened in rapt silence as Craig shared his thoughts and research from the work he has recently done on his Master’s thesis. A sense of occasion unmistakably permeated the room, and Craig did not disappoint. I missed the first part of his three part lecture because I couldn’t get in, but I managed to squeak in for parts two and three. Way in the back, I took notes as furiously as I could, but was unable to keep up with his quick pace, so I don’t have much to share at this time. Fortunately the audio from the full lecture was captured and will be uploaded to the internet sometime in the next day or two. As soon as it is, a link will be posted here to portland indymedia, so check back for it. Craig is a good public speaker. There was not a single “um” in the entire evening that I heard. You could tell he’s been writing on these subjects a lot because of the many nice, tight phrases that he used. I had my eyes opened to some history I didn’t know, and some concepts I’d considered, but not heard out loud (at least not so eloquently). He made no call for “violent revolution” and I don’t know if that disappointed the cop in the room. (There was at least one, of course.) He shared the facts he’d found, and some insights he’d arrived at, but made no specific prescription for action. Nonetheless, the radical perspective he brought was refreshing in these peacenik-ridden times, when a call goes out for 100 peacekeepers but not one cop-watcher. (See Ward Churchill’s “Pacifism as Pathology” for more on this topic.) One thing he mentioned that made me think was the idea that non-violence will only work against an opponent who has “a healthy working conscience, decency and compassion” and can thus realize the error of their ways. Not all opponents will have this, and Craig named Hitler as an example of someone in the irredeemable category. The political violence that was used by the Allied Powers to stop his evil has never been questioned. Is Bush in that category? Is Capitalism? These are questions to consider. From that same time period, Craig also cited the Jews who, on their way to the gas chambers, attacked their guards in an attempt to save their own lives. This was a situation where people turned to violent tactics because their own lives were threatened and they felt they had no other option. Are we at a point where the imminent destruction of the environment is leaving us with no other options but violence? Again, this is a question to consider. Craig offered no answer to either of these questions, and neither does this reporter, but I believe they are important to consider. The violence/non-violence discussion that keeps cropping up often spirals into speculative “what-ifs” without considering these, and other, important historical examples. (BTW, Craig also quoted MLK and Gandhi speaking about the importance of self-defense, and the possible practicality of violence in the process of social change; it’s interesting how the peaceniks ignore certains parts of the histories of these two icons when they don’t come into focus with their fear-induced myopia.) I, and other people, were left with a lot to think about. Craig brought the violence debate into new territory and raised some very challenging concepts. He didn’t pretend to know the answers, but he certainly wasn’t afraid of the questions, and that was great to see.
Craig Rosebraugh, Part 1
Craig Rosebraugh, Part 2
Craig Rosebraugh, Part 3
(New Content posted 01/08/03)
LOCAL IMPACT OF AN IRAQ WAR
On Sunday afternoon, January 5, 2003, more than 600 people gathered at the First United Methodist Church in SW Portland for a two hour event entitled “Local Impact of an Iraq War.” Sponsored by the office of City Commissioner Eric Sten and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. . The event was also sponsored by Congressman Earl Blumenauer, the Interfaith Council of Greater Portland, MerciCorps, and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
Extremely well attended, the event demonstrated the growing opposition to a preemptive war with Iraq. Unfortunately, Earl Blumenauer, who was instrumental in the planning of this event, was not able to attend, though his senior aid, Tom Markgraf, spoke for him very eloquently.
I have broken the event up into a series of audio files, consisting of the five panelists, Chris Hogness one of the organizers, and finally, City Commissioner Eric Sten. Each is approximately 10 minutes in length.
First to speak was Gretchen Kafoury, who spoke to the state of our local economy and how this war would affect us. In her talk she mentions an economic study by an Oregon group Oregon Center for Public Policy who are an Oregon non-profit research institute using research and analysis to advance policies and practices that improve the economic and social prospects of low- and moderate income Oregonians, the majority of Oregonians.
Gretchen Kafoury
Next, Catherine Thomasson of Physicians for Social Responsibility presented a slide show demonstrating the human and environmental effects of the 1991 war and the ongoing sactions against Iraq. The information in this presentation was taken from a report by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
Catherine Thomasson
Following Catherine, Wes Taylor, Methodist clergyman and President of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon spoke briefly about alternative approaches to international conflict. His presentation was punctuated with quotes from Martin Luther King and President Eisenhower, and emphasized the need to love in a world growing with hate.
Wes Taylor
Steve Claborne of MerciCorps spoke next, about the difficulties of providing aid during times of war.
Steve Claborne
Finally, Tom Markgraf, speaking in the place of Rep. Earl Blumenauer, addressed the issue of how this preemptive war is a great departure from past U.S. policy.
Tom Markgraf
Following the panel speakers, Chris Hogness spoke about actions other cities have or are taking to demonstrate their dissatisfaction with Bush administrations rush to war. Several City Councils have passed resolutions condemning such a war, and there is currently a movement to bring a similar resolution forward to the Portland City Council
Chris Hogness
The presentations were followed by a Q & A period. I include only one of these, in which Eric Sten speaks to the issue of the anti war resolution, and vows to bring this forward to the City Council in the near future.
Eric Sten
During the Q & A, a member of the audience wanted to point out that there is also a move to bring a resolution before the City Council concerning the PATRIOT ACT. For information on this:
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
(New Content posted 12/23/02)
AUDIO FILE: WE ARE IN THE FOURTH REICH HERE.
On Saturday evening, December 20, 2002, the Greater Northwest Defense Association held their fourth in a series of lecture/discussions at PSU. This most recent presentation was called, “Civil Rights in America, Calling 911: Standing Tall.”
Two seasoned civil rights Attorneys addressed the gathering on similar subjects. First to speak was Robert Bloom, who has a distinguished record spanning over 35 years representing clients in high profile civil and criminal cases. He has represented different groups such as the Black Panther Party, Porte Rican Independence Activists, and Environmental Activists. The second speaker was Stanley Cohen, but it is Bloom’s talk that comprises the content of this audio file.
Bloom says that he was first made political by members of the Black Panther Party in New York. He was no longer a young man when he figured out that a handful of people control almost everything we do. These few wealthy people have established institutions that help them maintain that position of power.
One of these institutions is the media. There is no independent media in this country, except for very small entities. There is nothing independent on television.
The second institution is the armed forces, who are sent around the world to establish the American Empire. But Bloom spoke mainly about the domestic army. The army of the wealthy people who own the country, the local police departments and the F.B.I. These are set up to keep us in line. When people complain that the system is not working, it is not working for us. It is working for those who hold the reins of power.
As an example of this power he cites the case of the bombing of Darryl Cherny and Judi Bari in Oakland, where what was an obvious attempt on these activist life became an accusation of terrorism against them. But, eventually, in a civil case against the F.B.I. a jury, composed of average people, who had the time to listen to the evidence, found in favor of the Earth First! activists.
From here he speaks to the issue of post 911 America, the targeting of the Muslim community, which he states is not just a target of convenience, but a target that will help them accomplish goals they have long held…….control of the oil reserves of the planet. The rest is all fluff.
Towards the end of his talk he remarks that to the extent that any of you in the audience get hassled by the police, remember, that “they are not your friends.” We must have a unified community, because we really are in the fourth Reich here. “Seek all the help you can get.”
Robert Bloom
(New Content posted 12/13/02)
AUDIO FILE: WAR IN IRAQ: WHY NOW AND AT WHAT COST?
Saturday, December 7, 2002, a Teach-In was held at Shattuck Hall at the PSU campus in Portland Oregon. The event, called “War in Iraq: Why Now and at What Cost?” was sponsored by the PSU Middle East Studies Center, the Peace and Justice Works-Iraq Affinity Group and PSU’s Catholic, Lutheran and Episcopal and Covenant 5 Campus Ministries.
This was an all day affair, beginning with a panel discussion in the early afternoon, followed by a series of break out sessions through the day. An incredible amount of information and education was presented, about the past and the present of Iraq, as well as the possible future of the Iraqi people if the United States escalates the war it has been waging since January of 1991.
This report will be composed of at least three audio files from the presentations at both the panel discussion and the later break out sessions. The first audio file features the moderator, John Mandaville, PSU Middle East Studies Center, who, after brief comments, introduces the panel and the specific topics they will be addressing. The first panelist is John Damis, from PSU’s Political Science Department, who speaks to the Middle East Context-how war will affect the region. Second, and last in this file, is Jan Abu-Shakrah, from PCC Sylvania, whose topic is the United Nations-how it fits in. File is about 30 minutes in length.
War In Iraq Teach In, Part 1
The second file begins with a librarian and activist, Aseel Dyck. She speaks from an Iraqi-American Perspective-how war will affect the people of Iraq. And finally, finishing off the second file, is Cataherine Thomasson of Physicians for Social Responsibility, who presents a slide show of the Environmental/Health Effects of War In Iraq- the consequences of Desert Storm. Also about 30 minues in length.
War In Iraq Teach In, Part 2
The third file is taken from the break out session entitled, “Civil Liberties in Wartime.” It begins with about a 10 minute talk by Laurie Mercier, of Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, followed by about 25 minutes from Barbara Dudley, Portland State University professor.
War In Iraq Teach In, Part 3
(New Content posted 11/29/02)
AUDIO FILE: COMMUNITIES IN RESISTANCE
Tuesday evening, November 26, 2002, at the Friends Meeting House in Portland, Afro Colombian citizen Clemencia Carabali Rodallega spoke with great intelligence and emotion about her country.
Her presentation, translated by Natalia Cardona, staff member in the Peace Building unit of American Friends Service Committee, was part of tour being conducted to inform the American public of the situation in Colombia. Clemenica spoke about the civil war, the guerillas, the para militaries, the drug trafficers. She related all these to the particular plight of the Afro Colombia population which make up a significant percentage of the population of 40,000,000 people, and who don’t have title to their ancestral lands.
Since childhood Clemencia has been participating in community activities. She is the founding member of the Municipal Women’s Association (ASOM) which works in partnership with the Process for Black Communities (PCN). Founded in 1993, the PCN is a network of 120 local organizations created to help Afro-Colombians maintain control of their ancestoral lands, as well as recognition of their culture and ethnic identity. The PCN also challenges national privatization, exploitation of natural resources and infrastructure development in the vast rainforest region of the Colombian Pacific Coast. The Municipal Women’s Asssociation in collaboration with the PCN works to assert and defend the social and legal rights of colombian women of African descent, as well as to achieve better living conditions for them.
Contact for American Friends Service Committee is Martin Gonzalez, at 503-230-9427
(*Note. Los Angeles Indymedia has a Feature on this issue on 11/21/01 entitled, “Plan Colombia: Cashing in on the Drug War Failure.” The Feature is replete with information, as well as links to other sources. It also contains a 20 minute interview with Manuel Rozental of the Canada Colombia Solidarity Campaign on the effects of Plan Colombia and the FTAA (Free Trade Agreement of the Americas) on indiginous people. A ton of good information in one spot. Thank you la indymedia.)
Another audio file from Ramon Alcevo, who also spoke in Portland recently. About 30 minutes.
The Clemencia file is about 30 minutes in length.
Clemencia Carabali Rodallega
(New Content posted 11/27/02)
AUDIO FILE: LATINO COMMUNITY CALLS FOR RESIGNATION OF POLICE CHIEF KROEKER
Members of the Latino community and community-based organizatiosn held a press conference at city hall on Tuesday, November 26, 2002, to call for the resignation/firing of Portland Police Chief Kroeker. This action was in response to the recent awarding of medals to the two police officers who shot and killed Jose Santos Mejia Poot on April 1, 2001.
Supporters gathered at Pioner Courthouse Square and marched to City Hall where a press conference was held featuring speakers from the Mexican Consulate; the Hispanic Advisory Council to the Police; State Senator Gordley; Pastor Tate of the Albina Ministry Alliance; the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; and County Commissioner Serena Cruz. Comments and Introductions were made by Marin Gonzalez of the Latino Network. Letters of support were also submitted by the Asian Pacific American Network, SEIU Local 503, and the Palestinian community.
After the Conference, statements were brought up to the mayors office, and then the group marched to Police headquarters to deliver their message to Chief Kroeker. Neither official were there to receive the community, and at this writing, plans are being laid to meet with the mayor on Monday, and Chief Kroeker sometime next week.
Statements were strong and emoptional, as one would expect, in reaction to Chief Krokers action in rewarding people for killing other people. As Martin pointed out, “A police officer can kill anyone as long as that officer follows procedures established by the police bureau. This arguement (is) unacceptable.”
Included in the Press Conference media packet are a list of demands from the Latino Community, from an April 25, 2002 Latin Community Speak Out. Among other things, these demands call for: Tri-Met and Police to implement diversity training for all bus drivers and police officers; the ratio of bi-lingual and bi-cultural police officers to be reflective of the Latino community; the Portland City Council to adopt a city wide ordinance against police brutality; the City of Portland create a Citizen’s Review Board.
The file is about 30 minutes in length.
Latino Community Demands Kroeker Resign
During the Conference, honoring a request from the Spanish speaking media, a brief statement was made to the Press in that language.
Press Statement in Spanish
(New Content posted 10/04/02)
AUDIO FILE: THE THEFT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Another audio file of Thom Hartman, this time speaking in Portland Oregon on October 4,2002 at Liberty Hall. In this presentation Thom covers in much greater detail the information presented in the KBOO interviw with Per Fagereng.
Beginning with an example of the growing power of Corporations in America, he then traces their growth from early Colonial times up to the present. A great history lesson, with some surprises.
Thom Hartman has written several other books, including seven books on attention deficit disorder and ‘The Last Hours Of Ancient Sunlight.’
The file is about an hour long.
The Theft of Human Rights.
(New Content posted 10/02/02)
AUDIO FILE: KBOO INTERVIEW WITH THOM HARTMAN
This audio file consists of excerpts from the Wednesday morning KBOO interview by Per Fagereng of Thom Hartman, discussing his recent book, ‘Unequal Protection.’
Right off the bat Thom drops a bombshell concerning the 1886 Supreme Court decision which supposedly bestowed legal personhood upon corporations. According to his research, this landmark decision did not actually rule on any constitutional issue, and in fact refused to do so. This case, Santa Clara County vs Southern Pacific Railroad, has been the basis for many other decisions which have slowly given Corporations all the Constitutional priveledges, and few of the responsibilities, of personhood.
Thom traces the reverberations down to the present day of this decision, which was based on a lie, and later discusses some common historical misconceptions concerning events which led up to the Boston Tea Party.
An interesting and alarming interview, full of fresh information and insight;a good warm up for Hartman’s appearance at Liberty Hall on Thursday, October 4, 2002, at 7:00 pm.
Thom Hartman has written several other books, including seven books on attention deficit disorder and ‘The Last Hours Of Ancient Sunlight.’ The file is about 32 minutes long.
Thom Hartman KBOO Interview
(New Content posted 9/17/02)
AUDIO FILE: THE CORPORATE WAR AGAINST DEMOCRACY, PART 2
This is the second half of the Parenti presentation at PSU on Saturday, September 14, 2002. He continues with the theme of the Corporate War Against Democracy, branching out into more current political commentary.
Parenti is the author of fifteen books, including his latest, ‘The Terrorism Trap,’ ‘History as Mystery,’ Democracy For The Few,’ and Inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media.’
File is about 31 minutes in length
The Corporate War Against Democracy, Part 2
(New Content posted 9/16/02)
AUDIO FILE: THE CORPORATE WAR AGAINST DEMOCRACY, PART 1
Saturday evening, September 14, 2002, at Portland State University, Michael Parenti gave another one of his customary witty, dynamic and educational presentations. He immediately launched into his subject by declaring that state leaders are concerned predominatly with the extraction of surplus value from the labor of people.
He then defined Democracy as the antithesis of that process, as a popular reaction against surplus expropriation. There are two kinds of Capitalism, according to Parenti.
The first is Procedural, or Political Capitalism, which has no social or economic content, and is basically, ‘the rules of the game.’ The second is Substantive, is rule of the people for the people, where the interests of the Demos (people) must get primary consideration.
From this point Parenti discusses current society and politics, with his usual flair for comedy and irony.
Parenti is the author of fifteen books, including his latest, ‘The Terrorism Trap,’ ‘History as Mystery,’ Democracy For The Few,’ and Inventing Reality: The Politics of News Media.’
File is about 35 minutes in length
The Corporate War Against Democracy, Part 1
(New Content posted 8/15/02)
AUDIO FILE: THE FRANKEN-TREES
Northwest Resistance Against Genetic Engineering
presents a talk about the dangers and impacts of genetically engineered trees. These GE trees are being designed by the oil, auto, timber, and biotech corporations to turn trees into a domesticated agricultural product. Tree modifications currently on the drawing board include…
Pharmaceutical Bananas
Herbicide resistant trees
Caffeine free coffee bushes
Sterile seeds
Pesticide producing seeds
Rubber trees with human blood proteins
‘Scientists are inserting alien genes into trees in the same way that they are genetically engineering agricultural crops to make them resistant to chemical weed-killers or insects. Trees, which have long life cycles and grow intricate ecosystems, are in the earliest stages of domestification. Planting genetically engineered trees poses potentially devistating enviromental risks.’
From Pulp Fiction by Greenpeace
The Pacific Northwest is a major center of research and development for genetically engineered trees.
Audio file is about 47 minutes
(New Content posted 8/14/02)
AUDIO FILE: ARITHMETIC, ENERGY AND POPULATION-Effects on the Future of Humanity.
Presentation given on 8/13/02 by Professor Albert Bartlett, nuclear physicist, and Emiterus Professor of Physics, University of Colorado.
Professor Barlett is a charismatic nationally known speaker and an expert in resource evaluation and analysis. He has published a large number of professional articles on the mathmatics of exponential growth, energy usage, fossil fuel reserve estimates, and the effects of population growth on the future of humanity. Worldwide, he has given well over 1000 public talks on these subjects.
Sponsored by Alternatives to Growth Oregon Excellent and informative. Given with accompanying overhead graphics, but I think that the lessons will not be lost in an audio only presentation. The Professor moves along rather quickly, and if some of the information gets by you, there’s plenty more examples and applications soon to follow.
Examples of exponential growth abound. For instance, at 7% inflation, in 60 years: a 55 cent gallon of gasoline would cost $35.20; $2.50 for a movie would be $160.00; a $15.00 sack of groceries would be $960.00, etc. Professor Barlett uses these comparisons to demonstrate our usage of oil and coal reserves, as well as the true extent of current and future population growth. He also shows how both the media and our fatuous leaders don’t have a clue about the true meanings of what can only be called the ’sacredness’ of growth. Audio file is just under 1 hour, and I lost about 1 minute of the last 4 minutes or so due to a tape change. Bummer!
Arithmetic Energy and Population.
(New Content posted 7/24/02)
ANOTHER WHISTLEBLOWER BLASTS PRIMATE CARE AT OREGON LAB
Audio file, 14 minutes in length.
Speaking at a Press Conference on Wednesday, Matt Rossell, of In Defense Of Animals, read a statement prepared by Tom Larimer, a former primate technician from the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center (ORPRC). In this statement Larimer spoke out about mistreatment of monkeys at the lab operated by the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).
Quoting Larimer: ‘Some of the things I saw on a daily basis there made my blood boil. Animal management techniques at the PRPRC are pretty much the same as they were in North American Zoo world circa 1960-in other words, the Dark Ages.’
Website on the boycott of OHSU: Boycott OHSU
Whistleblower Press Conference.
(New Content posted 7/18/02)
COLOMBIA UNIONS IN CRISIS.
Dangerous Country for Union Organizers
Colombia has long been the most dangerous country in the world for trade unionists with almost 4,000 murdered in the past 15 years. Last year 201 union members were killed, 90% of those murdered in the entire rest of the world. Most of the killings have been attributed to right-wing paramilitaries who are well known for murdering, abducting and torturing trade union leaders. Much of the violence against trade unionists in Colombia is directed at leaders of unions at multinational firms, including the Coca-Cola company.
On July 18, 2002, two speakers from the Committee for a New Colombia (CNC) spoke in Portland Oregon.
The first, Nathalie Alsop, a student, poet, and activist, is a member of CNC, working to promote a lasting peace in Colombia. She is currently involved with progressive student projects at San Francisco State University and the City College of San Francisco. Nathalie works for the International Action Center training interns in grassroots organizing. 6 minutes in length.
The second speaker, Ramon Acevedo, was forced to leave Colombia with his mother and sisters after a heightened period of state repression in 1986. He is a co-founder of CNC, a San Francisco based activist organization created to educate and campaign against U.S. intervention in Colombia. He has organized teach-ins, a guest speaker at many universities, produced photo exhibits documenting Colombian life and is a representative for CNC at international conferences working to build a solidarity movement with the Colombian people. Ramon recently returned from Colombia after attending a nationwide Colombian Student Conference. 24 1/2 minutes in length
(Posted 7/16/02)
Greg Palast, concludes his presentation given in Portland on June 18, 2002. approximately 40 minutes in length.
(Posted 7/02/02)
Greg Palast, appearing in Portland on June 18, 2002. In this, the first half of his presentation, Greg details the fraud and deceit prior to, during and after the 2000 presidential elections in Florida.
