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Global social justice movement resources
Collection of interviews and Web sites with contacts for breaking news about the global social justice movement. (Audio files in MP3 and RealAudio formats.)

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Hungry for more news from "Between The Lines?"

Many BTL interviews are excerpted from Scott Harris' WPKN program, "Counterpoint." To hear more in-depth analysis you'll rarely hear in corporate media, listen to "Counterpoint" LIVE Monday nights from 8 to 10 p.m. EST.

Listen during the above time slot by clicking here!


WPKN Radio mentioned in Danny Schechter's "The News Dissector" column on independent media values. Click here to view the column on Mediachannel.org.

New Haven Advocate's
"Best of New Haven 2001"
-- Staff Picks --
Scott Harris
Best Radio News Reporter
WPKN Radio, 89.5 FM

Between The Lines

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Between The Lines
For The Week Ending Oct. 4, 2002

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

LISTEN to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below. MP3 files available until Oct. 9, 2002.

This week we present Between The Lines' summary of under-reported news stories and:

Critics Charge Bush's Iraq War Plan Linked
to Congressional November Elections

Interview with John Nichols,
Washington correspondent for The Nation magazine,
conducted by Scott Harris

The White House campaign to garner public support for a new war against Iraq, launched during the summer, quickly overshadowed most other domestic and foreign policy issues facing the U.S. The call for war has effectively pushed coverage of the sputtering economy and corporate crime scandals off the front pages of newspapers and to the margins of TV news shows. Statements made earlier this year by White House political director Karl Rove indicate that the Bush Administration's demand for war is very much connected to this November's important midterm congressional election, where control of the closely divided House and Senate are at stake.

The White House is now working hard to secure both U.N. and congressional resolutions authorizing the automatic use of force if Iraq fails to fully cooperate with international weapons inspectors. But Baghdad's recent offer to allow inspectors back into Iraq without pre-condition has slowed down the march to war. The election victory of the Social Democratic-Green Party coalition in Germany -- a battle largely fought and won over opposition to U.S. Iraq war plans -- has also complicated the president's hope for wider international support.

By and large Democratic Party leaders have supported the Bush plan to invade Iraq. But former vice president and White House candidate Al Gore surprised many when in a Sept. 23rd speech, he criticized the Bush Iraq policy for weakening the U.S. fight against terrorism and undermining international law. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with John Nichols, Washington correspondent with the Nation Magazine, who examines what he believes are the strategic political calculations behind the White House drive to launch a new U.S. war against Iraq.

Read John Nichols' articles in the pages of The Nation magazine or online at www.thenation.com

World Bank/IMF Policies Target
of Protest While Delegates Meet in D.C.

Interview with Robert Weissman,
of Mobilization for Global Justice,
conducted by Scott Harris

Last September, social justice activists were in the midst of organizing large demonstrations against the policies of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C. when the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks necessitated cancelling their plan. One year later, tens of thousands of protesters are once again planning to converge on the nation's capital to make demands on these U.S.-controlled financial institutions.

Through teach-ins, street theater, rallies and direct action -- students, labor activists, environmentalists and human rights advocates -- will demand that the World Bank and IMF open their meetings to public scrutiny; cancel the corrosive debt owed by impoverished nations; end policies which deny people access to essential resources, services and human rights; and stop support for environmentally destructive development projects.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Robert Weissman, editor of the Multi-National Monitor Magazine currently working with the Mobilization for Global Justice. He summarizes the demands of demonstrators gathering in Washington the last week of September and the connection between the neoliberal policies of the World Bank/IMF and recent U.S. corporate scandals.

Contact the Mobilization for Global Justice office at (202) 276-4207 or visit their Web site at www.globalizethis.org

Unregulated School Bus Diesel Exhaust
Endangers Childrens' Health

Interview with Nancy Alderman
president of Environment and Human Health,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus.

In early September, the Environmental Protection Agency declared that long-term exposure to diesel exhaust can cause cancer. Rules passed under the Clinton administration requiring trucks to use low-sulfur fuel are due to go into effect in 2006. But that ruling does not affect buses.

Last year, before the EPA decision was announced, a public health advocacy group in Connecticut studied the impact of diesel exhaust on school children who ride diesel-fueled buses. Fifteen adults wearing badges or other measurement devices accompanied 15 schoolchildren throughout the day to get accurate readings on their exposure. They found that children were sometimes exposed to airborne particulates five to 15 times higher than background levels. Nearly 600,000 school buses transport 24 million students to school every day in the U.S. Collectively, American children spend three billion hours on school buses each year.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Nancy Alderman, president of Environment and Human Health, the group that conducted the study. Its report, issued in February of this year, made several recommendations for reducing the health risks children take when riding on a school bus.

Contact the Environment and Human Health by visiting their Web site at www.ehhi.org

This week's summary
of under-reported news

Compiled by Bob Nixon

  • Welfare reform debate shifts from increasing child care, education and training funds to imposition of punitive work rules. ("From Bad to Worse," In These Times, Sept. 2, 2002)
  • ConAgra's massive recall of tainted beef underscores criticism that food safety is a low priority in the Bush White House. ("Bad Meat: The Scandal of our Food Safety System," The Nation, Sept. 16, 2002)
  • Pharmaceutical companies market new "diseases" to promote sales of anti-depressants. ("Disorders Made to Order," Mother Jones, July/August 2002)

Credits:
Senior news editor/writer: Bob Nixon
Program narration: Sasha Summer Cousineau
News reader: Zelphia Hunter
Segment producer: Melinda Tuhus
Distribution: Anna Manzo, Harry Minot, Jeff Yates
Web editor/producer: Anna Manzo
Executive producer: Scott Harris

... MORE ...

Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 9/27/02

IMF/World Bank and Anti-Iraq War Protest Interviews Sept. 27-29,2002 Interviews with Mary Bull, Medea Benjamin, Ralph Nader in D.C. (in MP3 format) Others to follow on our website.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Our Webhost is undergoing a major upgrade for an undetermined period, limiting access to our archives and other Web pages. Our current and recent audio files ARE available on this Web page.

We have successfully moved our listservs, the Q&A and the Summary from Topica.com to the noncommercial listserv, Riseup.net.

Energy Standoff in Central Asia

"Bush Fuels Oil Conspiracy Theory," by Ted Rall, www.AlterNet.org, Jan. 10, 2002

"Pipeline Politics: Oil, The Taliban and the Political Balance of Central Asia," World Press Review Special Report

"The New Great Game: Oil Politics in Central Asia" by Ted Rall, www.AlterNet.org, October 11, 2001,

Economic Globalization Resources

ZNet's Global Economic Crisis resource site Excellent source for understanding global economics and trade issues in preparation for ongoing demonstrations about economic justice

Multi-Ethnic Public Issues Advocacy

Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson's Commentaries, The Hutchinson Report

Between The Lines' 10th Anniversary CD

 


Between The Lines
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