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ACTIVIST RESOURCES

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. ET.

Listen during the above time slot by clicking here!

Check out our
new archive
of selected in-depth interviews and other audio collectibles on our distribution production company's site at www.squeakywheel.net


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

"Giving Voice to Dissent: Bridgeport's WPKN Radio Covers The News With Left-Of-Center Takes Not Found In The Mainstream Media" Hartford Courant, Feb. 26, 2003

"The Rest of the News," New Haven Advocate, July 3, 2003


ISSUES IN-DEPTH

War And Profiteering

Those Who Dared to Come Forward
Compilation of Washington insiders speaking out on Bush administration policies and actions

Project for the New American Century's Letter to President Clinton on Iraq, Jan. 26, 1998 Urges President Clinton to remove the threat that Iraq poses by stating a strategy to do so in his "upcoming State of the Union Address."

"Iraq On The Record," U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman report, March 16, 2004

"Greenspan Testimony Highlights Bush Plan for Deliberate Federal Bankruptcy," by Michael Meurer, truthout.org, March 2, 2004

"Noam Chomsky on Middle East Conflict and U.S. War Plan Against Iraq," Between The Lines interview with Noam Chomsky, conducted by Scott Harris, for the Week Ending May 3, 2002

"The Iraq War & The Bush Administration's Pursuit of Global Domination," Counterpoint, Sept. 15, 2003

The Iraq Crisis, a Global Policy Forum, U.N. Security Council section on the 13 years of sanctions and other background of the war, the humanitarian situation, the importance of Iraq's huge oil resources, and disputes over a post-war government and reconstruction plan

"Occupation, Inc." Southern Exposure, Winter, 2003/2004

"Pipeline Politics: Oil, The Taliban, and the Political Balance of Central Asia," World Press Review Special Report, Nov.-Dec. 2001

"War Profiteering," by The Nation editors, April 24, 2003

"An Annotated Saddam Chronology," ZNet, Dec. 15, 2003

Civil Liberties

"The Global Gulag: Into The Shadows," by Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, April 5, 2004

"Keeping Secrets: The Bush administration is doing the public's business out of the public eye. Here's how--and why," by Christopher H. Schmitt and Edward T. Pound, U.S. News & World Report, Dec. 12, 2003

"FBI Memo: Tactics Used During Protests And Demonstrations" Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oct. 15, 2003

"F.B.I. Scrutinizes Antiwar Rallies" by Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, Nov. 23, 2003

"Fascism Anyone?" 14 Signs of Fascism, Free Inquiry Magazine, Volume 23, No. 2

"Germany In 1933: The Easy Slide Into Fascism," The Crisis Papers, June 9, 2003

Multi-Ethnic Issues Advocacy

Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson's Commentaries, The Hutchinson Report
and in Audio (needs RealPlayer)

Between
The Lines

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Between The Lines
For The Week Ending July 15, 2005

bus

The wreckage of a London bus after an explosion on the bus in Tavistock Square during the morning rush hour Thursday, July 7. Three other blasts rocked the London subway. Over 50 were killed and hundreds injured. (Reuters)

Series of coordinated bomb blasts hit London Subway,
News blog at G8, Guardian Unlimited

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM
  • Bush Call to 'Stay the Course in Iraq'
    Echoes Pronouncements Made During Vietnam War

    For story text and audio, Click here!

  • Military Base Closings Force Communities
    to Plan for Sustainable Economic Development

    For story text and audio, Click here!

  • Civil War Looms in AFL-CIO as Dissidents
    Demand Reform and Threaten
    to Break Up Federation

    For story text and audio, Click here!

  • Underreported News Summary
    from Around the World

    For full summary and audio, Click here!
LISTEN to this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below. MP3 files available until July 19, 2005.

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

Bush Call to 'Stay the Course in Iraq'
Echoes Pronouncements Made During Vietnam War

Interview with Ray McGovern,
retired CIA analyst,
conducted by Scott Harris

mission accomplished

President Bush, addressing the nation aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on May 2, 2003, declares "major combat operations in Iraq have ended." (Reuters)

In the face of declining public support for the war in Iraq and growing doubts about the justifcation for the invasion and occupation, President Bush addressed the nation in a televised speech on June 28 to make a case for staying the course in the conflict. Using hundreds of soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C. as a backdrop, the president asserted that the sacrifice of U.S. lives in Iraq is worth it and is vital to the future security of our country.

Bush rejected any timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops and offered no new strategies for winning the war against an insurgency that daily seems to grow in strength and sophistication. The president's only exit strategy is based on his hope that one day U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers will be able to take over for American occupation forces. The president invoked the 9/11 terrorist attacks five times in his speech to defend his decision to go to war, echoing his similar pre-invasion references to al Qaida.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Ray McGovern, a retired 27-year veteran CIA analyst. McGovern was among a group of administration critics who testified before a June 17 unofficial congressional hearing investigating the British Downing Street memos, which many observers believe provides evidence of the dishonest White House justifcation for launching its invasion of Iraq. McGovern takes a critical look at President Bush's recent national address and his strategy for fighting the Iraq war.

Until his retirement in 1990, McGovern led one of two CIA teams conducting the most secret daily intelligence briefings at the House. His recent article, Stay the Crooked Course," can be read online at www.truthout.org

Other articles by Ray McGovern:

Other Between The Lines interviews with Ray McGovern:
  • "Critics Question Credibility of FBI Investigation into White House Leak Exposing CIA Operative,"Oct. 17, 2003 interview conducted by Scott Harris.

    Military Base Closings Force Communities
    to Plan for Sustainable Economic Development

    Groton, Conn. submarine base,
    with 8,000-10,000 jobs, recommended for closure

    Interview with Joanne Sheehan,
    of the War Resisters' League,
    conducted by Melinda Tuhus

    groton


    Submarine base in Groton, Conn., selected for closure.

    From the 1960s to the present, the U.S. military has gone through several rounds of base closings and realignments, with the dual purpose of saving money and forging a modern military able to respond to the latest actual and perceived threats. In May 2005, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld submitted to the independent, bipartisan Base Closure and Realignment Commission, or BRAC, a list of bases that the department has selected for closure.

    The Navy submarine base in Groton, Conn. is the oldest sub base in the country and the largest facility proposed for closure in terms of personnel, with between 8,500 and 10,000 jobs lost if the base shuts down. The BRAC Commission determined the list based on the military value of the facilities. Connecticut politicians at the local, state and federal levels are now scrambling to convince the commission that the sub base is too valuable to shut down. On Sept. 8th, the BRAC commission will make its own base closure recommendations.

    Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Joanne Sheehan, Northeast staff person for the War Resisters League and chairperson of War Resisters International, the parent organization. She lives near the Groton sub base and talks about the 15 years she has been working on economic conversion issues, attempting to move away from dependence on military programs and toward sustainable community development.

    Contact the War Resisters League by calling (212) 228-0450 or visit their website at www.warresisters.org

    Civil War Looms in AFL-CIO as Dissidents
    Demand Reform and Threaten
    to Break Up Federation

    Interview with Joanne Wypijewski,
    journalist,
    conducted by Scott Harris

    cafta


    Andy Stern, international president of the Service Employees International Union, who is challenging the leadership of the AFL-CIO, marched with striking janitors on the campus of the University of Southern California in 2000. (David Bacon)

    Ten years ago, John Sweeney, decrying the declining fortunes of the U.S. labor movement, demanded sweeping change in the moribund leadership of the AFL-CIO. Sweeney succeeded and was elected the union federation's president. Among other reforms, he promised more resources for organizing to reverse the union movement's declining membership.

    A decade later, Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union, SEIU, is challenging his old boss with many of the same demands for reform and substantive change in the way labor is organized. Stern, along with four other unions representing 5 million members, are calling for the merger of smaller unions in key industries, a reduction in the AFL's central staff, and a rebate of millions of dollars back to federation members earmarked for strategic organizing. The reform alliance calling itself the Change to Win Coalition is made up of SEIU, the Teamsters, apparel and hotel workers union UNITE/HERE, the United Food and Commercial Workers and the Laborers.

    As the AFL-CIO prepares to meet for its July 25 convention, Stern has received authorization from the SEIU executive board to walk out of the federation if core demands for reform are not met. Other unions in his coalition may follow suit. Critics contend that a split in the labor movement during a time of sustained attacks from a Republican president and Congress would be disastrous -- while Stern's supporters believe dramatic action is justified. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Joann Wypijewski, a journalist who has covered the labor movement for 20 years. She discusses labor's looming civil war and what's at stake for working people in this struggle.

    Wypijewski is a columnist for Mother Jones magazine. Read her article titled, "Days of Bread and Roses" in the July/August edition or visit their website at www.motherjones.com

    This week's summary
    of under-reported news

    Compiled by Bob Nixon

    • Six months after the Indian Ocean tsunami, the Sri Lankan government is preparing for a political storm as it announced a deal in late June to distribute aid with the rebel Tamil Tigers, who control much of the northeast of the country and have been engaged in a 20-year war for independence that has left 65,000 people dead. ("Political Tsunami Threatens Rebuilding in Sri Lanka," InterPress Service, June 24, 2005)
    • The rice market in Ghana has collapsed and critics blame the struggle of local farmers on structural adjustment loans given by the International Monetary Fund in the early 1980s. The loans mandated the import of cheap rice subsidized by the U.S. and European governments. ("Ghana Pays Price for West's Rice Subsidiaries," The Guardian, April 11, 2005)
    • Anti-gay violence inspired by religious extremists boiled over at Jerusalem's annual gay pride parade on June 30. ("Jerusalem's Gay Pride Marchers Attacked," San Francisco Chronicle, July 1, 2005)

    DOWNLOAD this week's half-hour program of Between The Lines by clicking on one of the links below. Needs Quicktime Player or your favorite MP3 player. Note: Make sure your browser is set for streaming or download depending on your connection speed. MP3 files available until July 19, 2005

    Note to our broadcast affiliates: We offer FTP and RSS access for faster, more reliable download of our broadcast quality files. Please call Anna Manzo at (203) 268-8446 ext. 2, to register for FTP logon access, obtain schedules or send feedback to us at betweenthelines@snet.net.

    Credits:
    Senior news editor: Bob Nixon
    Program narration: Denise Manzari
    News reader: Bill Cosentino
    Segment producers: Scott Harris, Melinda Tuhus
    Distribution: Anna Manzo, Harry Minot, Jeff Yates, Bill Cosentino
    Senior Web editor/producer: Anna Manzo
    Web producer: Jeff Yates
    Newswire editor: Hank Hoffman
    Executive producer: Scott Harris
    Theme music: Mikata


    Between The Lines
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Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 7/8/05

Between The Lines Community Forum

Share your thoughts with the Between The Lines crew and listeners' community!

Between The Lines Special Report

Speeches from "Denounce Torture: Torture and US Policy - What your government is doing in your name," Teach In at Yale University, by the Yale and New Haven chapters of Amnesty International, April 8, 2005

Mark Danner, New Yorker writer and author of "Torture and Truth," MacArthur Fellow
In RealAudio
In MP3

Barbara Olshansky, deputy director at the Center for Constitutional Rights
In RealAudio
In MP3

The Honorable John Conyers Jr., Congressman, Michigan's 14th District
In RealAudio
In MP3

Broadcast-quality MP3s of these speeches available at www.radio4all.net

U.S. Politics

"Liberal Legislative Caucus Envisions Post-Bush Era," San Francisco Chronicle, July 5, 2005

"If Ax Falls On Roe, It May Also Split GOP," Los Angeles Times, July 4, 2005

"'Nuclear Option' Re-Emerges For Supreme Court Fight," Knight Ridder, July 2, 2005

"CAFTA Squeaks By Senate, By Tiniest Margin For Any Trade Bill In History," by Deborah James, Common Dreams, July 1, 2005

"Stage Set For Battle Over Supreme Court Future," by David Paul Kuhn, Salon.com, July 1, 2005

More newswire ...

Bush Regime

" At White House, a Day of Silence on Rove's Role in CIA Leak," The New York Times, July 12, 2005

"Karl Rove Was Source Of Plame Leak," by Michael Isikoff, Newsweek, July 11, 2005

"Bush, The Obstacle to a Deal On Global Warming," Independent/UK, July 5, 2005

"Bush's Nuclear Nonsense," by Mark Hertsgaard, TomPaine.com, July 5, 2005

"Bush Speech Reveals Ongoing Deceptions About Iraq," by Stephen Zunes, Common Dreams, July 4, 2005

"Rove 'Knowingly' Refusing Interviews On Plame Leak," Editor & Publisher, July 4, 2005

"The Biggest Of Big Lies: A Speech Written And Delivered To Deceive," Capital Times editorial (Madison, WI), June 30, 2005

"Backing For Bush Is Gone, Say Local Veterans," by Michael Mayo, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, June 29, 2005

More newswire ...

American Empire/War Profiteering

"It's Imperialism, Stupid," by Noam Chomsky, Uruknet, July 5, 2005

"Military Recruiters Find The War A Difficult Sell," Boston Globe, July 5, 2005

"Barbarism, Inc.," by Gil Hubbard & David Miller, MediaChannel.org, July 1, 2005

"Bolton's Ready To Bomb Iran," by Michael Tomasky, The American Prospect, June 30, 2005

More newswire ...

"Postwar" Occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan

"The Rumsfeld Solution: Liberating Iraq, One Journalist At A Time," by Mike Whitney, SmirkingChimp.com, July 5, 2005

"U.S. Bombs Kill 17 Afghan Villagers As Search Continues For Soldiers," Guardian/UK, July 5, 2005

"Iraq Seen Emerging As Prime Training Ground For Terrorists," Knight Ridder, July 4, 2005

"Acid Attacks On 'Immodest' Women On The Rise In Iraq," Reuters, July 4, 2005

"UK Aid Funds Iraqi Torture Units," Observer/UK, July 3, 2005

"June One Of The Deadliest Months For Troops In Iraq," Knight Ridder, June 30, 2005

More newswire ...

Civil Liberties/ Human Rights

"The Right's Assault On The Academy: An Interview With Robert Jensen," by Bob Libal, Counterpunch, July 5, 2005

"Morphing The Gestapo," by Doris Colmes, SmirkingChimp.com, July 5, 2005

"Bush Team Uses 'Skin Game' To Attack Porn," by Patrick Moore, Newsday, July 5, 2005

"Patriotism Versus The PATRIOT Act," by Dorothy M. Ehrlich, San Francisco Chronicle, July 4, 2005

"Governmwent Secrecy Reaches Record High," The New York Times, July 3, 2005

"TSA Secretly Snoops On Air Passengers," by Jim Hightower, AlterNet, July 2, 2005

"California Spying, Schwarzenegger-Style," by Seth Sandronsky, Common Dreams, July 2, 2005

"The Stain Of Torture," by Burton J. Lee III, Washington Post, July 1, 2005

"Code Dumb: Look Who's Spying On Your Granny," Sacramento Bee (California) editorial, June 29, 2005

More newswire ...

Media Issues

"Koran Desecration Is Part Of The Torture Plan; So Is Media Silence," by Saul Landau, ZNet, July 5, 2005

"Court Limits Student Publishing Freedom," by Laura Van Hyfte, Michigan Daily News, July 5, 2005

"This July Fourth, Where's The Press?," by Mark Fitzgerald, Editor & Publisher, July 3, 2005

"Pliant American Press Behaving Like Pravda In Coverage Of U.S. President," by Linda McQuaig, Toronto Star/Canada, July 3, 2005

More newswire ...

Activism

"Protesters Prepare 'Warm' Welcome For G-8 Leaders," Inter Press Service, July 5, 2005

"Tens Of Thousands Of Anti-Poverty Demonstrators March Through Edinburgh," Associated Press, July 2, 2005

More newswire ...

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