BETWEEN THE LINES
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ACTIVIST RESOURCES
Panel discussions from the Left Forum, April 18, 2009

10,000 March on Wall St., April 4, 2009

Global social justice movement resources
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Hungry for more news from Between The Lines?

Many BTL interviews are excerpted from Scott Harris' live, 2-hour program, Counterpoint. To hear more in-depth analysis you won't get in mainstream media, listen to Counterpoint LIVE Monday nights from 8 to 10 p.m. EST on WPKN Radio

Counterpoint is now archived in its entirety on The White Rose Society website


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"Best of New Haven 2001"
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WPKN Radio, 89.5 FM



ISSUES IN DEPTH
'A New Era of Responsibility'

"Push Obama to Follow Through on Peace Vows," by Amy Goodman, The Capital Times (Wisconsin), Jan. 22, 2009
"How to Push Obama," by John Nichols, The Nation, Jan. 12, 2009

"The Danger of Green Stimulus," Jesse Jenkins, Huffington Post, Jan. 5, 2009

"The First Hundred Days or the Last Hundred Days? Obama's Rendezvous with Destiny -- and Ours," by Ira Chernus, by TomDispatch.com, Dec. 10, 2008

"Who Will Seize the Moment?" Turning Crisis into Opportunity, by Ralph Nader, Counterpunch, Dec. 4, 2008

"Community Organizers Press Obama for Real Change," by CommonDreams.org, Dec. 3, 2008

Civil Liberties

"The effects of Obama's refusal to investigate Bush crimes," by Glen Greenwald, Salon.com, Jan. 20, 2009

"Binding U.S. law requires prosecutions for those who authorize torture, " by Glenn Greenwald, Salon, Jan. 18, 2009

"Obama Has to Hold Bush Accountable for the Laws He Broke," by Elizabeth Holtzman, The Nation, Jan. 16, 2009

"Obama Must Restore the Constitution: Prosecuting Bush and Cheney," by Dave Lindoff, Counterpunch.org, Jan. 16-19, 2009

A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE: Human Rights Solutions

"Single-Payer Health Care Would Stimulate Economy," by John Nichols, The Nation, Jan. 15, 2009

"Fulfilling the Promise of Human Rights: The Universal Declaration at 60," audio recordings from a Connecticut conference marking the 60th anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at Quinnipiac University, Hamden, Conn., Dec. 6, 2008

A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE: Converting Fossil Fuel/War Economy to Green, Renewable Energy/Peace Economy


"Green Jobs Should Top Our Economic Recovery List," by Juleyka Lantigua, Jan. 6, 2009

"Obama Must Get Afghanistan Right,"by Katrina Van Heuvel, The Nation, Jan. 9, 2009

"Nine Steps to Peace for Obama in the New Year," by Deepak Chopra, Alternet, Jan. 1, 2009

"Electric Cars Put Hawaii on The Road to Independence," by Times Online/UK, Dec. 4, 2008

"Weapons Come Second: Can Obama Take on the Pentagon?" by Frida Berrigan, TomDispatch.com, Nov. 25, 2008

The FY 2009 Pentagon Spending Request - Global Military Spending, by the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation

Economic Crisis

"The Outcry Is Muted, But The Food Crisis Is Getting Worse," by Jayati Ghosh, The Guardian/UK, Jan. 9, 2009

"Ideas for Obama, "by Paul Krugman, by The New York Times, Jan. 12, 2009

"The Ponzi Scheme Presidency: Bush's Legacy of Destruction," by Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch.com, January/February, 2009

"Fiscal Therapy," by David Cay Johnston, Mother Jones, January/February, 2009

"A Look At Wall Street's Shadow Market: How Some Arcane Wall Street Financial Instruments Magnified Economic Crisis," 60 Minutes, Oct. 5, 2008

"Swapping Secrecy for Transparency," by Christopher Cox, SEC Chairman, The New York Times Op-Ed, Oct. 19, 2008

"The Bet That Blew Up Wall Street: Steve Kroft On Credit Default Swaps And Their Central Role In The Unfolding Economic Crisis," 60 Minutes, Oct. 26, 2008

Broken Government



"Broken Government: By The Numbers," 40 ways in which the federal government failed to perform under the administration of George W. Bush, 2001-2008

Class Warfare

"How the Rich Are Different From You and Me,"Places that went for Obama are richer and smarter than places that went for McCain, by Bill Bishop and Robert Cushing, Slate, Dec. 11, 2008

"Questions About the $700 Billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Funds, " First Report of the Congressional Oversight Panel for Economic Stabilization, Dec. 10, 2008

War And Profiteering

"This Is Change? Twenty Hawks, Clintonites and Neocons to Watch for in Obama's White House," by Jeremy Scahill,Alternet, Nov. 20, 2008


"Don't Let Barack Obama Break Your Heart," Why Americans Shouldn't Go Home, by Tom Engelhardt, Nov. 12, 2008

"The Future of Iraq: The Spoils of War," Blood and oil: How the West will profit from Iraq's most precious commodity, by Danny Fortson, Andrew Murray-Watson and Tim Webb, The Independent/UK, Jan. 7, 2007

"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 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

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

Between The Lines

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Posted June 3, 2009

Between The Lines
For The Week Ending June 12, 2009




palastdvd BBC-TV's Greg Palast, considered by many to be the top investigative journalist in the United States, has just produced a new video documentary, "Palast Investigates: From 8-Mile to the Amazon - on the Trail of the Financial Marauders." The video covers his recent investigations on financial vultures who prey on the world's poorest nations; the human cost of oil production in the Amazon and the theft of millions of votes from American Indians in New Mexico.

Because Palast serves on the Between The Lines advisory board, he's offering Between The Lines' listeners a special deal. Make a donation of at least $40 and receive his new video DVD, and the proceeds from your contribution will be split 50-50, with half going to Between The Lines and half going to support Palast's Investigative Fund.

Visit www.gregpalast.com/betweenthelines to see the trailer and donate.
For more information, see excerpts from Greg Palast's letter about this project.

THIS WEEK'S PROGRAM

 RealAudio (full-length) |  MP3 (full-length)
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This week we present Between The Lines' summary of under-reported news stories and:



U.S. Policy Changes Could Stem
Rising Tension Triggered
by North Korea's Second
Nuclear Bomb Test


 RealAudio  MP3

Interview with John Feffer,
co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus,
conducted by Scott Harris


no.korea

In the wake of seismic evidence that North Korea successfully conducted its second nuclear weapons test since 2006 on May 25, the U.S., South Korea and China condemned the action. The government in Pyongyang followed the underground nuclear detonation by launching five short-range missiles. In a harsh reaction to the criticism, the North renounced the truce in place since the Korean War ended in 1953 and asserted that any foreign power that boarded its ships searching for nuclear material would constitute an act of war.

As U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korea's conservative leader Lee Myung-bak urged the U.N. Security Council to impose tough new sanctions against the North, a Seoul newspaper reported that the government of Kim Jong Il was preparing to test fire his nation's most sophisticated long-range ballistic missile.

Speculation that the North's actions were tied to a succession struggle within the secretive Communist state were fueled by reports that Kim Jong Il had suffered a serious stroke in August. South Korean news outlets now maintain that the North's leader has chosen his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, to succeed him in power. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with John Feffer, co-director of Foreign Policy in Focus and former Pan Tech Fellow in Korean Studies at Stanford University, who examines how a change in U.S. policy could reduce rising tensions in the Korean peninsula resulting from the North's recent nuclear weapons test.

Read John Feffer's articles online at www.fpif.org or at his website www.johnfeffer.com


Related links:

EPA Begins Nation's Largest Superfund Cleanup
of Hudson River PCBs


 RealAudio  MP3

Interview with Alex Matthiessen,
Hudson Riverkeeper,
conducted by Melinda Tuhus


dredge

For years, General Electric discharged wastewater containing polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs -- which were used as lubricants and coolants -- into the Hudson River from two of its New York state plants. PCBs were banned in 1977 when research revealed that it was a probable human carcinogen, and linked to immune, reproductive and nervous system disorders.

Residents and activists along the Hudson River fought for more than 30 years to force GE to clean up its mess, and on May 15, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiated the largest Superfund clean-up in its history -- dredging a 40-mile stretch of the river -- to be overseen and paid for by GE. But the company has not yet committed to undertaking a second, bigger phase. The dredged materials will be treated and then trucked to a landfill in Texas, a plan which some residents and environmentalists have criticized.

Between The Lines' Melinda Tuhus spoke with Alex Matthiessen, president of Riverkeeper, an independent environmental group, about the scope of the PCB dredging project and the expected economic and environmental benefits.

Contact Riverkeeper by calling (914) 478-4501 or visit the group's website at www.riverkeeper.org

GM Bankruptcy: A History
of Missed Opportunities


 RealAudio  MP3

Interview with Frank Hammer,
former president of United Auto Workers Local 909,
conducted by Scott Harris



gm

The nation's largest manufacturer, General Motors, filed for bankruptcy on June 1, making it one of the biggest corporate failures in U.S. history. With $50 billion in financing from the government thus far, the company will continue to operate while reorganizing under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, allowing the company to sell off its assets, restructure debt, close plants and terminate contracts.

After filing for bankruptcy, GM announced it would close 14 more of its U.S. factories, layoff as many as 21,000 more employees and close 1,100 dealerships. The carmaker will emerge from its current crisis with less than 40,000 U.S. workers, a dramatic decline from the 395,000 employees that once worked for the automaker during the 1970s. Michigan, where GM is based, is particularly hard hit. After the restructuring, American taxpayers will own a 60 percent stake in the company and the United Auto Workers union health care fund will own a 17.5 percent share of GM. The rest will be divided among GM's bondholders and the Canadian and Ontario governments.

As part of its mandated downsizing, GM's Hummer division will be sold to a Chinese company, and talks are underway with potential buyers for its Saturn brand. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with retired autoworker and past UAW union local 909 president Frank Hammer, who talks about the pain and opportunities he sees in a General Motors bankruptcy, a company where he worked for 32 years.

For more information on the organizing project of union autoworkers and their allies, visit the website: www.autoworkercaravan.org

Related links:
  • June 14-17 People's Summit at Grand Circus Park in Detroit, taking place at the same time as the National Business Summit, a meeting of corporate heads
  • Labor Notes magazine at www.labornotes.org
  • United Auto workers at wwww.uaw.org
This week's summary
of under-reported news


 RealAudio  MP3

Compiled by Bob Nixon

  • Declassified Swedish diplomatic notes show the lengths Chinese authorities are willing to go to marginalize Uighur detainees, Muslim ethnic group from China, who are held at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention center and have been cleared of all charges. ("Diplomatic Memos Reveal Chinese Effort to Block Guantanamo Prisoners' asylum bid," Christian Science Monitor, May 12, 2009; "Europe Objects Anew to Detainees," Washington Post, May 29, 2009)
  • Guatemala's left-leaning President Alvaro Colom has been implicated in the murder of prominent lawyer Rodrigo Rosenberg, energizing the right-wing that has long run the poor Central American country under a succession of dictators. ("Guatemala Murder Scandal Could Threaten the Presidency," Christian Science Monitor, May 20, 2009; "Guatemalan Murder Mystery Threatens Government," Associated Press, May 28, 2009)
  • During last fall's economic crash, Russell Athletic, a divison of Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Company, closed the only unioned garment factory in Honduras. In response U.S. activists have convinced 25 universities to drop licensing deals with Russell Athletic. ("Students Won't Sweat It," In These Times, May 2009; "College Logos in Labor Fight," www.tampabay.com, April 4, 2009; "Worker Rights Consortium Annotation of Russell Corporation's March 4 Letter to Universities and Colleges," www.workersrights.org)


Credits:
Executive producer: Scott Harris
Segment producers: Scott Harris, Melinda Tuhus
Senior news editor: Bob Nixon
Program narration: Denise Manzari
News reader: Emily Santos-Poplawski
Senior web editor/producer: Anna Manzo
Web producer: Jeffrey P. Yates
Web consultant: Gary Trujillo
Newswire editor: Hank Hoffman
Photo editor: Scott Harris
Outreach coordinator: Anna Manzo
Distribution: Anna Manzo and Jeffrey P. Yates
Theme music: Written by Richard Hill and Jody Gray, and performed by Mikata


Between The Lines
Airs on WPKN 89.5 FM ET
Tuesdays, 5:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.
Wednesdays, 8 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.
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Last Week's Program

Between The Lines Week Ending 6/5/09

Between The Lines' Blog

"Reading Between The Lines"

U.S. Politics

"Baucus to Meet With Single-Payer Advocates," Great Falls Tribune (Montana), June 2, 2009

"Max Baucus Backs Off Claim He's 'Fighting Tooth And Nail' For Public Health Care Option," by Ryan Grim, Huffington Post, June 2, 2009

"63% of Pennsylvanians Want Specter to Face Democratic Primary Challenger," by Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake, June 2, 2009

"America's Political/Media Kabuki," by Robert Parry, Consortium News, June 1, 2009

"Health Care Reform's Pulse Is Fading," by Marie Cocco, TruthDig, June 1, 2009

More newswire ...

Economy

"The GM 'Precedent,'" by Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect, June 3, 2009

"Reagan Didn't Do It," by Robert Scheer, TruthDig, June 3, 2009

"Economic Crisis Making for More Unstable World," by Marina Litvinsky, Inter Press Service, June 3, 2009

"Goodbye, GM," by Michael Moore, ZNet, June 2, 2009

"GM Bailout Makes Most of Bad Situation," by Dean Baker, Politico, June 2, 2009

"Our Economy Is Going to Keep Tanking Until We Stop Shoveling Billions to Rich People," by Pam Martens, CounterPunch, June 2, 2009

"Plant Closures Weigh On Workers, Cities," Los Angeles Times, June 2, 2009

"The 'New GM': Layoffs, Factory Closings, Offshoring," by John Nichols, The Nation, June 1, 2009

"More Stimulus, Not Deficit Reduction: S&P Misses the Boat," by Mark Weisbrot, Counterpunch, June 1, 2009

"Reagan Did It," by Paul Krugman, The New York Times, May 31, 2009

More newswire ...

Bush Accountability

"Why Did CIA Hide Dick Cheney's Role in Briefing?," by Marcy Wheeler, Firedoglake, June 3, 2009

"Red Cross Informed Powell About Torture," by Jason Leopold, Truthout, June 3, 2009

"Cheney Led Briefings of Lawmakers To Defend Interrogation Techniques," Washington Post, June 2, 2009

"Cheney Edges Away From Claim That CIA Docs Will Prove Torture Worked," by Greg Sargent, The Plum Line, June 2, 2009

"General Ricardo Sanchez Calls for War Crimes Truth Commission," by Jack Hidary, Huffington Post, May 31, 2009

"Is Halliburton Forgiven and Forgotten?: Or How to Stay Out of Sight While Profiting From the War in Iraq," by Tom Engelhardt & Pratap Chatterjee, TomDispatch, May 31, 2009

More newswire ...

International Affairs

"Obama Talks of Being 'Honest' With Israel," The New York Times, June 2, 2009

"US-Cuba Policy: 'Still Stuck in the Past,'" by Roger Burbach, Counterpunch, June 2, 2009

"Shortcut on the Roadmap to War," by Daniel Luban and Jim Lobe, Inter Press Service, June 1, 2009

"The IMF is Back? Think Again," by Aldo Caliari, Foreign Policy in Focus, June 1, 2009

"Death and devastation in Gaza neatly filed and documented," by Peter Beaumont, Guardian/UK, May 29, 2009

"The Dark Side of Plan Colombia," by Teo Ballve, The Nation, May 27, 2009

More newswire ...

"Postwar" Occupation of Iraq, Afghanistan

"The Return of the Resistance," by Dahr Jamail, Truthout, June 3, 2009

"Tillman's mother says general lied again about his death," CNN, June 2, 2009

"McChrystal Paints Bleak Picture of Afghanistan War," by Spencer Ackerman, Washington Independent, June 2, 2009

"U.S. Report Finds Errors in Afghan Airstrikes," The New York Times, June 2, 2009

"U.S. general faces Iraq abuse questions, groups say," Reuters, June 1, 2009

"Obama Has 250,000 'Contractors' Deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and is Increasing the Use of Mercenaries," by Jeremy Scahill, Rebel Reports, June 1, 2009

"Nomination of U.S. Afghan Commander Revives Questions in Tillman Case," The New York Times, May 25, 2009

More newswire ...

Civil Liberties/ Human Rights

"Eavesdropping Case Tests Obama Vows on Secrecy," by William Fisher, Inter press Service, June 2, 2009

"Yemeni Prisoner Muhammad Salih Dies At Guantánamo," by Andy Worthington, Andy Worthington, June 2, 2009

"Who killed George Tiller?," by Jill Filipovic, Guardian/UK, June 1, 2009

"Piecing Together the Murder of Dr. George Tiller: Right-Wing Violence Rears Its Head," by AlterNet Staff, AlterNet, June 1, 2009

"Obama's support for the new Graham-Lieberman secrecy law," by Glenn Greenwald, Salon, June 1, 2009

"The Murder of Dr. Tiller, a Foreshadowing," by Cristina Page, Huffington Post, May 31, 2009

"Showdown coming in wiretap lawsuit," San Francisco Chronicle, May 31, 2009

More newswire ...

Environment and Sustainability

"Chevron, Shell and the True Cost of Oil," by Amy Goodman, TruthDig, June 3, 2009

"Stopping the Desecration of Mountaintop Removal," by Jim Hightower, Creators Syndicate, June 3, 2009

"Climate Deal Must Cover Acid Oceans, World Scientists Urge," Environment News Service, June 1, 2009

"World's next big climate pact begins to take shape," Christian Science Monitor, June 1, 2009

"Controversial coal mining method gets Obama's OK," Chicago Tribune, June 1, 2009

More newswire ...

Media Issues

"Sotomayor, Gingrich, and the demise of our press corps," by Eric Boehlert, Media Matters, June 2, 2009

"NBC News and Populist Politics: Who Needs Glaciers or the Rule of Law?," by Christian Christensen, Common Dreams, June 2, 2009

"Sotomayor Falls in Journalism's Blind Spot," by Roberto Rodriguez, Common Dreams, June 2, 2009

"Rachel Maddow, Keith Olbermann, Ed Schultz -- How MSNBC Became a Liberal Mecca" by Rory O'Connor, AlterNet, June 1, 2009

"Jeffrey Rosen vows never to 'blog' again," by Glenn Greenwald, Salon, May 31, 2009

"False excuses for anonymity and irrationality on affirmative action," by Glenn Greenwald, Salon, May 29, 2009

More newswire ...

Activism

"Making Change: Progressives in the Obama Moment," by Robert L. Borosage, Huffington Post, June 2, 2009

"Under Mounting Pressure, Starbucks Settles Yet Another Labor Dispute," by Z.P. Heller, Open Left, June 2, 2009

"Gulf Coast activists protest at FEMA headquarters," McClatchy Newspapers, June 1, 2009

"LT. Dan Choi Takes 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Directly to Obama," by Linda Milazzo, AlterNet, June 1, 2009

"Smug Toronto Seethes as Tamils 'Go Too Far,'" by Eugenia Tsao, Counterpunch, June 1, 2009

"Union backers target Starbucks with new-media campaign," Los Angeles Times, May 28, 2009

More newswire ...



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