Between The Lines - Susan Hanley: Monarch Butterflies in Crisis (Week Ending Sept. 12, 2014)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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Disappearance of Monarch Butterflies Linked to Deforestation and GMO Crops

Posted Sept. 3, 2014

Interview with Susan Hanley, manager of the Native Species Butterfly House at the Paul Smith's College Visitor Interpretive Center, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Late summer is the season when monarch butterflies begin their migration from the Northeast and Midwest of the United States to their wintering grounds in the Oyamel fir forest of Mexico. But this year the monarchs are in crisis. Many observers report seeing very few or no monarchs at all during the summer months this year, when in the recent past they were common all over the eastern half of the U.S. In fact researchers have found that over the last two decades the monarch butterfly population has declined by 90 percent in the eastern U.S. Scientists say there are several reasons for the monarch’s population crash that include: deforestation of the insects breeding areas in Mexico, the negative effects of GMO crops and the destruction of milkweed, the plant where monarch’s exclusively lay their eggs.

Fortunately, there are ways to help these iconic creatures survive. Three major conservation groups have called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to designate the monarch as a threatened species, an action that would give federal officials the power to launch new initiatives to protect their habitat.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Sue Hanley, Native Species Butterfly House manager at the Paul Smiths Visitors Interpretive Center in the Adirondack Mountains in upstate New York. She explains that the monarchs we see now are the great-grandchildren of the ones who were last seen in the Northeast and Midwest, as it takes four generations for them to make the round-trip journey from Mexico. She describes the threats facing the monarchs as well as individual and organizational responses to those challenges.

SUSAN HANLEY: The monarch originated in South America and followed milkweed north through Mexico and North America. So there is a population in Florida that by and large does not migrate; they just shift north and south within Florida. And there is a western migration, west of the Rockies, that goes to the coast of California and down into Baja to over-winter. But the eastern migration was, of course, always the largest, being the Northeast and the Midwest and all funneling down into Mexico, and that's the migration that's been so hard hit. There are too many things going wrong for the monarchs, and unfortunately they are all pretty much based on human behavior. It's a combination of deforestation in Mexico for their over-wintering spot; GMO corn which is Roundup-Ready so that you can spray indiscriminately – their milkweed gets sprayed so they don't have any, or the milkweed gets sprayed and it's poisonous to eat; roadside mowing ... there are so many things that we do that are harmful to monarchs and they just can't handle it anymore.

BETWEEN THE LINES: It's interesting that the monarch lays its eggs only on milkweed plants and the monarch caterpillars that hatch out eat only milkweed. That seems like it might hinder their survival.

SUSAN HANLEY: Most butterflies and moths are specific to a plant that they want as their host plant for their caterpillars and they will only lay their eggs on the plant that they want, and monarchs have chosen milkweed because that white sap in the milkweed has cardiac glycosides; it makes their predators very ill. Predators with a spine and a nervous system feel nausea or vomiting when they eat a monarch, so they learn not to eat a monarch and they teach their offspring not to eat a monarch. So, it was a very good choice on the monarch's part. The only predators the monarch has are other insects; they are not affected by the toxin. But unfortunately, milkweed is something that's considered a noxious weed to farmers here in the States. It has just been de-listed in Canada as being a noxious weed, so they are going to have an easier time conserving their milkweed than we are.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Why is it considered a noxious weed by humans?

SUSAN HANLEY: Anybody that grows cattle, any farmer who's raising cattle doesn't want their cattle to get sick by eating milkweed. Most ranges where cattle are eating don't have that much milkweed, actually.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Butterflies have this mythic reputation of representing freedom and beauty and playfulness – and, of course, that's value just in that. But do they serve a broader purpose besides being beautiful?

SUSAN HANLEY: Yes, besides being beautiful, butterflies have a dual purpose. They are pollinators – not always as efficient as bees, but they are very good pollinators, and they are also a huge food source for birds, bats, rodents, frogs and snakes. Of course, now there are not as many of them to be a food source for those animals, so they are jeopardizing other animals, too.

BETWEEN THE LINES: If Round-Up is such a huge contributor to the fall-off in the monarch population, is there anything being done to pressure Monsanto, the producer of Round-Up, to do something about this terrible problem?

SUSAN HANLEY: One of the agencies leading the charge now is Friends of the Earth, and they have a special branch, Bee Action, beeaction.org, because the bees are in trouble for similar reasons that the monarchs are in trouble. And yes, (Friends of the Earth) are doing a lot of citizen science actions and legislative actions and they are doing a great job. But because Monsanto is so powerful and has so much money, the Monarch Watch folks have decided that as a community we who care about monarchs need to be planting organic way station gardens and doing everything we can to feed them and care for them because we can't exactly wait until somebody is able to get through to Monsanto – it may not happen. People are very concerned and wanting to help because the monarch is a beloved butterfly. People are mostly saying I'm used to seeing lots of them and I don't anymore. Why? And when they find out that human beings are why, they want to make amends. They want to do something. And there's so much you can do. Even if you're already growing milkweed, you can plant bright nectar flowers, so that the overflying monarchs will see your milkweed – they'll see the bright flower and come use your milkweed. If you're doing that and you notice eggs on your plant, why not go to the hardware store and get some paint strainers and put them over the plants and make sure those caterpillars go to maturity and become monarchs. Then if you have kids in school whose class should hear about this or if you want to go to a Scout troop meeting and let those people know. Scouts are some of the best kids for getting out and planting things, and if you want them to be planting milkweed you can give them an inspirational talk.

For more information on the Native Species Butterfly House at the Paul Smith's College Visitor Interpretive Center in New York state, visit http://www.adirondackvic.org/Butterfly%20House.html.