Between The Lines - Charles Chandler: Activist Walks Hundreds of Miles to Bring Attention to Climate Change Issues (Week Ending March 13, 2015)

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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Activist Walks Hundreds of Miles and Risks Arrest to Focus Attention on Climate Change

Posted March 4, 2015

Interview with Charles Chandler, climate activist, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

Ithaca, New York resident Charles Chandler took up long-distance hiking after retiring from his profession as a mechanical engineer. He first began hiking as an athletic hobby, but when he learned about 398 students being arrested during a 2013 protest against the Keystone XL pipeline at the White House, he then began walking with a purpose. His concern about climate change led to his participation in the Great March for Climate Change last year, walking part way from Ohio to Washington, D.C. He also rode his bike from Fort Bragg, California to Richmond Virginia, raising funds for the climate action group 350.org.

Chandler’s most recent walk began in central New York state, where he had joined locals trying to stop a natural gas storage facility from being constructed under Seneca Lake. He then walked 360 miles to southern Maryland, where he went on trial in late February for his involvement in a civil disobedience action last December at the construction site of a liquefied natural gas export terminal at Cove Point, Maryland. Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Chandler as they walked in the town of Lusby, near the LNG terminal site. Here, he recounts his experiences as a climate activist, and explains how he stays hopeful despite the threat of climate chaos.

CHARLES CHANDLER: On the Pacific Crest Trail in fall 2013, I heard about college students getting arrested in Washington over the KXL pipeline, and I said I darn well want to join up with them. It's really my generation that's really caused most of the problems and just gotten carried away with denial and carbon polluting,and not taking responsibility. So I really feel a responsibility to help the younger people and future generations. Hopefully we'll solve this problem.

BETWEEN THE LINES: So, tell us more about some of the specific things you've done. The most recent one, I know you just walked several hundred miles from Ithaca, I think, or from where you were working with folks trying to stop a project in Seneca Lake. Is that right?

CHARLES CHANDLER: Yeah. In Seneca Lake I took part in a blockade at the Crestwood facility and as it turned out, I wanted to go to jail, but the judge up there wouldn't let me, and he ordered me to come back to court four weeks later. And for something to do I decided to walk around the Finger Lakes area. I started at Ithaca and I walked around Cayuga Lake and then I walked around Seneca Lake and I ended my walk at the courthouse for my hearing on Jan. 21.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And what happened at that point?

CHARLES CHANDLER: It was obvious that no one was going to jail anymore, and I just pled guilty and paid the fine. I fundraised on my walk up there. I called it my Silent Winter Hike, because I maintained a pledge of silence for 22 days, and I camped out every night.

BETWEEN THE LINES: So, tell me about this silence. I actually maintained silence for one day - not even a full day, but into the evening awhile ago – and it actually was a really good experience. It really changes how you relate to the world outside yourself, I found, and I definitely want to do it again. But how was it for you, and did you have occasion to interact with people on the walk, and you were silent then, or you just didn't see people?

CHARLES CHANDLER: Oh, no, I saw people. I even made up cards with common things I wanted to tell them, and I'd point to the sentence or the paragraph.

BETWEEN THE LINES: So, talk about a little bit of the exchanges you had with people. We're talking about mid-winter here, and this has been the toughest winter in New England that I've seen in my lifetime, which is a lot of years. So were you camping out every night? Did you get hospitality anywhere?

CHARLES CHANDLER: I made a pledge to camp out every night. It was like a challenge kind of walk. But I was looking for people who would let me camp out in their yard. And I discovered that about one of five people would let me do that.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Wow! So now you've walked down to Lusby, Maryland, where you're going on trial with 19 other people. Just fill listeners in on exactly what you were protesting.

CHARLES CHANDLER: We're trying to stop the construction of Dominion Resources, it's an LNG liquifaction plant, and it uses huge amounts of energy; it uses the amount of energy of a middle-sized town power plant just to do the liquification of the fracked gas. And they'll load it on ships and sell it overseas where the price of gas is higher.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And people are saying that it will actually send the price of gas up in the U.S. as well, so it's hard to find justification that it's in the U.S. public interest to be doing this. Nevertheless, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission did approve it last fall, and they are actually under construction now. A lot of people are saying it's a done deal, and I've talked to some local folks here who are opposed, and they're saying most of the people around here are saying it's a done deal and there's nothing they can do even if they don't want it, but now with people coming in from the outside – supporters who are carrying out these actions and going to trial who are willing to go to jail, now they feel like there's some hope to stop it. Do you feel that way too?

CHARLES CHANDLER: Yeah, I think so. I have to be hopeful. There are certain segment of people that have given in to despair, and they think this disruption, this ecological disaster is just the way it needs to be. I don't think that's a good way to live, and I try to be positive and try to do whatever I can to help the situation. I think that's good for my mental health, and that's the way I want to be and I want to be remembered that way. I have grandchildren. It's not just for my grandchildren. It's for their generation and future generations. This is what I want to do and I'm really fortunate to be able to do it.

Charles Chandler goes by the name Peace Walker. He and 19 others went on trial Feb. 23 in Maryland where they were convicted of one count of trespass. Chandler and most others were given a 20-day suspended sentence, three years of probation and a $157 fine. Chandler says he expected to be arrested again before the three years are up, increasing his chances of going to jail. Read Charlie Chandler's blog at greenrider.org/tag/charles-chandler.