Between The Lines - May Boeve: Activists Hoping the Pope's Message on Climate Change Will translate into Action at UN Paris Summit (Week Ending Oct. 9, 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.)

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Activists Hoping the Pope's Climate Change Message Will Spur Action at UN Paris Summit

Posted Sept. 30, 2015

Interview with May Boeve, executive director of the climate action group 350.org, conducted by Scott Harris

Pope Francis began his recent visit to the United States with an address at the White House in which he directly called for action on climate change. The pontiff said, "It seems clear to me also that climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to a future generation. When it comes to the care of our common home, we are living at a critical moment of history." The pope's focus on the need for government action on global warming was a recurring theme during his trip, along with the issues of combating poverty and inequality.

In a speech to world leaders gathered at the United Nations in New York City, the leader of the Catholic Church linked the issues of environment destruction and poverty when he said, "A selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and the disadvantaged."

Just days after the Pope departed the U.S. for Rome, a sobering new study was published by the U.S.-based climate research group, Climate Interactive. They conclude that the emissions reductions announced by the U.S., the European Union, China, Brazil and other governments in advance of the U.N.'s December climate summit meeting in Paris, still leave the world on a trajectory toward 6.3 degrees F of warming by the end of the century. Scientific research predicts this level of global warming can lead to crop failures, critical food shortages and widespread plant and animal life extinctions. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with May Boeve, executive director of the climate action group 350.org, who assesses the importance of Pope Francis' message on climate change and what's at stake in the upcoming UN Climate Summit in Paris.

MAY BOEVE: I think Pope Francis' message has been critically important. I think it served as a real wakeup call for people around the world to see not only the growing threat of climate change, but how it's connected to so many other important issues that matter to people. Issues like income inequality and social justice. I think Pope Francis has issued this clarion call to action that's about "We stand at a really crucial moment on this planet and we can either act and take the shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy and in a way that actually builds healthier community. Or we can stay stuck in the pattern that we're in with very known consequences.

We've already seen one degree Celsius of warming in global average temperature. And just in one degree, we've seen Hurricane Sandy, Hurricane Katrina, the drought in California and on and on. So when we start thinking about temperature rise exceeding that and by a great degree, that's putting millions of people's lives at risk. And so, Pope Francis is I think, first and foremost, a messenger about our obligation to our fellow human beings and to future generations, and that's why his message on climate change is so important.

BETWEEN THE LINES: May, there were some announcements by important nations around the world on their efforts to reduce their greenhouse gases and confront climate change. China talked about a cap and trade program that they were going to implement. Brazil also announced some hard and fast reductions in their greenhouse gas emissions and a commitment to stop the deforestation in Brazil. But at the same time, there were these very projections by Climate Interactive, even if all these commitments come to pass, which is dubious. But even if they did come to pass, that the planet would be in a lot of trouble in terms of increase of the temperature of the earth toward the end of this century. Can you just expand on the what important message of Climate Interactive here is, in their analysis?

MAY BOEVE: I think, most of all, it points out just how serious the problem is and how much action is required to confront it. And you know, those of us who are concerned about climate change can be rightfully accused of being downers. And this is, I think, a good example, on a week where there's tons and tons of good news, here we are saying, once again, "It's not good enough." But unfortunately, that's true. And as my colleague, Bill McKibben likes to say, "Physics and chemistry don't negotiate." We know that with the amount of carbon emissions in the atmosphere, we have no choice but to take dramatic action to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

And it's going to take a lot. It's going to take even more. But there's finally momentum on our side. And for as long as this issue has been understood and scientists and activists have tried to force action, we're finally starting to see the pace of change that we actually need. And so, I take great inspiration from some of the announcements made this week, because it shows that world leaders are starting to understand that they have to grapple with this problem at significant levels.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Tell us what's at stake at this United Nations climate summit where hundreds of nations will be represented and people will be in the streets all around Paris and around the world making their voices heard on the urgent issue of climate change.

MAY BOEVE: So what's at stake is the opportunity, once again, for global leaders to commit to crucial targets on climate change. What's different about these talks is that countries are supposed to come to Paris already having made a national commitment. And so individual countries are supposed to come to the table saying, "We will commit to reducing our emissions by x percent. We will commit to reducing deforestation by x percent." These sorts of things. And it's up to the countries in many respects to implement what they've committed to.

But in terms itself, there are critical issues to be looked at. One is the question of finance and to what degree are countries willing to commit real resources to helping countries adapt to the worse effects of climate change. Another issue we're looking at is what's called the "ratchet mechanism." How will these individuals countries' commitments be updated over time. And then, lastly, really looking at what is the over-arching global goal? If you add up all of these efforts, what does it really represent? A push to phase fossil fuels out of our economy at a certain point? To move to an economy powered by 100-percent renewable energy at a certain point?

For more information, visit 350.org.