Nov 30 2005
Wednesday – November 30, 2005
Listen to the showTwo Humanitarian Aid Workers Face 15 Year Sentences
GUESTS: Isabel Garcia, Attorney, board member of Derechos Humanos, a Tucson-based immigrants’ rights NGO, Rick Ufford-Chase, Moderator of the 16th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and one of the founders of the No More Deaths movement
On December 20th, two volunteers with the humanitarian organization No More Deaths, will face felony charges for medically evacuating three migrants in Arizona. On July 9th, at the Arivaca Camp, Daniel Strauss and Shanti Sellz encountered three individuals, two of whom were ill and had severe blisters, and the third who was vomiting and had severe diarrhea. After consulting with two doctors and one nurse, it was assessed that the individuals were in need of immediate medical attention and evaluation. Strauss and Sellz were advised to take the migrants …
Japanese authorities have recently discovered a fresh outbreak of bird flu disease on a chicken farm in eastern Japan, close to where several cases of the disease have been detected since late June. All the recent outbreaks in the region have so far been confirmed as less virulent than the deadly H5N1 strain of the disease. Meanwhile, Indonesian officials have found bird flu-infected chicken droppings near the home of a man and his two daughters who died of the virus this month. Bird Flu is the “Monster at our Door†according to author Mike Davis. It’s the title of his latest book. Mike Davis is well known for his books that redefined …
Anti-war mother, Cindy Sheehan returned to Crawford, Texas this past Thanksgiving Day to continue her efforts in protesting the war in Iraq. As the Bush family dined a few miles away, more than a hundred protestors gathered and ate a traditional Iraqi meal of salmon, lentils and rice with almonds. Sheehan and others plan to return to Crawford to continue their anti-war protests when Bush returns for the Easter holiday. In other recent anti-war efforts, a 
Former Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet has managed to avoid prosecution for the crimes of his military government’s seventeen year reign from 1973 to 1990. A Spanish Judge first issued an international arrest warrant for Pinochet in 1998. Pinochet’s lawyers have constantly argued that the aging former dictator is unfit to stand trial, claiming that he suffers from dementia. However, earlier this month doctors reversed that assessment, declaring him in good enough health. Last September, it was also ruled that Pinochet could be stripped of his presidential immunity in …
While Hip Hop originated some decades ago directly out of African American eighborhoods in the South Bronx and caught fire among urban black youth, today it is a prominent part of American mainstream culture. Hip hop music is increasingly more popular with white youth in America and today we discuss the implications of that with hip hop scholar and activist Bakari Kitwana. Bakari Kitwana is author of “The Rap on Gangsta Rap: Who Run It? : Gangsta Rap and Visions of Black Violence,†and the acclaimed “The Hip Hop Generation: Young Blacks and The Crisis in African American Culture.†His latest book is “Why White Kids …
We spend the hour today speaking with Jeff Chang, hip hop historian, whose book, based on hundreds of interviews and over a decade of work as a respected music journalist is called “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop: A History of the Hip Hip Generation.†In the book Jeff Chang offers intimiate profiles of the lives and influences of “the trinity of hip-hop music”–Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, and DJ Kool Herc–along with many other artists, label executives, DJs, writers, filmmakers, and promoters. He traces the rise of the movement of hip hop from the Bronx in New York to a rejection of Reaganomics and finally to the ultra commercialized version of hip hop today. In …
Vine Deloria Jr, a prominent Native American activist and best-selling author died last Sunday at the age of 72 in Colorado. Born in 1933 and raised in South Dakota, Deloria served in the Marines in the 1950’s, earned a Master’s degree from the Lutheran School of Theology in Chicago, and become a professor of History at the University of Colorado. His activist career raised his profile internationally with books like, “Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto,†in 1969. He also established the Institute for the Development of Indian Law, and initiated a lawsuit against the use of the Washington Redskins NFL football team’s name and logo. A …
In the days after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans residents were without food, water, power, sanitation and health. Tens of thousands were displaced and scattered across the country to try to find shelter. Now, FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has announced that it will stop paying for hotel rooms for evacuees just a few weeks before the holidays. It expects them all to find apartments. Additionally, the Natural Resources Defense Committee tested air quality in the city and found staggeringly high levels of toxic mold spores. As residents of New Orleans struggle against all odds to return …
