RadioActive 12/04/08

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne

Topic:  The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act (The TRADE Act,  sponsored by Congressperson Mike Michaud; The Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission and it’s 12/4 public hearing in Bangor

The Maine Citizen Trade Policy Commission, the first of it’s kind in the country, was formed to examine the impacts of Free Trade policies on Maine and beyond, and has charged itself with communicating with the state’s Washington delegation and the US Trade Representative. The Commission will hold it’s second public hearing tonight .  Today we’ll speak with Commission member Cynthia Phinney. She represents labor on the Commission.
But first we’d like to turn to Congressman Michaud for a perspective from the national front. He has been consistently one of the most vocal people in Congress concerning free trade agreements and their deleterious impacts on labor and human rights, the environment and jobs and the economy. He co-founded the House Trade Working Group, and now along with Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio is co sponsoring The Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment Act, also called the TRADE Act, which proposes to review all current trade agreements and renegotiate them based on that review, The Act would also set new standards for any future policies. Mike Michaud , a long time paper mill worker and union member before joining Congress, has opposed the Peru Free Trade Agreement, the currently proposed Colombia Free Trade Agreement and the North American Free Trade Agreement.

FMI: Maine Congressional Representative Mike Michaud, website:www.michaud.house.gov/
Cynthia Phinney, union local 1837, labor rep. on Maine Citizen Trade Policy , website:  maine.gov/legis/opla/citpol.htm
Bill Holland, deputy director of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch,

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RadioActive 11/20/08

Producers/Hosts: Amy Browne and Meredith DeFrancesco

Segment 1:We talk with Jim Harney, a well-known photojournalist and international social justice activist.  Jim is terminally ill, but continues to use his time and energy to speak out about important issues–today he reflects on the “School of the Americas” aka “The School of the Assassins” at Ft. Benning, GA.   FMI: www.soaw.org; www.posibilidad.org, www.pica.ws

Segment2: The Army Corps of Engineers will hold a public meeting in Searsport on December 1st (at 3p.m. at the Union Hall) to address the Maine Department of Transportation’s proposal for a wetland mitigation bank —- a proposal that has serious potential ramifications for Sears Island.  Jody Spear has been working on the issue and will join us later in the program to tell us more.  FMI: www.nae.usace.army.mil and select “Regulatory/Permitting”, then “Weekly Public Notices”, also www.peer.org,  maine.sierraclub.org/

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RadioActive 11/13/08

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne

Today we take a look at local reactions to the news that the U.S. has elected it’s first African-American President—ranging from hope to racism, and back to hope— as the community pulls together in opposition to racism. Interviews with Assata Sherrill and Dan Lourie; Then we talk with Paul Mayewski of the University of Maine’s Climate Change Institute, about their on-going lecture series.

What did the election of Obama mean to Assata Sherrill, a local African-American woman who has led efforts to provide education and dialogue about race?  How has the community responded to acts of racism?  How can people learn more about climate change?

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RadioActive 10/30/08

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco & Amy Browne

Segment 1: Next week community activists from around the state will gather in Augusta for the Maine Association of Interdependent Neighborhoods (MAIN) Annual Meeting.    They’ll be deciding on priorities for the upcoming year—and you are invited to participate.  Earlier today we spoke with Steve Hoad of the MAIN Leadership team.  FMI: www.peacebreadjustice.org or MAIN, P.O. Box 69, Hallowell, ME 04347, 1-866-626-7059 (Ext. 204 for Conference Info)

Segment 2: It was announced this week that a California court has granted the motion of the Maine Civil Liberties Union (MCLU).   Foundation to intervene in a case involving National Security Agency wiretapping of potentially millions of Americans.   22 Mainers have been given formal legal status in a consolidated case against the telephone companies for their role in the NSA warrantless surveillance program.   Zachary Heiden of the Maine Civil Liberties Union will be joining us today to talk about the significance of that — and he’ll also provide some tips for making sure your vote is counted this year.   FMI: www.mclu.org or 207-774-5444.

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RadioActive 10/23/08

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco & Amy Browne

Topics:

Segment 1: This past Friday, October the 17th, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, FERC, announced that it had dismissed energy developer Quoddy Bay LNG’s application fro a liquefied natural gas terminal on the Passamaquoddy tribe’s residential land at Pleasant Point.  FERC stated the company had still not provided them with the information they had requested, which had prompted them to suspend review in April. FERC’s letter states the dimissal is without prejudice, if Quoddy Bay LNG re files an application with complete information.  The Save Passamaquoddy bay 3-Nation Alliance , comprised of organized residents of the Passamaquoddy tribe, the US (in Maine) and Canada, have strongly opposed Quoddy bay LNG’s proposed terminal for its’ precarious siting and for safety, environmental and cultural reasons. In Tuesday, the 3 Nation Alliance filed a request to the Maine Board of Environmental Protection asking that the states dismiss Quoddy BayLNG’s pending application with the BEP, as well.
We will follow up on this story in greater detail in the following weeks. We spoke briefly before air time with Robert Godfrey of the Save Passamquoddy Bay 3 Nation Alliance

Segment 2: On October 27th, 2006, New York City based activist and independent journalist Brad Will was shot and killed in Oaxaca City, Mexico. He was covering the popular uprising born out of the suppression of teacher demonstrations in Oaxaca by Governor Ulisis Ruiz.  Two others were shot and killed by paramilitaries the same day; 5 others were wounded, and another disappeared. Despite the documentation of paramilitaries from the local police and municipal government, the Mexican government immediately blamed the death of US resident brad Will on the activists. Now, 2 years later, the Mexican government has not investigated the paramilitaries, and instead, on October 16th, arrested members of the Oaxacan social movement for will’s murder.  This follows on the heels of the US Congress summer passage of the Merida Initiative, also known as Plan Mexico, which will provide at least $1.6 billion to Mexico, for armaments, training and resources for Mexican police and military under the mantle of the War on Drugs.
We spoke yesterday with independent journalist John Gibler, who has been following issues in Oaxaca closely over the past 3 years. He is a Global Exchange Media Fellow. His latest article was published in the New York paper The Indypendent. It’s title-“The Rule of Impunity: Mexican Government Ignores Overwhelming Evidence, Charges Oaxacan Activists with Brad Will’s Murder.”  Later we’ll get an update from Rob Jerewski, a friend of Brad’s who, along with others, is engaged in a fast and protest at Senator Hillary Clinton’s New York office.

For more information on Oaxaca and the Brad Will case, and to read John Gibler’s October 21st article published by The Indypendent, go to www.indypendent.org. Links to a number of John Gibler’s published articles can be found at the Global Exchange website, www.globalexchange.org/countries/americas/mexico/dispatches . Gibler’s book Mexico Unconquered : Chronicles of Power and Revolt, will be published by City Light Books in January.
For more information on the movement to bring justice for the murders of Brad Will and Oaxacan activists, you can go to .hmmessage P { margin:0px; padding:0px } body.hmmessage { FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma } americas.irc-online.org/am/5118  or  www.friendsofbradwill.org

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RadioActive 9/25/08

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco & Amy Browne

Topics: Maine state Land Use Regulatory Commission (LURC) endorses Plum Creek development plan
*Maine Civil Liberties Union opposes motion to dismiss telecom cases

*Maine Civil Liberties Union opposes federal legislation that could limit healthcare services for birth control, abortion,end of life care and HIV treatment
Today we cover two stories that illicit reflection on how democracy works in our country and in our state.
We talk with the Maine Civil Liberties Union about challenging the National Security Agency’s right to use the Verizon phone company to gather information from Maine residents, regardless of the new national amendment to the FISA law.
But first, we go to the largest development plan this state has seen. It’s timber giant and now developer Plum Creek’s plan to rezone nearly 16,000 acres in the Moosehead Lake region for 975 house lots and two large resorts. Yesterday  Maine’s Land Use Regulatory Commission (LURC) endorsed that plan.
On Tuesday and Wednesday LURC heard closing comments from the many organizations, businesses and others who have been opposing or supporting the Plum Creek plan. But LURC already had it’s mind made up, or had been advised by it’s consultants what it should decide. Yesterday LURC endorsed Plum Creek’s development plan.

GUESTS:
1.Wendy Weiger, coordinator of Moosehead Region Futures Committee www.mooseheadfutures.org
2. Zachary Heiden, Legal Director, Maine Civil Liberties Union
www.mclu.org

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