RadioActive

Producers/hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne

After 22 years of work, indigenous people were poised to finally see the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Adopted by the Human Rights Council in June of this year, the UN General Assembly was expected to vote and adopt it early next month.

Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the US, however, have expressed opposition to the declaration and on Tuesday were joined by the block of African countries in voting to table a full General Assembly vote until later next year.

The declaration would be a tool to address issues including genocide, displacement, self determination, intellectual property rights, collective rights, environmental issues and the right to maintain cultural traditions.
The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues says
opposing nations were concerned with articles addressing land and resource ownership, and the request that indigenous people give “free prior and informed consent?? for development and resource exploiting projects.

We interviewed Les Malezar, Chairperson of the Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus at the UN yesterday…

For more info: The Indigenous Working Group, www. iwgia.org

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Producers/hosts: Amy Browne and Meredith DeFrancesco
Contributor: Eric Olson
Topic: Bob St. Peter, Resident Steward of the Good Life Center in Harborside, Maine, speaking at the Peace and Justice Center of Eastern Maine’s annual Harvest Supper in Bangor, October 2006, produced by Eric Olson and originally a podcast on his website www.peacecast.us
FMI on the Good Life Center and the Nearing’s legacy: www.goodlife.org

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Producer/host: Amy Browne and Meredith DeFrancesco

Topics: Alan Sprague reports on whales lingering downeast past their usual migration time–and why they may be in trouble soon, Sister Lucille McDonald from the Emmaeus Center in Ellsworth tells us how we can help our neighbors during this holiday season, and new WERU reporter Eric Olsen brings us a speech given by Iraq War Vet (from Maine) Brian Clement at a teach-in on the war at the University of Maine

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Producers/hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne
Topics: An interview with Nancy Oden of the Clean Water Coalition (www.cleanearth.net) regarding opposition to a proposal for re-zoning in Township 14 (in Washington County) to allow for a construction and demolition debris dump to be located there. The Land Use Regulatory Commission (LURC) is holding a public hearing and accepting comments on the proposal. Also, an update on the “Day of the Dead” actions at the Mexican consulate and elsewhere in Boston last week in solidarity with the people of Oaxaca and in memory of murdered journalist Brad Will.

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Producers/hosts: Carolyn Coe, Meredith DeFrancesco, Amy Browne
Topics: Carolyn Coe brings us a report on local residents who visited the Bangor offices of Senator Collins to express serious concerns with the Bush administration’s suspension of habeas corpus and other policies.

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Producers/hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne
Guests: Ron Green, President of Firefighters Local 772, Bangor, Maine; Jack McKay, President of Eastern Maine Labor Council and activist with Food and Medicine
Topic: TABOR, the “Tax Payers Bill of Rights”

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Producers/hosts: Amy Browne and Meredith DeFrancesco

Topics: 2 more state governors have joined Maine’s Governor Baldacci to pool resources to combat the use of sweat shop labor in products purchased by state governments. We talk with Bjorn Skorpen-Clausen, Executive Director of Sweatfree Communities. And on this so-called “Columbus Day” activists in Bangor hold a talk called “Columbia: 500 years of Resistance” and reflect on that countries current crisis. Daphne Loring, one of the organizers of a Witness for Peace delegation that will be traveling to Columbia joins us to tell us more. And Susan Beebe of Camden, Maine calls in with news of yet another DOT road widening project that is threatening old trees– this time in Southern Maine

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Hosts: Amy Browne and Meredith DeFrancesco, joined today by WERU reporter Carolyn Coe
Carolyn Coe joined Mainers as they traveled to Washington, DC recently where they met up with others from around the country who are calling for the release of the “Cuban 5” political prisoners.

Who are the Cuban 5?
Why are they considered political prisoners?
What do the Mainers involved in this think about the case?

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