WERU Special: Bruce Gagnon’s Keynote at the Full Circle Fair on 7/23/06

Producer: Amy Browne
Topic: Bruce Gagnon is the Coordinator and co-founder of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, a long time activist, author and film maker. He organized the largest peace protest in Florida history in 1987 at the first test flight of the Trident II nuclear missile. 10 years later he organized the Cancel Cassini Campaign. Project Censored has twice named his stories among the most censored of the year (1999 and 2005). In 2005 his book Come Together Right Now: Organizing Stories from a Fading Empire was published. Gagnon’s work has been published in Earth Island Journal, National Catholic Reporter, CounterPunch, Z Magazine, Space News, and many others, nationally and internationally. He is a member of the National Writers Union and a former farm workers union organizer. His videos include 2003’s Arsenal of Hypocrisy and The Battle for America’s Soul (2005) which have been shown extensively on Free Speech TV. Gagnon also hosts a local cable show and publishes a newsletter.
For more information: www.space4peace.org or 207-729-0517
This speech was recorded at the WERU Full Circle Fair in Blue Hill, Maine on 7/23/06
Aired on WERU-FM on 7/27/06
Features music by Tom Neilson and Ethan Miller and Kate Boverman

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WERU Special: Interview with Roshi Kobutsu Malone

WERU Special: Interview with Roshi Kobutsu Malone, Executive Director of “The Engaged Zen Foundation” in Sedgwick, Maine (www.engaged-zen.org)

Host/Producer: S.A. Feite Topic: Engaged Zen and Buddha-dharma; Death-penalty abolition; Socially engaged Buddhism What is the role of Buddhism in our prisons? How socially engaged is modern Buddhism? What is enlightenment? Features a song (with permission) by Zenji Stuart Davis, “Ladder” (www.stuartdavis.com)

Aired: 07/25/06

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Indigenous Voices 07/18/06

Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Rhonda Frey
Guests: Denise Altivater, Chair of the Sipayik Criminal Justice Commission and a member of the Passamaquoddy Tribe; Jamie Bisonette, Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Criminal Justice program in New England; Spiritual Elder Arnie Neptune, of the Penobscot Nation and his partner and wife Jane Neptune.
Topic: The Sipayik Criminal Justice Commission, the reasons for its formation and the conditions experienced by tribal members in jails, prisons and the judicial system
The medical neglect and other conditions prisoners are subject to
The law enforcement conduct,
The problem with drug abuse and nearly non-existent treatment, inadequate defense council and racism
How the commission is working with spiritual elders to bring in the traditions of native people into the jails
Contact info:
Denise Altwater, P.O. Box 406, Pleasant Point, Perry, ME 04667, 207-853-2317
American Friends Service Committee: fsc.org, search key word “Wabanaki”

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Notes from the Electronic Cottage 07/13/06

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell
Topic: Congress is considering creating a database of all of the grants and contracts awarded by the federal government so that taxpayers can see what their taxes are paying for. Oh wait–no contracts because corporations objected? Okay, well, at least a database of grants-well, some grants. In that spirit, we look at a few recent examples of how taxpayer dollars are being spent, including a grant to figure out how to restrict taxpayer access to government information. Consistency-what consistency?

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