Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dawn Morrison, Beatrice Lindstrom, Janine Bandcroft Feb 25, 2013

It's said; "March comes in like a lion…" and from Ireland to Norway to Vancouver the month begins with the 'March for Wild Salmon,' an international link-up of citizens', environmental, and indigenous groups roaring its determination to halt the spread of the transglobal fish farming industry.

Vancouver's mobilization is led by the Indigenous Salmon Defenders, kicking off a month-long campaign consisting of a series of events, culminating on the final day of March with a global vigil for wild salmon. The timing is no accident, as the coming Spring is the most crucial moment for the next generation of salmon smolt, who must transit a veritable gauntlet of disease-ridden, sea lice spawning fish feedlots dotting their migratory route to the open ocean.

Dawn Morrison is founder of the Indigenous Food Sovereignty Network, a group formed in conjunction with the BC Food Systems Network. She also coordinates the Vancouver Native Health Society's Urban Aboriginal Gardens and Kitchen Project. Morrison is too a leader for Indigenous community engagement in association with the BC Bioregional Food Assistance Planning Project, and she'll be at the head of the March for Wild Salmon. She says the message is simple: “Stop Norwegian Fish Farms from Killing Wild Salmon!”

Dawn Morrison in the first half.

And; fully three years since the great earthquake that destroyed much of Haiti's capital, Port au Prince thousands still remain homeless, jobless, and dependent on foreign aid – such as it is – to survive.The usual, and suspect, agencies are all represented in Haiti, chiefly among them being the United Nations' Minustah, or "stabilization mission."

It's long been believed in the country, it was Nepalese soldiers seconded to Minustah who introduced cholera into the water supply downstream of their base, setting off an epidemic so far credited with killing at least 8,000 Haitians, and sickening many hundreds of thousands more. Though the provenance of the outbreak was obvious, the United Nations has steadfastly denied responsibility. Investigations began, eventually finding, fully two and a half years after the fact, the UN's troopers were indeed the source of the disaster.

Last week, claims for compensation, duly filed by the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, or IJDH on behalf of the those afflicted, were rejected out of hand by the UN, with that organization's number one, Ban Ki-moon expressing "profound sympathy" for the suffering caused by the worst outbreak of its kind in the world today, while refusing to accept responsibility for it.

Brian Concannon Jr. is Director for the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti, and he joins us from Boston with reaction to the UN's decision in the second half.

And; Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour to bring us news from our city's streetz, and beyond. But first, Dawn Morrison and a month of Marching for the Wild Salmon.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Joan Russow, Eric Holt-Gimenez, Janine Bandcroft Feb 18, 2013

Despite persistent opposition, Fish Farms continue to proliferate. In British Columbia especially, both provincial and federal governments have shown amazing resilience to repeated calls by First Nations and various environmental groups who, partnered with wild salmon guides and fishers, and with regular citizens worried about the negative knock on environmental effects of what are now referred to as “fish feed lots,” show no intention of inhibiting the industry’s further growth.

In fact, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency showed last month just how far they will bend in unnatural directions to accommodate Fish Farms, allowing ISA contaminated farmed salmon be sold to the public. ISA is a deadly virus that acts to puree a salmon from the inside out, making of it a stinking mush.

ISA is highly contagious, and before the Food Inspection Agency’s recent rejigging of the rules, all ISA infected fish were ordered destroyed, and their pens sterilized. You tax-payers ate the lion’s share of the great expense of that procedure until last month; now you can just eat the salmon directly.

But worse than this, and it IS a big but; in addition to ISA, and the myriad of other problems this fishy business poses to environmental health, the latest outrage is the pending introduction of the Genetically Modified super salmon. Frankenfish, as they’re less than affectionately known to opponents, are poised for approval in both Canada and the United States, taking the Farmed Fish debate to new depths.

Dr. Joan Russow is a long-time peace, environment and justice activist. She is a former leader of the Green Party of Canada, and founder of both the Ecological Rights Association and the Global Compliance Research Project. A constant opponent of war, she collaborated with the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women to produce a white paper delegitimizing war as a tool of diplomacy officially sanctioned and distributed to member-nation delegations of that body. Russow is a board member of the Prometheus Project, and contributing editor to its web site, PEJ.com.

Dr. Joan Russow in the first half.

And; there’s a war going on you probably haven’t heard of. It’s a war without an official name and, as with most wars, it’s the innocent suffering first and most. The reason you probably haven’t heard of this particular war is because your government is supporting the wrong side, and they don’t want you to stop them. Things have never been great for peasant farmers, but for the campesinos of Honduras, things have gotten a lot worse since the 2009 coup d’etat.

You may remember when the Generals ruled much of Latin America; may remember the horror and deprivation visited on the poorest of the poor. You may recall too the genocide campaign waged against the indigenous Maya of Guatemala, and the ruthless destruction of the rural schools, churches, and hospitals of Nicaragua; entire villages sent fleeing into the jungle by Reagan’s Contras. Can you remember Operation Condor, or Plan(s) Colombia and Peru? Well, you needn’t strain your memory because the Generals are back, and starting with Honduras they plan to roll back the meagre gains made for the people through long years of struggle since the terrible days of the Death Squads.

Eric Holt-Gimenez is Executive Director of FoodFirst/Institute for Food and Development Policy. He served as editor of the FoodFirst book, ‘Food Movements Unite! Strategies to Transform Our Food Systems,’ authored ‘Campesino a Campesino: Voices from Latin America’s Farmer to Farmer Movement for Sustainable Agriculture,’ chronicling nearly three decades of the struggle for farmer empowerment in Mexico and Central America, and is the principle author of, ‘Food Rebellions! Crisis and the Hunger for Justice.’

From a farming family himself, Eric has participated within the farmer-to-farming training model, recording its successes in film and through his writings. Holt-Gimenez is also the author, with Tanya Kerrsen, of ‘Honduras: War on the Peasants,’ a recently published article appearing at the Huffington Post.

Eric Holt-Gimenez and the Agro-Oligarchy strikes back in Honduras in the second half.

And; Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with some of what’s going on on our streets, and beyond.

But first, Dr. Joan Russow and keeping the Frankenfish monster in the lab, (and out of the ocean).

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.

Ape Goes to Islamic Terrorism and the Media with Mehdi Najari

“Islamic Terrorism” and the Media with Mehdi Najari, radio host of The Hidden News, CFUV
February 13, 7 – 9:30 pm
UVic, MacLaurin Bldg D116
We will analyze “Islamic terrorism” and western media narratives. Is there an alternative narrative?

Free Admission

Sponsored by Victoria Peace Coalition and UVic Social Justice Studies.

For directions to MacLaurin Building see the map on our website
http://victoriapeacecoalition.org/ D116 is in the wing across the
breezeway.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Todd Miller, Chief Beau Dick, Kevin Neish, Janine Bandcroft Feb 11, 2013

‘Fortress America,’ the name dreamt up in the wake of 9/11 to reassure a nervous public, is more than a catchy PR slogan; it represents a sea change in the way the United States regards its place in the World. The manifestation of this shift is evidenced first by the militarization of police functions, and the reinforcement at its borders by both men and steel.

Great barriers have long been in place along much of the States’ southern perimeter, but now the circling of wagons includes too bulwarks against intrusion from the vast stretch marking the northern reaches of the country.

Once proudly referred to as “the longest undefended border in the World,” the Canada/U.S. border now bristles with newly fortified surveillance towers, manned by newly recruited Homeland security paramilitary troops, while thousands of ground sensors monitor areas between posts, and tireless aerial drones patrol overhead.

But that is just the beginning of the changes to the “point(s) of pride” that once marked the demarcation between the famously friendly great nations of North America.

Todd Miller has researched and written about U.S.-Mexican border issues for more than 10 years. He has worked on both sides of the border for BorderLinks in Tucson, Arizona, and Witness for Peace in Oaxaca, Mexico. He writes on border and immigration issues for the North America Congress on Latin America at its NACLA Report on the Americas at their blog, ‘Border Wars,’ and elsewhere. His first book, ‘Border Patrol Nation’ is currently in process and will be published by City Lights Books. In his article, ‘Living in a Constitution-Free Zone: Drones, Surveillance Towers, Malls of the Spy State, and the National Security Police on the Northern Border’ Miller looks at that other border.

Todd Miller in the first segment.

And; yesterday, Sunday February 10th, 2013 Hereditary Chief Beau Dick of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation completed the journey by foot from Alert Bay, near the top of Vancouver Island, to Victoria and the seat of the provincial power at the BC Legislature. Chief Dick led the 250 kilometre trek of family and supporters to emphasize opposition to the federal government’s recent Bill C-45 that effectively erases environmental protections for massive energy extraction, and allows transportation through First Nations’ lands without constitutionally mandated consultations. The long march was joined by the Salmon are Sacred coalition and was inspired in part by the First People’s Idle No More movement.

From the Ledge with a long march ended in the second half.

And; long-time Victoria activist and rights defender Kevin Neish has arrived in Gaza. Kevin is there to participate as an international observer in some of the most often IDF-targeted areas of Gaza; farmer’s fields and the narrowly proscribed Palestinian fishing grounds. Communication can be dodgy, but all going well, we’ll hear from Kevin in the second half.

And; Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour to bring us newz from the city’s streets and beyond. But first, Todd Miller and Living in a Constitution-Free Zone: Drones, Surveillance Towers, Malls of the Spy State, and the National Security Police on the Northern Border.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

Ape Goes to the IdleNoMore-Salmon are Sacred Breaking of the Copper F10, 2013

Hereditary Chief Beau Dick of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation is leading his family and supporters on a long walk that he says is for all Canadians. He left his home in Alert Bay, BC last Saturday and plans to arrive in Victoria by next Sunday, February 10. The 250-kilometer walk is inspired in part by the Idle No More Movement, an ongoing protest movement originating among the Aboriginal peoples in Canada.

Chief Beau Dick has invited Dr. Alexandra Morton, Anissa Reed, and other people of the Salmon Are Sacred movement to join the walk and be a voice for the wild salmon.

“We are honored to have the support from Alexandra Morton and the Get Out Migration team”, Chief Beau Dick said. “We are inspired by her own determination to protect the wild salmon from the corporate industrial feedlots. They carry the voice of the salmon that are so important to us.”

Members of Chief Beau Dick’s family and others are taking turns to carry two traditional copper pieces on the road. When they arrive at the Legislature in Victoria on Sunday, one of those copper pieces will be broken, as a way of representing the government’s broken promises to First Nations and the threats to the environment shared by all Canadians. It is a deeply significant and powerful ceremony as the copper represent life, the ancestors, and more.

Ape Goes to Miko Peled at UVic Feb 8, 2013

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is delighted to announce a public lecture by prominent Israeli-American peace activist and author Miko Peled in Victoria on Friday, February 8. Peled is the son of a decorated and celebrated Israeli general. He has documented his disenchantment with Israeli policies toward the Palestinians in his book, The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine. Peled’s lecture — entitled Beyond Zionism, a New Paradigm for Israel/Palestine — will focus on Peled’s arguments favouring the “one-state solution” in Israel-Palestine.

“We are pleased to offer Victoria residents the opportunity to hear an articulate proponent of a potential solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—one that is seldom discussed publicly in Canada,” says CJPME president Thomas Woodley. CJPME believes that regardless of one’s ideas on peace between Israel and Palestine, all will benefit by considering Peled’s arguments for the “one state solution” and hearing about the personal experiences which shape his outlook.

Peled was born in Jerusalem in 1961 into a well-known Zionist family. His maternal grandfather was a Zionist leader and a signer of the Israeli Declaration of Independence. His father became an Israeli war hero as a general during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, but later regretted his role in that conflict. Peled and his family have also been touched directly by the violence of the past decades between Israel and the Palestinians: Peled’s niece Smadar was killed at age 14 in a 1997 street bombing in Jerusalem. While not travelling for his peace work, Peled lives and works in San Diego California.

About CJPME – Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME) is a non-profit and secular organization bringing together men and women of all backgrounds who labour to see justice and peace take root again in the Middle East. Its mission is to empower decision-makers to view all sides with fairness and to promote the equitable and sustainable development of the region.

The event is organized by CJPME locally in conjunction with the Social Justice Studies Program at the University of Victoria. Miko Peled’s trip to BC is initiated and coordinated by CanPalNet (Vancouver) and IJV (Vancouver).

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Daniel Kovalik, Christina Nikolic, Janine Bandcroft Feb. 4, 2013

In these last years, say since Armenia and Auschwitz, we here in the West have been taught: Genocide is bad. But, even so, it seems a lesson slowly learnt by a variety of corporate and governmental operatives who continue to promote this most ancient practice.

Couched in the meta-language of modern trade negotiations, at this moment diplomats and other factotums in the service of the international business elite are hammering and sawing together vehicles that, in the guise of sane and prudent investment policy, serve to carry millions through the nightmare of mass displacement, dispossession, and deprivation to the gates of a manufactured Hell on Earth.

Slavery, abuse, and an early pauper’s grave is the best most of these caught in the maw of this New World Order can hope for. It’s everywhere, and it’s growing, and yet it’s barely recognized by its ultimate supporters, We the people.

Daniel Kovalik is Senior Associate General Counsel for the USW, or United Steel Workers union, and teaches international human rights law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Daniel’s recently published article, ‘How the Colombia Trade Agreement Accelerates Human Rights Abuses’ explores the predictable, and necessarily desired, outcomes of these policies constituting international crimes against humanity.

Daniel Kovalik in the first half.

And; last month yours truly took a turn down Cuba way. The idea was for me and my partner in tourism, Christina Nikolic to explore the besieged Caribbean nation while shooting a video chronicling the achievements of Cuba in its shift to organic, urban agriculture; a shift fostered by the so-called ‘Special Period,’ a time that saw the island cut adrift from its erstwhile Soviet Union supporter. I also recorded some audio impressions while walking through the capital.

Your Ape in La Habana in the second half.

And; Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with some of the goings on going on on our streets, and beyond. But first, Daniel Kovalik and “constructive genocide” and its consequences for us all.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.

 

Conversations with Activists Series – Documentary Film as a Tool of Activism

2103 Conversations with Activists Series: Documentary Film as a Tool of Social Justice, Community Education and Activism

with Mandy Leith speaking on Open cinema: Documentary as a Tool for Community Engagement

and kym hothead speaking on Taking the Fall and Rising: My life and work

Tuesday, Jan. 29th, 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.

SCI A104 (otherwise known as the Earth and Ocean Sciences Building or the Bob Wright Centre)

Mandy Leith is the founder & Program Director for OPEN CINEMA – now in its 10th successful season. A seasoned documentary filmmaker, she now works as a digital alchemist with her company Media Rising and sits on the National Board of Directors for the Documentary Organization of Canada.

For more info: www.opencinema.ca or www.MediaRising.tv

Kym Hothead identifies as a “Transgendered Anarcho Anti-Colonial Radical Feminist”. He is a local filmmaker, poet, writer and performer, among other activities. After spending years on the streets, Hothead now keeps a watchful eye out for those who live on the street or are street involved.

For more info: http://ctehv.wordpress.com/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Alexandra Morton, Jon Elmer, Janine Bandcroft Jan. 28, 2013

This week: Much has been written about the demise of Canada’s fisheries, on both coasts. Accusations of gross incompetence on the part of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, greed on the part of local fishers and canneries, and foreign over-fishing are all cited as reasons contributing to the crash of the cod down East. A familiar, confused casting of blame exists here too to explain away the fading of the Pacific salmon and herring.

While not precluding the role rampant corporate greed, or the insurmountable ignorance and consistent incompetence of the DFO has played, long-time West Coast marine research scientist and ecology defender, Alexandra Morton wants to make one thing perfectly clear: The undoing of the Pacific wild salmon was no mistake. In her recent article, ‘Salmon Feedlots – this was not a mistake,’ Morton revisits the chronicles of the wild salmon’s betrayal kept by the United Fisherman’s and Allied Workers Union in their newspaper, ‘The Fisherman.’

What’s revealed there is a corporate and government conspiracy amounting to a genus-cide and undoing of a way of life for both First Nations and settler fishing communities dependent on salmon, and an infinitely greater crime committed against an entire ecosystem.

Alexandra Morton in the first half.

And; Israel held elections last week. The results surprised many, but more surprising yet perhaps is analysis of what the elections mean for Israel’s, and the Middle East’s future. Jon Elmer is a Canadian freelance photo-journalist who has lived in and reported from Occupied Palestine for more than a decade. His work appears at Al Jazeera, the Inter Press Service, and Electronic Intifada among others. He’s also appeared in myriad magazines and contributed chapters to several books covering the middle east.
Jon Elmer and what future for Israel/Palestine in the second half.

And; Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with what’s going on on the streets of our city and beyond. But first, Alexandra Morton and the Great Fish Lot Plot’s killing of the ocean commons in Canada.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Nick Turse, Janine Bandcroft Jan 21, 2013

American Army general, Norman Schwarzkopf’s death last month provides perfect illustration of the perfidy of today’s press and the ‘memory hole’ culture it promotes. Orwell would certainly recognize the irony of Mr. Obama’s televised lament for an “American original” lost.

The president assured the Schwarzkopfs, Stormin’ Norman’s legacy would “endure in a nation that is more secure because of his patriotic service” and the press faithfully toed that Obama line, uniformly forgetting to mention the vast and bloody train following the general’s “service,” or acknowledge what that service reveals about the nation’s true nature.

From the fields of Vietnam, with a hop-over in Grenada, Norman rode the Anglo-American tide of conquest, his career cresting as a five-star pitchman for the storming of Hussein’s Iraq, (the first time around). More important though than the somewhat vanquishment of Saddam, the general’s real service to the nation, according to President George H.W. Bush, was the instrumental role he played in defeating “Vietnam Syndrome,” the dread disease manifesting as fits of public conscience, slowing progress for America’s military century.

Regarding the American people’s acceptance of a largely defenseless Iraq being pounded into rubble in 1991, H.W. Bush observed; “The specter of Vietnam has been buried forever in the desert sands of the Arabian peninsula.” There too, America’s conscience is apparently buried.

Nick Turse is a journalist, editor, and author whose investigations of American war crimes in Vietnam garnered him the Ridenhour Prize for Reportorial Distinction, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a fellowship at Harvard. He’s published in the LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and at The Nation, among other places, and currently serves as managing editor at TomDispatch.com.

Turse’s book titles include: ‘The Complex: How the Military Invades Our Everyday Life,’ ‘The Changing Face of Empire: Special Ops, Drones, Spies, Proxy Fighters, Secret Bases, and Cyber Warfare,’ ‘The Case for Withdrawal from Afghanistan,’ and his latest, ‘Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War in Vietnam.’

Nick Turse in the first segment.

And; Victoria Street Newz publisher, and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us news from our town’s streets, and beyond. And, if you’ve listened these last couple Mondays, you’ll know I’ve been in Cuba, and Janine minded Gorilla Radio.We’ll talk about what I missed here, impressions freshly made in Cuba, and music just found out there in the second half.

But first, journalist and author, Nick Turse on the real America in Vietnam.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook and Janine Bandcroft Zero 12 Year-Ender

Welcome to GR’s annual Year-Ender show. 2012 has come and nearly gone in record fashion. There were earth shaking events, sea and sky raking tempests, and e’er the sound of the pipes O’ war heard ‘cross t’ hill and dale in many a-land and yonder.

End of year updates, countdowns, and lists upon lists are surely found aplenty elsewhere, so this year, just here, we’d rather than look back at the year’s top repeated stories, peer instead, a la Project Censored at deserving stories that received less, little, or no coverage.

And, we’ll feature music and nonsense.

Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will too pop by at the bottom of the hour to ring in and wave out the new and old years. But first, a little music to set the calendrical tone from the Red Hot Chilli Pipers with Robbie Burns’ annual paean to the passing year, Auld Lang Syne.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.

Gorilla Radio Zero-12 X-Mas Special

This Week on GR: Welcome to another Gorilla Radio X-mas show.

Over the years, we’ve hosted quite a few of these, and this year as in past years, we’ll again leave the usual show format to bring you music and pontifications on the state of things, favoured snippets from past shows, and Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us from her family’s seasonal commemoration at the bottom of the hour.

But first, a man who has become an annual tradition here, Ini Kamozy and his psalm of imprecation for those forgetting the true meaning of the day.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Stephen Dunifer, Ramzy Baroud, Janine Bandcroft Dec 17, 2012

The modern media age began with radio. In the United States, it was determined, the airwaves belonged to the people and those wanting to access the people’s resource must conform to certain standards; namely: “serving the public interest, convenience, and necessity.”

This was the first edict of the 1927 Radio Act, proscribing access and defining content suitable for the new medium. It was followed by myriad more orders, demands, and regulations that would create, in less than a century, a media environment almost entirely bereft of its cardinal command: serving the public interest.”

Stephen Dunifer is the founder of Free Radio Berkeley of Berkeley, California. Stephen and Free Radio have, over nearly twenty years, fought to bring the public back to the airwaves.

It’s a fight waged on varying levels, and in differing venues; a slightly lop-sided battle, with community volunteers, tech. geeks, and anarchists struggling to provide; “…community news, discussions and interviews, information, a wide range of music, and more…” facing the FCC and deep-pocketed corporate concerns. Forced from the air, Free Radio Berkeley nonetheless, created an example and fostered a; “… movement to liberate the airwaves and break the corporate broadcast media’s stranglehold on the free flow of news, information, ideas, cultural and artistic creativity.”

Stephen Dunifer in the first half.

And; last month, Palestine was granted “nonvoting observer non-member state” status in the United Nations General Assembly. (This not weeks following yet another unprovoked Israeli military assault against the cities, towns, and overall infrastructure of Gaza, an assault that at the latest count includes at least 172 killed, more than a third of those being children). The conditional recognition has been hailed as the beginning of a new era for Palestine and Palestinians; but is it?

Ramzy Baroud is an internationally syndicated columnist and the editor of the PalestineChronicle.com, whose book titles include: ‘Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion,’ ‘The Second Palestinian Intifada: A Chronicle of a People’s Struggle,’ and his latest, ‘My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story.’

Ramzy Baroud and Palestine’s New Status: A History Rerun or a New Palestinian Strategy in the second half.

And; Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with some of the good things going on on our city’s streets and beyond. But first, Stephen Dunifer on freeing radio, and the FCC’s Low Power Deception.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.

Remembering: Andrew Weaver Likes B.C. Liberals

This was a robo-call I received during the lately premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell’s final election campaign. Campbell has since moved to London, England where he represents Canada.