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Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Bonny Glambeck, Greg Palast, Janine Bandcroft Jule 27th, 2019
58:52|Listen. Hear. http://www.gorilla-radio.com/2019/06/27/gorilla-radio-chris-cook-bonny-glambeck-greg-palast-janine-bandcroft-june-27th-2019/ It’s difficult to accept news of the epidemic-sized outbreak of sea lice at fish farms in Clayoquot Sound with anything but a weary sigh of unsurprise; afterall, why would Cermaq’s much contested operations there differ from everywhere else concentrated fish feed lots operate?Cermaq, the formerly Norwegian company newly acquired by Japanese behemoth, Mitsubishi Corporation issued an apology, published in the local Tofino-Ucluelet Westerly News, admitting their inability to manage operations in the Sound safely, saying, “we were unable to effectively manage sea lice populations for a variety of reasons including unusually hot and dry weather…”. For those long chronicling the damage the industry does on a good day, and long predicting just such “unmanageable” outbreak scenarios, Mitsubishi’s “so sorry’s” arrive dead in the water.Bonny Glambeck is director of Clayoquot Action, an organization dedicated, they say: “to keep Clayoquot Sound clean and green for future generations, to preserve the diversity and integrity of the ecosystems, and to maintain and develop community and cultural richness.”Bonny Glambeck in the first half.And; journalism is in crisis, and it’s not the good kind! Beyond the bane of “fake news” and journotainment upchucked by network television and the marquee legacy presses, whether in shooting wars, or digging through the muck of corrupt politicos and their big business patrons, real journalists are now considered fair game targets. From the remote reaches of Russia and the Middle and Far East, to the marbled capitals of Britain and America, the new contempt for them has made an always difficult and precarious profession almost impossible. Just as intended.Greg Palast is an investigator, journalist, author, and filmmaker. He’s reported the news from both sides of the Atlantic for the better part of two decades, breaking stories for BBC flagship news program, Newsnight and The Guardian newspaper in Britain, and filing with The Nation magazine and Rolling Stone stateside. He’s the recipient of plaudits, laudatory recognition, and numerous awards for his work; the most recent being The Association of Mexican Journalists’ 2019 prize for International Reporter for his exclusive exposés of the theft of elections from Georgia to Mexico and corporate media ban-busting reportage from Venezuela.Greg’s books, ‘Billionaires & Ballot Bandits’, ‘Armed Madhouse’, and ‘The Best Democracy Money Can Buy’ have all resided on the New York Times’ bestseller list, while his ‘Vultures’ Picnic’ was named Book of the Year by BBC Newsnight Review. His latest documentary film, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: A Tale of Billionaires & Ballot Bandits is recut, and available at Gregpalast.com.Greg Palast and the media’s crisis of stenography in the second half.And; Victoria-based activist and long-time Gorilla Radio contributor, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events Bulletin of some of the good things to be gotten up to in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Bonny Glambeck and Clayoquot Sound plague of sea lice. Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon 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/
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Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Stefan Goebel, Dimitri Lascaris, Janine Bandcroft June 20, 2019
58:16|A century past the end of the War to End All Wars humankind has experienced unrelenting conflicts both large and small, roiling the length and breadth of the World. A look across media platforms at the headlines today reinforces the calamitous political state of the planet, but what is rarely explored or explained is the role it, the media, plays and has played in our seeming perpetual state of war and its ever-rumoured coming. Listen. Hear. Stefan Goebel is a scholar, educator, author, and Director of the Centre for the History of War, Media & Society at Kent University. A reader in Modern British History, professor Goebel is too co-editor of the recently published volume, 'Propaganda and Conflict: War, Media and Shaping the Twentieth Century'. Stefan Goebel in the first half. And; ten years after pajama-clad Honduran center-left president Mel Zelaya was whisked from his bed and into exile by military coupsters the country is a basket case. For the vast majority, the past decade has seen economic collapse and the erosion of the meagre human rights and agrarian reforms Zelaya had initiated in his final year in office. It has also become the most dangerous place on Earth to live, with police, gangs, and government-sponsored death squads providing impetus for the main component of the Central American refugee crisis. Dimitri Lascaris is a Canadian lawyer, human rights activist, and reporter for the Real News Network. He's just returned from Honduras where he joined a tri-national delegation of University academics and members of the Central American Alliance Against Mining on a Human Rights fact-finding mission to investigate local opposition to an iron-ore mine in the Botaderos National Park in northern Honduras. Dimitri Lascaris and Honduras, ten years after democracy died in the second half. And; Victoria-based activist and long-time Gorilla Radio contributor, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events Bulletin of some of the good things to be gotten up to in and around our town in the coming week. But first, professor Stefan Goebel and media, propaganda and conflict in the post-truth age. Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon 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, World Oceans Day, Gretchen Fitzgerald, Janine Bandcroft June 13th, 2019
59:12|The rank hypocrisy of Western civilization’s ruling elite, though never really too deeply hidden has, with the recent arrests of journalists and raids against their publishers, broken the surface of the body politic like some septic pustule.But worse than embarrassment, this sore blooming in the face of much vaunted “rule of law” proclamations made across the once Free World, and elsewhere, is more pox than spot, and not easily vanished by either creams, lotions, or official bromides.Last week, Australia’s State broadcaster ABC was just one such media outlet to experience the new democratic understanding of press rights and freedoms.John Helmer is a journalist, former academic, government policy advisor, author, broadcaster and principal behind the news website, Dances with Bears. An Australian national, his recent article, ‘The Julian Assange Case Now Puts the US on Trial in a British Court: Is There a GET-OUT-OF-JAIL Card for Assange?‘ explores security state targeting of journalism, and the unenviable fate of his countryman and all those caught up in the new anti-information dragnets.Some of John Helmer’s book titles include: ‘The Deadly Simple Mechanics of Society’, ‘Drugs and Minority Oppression’, (with Claudia Wright) ‘The Jackal’s Wedding – American Power, Arab Revolt’, ‘Grand Strategy for Small Countries, Case Studies in Transforming Weakness into Power,’ and his latest is the newly out political and personal memoir, ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia’.John Helmer in the first half.And; Canada’s senate has shot down proposed amendments to the new Impact Assessment Act, also known as Bill C-69. This despite what one Senator reports was a veritable “flood” of evidence from fishing organizations, indigenous leaders, and environmental groups concerned that, as it stands, the Bill delivers regulation of seabed oil exploration permits into the hands of petroleum interests.Gretchen Fitzgerald is the National Programs Director of the Sierra Club Canada Foundation. Her work focuses on environmental impacts of offshore oil and gas, volunteer engagement, and climate change.Gretchen Fitzgerald and rescuing the New Impact Assessment Act…Before It’s Too Late! in the second half.And; Victoria-based activist and long-time Gorilla Radio contributor, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with some of what’s good going on in and around our town in the coming week. But first, John Helmer and journalism under fire.Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon 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 Roelofs, Nils Melzer, Janine Bandcroft June 5, 2019
59:44|America's vast military apparatus is much more multi-dimensional than even its most fervent fans realize. Beyond war and readying for war-fighting, America's Army, Navy, Marines, and Space Force also work hard at preserving wildlands and vital marine habitat, where wildlife and sea creatures alike can take refuge from the increasingly noisome presence of human industry. REPI, or the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration Program could be described as the Department of Defense's version of a "New Green Deal", (if you're inclined to believe it) or as it says, "a key tool for combating encroachment that can limit or restrict military training, testing, and operations." Listen. Hear. Joan Roelofs is an educator, author translator, prolific academic writer, and essayist with an especial focus on the political power of the nonprofit sector. The Keene State College Political Science Professor Emerita is also author of the books, 'Foundations and Public Policy: The Mask of Pluralism', and 'Greening Cities: Building Just and Sustainable Communities.' Her recent article at CounterPunch.org, '“Get Your Endangered Species Off My Bombing Range!”' questions the ways and means of one of the lesser known arms of today's ubiquitous military octopus. Joan Roelofs in the first half. And; journalist and publisher, Julian Assange is in dire physical and mental condition. He was to appear for his extradition hearing in London's Westminster Magistrates’ Court Thursday last, but was deemed too ill to attend either in person or via video link from Belmarsh Prison. Assange has been held in isolation since his forced extraction from the Ecuadorian embassy April 11th, with few visits being allowed for his lawyers and supporters. On May 9th, United Nations Special Rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer and "two medical experts specialised in examining potential victims of torture and other ill-treatment" were granted access and their assessment is a blistering indictment of both his current and would-be jailors. Nils Melzer and the case for Julian Assange's immediate release in the second half. And; Victoria-based activist and long-time Gorilla Radio contributor, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events Bulletin of some of the good things to be gotten up to in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Joan Roelofs and when nature endangers the Pentagon. Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon 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, Douglas Gook, Daniel Kovalik, Janine Bandcroft May 30th, 2019
59:23|Approaching the fifth anniversary of the Mt. Polley tailings spill into Quesnel Lake and beyond little has been done to affect the way mining is conducted in this province. Imperial Metals, the company responsible for that disaster, among other things, has yet to be properly held to account for the damage its negligence caused. And it doesn’t seem likely to be in the future.With governments’ unwilling to address this long-standing and ongoing failure of oversight a citizen-led initiative has begun. The BC Mining Law Reform Campaign launched a couple of weeks ago, and it is determined to succeed in bringing mining operations in BC to heel.Douglas Gook is a Quesnel-based ecology activist and farmer who’s focused on Eco forestry alternatives in the woods there and beyond for more than forty years. The former BC and Canadian Green Party candidate is a director of the BC Environmental Network and Spirit Dance Cooperative Community, and leads Forest Protection Allies, one of the many environmental organizations pressuring government to get effective cleanup processes going, and appropriate compensation for those effected five years after the infamous Mt. Polley spill. He’s also one of a growing chorus who do not accept the Site C decision as final.Douglas Gook in the first half.And; despite the great hope for peace in Colombia, an announcement by the country’s military of a “new” strategy to deal with what they say is a continuing insurgency, and against organized drugs gangs, has sparked concern of a return to the bad old days of death squads and the “falsos positivos” program of the civil war.Daniel Kovalik is a lawyer, educator, labour, peace, and justice activist, democracy defender, journalist and author. He teaches international human rights law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and was until recently Senior Associate General Counsel for the United Steel Workers Union. Kovalik has observed elections in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Colombia, where he too witnessed the 2016 peace plebiscite promising an end to the generational war there.Dan’s also served as an attorney for Colombian plaintiffs in cases alleging corporate human rights violations, and is co-recipient of a Project Censored Award for chronicling the murder of trade unionists in Colombia. Some of his many book titles include the ‘Plot To…’ series: ‘The Plot to Scapegoat Russia: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Putin’, ‘The Plot to Attack Iran: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Iran’, ‘The Plot to Control the World: How the US Spent Billions to Change the Outcome of Elections Around the World, and his latest, ‘The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the US Is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil.’ Dan Kovalik and failing peace in Colombia in the second half.And; Victoria Street Newz publisher emeritus and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us news of some of the good things going on in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Douglas Gook and citizens acting where government won’t with the BC Mining Law Reform Campaign.Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon 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, Brian Davey, Jeb Sprague, Janine Bandcroft May 23rd ,2019
59:43|Isolated from one other by walls made of media-induced mistrust, rather than considering the issues of the day in nuanced terms political discourse has increasingly become an identitarian, black and white battle between entrenched camps. From our sheltered thought silos, it's possible to forgo the difficult task of thinking through problems, choosing instead to hurl abusive missives, (and more substantive missiles) at one another. Despite this spreading plague of self-satisfied, diametric certitude, there still exists a middle ground. It's shaky, dangerous territory few would choose to make a stand on, but between the derision and scorn suffered from both extremities, it's in the grey zone between our only hope of collective salvation lay. Brian Davey is an economist who's spent most of his working life in the community and voluntary sector in Nottingham, England, particularly in health promotion, mental health and environmental fields. He is a co-founder of Ecoworks, a community garden and environmental project for people with mental health problems, member of the Feasta Climate Working Group, and former co-ordinator of the Cap and Share Campaign. Davey is also editor of the Feasta book, 'Sharing for Survival: Restoring the Climate, the Commons and Society', and author of 'Credo: Economic Beliefs in a World in Crisis'. Brian recently posted at FEASTA.org the article, 'Greta Thunberg, PR and the “Climate Emergency”', an attempt to find common ground in the current climate crisis debate. Brian Davey in the first half. And; last week, officers of the US Secret Service Uniformed Division assisted US Department of State Diplomatic Security Service Special Agents in extracting from the Venezuelan embassy in Washington, four remaining protesters, barricaded inside. It was the culmination of a six weeks-long stand-off, seeing noisome, and sometimes violent, confrontation between pro-government and counter-government supporters of Juan Guaido, the man recognized by the United States and some of its allies as the legitimate representative of democracy in that country. Jeb Sprague is an educator, author, essayist and journalist whose articles can be found at the Grayzone Project, and The Canary, among other places. He lectures at the University of Virginia and is author of the books: 'Globalizing the Caribbean: Political Economy, Social Change, and the Transnational Capitalist Class', and 'Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti'. Sprague is also editor of the book, 'Globalization and Transnational Capitalism in Asia and Oceania', and is a founding member of the Network for Critical Studies of Global Capitalism (NCSGC). Jeb Sprague and the death of diplomacy in DC in the second half. And; Victoria-based activist and long-time Gorilla Radio contributor, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with some of what's good going on in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Brian Davey and finding the middle ground in the middle of a climate emergency. Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon 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, Christopher Black, J Ocean Dennie, Janine Bandcroft May 16, 2019
59:01|It's difficult to believe we didn't see this coming. Everywhere Bellum Americana is in force today, the "rule of law" is no more. And, despite Trudeau's, or Chrystia Freeland's repeated invocations, that parrot is neither sleeping, nor getting back on its perch; it is dead: dead as the Magna Carta; dead as the Treaty of Westphalia; dead as the Nuremberg Charter. The sad truth is, we really are, finally, on our own. Christopher Black is a Toronto-based criminal lawyer specializing in international war crimes cases, and executive member of the Canadian Peace Congress. Black’s articles on international law, politics and World events appear at New Eastern Outlook among other places, where a perusal of his latest efforts reveals the relentless assault by the empire and its satraps against international jurisprudence and nations in all quarters of the globe. Christopher Black in the first half. And; what worth a tree? How much for a forest? The inexorable mastication and digestion of British Columbia 's forests by timber interests and their servants in various governments is an old story - in human terms. For the last century and half, a mere fraction of the lives of the giant cedars routinely ground down for consumer products, nature has been regarded here as resource; merely an instrument to be used to secure the wealth, comfort, and ease of the settler caste. Now though, as with so many other systems, the coastal rainforest ecosystem has reached a tipping-point, one from which once crossed reclamation will never be possible. J Ocean Dennie is with Friends of the Sooke Hills Wilderness, a grassroots group of concerned citizens advocating for the continued protection of wilderness areas threatened on southern Vancouver Island. His decolonizing advocacy work and environmental activism over the past few years includes: involvement with the Social Environmental Alliance, Indigenous Solidarity Working Group and Fish Farms Out Now! J Ocean Dennie and stopping the road to ruin in the Sooke Hills Wilderness in the second half. And; Victoria-based activist and long-time Gorilla Radio contributor, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with some of the good things to be gotten up to in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Christopher Black and an international rule of law run amok. Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon 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/