Home > Programs
> Democracy
Now! > Mon., Oct. 6, 2003
Democracy Now!
ATTN: ALL STATIONS
From: Democracy Now!
Re: Rundown 10-06-03
PRSS Channel: A67.7
8:00-8:01 Billboard:
Israel Bombs Syria for the First Time in 30 Years in Major
Escalation of Conflict
Remains of 419 Enslaved Africans Re-Buried at the African
Burial Ground in New York City
100,000 Immigrant Workers and Supporters Rally in Queens
to End Cross-Country Freedom Rides
Arnold Forced to Deny Allegations That he “Admired”
Hitler
8:01-8:06 Headlines
8:06-8:07 One Minute Music Break
8:07-8:20 Israel Bombs Syria for the First Time in
30 Years in Major Escalation of Conflict
INTRO: Syrian expert Patrick Seale discusses the impact
on the bombing raid which came hours after a Palestinian attorney
blew herself up in Haifa killing 19 people on the eve of Yom
Kippour.
Fears of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict growing into a
regional war expanded yesterday as Israeli warplanes bombed
targets deep inside Syria yesterday in a surprise airstrike.
It was the first attack inside Syria in 30 years. Israeli
warplanes strike outside of Damascus came hours after a Palestinian
woman blew herself up in a suicide attack in the Israeli town
of Haifa. 19 people died in the attack including four children.
60 more were injured. The suicide bombing came on the eve
of the Jewish Holy Day Yom Kippour.
Israeli described the target to be a terrorist training camp
run by Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian group that had carried
out the attack. But Syrian officials say the camp was largely
abandoned. Israel's bombing of Syria was widely condemned
in the international community.
UN Secretary Kofi Annan said this “has the potential
to broaden the scope of current conflicts in the Middle East,
further threatening regional peace and security.” Most
of the Arab world and much of Europe condemned the attack.
The Bush administration urged restraint on all sides but US
ambassador John Negroponte said "The United States believes
that Syria is on the wrong side of the war on terrorism."
Israel yesterday protested the UN Security Council's decision
to hold a closed-door meeting to discuss the attack.
Israel's ambassador, Dan Gillerman said, "For Syria
to call a Security Council meeting is as if Bin Laden had
called a Security Council meeting after 9/11."
Israeli officials also suggested Iran could be a possible
future target. On CNN a spokesman for Prime Minister Sharon
said "This is a clear signal to the Damascus-Teheran-Gaza
axis of terror."
- Patrick Seale, British journalist who has covered the
Middle East for over 30 years specializing in Syria. He
is the author of “Asad: The Struggle for the Middle
East”
8:20-8:21 One Minute Music Break
8:21-8:30 Remains of 419 Enslaved Africans Re-Buried
at the African Burial Ground in New York City
INTRO: The skeletons of hundreds of enslaved Africans discovered
12 years ago during construction of a building in New York
City were reinterred at the African Burial Ground in a solemn
ceremony on Friday.
The skeletons of hundreds of enslaved African slaves were
returned to New York City for solemn re-burial on Friday.
The bones were discovered 12 years ago during construction
of a building in New York City and were removed for research.
The construction site turned out to be a five-acre cemetery
that had been closed in 1794 and had been long forgotten.
Horse-drawn hearse carried the caskets up Broadway's traditional
Canyon of Heroes parade route as thousands of New Yorkers
marched to the final resting place in lower Manhattan. The
419 colonial-era slaves were reinterred at the African Burial
Ground just blocks from the waterfront where they were sold
more than 200 years ago.
Extensive study at Washington's Howard University of the
remains revealed that a large percentage of the slaves had
suffered violent head wounds. Forensic evidence also suggested
that many had been routinely forced to carry loads of between
40 and 80 kilograms.
Poet Maya Angelou was among the celebrities speaking to a
cheering crowd before the caskets were lowered into the ground.
She said QUOTE "You may bury me in the bottom of Manhattan.
I will rise. My people will get me. I will rise out of the
huts of history's shame."
- Reverend Herbert Daughtry, one of three clerics who delivered
prayers at the Friday ceremony at the reburial of the remains.
- Charles Barron, New York City Councilmember from 42nd
Council District Committee of Descendants of the African
Ancestral Burial Ground.
8:30-8:40 100,000 Immigrant Workers and Supporters
Rally in Queens to End Cross-Country Freedom Rides
INTRO: Demonstrations on Friday and Saturday were the climax
of the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride, a two-week journey
of nearly 900 immigrants and their supporters across the country
to challenge the nation's immigration laws.
As many as 100,000 immigrants rallied in Flushing Meadows-Corona
Park in Queens – the most diverse community in the world
- on Saturday to call for better working conditions for undocumented
workers. This follows a rally on Friday against the backdrop
of the Statue of Liberty in New Jersey.
Saturday’s demonstration was the climax of the Immigrant
Workers Freedom Ride, a two-week journey of nearly 900 immigrants
and their supporters who traveled from Los Angeles, Seattle
and eight other cities to Washington and New York to challenge
the nation's immigration laws.
The rally was in many ways a multicultural festival, with
salsa and reggae music, signs in Creole and Spanish, and wafting
smells of tortillas and jerk chicken.
Church and mosque congregations and community groups marched
into the site with banners declaring their affiliations. Bangladeshi
men skipped around the park, chanting "Amnesty!"
Korean folk drummers and dancers gave impromptu performances.
The riders pushed for better conditions for legal as well
as “illegal” immigrants. Their four-point agenda
focuses on workplace policies, civil liberties, faster reunification
of families, as well as official status for illegal workers.
Excerpts of speeches at Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride rally
in Liberty State Park in Jersey City on October 3, 2003:
- Terence O’ Sullivan, General President, Laborers
International Union.
- Congressman John Lewis, Democrat, Georgia
8:40-8:41 One Minute Music Break
8:41-8:58 Schwarzenegger Accused of Involvement in
$9B California Swindle with Enron’s Ken Lay
INTRO: Investigative reporter Greg Palast reveals how Republican
gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger is part of a
larger scheme to help Enron and other power companies avoid
paying back $9 billion in illicit profits by replacing Gov.
Gray Davis.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger
wrapped up a four-day bus tour across California as he headed
for a rally in the state capital yesterday. The latest polls
show Schwarzenegger is still leading 135 potential replacements
for Gov. Gray Davis Davis in tomorrow’s recall election.
Well a new report by investigative reporter Greg Palast published
on Saturday is charging Arnold and Enron’s Kenneth Lay
involvement in a $9 billion California swindle.
At the center of the story is a private lawsuit filed last
year by California’s Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante
to make Enron and other power companies pay back $9 billion
in illicit profits. The suit shows how they carried off the
profits by fraudulent reporting of sales transactions, megawatt
"laundering," fake power delivery scheduling. Palast
cites a 34-page internal Enron memo he obtained.
Schwarzenegger has yet to deny that on May 17, 2001 he met
with Enron chieftain Kenneth Lay and convicted stock swindler
Mike Milken in a hotel room in Los Angeles. The meeting was
allegedly part of a plan to recall Gov. Gray Davis and replace
him with someone who could make the legal threat go away.
- Greg Palast, author of “Best Democracy Money Can
Buy” recently exposed Schwarzenegger’s ties
to ken lay and Enron’s attempt to violate the “Unfair
Business Practices Act.”
Link: www.gregpalast.com
8:41-8:58 Arnold Forced to Deny Allegations That
he “Admired” Hitler
INTRO: Schwarzenegger was quoted as saying he “admired”
Hitler in a 1975 transcript of an interview while filming
the documentary "Pumping Iron.” We speak with Martin
Lee, author of "The Beast Reawakens: Fascism's Resurgence
from Hitler's Spymasters to Today's Neo-Nazi Groups and Right-Wing
Extremists"
Protests organized by the National Organization of Women
and CodePink were held across the state one day after the
Los Angeles Times published an article quoting six women who
said Schwarzenegger had groped and humiliated them in acts
that allegedly took place over three decades. Arnold quickly
apologized for his actions.
California Attorney General Bill Lockyer called on Arnold
Schwarzenegger to volunteer to be investigated over the accusations
yesterday and The Oakland Tribune withdrew its endorsement
of Schwarzenegger on Saturday, citing the accusations.
Aides have accused the newspaper of practicing "irresponsible
journalism" and denounced the allegations as a last-minute
smear campaign to help Gov. Gray Davis. Arnold described the
stories as “puke politics.” Meanwhile, on the
Schwarzenegger campaign, anger at the LA Times has become
a rallying cry.
Before a Schwarzenegger rally in Modesto, California on Saturday,
one speaker, a radio host, urged the crowd to make the media
feel welcome and added, "Except for the guy. ... Who's
the guy with the L.A. Times? Find him and beat him up would
you?"
Schwarzenegger was also forced to deny comments he allegedly
made 25 years ago that he admired Adolf Hitler. Schwarzenegger
was quoted as making the comments in a 1975 transcript of
an interview while filming the documentary "Pumping Iron"
that made him famous.
According to the transcript in a book proposal circulated
six years ago, Schwarzenegger said when asked to name his
heroes: “It depends for what. I admired Hitler, for
instance, because he came from being a little man with almost
no formal education up to power. And I admire him for being
such a good public speaker.” A consultant to the documentary,
Peter Davis, later said the Hitler quote was taken out of
context.
In addition to the transcript, film producer George Butler
wrote in the book proposal that in the 1970s, he considered
Schwarzenegger a “flagrant, outspoken admirer of Hitler.”
Butler also said he had seen Schwarzenegger playing “Nazi
marching songs from long-playing records in his collection
at home” and said that the actor “frequently clicked
his heels and pretended to be an S.S. officer.”
Schwarzenegger told The New York Times that he did not recall
making any of the comments or engaging in any of the behavior
described by Butler.
- Martin Lee, author of the "The Beast Reawakens:
Fascism's Resurgence from Hitler's Spymasters to Today's
Neo-Nazi Groups and Right-Wing Extremists"
8:58-8:59 Outro and Credits
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Jeremy Scahill, Mike Burke,
Angie Karran, Sharif Abdul Kouddous, Lenina Nadal, Ana Nogueira,
Elizabeth Press and Parvez Sharma. Mike Di Filippo is our
music maestro and engineer.
[Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Rafael delaUz, Gabriel Weiss, Johnny Sender,
Rich Kim, Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Jenny
Filipazzo]
|
Listen
to the show
Help
