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> Thur., Sept. 4, 2003
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Victory against the FCC!
Texas fleeing Senators in DC
Abbas an “American Agent”?
Tax Dollars Fund Stadiums Not Education
Part 2: Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission
FSRN Headlines Produced by Randi Zimmerman
Judicial Nominees Pull Bush's Name- Jay Tamboli
Defense Department Unable to Destroy Chemical Weapons - Cuog
Phu Trihn
Resolution for UN Support in Iraq - Haider Risvi
St. Louis School Controversy - Katerina Pesheva
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Victory against the FCC!
The Senate Appropriations Committee is today voting on whether
to roll back these FCC media ownership rules. The FCC voted
in June to weaken restrictions on media ownership rules which
were expected to come into effect today. The implementation
of the rules however has been stayed after a critical victory
yesterday in a federal court which found in favor of the Prometheus
Radio Project against the Federal Communication Commission.
The Philadelphia based Prometheus Radio Project took the FCC
to court soon after the June decision arguing to the court
that the rules, if put into effect, would do irreparable harm
to the American people. And as Dante Toza reports from Philadelphia,
the federal court agreed, in a what is being hailed as a huge
victory for independent media activists.
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Texas fleeing Senators in DC
After going from state to state around the country, the
fleeing Texas State Senate Democrats are in Washington D.C.,
where they say Democracy is in peril as Republicans try to
draw new district lines in Texas that could increase the number
of Republicans in Congress by 6. They are blaming President
Bush, his political advisor Karl Rove, and House Republican
Leader Tom Delay for instigating new lines that would disenfranchise
minority voters in Texas. The internet advocacy group MoveOn.org
is taking up the Texan fugitives battle and has raised 1 million
dollars to launch an add campaign portraying the GOP in a
nation wide movement to forcibly increase its power. That
campaign is in a race against time as one of the 11 Senate
Democrats has returned to Texas which creates a quorum, in
which Texas Governor Rick Perry could call for a special session
any day now. Republican Texans say they nor the Bush administration
have done anything wrong and the 11 fleeing State Senate Democrats
are stalling the process so to keep minorities from joining
the GOP. Mitch Jeserich has more.
[top]
Abbas an “American Agent”?
The Palestinian Legislative Council convened today in the
occupied West Bank city of Ramallah to hear Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmoud Abbas deliver an address detailing the first
100 days of his administration. Tension in the Palestinian
Legislative Council is palatable and Prime Minister Abbas
has indicated he may resign if control of Palestinian security
forces isn’t handed to his officials from Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat. Even as Abbas faced a mixed Palestinian
Legislative council, as Mohamed Ghalayini reports from the
Gaza Strip, Palestinians confidence is quickly eroding in
Prime Minister Abbas’s leadership. The Palestinians
Authority’s move last week to freeze the assets of Islamic
Charities providing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip—has
prompted Palestinians to call Abbas an “American Agent.”
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Tax Dollars Fund Stadiums Not Education
Washington DC's mayor Anthony Williams has selected Robert
Bobb, former city manager for Oakland, CA, as a top new aide.
Some say one of the reasons that Bobb was pushed out of Oakland
by mayor Jerry Brown was for his aggressive efforts to bring
a professional baseball stadium to Oakland. DC Mayor Williams
choice of Bobb comes as no surprise to the DC residents who
have been organizing against the use of public funds to build
a privately owned stadium, especially at a time when public
services like health care and education have been cut. And
as Ingrid Drake reports, in nearby Baltimore, residents have
yet to benefit from professional sports stadiums.
[top]
Part 2: Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission
Last week Peru’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission,
released its final report, condemning Peru’s anti-terrorist
laws, some of which are still in use. This legislation was
used to imprison at least 22,000 persons during the 20-year
conflict, and it included military trials with masked judges
where the accused often had no legal counsel. The US Patriot
Acts holds striking similarities to the 1992 Peruvian legislation.
In the face of US government’s global anti-“terrorist”
policies, many say the Peruvian case demonstrates the dangers
and long-term effects of repressive legislation. In the second
part of a three-part series investigating Peru’s political
violence, Nicole Karsin has this report from Lima.
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