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> Tues., Jan. 27, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
New Hampshire Primary Opens
Labor Unions Role in 2003 Elections
Mad Cow Disease: Still A Threat?
Sierra Club Facing Conflict Over Immigration
Latest on Burundi Civil War
FSRN Headlines
HR Watch Says Humanitarian War in Iraq Unjustifiable
Human Rights Watch declares U.S. and British official’s
justification for invading Iraq on humanitarian grounds as
unjustifiable. The 407-page report released yesterday, said
“before war, mass slaughter should be taking place or
imminent.” The Executive Director of the London based
organization said, while summary executions and other brutality
did occur, “ongoing or imminent slaughter…was
NOT the case in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq in March 2003.”
Annan Says Iraqis Should Rule
Today, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan confirmed
his stance that Iraqis should rule Iraq as quickly as possible
and is in conference with the U.S. backed Provisional Authority.
Annan wants assurances from the U.S. officials that any UN
staffer sent to the country will be safe.
ACLU Sues Over Post 9-11 Round-up
And the American Civil Liberties Union spoke at the United
Nations today, challenging the Bush administrations round-ups
of mostly South Asians following 9-11. Haider Rizvi reports
from the UN.
Anti-SOA Activists Sentenced
Today more activists are being served prison sentences for
civil disobedience directed at closing the notorious School
of the Americas, the refer to as the School of Assassins.
From outside the Columbus, Georgia courthouse, Laurel Padget-Seekins
reports.
Pirate Radio at Clear Channel's Doorstep
This morning a rowdy pirate crew visited Clear Channel Worldwide's
headquarters – making noise in the streets and seizing
the public airwaves with a micro-radio station. From San Antonio,
KPFT's Renee Feltz reports.
CBO Puts Out Deficit Projections
The Congressional Budget Office says the federal deficit is
continuing to climb at rates not seen since the Reagan and
prior Bush administrations. David Gruen reports.
[top]
New Hampshire Primary Opens (3:46)
New Hampshire Primary day begins at just past midnight in
the small towns of Dixville and Notch with early results showing
General Wesley Clarke taking the lead. At campaign headquarters
of Congressman Dennis Kucinich the offices are still buzzing
at 2am. Actually for the core volunteers still making phone
calls and strategizing about where strength in numbers would
be needed most, today is the day they have worked towards
for months. Deepa Fernandes reports from New Hamphire.
[top]
Labor Unions Role in 2003 Elections (3:48)
With their sizable campaign warchests and ability to mobilize
thousands of members, labor unions have typically played a
pivotal role in Presidential elections. In 2000, then-Vice
President Al Gore swept through Iowa and New Hampshire largely
on the strength of key union endorsements. But as John Hamilton
reports, the power of unions to shape the 2004 Presidential
race isn't what it used to be.
[top]
Mad Cow Disease: Still A Threat? (4:20)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration made rule changes
for cattle food stock that it says will decrease the risks
of spreading the Mad Cow disease, but consumer advocates say
the rule change falls short from protecting livestock and
the public. The FDA banned the use of dried cattle blood in
cattle feed and it is also prohibiting the subsitution of
cattle blood for calf milk. However critics say a very real
danger to the food supply does still exists as cattle ranchers
will continue to feed the herbivorous cows chickens and pigs.
Today Secretary Anne Venemmen told a Senate Agricultural Committee
that the Bush Administration is vigioursly lobbying Mexico,
Japan, and South Korea to end their prohibition of U.S. meat.
Mitch Jeserich was there and he files this report.
[top]
Sierra Club Facing Conflict Over Immigration
(3:54)
The Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest and largest environmental
organization, is facing what many activists inside and outside
the club say is the gravest threat to its survival in its
112-year history. Founded in 1892 by Scottish immigrant John
Muir, some members of the board of directors are seeking to
have the club adopt an anti-immigration platform. Three more
board candidates with similar views have petitioned their
way onto the ballot for the March election. They argue that
greater numbers of people will deplete U.S. resources and
strain ecosystems, and that severely restricting immigration
will ease the problem. These candidates are being supported
by a number of white supremacist and anti-Semitic groups whose
anti-immigrant positions are not so refined. And as FSRN’s
Melinda Tuhus reports, these groups are urging their members
to join the Sierra Club in order to vote in the upcoming election.
[top]
Latest on Burundi Civil War (4:28)
Burundi’s civil war has dragged on for almost a decade,
with over 350,000 people killed and hundreds thousands more
displaced. For years the international community steered clear
of intervening in a brutal conflict which had its origins
in an ethnic conflict between the predominantly Hutu rebels
and Tutsi-dominated government. Yet, a recent deployment of
peace-keepers to the country marks a increasing trend on the
African continent to recognize the risks of allowing low-level
conflicts to fester, only to spread far beyond their original
borders. Rupert Cook reports.
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