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> Mon., Feb. 9, 2004
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Bush Spins White House Innocence
Israeli Court Hears Case Against Wall
LA to Ban Walmart?
Survival main issue for queer youth of color
Sex Worker Union in Argentina
FSRN Headlines
CA Court Issues Cooper Stay
Today, a man on California’s death row received a stay
just hours before the state was to execute him by lethal injection.
Monica reports from KPFK in Los Angeles.
Weekend Uprisings in Haiti
Numerous groups throughout Haiti took to the streets over
the weekend to voice their opposition to President Jean Bertrand
Aristide, raiding a police station and looting cargo ships.
Sylvio Juste reports from Haiti.
DOJ Subpoenaes Legal Group's Membership List
The U.S. Justice Department has subpoenaed the membership
list and other information from a chapter of the National
Lawyers Guild. Sara Bogdon has more.
Sri Lanka's Parliament Suspended
Sri Lanka’s President suspended the nation’s Parliament
over the weekend and set new elections for the first week
in April. Ponniah Manikavasagam reports from Sri Lanka.
Kerry, Kucinich, Sharpton Claim Wins
Over the weekend two state caucuses handed John Kerry more
delegates towards his bid to become the Democratic nominee
for President. But, the underfunded, undercovered campaign
of Dennis Kucinich is also claiming victory as he picked up
his biggest win in Maine with 15-percent of the vote. Al Sharpton
made a strong 4th place showing in Michigan, finishing second
in two districts in Detroit. Divisions in Detroit highlighted
some of the Democrats problems with black voters. A number
of local leaders criticized the lack of representation by
candidates except for Sharpton willing to talk to voters directly
about issues concerning cities, minorities and the poor.
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Bush Spins White House Innocence
Former head of the UN weapons inspection team in Iraq Hans
Blix accused British PM Tony Blair and President George Bush
of acting like insincere salesmen who exaggerated intelligence
to sell the invasion of Iraq to the public. Blix called the
claim that weapons of mass destruction could be deployed in
45 minutes an intentional dramatization. The British Government
rejected Blix's accusations that aired on the BBC on Sunday
saying the Hutton Inquiry cleared the Government of over dramatization.
But Robin Cook, the former leader of the House of Commons,
continued his attack on the Prime Minister and called on Blair
to clarify what was meant by the 45 minute claim. Meanwhile
in the U.S., President Bush defended his decision to invade
Iraq during a Sunday morning talk show. On Friday President
Bush named 7 of the 9 members to a commission to examine recent
intelligence failures. Critics however say the commission
doesn't go far enough in finding whether the White House is
guilty of misleading the country. FSRN’s DC editor Mitch
Jeserich reports.
[top]
Israeli Court Hears Case Against Wall
Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip said today that they were
preparing to move 500 families to the area in an effort to
thwart a plan by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to evacuate
most settlements in the region. This comes as the Israeli
Supreme Court today began hearing two petitions, submitted
by Israeli human rights groups, that argue that the so-called
security wall is illegal because part of it is being built
on occupied Palestinian territory. Peretz Kidron, an Independent
journalist in Israel, speaks to Deepa Fernandes.
[top]
LA to Ban Walmart?
Within a few weeks, the Los Angeles City Council will vote
on an ordinance to ban the construction of Superstores- retailers
with at least 100,000 square feet of space with 10 percent
or more dedicated to selling groceries. The ordinance was
drafted after Wal-mart announced plans months ago to bring
40 megastores to LA. FSRN’s Aura Bogado reports from
KPFK in Los Angeles…
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Survival main issue for queer youth of color
Opponents of gay marriage rallied on Sunday to build support
for a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as
only being between a man and a woman. The demonstration on
the Boston Common, a short distance from the Massachusetts
Statehouse, heard Catholic Archbishop Sean P. O'Malley of
Boston say that gay marriage would have an ``enormously negative
impact on our society''. This follows the Massachusetts Supreme
Court ruling last week that only marriage, not civil union,
would satisfy its initial decision. The court gave the Legislature
a mid-May deadline to comply with its ruling. And while all
attention continues to focus on the issue of gay marriage,
a recent report issued in Washington, D.C. puts day-to-day
survival as the number one priority for youth of color who
are transgender, bisexual, lesbian, gay, or queer. Darby Hickey
of the D.C. Radio Coop reports on the issues that many in
the community say deserve as much attention as the battle
for marriage equality.
[top]
Sex Worker Union in Argentina
In Argentina, street prostitutes are fighting to become
the first Sex Worker's Union in Latin America, and one of
a handful in the world. The prostitutes’ demand for
equal labor rights, however, has sparked political opposition
led by the Catholic Church. And on the streets, they have
run up against the police, who extort the women for a cut
of their profits. Reed Lindsay reports from Buenos Aires.
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