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> Fri., Feb. 4, 2005
FSRN
FREE SPEECH RADIO NEWS
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Today's lead stories:
Congress Limiting Class Action Suits
Accusations of Iraqi Voter Fraud
Foreign Aid To Colombia's Armed Conflict
Rocky Flats Contamination
Mumia Commentary on Alberto Gonzales
Ossie Davis dies at 87
FSRN Headlines
NYS Court Rules on Same-Sex Marriage
A New York State court ruled this morning that same-sex couples
have a constitutional right to marry under state law. Justice
Doris Ling-Cohan wrote, “Plaintiffs may now seek…a
civil union.” But, she stayed the ruling for 30-days
in case of an appeal.
Halliburton Subsidiary Gets a Pass on Bad Billing
Houston-based Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root
will get to keep the full payment amounts for its work in
Iraq, even though Pentagon auditors are disputing the bills.
From KPFT in Houston, Renee Feltz reports.
Colorado BOR Meeting Comes to Blows Over Professor
Activists and academics went head to head at a Colorado Board
of Regents meeting concerning the future of a professor who
is defending comments he made linking U.S. foreign policy
to the fall of the World Trade Center buildings. Ty Cronkhite
has more from KGNU in Boulder.
Palestinians and Israelis Still Talking, No Results
Palestinian leaders and Israeli officials are pushing ahead
with negotiations over objections from factions on all sides.
Awad Duaibes reports from Ramallah.
Death Row Inmates on Hunger Strike
5 death row inmates in Connecticut are on a hunger strike
to call for more humane treatment. Melinda Tuhus reports from
New Haven.
EPA Follows Bush, Ignores Science
Environmental Protection Agency officials rejected scientific
evidence when the EPA created new rules on power plant emissions
that support energy companies under Bush administration instructions.
Brian Zinn reports from D.C.
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CONGRESS LIMITING CLASS ACTION SUITS -
3:27
Congress is close to passing legislation to limit class
action lawsuits, which are often times filed against large
corporations. Its part of the GOP agenda for tort reform which
also includes immunizing companies from lawsuits for asbestos
contamination and limiting medical malpractice rewards. Mitch
Jeserich reports from Capitol Hill.
[top]
ACCUSATIONS OF IRAQI VOTER FRAUD - 3:15
Us Marines General Mike Hagee has issued a statement that
he has "counseled" Lt. General James N Mattis, after
Mattis made a statement this week in San Diego that "It's
fun to shoot some people," referring to shooting men
in Afghanistan. Hagee also excused Mattis' remarks, saying
that they reflect the reality of war, and stated that he was
confident Mattis would continue to serve. Meanwhile, Bush
Administration officials are now comparing allegations of
fraud in Iraq's election to the 2000 Presidential election
in the US. Speaking to reporters in Turkey, US Undersecretary
of State Douglas Feith refused to comment on allegations of
massive voter fraud in Iraq's Northern oil city of Kirkuk.
"These problems happen also in countries with rooted
democratic traditions," he told the reporters adding,
quote: "We were deeply embarrassed by the elections in
Florida." And, in Northern Iraq, Arabs and ethnic Turks
are refusing to recognize the election results, as Aaron Glantz
reports from Kirkuk.
[top]
FOREIGN AID TO COLOMBIA'S ARMED CONFLICT
- 2:16
Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe had recently demanded
the arrest of an insurgent living in Venezuela, causing a
diplomatic rift between the two countries. Today, for the
second time in two days, Uribe cancelled the meeting with
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez due to an apparent illness.
In Colombia's Caribbean town of Cartagena yesterday, 24 nations
converged to determine their foreign aid commitments to assist
Colombia in grappling with its 40-year armed conflict. Uribe
appealed to potential foreign aid donors to support the demobilization
process of the far-right paramilitaries. To date, the Bush
administration has supported the flawed demobilization process
already underway, however yesterday, US lawmakers made it
clear that the US would not give aid to the paramilitary peace
process until Colombia adopts a legislation strong enough
to punish illegal groups. From Bogotá, Nicole Karsin
has more.
[top]
ROCKY FLATS CONTAMINATION - 4:08
Work crews in Colorado yesterday started cleaning up more
than 25 million gallons of radioactive pond water discovered
near the Rocky Flats nuclear plant in November. Managers say
they not sure how the ponds became contaminated, but suspect
a nearby Building that was so radioactive that probes could
not measure the contamination levels. In 1989, a Colorado
Grand Jury investigated environmental crimes committed at
Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Plant by the Department of Energy
and its contractor, Rockwell International. According to The
Rocky Flats Citizens Investigation Team, Grand Jury members
discovered enough evidence of plutonium, radioactive and toxic
contamination to hand down several criminal indictments. But
the findings and the indictments were sealed from the public.
The Rocky Flats Citizen's Investigation Team says that unless
some of the Grand Jury documents are unsealed, the rehabilitated
site will never be anything but a plutonium playground. Leslie
Clark reports.
[top]
MUMIA COMMENTARY ON ALBERTO GONZALES - 3:29
The US Senate last night confirmed Alberto Gonzales in a
60-to-36 person vote as US Attorney General-- the first Latino
in history to hold the office. On the heels of Gonzales' confirmation
and the hearings that challenged his memo approving the use
of torture under some conditions, journalist-commentator Mumia
Abu Jamal recalls the strengthening of the Geneva Conventions
against torture after Nazi atrocities came to light in the
early 20th century. And asks... how will the credo "Never
Again" fare under the newly confirmed Attorney General.
[top]
OSSIE DAVIS DIES AT 87 - 1:49
Ossie Davis, who broke new ground for African American actors
on stage and screen and championed civil rights, has died.
He was 87. Davis' film credits include Do the Right Thing
and Roots: The Next Generation. Davis also delivered eulogies
at the funerals of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom X. We
air an excerpt of a speech from Central Park made after King
was shot.
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