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> Fri., Aug. 15, 2003
Pacifica's PeaceWatch
Today's Stories:
Northeast Blackout Proves Vulnerability of Technology, Need
for Renewable Energy
Iraqis Offer Americans Tips About Living Without Electricity
Webmaster Of Raisethefist.Com Sentenced To 1 Year In Prison
Wounded US Soldier, Sgt. Vanessa Turner Returns From Iraq
to Medical Nightmares
Medea Benjamin, founder of Iraq Occupation Watch Center, speaks
to Veterans for Peace
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page at Radio4All.net
here
From the Midwest to Manhattan, the largest blackout in U.S.
history left more than 4 million people powerless for a second
day Friday. Even when the lights flicked back on, they illuminated
a plethora of unsolved problems: the worst water crisis in
Ohio history, a state of emergency in Michigan, and a paralyzed
subway system in New York City.
Officials in various states warned that the whir of air
conditioners and the glow of televisions might not return
until the weekend, as the cause of the massive outage remained
a mystery.
The blackout washed across a huge slice of North America,
knocking out service in parts of eight states and Canada in
just nine seconds. President Bush, during a tour of a California
national park, said part of the problem was "an antiquated
system" to distribute electricity nationally.
In a major boost for the "road map" peace plan,
Israel has agreed to hand over an additional four West Bank
cities to Palestinian control, Palestinian and Israeli officials
said Friday. Israel also announced that it will permit Yasser
Arafat to travel to the Gaza Strip to visit the grave of his
sister Yousra, who died earlier this week and was buried in
Gaza City, Israel TV reported. It would be Arafat's first
time leaving his besieged compound in Ramalah in more than
a year and a half.
Embracing loved ones and gulping down whatever food they
could find, tens of thousands of hungry people on Friday broke
through front lines that divided Liberia's capital for 10
weeks of deadly siege. Guarded by U.S. Marines and West African
peacekeepers, the first aid ship docked. Singing gospel songs,
women surged over a bridge carpeted with bullet casings and
shrapnel after crowds overran razor-wire barricades in search
of rice, oil and other goods.
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Northeast Blackout Proves Vulnerability of Technology,
Need for Renewable Energy
From New York to Michigan, and spilling across the boarder
in Ottawa, some 4 million people remained without power for
a second day, today, in the largest blackout in US history.
The outage—whose causes are still unknown-- spread across
8 states in just 9 seconds and left New York commuters trapped
in subways, Toronto businesspeople trapped in office buildings
without functioning elevators and residents of Cleveland without
running water. People around the rest of the world looked
on in disbelief as citizens of the world’s greatest
industrial power woke up this morning with the lights still
out. But none of this came as much of a surprise to Lloyd
Dumas, professor of political economy at the University of
Texas at Dallas and author of Lethal Arrogance: Human Fallibility
and Dangerous Technologies. When we reached him earlier today,
he said the events seemed eerily familiar.
Tape: Lloyd Dumas, professor of political economy at the
University of Texas at Dallas and the author of Lethal Arrogance:
Human Fallibility and Dangerous Technologies; Ross Gelbspan,
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Heat is
On.
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Iraqis Offer Americans Tips About Living Without
Electricity
Among the people of the world to sympathize with Americans
and Canadians who are still without power are the residents
of Iraq, whose electricity is still sporadic, 100 days after
the US occupation of their country began. As they live in
120-degree heat without the luxury of fans or air conditioners,
they’ve developed advanced techniques to adapt. Some
said it was a poetic justice, of sorts, that Americans are
now suffering the same fate, albeit briefly. Speaking with
a reporter from the Associated Press, Iraqis offered this
list of the top 10 ways to cope without electricity
Tape: tips from Iraqis to Americans about living without
power, as collected by AP reporter Niko Price and performed
by the staff of Pacifica station WPFW, here in the nation’s
capital. Thanks to Anthony Sloan for production assistance
with that piece.
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Webmaster Of Raisethefist.Com Sentenced To 1 Year
In Prison
When the blackout first occurred, one of the early theories
was that a fast-spreading computer “worm,” a virus-like
program that has wrecked havoc on computer systems around
the world in recent weeks, caused it. Though that possibility
has since been ruled out by experts, the suggestion that it
might have been the case raised the issue that terrorism in
the 21st century may take more non-traditional forms, attacking
the economic and technological infrastructure that runs the
country.
But increasingly, in the world of cyberspace, computer enthusiasts,
those with the curiosity to find out how copyrighted computer
code works and people who simply want to use the Internet
as a source for free speech and free expression are being
branded “economic terrorists” and criminals. Take
the case of Sherman Austin, the 19-year-old webmaster of raisethefist.com,
who was recently sentenced to one year in Federal prison with
three years of probation. The Judge shocked the courtroom
when he went against the recommendation of the prosecution,
the FBI and the Justice Department who had only asked that
Austin be sentenced for only 4 months in a halfway house,
with three years of probation. Sonali Kolhatkar of Pacifica's
KPFK spoke with Sherman Austin and his mother Jennifer Martin
regarding his recent sentence.
Tape: Sherman Austin, webmaster of raisethefist.com and
Jennifer Martin, his mother, speaking with Sonali Kolhatkar
of Pacifica station KPFK in Los Angeles. For more info on
Austin’s case, or to make a contribution to his legal
effort, you can e-mail his mother at jmi4678@netscape.net.
Thanks to Fidel Rodriguez for production assistance with that
piece.
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Wounded US Soldier, Sgt. Vanessa Turner Returns From
Iraq to Medical Nightmares
Muslim Clerics from across Iraq criticized the U.S. occupation
of Iraq in Friday prayers as guerrillas hit-and-run attacks
fired two rocket-propelled grenades at a small military convoy
near the town of Balad. Two U.S. soldiers and three Iraqi
civilians were wounded.
Three months ago in the town of Balad, army sergeant Vanessa
Turner of Roxbury, Massachusetts was on duty with her unit.
Today Turner is back in the U.S. after collapsing in Iraq.
For her the war however is not over. Today, Sergeant Turner
fights another battle, this battle is with the Veteran's Administration
to receive treatment for the illness that struck her while
on active duty 70 miles north of Baghdad.
Peacewatch spoke with Turner's mother on Tuesday about the
ordeal the family went through when they received word that
Sergeant was close to imminent death. Turner joins Peacewatch
from her home in Massachusetts.
Tape: Army Sergeant Vanessa Turner, who was medically retired
after falling ill while fighting in Iraq. Upon discharge from
Walter Reed Medical Center Turner was returned home on July
9th, in need of immediate medical attention, but was told
by the VA that she would not be able to set up an appointment
before October 2003.
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Medea Benjamin, founder of Iraq Occupation Watch
Center, speaks to Veterans for Peace
The group Veterans for Peace held its national conference
in San Francisco last Saturday. Of particular concern to many
participants at this year’s gathering were the war and
occupation of Iraq and the situations of both Iraqis and American
soldiers fighting on the front lines. Among the presenters
was someone who’s not a veteran, but has spent a lot
of time in Iraq recently. Medea Benjamin is the co-founder
of the women’s peace group Code Pink and the San Francisco-based
human rights organization Global Exchange. She recently returned
from Iraq, where she helped set up the Iraq Occupation Watch
Center. Speaking to veterans last Saturday, she shared these
reflections on her experiences.
Tape: Medea Benjamin recently returned from Iraq, where
she helped set up the Iraq Occupation Watch Center. She spoke
in San Francisco last Saturday at the national conference
of Veterans for Peace. Thanks to Sarah Olson for production
assistance with that piece.
Credits
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