AW@L Radio - Smash the State Report: May 3, 2013

From the May 3rd 2013 edition of AW@L Radio - Test Their Logik's  new album Be is about to drop, and AW@L radio is releasing a few more tracks this show.  To start we have Reap What You Sow, which leads us into Dan's letter to CN Rail asking them to not spray poisons on the train tracks which they operate.  Each year CN sprays pesticides which kill plants and animals well beyond the footprint of the tracks, often in ecologically sensitive areas, and residential zones.  CN and CP rail's continued use of toxic poisons shows their uncaring nature when it comes to communities and the environment. an example of this being: - instead of being a community corridor, every year for 2-3 weeks, the Spur Line trail in KW (@SpurLineKW) becomes a toxic no-go zone (for animals that can read or are attached to animals that can read).  To read the actual entire letter, see the bottom of this post*.

We move to an important update on the strike at porter airlines, where after losing a court injunction which would have banned leafleting in the park near the entrance to porter, the company has now sued the union representing the striking refuelling workers for 4 million dollars.  COPE represents 22 porter employees who are asking for their wages to be raised to meet the minimum yearly cost of living.  It has been noted that this SLAPP lawsuit is a move by porter to silence other critics of the airline, as the company moves to expand service on toronto's island airport.

Following up on the same theme from story we covered a few years ago on AW@L radio - which looked at the documentary "how to rob a bank", we note here a brave man in spain who too out over 637 000$ which he then used to fund various anticapitalist projects.  With bankers and their police after him, Enrique skipped out on court and continues his anti-capitalist organising!!

Now a big story from icij.org - a leak of 2.5 million files from the global offshore banking cartels which point to thousands of hidden bank accounts belonging to businesses, politicians and their spouses, and other mobsters, from most G20 countries.  Many canadian corps and capitalists are wrapped up in this secret world which seems to exist because the rich have decided not to pay what they owe.

We jump to Test Their Logik's The War on Us, then read up on a piece by Clay Nikiforuk called 5 Important Points for Sexual Assault Awareness month which talks about ending victim blaming, stopping the use of "rape scripts", shifting responsibility to perpetrators of assault, and that the lack of consent is assault. The author of this effort to help #endRapeCulture is also writing a book which explores and critiques the sociology of sexual assault - help her fund the publication here.

Staying with this shitty rape culture we live in, christie blatchford uses her ignorant victim blaming, rape culture promoting voice to weigh in on the rape and suicide of 17 year old Reteah Parsons. We note a piece of #blatchBack from Reteah Parsons' dad.

Following up with a piece from a few months ago, we now have word that Ethan Jackson, one person involved in thedisruption of anti-womyn MP stephen woodworth's presentation at the university of Waterloo, has been banned from all UW property.  The 4th year WLU student was planning on taking classes at UW next semester as part of an inter-university program sharing project.  There is a petition for Ethan.  We also have word that a UW student has been expelled from the school for her participation in the action which shut down woodworth from spreading more of his anti-abortion rhetoric.  AW@L radio will try to follow up on this as we can.

We go to The Light by Test Their Logik then note the release of the audio form the Prisoners Health Panel at the EveryBody Conference.  the panel was recorded by earful of queer and broken down into 4 files. 

Next up is a reading of Tim Groves' piece Spies that Share which looks into the revelations that CSIS is sharing intelligence information with private corporations, despite no law giving them the clearance to do so.  Rabble.ca recently asked the question Why is Omar Khadr Still In Jail, which notes that the free Omar Kadhr committee has followed the child soldier's mistreatment from officials from Guantanamo to Millhaven and note that Omar was convicted of charges that were not even crimes when he allegedly committed them.  We then quickly ask about the Root Causes of terrorism as we hear 11 afghani children were killed in a NATO airstrike.

Moving from the resistance to the ongoing torture of humans, to the resistance to the ongoing torture of the earth, we highlight a few recent lockdowns in the southern states as part of a campaign to stop the construction and expansion of tar sands pipelines through america.  See tarsandsblockade.org  for more info on the growing continent wide movement to shut down the tar sands and disrupt the flow in the pipelines.

Staying with the fight against hydrocarbons – Mora county new mexico has banned all fracking and hydrocarbon extraction in the area, putting community rights above corporate rights. The idea of a local bill of rights, or really, any increase in local autonomy, is spreading across the turtle island as communities are resisting programs which may negatively impact environmental health and safety.

And with a big smile, we announce a WIN for the Bees, as the EU has banned neonicotinoid pesticides.  Thought to be a cause of colony collape, the battle to ban neonicotinoid pesticides was long fought, and those of us in Canada can take this ammunition in our fight for the bees!  With that in mind, we go to Test Their Logik’s Bee Healthy featuring, KW’s Janice Lee.

We close the show off with two points, the first is the (late) announcement of the creation of the Non-Violent School of Direct Action in KW.  The group will be facilitating workshops, discussions and other interactions to build up the peaceculture in KW.  And finally, Dan gets back to ranting about CN rail’s use of toxic pesticides on the rail lines they operate, and the failure of the city of Kitchener, the region of Waterloo, and the city of Waterloo to block rail companies from poisoning the land and water and putting residents at risk of both short and long term negative health effects from exposure to these pesticides.

*dan's letter to CN rail

hi CN, i live near the SpurLine in kitchener and have watched year after year as you spray poisons along the train tracks only metres away from my back door, poisons that kill not only the intended vegetation, but also impact many animals that use the corridor in their lives. last year for instance, an entire family of geese died the day after spraying the tracks.

additionally, the transition of the land beside the tracks into a municipal trail is bringing increased foot and bike traffic to the trail. workers, children, poor people, students, politicians and others use the trail each day to get around town in an environmentally friendly way, that is safe from vehicle traffic. the yearly spraying of poisons has a negative effect on every user of the trail, and a cumulative impact on the safety of the land and water immediately around the spraying.

i request that CN does not spray poisons along the spur line where it goes through the residential areas of Kitchener and the uptown, park, or university areas in Waterloo. instead of spraying poisons, the 3 or 4 km of track could be hand picked once or twice a year, and CN could show actual commitment to community healthy and environmental safety. thank you for your time,

dan kellar

Remember to check out the Daily GRRR! for critical #cndPoli every weekday morning from 9-10am on http://grandrivermc.ca 

The Smash the State the Report is a segment on the weekly 2 hour AW@L radio (16:00-18:00est) on CKMS 100.3FM CKMS * Community * Co-op * Campus * Radio - Waterloo - http://soundfm.ca