This Week on GR

by C. L. Cook

This week: Steve Anderson is National Coordinator, OpenMedia.ca, and is a contributing author of 'Censored 2008' and 'Battleground: The Media.' He's written for Toronto Star, Epoch Times, Common Ground, Rabble.ca and Adbusters.

 

Listen. Hear.

 

A piece published by the online paper, The Tyee caught my eye recently. 'TV versus the Internet' exposes the undermining of the open Internet by Canada's monolithic telecom corporations, and reveals a government that is either unwilling, or unequal to the task of defending that openness in the interest of a free Canadian cyberscape. Steve Anderson in the first half.

 

Razan Zuayter is the president and founder of The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, or APN. Exiled from her native Palestine, she now coordinates an ambitious campaign to plant a million trees in Palestine to replace those destroyed and removed by Israeli settlers and their military supporters. Razan is currently on a cross-Canada tour to promote awareness of her and the APN's effort, and will be speaking tomorrow night in Victoria on making Palestine and adopted home, Jordan greener.

'One Woman, One Million Trees' is scheduled for this Tuesday night at 8pm at the BCGEU Auditorium at 2994 Douglas (near Finlayson). I spoke to Razan Zuayter yesterday from Montreal, where she addressed an international BDS, or Boycott, Divestment, & Sanctions conference there. Razan Zuayter and planting the seeds of a more verdant future in Palestine in the second half.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, 104.3 cable, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca.  He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://GorillaRadioBlog.blogspot.com
 

Before we can determine beyond assumptions if this Canada is in fact a free country, it's necessary to cast an eye to the elements inherent to freedom: Do Canadians enjoy the right to free speech without fear of repercussion? Do Canadians have the right to hear and read what governments and others would rather not be heard and seen? And, do Canadians have effective redress to remedy shortcomings perceived in either of the cited instances? While the disregard for the rule of law and primacy of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms demonstrated by all levels of government at the recent G20/G8 meetings in and near Toronto question seriously the first assumption of a free Canada, and the critical concentration of media ownership in this country challenges the second, the occasion of new media - the internet and the growing applications of non-tradtional means of communication, and the rapidly changing forms information is assuming - provides the perfect opportunity to test the final assumption of effective redress.

Steve Anderson is National Coordinator, OpenMedia.ca, and is a contributing author of 'Censored 2008' and 'Battleground: The Media.' He's written for Toronto Star, Epoch Times, Common Ground, Rabble.ca and Adbusters. A piece published by the online paper, The Tyee caught my eye recently. 'TV versus the Internet' exposes the undermining of the open Internet by Canada's monolithic telecom corporations, and reveals a government that is either unwilling, or unequal to the task of defending that openness in the interest of a free Canadian cyberscape. Steve Anderson in the first half.

And; Razan Zuayter is the president and founder of The Arab Group for the Protection of Nature, or APN. Exiled from her native Palestine, she now coordinates an ambitious campaign to plant a million trees in Palestine to replace those destroyed and removed by Israeli settlers and their military supporters. Razan is currently on a cross-Canada tour to promote awareness of her and the APN's effort, and will be speaking tomorrow night in Victoria on making Palestine and adopted home, Jordan greener.

 

Some past guests include: M. Junaid Alam, M. Shahid Alam, Joel Bakan, Maude Barlow, David Barsamian, Mark and Rhoda Berenson, William Blum, Luciana Bohne, William Bowles, Mordecai Briemberg, James J. Brittain, Vincent Bugliosi, Helen Caldicott, Noam Chomsky, Michel Chossudovsky, Diane Christian, Juan Cole, David Cromwell, Ezili Danto, Murray Dobbin, Jon Elmer, Yves Engler, Reese Erlich, Anthony Fenton, Jim Fetzer, Laura Flanders, Chris Floyd, Connie Fogal, Glen Ford, Susan George, Stan Goff, Amy Goodman, Robert Greenwald, Denis Halliday, Chris Hedges, Sander Hicks, Julia Butterfly Hill, Scott Horton, Robert Jensen, Dahr Jamail, Chalmers Johnson, Diana Johnstone, Malalai Joya, Kathy Kelly, Naomi Klein, Brewster Kneen, Betty Krawczyk, Anthony Lappe, Frances Moore Lappe, Jason Leopold, Jeff Leys, Dave Lindorff, Jim Lobe, Jennifer Loewenstein, Wayne Madsen, Stephen Marshall, Linda McQuaig, George Monbiot, Loretta Napoleoni, John Nichols, Kurt Nimmo, Ken O'Keefe, David Orchard, Riki Ott, Greg Palast, Mike Palecek, Michael Parenti, Robert Parry, John Pilger, Kevin Pina, William Rivers Pitt, Justin Podur, Lila Rajiva, Jack Random, Sheldon Rampton, Paul Craig Roberts, David Robb, Paul de Rooij, John Ross, David Rovics, Danny Schechter, David Schindler, Vandana Shiva, Norman Solomon, Starhawk, Grant Wakefield, Harvey Wasserman, Paul Watson, Bernard Weiner, Mickey Z., Howard Zinn and many others.