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Between the Lines
"Between the Lines" is a national, half-hour program that provides a platform for individuals and spokespersons from progressive organizations generally ignored or marginalized by the mainstream media.
U.S. Drone Strikes Breed Hatred; Serve as Recruitment Tool for America’s Enemies
Interview with Medea Benjamin, co-founder Code Pink and author of “Drone Warfare: Killing by Remote Control”, conducted by Scott Harris
In the days just before Barack Obama took the oath of office to begin his second term as president, the U.S. launched drone strikes in Yemen that reportedly killed 15 people. The administration’s escalation of America’s use of unmanned aerial vehicles in its targeted killing of suspected terrorists across the Middle East, South Asia and Africa is provoking increased opposition at home and abroad. During the inauguration ceremonies in Washington D.C., the group Code Pink Women for Peace protested against the U.S. drone program and called on the Senate to reject President Obama’s nomination of John Brennan to head the CIA. Brennan, who is currently deputy bational security advisor and assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, is the architect of Obama’s drone program and is referred to by some as the nation’s “assassination czar.” Story continues
Campaign Opposing Canadian Tar Sands Oil Comes to New England
RealAudio
MP3Interview with Dylan Voorhees, Clean Energy & Global Warming Project, director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine, conducted by Melinda Tuhus
On Jan. 26, hundreds of protesters are expected to converge in Portland, Maine, for what’s being billed as the largest tar sands protest in the Northeast. The impetus is what organizers say are plans to reverse the flow of an existing pipeline that currently takes oil from ships arriving in South Portland harbor and pump it to Montreal, Canada. Activists say the Canadian company Enbridge is now considering pumping tar sands oil from Alberta through Quebec, to Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Story continues
“State of the Dream 2013″ Report Finds Racial Wealth Divide Fueled by Housing Crash
Interview with Tim Sullivan, policy coordinator with UFE and co-author of his group’s report “State of the Dream 2013: A Long Way from Home”, conducted by Scott Harris
The celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and work this year coincided with President Obama’s second inauguration on Jan. 21. Because Obama is America’s first African-American president, King’s lifelong struggle for racial equality was prominently discussed in the coverage of the day’s events. But while not as much focused on by corporate media and mainstream politicians, King was also very much active in the fight against economic inequality. In fact, in his April 4, 1967 speech, “Why I oppose the War in Vietnam,” delivered exactly one year before his assassination, King discussed the urgent need to battle the “giant triplets of racism, militarism and economic exploitation.” Story continues
This week’s summary of under-reported news
Compiled by Bob Nixon
- French military intervention in the African nation of Mali to stop the advance of Al-Qaeda linked militants led to a new crisis, as Islamic militants in neighboring Algeria retaliated by seizing foreign hostages at a large natural gas facility. (“How the French got to airstrikes in Mali,” Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 15, 2013; “French and Malian troops confront Islamists in seized Mali village,” New York Times, Jan. 16, 2013; “Mali conflict: France has opened the gates of hell, say rebels,” The Guardian, Jan. 14, 2013; “Terror Threat prompts US rethink on Africa,” Wall Street Journal, Jan. 19, 2013)
- In the bustling city of Accra, the capital of Ghana, the five-star Movenpick Hotel opened in 2011 backed by money from Saudi Arabia. The hotel offers 260 luxury rooms, with thousands of square feet of high end retail stores. Among the investors in the Accra hotel complex was the World Bank’s private investment arm, the International Finance Corporation or IFC, whose mission is to provide affordable loans in the developing world. (“Can you fight poverty with a five-star hotel?” ProPublica, Jan. 14, 2013)
- According to the Christian Science Monitor, millions of low income Americans sit for weeks in local and county jails, because they cannot afford bail. (“Behind bars for lack of money,” Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 17, 2012; “Jailed without conviction,” Christian Science Monitor, Dec. 17, 2013)
