Show Details for Monday April 26th, 2010
Posted by themonitor on April 26, 2010
Tonight’s guests:
Roberto Rodriguez talks about the new immigration law passed in Arizona
Ethan McCord talks about his time in Iraq serving in the US military
Headlines:
- Chernobyl Radiation Killed Nearly One Million People: New Book
- Iraq Election Chaos as 52 Candidates are Disqualified
- WellPoint routinely targets breast cancer patients
- David Duke Debunks Tea Party Racism (it may be worth reading the exchange in the comments section)
- Two-thirds of Americans support stricter financial regulations and William K. Black on Fraud
- Stephen Hawking Warns Over Making Contact with Aliens
Guest Details:
Roberto Rodriguez
Roberto Rodriguez is an assistant professor in the MA&RS department at the University of Arizona. He is a longtime-award-winning journalist/columnist who returned to school in 2003 in pursuit of a Master’s degree (2005) and a Ph.D. in Mass Communications (Jan. 2008) at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Many of his awards have come about in the area of defense of the First Amendment and human rights. He returned as a result of a research interest that developed pursuant to his column writing concerning origins and migration stories of Indigenous peoples of the Americas. His current field of study is the examination of maize culture, migration, and the role of stories and oral traditions among Mexican and Central American peoples.
Quotes and Links:
“Arizona: This Is What Apartheid Looks Like. Those who think that there’s an immigration crisis in Arizona are correct, however, this is but part of the story. The truth is, a civilizational clash is being played out in the same state in which the state legislature questions the birthplace and legitimacy of President Barack Obama and where Sen. John McCain competes with Senate hopeful, J.D. Hayworth, to see who is the most anti-immigrant.
“It is also the same state that several years ago denied a holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. and that today permits virtually anyone — on the basis of trumped-up fear — to carry concealed weapons anywhere.” http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/04/26-5
Ethan McCord
Ethan McCord is a former soldiers of the company documented in the video recently released by Wikileaks (Bravo Company 2-16), which shows U.S. soldiers killing civilians including a Reuters photographer and then shooting at people in a van attempting to rescue the wounded. See: http://wikileaks.org
Quotes and Links
He co-wrote, with Josh Steiber “An Open Letter of Reconciliation and Responsibility to the Iraqi People,” which states: “We are both soldiers who occupied your neighborhood for 14 months. Ethan McCord pulled your daughter and son from the van, and when doing so, saw the faces of his own children back home. Josh Stieber was in the same company but was not there that day, though he contributed to your pain, and the pain of your community on many other occasions.
“There is no bringing back all that was lost. What we seek is to learn from our mistakes and do everything we can to tell others of our experiences and how the people of the United States need to realize we have done and are doing to you and the people of your country. We humbly ask you what we can do to begin to repair the damage we caused.” See the full letter: http://www.LetterToIraq.com
“Some may think it’s all trigger-happy rednecks, or that it’s an ‘army of one’ but the military is made up of a lot of different people. Some love the life, others like me thought we were in it for a greater cause — and we were wrong. We realized that our job often was to out-terrorize the terrorists. But you shouldn’t really blame the soldiers, look to how soldiers are used and trained. Our chants during basic training include things like ‘I went to the playground where the children play, pulled out my machine gun and I began to spray — HA shoot!, shoot!, shoot!, shoot to kill!!’”Stieber was interviewed on Arab Voices (a show Mark Bebawi co-hosts). You can listen to that show here
Local Event:
Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation
Houston Community College – Central Campus Learning Hub, Room 101
1300 Holman Street Houston, Texas 77002
Wednesday May 5, 2010
1:00PM-3:00PM
In recognition of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month the Center for the Healing of Racism is presenting a video screening and facilitated discussion of Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation. This documentary recounts the final days and events surrounding the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii by which the independent nation became America’s 50th state. Act of War explores colonialism and the conquest of a Pacific Island nation by western missionaries and capitalists. It examines the circumstances surrounding the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian sovereignty in 1893, Hawaii’s subsequent U.S. annexation, and its impact from a native Hawaiian perspective. This film is a chilling account of an episode of United States history that has been largely forgotten by most mainland Americans. Produced by the Center for Hawaiian Studies, Haunani-Kay Trask and Lilikala Kame’eleihiwa.
The screening is free and open to the public (donations welcomed)
Registration is required by calling the Center’s office @ 713-520-8226 and leaving your name and contact information.
