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Archive 4: 2011

Shows Available from Pirate Television

Pirate Television is a weekly 58 min Public Access Television program broadcast in Seattle Washington USA.  Pirate TV challenges the Media Blockade by bringing you alternative information and independent programming that is unavailable on the Corporate Sponsor-Ship.  The show features talks, interviews and documentaries.

Some of the material seen on Pirate TV is obtained from other sources but most of it is locally produced and owned by us.  We are offering to sell copies of this material to support the operation.  If you would like to support the Pirate Television project you can obtain a copy of any of these tapes for a $20 donation (includes postage) in advance.  To obtain videotapes or DVDs, contact us first by email:

PirateTVSeattle(at)gmail.com

We like to expand Pirate Television to other broadcast venues.  If you would like to get on the Pirate Television schedule notification list-serve, or if you have questions, drop us a line.

DVDs of most of the recent Pirate TV shows are available.

This is a list of the material that was produced by us and does not include all the fantastic documentaries and other materials that we have broadcast.  Most source tapes are archived and can be accessed by special request.  If you are interested in a complete list of the actual shows for purposes of broadcast on other television stations, please contact us.  This material is also available in audio form for broadcast on the radio. 

Former Wall-Street-insider-turned-journalist Nomi Prins last visited Town Hall in 2009 with her economic wake-up call, It Takes a Pillage. She returns with a similar theme, and a ‘novel’ approach: Black Tuesday, is a fictional tale set on the brink of the stock market crash of 1929 but has timeless themes—and scary parallels to today’s economic hardships. By capturing the swirl of New York City’s greed, power, romance, and desperation, Prins reveals a world of fraud, obsession, and economic devastation in a turbulent era that shines a revealing, and disturbing, light on today’s world. 

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books
Camera by Todd Boyle

Community discussion about the Occupy Movement and the City/police response. Panelists include Dorli Rainey, 84-year old activist recently pepper-sprayed by Seattle police, Rev. Rich Lang, Occupy Chaplain also recently pepper-sprayed by police, and Andrea Brenneke, a Seattle attorney specializing in civil rights. A representative from the Seattle Police Department was invited but declined citing "ongoing lawsuits".

From the private investigator who cracked open the case that led to the arrest of Warren Jeffs, the maniacal prophet of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), comes the horrifying story of how a rogue sect used sex, money, and power disguised under a facade of religion to further criminal activities and a madman's vision. Despite considerable press coverage and a lengthy trial, the full story has remained largely untold.

Only one man can reveal the whole, astounding truth: Sam Brower, the private investigator who devoted years of his life to breaking open the secret practices of the FLDS and bringing Warren Jeffs and his inner circle to justice. Brower implicates Jeffs in his own words, bringing to light the contents of Jeffs's personal priesthood journal, discovered in a hidden underground vault, and revealing to readers the shocking inside world of FLDS members, whose trust he earned and who showed him the staggering truth of their lives.

Sam Brower is author of Prophet’s Prey: My Seven Year Investigation into Warren Jeffs and the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints.

Ellen Brown

Highly germane to the discussions of today fomenting in forums like Occupy Wall Street and the Zeitgeist Movement, author Ellen Brown presents a thoughtful and well-researched explanation of the evolution of global monetary monopoly reaching back as far as the American populist movement comprising of farmers trapped by debt that was the real basis of the Wizard of Oz story.

Ellen Brown is the Author of "Web of Debt, the shocking truth about our money system and how we can break free." Rep Bob Hasegawa also speaks about ongoing efforts in the Washington State Legislature to establish a Public Partnership Bank. Right now Bank of America is Washington State's banker. Learn how keeping our money here in Washington will help create thousands of jobs in our state.

Video by Todd Boyle

"Nostalgia for the Future is something we all have. As Charles Dickens wrote in A Tale of Two Cities about the French Revolution, 'these are the best of times and the worst of times'."  In this week's show, Dr. Bezruchka gives a Health of the Union talk, on the need to rethink what we are doing today so that we have healthier lives in the future.

Dr. Stephen Bezruchka has practiced as an Emergency Room physician for the past 30 years and is recognized as a National figure on the state of health here in the United States. He has received the 2002 Outstanding Teacher Award and the 2008 Faculty Community Service Award in the School of Public Health.  He has appeared on Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman and Alternative Radio.  Dr. Bezruchka is OUR NATION’S HEALTH COACH.

Thanks to Involved Democracy

Cultural historian Morris Berman had to go to 13 publishers before he found one who would publish his latest book.  Most recognized that it was brilliant but wouldn't touch it because it was too hot to handle.  That's because Morris, the ultimate iconoclast dares to speak verboten truths that even most progressives and radicals have a hard time facing.

He says that while it may be true that the "doctrinal institutions" as Chomsky describes them may have a strong influence in propagandizing the public, it's not so much that the media is pulling the wool over people's eyes, the root of the problem is that "their eyes are the wool".  Join us for an uncomfortable trip into the American psyche.

Some of Morris Berman's latest books are: The Reenchantment of the World, A Question of Values, Dark Ages America, The Twilight of American Culture, and his newest, Why America Failed: The Roots of Imperial Decline. 

Thanks to Elliott Bay Books

Lawrence Lessig: Republic, Lost, Monday 10/31/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

More than ever, Americans believe money buys results in Congress. After entering public discourse as an advocate for reforms to copyright, trademark, and radio spectrum allocations (through his scholarship and founding roles at Creative Commons and Electronic Frontier Foundation), 2007 brought a shift in focus for Lawrence Lessig: political corruption. An advisory board member to congressional watchdog The Sunlight Foundation, Lessig says corruption is a divided America’s common enemy, and in his new book, Republic, Lost, he examines how we arrived at this crisis, and how the economy of influence defeats the will of the people—even as he offers strategies to correct our course.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall, and Elliott Bay Books

Katherine Davies and Thomas Linzey: Who Has the Right? Expanding the Rights of Individuals, Communities, and Nature as a Key Strategy for Sustainability, Monday 10/24/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

The second installment of the three-part series “On the Path to Sustainability: Fostering Healthy Built and Natural Environments” focuses on balancing the health of companies, communities, individuals, and the environment. Much effort has been placed on establishing and enforcing environmental laws that define “safe” levels of toxic chemicals or require environmental disclosures for new development but do not, in the end, promote a healthy and sustainable world.

Katherine Davies, Director of the Center for Creative Change at Antioch University, and Thomas Linzey, Executive Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, discuss whether we should rather consider establishing the rights of people to an unpolluted body, the right to a healthy environment, the rights of local governments to prevent corporations from operating polluting or damaging businesses in their communities, and the rights of nature.

See also: www.sustainablepath.org

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall

Thanks to Todd Boyle for videotaping

Biomimicry and Biophilic Design: Pathways to Connect People and Nature

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall

Susan Herman: The Erosion of Civil Liberties, Monday 10/10/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

A decade after 9/11, says ACLU president Susan Herman, it is far from clear that the government’s hastily adopted antiterrorist tactics such as the Patriot Act are keeping us safe, but it is increasingly clear that these measures have the potential to ravage our lives—and have already done that to countless Americans. Through unsettling stories of ordinary people caught in the government’s dragnet, Herman, author of Taking Liberties, examines the human and social costs of the War on Terror. 

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall Center and Elliott Bay Books

Frances Moore Lappé: Ecomind, Monday 10/3/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

Frances Moore Lappé, known for her phenomenally best-selling Diet for a Small Planet, argues that the biggest challenge to human survival isn’t our fossil-fuel dependency or melting glaciers – it’s faulty thinking. From global hunger to the environmental crisis, says Lappé, author of Ecomind, we have the resources to make a difference, but “thought traps” rob us of power and keep us from action. Lappé dismantles seven of these “thought traps”—from limiting growth to the failings of democracy—and offers contrasting “thought leaps” that reveal our hidden power.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books

Ilan Pappé & Mark Rosenblum: Palestine at the United Nations, Monday 9/26/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

Late Friday evening [9/23/11] the Obama Adm. announced the restart of the Middle East "peace process".  This was in response to the unilateral Palestinian push for a vote on statehood in the UN this week (defying US pressure) which would have put the US on the spot since they would have lost overwhelmingly and would have had to use their veto in the Security Council.  This temporarily puts the Palestinian application for statehood on hold while Israel, forced to come to the table, will most likely once again trash the process by setting impossible preconditions or by bringing a nonstarter proposal. 

However, this would not have happened without the Palestinians forcing the issue.  Unfortunately for the ruling power structures in Israel and the US, the dynamics of the situation are changing.  A recent poll conducted by Hebrew University found that 70% of Israelis believe that if the U.N. votes in favor of a Palestinian state, Israel should accept the decision.  Also, with increasing revulsion in world public opinion over Israeli militarism, the advent of the so called "Arab Spring" and the resulting fall of Arab dictatorships in the region, Israel is becoming more and more isolated.  This also diminishes the hand of the US, also losing credibility as an "independent" mediator.

Join us this week for an in depth discussion taped last Monday [9/19/11] that is a little bit different from normal corporate media fare.  That being the standard " debate" between the typical extreme right wing war monger and the middle of the road "liberal" dove.  Instead, we feature a discussion between two prominent Jewish scholars: one Mark Rosenblum the "far left" peace activist -that is, the farthest left you can get in main stream media in the US who advocates for peace through a two state solution and Ilan Pappé a more radical advocate of a one state solution who questions the foundational notion of a "Jewish State" and the notion that this could be a democracy in the first place.

This may be one you might want to watch online since the discussion goes on for another 45min after the two presentations and becomes increasingly interesting and deeper as it goes on.

The Speakers:

Ilan Pappé is considered one of Israel's “New Historians” who, “since the release of pertinent British and Israeli government documents in the early 1980s, have been rewriting the history of Israel's creation in 1948, and the corresponding expulsion or flight of 700,000 Palestinians in the same year.” (Wikipedia) Formerly a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Haifa (1984–2007), and currently a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter in the UK, Pappé is author of “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine,” “Gaza in Crisis: Reflections on Israel's War Against the Palestinians” (with Noam Chomsky), “Out of the Frame: The Struggle for Academic Freedom in Israel” and more.

Mark Rosenblum is an historian at Queens College, New York City, where he is director of the Center for Jewish Studies and the Center for Ethnic and Racial Tolerance as well as the Michael Harrington Center and head of its Middle East Project. He has combined academic research with direct involvement in Mid East conflict resolution since the 1980s. He has appeared as political analyst on radio and major TV shows, and has been quoted in leading news papers. A founder of Americans for Peace Now and the Israeli-Palestinian Youth Dialogue program, Rosenblum is currently completing two books, "Two Jerusalems, One Peace: Capitalizing On Reality," and "From the Oslo Back Channel to the Al Aksa Intifada: The Elusive Peace" as well as authoring numerous articles and academic publications.

Thanks to the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia’s Bishop’s Committee on Israel/Palestine, and Seattle Town Hall

Ha-Joon Chang: The Fantasy of Free-Market Thinking, Monday 9/19/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

Economist and author Ha-Joon Chang takes a humorous but serious look at the myths of capitalism and systematically deconstructs the sham of free-market ideology starting with myth # 1 -the very notion that there is such a thing as a free market.  It seems capitalism isn't what it's cracked up to be or should we say spun up to be?  Whatever.  You are definitely going to crack up when you hear this.  How we love to "chuckle in the graveyard".  The author of the bestseller Bad Samaritans talks about his latest: 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and the University Book Store

We Will Not Go Down Without a Fight, Monday 9/12/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

Pirate TV roving reporter Todd Boyle was at Bangor to record the recent Ground Zero Trident Missile protest on August 8th.

The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action has been active for over 30 years and blocks the gates to Navy Base Kitsap every January, May and August.  The last bunch of protesters went to court August 29th.  This week we present the August 2011 nonviolent action, the "missile toss" of a 50 foot long inflatable Trident missile across the highway symbolically blocking the access to the base in which 4 activists were arrested including retired nuclear submarine commander Tom Rogers.

Todd was also on hand to record Dennis Kucinich D-OH at Ground Zero Center August 7th where the Congressman called for abolition of nuclear weapons and stated his policy platform for demilitarization of US society and foreign policy.

Next is the State of the Soldier Address in Tacoma featuring life-altering stories of soldiers and ex military.  Ashley Joppa Hagemann told the story of the suicide of her active-duty husband who was facing his 8th deployment.  Ashley recently made news when she confronted former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.  Ashley introduced herself to Rumsfeld during a book signing by handing him a copy of her husband’s funeral program.

See Also: Democracy Now!: Army Ranger Widow Confronts Rumsfeld over His Lies that Convinced Her Husband to Join the Military

Christian Parenti: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence, Monday 8/29/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

They say that climate change will cause political and social turmoil in the future.  Guess what, we're already there and the third world is getting the worst of it.  You're just not hearing about it.  Investigative journalist, Nation contributing editor, prolific writer and author of Tropic of Chaos, Christian Parenti talks about climate destabilization and global security.

Thanks to the World Affairs Council

Erik Lawyer: The Story of Firefighters for 9-11 Truth, Monday 6/27/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

Seattle fireman and founder of Firefighters for 9-11 Truth, Erik Lawyer examines the cover-up and destruction of evidence that began immediately after the 9-11 World Trade Center event and compares it to real investigations conducted by the Seattle Fire Dept. demonstrating why the "official story" of what brought down the World Trade Center buildings was physically impossible.

Video by Landon Hendee

Blowing Our Way: Effects of Fukushima on Washington State , Monday 6/20/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

Since the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility convened this panel of nuclear experts to discus the implications of the Japan disaster for Washington State last month, the disaster has continued to escalate but you wouldn't know it if you get your information from corporate controlled media.  Read about the cover-up here.

David Barsamian: Beyond the Filter, Monday 6/13/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

The founder and host of the award-winning Alternative Radio program (now in it's 25th year) was in town last week talking about current events and the myriad of ways they are spun, distorted, and filtered through the Orwellian corporate controlled media system in the US which as he says "produces a tremendous amount of ignorance, disinformation, and propaganda".   -All the more reason why alternative media is vitally important and needs to be supported! 

Recently returned from a trip to South Asia, he is the author of numerous books of conversation—Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, Arundhati Roy, Howard Zinn, Eqbal Ahmad, and Tariq Ali are among those he's collaborated with.  Among the Seattle-area stations carrying Alternative Radio are listener-supported KUOW, KCMU, KEXP, and KSER.  See also  www.alternativeradio.org.

Thanks to Elliott Bay Bookstore

Norman Myers: Population Breakdown or Breakthrough?, Monday 6/6/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

Ask people about the world’s biggest problems, and they’ll likely cite climate change, pollution, and energy and water shortages—but probably not population.  Population has become the Great Unmentionable, even though growth is implicated, directly or indirectly, in virtually all our problems.  And with U.S. population rising faster than at any time since the baby-boom years of the mid-20th century, and three of four Americans believing our country is overcrowded, environmentalist and ecologist Norman Myers says it’s time to, in Joel E. Cohen’s words, “create a bigger pie, with fewer forks and better manners.” By permission of the Foundation for the Future as part of its Walter P. Kistler Lecture Series.

Amy Goodman: Greenfest 2011 Keynote, Monday 5/30/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

In this talk, one of the questions posed by the host of the country's most popular alternative daily news program is why we hear endlessly about the severe weather events on the corporate news but for some strange reason never even a hint that this may have something to do with climate change.  Of course, media savvy viewers of Pirate TV know the answer to that question but for those victims of boob-tube lobotomy out there, there may still be hope: Watch Pirate TV and Democracy Now, new evidence suggests brain cells can regenerate.

Thanks to Todd Boyle for taping this talk

Eric Alterman: Kabuki Democracy, Monday 5/23/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

The question arises: Is Eric Alterman radical enough to be on Pirate TV?  I feel I have to bring this up to protect my own credibility.  Because Eric Alterman is a stenographer for the party line in a few too many instances and a promoter of a few too many official myths for my taste and methinks many of you may feel the same.  For instance: The Nation columnist and author of "Why We're Liberals" says “The killing of Osama bin Laden was a just and necessary undertaking.”  I thought we were liberals because be believe in the rule of law?  Because we know that if Osama bin Laden, Bradley Manning, or anyone else targeted by the government doesn't have a right to a fair trial, neither do we.

For instance: towards the end of the Q&A included in the online version of this show, somebody asked him about US involvement in Afghanistan.  He started waxing on as wishy- washy "liberals" do I suppose, about how it was a tough call because the Taliban are some "nasty people" and "what will happen to the women?..." blah-di-dah.  So we are supposed to believe that he doesn't know that states don't go to war for moral reasons, that this was the very cover story for US intervention, that the people of Afghanistan (including women) would be far better off if the US empire didn't exist, that the US government has been supporting the right wing religious creeps all along because they fear secular nationalism above all else, that he never heard of Zbigniew Brzezinski's book: The Grand Chessboard ...?   I'm sorry, I'm not buying it.

However, I'm broadcasting this because what Alterman is saying in this talk is radical in the sense that it cuts right to the point.  Obama is not the problem.  He opens with the question: How it is that you can elect a liberal president with super majorities in both houses of congress and still not get what you voted for?  Sidestepping the debate on whether Obama is a liberal, it's all Kabuki Democracy, -elaborate theater.  He then proceeds to a historical break down on how real democracy and the possibility of progress has been systematically dismantled.  This is useful information indeed.

I had one of my spies ask him how we get out of it.  He was kind of stumped by this and mumbled something about getting the money out of politics.  But that would involve using the same broken political process wouldn't it?  Good luck.  If Eric is too meek to say it, I will.  Revolution is the only option that is left.  Does this mean we stop organizing, stop walking our precincts, stop sending money to Move to Amend?  We don't know what or when will be the spark that ignites the "American Spring".  We need to be ready when it happens.  -Ed

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books

Paul Gilding: The End of the World As We Know It, Monday 5/16/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

It’s time to stop worrying about climate change and start bracing for impact, says activist Paul Gilding: Global crisis is no longer avoidable. Gilding believes humanity entered a period of great economic and social transformation in 2008—the end of a world economy based on consumption and waste. Gilding, author of The Great Disruption, explores the challenges humanity faces over the next few decades (loss, suffering, and conflict as a kind of planetary overdraft is paid off) but says this time also will bring out compassion, innovation, resilience, and adaptability.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Bookstore

Antonia Juhasz: Black Tide. Monday 5/9/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

So we've just been soaked by a solid week of royal wedding followed by nonstop Obama gets Osama drama.  What's missing?  Could it be the ongoing extinction level event in Fukushima?  By corporate media standards, that most certainly doesn't compare in importance with a royal pageant -in some other country no less.

USA Corporate Media Rule of Thumb #1: The more important something is corresponds directly to the amount of coverage it doesn't get.  Don't worry, just keep shopping -and don't you dare bring that Geiger counter!

And what about all that oil dumped into the gulf by BP last year?  -The biggest oil spill ever.  It all somehow magically disappeared just like it did from your TV right?  We must assume that all those overpaid corporate execs who perpetrated this crime with their criminal neglect and outright contempt for law and safety are all being prosecuted and will spend the rest of their lives in the slammer, right?  And all those millions of hapless Americans whose health and livelihoods were permanently destroyed are all being compensated, right?  And the Gulf Coast is recovering just smashingly!  After all, if there were some petrocarbons in your shrimp, the government would let you know, wouldn't they?  Just like they are busily making sure it won't happen again.  And we are all going to live happily ever after just like Kate and Willie.  So you really don't need to watch this do you?

Policy-analyst Antonia Juhasz is the Director of the Energy Program at Global Exchange.  She is the author of The Tyranny of Oil: the World's Most Powerful Industry and What We Must Do To Stop It, and The Bush Agenda: Invading the World One Economy at a Time.  This talk is about what she learned researching her new book, Black Tide: the Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and Elliott Bay Books

Sanho Tree: Addicted to Failure. Monday 5/2/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

Just possibly the preeminent expert on drug policy in the United States is Institute for Policy Studies Fellow Sanho Tree, director of the Drug Policy Project.  In this talk, the prolific writer and former military historian takes the so called "war on drugs" apart piece by piece and exposes how in every possible way, the US drug war has the exact opposite effect than it's purported intention, which we are told is to stop drugs.  In fact, prohibition is the price support mechanism that makes the illegal drug economy possible and makes regulation impossible.

So, if the purpose of US drug prohibition was actually to protect public health by stopping drugs, you would think that they would have given it up and tried something else by now after spending a trillion [of our] dollars and creating the largest prison population in the world.  -All to absolutely no effect other than decimation of civil liberties here and abroad as well as catastrophic human and environmental damage.

Could it be that there are other agendas behind the "war on drugs" than what we are being told?  Join us for another enlightening engagement with television that makes you smarter.

For those who want to watch this online, I have posted the entire 1:45 min. event which includes a panel discussion and Q&A moderated by Brendan Kiley of The Stranger featuring Sunil Aggarwal, a Preliminary Medicine Resident at Virginia Mason Medical Center; Dominic Corva, who teaches and writes about contemporary drug war political economy in the Americas; and Alison Holcomb, Drug Policy Director at the ACLU of Washington. 

Presented by Witness for Peace Northwest

James Billmaier: The Electric-Vehicle Revolution. Monday 4/25/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

Just in time for Earth Day week, (well, close anyway) we hear good news from James Billmaier, founding partner of Charge Northwest and author of Jolt!.  According to Billmaier, the age of the internal combustion engine is all but over.  He says that unbeknownst to the average consumer, the auto manufacturers have long since seen the writing on the wall and are all retooling for EV (Electric Vehicle) production.  Nissan is ceasing internal combustion car production altogether.

EVs soon will dominate the personal auto market and create a consumer-driven “electriconomy”—and, just as with the Internet, Seattle (and its trend-setting “green” consumer behavior) likely will be a major player.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall

John Perkins: 2012 Prophesy: Radical Global Change. Monday 4/18/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm

After WWII, history’s first truly global empire emerged—mostly through economics, rather than the military. Now we find ourselves catapulted toward a future that appears catastrophic; however, in John Perkins’s view, this time also offers opportunities for systemic change toward a sustainable and just world. Perkins, the Bainbridge Island author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man and the newer Hoodwinked, challenges us to transform ourselves and the companies and policies that impact our lives.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall & University Book Store

Malalai Joya: US Out of Afghanistan Now! Monday 4/11/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm  

Thanks to pressure that reversed a State Dept. refusal to grant her a visa for a three-week speaking tour, Malalai Joya was able to come to the Pacific NW anyway.  The Boston Globe reported that the refusal to grant her a visa had prompted "nationwide protests”, including one in Harvard Square Wednesday night, and support for Joya from groups like the American Civil Liberties Union.

Joya is a vigorous opponent of U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan and advocates U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan . In February 2010, she said: "[My] country is occupied. Obama couldn't care less about peace. What has he done in one year? By sending more soldiers, he is only spreading the war and the massacres that have fallen on the Afghan people, especially women; they risk returning the Taliban to power. His policies are dangerous, worse than Bush's. It's all a waste of blood and money for nothing.  Even if I have often looked death in the face, what I'm most afraid of for my people is silence, the victory of power over justice. We must not be abandoned in this fight. Foreigners have had eight years to make of this country a paradise and they have made it a field of ruins."

This talk was recorded 4/5/11 at UW Tacoma.

Dan Imhoff: Why the Farm Bill matters and what we can do about it! Monday 4/4/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm  

Hear nationally renowned author, researcher, publisher and farmer Dan Imhoff speak about the 2012 Farm Bill. Dan Imhoff is the author of two important books: CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories and Food Fight: The Citizen’s Guide to a Food and Farm Bill

The Farm Bill is perhaps the single most significant land use legislation enacted in the United States, yet many citizens remain unaware of its power and scope. As debate and wrangling over the 2012 Farm Bill intensifies, Dan Imhoff offers a highly informative and engaging overview of the legislation that literally shapes our food system, our bodies, and our future.

Daniel Imhoff has appeared on hundreds of national and regional radio and television programs. He has testified before Congress and spoken at numerous conferences, corporate and government offices, and college campuses. Dan received a B.A. in International Relations from Allegheny College and an M.A. in International Affairs from the Maxwell School of Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

Thanks to the efforts of the Northwest Farm Bill Action Group and UW Department of Urban Planning and Design in the College of Built Environments
For more info, please email farmbill@seattleglobaljustice.org
Or call Ashley Rumble, Northwest Farm Bill Action Group: 530-545-1236

Camera by Todd Boyle

After Citizens United: What Now?, Monday 3/28/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm .

A Public Forum recorded 3/10 at Kane Hall. The program deals with the impact of the precedent-shattering Supreme Court decision on campaign finance, and how citizens can combat the ruling. The panel will include:

Craig Salins of Washington Public Campaigns; John Bonifaz and Jeff Clements of Free Speech for People; Steve Breaux of WashPIRG; Lynn Dodson, Washington State Labor Council; Rabbi Alan Cook; and Dorry Elias-Garcia of Minority Executive Directors Coalition of King County. The event was moderated by Enrique Cerna of KCTS-9.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Citizens United v. F.E.C. (January 2010) to allow unlimited spending by corporate entities to influence election results. In this ruling, the court treats corporations as if they are people with the right of free speech, including "political" speech (such as TV ads and mailers). 

So long as great wealth — mostly corporate — is allowed to dominate our airwaves, campaigns and lobbying, we are not likely to achieve self-government through the democracy promised at our nation's founding, including one-person, one-vote, and government "of, by, and for the people."

Our struggle to achieve fair elections through public financing of campaigns is nearly impossible so long as corporate power and great wealth can hijack our democracy.

The only durable reform to reclaim the voice of citizens is an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, to firmly establish in the Constitution that only natural persons — not corporate entities — are "persons" with the right of free speech; and that political spending by corporations may be restricted by law.

To achieve this fundamental reform in our federal constitution, we must embark on a sustained campaign to bring awareness to our friends, co-workers and communities. Let's show how every issue we care about is in jeopardy because lawmaking, budget priorities, and democracy itself are all skewed by special interest — and yet, we are not powerless if we educate and organize!


Read Why Amend the Constitution A one-page handout, summarizing these points.

Visit Free Speech For People and Move To Amend.org
Two emerging national networks

More

Camera by Todd Boyle

Daniel Tucker: Changing Our Food System, Monday 3/14/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm .

Seeking to fundamentally change the way the food system works, Daniel Tucker and Amy Franceschini have written Farm Together Now—part-travelogue, part-oral history, part-creative exploration of food politics. Throughout 2009 the authors visited twenty farms from coast to coast, talking to farmers about their engagement in sustainable food production, public policy, and community organizing efforts. Tucker is joined by Seattle artist and urban planner Sarah Kavage (Industrial Harvest), UW urban anthropologist and farmer Devon Pena (profiled in the book), and other food activists from the Seattle area.

Speakers:
+ Industrial Harvest - Sarah Kavage http://www.industrialharvest.com/
+ University of Washington/Acequia Institute - Devon Pena http://ejfood.blogspot.com/
+ Community Alliance for Global Justice - Heather Day (Director) http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/
+ Seattle Tilth Edward B. Hill (Farm Programs Manager) - http://seattletilth.org/
+ Alley Cat Acres - Kate Kurtz - http://www.alleycatacres.com/
+ Seattle City Council President Richard Conlin
Moderated by Onepot/30 Project's Michael Hebb http://www.onepot.org/

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall & Elliott Bay Book Company

Simon Johnson: Break Up the Megabanks, Monday 3/7/11 8-9pm PST, repeats Wednesday at 1pm .

Even after the ruinous financial crisis of 2008, says economist Simon Johnson, “too big to fail” megabanks continue to hold America and the global economy hostage, threatening yet another financial meltdown with their risk-taking and toxic “business as usual” practices. Johnson, a contributor to The Huffington Post and co-author of 13 Bankers (with James Kwak), argues that our best defense is a radical breakup and reconfiguration of megabanks so they become small enough to fail.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall
Video by Todd Boyle

Dennis Kucinich: The True Cost of War, Monday 2/28/11 8-9pm PST, repeats later in the week [see SCAN schedule].

Congressman and former presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich gave this talk last Monday [February 21st] to an overflow crowd at the Capitol Theater in Olympia.  Nationally recognized as a tireless and courageous voice for peace, Dennis spoke about the necessity and possibilities for ending the permanent war economy.

The event was sponsored by the Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) and the local Veterans for Peace (VfP) Rachel Corrie Chapter 109 and highlighted the “Bring Our Billion$ Home” campaign of the Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation. The “Bring Our Billion$ Home” campaign is informing and activating the public to urge Congress to reduce military spending and apply the savings to fund urgent human and environmental needs in the U.S. 

Congressman Kucinich has said: “Once we believe in the inevitability of war, war becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Once we are committed to war's instrumentality in pursuit of peace, we begin the Orwellian journey to the semantic netherworld where War IS Peace, where the momentum of war overwhelms hopes for peace. And once we wrap doctrines perpetuating war in the arms of justice, we can easily legitimate the wholesale slaughter of innocents... Our ability to rethink the terms of our existence, to explore the possibility of peace without war, may well determine whether we end war, or war ends us.”

Thanks to the FOR and VfP Chapter 109

Hatem Abudayyeh & Damon Shadid: FBI Raids and Grand Jury Subpoenas: Can it happen here?, Monday 2/21/11 8-9pm PST, repeats at noon Wed.

On Sept. 24, the FBI raided the homes of anti-war and international solidarity activists in Minneapolis & Chicago, then subpoenaed 14 people to appear before a Grand Jury investigating “material support of terrorism.” During the raids the FBI took computers, cell phones, documents and personal family items. In total, 14 activists were subpoenaed to appear before a Grand Jury. Since then 9 other activists have been subpoenaed, 6 of them Palestinian activists. This type of repression is a tool to silence dissent and to repress our movements for social justice. The 23 activists have refused to testify in this Grand Jury investigation.

Hear from Chicago activist Hatem Abudayyeh, whose home was raided Sept 24th, and who faces this Grand Jury investigation. Hatem is Executive Director of the Arab American Action Network, a community based organization that helps empower Arab Americans and Arab immigrants. The son of Palestinian immigrants who themselves were leaders in Chicago’s Arab community, Hatem was born in Chicago.

Seattle attorney Damon Shadid helps us get the facts on Grand Juries, and know our legal rights with the FBI: Can such raids happen here in Seattle? What steps should I take to protect myself and my community? Damon Shadid is the owner of The Shadid Law Firm. He is active in the community doing race and social justice work with the Middle Eastern Legal Association and the Mayor's Race and Social Justice Roundtable. 

These activists need our support. Contact Seattle United Against FBI Repression: www.stopfbi.net; seattlestopfbi@gmail.com; 206.898.3349 

Mark Hertsgaard: How to Survive Climate Change, Monday 2/14/11 8-9pm PST, repeats at noon Wed.

Independent radio and print journalist Mark Hertsgaard says that those under 25 should be pissed.  He calls them "generation hot" and they are the ones condemned to suffer the hottest climate since humans have walked the earth.

In this interview conducted by Grist Magazine Senior Editor, Lisa Hymas, Hertsgaard, author of Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth tells us what is in store and what we will need to do to survive.

Hertsgaard is a prolific writer of articles and has written several books including: The Eagle’s Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World; Earth Odyssey: Around the world in search of our environmental future; A Day in the Life: The Music and Artistry of the Beatles; On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency and; Nuclear, Inc.: The Men and Money Behind Nuclear Energy.

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall and University Bookstore

MP3 Audio

Helena Norberg-Hodge Reflections on 'The Economics of Happiness', Monday 2/7/11 8-9pm PST, repeats at noon Wed.

It's fitting that Helena Norberg-Hodge chose to premiere her film "The Economics of Happiness" in Seattle where the WTO came to die.  The film is both sobering and extraordinarily beautiful.  After the screening, we were asked take a couple minutes to think about the film.  I told her what I thought was that she just about nailed everything.  Helena told me it took her 5 years to do it.

If you haven't faced up to it yet, the consume 'till you drop economic model is over.   The age of oil, corporate globalization, and economic growth are going the way of the Dodo bird -one way or the other.  What we learn from this film is that maybe that's not so bad.

This program opens with 5 minutes of choice clips [Pirated] from the film and 50 or so minutes of discussion and Q&A with Director Helena Norberg-Hodge, David and Fran Korten, John de Graaf, and the unstoppable Rev. Jeffrey.

If you missed the premiere, you have another chance to see the movie this Friday [2/11/11] at the “Friday Night At The Meaningful Movies”.  Don't miss it!

Thanks to Seattle Town Hall

Stephanie Coontz: Revisiting ‘The Feminine Mystique’, Monday 1/31/11 8-9pm PST, repeats at noon Wed.

The right wing magazine Human Events still lists Betty Friedan's 1963 book The Feminine Mystique as one of the 10 most harmful books in history says Evergreen College professor Stephanie Coontz.  The book has been blamed for kicking off the feminist movement in the US.  Many women said the book transformed, even saved, their lives.  Stephanie Coontz, author of Marriage: A History, and now A Strange Stirring, examines the dawn of the 1960s through interviews with people who read The Feminine Mystique in 1963-64, illuminating how a generation of women came to realize that their dissatisfaction with domestic life didn’t reflect personal weakness but rather a social and political injustice. 

Thanks to the Elliott Bay Books and Seattle Town Hall

William Hartung: An Exposé of Lockheed Martin, Monday 1/24/11 8-9pm PST, repeats at noon Wed.

Just prior to this week's 50 year anniversary of President Dwight Eisenhower's famous Military Industrial Complex speech, William Hartung, Director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation gave this account of how our enslavement to the permanent war economy has progressed to a terrifying intensity that even Eisenhower would have been hard pressed to imagine. To drive home the point, Hartung focused in on the Lockheed Martin Corporation, America’s largest military contractor. Receiving more than $37 billion a year in government contracts, Lockheed has its tentacles in everything from Star Wars and phone-monitoring spy satellites, to procuring interrogators for Guantanamo and writing the constitution for Afghanistan. 

You may have caught him this week on Democracy Now! and other excellent alternative media outlets, but now you get the "full meal deal"- an hour with William Hartung, author of Prophets of War: Lockheed Martin and the Making of the Military-Industrial Complex. 

Thanks to the University Book Store and Seattle Town Hall
Camera by Landon Hendee 

Zoughbi Zoughbi: Resolving the Crisis in Palestine/Israel, Monday 1/17/11 8-9pm PST, repeats at noon Wed.

Zoughbi Zoughbi, talks about why he has hope for the future in the struggle for peace and justice in the Israel/Palestine.

Zoughbi is the Director of Wi'am, the Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center in Bethlehem.  “Wi’am” means “cordial relationships,” in Arabic.  Developing relationships, says Zoughbi is the essence of Wi’am’s mission, a grassroots organization working to promote peace by training people on both sides of the conflict in peaceful relationship-building, non-violent responses to injustice and conflict, and the promotion of human rights.

Thanks to the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility
Video by Todd Boyle, Audio Courtesy of Mike McCormick 

Ambassador Thomas Graham, Jr.: Nuclear Disarmament and the Future

Ambassador Graham's 27 year career [1970-1997] at the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA), where he served as a senior diplomat involved in the negotiation of every major international arms control and non-proliferation agreement makes him a historic figure. 

Graham led the U.S. government efforts to achieve the permanent extension of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. These government efforts entailed traveling to 40 countries in two years, to meet with reluctant leaders in non-nuclear weapons states. 

This week the Senate is scheduled to vote on a new START treaty with Russia.  Whether the Republicans will use this vital issue as a political football is yet to be seen, but because of the timely nature of the issue I'm posting this talk up as a Pirate TV web exclusive.

Thanks to the League of Women Voters

Tim Hanstad and Rich Lang, Monday 1/3/11 8-9pm PST, repeats at noon Wed.

Tim Hanstad, President and CEO of the Rural Development Institute gave this talk last month at the United Nations Association 65th annual UN Day banquet.  The talk focused on land reform as an essential element of 3rd world development in accomplishing the UN's Millennium Development Goals.

Rev. Rich Lang, pastor of Trinity United Methodist Church in Ballard talks about the "Revolution We Need" in this fiery talk delivered at the 31st annual Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility fundraising dinner November 13th, 2010.