2009-11-19 Afghanistan, Honduras, Grad unions
November 19th, 2009 | by aobaoill |Covering both international affairs and labor issues on this week’s show, which brings us back from a long hiatus.
We start in Afghanistan, and discuss the likelihood (and impact) of an escalation in U.S. troop numbers. Bob points to a day of action next Monday, where Peace Action West and others are urging supporters to call the Whitehouse to oppose an escalation.
We then move to Honduras, and discuss recent State Department statements which have garnered praise from supporters of the coup, and corresponding criticism from figures such as Senator Kerry and Rep. Berman. In talking about the situation on the ground I pointed to Bill Taylor of the Primary Communications Project, who has been working with Radio Lenca, one of the few pro-Zelaya broadcast outlets still on the air in Honduras. We note that it seems difficult to believe that the conditions for a free and fair election exist in an environment which has seen assassinations of Zelaya supporters.
GEO members celebrate after their successful strike earlier this week (credit: Ben Seese)
Finally, we move back to Urbana, Illinois, and talk about the succcessful strike by the Graduate Employees’ Organization, defending the continued existence of tuition waivers for graduate employees – and by extension intervening to ensure the accessibility of graduate education.
The version uploaded this evening (Thursday) is a fairly rough version, as I want to get it up for broadcast on WRFU this evening. I have audio courtesy of Joe of I-Resist that I hope to use to supplement our studio-based conversation, but that’s going to have to wait for later this evening or tomorrow.