Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, John Helmer October 18, 2023

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded October 18, 2023

As the appalling situation in Palestine worsens, populations and countries around the World are demanding a stop to Israel’s grotesque violation of international human rights law. But where it counts, in the UN Security Council, there’s been no action since the bloody assault against Gaza’s captive population began. Yesterday, even Russia’s anodyne resolution to condemn the violence was vetoed by the council, with no other motions proposed.

John Helmer is a journalist and author who’s spent decades living in and reporting from Russia. Principle behind the web news site, Dances with Bears, Helmer has too been a professor of political science, sociology, and journalism, and served as advisor to governments at the highest levels.
Among his many book titles are: ‘Skripal in Prison,’ ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia,’ ‘The Jackals’ Wedding: American Power, Arab Revolt’, ‘The Lie That Shot Down MH-17’, and his latest, ‘SOVCOMPLOT: How Pirates Tried to Capture the Treasure of the Russian Seas, and Were Caught Out’.

John’s latest article at Dances with Bears is, ‘WHITE FLAG IN A BLACK HOLE — IS RUSSIAN NEUTRALITY A FORCE OR A TRADE?’

John Helmer and Russia’s curiously sanguine Israel position in the second half.

Song: As the Bombs Rain Down

Artist: David Rovics

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcasting since 1999. Check out the Archive at Gorilla-Radio.com, GRadio.Substack.com, and the GR blog at: https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Yves Engler, John Helmer October 18, 2023

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded October 18, 2023

Not content with just aiding and abetting the ruination of countries on the other side of the World, Canada has announced its intention of doing likewise in the western hemisphere’s most benighted nation, Haiti. In many ways, it’s really just more of the same for the Great White North, which has meddled in and actively undermined any and every prospect for independence and prosperity there.

The latest iteration of Canada’s determination to help Haiti was delivered by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Melanie Joly, who on top of sanctions already in place, and allocations of millions of dollars to the Haitian National Police, voiced her support for the United Nations decision to again intervene militarily in Haiti saying, “Canada has always been involved in issues related to Haiti. We will continue to be… We want to do more.” What “more” means may be revealed during this week’s Canada-CARICOM Summit, started in Ottawa this morning.

Yves Engler is an independent, Montreal-based journalist, activist, and author. He’s written twelve books on Canadian foreign policy, including ‘Canada in Haiti: Waging War on the Poor Majority’, co-authored with Anthony Fenton. Yves hosts the Canadian Foreign Policy Hour online every Monday at 6pm eastern time.

Yves Engler in the first half.

And; as the appalling situation in Palestine worsens, populations and countries around the World are demanding a stop to Israel’s grotesque violation of international human rights law. But where it counts, in the UN Security Council, there’s been no action since the bloody assault against Gaza’s captive population began. Yesterday, even Russia’s anodyne resolution to condemn the violence was vetoed by the council, with no other motions proposed.

John Helmer is a journalist and author who’s spent decades living in and reporting from Russia. Principle behind the web news site, Dances with Bears, Helmer has too been a professor of political science, sociology, and journalism, and served as advisor to governments at the highest levels.
Among his many book titles are: ‘Skripal in Prison,’ ‘The Man Who Knows Too Much About Russia,’ ‘The Jackals’ Wedding: American Power, Arab Revolt’, ‘The Lie That Shot Down MH-17’, and his latest, ‘SOVCOMPLOT: How Pirates Tried to Capture the Treasure of the Russian Seas, and Were Caught Out’. John’s latest article at Dances with Bears is, ‘WHITE FLAG IN A BLACK HOLE — IS RUSSIAN NEUTRALITY A FORCE OR A TRADE?’

John Helmer and Russia’s curiously sanguine Israel position in the second half.

But first, Yves Engler and are Canada’s Haiti aid policies paved with good intent?

Song: As the Bombs Rain Down

Artist: David Rovics

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcasting since 1999. Check out the Archive at Gorilla-Radio.com, GRadio.Substack.com, and the GR blog at: https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com/

 

 

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Ken Stone (extended) April 12th, 2023

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded April 12th, 2023.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister’s office announced “more support for Ukraine“. Goodhearted Canadians concerned about the well-being of that country and its citizens will be disappointed however to discover just what “support” in the parlance of Ottawa’s current rulers translates as. In bullet points, it means:

⦁ Tens of thousands of weapons
⦁ Millions of rounds of ammunition
⦁ And the unaccountable “dispersal” of more billions of Canadian dollars to the Kyiv regime

In simpler terms, the Liberal government is guaranteeing more war and more destruction in Ukraine for the months – and perhaps years – to come even as it wages a sanctions war against the only party that can stop the war; Russia. Some “support”!

Ken Stone is an executive member of both the Syria Support Movement International and Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War. Ken and the Coalition are pleased, they say, to participate this month in kicking off the Canadian tour of “Sanctions: A Wrecking Ball in a Global Economy.”

https://solidaritycenter.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=17

Today, Ken Stone and fighting Canada’s Sanction Warriors.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, broad/webcasting since 1999. Check out the Archive at Gorilla-Radio.com, GRadio.Substack.com, and the GR blog at: https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Selam Gebremeskel/Meron Dejene, Bill Johnston June 3, 2021

Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s Home Edition, recorded on the dates, May 31st and June 1st, 2021

Last November, the federal government of Ethiopia, in concert with the dictatorship of neighbouring Eritrea, launched a military invasion of Tigray. Since, millions have been displaced and millions more are in dire need of humanitarian assistance in what the Biden administration said last week is shaping up to become the greatest manufactured disaster since the Ethiopian famine of the 1980’s.

Last week, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Mark Lowcock told the UN Security Council, president Abiy’s troops and its allies have, as well as committing “mass rapes and murder“, “attacked, obstructed or delayed [deliveries of] life-saving assistance… and killed at least 8 aid workers since November“.

Selamawit Gebremeskel is an Ethiopian emigre who has lived in Canada for nearly thirty years. Selam, now a health care professional in Victoria, has relatives in Tigray caught up in a war the government there is waging against its civilians.

Selam Gebremeskel and Meron Dejene in the first half.

And; Day 295 of Direct Action against timber company Teal Jones’ clear-cutting of the Fairy Creek watershed was marked by more than 2,000 blockaders joining the nine months-long campaign in defiance of a BC court injunction and the massive presence of Canada’s paramilitary federal police, the RCMP. Despite scores of protesters arrested to date, or perhaps because of it, the size of the blockade has continued to grow. And the stakes are high. According to the Rainforest Flying Squad in the face of biodiversity and climate crises the logging of old growth forests must stop. It’s just as British Columbia’s own Old Growth Strategic Review Panel recommended last year, but the cutting continues.

Bill Johnston is a retired officer of the Canadian Foreign Services and active Green Party member. He and partner Jan have been traveling up island to participate directly in the blockade. They were up there Saturday, just two of the more than two thousand that showed up to slow up the clear-cuts.

Bill Johnston and the fight to save Fairy Creek in the second half.

But first, Selam Gebremeskel, Meron Dejene and Ethiopia’s engineered catastrophe in Tigray.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: https://cfuv.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Arnold August, Ross Crockford, Janine Bandcroft June 25, 2020

Welcome again to Gorilla Radio’s continuing efforts, NOT broadcast live from CFUV Radio in the basement of the Student Union Building at the University of Victoria, but emanating live-to-tape via Skype from our home-based … studios on this date, June 1st, 2020.

A World on fire; as our southern neighbour’s cities roil, the citizenry outraged again by the great gulf between the professed and practiced ethos of America, can Canadians afford smug superiority? There is too racism and injustice at the heart and in the mar

row of our society. The great difference is only one of scope and news coverage. Though Canada still enjoys a reputation as a good and fair country, the Trudeau government’s embrace of neo-liberal internationalism has both diminished the country’s independence and necessitated increasingly brutal domestic policies, especially where global capital is threatened by indigenous resistance.

Arnold August is a Canadian journalist, lecturer and author whose titles include: ‘Democracy in Cuba and the 1997–98 Elections’, ‘Cuba and Its Neighbours: Democracy in Motion’ and, ‘Cuba–U.S. Relations: Obama and Beyond’. His essays appear at websites in Latin America, Europe, North America and the Middle East, and at the Orinoco Tribune, where I found his recent article, ‘Trudeau in Pre-, Current and Post-Covid-19: Colonialism at Home, Imperialism Abroad – Need for Change’.

Arnold August in the first half.

And; while midwest Machiavelli, Rahm Emanuel is credited with saying, “you never want a serious crisis to go to waste” it’s a concept as old as politics; and a nonpartisan one too. Donald Trump’s political hero, (no, the other one) Winston Churchill also expressed the value of leveraging crises to do, as Emanuel helpfully reminds, “things that you think you could not do before.” Our Covid-19 moment is just such an opportunity, and not just for Chicago operators, or D.C. pols.

From every crevice it seems, snake-oil salesmen and politicians of all stripes are breaking cover to get things done while everyone is looking the other way. And even here in Victoria –

or near here anyway. The City of Langford has decided to ditch for the lockdown duration the encumbrance of public hearings, at least where it comes to trivialities like tax and spend, and development issues. That’s right. Due to social distancing concerns, council members are good for now with phoning in their proxies in the form of voice-tallied aye ayes for Mayor Young’s boundless building ambitions.

Ross Crockford is an award-winning journalist, editor, author, civic activist and co-founder of the watchdog website, JohnsonStreetBridge.org. He’s the recipient of a Western Magazine Award for business writing, the Jack Webster Award of Distinction for investigative reporting, and is a National Magazine Awardee for sports writing. Ross’ book, ‘Victoria: The Unknown City’ is THE alt. guidebook to both the seemly and less so sides of town both past and present, and he is too a regular contributor to Victoria’s finest publication, Focus Magazine where his latest article, ‘Is public input on developments a potential casualty of COVID-19?’ appears.

Ross Crockford and local democracy as Coronavirus victim in the second half.

And; long-time Gorilla Radio contributor and ‘Green Vegan Grandma’ YouTuber, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events Bulletin of some of the good things to be gotten up to in and around Victoria in the coming week. But first, Arnold August and observing Canada under Covid: A Flagrant Fusion of Colonialism and Imperialism.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Yves Engler, Patricio Zamorano, Janine Bandcroft June 11th, 2020

Welcome back to GR, where we are NOT reporting live from the CFUV studios in the basement of the Student Union Building at the University of Victoria, but instead are recording live to tape via Skype on this day, May 21st, 2020.

Canada’s prime minister has little to show for his time in office. Over six years, the Liberal party, that began it’s mandate with such sunny prospects, has both failed to fulfill its soaring rhetoric, and revealed itself as little more than a pale reflection of its opposition in the Parliament. Through everything though, Justin Trudeau has kept a vigilant eye on his personal legacy, and for him that glory lay on a larger stage than his parochial, peripheral Canadian homeland. No, Justin’s destiny is global, and the first step in that direction is conquering the World, in the body of the United Nations Security Council. But, Justin has a small problem. The people unhappy with the country’s human rights and foreign policy record are using Canada’s shameless lobbying and self-promotion to get on the council as opportunity to highlight all the reasons it should be considered unfit for the job.

Yves Engler is a Montréal-based activist, essayist, and author whose articles appear at The Palestine Chronicle, Pacific Free Press, and at his site, YvesEngler.ca among other places. Yves is also a key organizer with Disruption Network Canada, which has mobilized activists to challenge politicians through peaceful, direct action.The latest of Engler’s eleven books, ‘HOU$E of MIRRORS: Justin Trudeau’s Foreign Policy‘ questions the Liberals’ progressive pretense, while challenging the persistent national delusion that Canadians are “a benevolent force in the world” despite ample evidence to the contrary. Yves is also signatory to ForeignPolicy.ca’s international petition calling for refusal of Canada’s petition to join the UNSC.

Yves Engler in the first half.

And; In the wee hours of May 3rd, a flotilla of lightly armed commandos raced across the Caribbean, headed for landings carefully chosen as beachheads for the invasion and liberation of Venezuela. Their mission though immediately foundered, with eight men being killed outright, and most of the rest captured immediately by local authorities aided by local citizens.

Patricio Zamorano is an academic, political scientist, journalist and television and radio commentator on U.S. foreign and domestic policy.He’s co-Director and Senior Editor at COHA, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs, where I found his recent article, ‘Guaidó and the Failed Military Operation against Venezuela: A Story of Betrayal and Financial Corruption.'”

Patricio Zamorano and the men who would be behind Juan Guaido’s throne in the second half.

And; long-time Gorilla Radio contributor, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with this week’s Left Coast Events Bulletin of some of the good things – both real and virtual – to ge gotten up to in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Yves Engler and counting the reasons Canada’s ambition at the UN should be thwarted.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Thursday between 11-Noon Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/