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, Dimitri Lascaris, Brad Wolf March 15, 2023

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded March 15th, 2023.

Last week, Canada’s Ministry of National Defence announced a “review of our Defence Policy”. Though only five years into the Liberals’ 20-year Defence Policy Update, or “(DPU”, DoD insists a new DPU is necessary if Canada is to, “be ready, resilient, and relevant to meet any threat in this changed global security environment”.

Dimitri Lascaris is a Montreal-based activist, journalist, and lawyer. He served as Justice Critic in the Shadow Cabinet of the Green Party of Canada and likewise for the Green Party of Quebec (PVQ). In 2020, Dimitri very nearly became leader of the Green Party of Canada, finishing second in a tightly-contested race with the now-departed Annamie Paul. Dimitri’s interviews for TRNN are at TheRealNews.com, and his articles appear at his website, DimitriLascaris.org.

This Saturday, March 18th, Dimitri will host ‘The Art of Peace: Seeing the World Through the Eyes of Our ‘Enemies’. The Special Webinar is his way of engaging with Canadians before embarking on a mission of peace to Russia next month.

Dimitri Lascaris in the first half.

And; there was a time, not so long ago, war profiteers where held to be exemplars of humanity’s basest instincts: Antitheses of Virtue, the very worst of the worst of Evil Doers, they were rightly and roundly despised. Now though, CEO’s of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon and Boeing and Northrop Grumman and General Dynamics and all their lesser factotums are welcome and well-treated in the halls of power and major media teevee studios alike.

Today, the profiteers need never fear official opprobrium, or being called to account for the bitter harvest of their dark seeds – at least not in the courts of the land. But there’s another weighing of justice at hand.

The Merchant of Death War Crimes Tribunal is coming – soon – and it promises to hold accountable the manufacturers of the weapons that kill combatants and non-combatants alike through the testimony of witnesses to the destruction wreaked and the crimes committed against Humanity with them.

Brad Wolf is co-founder of the Peace Action Network of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, an affiliate of Peace Action and a partner of World BEYOND War. He’s a lawyer, former prosecutor, professor, community college dean, and full-time activist for peace and justice.

His writings are published at The Progressive, Common Dreams, CounterPunch, Antiwar.com, Consortium News, and Dappled Things among others. He recently authored a book on former priest, Philip Berrigan’s collected writings, ‘A Ministry of Risk’. He’s also a key organizer with the Tribunal.

Brad Wolf and attaching the human costs to the Merchants of Death in the second half.

But first, Dimitri Lascaris and seeing the World and ourselves through the eyes of our “enemies”.

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) March 8th, 2023

Welcome to Gorilla Radio recorded March 8th, 2023.

March 20th marks the twentieth anniversary of America’s second invasion of Iraq. Despite the tens of millions of people across the globe coming into the streets to hold at bay the dogs of George Bush’s “generational war” Operation Iraqi Freedom’s “shock and awe” – called “blitzkrieg” in another era – was launched.

We all know what happened, and the failure of the People to stop the slaughter then and in Afghanistan in 2001 seemed to be the end of hope for the Peace Movement; but the flame for a World without War didn’t die, and has in fact recently been spotted flickering in the capitals of Europe, Canada, and even in Washington, D.C.

Ken Stone is an executive member of both the Syria Support Movement International and Hamilton Coalition to Stop the Wars.

Today, Ken Stone and the smouldering desire for peace.

Song: Work for Peace

Artist: Gil Scott-Heron

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/

Correction: The U.S. House APPROVED a resolution to MAINTAIN the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act (2019) by an “overwhelming” margin (414-2), and not DEFEAT a motion to LIFT sanctions as reported. See: https://scheerpost.com/2023/03/02/house-overwhelmingly-approves-resolution-to-maintain-syria-sanctions-after-earthquake/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Ken Stone, Dan Kovalik March 8, 2023

Welcome to Gorilla Radio recorded March 8th, 2023.

March 20th marks the twentieth anniversary of America’s second invasion of Iraq. Despite the tens of millions of people across the globe coming into the streets to hold at bay the dogs of George Bush’s “generational war” Operation Iraqi Freedom’s “shock and awe” – called “blitzkrieg” in another era – was launched.

We all know what happened, and the failure of the People to stop the slaughter then and in Afghanistan in 2001 seemed to be the end of hope for the Peace Movement; but the flame for a World without War didn’t die, and has in fact recently been spotted flickering in the capitals of Europe, Canada, and even in Washington, D.C.

Ken Stone is an executive member of both the Syria Support Movement International and Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War.

Ken Stone in the first half.

And; far from fulfilling its mandate to first be an agent opposing war in the World the United Nations’ repeated failures in that seminal mission are now manifest in its endeavoring the opposite, the promotion of economic sanctions and military intervention. At least the recently released ‘Group of Experts on Human Rights on Nicaragua’ report leaves little else to conclude.

Dan Kovalik is a lawyer, educator, labour, peace, and justice activist, democracy defender, journalist, author, and filmmaker. His book titles include: ‘Cancel This Book: The Progressive Case Against Cancel Culture,’ the “Plot to” series on American efforts to undermine the governments and economies of Iran, Venezuela, Russia, (and the World generally) and ‘No More War: How the West Violates International Law by Using ‘Humanitarian’ Intervention to Advance Economic and Strategic Interest.’

His latest is the recently released, ‘Nicaragua: A History of US Intervention & Resistance‘, which “explores the pernicious nature of US engagement with Nicaragua from the mid-19th century to the present in pursuit of control and domination rather than in defense of democracy“.

Dan Kovalik and the latest chapter in the hybrid war* against Nicaragua in the second half.

But first, Ken Stone and the smouldering desire for peace.

Song: Work for Peace

Artist: Gil Scott-Heron

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/

Correction: The U.S. House APPROVED a resolution to MAINTAIN the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act (2019) by an “overwhelming” margin (414-2), and not DEFEAT a motion to LIFT sanctions as reported. See: https://scheerpost.com/2023/03/02/house-overwhelmingly-approves-resolution-to-maintain-syria-sanctions-after-earthquake/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dimitri Lascaris, Dan Kovalik December 10th, 2022

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded December 10th, 2022.

As the war in Ukraine grinds on one casualty of the conflict rarely discussed is that on the environment, both in the war zone and beyond it. War and the preparation for war is one of the most ecologically costly of all human endeavours – not only because of the vast amounts of nature laid waste in the production of tanks and planes, and bombs and bullets, but also for the diversion of the time and talents of legions of scientists, engineers, and others which would be better occupied working on solutions to the precarious moment humanity finds itself in.

Dimitri Lascaris is a Montreal-based activist, journalist, and lawyer. He very nearly became leader of the Green Party of Canada, finishing second in a tightly-contested race with the now-departed Annamie Paul. Dimitri’s interviews for TRNN are at TheRealNews.com, and his articles appear at his website, DimitriLascaris.org, where I found his recent piece, ‘As Ukraine War Escalates, the Climate Movement Goes AWOL‘.

Dimitri Lascaris in the first half.

And; the nature of the conflict in Ukraine has been mischaracterized from the start. How and why we find ourselves at the precipice of perhaps the final war cannot be gleaned reading, watching, or listening to a western press which has, by turns, acted as propagandist and cheerleader for World War III. And, understanding that has never been more vital than it is now.

Dan Kovalik is a lawyer, educator, labour, peace, and justice activist, democracy defender, journalist, author, and filmmaker. His book titles include: ‘Cancel This Book: The Progressive Case Against Cancel Culture,’ the “Plot to” series on American efforts to undermine the governments and economies of Iran, Venezuela, Russia, and the World entirely. His latest is, ‘No More War: How the West Violates International Law by Using ‘Humanitarian’ Intervention to Advance Economic and Strategic Interest.’ Dan’s just back from a fact-finding mission to Russia and the Eastern Republics of Ukraine.

Dan Kovalik and life in World War time in the second half.

But first, Dimtri Lascaris and Canada’s Green movement, missing in action when needed most.

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, Dimitri Lascaris, Dave Lindorff May 14, 2022

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded May 14th, 2022

Niccolo Machiavelli, were he alive today, would likely beam with pride viewing the political progress of Justin Trudeau; recognizing at once the seed of his most famous work, The Prince bearing full fruit in the person of Canada’s current prime minister. Five centuries since his seminal work, Machiavelli’s name has added an “ism” and come to epitomize cold-hearted deceit, manipulation, and the zero-sum pursuit of ones goals irregardless of law, custom, or the plague of moral conscience.

Last week, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Kiev to meet up with post-Maidan Ukraine president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Trudeau’s entourage included his #2 deputy and finance minister, Chrystia Freeland, foreign affairs minister, Melanie Joly, and various security state apparatchiks. According to the Canadian state broadcaster, in pursuit of peace Trudeau said Canada would increase weapons supplies and funding aid to Ukraine, while expanding economic sanctions against “Russian individuals and entities…complicit in Putin’s war.” Of Canada’s complicity in fomenting the current crisis and its support of one side of the seven years-long civil war in Eastern Ukraine, Trudeau remained tactfully silent.

Dimitri Lascaris is a lawyer, journalist, advocate, activist, and former front-runner for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada. His articles are available across the internet and at his website, DimitriLascaris.org where he writes on the political vagaries of Canada’s twenty-third prime minister, and other matters of the moment.

Dimitri Lascaris in the first half.

And; the nuclear “option on the table” the Ukraine proxy war represents is slowly dawning on America’s polity following comments by Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov who recently said during an interview, while his country was “doing everything to prevent nucelar war…those risks are now considerable.” Incredibly though, reaction in some quarters of the US punditocracy has been to present nuclear war with Russia as both a surviveable and winnable strategy. But, is the ultimate threat of threats merely overblown?

Dave Lindorff is a publisher, Izzy Award-winning investigative journalist, author, and documentary producer whose in-production film tells the tale of Ted Hall, the American wunderkind who may well have saved Russia and the World from nuclear conflagration. Lindorff’s also the founder of the web news site, This Can’t Be Happening.net where his recent article, ‘Putin’s Threat to Use Nuclear Weapons Is Not New: The US Nuked Two Cities in World War II and Has Threatened to Use Them Often Since Then’ appears.

Dave Lindorff and addressing the nuclear chicken in the middle of the Ukraine crisis in the second half.

But first, Dimitri Lascaris and calculating the limits of Canada’s Liberal governors.

Chris Cook has hosted Gorilla Radio since 1999. Check out the GR blog at: https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.com

https://www.patreon.com/posts/67049807

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Ted Smith, Dimitri Lascaris February 20, 2022

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded February 12th and 20th, 2022

The Victoria Cannabis Buyers Club discovered last week the cost the province’s Community Safety Unit sees fitting for it to pay for the crime of providing British Columbians with medicines they cannot find elsewhere. Following raids led by the CSU in 2019 and 2020, the Buyers Club now faces fines approaching $6.5 million. It’s a price too far they say.

Ted Smith is a long-time justice activist and co-founder of the Victoria Cannabis Buyer’s Club, which for more than twenty-five years has provided cannabis-based products to people with terminal cancer and other incurable medical conditions. He says, though they were waiting for the CSU shoe to drop, the Club was still unprepared for the ridiculous amount announced. Nor were they ready for what followed: GoFundMe® disallowing their legal defense fund, and now webhost, Go-Daddy going and removing the club’s website – reportedly at the request of the CSU.

Ted Smith in the first half.

And; there’s a crisis in Canada. It’s not the one you’ve likely been watching on the news nightly, but a greater crisis of confidence in the institutional foundations not only in this country, but across the western world. From the French Gilets Jaunes and Spain’s Indignados, to the January 6th insurrectionists and Ottawa Freedom Convoyistas, there is an unmistakable whiff of tiki torch in the air. And, perhaps it’s the promise of pitchforks to come that has Neoliberal, globalized leaders like Emmanuel Macron and Pedro Sánchez, and Justin Trudeau stabbing at the panic button? In Trudeau’s case, the Canadian prime minister’s minority government Februrary 14th declared a “public order emergency” and in an unprecedented step enacted the federal “Emergencies Act”. This in response to a “fringe” group of truckers blocking streets in the nation’s capital.

Dimitri Lascaris is a lawyer, journalist and activist, and former front-runner for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada. He calls the Trudeau government move “draconian & anti-democratic legislations” that he says “should not even exist“.

Dimitri Lascaris on the Liberal government’s St. Valentine’s Day massacre of Canadians’ civil rights, and the necessity to support dissent, even when you don’t agree with the dissenters in the second half.

But first, Ted Smith and the perils of practicing compassionate care for the sick and dying in Canada’s “legal marijuana” environment.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio and serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

 

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Larry Hannant, Kim Goldberg December 16th, 2021

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded December 4th, 2021.

That an impression of immutability, properly mediated, can be used to serve the interests of the status quo was not lost on prime minister and noted “Iron Lady”, Margaret Thatcher. She famously wielded the slogan,”There is no alternative” – acronymized ‘TINA’ – to batter opponents of her withering economic austerity program in long ago Britain. Looking around at the political stasis afflicting Western democracy today, it may seem our path to economic and environmental disaster is too fixed, inevitable as the movement of the planets.

Similarly, according to my first guest, Alberta, Canada’s reputation as an unassailable sinecure of conservatism past, present, and future is less real than engineered, but unlike Thatcher’s variety the provenance of the prairie province’s TINA is more intriguing than the utterance of a deranged demagogue.

Larry Hannant is a writer, historian, educator, social justice advocate, activist, and author. His book titles include, the Robert S. Kenny Prize-winning book, ‘The Politics of Passion: Norman Bethune’s Writing and Art’, ‘The Infernal Machine: Investigating the Loyalty of Canada’s Citizens’, ‘All My Politics Are Poetry’, and the newly released, ‘Bucking Conservatism: Alternative Stories of Alberta in the 1960s and 1970s’.

Larry Hannant in the first half.

And; Kim Goldberg is a Nanaimo-based poet, journalist, and author. She’s written 8 books of poetry and nonfiction, including her most recent collection ‘DEVOLUTION: poems and fables of eco-pocalypse‘. She covered BC current affairs for Canadian Dimension Magazine for many years, most recently writing about the Fairy Creek blockade.

Kim Goldberg on Devolution, a poetic discourse on ecosystem and societal collapse in the second half.

But first, Larry Hannant and Bucking Conservatism, Alberta-style.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing 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, Yves Engler, Ken Stone September 30th, 2021

Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded September 25th and 26th, 2021

And welcome to a new Canada! The country’s 44th federal election results are in and the minority government of Justin Trudeau has been replaced by the new minority government of Justin Trudeau. Yes, the most expensive election in the country’s history can also boast the lowest voter participation, and arguably the least return of any election for any office held in history when measured on the dollar to interest ratio index. So is it even worth parsing a post mortem on this summer doldrums? “Yes!” says my first guest, who argues the results reveal much about what Canadians think of the federal parties’ foreign policy stances, and instructs on our future direction in World events.

Yves Engler is an independent, Montreal-based journalist and author. He’s written ten books on Canadian foreign policy, and his latest is‘Left, Right — Marching to the Beat of Imperial Canada’. His articles appear at a variety of sites across the internet, including CanadianDimension, foreignpolicy.ca, and at his site, YvesEngler.com where I found his recent piece, ‘How Foreign Policy Shaped Election Outcome‘.

Yves Engler in the first half.

And; in breaking news: Chinese political prisoner, Meng Wanzhou is free! That is, the political prisoner of Canada from China, and CFO of mega-corporation, Huawei now has leave to exit the country of her imprisonment, and in fact has left Vancouver, where she suffered house arrest for nearly three years.

Ken Stone is a long-time antiwar activist whose served as an executive member of both the Syria Solidarity Movement and Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War. Ken and the Hamilton Coalition have led the nation-wide FREE MENG WANZHOU campaign to restore both the prisoner Meng’s liberty and justice to Canada’s legal system.

Ken Stone and the release of Meng Wanzhou in the second half.

But first, Yves Engler and what we can glean from this latest exercise in Canadian democracy.

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, Dave Lindorff, Dimitri Lascaris July 1, 2021

Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s Home Edition, recorded June 26th, 2021

America’s Democratic Party may not be the “War Party”, but it certainly is NOT an agent of peace. The Biden war budget, or National Security Budget, was quietly announced late on Friday, May 28th fully four months into his administration. The war spending leaves Trump’s Republicans standing in the dust, setting new records for both peace and war time military largesse. But, even more worrying than the fantastical dollar amounts devoted to war and its preparation is where much of that money is earmarked to go – straight into Next Gen nukes development.

Dave Lindorff is a longtime, Izzy Award-winning journalist, author, and co-producer of the documentary film in-progress on Ted Hall, the American who may well have saved Russia and the World from nuclear conflagration. Dave’s also the founder of the web news site, This Can’t Be Happening.net, where his latest piece, ‘Building more atomic bomb triggers is the ‘pits’: Time to Stop Modernizing America’s Nukes and to Start Negotiating Peace‘ appears.

Dave Lindorff in the first half.

And; seven score and fourteen years or so ago our forebears brought forth an agreement with the Crown of England wherein the entity now often known as “Canada” came into being. Just what is the state of that state now, 154 years later?

Dimitri Lascaris is a Montreal-based activist lawyer/journalist, and past Green Party of Canada leadership contender. Dimitri fell just short of securing the Green’s top spot in last year’s leadership contest; ultimately taken by Annamie Paul.

Dimitri Lascaris and whither Canada 2021? in the second half

But first, Dave Lindorff and the Biden administration getting the new nuclear arms race running.

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, Dimitri Lascaris, M.V. Ramana January 21st, 2021

Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s Home Edition, recorded on the dates, January 18/19th, 2021.

And Happy Martin Luther King Day to all who admire the man murdered for opposing the military-industrial complex. Today, almost fifty-three years after that tragic event, Canada is intent on following full-heel America’s lead deeper into the Big Muddy of forever war and preparation for war. In the House of Commons, despite pleas for sanity from the commonality, all parties there agree on the course charted by militarists and empire builders. Nowhere is this sad fact more egregiously demonstrated than in the Canadian government’s determination to sink billions into a new generation of war ships that will, in part, conduct “freedom of navigation” exercises meant to “counter China’s growing influence in Asia.”

Dimitri Lascaris is a Montreal-based activist lawyer/journalist, past Real News Network correspondent, Green Party of Canada member, and very nearly its leader, falling just short of taking the job after eight ballots in last Fall’s leadership contest.

Dimitri Lascaris in the first half.

And; last November, Minister of Natural Resources Seamus O’Regan announced the federal government’s action plan for Small Modular Reactors. The ministers says in a time of climate change, he sees no way to “get to net zero-carbon emissions by 2050 without nuclear power.” While that’s a hotly debated opinion, no-one doubts the down-sides of atomic power: cost, pollution, and the dangers of reactor meltdowns as seen in Chernobyl and Fukushima.

Professor M. V. Ramana serves as the Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security. He is too Director of the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at UBC. His recent article, ‘Why the Liberals’ Nuclear Power Plan is a Pipe Dream‘ warns, “small” does not make Modular Reactors less nuclear.

M.V. Ramana and nipping Canada’s nuclear reactor renaissance in the bud in the second half.

But first, Dimitri Lascaris and halting Canada’s march into the mire of endless warfare.

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.ca/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dimitri Lascaris January 18th, 2021

Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s Home Edition, recorded on this date, January 18th, 2021.

And Happy Martin Luther King Day to all who admire the man murdered for opposing the military-industrial complex. Today, almost fifty-three years after that tragic event, Canada is intent on following full-heel America’s lead deeper into the Big Muddy of forever war and preparation for war.

In the House of Commons, despite pleas for sanity from the commonality, all parties there agree on the course charted by militarists and empire builders. Nowhere is this sad fact more egregiously demonstrated than in the Canadian government’s determination to sink billions into a new generation of war ships that will, in part, conduct “freedom of navigation” exercises meant to “counter China’s growing influence in Asia.”

Dimitri Lascaris is a Montreal-based activist lawyer/journalist, past Real News Network correspondent, Green Party of Canada member, and very nearly its leader, falling just short of taking the job after eight ballots in last Fall’s leadership contest.

Today, Dimitri Lascaris and Canada marching into the mire of endless warfare.

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.ca/

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Norm Farrell, Dimitri Lascaris October 22, 2020

Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s home edition, NOT broadcast live from CFUV Radio, but emanating live-to-tape on this date, October 16th, 2020.

While defending his government’s continuation of Site-C in last week’s leadership debate, Premier John Horgan claimed the megadam was a way to move B.C.’s “green clean energy” into the future.

But what are the ecological costs of this project; and just how green is hydro power generally? The North American Megadam Resistance Alliance says, “These megadams destroy rivers and forests and are a climate and social justice disaster.”

Norm Farrell is a writer and publisher of In-Sights.ca, a journal “covering Canadian public affairs with a focus on British Columbia…” [and] “...exploring political and economic issues.” Norm attended the NAMRA sponsored, ‘Canada’s Sinking Site C Megadam Webinar’ Wednesday.

Norm Farrell in the first half.

And; the recent Green Party of Canada leadership race was worthy of a Rocky picture, seeing a feisty outsider taking on seemingly insurmountable odds to challenge an establishment champion. And true to the billing it was an epic contest; the campaign’s eligibility opposed from the start, and when finally mounted, run against the backdrop of a global pandemic.

Lawyer, activist, and journalist, Dimitri Lascaris was our Rocky Balboa in this tilt, entering the ring promising to, “Defy the powerful. Confront injustice. [and] Unite progressives.

Dimitri Lascaris on fighting from the ropes for a Green future in the second half.

But first, Norm Farrell and the politics, impacts, and BIG money behind Site C.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dimitri Lascaris October 15, 2020

Welcome back to Gorilla Radio’s home edition, NOT broadcast live from CFUV Radio, but emanating live-to-tape on this date, October 15th, 2020.

The recent Green Party of Canada leadership race was worthy of a Rocky picture; seeing a feisty outsider taking on seemingly insurmountable odds to challenge an establishment champion.

And, true to the billing, it was an epic contest; the campaign’s eligibility opposed from the start, and when finally mounted, run against the backdrop of a global pandemic. And what a finale! a Hollywood-inspired, blockbusting eight round, toe to toe battle between the last two candidates standing.

Lawyer, activist, and journalist, Dimitri Lascaris was our Rocky Balboa in this tilt, entering the ring promising to, “Defy the powerful. Confront injustice. [and] Unite progressives.”

Today, Dimitri Lascaris on fighting from the ropes for a Green future.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Dimitri Lascaris, Yves Engler, Janine Bandcroft August 20th, 2020

Welcome back 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, August 11th, 2020.

The Old World Order is busted and Canada’s foreign policy is gonna need to adapt quick to a whole New Order of things. Or so Canada’s self-styled “national paper” the Globe and Mail informs. But what’s a middle nation to do? Caught between behemoths baring their teeth in a fight for what looks like the last piece of the pie, at whose feet shall we prostrate in waiting to snatch up first the best crumbs fallen from the planetary dinner table? It’s a stark choice in a darkening World, according to the Globe, who helpfully whittle down our options to a Manichean menu choice between China and our more familiar supper partner, America. But can we pick our own foreign policy plate, without starving in the choosing?

Dimitri Lascaris is a Montreal-based lawyer, journalist, Real News Network correspondent, and political activist. He’s also one of nine aspirants spending their Summer campaigning for the leadership of the Green Party of Canada. Dimitri is on the stump in BC again this week, as the October leadership convention looms ever nearer.

Dimitri Lascaris in the first half.

And; Bolivians reacted to news their September 6th general election is off by taking to the streets and declaring a General Strike. It’s a dangerous move considering interim caretaker president, Janine Anez has shown little hesitation, or contrition, loosing the military and police to lethal effect on perceived enemies of her nine-month old coup regime. But then Anez can afford to be unrepentant because no-one is holding her accountable.
Yves Engler is a Montréal-based activist, essayist, and author whose articles appear at Ricochet, The Palestine Chronicle, and at his site, YvesEngler.com among other places.

Yves Engler and ‘Canada’s Support for Bolivian Coup Deserves Closer Scrutiny’ in the second half.

And; CFUV broadcaster and host of Plant Powered Radio, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour to bring us up to speed with some of what’s good to do in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Dimitri Lascaris and finding finally a truly Canadian foreign policy.

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/