Pablo Ouziel – Gorilla Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Pablo Ouziel, David Rovics, Janine Bandcroft Nov. 16, 2017

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More than six weeks have passed since the president of Catalonia defied the federal government, holding an independence referendum. The reaction by Spain’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy was swift and definitive; declaring the upstart region’s government null and void and Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, (along with several of his party’s key ministers) criminals; and by decree rendering the independence movement itself effectively illegal.

Today, Puigdemont is in exile, out on bail in Brussels after being arrested on an EU warrant, and prime minister Rajoy has scheduled elections for a replacement government in Catalan for December 21st, Señor Puigdemont’s participation being expressly unwelcome.

Dr. Pablo Ouziel is a Post-Doctoral fellow at UVic whose project in progress is, ‘Towards Democratic Responses to the Crisis of Democracy in Spain: Forms of Participatory and Representative Civic Engagement.’

Pablo Ouziel in the first half.

And; next week Victoria will host inveterate American activist and singer/songwriter in the tradition of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, David Rovics to town. It will be the first time I get a chance to talk to David since he dramatically dropped out of the US presidential race in 2015. We can now just wonder, if only he had stayed in the running, “What might have been?”

David Rovics bringing a world of politics and music to Victoria’s doorstep in the second half.

And; Victoria-based activist and CFUV Radio broadcaster at-large, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events bulletin update of good things to do in and around our town in the coming week. But first, Pablo Ouziel and an increasingly darkening horizon for both Spain’s and European 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: http://cfuv.uvic.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, Pablo Ouziel, Robert Hunziker, Janine Bandcroft October 26th, 2017

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Right now, as night falls in Spain the future of the country is shrouded in uncertainty. The referendum on independence that began October, and deemed “illegal” by the federal government, has predictably proven divisive, with each of the main players involved, Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy, and Catalonia’s regional president, Carles Puigdemont showing little appetite for compromise. Rajoy promises to dissolve Catalonia’s parliament, and reschedule elections, while unilateral secession is Puigdemont’s only arrow in the quiver.

Pablo Ouziel in the first half.

And; beyond the partisan barbs, it’s safe to say Donald Trump is no ecology defender. Surrounded already by climate change deniers and petroleum industry insiders in hiring Scott Pruitt as head of the EPA however, the former real estate tycoon and media phenomenon sent a particularly loud and clear message to businesses big and small: “Damn the enviros, full

speed ahead!”

Robert Hunziker is an environmental journalist whose climate clarion calls appear in numerous journals and multiple languages around the World and across the internet. He’s also appeared in a variety of electronic media to talk about global climate change, written extensively about the ongoing aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and penned numerous articles on the ever-quickening polar ice melt.

In his recent article, ‘Mr. Toxicity Zaps America‘ Hunziker reports Environmental Protection Agency head, Scott Pruitt “nixed his own agency’s proposal of 2015 to ban the toxic chemical chlorpyrifos, an insecticide that attacks the nervous system of pesky insects, as well as pesky and non-pesky people…”

Robert Hunziker and the EPA’s number one “toxics defender” in the second half.

And; Victoria-based activist and CFUV Radio broadcaster at-large, Janine Bandcroft will bring us the Left Coast Events bulletin at the bottom of the hour. But first, Pablo Ouziel, perched atop the peak of Spain’s tipping point.

Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Wednesday, 1-2pm 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: https://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/

G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Su Rynard, Pablo Ouziel, Kathy Kelly, Janine Bandcroft October 12th, 2017

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We’re living today in Rachel Carson‘s fabled “tomorrow.” Fifty-five years after her harbinger book, ‘Silent Spring’ warned of the inevitable end our industrial creation would bring to the natural world around us, the proofs of Carson’s prognostications are clear to all but the most obtuse, or willfully blind observors. But even these may notice the silence where birdsong used to be.

Su Rynard is an artist and filmmaker whose work has screened at festivals and in galleries in Canada, the US, and Europe. She’s the recipient of numerous awards for her documentaries and received the Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize for her debut feature film, Kardia.

Her recent documentary, The Messenger is an environmental tour de force that like Rachel Carson’s work implores we see clearly now what we sacrifice before it disappears entirely.

Su Rynard in the first segment.

And; Catalonia president, and Catalan independence leader Carles Puigdemont addressed parliament Tuesday regarding his party’s plans for the future of Spain’s restive Catalunya region. Nearly two weeks after the referendum on separation deemed illegal by Madrid overwhelmingly endorsed leaving Spain Puigdemont, who had threatened to unilaterally declare the wealthiest of the country’s regions a new nation, backpedaled slightly, “suspending” for an unspecified time his promise to unilaterally declare independence to allow for negotiation.

When, where, what, and with whom he plans to negotiate was not made clear; so for now, Catalonia waits for Madrid. Dr. Pablo Ouziel is a Post-Doctoral fellow here at UVic,whose project in progress is, ‘Towards Democratic Responses to the Crisis of Democracy in Spain: Forms of Participatory and Representative Civic Engagement.’ He’s a Spanish national, and more poignantly, Catalan.

Pablo Ouziel and Catalunya waiting to exhale in the second segment.

And; is it possible to live unaware of our fellows’ suffering amid a holocaust? History tells us, not only is it possible, but that ignorance is the necessary condition for a fully-blown human cataclysm to take hold. My third guest asks, how many of us are aware right now of the “terror faced by people in South Sudan, Somalia, northeast Nigeria, northern Kenya and Yemen[?].”

Kathy Kelly is a long-time peace and justice activist, essayist, author, and recipient of numerous awards for her peace service, including multiple nominations for the Nobel Peace prize and many more.

Kelly is co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness and Voices for Creative Nonviolence, co-authored the book, ‘Prisoners on Purpose: a Peacemakers Guide to Jails and Prison,’ and wrote, ‘Other Lands Have Dreams: from Baghdad to Pekin Prison.’ In her latest article, ‘Great Hunger‘ Kelly reveals the current holocaust occurring beneath most of our screens.

Kathy Kelly and allowing the voices of the suffering to speak in the final segment.

And; Victoria activist and CFUV Radio broadcaster at-large, Janine Bandcroft will be here at the bottomish of the hour with the Left Coast Events bulletin. But first, Su Rynard and hearing The Messenger’s song.

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