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Ape Goes to Victoria Gaza Solidarity Rally and March November 26th, 2023

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Went down to the Legislature here in Victoria to join the roughly 500-600 Victorians concerned enough about the slaughter in Gaza to brave the chill.

Ape Goes to the Victoria Gaza Solidarity Rally and March November 19th, 2023

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Went down again to the manifestation at Victoria’s Legislature Buildings to show solidarity with the people in Gaza suffering the outrages of the Israeli military.

Canada as yet, with thousands of civilians killed outright by bombing, and many more in danger of perishing through disease and exposure, remains mute to the necessity of an immediate cessation of hostilities. It is not alone in that, to the shame of the nations of the West, who would claim to represent “civilization”.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Jeremy Kuzmarov, James Bissett November 15, 2023

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded November 15th, 2023

If there is any value in staying informed: reading the papers, watching television reports, subscribing to online journalists and aggregators, it is to be prepared. But even the most assiduous, meticulously matriculated self-education can lead to where the familiar becomes alien, and once confident knowledge incognizance. It’s then, when the world fails to make sense, we ask, “How did we get here?”

Answering that requires a broader perspective than is possible with our noses pressed against the present; for that, a little historical distance is prescriptive. For example, we can’t appreciate why the United States is where it is in November, 2023 without knowing what happened November 22nd, 1963. Likewise, understanding Israel’s actions today means revealing the real events of November 4th, 1995.

Jeremy Kuzmarov is a journalist and author who also serves as Managing Editor at CovertActionMagazine.com. His book titles include, ‘Obama’s Unending Wars’, ‘The Russians Are Coming, Again’, written with John Marciano, and his latest, fresh from the printer’s, ‘Warmonger: How Clinton’s Malign Foreign Policy Launched the US Trajectory from Bush II to Biden’. Jeremy’s recent article at CAM, ‘Yigal Amir is Israel’s Oswald‘ examines the day prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated and how that foul deed helped make Israel what it is today.

Jeremy Kuzmarov in the first half.

And; for millions inside the country and out, Canada seems unrecognizable today. From saluting Nazis in Parliament, to standing in opposition to peace and human rights resolutions at the United Nations, whither the familiar northern beacon of bland?

James Bissett is a former Canadian Ambassador whose tenure in Yugoslavia coincided with that country’s 1991 dissolution. And, at century’s end he was one of the very few government insiders to oppose NATO’s 78 day bombardment of Serbia in the name of “humanitarian intervention.”

James Bissett and finding Canada in the second half.

But first, Jeremy Kuzmarov and Israel’s infamous sacrifice.

Ape Goes to Victoria Gaza Solidarity Rally and March November 4, 2023

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Went down to the rally and march held in Victoria today. Between 1,500-2,000 came out to express outrage at the slaughter and ethnic cleansing currently underway in Gaza, but also to acknowledge the complicity of our Canadian government in this great crime.

Another lost family in Gaza.

The tape is slightly edited.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Glenn Michalchuk, Alex Boykowich October 4, 2023

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded October 4th, 2023.

News of the Canadian Parliament’s recent celebration of the career of veteran 14th Waffen SS Division ‘Halychyna’ soldier, Yaroslav Hunka has now circled the globe, projecting in glaring relief the stark contrast between this nation’s public pronouncements of principles, and the base reality of its actions.

But more than shining light into the shadowed corners of Canada’s past, the Nazigate Affair reveals too extant fascist sympathies of the country’s leaders in government, business, and the media – where even now the chorus of denial and pleas of ignorance -reminiscent of those heard in Nuremberg – serve to obliterate the memory of the murdered, muting the voices of those massacred in Ukraine in their tens of thousands by Hunka’s brothers in arms.

As at Babi Yar, where the bodies of the dead were disinterred the burial pits and burned, their ashes spread across the verdant fields around Kyiv to better conceal from the World the atrocities conducted there, another “scattering” is being conducted for the same purpose. This time, those throwing ashes in the eyes of History are doing so from the Parliament. Like our government leader of the House of Commons, Karina Gould, who responds to the indignation and disgust of her fellow citizens, and that of those elsewhere made aware of hers and her colleagues egregious behaviour, saying,

Troubling indeed.

Glenn Michalchuk is President of both Peace Alliance Winnipeg, and the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, or AUUC. He’s been active in the peace movement for forty years, going back to Ronald Reagan’s Dirty Wars in Latin America.

And; Alex Boykowich is a third-generation Ukrainian-Canadian, president of the Edmonton Branch of the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, and active member of the Edmonton Peace Council and the Communist Party of Canada.

Today, the Ukrainians in Canada: The tale of a people divided in two nations with Glenn Michalchuk and Alex Boykowich.

Song: Work for Peace

Artist: Gil Scott-Heron

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Yves Engler, Ray McGinnis August 9, 2023

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded August 9th, 2023.

Over the weekend, Global Affairs Canada announced it was “suspending development assistance” to Niger due to the overthrow of the government there. Ottawa said,

“Canada reiterates its solidarity with the people of Niger and its support for democracy, peace, inclusive governance and the rule of law.”

Clearly, when it comes to Canadian foreign policy there are coups, and then there are coups. Historically, Ottawa has either stood silently by – or more worryingly – played a major role in fomenting and supporting coups it deemed advantageous around the world, all putting to the lie its high road rhetoric of “support for peace, democracy, and inclusive governance”; nevermind “rule of law”, that murky precept dredged up only when Canadian corporate interests are challenged by natives with the temerity to control sovereign wealth and resources.

Yves Engler is an independent, Montreal-based journalist and author. He’s written twelve books on Canadian foreign policy, and hosts the Canadian Foreign Policy Hour, a weekly examination of the country’s actions in the World.

Yves’ many articles appear across the internet, and at his website, YvesEngler.com, where his latest piece, ‘Democracy far down list of Canadian interests in Niger‘ provides facts so disturbing to Canada’s international reputation they remain unreported in the nation’s corporate and state media.

Yves Engler in the first half.

And; it’s not only in Canada’s foreign policy where the myth of its democracy-loving ways is confounded by its systematic erasure of those principles. Here at home too Ottawa is waging a determined campaign to roll back the clock on citizens’ rights; back say a thousand years, predating the English Common Law’s foundational habeas corpus legislation. Right now, August 9th, 2023, four men have been held with neither bail nor trial since February of last year.

Ray McGinnis is an author and retired educator-cum reporter after attending the Public Order Emergency Commission hearings in Ottawa last November. His latest article on some of the enduring aftermath of the unprecedented invocation of the Emergencies Act, ‘Coutts Four Denied Bail, in Prison in Canada for over 500 Days without Trial. Are they Political Prisoners?‘ appears at the Substack site, Propaganda in Focus and serves as damning indictment of the Trudeau regime’s disconnect from western traditions of human rights, as understood for more than a millennia.

Ray McGinnis and Canadian jurisprudence’s trip back to a Medieval future in the second half.

But first, Yves Engler and Canada’s dismal democracy record abroad.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Terry Wolfwood, Evan Reif August 2nd, 2023

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded August 2nd, 2023

This week, Victoria’s Women in Black will convene to again commemorate the hundreds of thousands perished in the twin atrocities visited on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Women too will bear silent vigil for the millions more killed, maimed, and rendered homeless in the 78 years of wars waged since the Atomic bombing of Japan.

Terry Wolfwood is Director and co-founder of the Barnard-Boecker Centre Foundation. She’s a writer, poet, photographer, and long-time activist in pursuit of peace, social justice, and women’s rights. Her articles have appeared at Briarpatch, Peace News, Third World Resurgence, and at the Foundation’s site, BBCF.ca.

Terry has served too as local coordinator for the Women in Black for many years, and traveled numerous times to the refugee camps-cum towns and cities in Palestine and Western Sahara.

Terry Wolfwood in the first half.

And; yes, “war is Hell” but those fighting it are not born demons; some are just made that way – systematically robotized, inured to human compassion, decency, and mercy – “psychologically inoculated” to become ruthless killers on command. And, that moral immunity persists after, and between wars.

Evan Reif is a freelance writer whose articles appear at CovertAction Magazine. The son of a miner and librarian from Western South Dakota, Evan says his father’s union organizing, and their community’s deindustrialization trauma, fostered a “deep interest in left-wing politics” and made him “a staunch anti-fascist“.

Evan’s latest piece at CAM, ‘Lord of the Underworld: Meet the Paratrooper from North Carolina Who Helped Orchestrate the War in Ukraine‘ follows a string of articles on the role of America, and Americans in the tragedy over there.

Evan Reif on Ukraine’s decent to Hell, and the conductors keeping the demonic tune playing in the second half.

But first, Terry Wolfwood remembering the shadows of war past and present.

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, John Helmer July 26, 2023

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded July 26th, 2023.

The escalation of the Ukraine war is quickly morphing, becoming more international in character. Over the weekend, Russia’s President Putin warned Poland against sending troops into western Ukraine, informing the UN’s Security Council he was aware of “plans to establish some sort of so-called Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian unit.”

Poland reacted by denouncing Putin’s speech as a threat, and summoning the Russian ambassador in protest. As both Poland and Lithuania are NATO member countries, the greatest fear must be of this heightened belligerence leading to military engagement that could trigger NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause.

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, ‘Australian Fascism: How It Destroyed the Courts’.

John’s latest article at Dances with Bears, ‘The Polish Response to Putin’s Challenge‘ reveals Washington’s manipulation of both Polish political jingoism and the country’s upcoming Autumn election.

Today, John Helmer getting to the heart of America’s Ukraine war aims.

Song: Rong Radio

Artist: Benjamin Zephania

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, John Helmer (extended) April 12th, 2023

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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”!

And, if the Ottawa weather vane Globe & Mail is any indication, its chief political scribe, Steven Chase’s recent article headed, ‘Pro-Kremlin Twitter Accounts ‘Weaponizing’ Fringe Users to Erode Canadians’ Support for Ukraine, study finds’ signals a new Canadian understanding of citizenship with an unmistakably McCarthyite ring.

John Helmer is a journalist and author who’s spent decades living in and reporting from Russia. The 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, ‘Australian Fascism: How It Destroyed the Courts,’.

Today, John Helmer and fighting the Canadian think tanks and troll armies in the war for truth-telling in the second half.

Song: Ears to Hear (from the album, Run Rabbit Run!)

Artist: Alicen Grey – When Humans Had Wings

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Ken Stone, John Helmer April 12th, 2023

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

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

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.”

Ken Stone in the first half.

And; if the Ottawa weather vane Globe & Mail is any indication, its chief political scribe, Steven Chase’s recent article headed, ‘Pro-Kremlin Twitter Accounts ‘Weaponizing’ Fringe Users to Erode Canadians’ Support for Ukraine, study finds’ signals a new Canadian understanding of citizenship with an unmistakable McCarthyite overtone.

John Helmer and fighting the Canadian think tanks and troll armies in the war for truth-telling in the second half.

But first, Ken Stone and fighting Canada’s Sanction Warriors.

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

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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

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

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

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Yves Engler, Pitasanna Shanmugathas March 29th/April 2nd, 2023

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded March 29th and April 2nd, 2023.

And welcome to the Spring of discontent! While leaders In the capitals of Europe and America promise to carry on the Ukraine proxy war no matter the price, the People are already in the streets protesting the real and rising costs of that belligerence. For Canadians, whose government is already full-throatedly behind: the bellicose stance against Russia, prospects of an expanded war against China and Iran, battles by sanction in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and elsewhere, there is too Haiti.

Last week, the Trudeau Liberals blithely announced another $100 million dollars to be delivered to the tiny island nation’s military and police effort to keep the restive population under heel. This on top of millions already delivered. It’s almost as if Ottawa believes the fatted tax goose’s golden eggs will never flag.

Yves Engler is an independent, Montreal-based journalist 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. His recent article, ‘Canadian government prioritizes war over climate crisis‘ is a troubling portrait of a country few here in our home and native land would recognize.

Yves Engler in the first half.

And; just what is Canada’s place in the world? Generations of us have been taught we are global agents of good; fair-minded, and justice-seeking. You know, “Wherever they’s a fight so hungry people can eat, we’ll be there. Wherever they’s a cop beatin’ up a guy“, etc., etc.

It’d be a great story, if only it were true.

Pitasanna Shanmugathas completed an advanced degree at one of Canada’s world-class Universities but found, beyond Canada’s “two solitudes” another bifurcation – one not in the curriculum – separating the real from an imagined nation. And so, he says, he set out on an epic three year journey of discovery, from coast to coast to coast, and across the tractless prairies. He documented his Canadian quest in the film series, ‘Truth to the Powerless: An Investigation into Canada’s Foreign Policy‘.

Pitasanna Shanmugathas and the hunt for Canada’s elusive identity in the second half.

But first, Yves Engler and Trudeau of the Tropics, taking Haiti.

Song: The Panic Is On

Artist: David Rovics

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Yves Engler (extended) March 29, 2023

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded March 29th and April 2nd, 2023.

For Canadians, whose government is already full-throatedly behind: the bellicose stance against Russia, prospects of an expanded war against China and Iran, battles by sanction in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and elsewhere, there is too Haiti.

His recent article, ‘Canadian government prioritizes war over climate crisis‘ is a troubling portrait of a country few here in our home and native land would recognize.

Yves Engler and Trudeau of the Tropics, taking Haiti.

Song: The Panic Is On

Artist: David Rovics

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Yves Engler, Tyan Cherepuschak, Tyson Strandlund February 11th, 2023

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded February 11th, 2023.

This past week, Canadian Forces redeployed a CP-140 Aurora surveillance plane from its dedicated mission assisting U.S.-led drugs smuggling interdiction efforts in the Caribbean to spend two days flying reconnaissance over Haiti. Foreign Affairs Minister, Melanie Joly characterized the escalation of Canada’s military involvement in the country as a “demonstration of Canada’s commitment to Haiti”. Last month, Canada demonstrated that commitment in the form of an unspecified number and type of armored vehicles being sold to a government that has already called for foreign military intervention to quell wide-spread public discontent with its corrupt and entirely unelected leadership.

Yves Engler is an independent, Montreal-based journalist 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. His recent article, ‘Ottawa’s support for repressive Haitian police grows as democracy fades’ appears at his website, YvesEngler.com, and puts to the lie – again – Canada’s “concern for the people” of that benighted island.

Yves Engler in the first half.

And; the University of Victoria’s Student Union has become another front in the Ukraine/Russia war. Last month, UVic’s Ukrainiain Students’ Society alleged harassment of its members and intimidation in the form of “hate crime” graffiti scrawled on one of its posters. They’ve also made allegations of “ongoing hate and harassment demonstrated by the YCL [Young Communist League]…” UVic’s USS is, with similar student societies on campuses across the country, associated with the politically influential Ukrainian Canadian Congress.

Tyan Cherepuschak is an undergraduate student at the University of Victoria, and is a Ukrainian-Canadian who until recently served as Vice-President to the UVic chapter of the Ukrainian Canadian Students Union (SUSK).

And; Tyson Strandlund is a member of both the UVic chapter of the Young Communist League and the Vancouver Island Peace Council, a local chapter of the Canadian Peace Congress. He too is a Canadian of Ukrainian descent, who has studied in and visited Ukraine both before and after the 2014 Maidan coup.

Tyan Cherepuschak & Tyson Strandlund on bringing the Ukraine conflict to Canadian campuses in the second half.

But first, Yves Engler and Canada’s caring military gestures to Haiti.

Song: Watch the Buildings Crumble

Album: May Day

Artist: David Rovics

Gorilla Radio with Chris Cook, Yves Engler February 11th, 2023

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Welcome to Gorilla Radio, recorded February 11th, 2023.

Yves Engler is an independent, Montreal-based journalist 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. His recent article, ‘Ottawa’s support for repressive Haitian police grows as democracy fades’ appears at his website, YvesEngler.com, and puts to the lie – again – Canada’s “concern for the people” of that benighted island.

Today Yves Engler and Canada’s caring military gestures to Haiti.

Song: Watch the Buildings Crumble

Album: May Day

Artist: David Rovics