Between The Lines - U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer: Challenges Facing Bicyclists in Current Political and Economic Climate-Federal Budget Freeze Out (Week Ending April 6, 2012)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

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Bicyclists Organize to Battle Budget Freeze Out

RealAudio MP3

Posted March 28, 2012

Excerpt of speech by U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., speaking at the National Bike Summit, recorded and produced by Melinda Tuhus

The League of American Bicyclists held its annual summit in Washington D.C. from March 20 to 22. The theme of this year’s conference was “Save Cycling!” prompted by House transportation legislation, dubbed by former congressman and current Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood as the "worst transportation bill" he'd ever seen. House Republicans wanted to zero out funding for bike trails, all bike and pedestrian enhancements and Safe Routes to School, spending all the billions in the bill instead on roads and highways.

But as the bill stalled in the House, the Senate passed an alternative measure that is much more friendly to cycling than the House version, though it freezes in place the steady upward trend of funding for bike and pedestrian enhancements like bike lanes and other amenities that were initiated in 1992 with the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act – the so-called "Ice Tea" Act.

One of the speakers at this year’s National Bike Summit was U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., who is chair of the House Livable Communities Task Force. He’s also the founder of the Congressional Bike Caucus, which with more than 200 members is the largest caucus in Congress, with members from both major parties. In this excerpt of a speech delivered at the Bike Summit, Blumenauer discusses his efforts to make cycling a political movement, and reviews some of the challenges facing cyclists in the current economic and political climate.

EARL BLUMENAUER: My goal in working with you these last 12 years in particular is to make cycling a political movement. (Applause). We've given out tens of thousands of the little bike pins. We've organized the bike caucus events. We've worked with people from coast to coast in your communities, being excited about what's happening. We've taken these issues to members of Congress in ways that hopefully, they understand. We've worked with you in terms of making these messages louder, more direct, flexing your political muscles.

You know, occasionally we've gone after some of the people who, in their wisdom, have decided to attack cycling, and we've gotten their attention. You, being part of this political cycling movement, made a huge difference last month. We were faced with what the secretary described as the worst transportation bill in history. With his typical understatement (laughter), unable to get an opinion from Ray [La Hood, Secretary of Transportation], just this once, he let down his guard. And it was, it was an outrage. And it wasn't just attacking cycling, which it did, and enhancements – throw out Safe Routes to School, and the transit guarantee. And it was backed by arguably the most powerful person on Capitol Hill – the speaker – and Republican leadership, the committee. And you were part of a coalition that stopped it dead in its tracks. (Applause)

They're actually too bashful to have a hearing on it. We went right to work session. My friend Peter DeFazio lived for the moment in committee where he had a chance to take the delicate scalpel of his rapier wit and carefully crafted rhetoric and had some fun with it. In Ways and Means, it was my amendment to try and change the funding raid, and while we weren't successful in committee, you made it possible for me to wave a petition signed by over 600 groups and organizations from Bikes Belong to the U.S. Chamber, unions and environmentalists, pointing out how far out of touch they were and how wrong the policy. And before it could be taken to the floor, it crumbled. (Applause)

And you were part of that broad coalition. You were at the table with the road gang; the chain gang was there with the other established interests; listened to, flexing your muscles, making the point. I'm going to leave you, sadly, I'd like to hang out all day, but I get to go to the Budget Committee, and everything you've read about that is true; it's grim. And we'll be pushing back on some dumb things in transportation, among others. But you need to help us expand our focus. We're not going to turn back on the federal level, and with your help we will seek to enhance it when people come to their senses around here. But we need to carry it to every city, every county, every school district: everybody's got to have their bike and pedestrian plan; you don't have to be an Olympic sprinter to get across the street safely; we don't have to waste 60 billion miles a year taking kids back and forth to school. This is something that we need to unleash; when we go home, not just once a year at the bike summit on Capitol Hill.

We have come a long way in 21 years. Prior to "Ice Tea," what, $4 million a year? Immediately after that landmark legislation, which would have been undone, we're at $160 million a year for cycling. Then in the last re-authorization, it was $400 million a year. Then with President Obama's economic recovery act, we had two years of a billion dollars for cycling, for trails, for pedestrian safety – amazing, and it was transformational. We're not going back. (Applause)

This segment was recorded and produced by Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus. Find more information on groups promoting bicycling at www.bikeleague.org.