Program Notes for Left Out (September 14, 2004)

Welcome to Left Out on WRCT 88.3FM. Left Out presents news and opinions from a perspective left out of the mainstream media. Left Out is co-hosted by Robert Harper and Danny Sleator. Today's program is produced by Molly Meyer. Listeners are welcome to call us at 412 621-WRCT (9728) or 412 268-WRCT (9728), or to send email to bob@leftout.info.

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Announcements

Guests: Rafael Porto and Jeff Phillips

The Republican National Convention was held in New York City in early September, amid controversy over the suppression of political protest by opponents of the Bush administration. Rafael Porto and Jeff Phillips were there.

Rafael writes: I am currently a second year grad student in the High Energy group at the physics department CMU. I am 26 and I'm from Uruguay south America. I came here august 2003. I finished a master in Uruguay before coming, my field is High Energy Physics and Relativity (my master was on Quantum Gravity and I am still working and that subject as well, I have so far 11 papers on that :):) ). I want to understand the universe, as I hope everybody does, but I took the hard path of actually working on it :) I love Soccer, as it has to be, and classic music. I used to be Punk in my "early" days but I grew up :)

Jeff works in a neuroimaging lab at the University of Pittsburgh and is applying to doctoral programs in neuroscience this year. After graduating with an English major, Jeff taught high-school Spanish, then worked for several years in Japan as an English teacher and translator. He is an active member of the Green Party of Allegheny County, and has participated in several anti-war protests in the Pittsburgh area--including a March 2003 gathering in Regent Square, where Edgewood/Swissvale police used copious amounts of pepper spray on a crowd of peaceful marchers. He has posted a lengthy account of his arrest in Times Square.

USAirways in Chapter 22

For the second time in a year USAirways has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a purported attempt to re-organize and return to profitability. But the official story from USAirways has never made any sense. What is really going on here?

Our Glorious Victory for Freedom and Democracy in Iraq

At least 47 killed, more than a hundred injured, in a car bomb attack in Iraq today. Newsweek reports that the situation in Iraq is worse than you think.

Writing in The Atlantic, James Fallows argues that Bush's invasion of Iraq amounts to a lost year in the war against terrorism. Paul Krugman is dismayed that Kerry is unable to exploit Bush's incompetence and politicization of the war.

Election Update

According to Electoral Vote Predictor 2004 Bush is leading Kerry in the electoral vote by 291 to 238 votes. This count fluctuates constantly, and when we looked yesterday, Kerry was winning. The biggest difference is that Pennsylvania moved from Kerry's column to Bush's.

Kerry's base is wavering. Anti-War.Com writes that "Kerry has already lost the election" due to the incompetence of the Democrats. The American Prospect concurs. The Post-Gazette is pleading with Kerry to change his tactics.

Sources

Truth Out
Common Dreams
Information Clearinghouse
Cursor
Tom Paine
The Independent
The Guardian

Robert Harper
Last modified: Wed Jun 22 15:29:44 EDT 2005