The Iran Agenda

Is Iran developing nuclear weapons? Does the U.S. plan to bomb Iran? What do the people of Iran think about U.S. policy? On this edition, we’ll hear the answers to these and other key questions as independent producer and book author Reese Erlich looks at the Bush administration's efforts to overthrow the government of Iran. This radio documentary is based on Erlich’s 2007 book “The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis.”

Featuring::

Sean Penn, human rights activist and academy award winning actor; Moshtabor and Ali Mohammadi, Tehran merchants; Paul Pillar, former CIA’s National Intelligence Officer for the Near East; Charles Freeman, former U.S. ambassador to Saudi Arabia and former assistant secretary of defense for international security; Hermidas Bavand, former Iranian diplomat; Mohammad Sahimi, University of Southern California energy professor; Ebrahim Yazdi, former Iranian Foreign Minister; Shirin Ebadi, 2003 Nobel Peace Prize winner and human rights activist; Pouran Farokzhad, leading women’s rights campaigner; Zenar Agri, Party of Free Life top leader; Abbas Milani, Stanford University Iranian Studies director and political science professor.

Greener Magazine

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Contributing Freelance Producer: Reese Erlich
Sound Editor: Matt Fidler
Interns: Samson Reiny and Joaquin Palomino

For more information::

Reese Erlich
“The Iran Agenda: The Real Story of U.S. Policy
and The Middle East Crisis"
http://www.reeseerlich.com/

Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA) National Office
65 Ninth Street, Suite 3
San Francisco, CA 94103
415-552-5378
institute@igc.org

Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP)
1500 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 119
Washington, DC 20005
202-223-3677
www.merip.org/misc/contact.html

Middle East Report Online (MERO)
www.merip.org/mero/mero.html

Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF)
1112 16th St., NW Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
202-234-9382
web@fpif.org
http://www.fpif.org/

Center for International Policy (CIP)
1717 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Suite 801
Washington, DC 20036
202-232-3317
http://www.ciponline.org/

Institute for Policy Studies (IPS)
1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036
202-234-9382
www.ips-dc.org/index.htm

Human Rights Watch (HRW)
350 Fifth Avenue, 34th Floor
New York, NY 10118-3299
www.hrw.org
Middle East
www.hrw.org/doc/?t=mideast

On new ground

Liberating gender & sexuality

It’s a well-worn path in human history. Non-traditional and marginalized communities attacked for their lifestyles and their individual choices… whether it’s based on sexual identity, gender equity or the quest for collective empowerment. So how do we challenge and overcome gender and sexual oppression?

Dr. Andrea Smith, of “INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence” co-founder, Loretta Ross, SisterSong founder, and Imani Henry, International Action Center staff organizer spoke at the U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia this summer. They have some answers.

Featuring:

Suzanne Pharr, Southerners on New Ground founding member; Dr. Andrea Smith, “INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence” co-founder; Loretta Ross, Sister Song founder and National coordinator; Imani Henry, International Action Center staff organizer.

Greener Magazine

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Associate Producer: Puck Lo
Interns: Samson Reiny and Joaquin Palomino

For more information::

Southerners on New Ground
(S.O.N.G.)
PO Box 268
Durham, NC 27702
919-667-1362
http://www.southernersonnewground.org/

INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence
incite_national@yahoo.com
http://www.incite-national.org/

SisterSong
(Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective)
1237 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd., SW
Atlanta, GA 30310
404-756-2680
http://www.sistersong.net/
info@SisterSong.net

International Action Center
5C - Solidarity Center
55 West 17th Street
New York, NY 10011
212-633-6646

Additional Information::

To learn more about the Jersey 4, sign up for the Yahoo groups email list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/justice4newark4/

Write letters to the Jersey 4 themselves:

Patreese Johnson # 07-G-0635 and Renata Hill # 07-G-0636
Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
PO Box 1000
Bedford Hills, NY 10507

Terrain Dandridge # 07-G-0637 and Venice Brown # 07-G-0640
Albion Correctional Facility
3595 State School Road
Albion, NY 14411-9399

Counter Punch Article
“Killer Lesbians Mauled by Killer Court”
www.counterpunch.org/day07052007.html

Costa Rican gold mine suspended

A multinational coalition of environmental and human rights organizations are calling on Canadian mining company Glencairn Gold Corporation to disclose information about suspected cyanide and metals pollution from the Bellavista gold mine in Costa Rica. Glencairn shut down the mine in late July, following heavy rains that caused substantial earth movements, and has reported in financial statements that the mine "may remain closed indefinitely," but has not made available any information about the extent of current or potential damage. The groups also demand proper cleanup and remediation of any current or future contamination.

"Glencairn must disclose complete information about the conditions at the mine site," notes Sonia Torres of CEUS del Golfo in Costa Rica. "Without this, how can we protect our people and drinking water from pollution?"

Bellavista is an open-pit gold mine, and uses a method known as "cyanide heap-leaching" – in which huge piles of crushed ore are soaked with cyanide solution to extract gold. According to Glencairn, heavy rainfall in May led to significant earth movements that disturbed these massive heaps of cyanide-tainted wastes as well as other waste rock piles at the mine. Experts familiar with the mine fear that such conditions could lead to pollution of water and soil with cyanide and other contaminants due to a rupture in the leach-pad lining. Glencairn has said that it first noticed cracks in two corners of the leach pad in May, but the company continued to operate the mine and apply cyanide until July 25.

"Putting an open-pit gold mine in a mountainous, tropical region prone to landslides and torrential rainfall is a disaster waiting to happen," said Anna Cederstav, a chemist with the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA). "Unfortunately, the risks of toxic ground-water contamination are now real and must be dealt with at once." In 2005, Dr. Cederstav had testified before Costa Rica’s Supreme Court about the likely impacts of the Bellavista mine. Even before the mine was approved, Dr. Cederstav and other independent technical experts had warned that the region’s topography and rainfall make it an inappropriate location for a large-scale mine.

Cleaning up and controlling mining pollution can be extremely expensive, costing hundreds of millions of dollars for long-term treatment to protect water supplies. Glencairn has provided just $250,000 in financial guarantees for Bellavista – funds which are intended for mine cleanup, and do not provide insurance against mishaps like the unstable leach pad. Jim Kuipers, a mining engineer and mining bonding expert based in Butte, MT, says, "These types of events typically result in an order of magnitude increase in remediation costs above the original estimate. And this mine was almost certainly under-bonded to begin with."

The coalition of groups calls on the Costa Rican government to commission a team of independent technical experts to conduct a review of the Bellavista mine, and to ensure that Glencairn will undertake and fully cover the costs of all necessary mitigation and remediation.

"Glencairn must make sure that communities around the mine are protected from pollution, and that includes paying for clean-up," said Payal Sampat of EARTHWORKS and the "No Dirty Gold" campaign. "Otherwise taxpayers and communities are stuck with the bill – and the pollution."

Costa Rica outlawed all new open-pit mining in 2002, but the Bellavista mine was given a permit prior to the ban. It is the only operating large open-pit mine in this ecotourism-dependent country. High metals prices are driving a gold mining rush in other parts of Latin America.

"Costa Rica has had the foresight to ban open-pit mining, which can be incredibly destructive to people and the environment," said Gabriel Rivas-Ducca of Friends of the Earth in Costa Rica. "We hope this incident will serve as a warning to other regions that are opening their doors to gold mining."

Cyanide and the metal contamination produced at mines such as this are toxic to humans and extremely dangerous for wildlife, especially aquatic species. If mixed with acidic water, typically present at gold mines, cyanide generates hydrogen cyanide gas, an even more potent poison. Cyanide spills at gold mines elsewhere, including other parts of Latin America, Europe and Africa, have led to fish and wildlife kills and water pollution. Gold mining can also cause significant pollution of soil and water with sulfuric acid drainage and metals such as arsenic and mercury.

Greener Magazine

For More Information::

• Backgrounder on the Bellavista incident PDF
  
• General information on the impacts of gold mining at www.nodirtygold.org