Category: Podcasts

508 #67: Stone Soup damaged by fire

This morning I stepped off a Greyhound in Worcester, turned on my phone, and saw this text message: “Everybody is fine but stone soup had a big fire.”

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Kevin Ksen photo

Stone Soup, Worcester’s beloved arts, activism, and community center at 4 King Street, was damaged by a fire late Thursday, March 26. The fire began in the basement–the cause is as yet unknown. No one was injured.

The Stone Soup community is committed to continuing and rebuilding, whether at King Street or another site. The building is currently unusable, and member groups are temporarily meeting at the Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center, 301 Pleasant Street.

Stone Soup is in need of donations of time, money, and other items. Donations can be mailed to Stone Soup c/o Pleasant Street Neighborhood Network Center, 301 Pleasant St., Worcester, MA 01609. Lists of specific needs are being compiled, and will be posted at stonesoupworcester.org.

More photos and news updates at Indymedia.

Fujichia: FIRE AT STONE SOUP, NATURAL MODIFICATION

Telegram & Gazette, March 28: Stone Soup plans next story

Worcester Magazine: From the Ashes

Fundraiser: HBML closes forever April 1, with all proceeds going to Stone Soup.

NECN news story:

WCCA story:

mp3 link

Podcast: Michael Ratner on “The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld”

Last night’s talk by Michael Ratner of the Center for Constitutional Rights as part of the 100 Days Campaign. Georgetown Law School, Washington, DC, March 18, 2009.

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Download the mp3 (41MB, 85 min), see other formats, or subscribe to the 100 Days podcast feed.

He does get into accountability/prosecution, but starts off with a great explanation of where we’ve been and where we are with America’s policies of torture and indefinite detention.

Lent day 3

The caffeine headaches are fading, and I’m beginning to appreciate Lent. Giving something up for Lent is a more effective sort of New Year’s Resolution. You’re reminded of your commitment every Friday and Sunday, and your friends and family will be even more disappointed if you backslide–it’s not just a commitment to yourself, but to God!

Today there were all sorts of folks at the White House protesting on all sorts of issues. Even saw old Joe the Plumber. We’ve had a big, wonderful group in town for the 100 Days Campaign this week. People are coming from many perspectives; I recorded a roundtable yesterday to capture some of them.

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mp3 link (14MB, 29 min), other formats, podcast feed

Power Shift 2009 begins in DC today. After a full week of activism, I need a break from all that, so I won’t be connecting with PS, but I hope to run across some participants this weekend. I love that Monday the Speaker of the House is speaking, then thousands of people will head off to do civil disobedience at a coal plant. (Note that Pelosi and Reid yesterday took steps to have this plant stop using coal.)

Detainee lawyer Emi MacLean on Guantanamo

Emi MacLean, staff attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, talks about the current situation at the Guantanamo detention facility, having just returned from the prison. Recorded at the Peace Mural, Washington, DC. Presented by the 100 Days Campaign to Close Guantanamo and End Torture, January 26, 2009.

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Download the mp3 or see other formats.

100 Days Campaign podcast feed

Drew Wilson charges dropped and other items

Drew Wilson, Worcesterite and friend of this blog, was arrested September 1, 2008 in St. Paul in connection with the Republican National Convention. Yesterday, he and 6 others were the first RNC arrestees to get to the trial phase. The charges against him sounded pretty bogus, and sure enough they were dropped:

. . . Judge Michael Fetsch decided that no reasonable jury could find the defendants guilty even if all the testimony from police was accepted as true. The defendants did not have to present any defense and charges can not be re-filed in the future.

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Let’s celebrate by listening to Drew’s account of the arrest, from 508 #57: click here to download the mp3.

(Also: Very short Star-Tribune article.)

Continue reading “Drew Wilson charges dropped and other items”

Hallelujah, I’m a Bum

As the economy slows in 2009, will these old-timey songs of hard times make a comeback?

Here are three versions of the old IWW parody “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum.” The first is by the presumptive author, Harry “Big Rock Candy Mountain” McClintock, recorded in the late 1920s.

The other two are sung by Chris DuPuis and Mike Benedetti, backed by Stale Urine, and recorded in the late-2000s.

Related: There’s a great special about “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” lyricist Yip Harburg here.

Happy New Year!

Update: Here’s a quote from Bruce Sterling’s “year in review” discussion that seems relevant.

I’m a bohemian type, so I could scarcely be bothered to do anything “financially sound” in my entire adult life. Last year was the first year when I’ve felt genuinely sorry for responsible, well-to-do people. Suddenly they’ve got the precariousness of creatives, of the underclass, without that gleeful experience of decades spent living-it-up.

[…]

I even fret about the bankers. Seventeen percent of the US works in financial services. That’s a lot. I’ve got friends and relatives who work in those industries. I frankly enjoy tossing myself into turbulent parts of life, because I’m a dilettante who bores easily, but jeez, bankers are supposed to be the ultimate humorless brown-shoe crowd. They’re not supposed to wake up on a sleeping roll and scrounge breakfast.

508 #66: 2009 predictions

This is the final episode of 508, a show about Worcester. The panel is DeJongh Wells, Tracy Novick, and Scott Zoback.

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We talk about the ice storm, the response from the authorities, the reporting of WTAG, and Kate Toomey’s helpful Facebook updates with official info on the situation.

Jeff Barnard found that while the City Councilors want people to shovel their sidewalks, they’re doing a poor job with their own sidewalks.

The Snow Ghost Community Show also wraps up today. You can get a DVD set of all 24 episodes + extras with your $50 donation to WCCA TV13. Sets are available at WCCA (415 Main St.) and HBML (420 Pleasant St.).

Tracy talks about the tree loss at Cascading Waters and other Land Trust properties.

In honor of the absent Brendan Melican, we make bold predictions about what Mike will find when he returns to Worcester in May.

  • Wells: There will be movement on downtown redevelopment. Demolition will start in July or August.
  • Zoback: The various police scandals will be dragging on. Earliest beginning to a City Council/mayoral campaign in history, with record numbers of people tossing their hats into the ring. A newcomer will be the mayor.
  • Novick: Ditto on the elections; we’ll also see this with the School Board. As well, people will have their electricity back….
  • Benedetti: T&G offered up for sale. Jeff Barnard buys it with one day’s cabdriving tips.

We finish up by discussing our upcoming plans. For my part, I will spend the first part of 2009 on the 100 Days Campaign to Close Guantanamo.

mp3 link, other formats, feed, low-fi versions

508 #65: AIDS prevention

508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Cha-Cha Connor talks with a guest about the politics of HIV/AIDS prevention in Worcester, especially as regards unprotected anal sex.

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mp3 link, other formats, feed, low-fi versions

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