This Week on GR
by C. L. Cook
The purportedly ancient Chinese "May you" aphorism is the first in a series of curses that include: "May you come to the attention of Authority" and, "May your wishes be granted." Famed Canadian "eco-warrior" Wiebo Ludwig lived through the first two curses, and got the last laugh on the third when he died in April, content with his life, and at peace with his wish to die in God's grace.
But, death was not the end of Wiebo's fight with the authorities that plagued him - he had one more interesting battle to win.
Byron Christopher is an award-winning, Edmonton, Alberta-based print and radio journalist who has spent the better part of his career chronicling the hard-boiled crime beat. Before settling in Western Canada, Christopher filed stories from four continents, working for the CBC, and CHED 630 among others. His investigations into the criminal activities of Calgary-based Talisman Energy led to that company's ignominious retreat from Sudan.
He freelances now, his reports available at, ByronChristopher.org - No News Release Journalism, and at The Dominion paper.ca among other places online. Byron was the last reporter to talk to Wiebo Ludwig before he succumbed to esophogeal cancer last Spring, and the first one contacted by Ludwig's closest friend, Richard Boonstra when the RCMP decided it wanted one more fight with the patriarch of the Christian community "living off the land" in Alberta's remote Peace River country.
Byron Christopher in the first half.
And; from "interesting" to times of Biblical proportions: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a turn through the United States last week. The ostensible reason for the trip was the annual United Nations confab, but Netanyahu's ulterior purpose was to bang the drum again for an American intervention in Iran.
Israel has had its Hasbara, or propaganda program, on high heat beneath the Islamic Republic for more than a half-dozen years, and had hoped to use the upcoming U.S. election as a pressure point to spur Obama to further action. It now seems, Netanyahu and his far-right Likud Party colleagues miscalculated both the president and Jewish-American sentiment.
Dave Lindorff is an award-winning muck raking journalist, founder of the news website, This Can't Be Happening.org, and author of the books: 'This Can't Be Happening: Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy,' 'Marketplace Medicine: The Rise of the For Profit Hospital Chains,' and 'Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.' He is also co-author, with Barbara Olshansky of, 'The Case for Impeachment: Legal Arguments for Removing President George W. Bush from Office.' Dave is too recipient of a 2011 Project Censored award for his expose, 'Toxic Intervention,' an uncovering of the use of Depleted Uranium by NATO forces during the "liberation" of Libya.
Dave Lindorff and the decline of the Jewish Lobby's influence in Washington in the second half.
And; Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV Radio broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us newz from our city's streets and beyond.
But first, Byron Christopher and Wiebo Ludwig's posthumous battle with the RCMP.
