Gravity FM

Canadian Aboriginal and Treaty Rights and the Duty to Consult, Environmental Deregulation and the Environmental and Human Rights Footprint of the Tar Sands Discussion with Robert Janes and Karey Brooks on the environmental, climate and human rights footprint on the Alberta tar sands, in particular its impact on indigenous rights. We discuss the Beaver Lake Cree First Nation’s claims against the Al...

John Doe et. al. v Nestle et. al., Forced Child Labour in the Cacao Industry, the Alien Tort Claims Act, Koibel and Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Abuses Discussion with Terry Collingsworth on John Doe et. al. v Nestle et. al, the prevalence of child slavery in the cacao industry in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire and the assistance provided to farms that enslave children by confectionary congl...

Cultural Genocide, Water Protectors and Oil Discussion with Martin Wagner on the human rights violations associated with the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Standing Rock Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux and the Yankton Sioux’s petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. We discuss the environmental impact of the construction of the pipeline and potential oil spills as well as the cultura...

State Hacking, Cyber Surveillance and Targeted Killings Within the Digital Panopticon Discussion with Scott Gilmore regarding the human rights implications of technology, including cyber surveillance of human rights activists and journalists and state authorized hacks. We discuss the legal and policy issues respecting Western companies selling technology to states that are known as pervasive human...

Art, Activism, Water Shut Offs, School Closures, Detroit's Restructuring, Urban Redevelopment as Code for Racial Discrimination, Community Cooperation and Urban Farming Discussion with artist and activist Antonio Cosme concerning his prosecution by the recently established Detroit Graffiti Task Force for writing “Free the Water” on a decommissioned water tower to protest the continuing water shut...

The U.N.'s Egregious Negligence in Causing the Cholera Epidemic in Haiti and its Refusal to Accept Responsibility and Provide Redress and the Legal and Political Issues Surrounding the U.N.'s Assertion of Diplomatic Immunity Discussion with Brian Concannon Jr. on the U.N.'s actions in causing, covering up and refusing to accept responsibility for the cholera epidemic in Haiti. We discuss the legal...

World Bank and IMF SAPS, Water Privatization, Public-Private and Public-Public Partnerships, Cochambabinos' Resistance, North-South Cooperaton and South-South Solidarity Discussion with Marcela Olivera on water privatization and resistance in South America and the establishment of public-public partnerships for community owned and organized water services. We discuss the water privatization condit...

Drought, surface and groundwater in California, the Human Right to Water Act, the environmental impact of the Delta Tunnels Project and Center for Biological Diversity, Nestle's water permit in the San Bernardino National Forest. Discussion with Courtney A. Davis about the impact and severity of the drought and the legal and regulatory framework respecting the allocation of surface and groundwater...

The Contamination of Flint's Water, the Plight of Undocumented Immigrants and Emergency Financial Managers in Michigan. Discussion with San Juana "Juani" Olivares on the water supply in Flint, Michigan, which had its water contaminated by lead, bacteria and carcinogenic disinfection byproducts with a focus on the particular effects on the non-English speaking Hispanic-Latino community and undocume...

International Environmental Law and Environmental Hazards of the Nicaragua Canal. Discussion with Professor Daniel Magraw on the environmental consequences of the Nicaragua Canal, which planned path will cut through some of the most biologically diverse areas in the world as well as Central America's largest freshwater lake, Lake Nicaragua, the country's main freshwater supply. We will also look a...

Forced Sterilization, the Work of the International Justice Resource Center and the Election of the New U.N. Secretary General. Discussion with Lisa Reinsberg on the incidence of forced sterilization throughout the Americas and around the world and the International Justice Resource Center's (IJRC) petition in I.V. v Bolivia to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights arguing for the need of a ref...

Health Impacts of Crowd Control Weapons Increasingly Used by Police and Security Forces Around the World. Discussion with Dr. Rohini J. Haar on the main crowd control weapons used by police and security forces and their health impacts and potential lethality. We also discuss the insufficiency of police training in the use of weapons and insufficient regulation of their manufacture leading to unint...

TRAPS, the Hyde Amendment, Criminalization of Self-Induced Abortion and Increasing Restrictions on Reproductive Rights in the United States. Discussion with Jill E. Adams and Melissa Mikesell on Whole Women's Health v Hellerstedt and the constitutionality and impact of TRAPS (targeted regulations of abortion providers) and increasing criminalization of self-induced abortion. We also look at increa...

Human Rights Violations of Nicaraguan Indigenous and Afro-Caribbean Communities in the Expropriation of Their Ancestral Lands for the Development of an Environmentally Disastrous Canal Linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Nicaragua. Discussion with Professor Thomas Antkowiak on the development of the Nicaragua Canal which would link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans through Nicaragua and...

Lack of Affordable Housing and the Criminalization of Homelessness and Food Sharing Throughout the United States. Discussion with Eric Tars respecting the lack of affordable housing and incidence of homelessness throughout the United States, the criminalization of homelessness and food sharing in numerous counties and the constitutionality and impact of these laws. We also discuss housing as a hum...

Curtailment of Freedom of Expression, Political Opposition and Advocacy in Russia. Discussion with Bach Avezdjanov on human rights violations and restrictions on political opposition in Russia. We discuss the use of the Foreign Agents Law to shut down “undesirable NGOs” working for human rights advocacy, restrictions on media, including limitation of foreign ownership and the “two strikes and you...

Health and Human Rights, Their Intersection with Trade Law and the Work of the Lawyers Collective. Discussion with Gabriel Armas-Cardona on health and human rights, including justiciabiility, enforcement, access to medicine and intersection with trade law. We also look at the work of the Lawyers Collective, an Indian legal organization that runs a global health and human rights database and litiga...

A Critical Look at the Antiquated Immigration System of the United States. Discussion with Jasmin Singh and Amanda Emerson on asyulum, refugees, undocumented workers and employment law violations and state action on immigration. Jasmin is an immigration at Arrufat Garcia, PLLC and has presented immigration issues on several radio stations, including La Mega FM, Amor FM and WADO AM. Amanda is an im...

International Food Security and Developments in Permaculture. Discussion with Mark Notaras on increasing international food security from our growing population, increased meat consumption around the world, climate change, soil erosion, depleted freshwater resources and the unsustainable practices of Big Ag. We also look at issues of international conflict between riparian countries and the possib...

Gender Based Crime in Haiti and the Work of the Rape Accountability and Prevention Project. Discussion with Meena Jagannath on gender based voilence in Haiti, its socio-economic contex, the legal and institutional obstacles in obtaining convictions and the work of the Rape Accountability and Prevention Project. Meena was a legal fellow at the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux (BAI) and coordinator...