-Caveat Lector- [radtimes] # 178 An informally produced compendium of vital irregularities. "We're living in rad times!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send $$ to RadTimes!! --> (See ** at end.) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Contents: --Farewell to Radio --Zapatistas, supporters press for continental recognition of Indian rights --History Judges Acts of Protest --Ramsey Clark's letter to the UN denouncing the sanctions on Iraq --Hells Angels want respect --Mexican broadcasters take narco-ballads off the air =================================================================== Farewell to Radio by Robert W. McChesney Published in the March 2001 issue of the Silicon Alley Reporter Radio is the quintessential people's medium. It is the least expensive medium to produce a quality product and the least expensive medium to receive. It is ideally suited to local, decentralized content and popular participation in production. Due to low production costs, radio is also ideal for creative innovation. Nor does it does not require any technical expertise or even literacy to use radio effectively. Even in the Age of the Internet, by all accounts good old radio is going to be around for a long time still, at least as long as there are automobiles. And in places like Africa and parts of Asia, radio will be the dominant medium for another generation. In the United States, however, radio is anything but the people's medium. It is the private preserve of a small number of billionaires who are falling all over themselves to better serve the needs of Madison Avenue. I do not wish to romanticize the nature of U.S. radio broadcasting from bygone days, but the fact is that the present day radio is nothing short of pathetic. The reason is clear. There are only a few dozen radio channels in a given community. In 1996 the Telecommunications Act greatly revised the rules for radio station ownership. Back in the 70s and 80s, firms could only own around a dozen stations nationwide and no more than two in a single market. The 1996 law, rammed though by the powerful corporate radio lobby without a shred of debate or media coverage, eliminated any restriction on the number of stations a firm could own nationally, and raised the limit in a single market to eight, in the largest communities. Since the law passed, there has been a complete reformation of U.S radio, with well over half the 11,000 commercial station changing hands. Small station groups can not compete with the giant chains so they sell out. Radio is now dominated by a small handful of firms that own hundreds of stations each. Every market is now dominated by two or three firms that are "maxed out" with eight stations each. The quality of radio has plummeted. With little competition, the amount of advertising is up to 18 minutes per hour, according to one industry trade publication, well over the figure for a decade ago. Also, localized news and production has been dropped for vastly less expensive standardized fare. You could be blindfolded and airdropped into Louisiana, Oregon or Vermont and probably hear the same oldies song or Rush Limbaugh show on the local radio. Clear Channel, which owns around 800 stations, has shined the light on the new world order of corporate radio. It usually houses all eight stations it owns in a given community on one floor of a building. Each "station" gets one room about the size of a closet where it can transmit standardized fare. The remaining office space is mostly for the ad salespeople. In other industries, like computers or automobiles, there might be arguments that having fewer owners is necessary for economies of scale that will eventually translate into product innovation and lower prices for consumers. No such claims can be made in radio. All the advantages accrue to the owners, none to the public. The stations now cost a fortune, not because the cost of production is high, but because stations are worth so much as part of these massive radio chains. It is a rip-off, pure and simple. And the rip-off has nothing to do with free markets; it is entirely due to a corrupt change in the law regulating the publicly owned radio spectrum. The rational solution would be to only allow one station per owner, period. The cost of stations would plummet, while the quality and diversity and local orientation would skyrocket. Everyone would benefit except the radio-owning billionaires who currently floss their teeth with politicians' underpants. So don't hold your breath expecting any policies to improve matters. In fact, the radio monopolists have won two incredible anti-democratic victories in the recent past. First, the FCC enacted a very cautious plan to permit low-power FM radio broadcasting in the open slots on the dial in 2000. This would have permitted a handful of noncommercial locally run stations, that cost only $2,000 using new technology to transmit a great signal, into every market. But the radio giants used their leverage on Capital Hill to get a rider effectively killing "microradio" attached to a budget bill Clinton could not veto. The last thing the radio giants want is genuine competition for "their" listeners. Second, radio is in the process of being converted from analog to digital. With the transfer to digital, it would be fairly easy to add another 30-50 radio stations in every market. But the corporate radio bosses don't want any competition, so that won't happen. Under pressure from the radio kingpins, the FCC is going to permit digital radio to remain as is, except for the technical changeover, and be the private plaything of the same wonderful radio giants who are presently carpetbombing the nation with stale content and tons of commercials. The radio giants promise us that with digital radio, "the change will be so simple, most listeners won't notice any difference at all." Wow, that sure is good news, eh? =================================================================== Zapatistas, supporters press for continental recognition of Indian rights <http://community.centurytel.net/index.cfm?action=startpage&mode=article&articleid=wed/cw/Qmexico-chiapas.ReEB_BM5.html> NURIO, Mexico, March 4 (AFP) - Zapatista rebels and thousands of supporters on Sunday discussed ways to press for recognition of the rights of Indians across the Americas, at a open-air rally where "Subcomandante Marcos" presented himself as a leader of indigenous Mexicans. The two-day gathering in the mountains of central Mexico marked a highlight of the "Zapatour" -- a highly-publicized 3,000 kilometer (1,900 mile) drive from the conflictive state of Chiapas to Mexico City aimed at boosting grass-root support for the Zapatista National Liberation Army (EZLN). Marcos, who led the caravan, was the star of the two-day National Indigenous Congress, but spent most of his time locked up in a house that was off-limits to the delegates. A high fence and 250 members of Italy's leftist "White Overalls" group kept intruders at bay. Delegates to the EZLN-backed National Indigenous Congress (CNI) focused mainly on plans to press Mexican lawmakers to pass a bill based on the San Andres Accords, which recognize the political rights of the country's 11 million Indians. Participants in three workshops also addressed ways of unifying similar struggles across the Americas. "A new strategy is being designed that will lead to a continental gathering of indigenous people," said CNI spokesman Abelardo Torres. "The march and the congress teach us strategies on how to gain recognition," said Vanessa Inaru Nekia, a member of Puerto Rico's Taino nation. Lucius Walker, the founder of the US-based Pastors for Peace, said the movement for indigenous rights in Mexico was comparable to the struggle African Americans had waged in the United States. "Coming from my background of the struggle for justice and rights in the United States, I see similar elements in the oppression that indigenous people suffer," he told AFP. "The things we struggle for are very much the same: education, land, respect for our culture," he said. Participants at the congress decided to send a large delegation to join the Zapatista march that will conclude on March 11 in Mexico City, where Marcos will press lawmakers to pass the San Andres Accords. The gathering, in a field outside the indigenous community of Nurio, 300 kilometers (190 miles) northwest of the capital, helped boost the national profile of the EZLN, and particularly Marcos, who had never left the southern state of Chiapas since he led an insurgency by a ragtag band of rebels on January 1, 1994. Inaugurating the congress on Saturday, Marcos, one of the few non-Indian EZLN members, presented himself as a leader of indigenous Mexicans. Throughout his tour, which started on February 24, Marcos played down overtures by President Vicente Fox, but also made it clear he would be open to dialogue once the bill based on the San Andres Accords are passed. Jose Carillo de la Cruz, a Huichol Indian leader, did not share the Zapatistas skepticism and said he had hopes Fox would deliver on his promises of change. "We ask for compliance with the San Andres accords and, as a Huichol, for respect of Huichol rights and territories, and that our traditions be respected," he told AFP. Walker, for his part, said the Nurio gathering "sent a message to the new government that this is a movement whose time has come and that cannot be crushed." Delegations from several countries and most of Mexico's 57 Indian groups participated in the Nurio gathering, which also brought together left-wing lawmakers, ultra-leftist students and foreign backpackers. =================================================================== History Judges Acts of Protest by RANDALL AMSTER THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC, OPINIONS; Pg. B9 March 1, 2001 Thursday, Final Chaser The uproar over the mountains preserve arsons in Phoenix and Scottsdale has proceeded largely under two assumptions. First, the arsonist or arsonists are viewed as criminals, firebugs, "losers with matches," or at best, eco-terrorists, and the crimes are seen as devoid of any political content. Second, the New Times' decision to interview one of the arsonists without notifying authorities is considered by some to be unconscionable, against civic duty and journalistic integrity, possibly criminal, and lacking any constitutional import. Even a cursory examination shows history is replete with examples of "criminality" undertaken for some "higher moral purpose." Far from being perceived as merely criminal or deviant, some of these episodes are celebrated. The axiom that "one person's terrorist is another's freedom fighter" reflects the moral relativism inherent in the way "crime" is coded by society and in the manner by which use of violence is justified. Arguments that the "ends justify the means" have been invoked historically to rationalize slavery, rebellion, warfare and genocide. By what processes does society determine which forms of crime and violence are morally acceptable and which are punishable? Perhaps the judgment of history vindicates freedom fighters or vilifies terrorists, implying a moral order in which the Boston Tea Party and the American Revolution are hailed even though they involved illegal acts, property crimes, and violence. The past decade in the United States has seen groups such as Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front employ "monkey wrench" tactics ranging from tree sitting to eco-arson, ostensibly in opposition to patterns of obsessive development and rampant environmental degradation. By what logic is blowing up a mountain for upscale construction seen as "progress"? For example, as with the planned development for Tempe Butte. Whereas burning down unoccupied mansions to preserve mountains is viewed as eco-terrorism? In the end, it appears that the line between morally acceptable lawlessness or violence and purely criminal or terroristic endeavors is ambiguous. Rosa Parks, Robin Hood, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Boston Tea Party, the IRA, and the Zapatistas all invoke a "higher moral purpose" argument and are often viewed sympathetically, whereas Oliver North, the Unabomber, Timothy McVeigh, anti-abortionists, Dr. Kevorkian, and the PLO are more often derided for tactics that are not dissimilar. Where does the ELF or the Coalition to Save the Preserves fit into this calculus? What about the editorial decisions made by New Times? Instead of condemning these actors with knee-jerk "law and order" platitudes, we might instead consider the moral relativism inherent in such ideological constructs. And while we await history's judgment of today's terrorists and/or freedom fighters, we should take the opportunity for meaningful political discourse about environmental preservation and First Amendment liberties. =================================================================== Ramsey Clark's letter to the UN denouncing the sanctions on Iraq What follows is a letter that Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General sent to the U.N. Security Council on Feb 28, 2001 February 28, 2001 RE: Security Council Action to End All Sanctions Against Iraq and Prohibit U.S. and U.K. Military Assaults Against Iraq. Dear Members of the Security Council, The genocide in Iraq caused by Security Council sanctions forced by the United States and the bombing of Iraq by U.S. aircraft and missiles continues unabated. A nationwide survey by 50 U.S. citizens in Iraq last month, my eleventh trip to Iraq since sanctions were imposed on August 6, 1990, confirmed that deaths caused by sanctions increased for the tenth consecutive year, though the rate of increase has declined. General health conditions continue to deteriorate though available food and medicine has increased slightly, apparently from the cumulative effects of decade long severe shortages. Other health concerns include increasing cancer rates, greatest among the young, which the people of Iraq and the medical care system believe are caused by depleted uranium from the near one million depleted uranium shells fired into Iraq by the U.S. in the first months of 1991 and the probable use of depleted uranium ammunition since. Among many examples of such concern we encountered was a statement made to me by the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Basra, Monsignor Djibrael Kassab, that the small Catholic population within his diocese has recently suffered three infant births with deformities never seen before including the absence of facial features and eyes, which he has reported to the Vatican. Constant overflights with frequent aerial strikes against Iraq have continued, averaging several attacks a week with deaths and injuries nearly every week. The Genocidal Effect Of Sanctions On Iraq To January 20, 2001. Infant mortality from selected illnesses caused by the U.N. sanctions against Iraq has increased from a monthly average of slightly less than 600 deaths in 1989 to more than 6700 in 2000, or eleven times. The percentage of total registered births under 2.5 kgs in 1990 was 4.5%. In 2000 it was nearly 25%, up five times. For children under five years old the average number of reported cases of kwashiorkor, marasmus and other malnutrition illnesses caused by protein, calorie and/or vitamin deficiencies rose from less than 8550 in 1990 to 190,000 in 2000, an increase of more than 22 times. The sanctions must be completely removed immediately. Every day the sanctions continue adds to the death toll of the worst genocide of the last decade of the most violent century in human history. The U.S., realizing that world opinion will no longer tolerate the sanctions, is seeking to take credit for modifying them while its purpose will be to continue to control their implementation and cause their reinstatement for alleged violations by Iraq. Under the ruse of arms inspections and false claims of arms violations, the U.S. has systematically frustrated any easing of sanctions. The U.S. has claimed and failed to prove, a long series of violations by Iraq including false claims that Iraq was withholding food and medicine from its own people when Iraq's model system of food distribution and rationing has saved its people. I have repeatedly reported these U.S. deceptions to the Security Council since the food for oil program was initiated. Combined with the failure of the Sanctions Committee to approve contracts by Iraq for purchases of urgently needed medicines, food and equipment, the U.S. has succeeded in preventing the easing of sanctions and will continue to do so if they are not completely ended. Criminal Aerial Assaults On Iraq The United States has bombed Iraq from aircraft and cruise missiles with impunity since the cease fire in February 1991. In the week before the inauguration of William J. Clinton as President of the United States on January 20, 1993, President George Bush authorize a fierce campaign of bombing. President Clinton continued the aerial attacks and bombing on January 21, 1993 and throughout his eight years in office. On occasion large numbers of cruise missiles were launched hitting among many civilian facilities the Al Rashid Hotel in Baghdad and the home of Iraq's most famous painter and the Director of its Museum of Modern Art, Leyla al Attar. Out of thousands of unlawful aerial sorties and hundreds of violent attacks on defenseless people in Iraq, including the passengers on a U.N. helicopter, the U.S. did not suffer a single casualty. Still the U.S. has insisted it must attack and kill Iraqi's to protect its aircraft which had no right to fly over Iraq though no U.S. aircraft have been hit. U.S. aircraft joined occasionally by U.K. planes attacking targets in Iraq are engaged in criminal violence and crimes against peace. Those who ordered the flights and attacks and the pilots who executed the orders committed criminal acts that have caused the deaths of hundreds of people. The Security Council has condoned these continuing criminal assaults under pressure from the U.S. and tragically, has approved the genocidal sanctions against Iraq. It has ignored other illegal attacks by the U.S. including the surprise attacks on Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya in April 1986 which killed hundreds of civilians and the 20 cruise missile assault on the Al Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Khartoum, Sudan in August 1998 which provided half the medicine available to the people of Sudan. Nothing could be more dangerous to world peace. The new U.S. Administration has continued to make criminal aerial assaults on Iraq and threatened to increase them as an alternative to sanctions which it now suggests have failed. The Security Council must proclaim the assaults on Iraq to be the crime they clearly are and demand they stop. Widespread and growing anger at the genocide sanctions and the criminal assaults against Iraq will turn into rage, violence and war unless they are stopped. The very first purpose of the U.N. is to prevent this scourge of war. Sincerely, Ramsey Clark --------------------- International Action Center 39 West 14th St. #206 NY, NY 10011 212-633-6646 fax: 212-633-2889 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.iacenter.org =================================================================== Wednesday, February 28, 2001 Hells Angels want respect <http://www.citizen.com/news2001/Feb/28/lac0228b.htm> Group's members say they want to be good neighbors Story & Photos by K. JOHN MACLEAN Citizen Online LACONIA - "Show us respect and we'll show you more respect." It's as simple as that, says Steven Dodge, president of the New Hampshire Chapter of the Hells Angels, during a one-on-one interview with The Citizen, the first granted to any media organization. The chapter is in the process of buying a house in Laconia. The two-story, three-bedroom home, which boasts a wrap-around farmer's porch, sits at the dead-end of Filmore Avenue, a quiet residential neighborhood located off White Oaks Road, which parallels Weirs Boulevard. The package — "too good to pass up," according to Dodge — includes a half dozen outbuildings and about 23 acres of land, both wooded and cleared. Although the home is not in the Hells Angels' name officially ... yet, Dodge says it's theirs to do with what they want. They are close to signing papers with the previous tenants acquaintances of the Angels for an undisclosed sum of money. While they decide what's next for the clubhouse, the chapter president explained one of the biggest challenges they face is how the public perceives them. "That's only going to change when people get to know us," Dodge said. "We decided to buy a place in Laconia because this community is biker-friendly. We are generally accepted here." Dodge, an electrician by trade, turns 50 next week. He is a nine-year member of the Hells Angels, most recently moving to the state from the Cape Cod Chapter. Proudly wearing his membership jacket bearing the official club emblem on the back and A.F.F.A. (Angels Forever, Forever Angels) on the sleeve, he talked about life as an Angel. He said the motorcycle club has earned a lot of respect over the years with the local business people, but often times their image is shattered because of one or two bad members. "Law enforcement makes it out to be much more than it is," Dodge explained. "We are not a gang. We are a fraternal organization. We ride motorcycles." The image he talks of is something the club has dealt with over and over again for the past 50 years. The Hells Angels originated during the late 1940s. Early members consisted primarily of ex-World War II GIs who were unable to readjust to civilian life. They chose a lifestyle emphasizing freedom of the road, an outlaw existence, and they compared themselves to famous western desperadoes. The Hells Angels were originally formed in Fontana, Calif., and were soon immortalized in the film "The Wild One," starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin. Following the Korean War in the 1950s, membership increased as it also did during the 1960s. As the myth of the outlaw biker grew, under the direction of Ralph "Sonny" Barger, the Hells Angels chapters came together, hammering out bylaws, codes of conduct, tattoos and clubhouses. In addition to American chapters, the Hells Angels are also located in many foreign countries, such as Canada, England, Switzerland, New Zealand, and Australia. No one has an exact total on the number of members but estimates are in the thousands. Dodge said he couldn't speak for the organization as a whole because every charter operates independently. They are bureaucratically structured with a clear chain of command at both the national and local (chapter) level. Positions of president, lieutenant, sergeant-at-arms, and treasurer are common in the organization. Meredith resident "Big Ed" Shaughnessy holds the position of sergeant-at-arms for the Manchester chapter which was formed about a year ago. Known to many for his business dealings in the area, at 47 years old, the custom home builder has been an Angel for just four years. Quelling some of the rumors circulating about what exactly a "clubhouse" is, Shaughnessy said the new location will be open to any Hells Angel to come and go as they please. "I don't know where that statement came from that everyone will have a key, but every (Hells Angel) clubhouse in the world is open to any Hells Angel," he explained. "Wherever we go that's the way it is, and that's the way it will be here." He said it's not going to be like the old days of not working, drinking and riding around all day. "Yeah, we will have parties up here," he said. "But they will be open to the public ... there will be a charge at the gate of course, but we've had 600 to 800 people from every walk of life at these." It's that image that has got some people asking what exactly is allowed in that neighborhood. According to the Laconia city planner, 65 Filmore Ave. fits into the category eligible for either a temporary campground during Motorcycle Week by permit, or a long-term campground which would have to be approved by the Planning Board. In accordance with Chapter 195 of Laconia's City Code, through which the Angels could apply for a temporary campground permit, certain restrictions apply. Among the most notable, sanitary facilities will have to be provided for all campers along with an adequate water supply. Public safety access could also be required as well as fencing around the campground. Both Dodge and Shaughnessy said the organization is prepared for whatever they need to do to make the location work. "We are looking ahead to the future," Dodge said. Pulling the right permits is just one of the things on the Angels' minds. With the group being considered one of the so-called Big Four groups - others are the Outlaws, the Pagans, and the Bandidos - keeping things on the up-and-up is a challenge. "We have a 'no dealing drugs' policy in our chapter," Dodge explained. "If you deal drugs you are out and if you get kicked out of a chapter, you are out of the organization for good." One person Dodge has come up against before, and lost, is Assistant U.S. Attorney Clyde R.W. Garrigan. "Many of the Hells Angels are convicted felons with long records of drugs and violence," Garrigan said from his Concord office. "The worldwide spread of Hells Angels is concerning, especially when it's in your backyard." According to Garrigan, Dodge was among a group of Hells Angels tried and convicted in the early '90s for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, methamphetamine speed, ice, or crystal in this case. He did federal prison time in Pennsylvania for the charge. Dodge confirmed the information. "One thing we want people to know is we are not out to start trouble ... because of who we are," Dodge said. "We just want our past left in the past and people to judge us for who we are." While Garrigan has been prosecuting Hells Angels in New Hampshire for more than 13 years, and has many concerns that outlaw motorcycle groups present one of the greatest criminal threats in New Hampshire today, he said he's very confident with the handle the Laconia Police Department has on the situation. Dodge and Shaughnessy both agree that Chief Bill Baker is one of the reasons there won't be any problems between the Angels and law enforcement. "We have open communication with the chief," Shaughnessy said. "He's a man of his word." Baker seems to take the compliments with a grain of salt, only looking to the future, planning for what may happen and learning from the past. He said his department won't do anything differently, that they are prepared, through everyday training, for whatever may happen. "The (anti-gang) network is extensive and we are a major player in that," Baker said. "Are we prepared? Absolutely!" What happened in 1998 is still fresh in many minds when talking about Hells Angels and Laconia. During Motorcycle Week, a brawl broke out between the Angels and Laconia and State police. When it was all said and done, four officers were injured and nine Hells Angles from Maine to California were convicted in court of assaults that happened on Weirs Boulevard in the middle of the day and several chapters of the Hells Angels were banned from Motorcycle Week. "Yes, 1998 was a violent time," Baker said. "It was an aberration. It's not something that happens on a regular basis." Baker said his department is ready if something like that happens again. "It's our day-to-day training that prepares us for that," he said. "We are ready ... but I don't expect it." Looking into the future, Dodge said there may eventually be a Lakes Region chapter of the Hells Angels, but for now, the Manchester chapter is the only one established in the state. "We don't recruit. The door is open for whoever is interested," Dodge said. "I'm a Hells Angel 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week. I'm an electrician here and there." Shaughnessy summed up the lure by using an age-old Angels quote: "We live the life we love and love the life we live." ----------------------- K. John MacLean is the New Media Editor of Citizen Online and can be reached by calling 524-3800 ext. 5913, or by e-mail at: [EMAIL PROTECTED] See also: Councilors have little reaction to Hells Angels' plans <http://www.citizen.com/news2001/Feb/24/lac0224f.htm> Hells Angels said eyeing local house <http://www.citizen.com/news2001/Feb/22/lac0222a.htm> =================================================================== THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2001 Mexican broadcasters take 'narco-ballads' off the air <http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2001/03/08/p8s1.htm> A massacre last month prompted a self-imposed ban on drug songs by radio stations. By Howard LaFranchi Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor MEXICO CITY Do violent lyrics in popular music foment violence? Do songs about illegal drugs glorify the drug trade and turn traffickers into heroes? Those might sound like questions for American rapper Eminem. But they're being asked in Mexico, where a surge in drug-related killings this year has rekindled a search for solutions. One idea: banning narco-corridos or "narco-ballads." Songs with drug themes have become increasingly common - and wildly popular - over recent years as Mexico's troubador musical groups sing of the social conditions around them. Last week the radio and television association of Sinaloa state banned narco-ballads and other songs glorifying violence from the airwaves. The ban came days after an apparently drug-related massacre that left 12 people dead in the Sinaloan village of El Limoncito. On Valentine's Day most of El Limoncito's males of all ages were lined up by masked visitors and gunned down with automatic weapons. Within the broadcast industry, the ban's supporters say they don't want to be associated with such violence. "Rather than let ourselves be used to send messages that glorify violence, corruption, and illegal activities," says Manuel Pérez Muñóz, president of the Sinaloa office of the National Chamber of the Radio and Television Industry (CIRT), "we want to send other messages: of morality, of respect for life, of caring for children." Sinaloa's 50 radio stations will soon begin running new spots promoting community harmony and peaceful conflict resolution, Mr. Perez says. The state's three local TV stations are considering joining the campaign. The ban most notably affects the work of musicians like Los Tigres del Norte and Los Tucanes de Tijuana, who have huge followings and high radio exposure in Mexico's north. The groups are also quite popular in the Mexican immigrant communities in US cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, and Houston. Critics of the ban say the songs are not the cause but only the reflection of a part of Mexican life. This kind of measure "is like trying to block out the sun with your thumb," says José Luis Marín, marketing executive of regional Mexican music at Universal, the Tucanes' record label. "Groups like the Tucanes are singing about what they see every day in newspapers and on TV, they're not making anything up." If Mexico's ranchero balladeers are simply chronicling northern Mexican life, it was unavoidable they would sing of drug-trafficking - and of Sinaloa. The Pacific coast state is considered the birthplace of Mexico's multibillion-dollar drug trade. Successful traffickers are heroes in many of Sinaloa's poor villages. But the drug trade has also turned Sinaloa into one of Mexico's most violent regions. Last year the state recorded more than 500 drug-related killings. But not even the 90 killings registered in December and the first two weeks of January prepared Sinaloa for the stunning sight of El Limoncito's massacre victims. The Sinaloa CIRT's Perez emphasizes that no groups will be pulled from the radio, only songs with violent themes or lyrics that promote illegal activities. "Of course we'll still play the Tigres and Tucanes," says the owner of four Sinaloan radio stations. Songs that will no longer be heard on Sinaloa radio include the Tigres' "Lamberto Quintero," a lamentation of the killing of one of Sinaloa's most powerful narcotraffickers, and the Tucanes' "Most Wanted Men," in which a drug trafficker brags about using his money to buy politicians and "control entire countries." Music historians and sociologists say contemporary corrido singers are doing what Mexican balladeers have done since the beginning of the 20th century, when themes of the day were revolution, land rights, and the rise of the poor. But others say the narco-ballads have crossed the line from chronicling to promoting and glorifying. And with Sinaloa reeling from a surge in violence, that perception of glorification became intolerable. Some record companies say they believe radio bans and other actions that reduce exposure for certain groups probably translate into lower record sales. But the nonplussed Tucanes don't seem too worried. When the Sinaloa ban was announced, the group - originally from Sinaloa - predicted fans would turn off the radio and play their tapes and CDs in their pickups. =================================================================== "Anarchy doesn't mean out of control. It means out of 'their' control." -Jim Dodge ====================================================== "Communications without intelligence is noise; intelligence without communications is irrelevant." -Gen. Alfred. M. Gray, USMC ====================================================== "It is not a sign of good health to be well adjusted to a sick society." -J. Krishnamurti ====================================================== "The world is my country, all mankind my brethren, and to do good is my religion." -Thomas Paine ====================================================== " . . . it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds . . . " -Samuel Adams ====================================================== "You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no results." -Gandhi ______________________________________________________________ To subscribe/unsubscribe or for a sample copy or a list of back issues, send appropriate email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. ______________________________________________________________ **How to assist RadTimes: An account is available at <www.paypal.com> which enables direct donations. If you are a current PayPal user, use this email address: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, to contribute. 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