Franco, Mark — U.S. Cultural Genocide: Winnemem Wintu Declare War

Independence Day begs the question of what freedom and independence means. For Independence Day, Radio Curious brings you an interview with the Headman and War Chief of the Winnemem Wintu tribe in Northern California.  The Winnemem Wintu declared war on the United States in 2004, in response to the “continued cultural genocide” against the indigenous tribe.  Since that time they have been in a state of war against the US Government, which refuses to officially recognize the tribe as Native Americans.  The Winnemem Wintu began their war by holding a traditional war dance at the California State capitol building in Sacramento.

In honor of Independence Day Radio Curious Associate Producer, Christina Aanestad, visits with Mark Franco, Headman and War Chief of the Winnemem Wintu tribe. His wife, Caleen Sisk-Franco is the Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu tribe. This interview was recorded in July 2010, at a coming of age ceremony on tribal land along the McCloud River in northern California, near an area where their former villages were flooded to make the Shasta Dam. The conversation began with Mark Franco describing what it means to be the Headman of the Winnemem Wintu tribe.

The Winnemem Wintu website is www.winnememwintu.us/. You may enjoy Christina Aanestad’s interview with Caleen Sisk-Franco, the Chief and Spiritual Leader of the Winnemem Wintu tribe, found here.

The book Mark Franco recommends is “Cadillac Desert:The American West and Its Disappearing Water,” by Marc Reisner.

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Most, Stephen — River of Renewal, Myth & History in the Klamath Basin

Since the last Ice Age ended about 12,000 years ago, human beings have traveled along the Klamath River and it tributaries in the northwest corner of California and the coast of southern Oregon.  Many people finding an abundance of food, have stayed. The main source of their food was salmon. The power of the myth of the salmon may derive from the fact that wild salmon spread out across the Pacific Northwest about the same time that human beings did, at the end of the last Ice Age.

In this edition of Radio Curious we have an archived visit with Steve Most, author of “River of Renewal, Myth & History in the Klamath Basin,” a book that tells the story of the history of the Klamath River and the people who have continuously lived there for the past 12,000 years. Steve Most is a playwright and documentary storyteller. Among many other works, he wrote the texts of the audio voices and videos for the permanent exhibit of the Washington State History Museum. In this interview recorded in mid-March 2007, I spoke with Steve Most from his home in Berkeley, California. We began our conversation when I asked him to give a perspective of the geological and human aspects of the Klamath River and its place in history.

Stephen Most recommends the “Essays and Letters of Ralph Waldo Emerson.”

Originally Broadcast: March 21, 2007

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Totten, Ph.D., Samuel — Genocide in Africa: The Nuba Mountains of Sudan

Another little publicized war, involving the indiscriminate killing and torture of people in the Nuba Mountains of southern Sudan, in northeast Africa, is our topic in this edition of Radio Curious.

Our guest is Professor Samuel Totten, a genocide scholar based at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He was last in the Nuba Mountains in January, 2011 conducting research for a new book, “Genocidal Actions Against the Nuba Mountains People: Interviews with Survivors of Mass Starvation and Other Atrocities.”  He served as one of the 24 investigators with the U.S. Atrocities Documentation Project in eastern Chad.  His most recent book is “An Oral and Documentary History of the Darfur Genocide.”

This interview with Dr. Totten was recorded from his home in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on June 10, 2011.  We began when I asked him to describe the situation in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan.

The book he recommends is one that he wrote and was just published entitled “We Cannot Forget:  Interviews with Survivors of Genocide in Rwanda.”

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Cole, Prescott — Greed is Now Respectable, Part Two: Reverse Mortgages and Annuities

In part two in our series, “Greed is Now Respectable,” we visit again with Attorney Prescott Cole, employed by California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, or “Canhr,” a non-profit agency based in San Francisco, California.  The goal of California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform is long term care, justice and advocacy.   Their website, canhr.org, has sections on Elder Abuse and Elder Financial Abuse, Medi-Cal for Long Term Care, Finding a Nursing Home, Lawyer Referral, among many other related topics.  The CANHR phone number within California is (800) 474-1116, and outside of California it is (415) 974-5171.

Our conversation with Attorney Prescott Cole was recorded from his office in San Francisco on June 9, 2011.  We discuss what a reverse mortgage is and the grave and potential economic and social consequences to which purchasers of a reverse mortgage are exposed. We talk about annuities, what they are, what they cost, and why an annuity is a poor investment for seniors. We include a discussion of how Veterans eligible for aid benefits have been lured into giving away their assets in an attempt to become eligible for the aid benefits.

We began our conversation when I asked Precott Cole to tell us about reverse mortgages.

The books Prescott Cole recommends are those written by P.G. Wodehouse, about Jeeves the Butler.

The website for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform is canhr.org.

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Cole, Prescott — Greed is Now Respectable, Part One: Elder Financial Abuse

A will is a legal document that one prepares to identify what should be done with property after the writer has died.  In recent years, a document called a “living trust” has come into fashion that if it fits a persons needs and is done properly, would achieve the same purpose. Occasionally so called “free seminars,” are advertised living trusts.  Some of the gatherings are calculated to be more than instructional.  Rather they are calculated to sell the attendees, mostly senior citizens, a living trust at a surprisingly low price, as well as reverse mortgages and annuities.

Prescott Cole, an attorney working with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, based in San Francisco, California is our guest on this edition of Radio Curious, in the first of two discussions on financial elder abuse.  In this program we will discuss living trust seminars, how they are organized and what some of their goals are.

I spoke with Prescott Cole from his office in San Franciso on May 27, 2011 and began our conversation by asking him to describe a living trust seminar.

The website for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform is canhr.org. This interview was recorded on May 27, 2011.

The book that Prescott Cole recommends is the “Bartimaes Trilogy,” by Jonathan Stroud.

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