Afghanistan: "And Now For Something Completely Different"

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This week in New World Notes, radio program #70, June 30 & July 3:

New World Notes presents its First Annual "What the Heck Are We Doing in Afghanistan?" show. The title of this installment is Afghanistan: "And Now For Something Completely Different." Antiquarians will recognize the quotation from BBC-TV's Monty Python' Flying Circus, ca. 1970.

Between satiric sketches, cut to John Cleese, seated at a desk, resembling a BBC-TV announcer more than the real ones do. He looks up into the camera, pauses, then intones, deadpan, "And now for something completely different."

Cut to the next sketch, which proves to be quite similar to the previous one.

Dr. John Watson (Top, to left), friend and biographer to Sherlock Holmes
(to right) had his army career cut short by an archaic Jezail bullet that
injured him during the Battle of Maiwand, Afghanistan, in 1880 (Bottom).
In the 19th century, Britain made two major attempts to conquer and
rule Afghanistan. Both failed.

Sport's Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue; the Christmas Issue of Playboy; whatever that stupid football game is, with all the Roman numerals; and the State-of-the-Union fertilizer-spreading festival (a charming remnant of our republic's agrarian past) . . . . As with these other annual Media Events, we expect NWN's Annual Afghanistan Lamentation & Jeremiad to become a beloved part of America's popular culture.

Note to supermarket managers: Think lamb, rice, pignolia nuts, yogurt, and beard-grooming accessories to celebrate NWN-Afghanistan Day. Think low-price sales! In the East, on cutlery. In the Mountain States, on telescopic sights and medium-caliber rifle ammo (but don't hesitate to go down to .223 Rem if you're overstocked!). In California, North Beach, Provincetown, & parts of Westchester and Fairfield counties, yogurt from unusual mammals.

Top: NATO troops in Afghanistan.
Bottom: Expert U.S. rifleman demonstrates his mastery of hold,
use of sights, aim, and trigger control.

This week's lineup of heavy hitters:

• Distinguished foreign correspondent Robert Fisk (talks)
• Hartford lawyer & political activist Steve Fournier (rants--his term!)
• Activist, SDS co-founder, & California politician Tom Hayden (is read aloud)
• Musicians Willie Nelson and The Foremen (sing)
• Dr. Kenneth Dowst (again tries & fails to make sense of U.S. foreign policy)
  

Coming soon (dates of WWUH Tuesday broadcast shown):

• July 7--Greg Palast & John Pilger on Neocolonialism & Democracy
• July 14--Are Our Schools Bad on Purpose? (J.T. Gatto, Part1)

Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford, CT) & http://wwuh.org/
• Fridays, 7:30 to 8:00 AM, WHUS-FM 91.7 (Storrs, CT) & http://www.whus.org/
• Saturdays, 7:00-7:30 PM, KRFP-FM 92.5, Radio Free Moscow (Moscow, ID) & http://www.radiofreemoscow.com/
• Any time: Listen to or download any installment ... or subscribe to a podcast ... at A-Infos Radio Project: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=result&action=series&series=New+World+Notes

Connections:

• For more "ranting," see Steve Fournier's http://www.currentinvective.com/
  

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