Friday, February 18, 2011

Who Are the REAL Gangsters?


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 8 -- February 18, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #155, February 22, 2011

Who Are the REAL Gangsters?

Repentant former "economic hit-man" John Perkins, backed by a display of his celebrated Confessions . . . . (Photo by Peter Thompson for the New York Times.) Most photos: Click to enlarge.

Don's summary

No big surprise in the answer. Vinnie "the Chin" Gigante couldn't hold a candle to Lloyd "Mr. Blankfein" Blankfein, Capo de tutti capi of the Goldman Sachs Mob. But the specific examples here should entertain, amuse, and (if all goes well) p*** you off.

We feature

  1. a preposterous news story (every phrase a cliche') about how the cops have yet again broken the back of the Mafia in the Northeast. I've been reading this story since 1960. This time, 800 cops in 3 states participated in the bust, and the biggest kingpin they caught is to be charged with 2--count 'em, 2--homicides. I think our local Superintendent of Schools has more notches than that in her Smith & Wesson's backstrap.
  2. a nice essay by Michael Parenti on the Mafia (read aloud by me)
  3. one of the fine audio collages by Virtual Renderings. This one focuses on the Banksters generally and particularly on the plundering of the Third World by the World Bank and the IMF. Includes reflections by John Perkins on the role of "economic hit-men" in further enriching the rich by robbing the poor.

Top: Friendly, neighborhood Mafia don of my boyhood, Angelo ("The Gentle Don") Bruno, head of organized crime in Greater Philadelphia, 1959-1980. According to Michael Parenti (bottom), Bruno was the model for Mario Puzo's character, Don Vito Corleone. Bruno died suddenly in 1980, apparently at the behest of the Philadelphia family's rogue consigliere, Antonio "Tony Bananas" Caponigri. Tony Bananas died, a little less suddenly, very soon afterwards.

Notes, credits, & links

www.michaelparenti.org/ . The uncut Mafia essay is here: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/01/20-1

Audio collage by Virtual Renderings, from "RedPill Tales: Money Changers [1]". More by V.R. here: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/contributor/2102

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "aegis") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford.

You can listen to any installment of New World Notes online or else download it (as an mp3 audio file) for later listening. The show is archived at both radio4all.net and (from #90 onwards) The Internet Archive. Either link should get you a reverse-chrono listing of available installments. Or browse the show's Web site: Each installment has a page, and each page has links to the recorded audio.

Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want ... and what they're trying to make us settle for.
Can you name this pair of high-ranking mob bosses? Hint 1: Their thievery makes Don Angelo look like Robin Hood by comparison. Hint 2: In place of the old-school honorific, "Godfather," they preferred to be addressed as "Mister Secretary." If you slipped and called them "Mr. Paulson" (top) or "Mr. Geithner" (bottom), you'd probably escape with only a light additional robbing to remind you to show more respect next time.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut dates shown)

  • March 1 on WWUH -- Special hour-long live broadcast for the station's semiannual Fundraising Marathon (noon to 1 PM).
  • March 1-ish elsewhere -- War and Religion. Combine the State, religion, war, and propaganda, and . . . we're doomed! This early installment of New World Notes--from March 2008--has never before been heard outside Greater Hartford.
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