Saturday, March 12, 2011

Who are the REAL Pirates? ...


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 11 -- March 12, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #158, March 15, 2011

Who are the REAL Pirates?
And Who are the REAL
Mass-Murderers?


In brief

Another installment in the same spirit as #155, "Who are the REAL Gangsters?"

(1) Commentator Glen Ford explains why the real "pirates of Somalia" are multinational corporations and certain Western nation-states. In the absence of any effective national government in Somalia, these outfits have been *plundering* that poor country. Includes a sprightly song celebrating the literal pirates of Somalia--the guys in the rubber boats--by David Rovics.

(2) Anthropologist Elliott Leyton argues that common mass-murderers, unlike common ordinary murderers, reveal a lot about a culture's values. And he cautions that common mass-murderers--who get most of the media publicity--are small potatoes indeed, compared to the leaders of nation-states.

My own example: Bill Clinton killed about 1 million Iraqi civilians through a murderous regime of "sanctions" (import prohibitions). How many people did Jared Loughner kill? (ANSWER: 6, plus 14 injured.) Which rampage did you hear more about in the "mainstream media"?

(3) We present also the first installment of a new (occasional) feature of the show, The Book Report. This week Ken reviews Chris Hedges' Death of the Liberal Class (2010).

Top: One of the joys of parenthood: reading Richard Scarry's books
to your toddler.

Notes, credits, & links

This week's music: David Rovics, Pirates of Somalia

Glen Ford: http://www.blackagendareport.com/

Elliott Leyton: http://www.metanoia-films.org/humanresources.php . http://www.mun.ca/anthro/faculty_staff/leyton.php

Chris Hedges: http://www.truthdig.com/chris_hedges

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "average quality") 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.

Top: Mass-murderer Richard Speck: Killed 8 student-nurses in Chicago. Bottom: Statesman William Jefferson Clinton: Killed approx. 1 million innocent men, women, & chidren in Iraq through a murderous regime of "sanctions" (import restrictions).

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • March 22 + 29 -- The Lightbulb Conspiracy (2 parts)
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

Canadian anthropologist Elliott Leyton (with beautiful old shotgun) reminds us that you're much more likely to be killed by your country's head of state than by some retail psycho on the street. So why do Richard Speck, the Son of Sam, and Jared Loughner get all the publicity?

A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net


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