Friday, January 28, 2011

Military Rape


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 5 -- January 28, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #152, February 1, 2011:

Military Rape


In brief

Award-winning journalist Dahr Jamail--interviewed by Dori Smith, of Talk Nation Radio--discusses the extraordinarily high level of Military Sexual Trauma (MST) in the U.S. armed forces today. Essentially, MST is the rape of a soldier by a fellow soldier. Victims are of both sexes, but women soldiers are extremely likely to be victimized. Victims who report the assault are persecuted and denied therapeutic care; their rapists are promoted; and the Pentagon does nothing to fix the problem.

Jamail attributes the epidemic in part to changes in military training, which now "dehumanizes" soldiers much more than in past generations. Jamail also associates dehumanization with another military epidemic, PTSD.

Finally, distinguished journalist Robert Fisk, speaking in 2008, searches for the causes of U.S. soldiers' newfound delight in torturing people. He finds one in the same dehumanization produced by the new military training.

Most graphics: Click to enlarge.

Notes, credits, & links

http://www.dahrjamailiraq.com/
http://www.talknationradio.com/
Fisk excerpt courtesy of TUCradio.org

This week's music: Bruce Springsteen, Bring Them Home. See the music video here. Pete Seeger's Vietnam-era version is here.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "thumb") 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: Dahr Jamail. Bottom: The Pentagon's response to the epidemic of rape and other sexual assault: a small P.R. campaign.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut dates shown)

  • February 8 -- Controlling the People (1): On the Job .

Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



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

Friday, January 14, 2011

Chris Hedges: The Corporate War on the People


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 3 & 4 -- January 14, 2011

This fortnight in New World Notes, radio programs #150-151, January 18 & 25:

Chris Hedges:
The Corporate War
on the People

December 16, 2010: Hedges at an antiwar protest outside the White House. Hedges, Daniel Ellsberg, and others later chained themselves to the surrounding fence. 131 were arrested.

In brief

Journalist, columnist, and former war correspondent Chris Hedges discusses the corporate attack on the American people and on the "liberal" institutions that once helped empower the people.

Part 1: How we got here. In the first of two installments, Hedges discusses how things got to their unhappy current state. He explores the mass-propaganda machine created during World War I, the rise of the public relations industry to serve corporate power, the campaign against labor unions and other liberal institutions, militarism, the replacement of traditional American values (such as thrift) with corporate values, and the sell-out of the Democratic Party.

Part 2: How to fight back. In the second installment, Hedges discusses totalitarianism, American-style; the Christian Right; why the Tea Party (rightly) hates the Liberal Establishment; the perfidy of the Democratic Party; U.S. parallels with the former Yugoslavia; the necessity of resistance; and the importance that the resistance be nonviolent.

Top: Master propagandist of the Wilson administration, George Creel manufactured American public support for World War I. After the war, Creel's techniques would serve the interests of the large corporations.
Bottom: Creel-sponsored propaganda film. Most graphics: Click to enlarge.

Notes, credits, & links

NWN #150 and 151 rebroadcast an interview conducted by Mike McCormick, of the radio program "Mind Over Matters," on December 2, 2010 (slightly condensed by me). http://www.talkingsticktv.org/ . Thanks to Mike for a fine interview and permission to rebroadcast it.

http://www.truthdig.com/chris_hedges

Chris Hedges' most recent book is Death of the Liberal Class (2010).

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "table") 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: abandoned U.S. factory

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • February 1 -- Military Rape
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



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

Friday, January 7, 2011

Helen Caldicott on the Three Global Crises


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 2 -- January 7, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #149, January 11:

Helen Caldicott on
the Three Global Crises

In brief

Famed antinuke crusader Helen Caldicott, MD, displays her signature combination of wit, compassion, passion, and technical expertise. She spoke in Houston on November 12, 2010.

Caldicott discusses, in turn, what she sees as the three greatest threats to life on earth--global warming, nuclear war, and nuclear power--and urges the audience to take concrete actions against each. She even suggests a few specific actions.

With preface by K.D. & a song by Tom Lehrer.

Most graphics: Click to enlarge.

Notes, credits, & links

http://www.helencaldicott.com/

Helen Caldicott's speech was recorded by Wally James. It was previously broadcast by Scooter, on "The innerSide" on KPFT-FM, Houston (http://acksisofevil.org/innerside.html). Thanks to both.

This week's music: Tom Lehrer, So Long, Mom (I'm Off to Drop the Bomb) [1965].

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "first floor") 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.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut dates shown)

  • January 18 & 25 -- Chris Hedges: The Corporate War on the People. How we got into this mess, and what we can do to fight back
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



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

Saturday, January 1, 2011

The Body Toxic



New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 1 -- January 1, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #148, January 4:

The Body Toxic


In brief

Journalist Nena Baker discusses the hazardous chemicals increasingly present in everyday products--pizza boxes, butcher paper, microwave popcorn bags, dental floss, tin cans, clothing, upholstery, you name it.

She focuses on a group of chemicals known as endocrine disrupters or hormone mimics. Examples include

  • bisphenol A (BPA)
  • PFOA
  • phthalates
  • brominated flame retardants (PBDEs)

These chemicals are doing serious harm to our bodies, and government agencies lack the power to regulate their use. There's some hope, though.

She spoke in Seattle on April 1, 2010.

Nena Baker and her book. An intact Teflon-like coating (PTFE) is bad enough, but the skillet on the book cover is scratched. And you worried about cholesterol from the egg! Most graphics: Click to enlarge.

Notes, credits, & links

Baker's talk is based on her recent book, The Body Toxic: How the Hazardous Chemistry of Everyday Things Threatens Our Health and Well-Being ( http://www.thebodytoxic.com/ ).

I have slightly condensed the talk, which was originally broadcast on Mike McCormick's "Mind Over Matters" in Seattle. The uncut version is here. Thanks again to Mike.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "long-suffering sighs") 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: The bag is coated with a perfluorinated compound, PFOA, which migrates into the food, esecially as it is heated.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • January 11 -- Helen Caldicott on the Three Global Crises
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



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