Monday, September 23, 2013

Vermont Yankee, Farewell (Sort of)

New World Notes #290 (September 24, 2013):

Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Entergy Corporation's Vermont Yankee
Nuclear Power Station (2004)

In brief:

The good news: New England's most decrepit nuclear power plant--Vermont Yankee--is ceasing operations after more than four decades.   

The bad news: All its deadly radioactive material will just sit there untouched, on the banks of the Connecticut River, for the next 60 years. 

The really odd news: For many years the public has tried and failed to shut this plant down.  For three years, the Vermont legislature has tried and failed to shut this plant down. But the owner, Entergy Corporation, defeated every attempt to close its little New England moneymaker.  Then in August 2013, Entergy Corp. itself decided to shut to shut the plant down.  Just another business decision.

Moral: The public be damned, but business is business!

We'll hear details on the closing and then selections from Dr. Helen Caldicott's memorable 2009 speech--in Brattleboro, Vermont--on why the people have to shut Vermont Yankee down (and all its brethren as well).

 Vermont Yankee, 2007 (cooling tower collapse)

 Vermont Yankee, 2004 (overly warm transformer)


Monday, September 16, 2013

US vs Syria: What the Heck is Going On?

New World Notes #289 (September 17, 2013:

Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)


In brief:

President Obama's rationale for bombing Syria is so preposterous, so illegal--and so unpersuasive to the American public--that one has to ask, What is this warmongering really about? 

The show features some provocative answers to that question by commentators Bruce Dixon and Eric Margolis, law professor Marjorie Cohn, singer Pete Seeger, and yours, truly. One thing all agree on: chemical weapons are not the real reason.

Credits and links:

Marjorie Cohn audio is excerpted from an interview on The Michael Slate Show.  The hour-long show is available here.  Thanks to Michael Slate.

The complete, uncut text of Eric Margolis' "Syria: March to Disaster" is available on Common Dreams.

Bruce Dixon's audio commentaries may be heard at Black Agenda Report.

Marjorie Cohn



Sunday, September 1, 2013

Obey and Keep Calm

Part One: New World Notes #287 (September 3):

Broadcast quality MP3 (38 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Part Two: New World Notes #288 (September 10):

Broadcast quality MP3 (40 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (14 MB)

 Temujin Doran (Click to enlarge)

In Brief

The propaganda barrage preceding the US attack on Syria has begun. So all the more timely is Temujin Doran's new film, Obey: How the Rise of Mass Propaganda Killed Populism. It's about the military, political, and economic crimes of the Corporate State. It features readings from from Chris Hedges' 2010 book, Death of the Liberal Class.

In Part One, we'll hear the first half of Obey and then--to cheer things up a bit--a sweet short film by Doran explaining the slogan, "Keep calm and carry on."

In Part Two, we'll have some words about our Syria war-fever, and we'll read Chidanand Rajghatta's new essay, "Why America Cannot Live Without Wars."  Then on to the second half of Obey.

Temujin Doran's Web site is http://studiocanoe.com/ .


Chris Hedges