It's Not Character Flaws: It's Policy

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New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 29 -- July 17, 2010

This week in New World Notes, radio program #124, July 20:

It's Not Character Flaws:
It's Policy

Baghdad, 2003. All this mayhem because Bush is a dry drunk, and
Dad preferred Jeb? Most photos: Click to enlarge.

In brief

Pundits like to attribute bad government policies to supposed "character flaws" in the Chief Executive.

Bush smashed Iraq because he's a "dry drunk" who feels the need to prove himself to Dad (who always preferred Jeb)--the explanation goes. Not in order to increase U.S. control over the Middle East's countries and oil.

Why did Obama let Wall Street destroy the U.S. economy and then reward it with a gift of a trillion dollars? Why did he let Big Oil destroy the Gulf and our Gulf states? According to Times pundit Frank Rich, because Obama is "too deferential" to the opinons of experts. He's "too trusting" in the advice of his own staff. Character flaws. Not because Obama is a tool and handmaiden of Big Finance and Big Oil (both of which were also Big Campaign Contributors).

First I and then political scientist Michael Parenti argue that Presidents push bad policies in order to further benefit the ruling elite at the expense of the rest of us. I focus on Obama and include a reading from Frank Rich's preposterous op-ed, mentioned above. Parenti (speaking in January 2008) touches on G.W. Bush's economic policies, Iraq war, and ethnic cleansing of New Orleans. He argues that all were deliberate policies--ruthlessly executed and largely successful--not unfortunate results of character flaws.

Goldman Sachs and BP get away with murder because Barack Obama (top,
with Rahm Emanuel) is too deferential, too trusting of the advice of experts.
Or so pontificates New York Times columnist Frank Rich (bottom). The photo
of Obama appears to be the basis of the famous "Hope" campaign poster.

Notes, credits, & links

This week's music: Utah Phillips, NPR Talking Blues; and David Rovics, Before the Oil Wells Ran Dry

Michael Parenti's remarks--recorded January 22, 2008--courtesy of Maria Gilardin and TUC Radio.

Frank Rich's balderdash was from the New York Times "Week in Review" section, Sunday, June 6, 2010, p. 10.

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. 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.

Did FEMA "mismanage" the New Orleans disaster (bottom) owing to
"incompetence"? Michael Parenti has a contrary notion: letting the
poor neighborhoods of New Orleans drown was a ruthless act of
ethnic cleansing, gentrification, urban redevelopment, and
political realignment.

Coming soon (Tuesday broadcast debut dates shown)

• July 27 and August 3 -- War Made Easy. A 2-part radio adaptation of this video documentary from 2007. Shows the techniques with which our government and our media drum up public support for war in a well-planned campaign of propaganda and lies. The same techniques are used each time. Features commentary by Norman Solomon and Sean Penn, plus much TV footage from the 1960s through 2007.

Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford, CT) & http://wwuh.org/
• Saturdays, 5:00 to 5:30 PM, 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

Suppressed by The Press

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New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 19 -- May 9, 2010

This Week in New World Notes, radio program #114, May 11:

Suppressed by
The Press

January 3, 2006: The press got the story right, apart from one small
detail: the vitality of the trapped miners. The venerable Rocky
Mountain News (right column) is no longer alive, either. Credit to the
Boston Globe, though (left column), for refusing to treat unconfirmed
assertion as fact. (Note the "reportedly" in the headline.)

In brief

The commercial press continues its tailspin descent--a problem largely of its own making (and also of Wall Street's making). While commercial newspapers (to say nothing of TV news) have served the public poorly, when they're gone, whatever good they did provide will be missed.

Following a brief rant by me, I read Robert Freeman's interesting essay, "The Real Top Ten Stories of the Past Decade"--none of which received much honest press coverage. I'll supplement Freeman's tragicomic catalogue with Robert Parry's expose', "Gore's Victory"--story #1 on Freeman's list.

By any sane criterion of ballot inclusion or exclusion, the majority of voters in the state of Florida voted for Albert Gore in 2000. The U.S. Supreme Court prematurely halted the State-Supreme-Court-ordered recount of Florida's ballots. That effectively gave Florida to Bush, hence a majority of Electoral votes, hence the Presidency. The major news media know who won the popular vote because they paid the Roper Organization to do a thorough recount of Florida's ballots. The commercial press either suppressed the story or else grossly misrepresented Roper's results.

Freeman's list of uncovered crucial stories includes the failure of "the free market" to sustain properity, ... the collapse of the media, ... Bush's prior knowledge of 9/11, ... the destruction of civil liberties, ... the meaninglessness of elections (notably 2008's), and others.

We end with a few words by Australian filmmaker and media critic John Pilger on professional journalism as propaganda.

Notes and credits

This week's song: David Rovics, Evening News

John Pilger's remarks courtesy of democracynow.org

Robert Freeman's "The Real Top Ten Stories of the Past Decade" from Common Dreams, January 1, 2010. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/01-0

Robert Parry's "Gore's Victory" is from consortiumnews.com, November 12, 2001.

Fun Web page: "25 Weirdest Newspaper Headlines" -- http://www.masalatime.com/?p=501 . These are photos of newspaper clippings, with headline and at least part of the story. My favorite: "Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons" (see below).

New World Notes installments from #10 are archived at A-Infos Radio Project/radio4all.net. Installments beginning with #90 are archived also at The Internet Archive, in a variety of file formats. Either link should get you a reverse-chrono listing of available installments.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "bad influence") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford. Feedback to kdowst at hotmail period com.

Free weekly NWN email newsletter on request.

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 debut date shown:

• May 18 -- Chris Hedges on the Empire of Illusion

Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford, CT) & http://wwuh.org/
• Saturdays, 5:00 to 5:30 PM, 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

The Kids Are All Right

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New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 2 -- January 9, 2010

This week's photos from the Copenhagen climate summit,
December 2009.

This Week in New World Notes, radio program #97, Jan. 12:

The Kids Are All Right

Workers' summary

To my surprise, young people today seem sharper, saner, more politically active, and more inspiring than several preceding "generations" of young'uns. Could there be hope for the future? We hear from George Carlin, trying & failing to sound like a pedophobe ... from Mari Oye and Leah Anthony Libresco, two young women in high school who challenged Bush on torture ... and from journalist Johann Hari, reporting from the COP-15 climate conference, on the wisdom & courage of the young protesters.

This week's music (from the musical, Bye Bye Birdie, 1960):

• The Telephone Hour
• from Kids!
• from Fine, Upstanding, ...

Coming Soon

• January 19 -- Cheap Junk and The Deindustrialization of America -- Welcome to the Third World! (Hope you had your shots!)
• January 26 -- Lenny Bruce and the Meaning of Obscenity

Notes and credits

Johann Hari's article from Common Dreams online, December 16, 2009: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/12/16-5.

Amy Goodman's interview with Mari Oye and Leah Anthony Libresco (July 3, 2007) courtesy of democracynow.org: http://www.democracynow.org/2007/7/3/we_do_not_want_america_to .

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "inflexible deadlines") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford. Feedback to kdowst at hotmail dot com.

Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford, CT) & http://wwuh.org/
• Saturdays, 6:30 to 7:00 PM, 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

Public Education: Failure or All-Too-Successful?

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This week in New World Notes, radio program #78, August 25:

Schoolchildren salute the flag: early 20th century. Be afraid.

One of my favorite mental images comes from Eric Klinenberg's talk on Media Oligopoly, from the 9th installment of New World Notes (April 2008). Klinenberg told how a Christian anti-smut organization and Move On (I think it was) and the National Rifle Association and Code Pink for Peace all joined together to fight some horrific rule-change or other that the Bush-era Federal Communications Commission was proposing.

Can’t you just picture the table? . . . with (the late) Charleton Heston, for the NRA, in leather boots, jeans, and cowboy-plaid shirt, sitting next to Code Pink’s Medea Benjamin, in a pink Tee and (just to unsettle her right-wing opponents) pearl necklace?

I can picture Medea and Charlton--between rounds of plotting tactics to stop the government from “privatizing” all the airwaves--chatting and discovering they’re both fans of, say, singer Iris Dement and the Green Bay Packers. And, more importantly, discovering that they share more political beliefs than they had imagined. And discovering that they and the organizations they represent can work together effectively on matters of common concern.

Medea Benjamin, being ejected from a joint session of Congress
after giving advice to Iraq PM Nouri al-Malaki, July 30, 2006.

Every bit as much as those we refer to as “right-wing crazies” do, we left-of-center types demonize those we see as our opponents and then turn them into cartoon stereotypes. Not even real demons but cartoon demons!

We disdain Limbaugh "dittoheads" who--cartoonishly--imagine Palestinians as only evil bomb-throwers, . . . who imagine homosexuals as warped pedophiles, . . . who imagine Obama and H. Clinton as “dangerous socialists.” (If only!)

Yet how about our own imaginations of people it’s PC for liberals to despise? What do we picture when we think of “hard-hat construction worker“? What do we picture when we think of “NRA member”?

So I like the image of Medea and Charlton getting to know and respect each other--and the grassroots organization that the other heads or headed. Some day I’m going to do a show on gun-control and the NRA that--in the unlikely event that all goes according to plan--will get listeners to question which side has the sane, sensible people and which has the wild-eyed crazies.

Jonathan Kozol in 2006

For now, though, let’s look at an even stranger set of bedfellows than Chuck and Medea. Teachers / scholars of education / educational theorists John Taylor Gatto and Jonathan Kozol are (apart from their life’s work!) two peas from very different pods.

Kozol is a child of privilege with a resume’ to prove it: prep school; Harvard BA summa cum laude (English major, let it be noted); Rhodes Scholarship to one of the most prestigious colleges at Oxford, Magdalen; quit to move to Paris and write a novel; numerous fellowships including two Guggenheims; and so on and so forth.

Gatto was brought up in a steel-and-mining town near Pittsburgh, educated (or “schooled,” as he would say) in small-town public schools in the region and one Catholic boarding school, served in the army, attended graduate schools, and eventually became a schoolteacher in New York City.

Class conflict, anyone?

Interboro High School Brain Trust, ca. 1968. Note handsome young
man in the polka-dot tie. "Scott's Hi-Q" was an interscholastic quiz-team
tournament similar to GE College Bowl on national TV. ("Scott" was the
Scott Paper Company.) Standing: Bruce Shaw (team alternate), Kenneth
Mobley (faculty advisor). This photo surfaced just a few days ago on
Facebook.

That Gatto and Kozol disagree on several points is hardly surprising. More surprising is how much they agree on. Here’s a quick comparison-and-contrast:

Born in . . .
Gatto: 1935
Kozol: 1936

Grew up in . . .
Gatto: blue-collar small town near Pittsburgh (Monongahela, PA)
Kozol: "previleged" environment in affluent Boston suburb (Newton, MA)

Apparent political leanings:
Gatto: ("paleo-") conservative / Libertarian
Kozol: Left-Liberal

Most teaching experience:
Gatto: public secondary schools
Kozol: public elementary schools

Honors from educational Establishment?
Gatto: Yes
Kozol: Yes

Public persona (after Gatto):
Gatto: adult
Kozol: child-like (= praise, of a sort) but not child-ish

Purpose of standardized testing = ?
Gatto: to sort & destroy children
Kozol: to sort & destroy children

Overall nature of his critique (after Parenti):
Gatto: a "radical analysis"
Kozol: a "liberal complaint"

Summary judgment of public schooling:
Gatto: all-too-successful at doing the evil things it was designed to do
Kozol: a failure at educating children & empowering citizens

Proposed solution to the problems of public education =
Gatto: destroy the system
Kozol: radically reform the system

John Taylor Gatto (seated) in 2009

Fascinating stuff. This week we present Part 3 (the conclusion) of the long talk John Taylor Gatto gave in late 2003, and we present an introduction to Jonathan Kozol through excerpts from a talk that he gave in, I believe, 2006. I hope you’ll find the similarities between the two as interesting as I did.

It wouldn’t hurt if you had heard the previous installments of Gatto’s speech (NWN #72 & 74). If you want to, and have an hour to spare, by all means help yourself! Just scroll down to the blog entries for July 10 (#72) and July 26 (#74). Each entry has a link or 2 to the sound files. But I think you can also begin with this week’s episode, which starts with a review of Gatto’s main ideas.

We’ll hear more from Kozol at a later date.

In solidarity,
Ken

The Thinking (Wo)Man's Guide to 9-11, Part 1

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This week and next in New World Notes, programs #76 & 77, Aug. 11 & 18:

Executive Summary:

Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. An investigative conclusion uncogency power-argumention situation. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Going forward, Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Leadership not just for today but for Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Here's a shout out to Moscow, Idaho: Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Or is that Iowa? Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Teamwork! Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. When combined with motivation, nothing can Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. Let's go!

Workforce Summary:

This week: A comic-satiric opening monologue on two hot-selling literary genres--Christian Porn and "Complete Idiots'" books "for Dummies"--somehow leads to a measured and reasoned introduction to the severe problems with the Official Story of 9-11. The title is, The Thinking (Wo)Man's Guide to 9-11.

In olden times, popular books introducing a subject were given that sort of title. The Thinking man's Guide to Communist Subversion--not Communist Subversion for Dummies!

This is a show for people--friends of yours?--who haven't looked into 9-11 issues much and who don't want to be seen as "conspiracy nuts." Speakers make a low-key, moderate, & persuasive case for having a new investigation into 9-11, to answer the many questions that remain unanswered. By design, the speakers don't make any claims that are especially hard to accept.

For example, no one asserts that Cheney and Netanyahu planned the whole thing, with assistance from Pakistan's SIS and the Pope of Rome, in order to usher in the New World Order, destroy democracy, and transform the Knesset into the governing body of the planet.

I'm not saying that this theory is wrong, understand. But the show is trying to persuade the uninvolved to look into the subject more than they have--not to scare them away.

This week features nice overviews by ex-MI5 agent David Shayler and by KD.

Top: David Shayler. Bottom: A real title this time.
The previous two were parodies. I think.

People knowledgeable about the events of 9-11-2001--and even those active in the "9-11 Truth" movement--might also enjoy this two-part series, as a handy overview and sorting of the differences between reality and the reality alleged by the 9-11 Commission Report.

Song played: John Lester, "Out of the Clear Blue Sky"

Coming soon (dates of WWUH Tuesday broadcast shown):

• August 18--The Thinking (Wo)Man's Guide to 9-11, Part 2
• August 25--Public Education: Failure or All-Too-Successful? -- J.T. Gatto (Part 3) vs. Jonathan Kozol

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

Soon to come: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Yawning.

Return of the Jello

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New World Notes News

Volume 1, Number 25 -- December 30 , 2008

Public Apology: In last week’s program I mentioned that Molly Ivins had been one of 2,000 liberals in the state of Texas. In the interest of homeland security, I revealed where to find the rest. In doing so, I had the sort of mental slip everybody makes once in awhile. Like saying “Saddam Hussein” when you meant “Barack Obama.”

So I heard myself saying that 200 liberals could be found on the campus of Southern Methodist University. I half expected the flood of hate mail I received from the Dallas suburbs, but the threatening notices from SMU’s lawyers were a surprise. So let me say that I have ceased and desisted this arguably felonious behavior. I acknowledge the falsity of my statement, which statement I deeply regret and now do publicly retract.

Obviously, I momentarily confused Southern Methodist with Texas Christian University, in nearby Fort Worth. The few emails I received from the TCU faculty were charitable and humorous, poking gentle fun at what they saw as my “brain fart,” to quote George Carlin, as several of them did.

The Rapture: Hartford, looking southwest from what is now Interstate 84. I think.
Note the total absence of downtown businesspersons heading heavenwards. Did
the motorcyclist make it, or is that him inspecting his spark plugs (far left)?

This week in New World Notes, #45 -- December 30 & January 2:

Return of the Jello

Title of this week's program courtesy of Jonathan Dowst, who, despite my best efforts, has been transmogrophied into a Star Wars fan. On the plus side, at least he still loves playing with language.

People may find it surprising that many of our best cultural and political analysts focus on language. Orwell, of course. In 1984, the State has a program of reducing the English vocabulary to only a few hundred words--thus making it impossible for people to make subtle distinctions. So politics becomes a matter of Good (those who agree with the Chief Executive) vs. Evil (those who disagree with him). And obviously, in such a world, diplomatic shilly-shallying is less than useless, so in case of disagreement with another government, send the Marines!

Does this sound at all familiar? (See also: Evil Empire, Axis of Evil, neoconservatives, Bush Doctrine.)

Though no fan of the Christian Right, Jello thought the anticipated Rapture was
“kind of cool!” He relished the thought of all the “religious extremists” being
“wafted up to heaven--naked! --leaving the rest of us to put the world back
together again in peace.” Jello didn’t realize (see illustration) that (1) apparently
the saved wouldn’t be naked and (2) every drop-dead-gorgeous example of
nubile jailbait would be swept up in the first tranche. My first lover favored
denim wraparound miniskirts too, to equally good effect. Apparently Howard
Hughes--looking for a new challenge after famously engineering the brassiere
Jane Russell wore in The Outlaw-- later had the good fortune of meeting the
sweet young thing in the Afro at a church social.

I recognize the style of The Watchtower’s in-house illustrator. Someone
should advise the Seventh-Day Adventists that a Methodist war criminal
has snuck in among the faithful.

Before Orwell there was Swift and (especially in his essays) Twain, among others. Afterwards we have--to rattle off the first to come to mind--Dorothy Parker, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Molly Ivins, Michael Parenti, and Jello Biafra. All are good analysts of politics and culture. All discuss the use, abuse, and misuse of language. Interestingly, all except Orwell are known for their humor, and some are card-carrying comedians.

We’ve already had more than enough Rapture illustrations, but this bit of kitsch was
so charming, I had to share it. It’s called “The Rapture,” but I suspect it could be
called “The Death of Ophelia” equally well. What is that thing at the top of the picture?
Did someone toss a Hoover Upright into the pond after her? Makes me inclined
to suspect the husband.

Molly we heard last week; George Carlin we shall hear next week; and let us now turn again to Jello Biafra. When this Dead Kennedys alumnus is not punk-rocking away with Jello and the Melvins, he's an astute political analyst and social critic . . . and a very funny speaker.

In these selections from a talk he gave this summer, Jello delivers his own "farewell kiss from the widows and orphans" of our country to the White House’s Current Occupant. Which inevitably leads Jello to the subject of How to Mangle the English Language for Fun, Profit, and Glory--while destroying the country that made your wealthy and comfortable life possible . . . to say nothing of the Middle East! Which reminds Jello of his high school geometry teacher, the only man who could even approach Bush when it came to logotorture and grammaticide!

Jello’s a half-century old this year. The recording artist, not the non-nutritious
dessert. Jello’s nom de guerre combines a region of Nigeria once known for
starvation--and probably just as hungry today--with the popular American
junk-food. Not bad for a punk rocker in a band with a name like
The Dead Kennedys, eh?

Jello also discusses “creative sabotage,” how to reduce your bondage to corporations, why Armageddon “could really wreck your day,” and why “doing something,” even if only a little, “is always better than doing nothing.”

Recommended listening.

I don’t know where or when this photo was taken. How’s this? “Proudly displaying the
Colors, the President bids a fond adieu to Baghdad at the conclusion of his surprise
pre-Christmas visit.” Another problem with the French is that they don’t even have a
word for adieu, either! (Bush had actually said this about entrepreneur.
Could I make this stuff up?)

Catch New World Notes . . .

Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford) & http://wwuh.org
Fridays, 7:30 to 8:00 AM, WHUS-FM 91.7 (Storrs) & http://www.whus.org/
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%20World%20Notes

Christmas Special: Molly Ivins . . .

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New World Notes News
Volume 1, Number 24 -- December 23 , 2008
http://newworldnotes.blogspot.com/

This week in New World Notes, #44 -- December 23 & 26:

Christmas Special:
Molly Ivins on Religion, Politics, Democracy,
Fun, and Those Darn 'Lord Impersonators'

Now comes New World Notes's first-ever Christmas Special. I should have devoted installment #38 (November 11) to the subject of guns. Then I could have called it NWN's ".38 Special." Yes, I know, I could have done it this week as well, as there's also a ".44 Special." Not too common these days, though. And since I know neither how to breed or nor how to shoot horses, I can't use ".45 Colt" next week either!

Probably my best bet would be to wait another six years, get permission to do an hour-long show on guns, and call it our ".357 Magnum."

So installment #44 is our Christmas Special, and let's not hear any cracks about shooting off my mouth!

Featured speaker is the late, great humorist, journalist, and Texas-liberal agitator, Molly Ivins (d. 2007). And to hear Molly inevitably is to hear about Texas--which is how my mind turned to the subject of guns & ammo in the first place. Who ever heard a story about Texas that didn't involve at least one gun?

Texas Governor Rick "Goodhair" Perry. "That man has a head
of hair every Texan can be proud of, regardless of party."

This being modern Texas, though, the story has more religious nutcases than guns. People who believe that God is giving them special assignments. For instance: drive to Louisiana naked. With 16 naked neighbors. In the same car. (If you have to ask: Pontiac GTO.)

Or for instance: invade Iraq, bring the hajjis Christianity, democracy, and free-market capitalism, and let them pay for our help out of their oil revenues.

Looking in good spirits despite chemotherapy. Quite a contrast
to the Governor, though!--as she was in most other respects
as well as tonsorially. Molly died of breast cancer in 2007.

Molly--who is addressing an audience in Berkeley--also touches on California Governor Schwarzenegger (who looks like "a condom stuffed with walnuts"), Texas Governor Rick "Goodhair" Perry, and the Enron executive appointed as Texas State Utilities Commissioner--and driven out of office by the state's legion of small-game hunters. Plus musings on democracy in America and hard-earned advice from a Texas Liberal to left-wing activists everywhere: Have a good time now. Don't wait until you've won all the battles to make politics fun!

And next time you get special instructions from On High, make sure it's the real Lord who's speaking and not one of those damn' Lord Impersonators such as the one Crawford's Connecticut Cowboy has been listening to!

California Governator Schwarzenegger:
"a condom stuffed with walnuts"?

Ann Richards--Governor of Texas, 1991-1995; defeated for re-election by
W. Bush; died in 2006. Possibly the only politician in the state Molly ever
admired--apart from onetime Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower.
Here Richards tests the radical new motorcycle--the first ever designed
and built in Texas --the Alamoster 883, as Keith Olberman (rear)
scowls in approval.

But in our Christmas Special, it wouldn't do to let the Lord Impersonators have the only word about Higher Things, so the program features other voices too. Roy Zimmerman sings about "Jerry Falwell's God." Tom Lehrer sings about celebrating Christmas, American-style. And I offer a few words of praise for the man Ezra Pound (I think it was) appreciatively dubbed "Commander Carpenter." A.k.a. Jesus of Nazareth.

So happy Christmas, one and all! And if anyone happens to give you a Christian Bible as a Christmas present, see if it has a decent index. If it does, try looking up some topics, just to see if Jesus might ever have had anything interesting to say on the subject. Possibly,

• America, God's blessing of, or not
• homosexuality
• abortion
• neighbor, loving your
• hungry, feeding the
• naked, clothing the
• homeless, giving shelter to the
• peacemakers
• ploughshares
• wealth, personal
• stones, casting the first

As the byline shows, Molly's wit and sanity are missed
well beyond the confines of Texas. Cartoon by Bagley.

Catch New World Notes . . .

• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford) & http://wwuh.org/
• Fridays, 7:30 to 8:00 AM, WHUS-FM 91.7 (Storrs) & http://www.whus.org/
• 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%20World%20Notes

Disclosure: A number of captious critics, some of them clad in leather jackets, have taken issue with certain points of the Ann Richards caption.

The End of 'Mutual Corruption'

Download Mutual Corruption, Part 3
Download Mutual Corruption, Part 2

New World Notes News
Volume 1, Number 18, Part 2 -- November 11, 2008

This week in New World Notes:

# 38 -- Part The Last of Mutual Corruption: Business, Media, and Politics; . . . or: Roll Over, George Orwell, and Give Tim Russert the News. My heart always had a soft spot for tough-guy prosecutor and writer Vincent Bugliosi. In this final installment, his voice is added to those of Usual Suspects Mark Crispin Miller, Charles Lewis, and Bernie Sanders. I think I heard Greg Palast in there as well.

Yes, more women's voices would have done the documentary no harm, and I suspect a phone call or two--to FAIR, for instance--would have turned up several good ones before you could say, You Betcha!

But Bugliosi is a fine addition. Unlike most Americans and (coincidence?) unlike the corporate-controlled media, he retains the ability to become outraged at the outrageous.

Such as the coup d'etat of November 2000 engineered by 5 conspirators who--when they weren't busy trashing the Constitution--had spent their spare time masquerading as justices of the Supreme Court. A sleeper cell! Who knew?!

All that talk about Islamofascism was just to throw us off track! It's not the Moslems that hate our freedom. It's the Episcopalians!

Needless to say, the corporate-controlled media aided the coup and took charge of the coverup. And took charge of the coverup of the recount. I know, I know. You're about to expostulate, "What recount?!" and then call the Connecticut State Home for the Bewildered to inquire if any radio producers have wandered off the grounds recently.

Before they take me away, let me acknowledge that the ladies and gentlemen perpetrating the coverup are either evil vipers in human form (Ruger Ailes, Murdoch) or else prostitute stooges who would gladly trade their shrunken little souls for an invitation to the next Prayer Breakfast hosted by Condi and Dick (Ann Coulter, Tim Russert and ilk, and whoever is Managing Editor of the New York Times this year).

Moral failings aside, these walking flowers of evil are very talented professionals who do what they do extremely well and who earn a good deal of their obscenely inflated compensation packages. If you've never heard of a Florida recount, why question my sanity?

Vipers and prostitute stooges alike appreciate an occasional sincere note of praise from someone who understands the artistry involved. Send a little billet-doux to Roger or to Tim. Since nobody is sure which circle Tim is currently visiting, just direct your note to the Admissions Office. They'll have Cerebrus deliver it to the appropriate brimstone pit. Everyone will feel better--even you--and Cerebrus will get some exercise.

Tom Lehrer, 1959. Hit song:
"Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" (1959)

And yes, I did swipe the asylum's name from Tom Lehrer. If you want to sue on Tom's behalf, have your lawyers contact my lawyers. Gambino, Gambino, Bonnano, Trafficante, and Kissinger, LLP--General Delivery, Queens, New York.

At this point--if we were Monty Python's Flying Circus--the camera would cut to the Major, riding crop in hand, who would order, "CUT! . . . Look, this started out as a relatively nice little newsletter, but now it's gotten rather SILLY!"

So I'll end with an odd-sounding phrase--President Gore--and with the suggestion that if we lived in a democracy . . . or even in a representative democracy with an Electoral College--the phrase would sound considerably less odd.

I invite you to listen to this installment of the show, which you can do using a variety of different technologies, and at any time your heart desires.

Catch New World Notes . . .

Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford) & http://wwuh.org/
Fridays, 7:30 to 8:00 AM, WHUS-FM 91.7 (Storrs) & http://www.whus.org/
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%20World%20Notes

Nice quote from this installment:

"If they would do this. . . . If they would stoop this low, to steal our White House, what else would they do? What else are they capable of? . . . What else are they capable of? I want to know!" --V. Bugliosi

Coming up November 18 & 21:

We commemorate the 45th anniversary of the murder of the only U.S. President ever to declare complete worldwide disarmament a national goal . . . to describe that goal as both attainable and in the national interest . . . and to order the first steps towards it to be taken--unilaterally and immediately.

You shouted out, "Who killed the Kennedys," did you? Satan lied. It wasn't you & me after all. Nor was it Satan and we. Nor, in all probability, was it Lee Harvey Oswald, either ... as Michael Parenti cogently and hilariously explains. Don't miss "JFK, Parenti, and 'Lone Gunmen' Galore!" You betcha!

In 2 shows in mid-December, we'll listen to the fine and stirring speech described, above: JFK's American University commencement address, June 10, 1963.