Jonathan Zittrain: How to Save the Internet

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New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 47 -- November 20, 2010

This week in New World Notes, radio program #142, November 23:

Jonathan Zittrain:
How to Save the Internet

The inventors of the Internet (25 years later).
L to r: Jon Postel, Steve Crocker, Vint Cerf.
Most graphics: Click to enlarge.

In brief

A sharp & funny presentation by Internet Law expert Jonathan Zittrain. The more we depend on the Internet, the scarier is its very real vulnerability to malicious attacks. However, Zittrain argues, the "solution" urged by government and Big Telecom--"top-down" control of the network by themselves--would ruin the Internet.

A better solution is continued "bottom-up" control by users--but control of a more "communitarian," consensus-seeking sort than is typical now. Examples of this approach are working well in practice, among them Wikipedia.

Not to mention the time Pakistan kidnapped YouTube. A bunch of mid-level server operators--personally unknown to one another--joined together and rescued the site within a couple of hours.

Top: Jonathan Zittrain

Notes, credits, & links

Zittrain spoke at The University of Hartford on October 20, 2010. This installment comprises selections from his long presentation. Recorded and edited by Kenneth Dowst.

Jonathan Zittrain is Professor of Law at Harvard Law School.

http://www.jz.org/

Zittrain's recent book, The Future of the Internet--And How to Stop It (Yale University Press, 2008) is available in print and also as a free download.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "oppressive yoke") 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: If AT&T had designed the Internet, data would be much more
secure. But would the world have http://www.catsthatlooklikehitler.com/?
Not likely! Shown: "kitler" #5448.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut dates shown)

• November 30 -- Betrayed!

Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford, CT) & http://wwuh.org/
• Saturdays, 1:00-1:30 PM, KRFP-FM 92.5, Radio Free Moscow (Moscow, ID) & http://www.radiofreemoscow.com/
• Saturdays, 5:00 to 5:30 PM, WHUS-FM 91.7 (Storrs, CT) & 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+World+Notes

Paul Siegel: Gay Rights as a Free-Speech Issue

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New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 23 -- June 5, 2010

This Week in New World Notes, radio program #118, June 8:

Paul Siegel:
Gay Rights as a
Free-Speech Issue

In brief

Civil-liberties activist Paul Siegel has advice for people--particularly gay people--considering challenging discrimination in court. Base your challenge on the 1st Amendment (freedom of speech, right to assemble), not on the 14th (equal protection, privacy).

This sounds technical & legalistic, but in fact this intelligent and often funny talk should have wide appeal.

Highlights include a funny account of what Pacific Telephone & Telegraph would & wouldn't allow into that compendium of decency and good taste, the Yellow Pages, . . . stories of clueless high-school administrators who think the 1st Amendment does not protect students wearing T-shirts that say, "I Support My Gay Friends," . . . and a sad story of a gay student suspended and "outed" to her parents by the school principal for the crime of kissing her girlfriend on school grounds.

Paul Siegel will often go weeks or months without reminding anyone
of Benito Mussolini. Still, every once in awhile . . . . Photos by K.D.
All photos: Click to enlarge.

Notes, credits, & links

Recorded live (by moi) at the University of Hartford, on April 27, 2010.

Paul Siegel is a longtime civil-liberties activist. His day job is Professor of Communication at the University of Hartford.

http://www.aclu.org/

http://www.aclu-ct.org/

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "East-of-the-River satellite studio and skunk works") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford. "East-of-the-River" is Hartford-ese for "Podunk."

New World Notes' main audio archive is at 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. 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.

Bottom: The talk's concluding slide

Coming Soon -- Tuesday debut date shown:

• June 15 -- Is It Time to Impeach Obama? Racist, right-wing crackpots are loudly denouncing the President. That shouldn't stop Progressives from doing the same--though on different grounds.

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

False-Flag Operations, Part 2

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New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 14 -- April 3, 2010

This Week in New World Notes, radio program #109, April 6:

False-Flag Operations,
Part 2

Spanish Plots . . . Spanish Treachery . . . England Believes It
Foul Play . . . Crisis Is At Hand. . . . Any resemblance to the media's
role in the invasion of Iraq is strictly coincidental. Somebody check to
see if Judith Miller's grandfather worked for Hearst. . . . The Maine
exploded in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898.
Most graphics: Click to enlarge.
A current U.S. Navy history of the Maine notes that "The survivors
of the disaster were taken on board . . . Spanish cruiser Alfonso XII. The
Spanish officials at Havana showed every attention to the survivors of the
disaster and great respect for those killed. The court of inquiry convened
in March was unable to obtain evidence associating the destruction of the
battleship with any person or persons, but public opinion in the United
States was so inflamed that the Maine disaster led eventually to the
declaration of war on Spain 21 April."
That last sentence is disingenuous. In fact, the McKinley
Administration had decided to go to war with Spain long
before the Maine exploded and used the misfortune to rouse
public support for launching a war that had few justifications.

In brief:

"False-flag" ops are incidents used to justify war or abolition of civil liberties. These incidents are staged, or misrepresented, or imaginary.

This week I review the major types of "false-flag operations"--with details on the battleship Maine (1898) and U.S. Air Force provocations of the USSR during the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). Guess who saved the world in 1962. Nikita Khrushchev! Then ex-MI-5 agent Annie Machon discusses terrorism by both sides in Northern Ireland (1990s), operations Gladio (post-WWII) and Northwoods (1962), and 9-11. Last, she details the huge loss of civil liberties in the U.K. following 9-11.

Top: Sheet music. Bottom: New York Journal and Advertiser.

Notes and credits

Annie Machon speech of May 14, 2007, courtesy of London Sound Posse. The complete speech (1h, 8m) is available here.

See also last week's installment, #108: False-Flag Operations: An Introduction (scroll down).

This week's song: Chumbawamba, Passenger List for Doomed Flight 1721. Download your own copy for free from Chumba's Web site (scroll to bottom of the page).

Correction: In the program I state that the Maine probably exploded from spontaneous combustion of damp "black powder" (gunpowder). The Navy has concluded that spontaneous combustion of coal ignited the powder in an adjacent storeroom. The Navy's brief & good history of the Maine is worth a look.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "nihil obstat") 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.

While Annie Machon smiles (top, with fellow spy David Shayler),
the Goddess of Liberty weeps at Spanish perfidy.

Coming Soon -- Tuesday debut dates shown:

• April 13 -- Reproductive-Rights Crusader Bill Baird
• April 20 -- The Unheard Voice of the Majority

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

Top: Secret pen-pals Nikita Khrushchev and JFK. It was the chubby bald guy on the left who, at the expense of his career, prevented the World War III that the generals on both sides (especially ours) were trying hard to bring about. For details & more illustrations, see this site's post, The Story Behind the Greatest Speech You Never Heard.
Bottom: Back in the old days, though, the entire commercial media did not march in lock-step to the rulers' drummer. The waiter depicted is President McKinley. Hey! Those traitorous socialists at the Boston Globe are failing to Support Our Troops!
Cuba was a cakewalk, but the conquest of the Philippines--the U.S.'s main objective--proved a bloody and long struggle. The fiercest opposition to the Yankee invaders was mounted by Muslim insurgents, the "Moros." Some empires never learn--or, more likely, don't give a damn. Mark Twain scathingly denounced the campaign in "A Defence of General Funston" and other essays.

Michael Parenti on "Political Liberties and Economic Democracy"

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Bread line, Louisville, Kentucky, 1937. Photo by Margaret
Bourke-White. All Graphics: click to enlarge.

New World Notes News
Vol. 2 No. 48 -- December 8, 2009

This week in New World Notes, radio program #92, Tuesday, December 8:

Michael Parenti on
"Political Liberties and
Economic Democracy"

Workers' Summary

The best parts of Parenti's lecture and Q&A at the University of Hartford on November 4 are here. Parenti argues that improvements in public policy--and in living conditions for the non-rich--resulted from struggle from "below," not from the goodness of the governing elites' hearts. Average citizens fought for greater political liberties as tools to compel concrete improvements in their lives.

This program includes fine parts on airport security, Saddam Hussein, the Maine anti-gay-marriage referendum, and Parenti's forthcoming book on organized religion, God and His Demons.

Egypt, 21st Century

Notes

www.michaelparenti.org

The first 20 or so minutes of Parenti's lecture--on the dislike of democracy by the Framers of our Constitution--with parallels drawn to the Classical world--are not included in this installment of NWN. This omitted segment is intellectually substantial and well worth hearing when you're in the mood for some serious history & political science. Some later parts are snipped as well. I've made a complete, uncut, unedited recording of the entire presentation and Q&A (1h, 12m) available for anyone who cares to hear same. The introduction is by University of Hartford President Walter Harrison.

Recorded live by moi.

Free subscription to weekly New World Notes email newsletter upon request. (Subscribers list is totally confidential.) The newsletter essentially duplicates the weekly blog entry--but some people like the weekly reminder.

Dr. Michael Parenti (plaid shirt)

Coming Soon -- Tuesday debut dates on WWUH shown:

• December 15 -- Afghanistan: Won't Get Fooled Again!
• December 22 -- Christmas Special ... including reflections on the sack of Fallujah (5th anniversary) and the sack of Gaza (1st anniversary)

Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford, CT) & http://wwuh.org/ (Noon to 1:00 PM on October 13)
• 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

"Freedom of Speech" by Norman Rockwell. No comment.