Showing posts with label war. Show all posts
Showing posts with label war. Show all posts

Saturday, June 25, 2011

John Pilger


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 26 -- June 25, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #173, June 28, 2011

John Pilger


Empire, Obama, and America's Last Taboo: a fine speech by the Australian documentary filmmaker and social critic John Pilger. He spoke in San Francisco in July 2009--just 6 months into the Obama administration.

The talk is about U.S. imperialism ... Obama's continuation or extension of Bush's evil policies ... Obama's record of fealty to Wall Street and the military-industrial complex ... and the failure of the Left to protest & fight back.

Pilger ends with praise for the wisdom & ethics of the majority of America's people--unlike its pundits and "leaders."

 Two illustrations by David Dees

Notes, credits, & links

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "unisex bathroom") 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. See the gray sidebar on the right ("CONTENTS [Links]") for a table of contents.

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 date shown)
  • July 5 -- Technology and Society, Part 1
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net

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Saturday, May 7, 2011

Sick of War

New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 19 -- May 7, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #166, May 10, 2011

Sick of War

In brief

Since my birth in 1950, U.S. foreign policy seems to have consisted of war, war, empire building, and more war. Is anybody else sick of this? ... or at least feeling broke from paying for it all?

Two fine thinkers (and I too) explore the problem.

(1) Michael Parenti (1990s) discusses the the functions & purposes of the American empire and why "we" invade so many countries and overthrow their governments--many of them democracies. With an update by Parenti, from 2009, on the real reasons for our bombing of the former Yugoslavia (recorded live in West Hartford by me).

(2) Bruce Gagnon--famed crusader against the militarization of space & related worthy issues--discusses the U.S.'s policy of Endless War and the related destruction of our industrial base. And he shows who profits from these events. HINT: it's not our children, who face a future of no jobs outside the armed forces. (Also recorded live in West Hartford by me, in 2010.)

Above: Bruce Gagnon in 2004.

Notes, credits, & links

Music (outro): from Pete Seeger, Bring 'Em Home

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "boiler room") 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.


Kenneth Dowst


Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)



  • May 17 -- Joe Bageant
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Saturday, February 26, 2011

War and Religion (plus LIVE on WWUH)


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 9 -- February 26, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #156, March 1, 2011

Only on WWUH FM 91.3:

Special Live, Hour-long Broadcast
(for Spring Fundraising Marathon)

US Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel--where the "sky pilots"
(chaplains) prosyletize and evangelize the future real sky pilots.
Most photos: Click to enlarge.

Executive summary

  • Tuesday, March 1, noon - 1 PM on FM 91.3 (West Hartford, Connecticut) or streaming live at http://wwuh.org/
  • Call during this hour, and your pledge will register as support for the station's public affairs programs in general and New World Notes in particular.
  • 1 - 800 - 444 - WWUH ( - 9984) or 860-768-4008
  • Be thanked on air (by first name & town) or remain anonymous, as you choose.
  • Between brief appeals for money, I'll play or read a wide range of interesting program material--including some of the War and Religion program broadcast this week on other stations (see below).


This week on other stations and on mp3:

War and Religion

In brief

A look at the interplay among four forces: propaganda, the state, religion, and war. The war songs "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" are analyzed. (They let children listen to this blasphemy?)

One focus is on those enablers of state-sanctioned bloodbaths: military chaplains (a.k.a. "sky pilots"). Plus an expose' of rampant Christian evangelizing by the leadership--not least by the sky pilots--at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Top: Sacrilegious war propaganda. The more you slaughter the rebels, the more Christ-like you are, sez poet Julia Ward Howe (1861). The fine print at the bottom reads, "Published by the Supervisory Committee for Recruiting Colored Regiments." (Click to enlarge.) Bottom: Antietam, 1862.


Notes, credits, & links

This is a replay of an old installment--#5, from March 2008--never before heard outside Greater Hartford--and now available for the first time on the Internet.

The full text of David Antoon's expose' of evangelism running amok at the Air Force Academy--"The Cancer From Within"--is here: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071107_the_cancer_from_within/

"Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition," as heard in this installment, was recorded by Kay Kyser and his Orchestra in 1942.

Outro: from Eric Burdon & The Animals, "Sky Pilot"

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "What, me worry?") 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: Gettysburg, 1863 (photo by Matthew Brady). Bottom: "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition"--another rollicking, "God is on Our Side" war song (1942). The former phrase was coined by (what else?) a chaplain. Shown: 40 mm Bofors antiaircraft guns, quad-mounted on the carrier USS Hornet during World War II. To the left, sailors are passing--and loading--the ammunition. The tubes in the right middleground are spent shell cases.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • March 8 -- Controlling the People (2): Schooling and Scapegoating (Listener Advisory for strong language and graphic reports of violence.) From the documentary film, Human Resources
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



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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

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Saturday, December 18, 2010

Christmastime Absurdities


New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 50 -- December 18, 2010

This week in New World Notes, radio program #146, December 21:

Christmastime Absurdities

Publicity photo for a performance of Ionesco's The Lesson--a classic of the Theatre of the Absurd. Most Photos: Click to enlarge.

In brief

This is a season of absurdities--in both meanings of the term--and Installment #146 of New World Notes explores them with a light touch.

(The second meaning--known only to those who majored in Drama, Philosophy, or English in college--refers to the unbridgeable gap between what exists and what the human spirit needs.)

With prose by me and AP ... and with comic-satiric seasonal songs by Roy Zimmerman, Hugh Blumenfeld, and Stan Freberg ... we celebrate the absurdities of the season. Some of which can be traced back to Biblical times.

Like, can anybody make sense of the historical Jesus? What's with driving the money-changers out of the Temple? What's so bad about currency exchange? American Express does it all the time. Now, driving the High Priests out of the Temple . . . that would have been 'way cool!

Included, at no additional charge: an update on the most absurd news story of last Christmas ... anybody remember? ... the Scam of the Alleged Underwear Bomber.

Roy Zimmerman in West Hartford, August 2008.
Photo by Kenneth Dowst.

Notes, credits, & links

This week's music:

  • Roy Zimmerman, Buy War Toys for Christmas
  • Hugh Blumenfeld, Long-Haired, Radical, Socialist Jew
  • Stan Freberg, Green Chri$tma$

Of the 3 recording artists who produced this week's Christmas music, one (Stan Freberg) is actually a Christian. You don't have to be Jewish to write a good Christmas song, it turns out!

Check out Tereza Coraggio's podcasts at http://www.thirdparadigm.org/ .

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: Hardened Muslim-extremist terrorist Umar Abdulmutallab. On cap, note logo of terrorist organization, AQIWA (Al Qaida in Western Africa). Bottom: Stan Freberg, creator of the immortal Big Production Number, Green Chri$tma$.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • December 28 -- TSA: Teaching Submission to Americans? (Thousands Standing Around? Testicle Squeezers of America?)
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



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


PS: For fun, scroll down to the previous entry & check out these photos of an apparition that appeared in the ice cubes in my wine glass. (Please don't ask what ice cubes were doing in my wine glass.) Is it Christ? Sonny Bono? Saddam Hussein? Fr. Guido Sarducci? You decide! (Permanent link: http://newworldnotes.blogspot.com/2010/12/apparition.html .)

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Friday, December 10, 2010

Why We Fight


New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 50 -- December 11, 2010

This week in New World Notes, radio program #145, Dec. 14:

Why We Fight

Payback for 9/11? Baghdad, 2003.
Most photos: Click to enlarge.

In brief

Not Frank Capra's propaganda classic of the 1940s but a different award-winning documentary with the same name. Eugene Jarecki's film won the Grand Jury Prize of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.

A tapestry of many threads, Why We Fight depicts the U.S. war machine, the Military-Industrial Complex, and U.S. imperialism since World War Two. My much-condensed radio version follows just a few of the threads. It includes expert commentary by Gore Vidal, John S.D. Eisenhower, and the late Chalmers Johnson.

Interwoven is the story of Wilton Sekzer, a retired NYC cop . . . grief-stricken at the death of his son in the Twin Towers, yearning for revenge against the perpetrators, who he had been led to believe were the Iraqis. He sought a memorial to his son, and eventually a large bomb was dropped on Baghdad bearing the inscription, "In loving memory of Jason Sekzer" (see photo).

He now struggles with the knowledge that the Iraqis were innocent of 9/11 and that he had been deceived by his President.

Bottom: John S.D. Eisenhower, son of the president (Top), reflects on his father's distaste for war and distrust of the U.S. military establishment.

Notes, credits, & links

Over the past 10 years, Chalmers Johnson did much to popularize the term blowback . . . and the insight that the United States in fact is an empire. He died on November 20, 2010. Gore Vidal and Michael Parenti, likewise, have long argued that our republic has become an empire.

http://www.sonyclassics.com/whywefight/

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "spreading chestnut tree") 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: Chalmers Johnson. Bottom: Wilton Sekzer (inset) and the memorial to his son Jason. Soon after the photo was taken, the Guided Bomb Unit (it appears to be a "bunker-buster") was dropped upon Baghdad.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • December 21 -- Christmastime Absurdities
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



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


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Saturday, November 6, 2010

JFK in 1963: Disarmament Crusader


New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 45 -- November 6, 2010

This fortnight in New World Notes, radio programs #140 & 141, November 9 & 16:

JFK in 1963:
Disarmament Crusader
(A 2-part series)

Kennedy addresses the nation during the Cuban Missile
Crisis, October 1962

In brief

Historian/peace activist Jim Douglass shows how--and why--President Kennedy "turned" from a Cold Warrior into a crusader for military disarmament. Douglass focuses on the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, which nearly touched off a nuclear war with the Soviet Union--a war that the Pentagon and the CIA very much wanted. Douglass also discusses--and we'll hear major excerpts from--one of the results of the crisis, John F. Kennedy's great "Peace" speech at American University, June 10, 1963.

This pair of shows was first broadcast in December 2008.

Kennedy was murdered 47 years ago this month, on November 22, 1963.

Some background

In the early 1960s almost the whole of the U.S. "national security state" (Pentagon, spy agencies, National Security Council) very much wanted war with the Soviet Union. We would win this nuclear war, they calculated, losing only 40 million lives, while the Soviet Union would lose perhaps 200 million and be destroyed. The U.S. would emerge as the world's sole superpower.

In October 1962, the CIA discovered a Russian-controlled nuclear-capable missile base in Cuba. The war-hawks immediately began shrieking that we must bomb the base. "Taking out" the base, they "reasoned," would have the additional good effect of starting the war with the Soviet Union that they so much wanted.

Only one American of any influence opposed the war-hawks: President John F. Kennedy. As he was on the brink of failing to prevent World War III, he begged for help from his nominal adversary--and secret pen-pal--Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev. Khrushchev very publically dismantled the Soviet bases in Cuba.

To many Europeans, the USA ca. 1961 looked less like Camelot than like
Hell's own lunatic asylum. Police brutality, racial strife, sexual license,
radioactive "fallout," and a President of dubious competence with his
finger on The Button: Gerald Scarfe was having none of it.

Afterwards, in a speech of June 10, 1963, Kennedy announced a bold reversal of U.S. policy. He announced military disarmament as desirable, attainable, and henceforth a policy goal of the U.S. Government. And he announced several steps in that direction, to be undertaken immediately, including the negotiation of a Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union.

The speech essentially called for an end to "the Cold War." The Military-Industrial Complex was not amused.

Few Americans have ever heard this amazing story. Or heard what Khruschchev called "the greatest speech by any American President since Roosevelt."

These two installments alternate between Jim Douglass' fascinating telling of the story and the June 10 speech itself--Kennedy's commencement address at American University.

PS: Within a year of Kennedy's great speech, the Powers That Be deposed Khrushchev and murdered Kennedy.
Notes, credits, & links

Included music:

  • #140: from Linda Finkle, Georgie Porgie
  • #140: Mediacracy, Imagine This!
  • #141: David Rovics, Guantanamo Bay

Correction: In my new preface to NWN #140, I gave the date of Kennedy's great "Peace" speech at American University as June 10, 2003. In fact, the date was June 10, 1963.

Douglass talk courtesy of Mike McCormick and Mind Over Matters.

Douglass is the author of JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters.

The audio of Kennedy's complete speech is available as a free download from The Internet Archive.

For a brief, illustrated background-sketch of the geopolitical crises the Kennedy Administration had to face, please see my page, "The Story Behind the Greatest Speech You Never Heard."

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.

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.

Kennedy and Khrushchev. Cartoon by Herbert Block.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • November 23 -- Jonathan Zittrain: How to Save the Internet
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):


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Saturday, August 28, 2010

The Drive to War Against Iran



New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 35 -- August 28, 2010

This week in New World Notes, radio program #130, August 31 & Sept.4:

The Drive to War Against Iran

In brief

The run-up to war on Iran sure looks a lot like the run-up to war on Iraq. For example, our government is demonizing the country's leadership, ensuring that all negotiations fail, and loudly denouncing a nuclear-weapons program that does not exist.

In an interview with Canadian host Brandon Stone, Richmond (Virginia) activist Phil Wilayto lucidly describes and explains the U.S. geopolitical, diplomatic, and military strategies concerning Iran. Also discussed: the real reason the U.S. is determined to crush Iran . . . the insanity of a military strike . . .and the need for peace activists to organize.

Of particular interest is Wilayto's discussion of how the U.S. play-acts at negotiating a diplomatic settlement--while ensuring no settlement is reached and destroying settlements negotiated by third parties (e.g., the Brazil-Turkey deal to enrich Iran's reactor rods). The object of the charade is to persuade people that military attack is the only remaining option. Sounds like a Conspiracy Theory, but Dennis Ross, Obama's chief advisor on Iran, has described this policy in writing.

Top: Phil Wilayto. Bottom: Veteran diplomat Dennis Ross--
a neoconservative, a Zionist, and a longtime advocate for Israel--
is chief White House advisor on Iran. Most photos: Click to enlarge.

Notes, credits, & links

Thanks to Brandon Stone, co-host of the program "Unusual Sources" on station CFMU-FM in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "Yum-Yum Tree") 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.

You can listen to any installment of New World Notes online or else download it (as an mp3 audio file) for later listening. 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.


Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • September 7 -- Labor Day Musical Special
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Friday, July 23, 2010

War Made Easy

List all installments archived on radio4all.net or archive.org

New World Notes News
Vol. 3, No. 30-31 -- July 24, 2010

This fortnight in New World Notes, radio programs #125-126, July 27 & August 3:

War Made Easy


In brief

A fine documentary film from 2007--slightly condensed and adapted for radio by yours, truly.

The film shows how lies and propaganda from the government and the media persuade Americans to support an endless succession of unnecessary wars abroad. It features commentary by Norman Solomon and Sean Penn plus much TV footage from the 1960s through 2007.

The very same propaganda techniques used to get us and keep us mired in the Vietnam War are being used today to support the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan--and to build support for near-future war with Iran.

Part One examines the lies & the propaganda techniques they use to get us into war. Part Two focuses on the propaganda techniques used to maintain public support for an ongoing war . . . and finally to keep the war going long after public opinion has turned against it.

Top: (Clockwise from top:) Master liar and war propagandist Lyndon B.
Johnson; commentator Norman Solomon; famed newscaster Walter
Cronkite, on location, promoting the war in Vietnam.
Bottom: Belgrade, 1999, bombarded by US/NATO air forces. Americans
were told this was in order to protect the Muslims in Bosnia from the
ethnic Serbs in Bosnia. Senior U.S. official Strobe Talbott later admitted
that the real reason was to punish Serbia for attempting to chart an
independent economic course. Serbia had refused to join the World
Trade Organization and the European Union.
Most photos: Click to enlarge.


Notes, credits, & links

The video War Made Easy was produced by the Media Education Foundation. It is online at the Web site of the U.K. organization, Make Wars History.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "Freedom of Information Act") 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. 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: Secretary of State Colin Powell, attempting to convince the
world that Iraq was awash in "weapons of mass destruction." The
foreign news media were skeptical, noting that Powell had presented
almost no real evidence for his claims. The U.S. media were practically
unanimous in praising Powell's "irrefutable," "masterful" presentation.
Remember?

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • August 10 -- Cell Phones

Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



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