Sunday, September 23, 2012

The Crisis of Civilization

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New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 38-39 -- September 23, 2012

This fortnight in New World Notes, radio programs #238-239, September 25 & October 2, 2012

The Crisis of Civilization
(in two parts)

In brief

U.K. political analyst Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed has written and narrates an engaging documentary film, The Crisis of Civilization. In it, he surveys (by my count) seven serious global crises that are now besetting Western Civilization as we know it.

Ahmed argues that the seven are very much interrelated. So none can be fixed (or even much improved) without addressing the other six.

Looking at the big picture, we can see that Western Civilization cannot continue on its present path. It is unsustainable. We cannot keep pumping oil, warming the planet, acidifying the oceans, depleting the soil, destroying civil liberties, acquiring resources by military force, engaging in endless wars, taking land from subsistance farmers, and basing the world economy on financial speculation.

We can make intelligent plans to change to a more sustainable way of doing things. Or we can maintain the status quo until the catastrophe comes. I predict the latter, but Ahmed is encouraging the former.

The seven interconnected crises are
  • climate change
  • peak energy
  • food production and distribution
  • economic instability
  • international terrorism
  • militarization
  • destruction of civil liberties
Clips from old films enliven Ahmed's discussion, which is pretty interesting in itself.

We'll hear selections from the documentary.

In Part One (NWN #238) Ahmed looks at economic instability and terrorism.

In Part Two (NWN #239), he examines militarization and destruction of civil liberties. And we'll read a good essay by Bruce Dixon, of Black Aganda Report, on how Obama and Romney agree on almost every issue.

Another thing they've agreed on: not to mention six of the crises we're identifying--and not to say anything sensible about the seventh, terrorism.

Above: Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed. Below: Obama as Patton.

Notes, credits, & links

The Crisis of Civilization was produced and directed by Dean Puckett.

The film is available, without charge, online: http://crisisofcivilization.com/ .

The complete text of Bruce Dixon's essay, "Closer Than You Think: Top 15 Things Romney and Obama Agree On," is here.

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

Above: VP candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan.
Below: The 2012 drought in the U.S. Midwest--the "corn belt"--
is likely a result of global climate change.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • October 9 -- Dave Zirin on American Football
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Saturday, September 8, 2012

Corporate Plunder and Popular Revolt

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New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 36-37 -- September 8, 2012

This fortnight in New World Notes, radio program #236-237, September 11 & 18, 2012

Corporate Plunder and
Popular Revolt
(in two parts)

In brief

Journalist Chris Hedges traces the rise of the Corporate State, the destruction of democracy, and the corporate plunder of society. And he surveys successful examples of nonviolent popular rebellion.

In Part One he discusses how corporations subverted democracy in the US since 1914. And he takes us to some of America's "sacrifice zones"--areas devastated by unrestrained corporate plunder. He concludes with a scathing critique of the Democratic Party for selling out the people to the corporations.

In Part Two Hedges discusses the Obama Administration's assault on civil liberties--a way of suppressing both dissent and popular resistance to corporate plunder, he believes. He ends with examples of nonviolent popular resistance toppling oppressive systems--for instance in East Germany and Czechoslovakia.

Above: Joe Sacco (illustrator) and Chris Hedges (writer).
They co-authored Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt.
Below: Occupy Wall Street, 2012.

Notes, credits, & links

Chris Hedges spoke in Seattle on June 29, 2011. Our installments contain most of the full talk, broadcast by Mike McCormick on Mind Over Matters.  Thanks yet again to Mike.

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

Above: Streetcorner in Camden, New Jersey, by Joe Sacco. Below: Copenhagen, 2012.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • September 25 & October 2 -- The Crisis of Civilization
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Saturday, September 1, 2012

Police State USA?

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New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 35 -- Labor Day, 2012

This week in New World Notes, radio program #235, September 4, 2012

Police State USA?

In brief

Has the US become a "police state" ... or are we just rapidly heading in that direction? Law professor Francis Boyle says we're already there, and it is dissenters--not "terrorists"--who are being targeted by the state.

We'll also look at two recent reports documenting illegal and often violent acts by the New York Police Department--(1) in their CIA-assisted spying on Muslim citizens and (2) in their harassment of law-abiding Occupy Wall Street protesters.

Above: Occupy Boston, Fall 2011

Notes, credits, & links

Francis Boyle interview excerpted from Jeff Blankfort's "Takes On the World" program. Many thanks. Jeff's complete installment is here.

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. 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)
  • September 11 & 18 -- Chris Hedges on Corporate Plunder and Popular Revolt
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Saturday, August 25, 2012

Things Fall Apart

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New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 34 -- August 25, 2012

This week in New World Notes, radio program #234, August 28, 2012

Things Fall Apart


In brief

The economy ... American political democracy ... the climate ... the whole ecosystem--all seem to be collapsing at once. In a poem of 1920, W.B. Yeats noted, "Things fall apart; the center cannot hold." The show features a good routine on the very subject by George Carlin (early 1990s), music by James McMurtry ("Ruins of the Realm"), Yeats's poem, and somewhat-humorous reflections by K.D.


Notes, credits, & links

Color photos shown here are by Yves Marchant and Romain Meffre, from The Ruins of Detroit. See more here: http://www.marchandmeffre.com/detroit/index.html . The photos show (top to bottom) a peeling photomural of Detroit; the American Hotel; Fisher Body plant 21; and St. Christopher House, a public library. Click to enlarge.

The monochrome portrait is of William Butler Yeats.

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)
  • September 4 -- (TBA)
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Friday, August 17, 2012

Good Guns, Bad Guns

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New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 33 -- August 17, 2012

This week in New World Notes, radio program #233, August 21, 2012

Good Guns, Bad Guns

In brief

Reflecting on the Aurora murders, we consider the false distinction gun-control advocates make between "bad guns" (such as "semiautomatic assault weapons") and "good guns" (such as Uncle Jake's old pump shotgun).

We also consider a spate of killings by police of unarmed citizens--some while in handcuffs. Massive killing of civilians overseas in our "War on Terror." And a President who claims the legal right to kill anyone he chooses--even US citizens--without charges or trial. And does.

How can we condemn the retail violence in Aurora while supporting the wholesale violence at the heart of US domestic and foreign policy?

Includes nice articles by Amy Davidson (from The New Yorker) and Robert C. Koehler (from Common Dreams). Plus commentary by me.

Above: President Obama asserts that the Constitution grants him the right to kill any American citizen he chooses, without a trial or even even explanation. And he has done so.
Below: James Holmes--accused of acting Presidential in a crowded movie theatre.

Notes, credits, & links

Music added: Fred Eaglesmith, "Time to Get a Gun"

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "benign neglect") 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.

Above: Chavis Carter, late of Jonesboro, Arkansas. Accused of marijuana possession. Arrested by police, frisked twice, handcuffed behind his back, placed in the rear of a police cruiser. A bullet from a handgun then penetrated his head, and Carter died. Police claim that Carter committed suicide.
Below: US citizen Abdulrahman al-Awlaki. Born in Denver on September 13, 1995. On September 30, 2011, the US assassinated his father, US citizen Anwar al-Awlaki, with a drone strike, in Yemen. Two weeks later, on October 14, the US assassinated 16-year-old Abdulrahman and his Yemeni cousin, while they were dining, with another drone strike.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • August 28 -- (TBA)
Catch New World Notes  (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Sunday, August 12, 2012

Radio Great Jean Shepherd

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New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 32 -- August 12, 2012

This week in New World Notes, radio program #232, August 14, 2012

Radio Great Jean Shepherd

In brief

This week we replay another of the earlier installments of New World Notes: #52, from February 2009.

We present a tribute to the ad-lib art of late-night radio storyteller Jean Shepherd. The program includes a condensed version of one of Shepherd's great monologues, from October 1965. It's a humorous tale of grenade-replica cigarette lighters, the real George Washington, crime in real life vs. on TV, and life among the rednecks in Covington, Kentucky, in the 1950s. Introduction by K.D..

For more pictures and more information, see our original page from 2009.

Notes, credits, & links

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. 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)
  • August 21 -- (TBA)
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Friday, August 3, 2012

American Sex and Sexuality

The MP3 audio files to which these links connect were originally defective. The files were fixed by August 16. I apologize for any inconvenience. -- K.D.

To download an audio file (save it on your hard disk): Click on this link for instructions.

New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 31 -- August 3, 2012

This week in New World Notes, radio program #231, August 7, 2012

American Sex and Sexuality:
The Sorrow and the Pity

In brief

This week we replay another of the earliest installments of New World Notes: #11, from April 2008.

With jaundiced eye and sometimes tongue in cheek, we survey the sad state of sex and sexuality in the US. Highlights include Helen Gurley Brown's 1963 advice to married men on how to conduct an affair, ... Pat McCormick's parody of a TV game show exposing adulterers, ... an article on Eliot Spitzer (the New York Governor who resigned following news exposure that he patronized prostitutes), ... and a monologue by KD.

Above: Helen Gurley Brown (early 1960s), publisher of Cosmopolitan magazine, author of Sex and the Single Girl and of the advice-packed LP, Lessons in Love

Notes, credits, & links

Music added: Cris Williamson, "Dream Child"; P.D.Q. Bach, Round: "Nellie is a Nice Girl"

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. 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)
  • August 14 -- Radio Great Jean Shepherd
Catch New World Notes
(all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Sunday, July 29, 2012

War, Language, and the Media

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New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 30 -- July 29, 2012

This week in New World Notes, radio program #230, July 31, 2012

War, Language and the Media

In brief

This week we replay one of the earliest installments of New World Notes: #10, from April 2008. The title connects three of the series' ongoing concerns: war, language, and the media.

Language doesn't just reflect your understanding of reality: it shapes it. The Pentagon (and its pet, the State Department) knows this and creates language to mislead us about what it is actually doing. First I and then Michael Parenti--in a fine talk from the 1990s--expore how it works.

Of particular interest is Parenti's debunking of the "Gaddafi-is-a-menace" rhetoric, which was omnipresent around 1990. Remember?

Decades back, U.S. government propaganda (broadcast by the loyal corporate media) inflated Libya's Gaddafi into a major threat to America. Then, for whatever reasons, the government put its regime-change-in-Libya plans on the back burner, and the "threat" of Gaddafi wasn't mentioned again for the next 20 years. Then, around 2010 or 2011, Gaddafi suddenly became a menace again.

The Airliner bar/restaurant, Iowa City, Iowa. What's that got to do with the late Muammar Gaddafi (top, shown in 1986)? Each exemplifies how different compositions of words create different ways of understanding (and hence of acting). You'll just have to listen. . . .

Notes, credits, & links

Music added: John McCutcheon, "Let's Pretend"; David Rovics, "What If You Knew?"

Thanks to Sally Soriano and People's Video-Audio for the Parenti recording.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "very noses") 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 24 -- American Sex and Sexuality
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Friday, July 20, 2012

Nothing New Under the Sun

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New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 29 -- July 20, 2012

This week in New World Notes, radio program #229, July 24, 2012

Nothing New Under the Sun

In brief

History is taught so as to (1) instill patriotism and submission to the rulers and (2) make people hate the real study of history. Real history shows that events in the news are but the latest examples in a long pattern.

Noam Chomsky shows that "Arab Spring" pro-democracy rebellions have been occurring for 100 years (usually suppressed by dictators, with US backing). Chris Hedges shows how the 1% has waged war against the 99% for 200 years, with examples from the US, Russia, Germany, Yugoslavia, & elsewhere.

Above: Chris Hedges, manning the barricades in
Washington, D.C.  Below: Noam Chomsky.

Notes, credits, & links

Chomsky's remarks were recorded at the "Russell Tribunal" in March 2011.

Chris Hedges' remarks are from an interview with Mike McCormick on Mike's show, Mind Over Matters. 

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "resigned 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. 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.

On orders from General J.H. Smith, U.S. troops massacre the civilian inhabitants of the island of Samar during our war of conquest of the Philippines, 1902.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • July 24 -- Language, War, and the Media
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Friday, July 6, 2012

Ethos

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New World Notes News
Vol. 5, No. 27-28 -- July 6, 2012

This fortnight in New World Notes, radio program #227-228, July 10 & 17, 2012

Ethos
(in two parts)

In brief

A quirky and interesting film by Pete McGrain on the character of our time. Includes good commentary by Norman Solomon, Noam Chomsky, former MP Tony Benn, the late Chalmers Johnson, and others. And some comments by me too. Narrated by McGrain and Woody Harrelson.

It's about democracy, and national policies, and why the policies are so anti-democratic. It's about how politicians and corporate elites have declared war on democracy, and how they use the corporate news media as powerful weapons to control public opinion. And it's about how these people give us perpetual real warfare for the sake of its high profits.

Familiar points but (mostly) made well.

Above (l to r): Ethos director Pete McGrain, host Woody
Harrelson, co-executive producer Isabella Michelle Marles

Notes, credits, & links

Ethos was adapted to radio by Robin Upton and originally broadcast on Unwelcome Guests. The adaptation is available complete at http://unwelcomeguests.net/586. I have condensed this adaptation for broadcast on New World Notes. Many thanks to Robin and Unwelcome Guests.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "false promises") 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 24 -- Nothing New Under the Sun
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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