The Slippery Slope of Memorial Day

New World Notes #430, 28:31  (May 31)
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An anti-war, anti-militarism perspective on Memorial Day.

Journalist Robert Fisk explains that (and why) there's been no "Good War" after 1945. KD reads Howard Zinn's famous 1976 column on Memorial Day (which got Zinn fired from the Boston Globe). KD also reads and demolishes the beloved war poem, "In Flanders Fields." Plus Steppenwolf's antiwar rock classic of the 1970s, "Monster."

This program was first broadcast (as NWN #65) in May 2009. Fisk talk courtesy of tucradio.org. Zinn essay, "Whom Will We Honor Memorial Day?"--and much other good stuff--from The Zinn Reader (Seven Stories Press, 1997).

Potpourri 4 (Resisting the Oligarchs)

New World Notes #429, 27:32  (May 24)
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Joseph Keppler, The Bosses of the Senate, 1889
(Click to enlarge.)

A bit of this, a bit of that--all loosely connected by the theme of how the Powers That Be wield their power in practice. Includes comic satire by The Final Edition, a new song by David Rovics, and thoughts on Trump and the media by KD.

The real story about Trump, KD argues, is not his personal failings or his unsound policies. The real story is how the US oligarchs--and their mouthpiece, the media--work to destroy politicians who are not reliable servants of the oligarchy.

Final Edition sketch courtesy of Scooter's "innerSide" radio program (KPFT-FM, Houston).

David Rovics's song, "State House Lawn," is from his recent album, The Other Side.  https://davidrovics.bandcamp.com/music .

Why Our War Against ISIS Can't Be Won

Part 1: New World Notes #427, 29:59 (May 10)
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Part 2: New World Notes #428, 28:04 (May 17)
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Phyllis Bennis

Progressive activist Phyllis Bennis explains how US actions in the Middle East gave rise to ISIS and sustain it. Since ISIS's terrorism is a response to the profound damage the US military has done to the region--and to other US crimes and blunders--still more US military action will only make matters worse.

There is no military solution, Bennis argues, but diplomatic solutions are indeed possible. But does the US even want a diplomatic solution instead of unending war?

In Part 2, Bennis also brings in Israel, Palestine, and Saudi Arabia; and I add a few thoughts on 9-11 coverups.and the Northern Ireland peace agreement of 1998.

Phyllis Bennis's new book is Understanding ISIS and the New Global War on Terror: A Primer (2015).

Bennis spoke in Seattle on February 2, 2016. Original recording courtesy of Mike McCormick, of "Mind Over Matters."  Many thanks.

Bill Hicks

New World Notes #426, 28:56 (May 2)
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Cultural critic and stand-up comedian Bill Hicks died 22 years ago at age 32. In memoriam, we present a sampling of his recorded routines (suitable for broadcast).  With brief introductions by KD.

Included:

• The war
• The elite
• Hillbillies
• Gays in the military
• "This is your brain on drugs"
• Jay Leno
• It's only a ride

Thanks to Scooter at KPFT-FM in Houston for some of the selections here.

* Previously broadcast, as NWN #318, in April 2014. MP3 files downloaded from the links, above, are named with this older program number.

Capitalism Hits the Fan

Part 1: New World Notes #424, 28:35 (April 19)
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Part 2: New World Notes #425, 27:42 (April 26)
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Richard Wolff

With clarity, force, and wit, economist Richard Wolff explains the long process that got the U.S. economy into its present crisis. He shows why there are no quick fixes--while suggesting (in Part 2) some practical actions that will help. More fundamentally, we need to re-think our commitment to corporate capitalism.

Part 1 focuses on the factors most affecting workers: growing workforce, growing productivity, declining available jobs, stagnant pay, and growing consumer debt.

Part 2 focuses more on CEOs and financiers--who managed to make a bad situation much worse. Plus Wolff's practical suggestions.

Wolff gave this guest-lecture at Brown University on December 2, 2009. I have condensed it for radio broadcast. A video of the entire presentation including introductions (1:45:00) can be found on YouTube.

New World Notes previously broadcast this two-part program in April 2012 (as NWN #213-214). MP3 files downloaded from the links, above, are named with these older program numbers.

The Crisis of Civilization

Part 1: New World Notes #422, 28:04 (April 5)
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Part 2: New World Notes #423, 29:09 (April 12)
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U.K. political analyst Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed has written and narrates an engaging documentary film, The Crisis of Civilization. I have condensed and adapted the film to radio,

New World Notes first broadcast this two-part program (as #238-239) in September 2012--a Presidential election year, like this one. In case you were wondering why Part Two talks a bit about George Romney.

In the film, Ahmed surveys (by my count) seven serious global crises that are now besetting Western Civilization as we know it. He argues that the seven are interconnected. So none can be fixed (or even much improved) without addressing the other six.

The seven interconnected crises are

• climate change
• peak energy
• food production and distribution
• economic instability
• international terrorism
• militarization
• destruction of civil liberties

Nafeez Mossadeq Ahmed 

Clips from old films enliven Ahmed's discussion, which is pretty interesting in itself.

In Part One of our adaptation, Ahmed looks at economic instability and terrorism.

In Part Two, he examines militarization and destruction of civil liberties. Also in Part Two, we'll read a good essay by Bruce Dixon, of Black Aganda Report, on how Obama and Romney agree on almost every issue. (Replace these names with "the Democrats" and "the Republicans," and the point is valid today too.)

Another thing politicians have agreed on: not to mention six of the crises we're identifying--and not to say anything sensible about the seventh, terrorism.  And I think that applies to every candidate running for President at any time in 2016--with perhaps the partial exceptions of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders.

Part Two has new introductions and comments by K.D.

Humanitarian Intervention B.S.

New World Notes #421, 27:43 (March 29)
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Belgrade, Serbia, 1999: NATO humanely intervenes--protecting civilians in Bosnia by killing civilians in Serbia

Radovan Karadzic's conviction for genocide and war crimes brings to mind the US's disastrous "humanitarian intervention" in Bosnia and Serbia in the 1990s--and more recent disastrous interventions in Libya and Syria.

In almost every case in recent history, "humanitarian intervention" has been a pretext for illegal aggression by a major power.

Brief reflections by KD are followed by a fine talk, on the same subject, by Noam Chomsky.

Chomsky spoke in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in early October, 2013.  Recording courtesy of Chuck Rosina. I have snipped out a few stumbles; the talk is otherwise uncut.

Vice and Folly--At Home and Abroad

New World Notes #420, 28:56 (March 22)
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Trump; the panicking Republican "elders," the corporate-controlled press, Hillary Clinton, the Presidential campaign, U.S. foreign policy, U.S. domestic policies--how many disasters can we take all at once?

We explore, with some help from commentators William Blum and Glen Ford and singer David Rovics.

Glen Ford's talk courtesy of Black Agenda Report.

William Blum's essay (condensed by me) courtesy of Counterpunch (March 11, 2016).

Afghanistan: Won't Get Fooled Again!

New World Notes #419 (#93), 29:34 (March 15)
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Why are at war in Afghanistan? Four figures (including me) explore. Steve Fournier questions why H. Clinton called suicide bombers "cowards" while the US is bombarding wedding parties by remote control. David Model (read aloud) lucidly explains the real reason for this war. In a brilliant speech, Afghan activist Malalai Joya denounces the cruelty and hypocrisy of Bush, Obama, Karzai, NATO, the warlords, and the Taliban.

This program was previously broadcast (as NWN #93) in December 2009. Alas, hardly a word needs to be changed! A couple names are now different--e.g., the president of Afghanistan is now named Ohani, not Karzai.

Afghani proverb: "Same donkey, new saddle."

Credit where due:

Steve Fournier's jeremiad recorded exclusively for New World Notes. Read Steve's "Curent Invective" at www.currentinvective.com

David Model's essay, "NATO's Chimerical Enemy in Afghanistan," from CounterPunch, condensed & edited for radio by K.D. http://www.counterpunch.org/model11132009.html

Malalai Joya's November 14 speech in Vancouver recorded for CFRO by Alex Smith--www.ecoshock.org. See also www.stopwar.ca. Joya's speech edited by KD.

Obey and Keep Calm

Part 1: New World Notes #417, 27:56 (March 1)
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Part 2: New World Notes #418, 29:25 (March 8)
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Temujin Doran (pronounced TEM-yu-jin, I think)

Temujin Doran's film, Obey: How the Rise of Mass Propaganda Killed Populism, adapted to radio.  It's about the military, political, and economic crimes of the Corporate State. It features readings from from Chris Hedges' 2010 book, Death of the Liberal Class.

Part 1 features the first half of Obey and then also--to cheer things up a bit--a sweet short film by Doran on the poster and slogan, "Keep calm and carry on."

Part 2 features the second half of Obey--but first some words about our Syria war-fever and a reading of Chidanand Rajghatta's essay, Why America Cannot Live Without Wars.

These two installments of New World Notes were originally broadcast (as #287-288) in September 2013.

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

The Late 1960s ... and Now

New World Notes #416, 29:15 (February 23)
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Draft card burning

The deaths of musicians Paul Kantner and Signe Anderson inspire reflections (by me) on the virtues of the late-1960s "counterculture"--virtues seemingly in short supply today. Such as distrust of authority, feeling of personal power & community, belief that the people can change the world for the better, and experiments in alternative structures.

Or maybe today's situation is actually more hopeful than it seems at first glance.

The show includes commentary by Glen Ford, a poem by W.H. Auden, and music by Jefferson Airplane.

Paul Kantner, 1941-2016

Economics and Inequality

Part 1: New World Notes #414, 28:46 (February 9)
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Part 2: New World Notes #415, 28:10 (February 16)
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Economist Joseph Stiglitz shows that economic inequality in the U.S. is bad, and it is getting worse. Likewise, inequality of opportunity. The causes of the problem--says Stiglitz--are the U.S.'s dysfunctional style of capitalism and a political system that increasingly serves only the economic elite, not "the 99%."

The situation is not only bad for democracy, it's even bad for capitalism, Stiglitz argues. (No socialist, Stiglitz wants to reform capitalism, not replace it.)

Stiglitz's talk is short of proposed solutions, but it is an excellent, lucid, and very listenable survey of the problems we face--and their causes.

Stiglitz's accolades include the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He is former Chief Economist of the World Bank and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. He gave this talk, in Washington D.C., in 2012 on his tour supporting his book, The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers Our Future (Norton, 2012).

Climate Change Hope

New World Notes #413, 28:58 (February 3)
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Australian climate scientist Tim Flannery reviews some new, cutting-edge approaches to restraining or halting global warming.

Flannery opposes risky "geoengineering" schemes. But the new, "Third Way" approaches, he says, are different. Based on natural processes, they actually remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

These new technologies--combined with a shift from fossil fuels to wind and solar power--give us some reason to hope that climate catastrophe may be averted.

Tim Flannery

Flannery spoke in Seattle on November 12, 2015. The audio of his complete presentation was provided by Mike McCormick, producer of Mind Over Matters, in Seattle. (Many thanks.) I have substantially condensed the talk for this radio program.

Beyond Militarism

New World Notes #412, 28:33 (January 26)
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Is American militarism a problem? What are the causes of this militarism? Why are we now calling every guy who ever put on a uniform a "hero"? And can militarism be stopped?

Former career soldier Stan Goff addresses these questions with impressive insight and erudition.

We supplement Goff's analysis with a few minutes of Martin Luther King's fine address on American militarism and war, Beyond Vietnam (April 4, 1967). Plus some background and commentary by KD.

Thanks to Michael Welch, the Global Research News Hour, and station CKUW-FM (Winnipeg, Manitoba) for the recorded interview with Goff, which I have edited and condensed.

Illustrations by Eric Drooker (top), Robert Shetterly (above).

Capitalism vs. Reality

Part 1: New World Notes #410, 29:10 (January 12)
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Part 2: New World Notes #411, 28:09 (January 19)
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Michael Parenti (2nd from left)

In this new talk, political scientist Michael Parenti refutes the claim that the "free enterprise" system (capitalism) promotes both democracy and prosperity.

Part 1 focuses on democracy. Through several historical examples--from ancient Greece to the Constitutional Convention to the present day--Parenti shows how the capitalists (and their predecessors) fought democracy every step of the way--and continue to do so. Rather, democracy emerged, in fits and starts, from the struggles of ordinary people to bring practical improvements to their lives.

Part 2 focuses more on prosperity. Drawing on the past 150 years of American history, Parenti refutes the myth that capitalism increases the general prosperity. In fact the system has brought regular recessions and depressions to ordinary citizens. Not "free enterprise" but a massive increase in government spending finally lifted America out of the depression of the 1920s and 1930s.

Parenti spoke at the University of Illinois at Springfield on October 16, 2015. Thanks to the university, and to Dale Lehman of WZRD-FM, Chicago, for the original recording.  I have lightly edited the original and done what I could to improve its audio quality.

The real origins of democracy, according to Parenti

Searching for the Authentic on a Motorcycle

New World Notes #409 (#358), 29:47 (January 5)
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This week's show is mostly monologue.  It's an extended "personal essay" by me, more or less in the tradition of Blue Highways and Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  With I guess a few echos of "News From Lake Wobegon."

It's about authenticity and its opposites.  It's also about motorcycle design, and simplicity versus clutter, and the rebirth of the "Indian" brand, and the quiet, subtle virtues of a Harley-Davidson. It's about how New England place-names sort of begin to make sense after you've lived here 20 or 30 years.

It's about corporate franchises and their phony food and their phony architecture--including fake gables, fake windows and even fake "widow's walks."  And it's about taking a motorcycle to search for "the authentic"--and sometimes even finding it when you get far enough out of town.  Uncasville, maybe.

This installment was previously broadcast, as NWN #358, in January 2015.

Trends

New World Notes #408, 29:00 (December 29)
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Botox for men. Extra points for the two-day-old-looking beard.

In places seriously, in places tongue-in-cheek, we take a look at some current trends. Important ones include the decline of suburbs and the increasing wealth of the plutocrats.

But let's not neglect Botox for men ("brotox"), celebrity vegetarianism, women NOT dyeing their hair, special-interest magazines, exploring power plants while naked....  Contributors include J.H. Kunstler, George Carlin, Paul Krassner, provincial newspapers, and singer David Rovics.

With a new foreword by K.D.  Previously broadcast, as NWN #217, in May 2012.

Comic Satire for Christmas

New World Notes #407, 27:15 (December 22)
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This year's Christmas show bears a certain relationship to last year's Christmas show.  The name of that certain relationhip is "identity."  (Yes, I stole that one from Peter Schickele/PDQ Bach.)

The show contains brief commentary by me, five satiric seasonal songs, and one imitation Broadway "big production number." All take a comic but critical view of American hypocrisies, religiosity, commercialism, class warfare, and other Christmastime traditions.

I'm especially fond of the pseudo- "big production number": Stan Freberg's 1958 masterpiece, Green Chri$tma$.  The audio fidelity is very good even by today's standards; the production is rich and sophisticated; the script is witty; and the message (alas) is still relevant.

Other contributionsare by Hugh Blumenfeld, Simon and Garfunkel, Anne Feeney, Roy Zimmerman, and Tom Lehrer.

Bah! humbug! and merry Christmas to all!

Scooter's War on Christmas Kickstarter

New World Notes #406, 28:33 (December 15)
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The Church fights back

A fine audio collage on Christmas and America produced by Scooter. A blend of social satire, inspired nonsense, improbable music, serious debate, standup comedy, right-wing craziness, & great fun.

This collage weaves together a debate on religion by the late Christopher Hitchens and Bill Donahue, a parody musical-comedy Christmas movie, a parody war movie (climaxing in the death of all three Chipmunks), ravings by Bill O'Reilly and a few televangelists, heavy-metal Christmas carols, standup comedy by Lewis Black and Sam Kinison, and more.

Last December we played a 12-minute excerpt from the piece. This year (what the heck) we present Scooter's tour-de-force almost uncut ... almost uncensored ... and almost unabridged!

Scooter, in a reflective moment

Scooter produces "The innerSide" radio program at KPFT-FM, Houston. Find more of his work at http://aksisofevil.org.

SCADs and Conspiracy Theories

Part 1: New World Notes #404, 28:49 (December1)
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Part 2: New World Notes #405, 28:38 (December 8)
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Lance deHaven-Smith

Public policy scholar Lance deHaven-Smith discusses the concepts of "conspiracy theories" and SCADs--State Crimes Against Democracy. "Conspiracy theory" is a pejorative term introduced by the CIA in the 1960s to smear critics of the Warren Commission Report. SCADs, though, are real crimes that high government officials (often conspiring together) committed.

Part 1 of this interesting talk discusses both concepts and provides some little-known facts about famous SCADs including Watergate and candidate Richard Nixon's scuttling of the Vietnam peace talks in 1968.

Part 2 says more about both concepts and provides many little-known facts about proven SCADs, probable SCADs, and possible SCADs. One focus is this country's many assassinations and attempted assassinations.

deHaven-Smith spoke in Denver on September 6, 2013. Robin Upton, of Unwelcome Guests (unwelcomeguests.net) provided an edited sound recording--which I have edited a bit more. Thanks to Robin.

Lance deHaven-Smith is Professor of Public Administration and Policy at Florida State University. His books include Conspiracy Theory in America (University of Texas Press, 2013).