Saturday, September 10, 2011

Bruce Gagnon: Endless War for Endless Profit

New World Notes News
Vol. 4, Nos. 37-38 -- September 10 & 17, 2011

To download an audio file (save it on your hard disk): 1. Place your cursor over the link (above). 2. Click your right mouse button. A small menu appears. 3. On the small menu, select "Save Target As...." A "dialog box" appears. 4. The dialog box shows the folder where your computer proposes to save the file. Either remember this folder or else select a folder you prefer. Then click on "Save."


This fortnight in New World Notes, radio programs #184-185, September 13 & 20, 2011

Bruce Gagnon:
Endless War for Endless Profit

The War Machine's grand vision: control the solar system through
space-based high-tech warfare--defending the profits of
U.S.-based transnational corporations.

In brief

Antiwar and antinuke activist Bruce K. Gagnon argues brilliantly that the main purpose of US wars is to enrich the military-industrial complex and the rest of the oligarchy.

And the techniques remain the same, generation after generation. The same lies, the same U.S. atrocities against civilans, the same false demonization of "enemy" leaders--from Muammar Gaddafi to Saddam Hussein, ... back at least as far as Crazy Horse in the 1870s.

Gagnon's history of the U.S. campaign against Crazy Horse is an eye-opener. After the U.S. government won the Indian Wars, and all the once-rebellious tribes including their leaders were sitting on reservtions--unarmed and horseless--profits of the war industries plunged. So the warmongers invented and widely publicized false stories of Indians still on the rampage. They especially demonized Crazy Horse, now denouncd for ongoing vicious plunder, rape, and murder of white settlers.

It was all lies, but military procurements rose in response, and war industry profits went back up.

Did somebody mention Gaddafi and his alleged Viagra-fueled rape squads?

Crazy Horse. Most graphics: Click to enlarge.

There's more, including the insanity of sending plutonium into space, of mining on other planets, and of planning to control--militarily--the solar system. Then there's the U.S. military's explicit acknowledgement (in case there was any doubt in your mind) that their purpose is to advance the interests of the plutocrats that control the transnational corporate capitalist stystem. (Defend the United States nation against attack? How quaint!)

Notes, credits, & links

I recorded Bruce Gagnon live in Wethersfield, Connecticut, on August 20, 2011. I have slightly condensed his talk for radio.

Bruce on the Web: http://www.space4peace.org/. His recent book, Come Together Right Now: Organizing Stories from a Fading Empire (revised ed., 2008), is available through his site: http://www.space4peace.org/sales#books

An earlier talk by Bruce Gagnon, also recorded live, was broadcast on New World Notes in May 2010. The Web page has photos, information, and links for listening or download: http://newworldnotes.blogspot.com/2010/05/bruce-gagnon-on-endless-war-and-economy.html .

Bruce Gagnon

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "aegis") 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: The United States Space Command, author of Vision for 2020, is now the Joint Functional Component Command for Space (JFFC Space), within the United States Strategic Command.  ("U.S. Space Command" must have sounded far too clear.)  Below: Amen!

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • September 20 -- Bruce Gagnon, Part 2--recorded live in Wethersfield, Connecticut, August 20, 2011
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Saturday, September 3, 2011

Celebrities


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 36 -- September 3, 2011

To download an audio file (save it on your hard disk): 1. Place your cursor over the link (above). 2. Click your right mouse button. A small menu appears. 3. On the small menu, select "Save Target As...." A "dialog box" appears. 4. The dialog box shows the folder where your computer proposes to save the file. Either remember this folder or else select a folder you prefer. Then click on "Save."


This week in New World Notes, radio program #183, September 6, 2011

Celebrities 


In brief
An interesting look at our fascination with celebrities ... and corporate marketers' exploitation of this fascination to sell products. In fact our attraction to celebrities appears rooted in our evolution: the closer our ancestors got to the alpha male, the more likely they were to survive. The show includes parts of the documentary film Starsuckers and Chris Hedges' critique of Michael Jackson's funeral.

Michael Jackson. Most graphics: Click to enlarge.

Notes, credits, & links
New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "counter") 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.
Chris Hedges. He described Michael Jackson's funeral
as "a variety show with a coffin."

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • September 13 & 20 -- Bruce Gagnon--recorded live in Wethersfield, Connecticut, August 20, 2011
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Saturday, August 27, 2011

Can This Honeymoon Be Saved? (R)


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 35 -- August 27, 2011


This week in New World Notes, radio program #182, August 30, 2011

Can This Honeymoon Be Saved?

In brief

Progressives are increasingly alarmed at Obama's actions & inactions. Using a wide variety of audio soures, we explore The Audacity of Betrayal & the government's astounding lack of "change we can believe in." This installment focuses (though not exclusively) on war, the military, and "defense" spending.

Because the subject is such a bummer, I tried to make the show itself fun. You'll get to hear, among other sound sources, Amy Goodman; The Dixie Chicks; Obama Girl; an Al-Jazeera documentary; the trailer for the film, War of the Roses; and me.

This week's show is a replay of NWN #82, from September 2009.
Notes, credits, & links

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. 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 6 -- Celebrities
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Friday, August 19, 2011

Peaceful Atom: Early Daze


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 34 -- August 19, 2011


This week in New World Notes, radio program #181, August 23, 2011

Peaceful Atom: Early Daze


In brief
In the early 1950s the federal government began strongly encouraging civilian uses of nuclear technology--good news for reactor makers General Electric and Westinghouse! "Atoms for Peace," the massive sales campaign was called.

President Eisenhower gave an important speech on the subject at the United Nations. The Post Office issued an "Atoms for Peace" commemorative first-class stamp (3 cents!) in 1955. In March 1956, Mechanix Illustrated magazine featured a profusely illustrated article, "Why Don't We Build an Atoms-for-Peace Dirigible." Not even a question mark.

A nuclear-powered blimp. What could be more sensible?

Yes, the propaganda was flowing fast and furiously. As I recall, "Our friend, the atom" was a slogan in wide use. As for nuclear-generated electricity, the watchword was, "Too cheap to meter!"

This week, in another nice audiocollage, Virtual Renderings explores the wild promises made made for civilian nukes--and the very scary reality behind the propaganda--from 1950 through the meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979. Sound sources include old propaganda films, news reports, interviews from documentary films, and some music--as usual, all very nicely woven together.
Most graphics: Click to enlarge.

Notes, credits, & links
Dozens of Virtual Rendering's *audiocollages* are available, without charge, here: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/contributor/2102

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. 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: from Mechanix Illustrated, March 1956.
Below: Nuclear power plant.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • August 30 -- Can This Honeymoon Be Saved?
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Saturday, August 13, 2011

Cheap Junk & the Deindustrialization of America (R)


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 33 -- August 13, 2011


This week in New World Notes, radio program #180, August 16, 2011

Cheap Junk & the
Deindustrialization of America

Annie Leonard (from NWN #48, "The Story of STUFF")

In brief
We explore the connections among ubiquitous cheap junk merchandise, domestic unemployment and poverty, starvation wages abroad, pollution everywhere, the destruction of the environment, the deindustrialization and Third-World-ization of America, and the ever-increasing wealth of the already-rich. Was there a vote on all this that somehow I missed?

Includes unflattering words on G.E. by labor leader Marie Lausch & a passage on IKEA from Ellen Ruppel Shell's book, Cheap.
Above: Marie Lausch at UCONN, November 14, 2009.
Below: Ellen Ruppel Shell
.
Notes, credits, & links

Music added: Anne Feeney, "Brave New Christmas"

Connecticut United Electrical Workers Union president Marie Lausch recorded by me at a symposium on converting Connecticut to a peacetime economy held at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, November 14, 2009. Shell passage as reprited by the Toronto Globe & Mail, July 19, 2009, condensed for radio by me.

This is a replay of NWN #98 (January 2010).

"New World Notes" is produced under the auspices (Latin for "table") 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 23 -- Peaceful Atom: Early Daze
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):
A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net

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Friday, August 5, 2011

More Voices from "Lifting the Veil"


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 32 -- August 5, 2011


This week in New World Notes, radio program #179, August 9, 2011

More Voices from
"Lifting the Veil"

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
In brief

More selections from Scott Noble's interesting new documentary video about the betrayal of the American people by their political system--including both major parties. With some good explanations of (1) the financial industry lunkheads now put in charge of the US Treasury and (2) how the growing wealth of the rich comes from the pockets of the middle and working classes.

Voices heard include those of Noam Chomsky, commentator Chris Hedges, political cartoonist Ted Rall, Senator Bernie Sanders, and economist Richard Wolff. Plus some TV commercials and news clips.

Don't miss the news clip about the $175 hamburger sandwich you can buy for lunch at the Wall Street Burger Shoppe--complete with both black and white truffles and a sprinkling of gold leaf. Yum!
Above: the $175 hamburger. Below: Noam Chomsky.
(Click to enlarge)

Notes, credits, & links

The two-hour video is available, without charge, here.

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. 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.
Below: "Lifting the Veil of Ignorance." That's Booker T. Washington, to the right.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • August 16 -- Cheap Junk and the Deindustrialization of America
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Monday, August 1, 2011

To DOWNLOAD an Audio File

Here's a sample link to experiment with (to NWN #318)


To download an audio file (save it on your hard disk):

1. Place your cursor over the link.

2. Click your right mouse button. A small menu appears.

3. Windows Explorer: On the small menu, select "Save Target As...."
    Firefox: On the small menu, select "Save Link As...."

 A "dialog box" appears.

4. The dialog box shows the folder where your computer proposes to save the file. Either remember this folder or else select a folder you prefer. Then click on "Save."

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Sunday, July 31, 2011

Dog Day Afternoon at the Movies


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 31 -- July 31, 2011


This week in New World Notes, radio program #178, August 2, 2011

Dog Day Afternoon
at the Movies


Archer City, Texas. The Royal Theater was gutted by fire in 1965, shown in The Last Picture Show in 1971, and reopened in 2001.

In brief

Three short documentary films on fossil fuels, pollution, and the environment:

1. 300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds by the Post Carbon Institute

2. The Story of Cap & Trade by Annie Leonard

3. The Story of Electronics by Annie Leonard

Notes, credits, & links

All 3 videos are available on YouTube.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "long-suffering 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.
From The Last Picture Show.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • August 9 -- More Voices from "Lifting the Veil"
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Sunday, July 24, 2011

Voices from "Lifting the Veil"


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 30 -- July 24, 2011


This week in New World Notes, radio program #177, July 26, 2011

Voices from
"Lifting the Veil"


Three segments from Scott Noble's fine new documentary video about the betrayal of the American people by their political system.

1. A heartbreaking collection of Obama campaign promises--every one of which he broke. Get out of Iraq immediately; stop torture; close Guantanamo; bail out the people, not just the investment banks; renegotiate NAFTA; develop clean energy sources . . . and more. Everything Americans yearned for he promised. And we're still yearning.

2. Discussion by various figures of how US politics is controlled by--and serves only--Big Money.

3. A stunning speech at a war protest demonstration (D.C., December 16, 2010) by commentator Chris Hedges--on the meaning of the word "hope." Given The System's betrayal of democracy, hope requires the people to engage in public acts of nonviolent resistance to "the corporate state," he explains. (Hedges and more than 100 veterans then chained themselves to the White House fence and were arrested.)

The musical score in the background makes Hedges' speech even more stunning and inspiring. Hedges' remarks are preceded by a few on similar themes by John Pilger (2009).
Notes, credits, & links
The 2-hour film is available, without charge, online: http://www.metanoia-films.org/compilations.php

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.
Antiwar demonstration, Washington, D.C., December 16, 2010.
Our installment--and the film--end with Chris Hedges'
stirring speech (below). Click to enlarge.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • August 2 -- Dog Day Afternoon at the Movies
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Glen Ford


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 29 -- July 16, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #176, July 19, 2011

Glen Ford


Three brief and good talks on current events by Glen Ford, one of America's most astute--and hardest-hitting--Progressive political commentators.

Ford exposes the phoniness of the 2-party system (which resembles professional wrestling more than politics): both parties serve Finance Capital and imperialism.

Then Ford exposes the barrage of US government lies about Gaddafi, Libya, and the US wars in Africa. And he denounces the corporate press's decision to--yet again!--trumpet the lies and never question them.

Above: Glen Ford

Notes, credits, & links

Music added: David Rovics, Evening News

Hear and read more by Glen Ford--and other good commentators--at http://www.blacksgendareport.com/

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.

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.
Click to enlarge.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • July 26 -- Voices from Lifting the Veil
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

A-Infos Radio Project http://www.radio4all.net
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Friday, July 1, 2011

Technology and Society

New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 27 -- July 1, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio programs #174-175, July 5 & 12, 2011

Technology and Society

The Antichrist, in the shape of Steve Jobs, holds a recent
"smart phone" variation, the iPad.

The new "smart phones" such as Apple's iPhone have been revealed to be excellent devices for spying on the phones' owners. So this might be a good time to hear Dr. Neil Postman's celebrated and witty lecture, "Technology and Society" (1998).

Postman proposes six questions that society--and individuals--ought to consider before deciding to adopt any particular new technology.

Part 1 (NWN #174) includes some of Postman's introduction and his discussion of the first four questions.

Part 2 (NWN #175) includes

1. the final two questions and Postman's remarks on the relationship of TV and religion;
2. a news article on yet another spooky aspect of smart phones;
3. remarks by technology-law expert Jonathan Zittrain on the government's use of other "smart" wireless technology to spy on citizens (plus more bad news about the iPhone).

Above: Neil Postman in 1998.
Below: Should the U.S. taxpayer have subsidized construction of a supersonic passenger jet ("SST") to compete with the Anglo-French Concorde (1976-2003)? Postman applies two of his six questions to the proposal. Exactly what problem does this new technology solve? And exactly whose problem is it?

Notes, credits, & links

For many years a professor at New York University, Neil Postman wrote extensively on educational theory and theory of technology, as well as other works of cultural criticism. He died in 2003.


Postman spoke at Calvin College in January 1998. This lecture is available as 7 videos on YouTube. Jonathan Zittrain spoke at the University of Hartford on October 20, 2010 (recorded by me).

A good deal of Zittrain's October 20 lecture appears in New World Notes #142.

Music added (to Part Two): from Bruce Cockburn, If I Had a Rocket Launcher.

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.
Above: Technology-law expert Jonathan Zittrain.
Below: Further thoughts by Neil Postman. (Click to enlarge.)

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)
  • July 19 -- Speaking Truth to the Disempowered: Glen Ford
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

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