Resisting Violence: Kathy Kelly

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New World Notes News

Volume 1, Number 21 -- December 2 , 2008

http://newworldnotes.blogspot.com/

Kathy Kelly in 2003. Is this Camp Casey?

This week in New World Notes, #39 -- December 2 & 5:

In my mind's ear, I can hear my mother advising, "Why don't you pick on somebody your own size?" She wasn't urging me to go and punch Randy Peterson in the nose--however much he deserved it. Rather, she meant that there is no glory in starting and winning a fight with someone two years younger than you and 20 pounds lighter.

With such ethical lessons, Mom destroyed all my chances of a career in the U.S. State Department, CIA, or armed forces.

Not that I can't appreciate the copious heroism displayed in America's great military invasion and glorious conquest of the island-nation of Grenada in 1983. Normandy, Schmormandy . . . this was war! Heute Grenada, morgen . . . Nantucket?

Now as adults, many of us face a problem the opposite of the one Mom pointed out. The adversaries that we feel deserve a swift kick are no longer smaller and weaker than us. They are huge and immensely powerful. The military-industrial-Congressional complex, for instance. Does it make sense even to show up for a fight?

Hero(in)es of the story: The Pit Stop Ploughshares (5 people on right)
in front of court building, Dublin, 2006

In NWN #39, Resisting Violence: Kathy Kelly, the alliterative veteran activist/peacemaker answers, "You betcha!"--or words to that effect. Kelly tells some inspiring and funny stories about small groups of ordinary people in Ireland--Belfast as well as Dublin--who were determined to fight back against Bush's war on the Middle East. And they were determined to end Ireland's complicity in it, even if a law or two had to be broken in the process. And they succeeded more than anyone expected.

GBU-28 bunker-buster: Made in USA, used by Israel in Lebanon, July-August 2006.
Capable of vanquishing enemy children in even the deepest bomb-shelter.

Raytheon--with substantial presence in Ireland--produced the software the GBU-28 requires.
Kathy's story explains the computer defenestration.

Kelly is a terrific storyteller, and these are fine, and heartening, stories. For me, the high point is her re-creation--in full Oyrish brogue--of defense attorney Nicks’s summation to the jury. This is funny, moving, and a key scene, for Mr. Nicks asks a question of the jury to which Kelly herself has no good answer.

Not to be outdone in the David-vs.-Goliath department, I single-handedly take on the Roman Catholic Church. Actually, my attitude is complex. This outfit is much like a compost pile: pretty dry near the top; fertile, effective, alive, and beneficial in many places close to the bottom. There--among the lower clergy and the laity--are committed political- and social activists such as Dorothy Day, the Berrigans, Fr. Roy Bourgeois. Such as the ones Kathy Kelly found in Ireland. Such as Kelly herself.

Stateside again, and off to jail in Illinois. Studs Terkel (left) and others lend support.

In my teens, I dated a number of "good Catholic girls" of Irish ancestry, so I feel I can give the world some general advice. Don't ever, ever underestimate what any one of them is capable of doing, once she makes up her mind to it.

Catch New World Notes . . .
Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford) & wwuh.org
Fridays, 7:30 to 8:00 AM, WHUS-FM 91.7 (Storrs) & http://www.whus.org/
Any time: Listen to or download any installment ... or subscribe to a podcast ... at A-Infos Radio Project: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=result&action=series&series=New%20World%20Notes

For nearly two decades, Kelly has been trying to show Americans the suffering of the
Iraqi people under U.S. bombings of infrastructure, sanctions, invasion, and now
occupation. And to move us to action to end our government's jihad against
these people. Too big a task? Never underestimate what a Good Catholic Girl is
capable of -- especially if she's Irish and from Chicago.

Weinholtz's Gratuitous Art

JOE by David Weinholtz

FOR SALE--Cheap!

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Junior Senator (slightly used)

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Answers to the name of "Joe" or--called by AIPAC--"Here, Boy!"

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Housebroken. Some identity issues.

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Quotable quote--on bombing Iran: "What, me worry?"

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No reasonable offer refused!

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JFK, Parenti, & the National Security State

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New World Notes News
Volume 1, Number 20 -- November 25, 2008
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This week in New World Notes, #41 -- November 25 & 28:
A pair of NWN installments commemorates John F. Kennedy, who was murdered 45 years ago, on November 22. Last week's program--JFK, Parenti, and "Lone Gunmen" Galore!--discussed the many "lone gunmen, acting alone" that blue-ribbon investigative commissions tend to find responsible for each political assassination in the United States. The program focused on Lee Harvey Oswald, the sole assassin of JFK, according to the Warren Commission Report and the corporate-controlled media.

This week's program is titled, JFK, Parenti, and the National Security State. Michael Parenti's rousing but funny speech continues, now focusing on the institutional structures behind Kennedy's murder. Chief among these is "the National Security State"--persons and entities given the power to invade, assassinate, torture, start wars, and cause other mayhem worldwide, in the name of national security. JFK had thwarted their goals of war with Russia and escalation in Vietmam. By 1963 they had had enough.

Besides Parenti's speech and my commentary, the show offers another jaundiced view of the National Security State--at least a large part of it--by playwright, essayist, and novelist Gore Vidal. Vidal recreates a chat he had with Kennedy in 1961. Here JFK, between puffs of a cigar "liberated from Castro's Cuba," wishes aloud that he had more control over the Pentagon and then explains to Vidal why he is unlikely to attain any.

Attached graphics:

(1) Tarpley's Believe it or Not! shows the interlocking institutions and personnel behind the Kennedy assassination. Or is it the 9-11 disaster? Gulf War I? Hard to tell . . . .

(2) JFK giving Inaugural speech, January 1961. "Ask not what your country can do for you . . . ." As with MLK's "I have a dream . . .," this speech was not Kennedy's best, only the one the Establishment most liked to quote to hoi polloi. Each man gave his greatest speech not long before his assassination. Each, in this speech, denounced war, denounced the Military-Industrial Complex, and called for disarmament. Lockheed shareholders were not amused.

(3) Posthumous poster. Note selected quotation on the poster (then again see #2, above).

JFK, Parenti, & "Lone Gunmen" Galore!

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New World Notes News
Volume 1, Number 19 -- November 15, 2008

An archive of this newsletter is now available on the World Wide Web. At the same site you'll also find links for downloading audio files of past shows, a few interesting links elsewhere on the Web, a Search function, and the opportunity to comment on any newsletter issue. I plan to add a collection of graphics and additional interesting links in the near future. Pay us a visit at http://newworldnotes.blogspot.com/

This week in New World Notes, #40 -- November 18 & 21:

I've learned a lot of American history since the show began last February. This knowledge has been a bit of a comfort. Decisions made by our rulers now seem less bizarre, more rational, more predictable. I'm not saying more justifiable. I'm not saying less obscene. But less inexplicable. It's probably been done before, and the real reasons this time are likely the same as the last time.

You begin to see patterns. For instance, you see the same plot-lines used in one official story and then the next and the one after that. The same stock characters. The same outcome. Even the same rave reviews from the critics: "This report [or presentation to the UN General Assembly] should put to rest any lingering doubts."

Here are just a few well-worn plot elements. An important figure is murdered or a preventable calamity occurs. A blue-ribbon commission is appointed to investigate. The commission issues a weighty report that pins all the blame on one human misfit, who acted alone and without informing others. I use the generic term "lone gunman," but the category includes also lone ship's captains (Exxon Valdez), lone cult leaders (David Koresh), and lone Mad Scientists ("Anthrax Bruce" Ivins). How the culprit is reported to have done the deed strikes many people as theoretically possible but highly unlikely.

Unfortunately for most of us, lone gunmen tend to die before they can testify in court.

Oswald, ca. 1958

Early on, political scientist Michael Parenti scoffed at the government's Official Fairy Tale [OFT] of JFK's assassination (45 years ago this week). In a fiery, funny, and persuasive speech from 1993, Parenti demolishes the OFT and the intellectuals who defend it.

In this installment and the next, New World Notes replays most of this wonderful speech--condensed and somewhat reorganized by yours, truly. This week, Parenti hilariously debunks the official story of Lone Gunman Lee Harvey Oswald. I supplement this with the similar and equally unlikely story of Oswald's latest incarnation, Mad Germ-bomber Bruce Ivins.

Next week's installment (#41) focuses on the large role in Kennedy's murder of "the National Security State"--of which Oswald had been a small part. Parenti and I are joined by novelist, essayist, and historian Gore Vidal.

Catch New World Notes . . .
Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford) & wwuh.org
Fridays, 7:30 to 8:00 AM, WHUS-FM 91.7 (Storrs) & http://www.whus.org/
Any time: Listen to or download any installment ... or subscribe to a podcast ... at A-Infos Radio Project:

http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=result&action=series&series=New%20World%20Notes

Gratuitous photographs attached, pro bono:

(1) Lee Harvey Oswald in Marine Corps uniform, ca. 1958. Did the Marine Corps give many other "misfit loners" high security clearance, then assign them to a top-secret reconnaissance-mission air base in Japan? Did the Corps let many other misfit loners keep their high security clearance after they suddenly began praising Communism and addressing fellow Marines as "Comrade"? No wonder the Commies won the Cold War!

(2) Oswald, now looking the "misfit loner" part, on Life Magazine cover.

(3) Dr. Bruce Ivins: ABC News background graphic. The graphic clearly reveals the scoundrel's guilt. He looks gay, too. Oh, wait . . . that conflicts with our "Kappa-Kappa-Gamma fetish" narrative. Forget the gay part. . . . Unfortunately, he died before he could testify in court. Lee Oswald had the same misfortune. And James Earl Ray (MLK murder). And. . . . Lone Gunmen ought to take better care of their health!

The End of 'Mutual Corruption'

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New World Notes News
Volume 1, Number 18, Part 2 -- November 11, 2008

This week in New World Notes:

# 38 -- Part The Last of Mutual Corruption: Business, Media, and Politics; . . . or: Roll Over, George Orwell, and Give Tim Russert the News. My heart always had a soft spot for tough-guy prosecutor and writer Vincent Bugliosi. In this final installment, his voice is added to those of Usual Suspects Mark Crispin Miller, Charles Lewis, and Bernie Sanders. I think I heard Greg Palast in there as well.

Yes, more women's voices would have done the documentary no harm, and I suspect a phone call or two--to FAIR, for instance--would have turned up several good ones before you could say, You Betcha!

But Bugliosi is a fine addition. Unlike most Americans and (coincidence?) unlike the corporate-controlled media, he retains the ability to become outraged at the outrageous.

Such as the coup d'etat of November 2000 engineered by 5 conspirators who--when they weren't busy trashing the Constitution--had spent their spare time masquerading as justices of the Supreme Court. A sleeper cell! Who knew?!

All that talk about Islamofascism was just to throw us off track! It's not the Moslems that hate our freedom. It's the Episcopalians!

Needless to say, the corporate-controlled media aided the coup and took charge of the coverup. And took charge of the coverup of the recount. I know, I know. You're about to expostulate, "What recount?!" and then call the Connecticut State Home for the Bewildered to inquire if any radio producers have wandered off the grounds recently.

Before they take me away, let me acknowledge that the ladies and gentlemen perpetrating the coverup are either evil vipers in human form (Ruger Ailes, Murdoch) or else prostitute stooges who would gladly trade their shrunken little souls for an invitation to the next Prayer Breakfast hosted by Condi and Dick (Ann Coulter, Tim Russert and ilk, and whoever is Managing Editor of the New York Times this year).

Moral failings aside, these walking flowers of evil are very talented professionals who do what they do extremely well and who earn a good deal of their obscenely inflated compensation packages. If you've never heard of a Florida recount, why question my sanity?

Vipers and prostitute stooges alike appreciate an occasional sincere note of praise from someone who understands the artistry involved. Send a little billet-doux to Roger or to Tim. Since nobody is sure which circle Tim is currently visiting, just direct your note to the Admissions Office. They'll have Cerebrus deliver it to the appropriate brimstone pit. Everyone will feel better--even you--and Cerebrus will get some exercise.

Tom Lehrer, 1959. Hit song:
"Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" (1959)

And yes, I did swipe the asylum's name from Tom Lehrer. If you want to sue on Tom's behalf, have your lawyers contact my lawyers. Gambino, Gambino, Bonnano, Trafficante, and Kissinger, LLP--General Delivery, Queens, New York.

At this point--if we were Monty Python's Flying Circus--the camera would cut to the Major, riding crop in hand, who would order, "CUT! . . . Look, this started out as a relatively nice little newsletter, but now it's gotten rather SILLY!"

So I'll end with an odd-sounding phrase--President Gore--and with the suggestion that if we lived in a democracy . . . or even in a representative democracy with an Electoral College--the phrase would sound considerably less odd.

I invite you to listen to this installment of the show, which you can do using a variety of different technologies, and at any time your heart desires.

Catch New World Notes . . .

Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH-FM 91.3 (West Hartford) & http://wwuh.org/
Fridays, 7:30 to 8:00 AM, WHUS-FM 91.7 (Storrs) & http://www.whus.org/
Any time: Listen to or download any installment ... or subscribe to a podcast ... at A-Infos Radio Project: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=result&action=series&series=New%20World%20Notes

Nice quote from this installment:

"If they would do this. . . . If they would stoop this low, to steal our White House, what else would they do? What else are they capable of? . . . What else are they capable of? I want to know!" --V. Bugliosi

Coming up November 18 & 21:

We commemorate the 45th anniversary of the murder of the only U.S. President ever to declare complete worldwide disarmament a national goal . . . to describe that goal as both attainable and in the national interest . . . and to order the first steps towards it to be taken--unilaterally and immediately.

You shouted out, "Who killed the Kennedys," did you? Satan lied. It wasn't you & me after all. Nor was it Satan and we. Nor, in all probability, was it Lee Harvey Oswald, either ... as Michael Parenti cogently and hilariously explains. Don't miss "JFK, Parenti, and 'Lone Gunmen' Galore!" You betcha!

In 2 shows in mid-December, we'll listen to the fine and stirring speech described, above: JFK's American University commencement address, June 10, 1963.

Election Party-Pooperage

New World Notes News
Volume 1, Number 18, Part 1 -- November 11, 2008

Department of Party-Pooperage:

Since Wednesday morning, much of the music broadcast by local community-radio stations has been celebratory, inspiring, happy, as though the Lord were being thanked, a sigh of relief were being breathed, and--as on the New Yorker cover--daylight had appeared at the end of a long, dark, blood-red tunnel. Even on Ed McKeon’s “Caterwaul” show!

Even as I write, WWUH is playing Three-Dog Night's ancient pop hit,

• The world is black, the world is white;
  It turns by day and then by night.
  A child is black, a child is white,
  The whole world looks upon the sight . . . a beautiful sight!

Full disclosure. I’m the culprit that urged Ed to play “America,“ Roy Zimmerman’s comic anthem--with its glorious and genuinely inspiring finale:

• America is a dream of freedom
  Dreamed by everyone all over the world.
  God bless the normal people
  And the ones with every known quirk
  And God Bless America:
  It just might work. . . .
  It just . . . might . . . work!

From an old "News from Lake Wobegone" episode came a phrase that continues to resonate for me. Garrison lamented that, unlike the majority of Wobegonians, he had never received "the gift of Faith." Here I'm with Garrison rather than with, say, Christopher Hitchens, who lately has been giddily celebrating his own atheism.

Some of us deeply yearn for a Deus ex machina to come and pull humanity out of our misery. De tenebris, et cetera. Faith would be a very great comfort--faith in Jesus, in History, in Science, in the words of a holy Book, in the human intellect, in whatever. Even, on a more mundane level, to have faith that President Obama will lead America back in the direction of democracy and will make the world a better place. . . .

Last Monday, Obama-supporter Michael Moore expressed, not faith, but at least hope. Hope that, beginning January 20, President Obama, like every other elected politician, will commence to break every campaign promise he had made. Much as I admire Moore's soft-core cynicism, I cannot share even that modest hope. Newly-elected Presidents, especially Democrats, break most of their promises that would benefit The People. Recall William Jefferson Clinton. But can you recall any promise a candidate made to Wall Street or to the Military-Industrial Complex or to other Big Business--i.e., to those who paid his campaign expenses--that (s)he subsequently failed to keep? I can’t.

It‘s my curse. To paraphrase the ditty we used to sing ca. 1965, "Every party needs a pooper / That's why the Dems invited me, / Party-pooper! Party-pooper!" Admittedly, the gods--if they exist--never promised either me or my unhappy ancestress Cassandra a rose garden. But did they have to plop us in the middle of The Waste Land?

• I, Tiresius, old man with wrinkled dugs
  Perceived the scene and foretold the rest--
  I too awaited the expected guest.
  He, the young man carbuncular, arrives . . .
  One of the low on whom assurance sits
  As a silk hat on a Bradford millionaire.
  The time is now propitious, as he guesses . . . .

And if you know Eliot's poem (or saved your Norton Anthology), you know what happens next.

To update and Americanize the text, just substitute "hedge-fund manager" for "Bradford millionaire." And yes, you're right, the writing of most people who hail from Missouri usually doesn't need much additional Americanizing. Stanley Elkin, Mark Twain . . . you'd hardly have to change a word!

Part 2 of this issue will be published in a day or two

Mutual Corruption: Business, Media, Politics (Part 1)

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New World Notes News
Volume 1, Number 15, Part 2 -- October 28, 2008

This week in New World Notes:

Tuesday, October 28 / Friday, October 31: #36--Mutual Corruption . . . , Part 1. TV news-and-public-affairs shows are now much, much worse than in the past. Though its viewpoint was always Establishment, TV News once did try for some degree of fairness, comprehensiveness, and breadth of views. The News was considered a required public service, not just one more "profit center" that had better hold its own in the ratings against Wasteland programs like "American Idol" and "Miley Cyrus‘ Dare to Bare It!"

Which brings us to the next three installments of New World Notes. And yes, one of those program names was made up on the spot.

In 2006, Robert Kane Pappas produced a fine video documentary on the gawdawful interplay of big business, big media, and a corrupt, anti-democratic government. We saw this interplay clearly in the run-up to the U.S. war against Iraq. In March 2003, 51% of Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was responsible for the destruction of the World Trade Center. What led them to believe this? And who benefited from this belief?

Pappas named his documentary, Orwell Rolls In His Grave. Lyn Gerry, of the Unwelcome Guests Collective, adapted it for radio. I then hacked and chopped Gehry’s adaptation down to less than an hour and spread it over three shows. I always wanted to be a butcher. Alas, I’m a U.S. citizen, so the big meatpacking companies won’t hire me. So I became an editor instead. Close enough.
I gave my trilogy this title: Mutual Corruption: Business, Media, and Politics; . . . or: Roll Over, George Orwell, and Give Tim Russert the News.

And anyone who claims that I come not to praise Orwell but to Berry him gets his newsletter subscription cancelled!

The highlight of the series is the speaking voices. In this first installment, my favorites are those of film- and trouble-maker Michael Moore and U.S. Congressman Bernie Sanders. Here Moore is at his best, and Sanders is terrific! He's brilliant, acerbic, left-of-center, and very funny. Charles Lewis, Danny Schecter, and Mark Crispin Miller also speak with insight.

Finally, a voice from another source--Black Agenda Radio’s Glen Ford--discusses a problem that shows that Orwell, Moore, Sanders et al. know what they’re talking about. In its local coverage, the leading newspaper in Washington, D.C., refuses to report news of the political party with second-highest popular support in the city. The local GOP--#3 in popular support--is covered plenty. The Statehood-Green Party? Down the 1984 Memory Hole!

You don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy Levy’s Rye Bread, and you don’t have to be Black to appreciate the commentaries of Ford and colleagues at Black Agenda Report and Black Agenda Radio. As the poet should have said, "Send not for whom Glen Ford speaks: / He speaks for thee."

OK, I’m Donne. . . .

Catch New World Notes . . .

• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH 91.3 (West Hartford) & wwuh.org
• Fridays, 7:30 to 8:00 AM, WHUS 91.7 (Storrs) & http://www.whus.org/
• Any time: Listen to or download any installment ... or subscribe to a podcast ... at the A-Infos Radio Project New World Notes program archive

Support Your Local Artist

OK, so now he's more our regional artist. He used to be local. I think. In any case, attached are two more paintings by David Weinholtz (click to enlarge). O'Reilly [above] seems relevant enough to our broadcast. And Whittling [below] seems relevant enough to America over (say) the past 30 years. Let's hope or pray that next year Whittling will require updating, and the updating will require more than just painting out the elephant and painting in a donkey.

If Nader is elected President, I wonder what symbol he'd choose. A Chevrolet Corvair gets my vote.

Keep the shiny side up! [traditional motorcyclists' benediction]
Ken

Save Troy Davis; Celebrate Halloween.

New World Notes News
Volume 1, Number 15, Part 1 -- October 28, 2008

This week’s newsletter comes in 2 parts. Part 2--out this weekend--will describe next week’s show. I usually save my Acme-brand soapbox for use on the radio, but a couple of the bees in my bonnet need to get out now, so I hope you’ll indulge this Part 1. If not, your keyboard has a key marked “Del.” and that doesn’t represent “the people of DELAWARE” -- any more than Joe Biden does! (Ouch! Sorry. I do feel your pain.)

Troy Davis Update:

Two decades ago, a young Black man, Troy Davis, was convicted of a capital felony for his alleged fatal shooting of a white police officer in Savannah, Georgia. The evidence strongly suggests that Davis is innocent. Nonetheless, Davis’ execution is scheduled in less than a week. There's still time for people who prefer justice to ritual sacrifice to help stop this state-sanctioned murder.

New World Notes’s muse has been oddly silent on this travesty of justice, but an excellent journalist, radio producer, and program host, Dori Smith, has been on the case like a bloodhound with a personal grudge. Dori produces public-affairs programs for the Pacifica radio network and for WHUS-FM 91.7 in Storrs, CT. Her weekly program, Talk Nation Radio, has been covering the Davis case extensively.

Here are two good resources for people wishing to get up-to-speed on the case or learn how they can help. Dori's www.talknationradio.org (.com also works) has much clear, concise information and several good links, including to her recent broadcasts. Amnesty International USA has a long, comprehensive, but very readable report plus other good links: http://www.amnestyusa.org/death-penalty/troy-davis-finality-over-fairness/page.do?id=1011343


Please Celebrate Halloween!

Unlike Super Bowl Sunday, the American Halloween celebration is an authentic folk tradition, centuries old. It serves mainly the social and psychological needs of the "common people"--not entrenched economic interests, not the war machine of the State.

Most cultures celebrate a "topsy-turvy" day (or week) in which the rules are upended, the last become first, the Lord of Misrule temporarily trumps the Establishment, and the community comes together in a public party. Compared with Bacchanalia, Saturnalia, the Feast of Fools, Carnaval, and Mardi Gras, our Halloween is pretty tame. But it’s the best we’ve got.

Especially if you’ve accompanied a child on trick-or-treating rounds, you’ve probably seen and felt the community being drawn closer together. If you’re really lucky, the child with you will discover that the scary strangers who live down the street are actually very nice people.

If you’re home handing out snacks to apprentice goblins, you might even discover that the kids from the Projects are more polite than the middle-class ragamuffins from your immediate neighborhood. I’ve seen this repeatedly. (So much for the “incurable social pathology” of the urban poor in single-parent households! Come to think of it, if middle-class white kids can come from single-parent “families,” how come poor Blacks get only single-parent “households”?)

Since 2001, we’ve seen certain powerful and nasty interests profiting from making the American people increasingly afraid. And we’ve seen the results: the people now have fewer rights, less security, less liberty, less power, and (collectively as well as individually) a good deal less money.

Such powerful interests have been using false fear for years, in an attempt to make Halloween go the way of May Day. Who wants a holiday (they think) that increases solidarity among working people . . . that encourages people to look to their own community for support, not to their superiors . . . that resists being turned into an orgy of buying and consuming and corporate profit? Super Bowl Sunday and (as celebrated) Christmas are much more corporate-friendly.

This year, please celebrate Halloween in the traditional way. And please resist all attempts by your town, church, or school district to offer a “safe alternative” to trick-or-treating. What could be safer than a street filled with happy pedestrian-neighbors?

And those Snickers bars with razor blades inside that you’ve heard so much about? They’re all buried outside of Mosul, next to Saddam Hussein’s WMDs, the remains of the original Kentucky Fried Rat, and thousands of those 115-miles-per-gallon carburetors that GM bought the rights to and then suppressed!

Feel free to forward any or all of this message to appropriate people.

If you’re not on the New World Notes mailing list and would like to be . . . or conversely . . . just send a note to Kenneth Dowst: kdowst at hotmail dot com.

Jello Biafra on the Candidates

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Paul Wolfowitz

New World Notes News
Volume 1, Number 14 -- October 21, 2008

This week in New World Notes:

Tuesday, October 21 / Friday, October 24: #35--New World Notes's first and only Election Special--features two long passages from a funny and biting 2-hour stand-up monologue ("spoken-word art") performed by Jello Biafra--in July of this year, I believe . First, Jello presents a highly selective review of world news. We then break for a song--not by Jello and the Melvins or the Dead Kennedys (Jello's current and previous groups), I promise! Then Jello skewers every major-party aspirant to the U.S. presidency, including HRC, Huckabee, Guiliani, McCain, not least "the Barack star"--plus Nancy Pelosi, for good measure. Here's how the presidential horserace looks from a genuinely Progressive perspective. It isn't pretty, but it's funny.

Alas, no mention of McKinney (who wasn't yet nominated) or Ralph Nader. Alack, the recording was made before Sarah P. swooped down upon the Lower 48, scoped .30-06 in hand.* Is America ready for a Vice President who poses a greater threat to wildlife than to her hunting partner?

Jello's fine comic-satire monologues are among the discoveries I've made as a result of doing New World Notes. Other discoveries include singers Emma's Revolution, Anne Feeney (a long-lost friend), Rich Wyman, and The Foremen; interesting writers and speakers including Naomi Woolf, Glen Ford, and James Bamford; and a large handful of good people producing good public-affairs radio shows for nonprofit stations.

I've scheduled for mid-December another 22 minutes--not about the election--from the same performance by Jello. So if you enjoy this kind of thing (as I do), be sure to tune in.

More gratuitous artwork is attached: (1) Paul Wolfowitz (Top of page: plays a role in the song this week); (2-3) two posters celebrating Jello Biafra's 50th birthday (b. 1958); (4) the man himself.

Next week: Part 1 of a 3-part radio documentary. New World Notes's title pretty well sums it up: "Mutual Corruption: Media, Business, and Politics (or: Roll Over, George Orwell, and Tell Tim Russert the News)."

Catch New World Notes . . .

• Tuesdays, Noon to 12:30 PM, WWUH 91.3 (West Hartford) & wwuh.org
• Fridays, 7:30 to 8:00 AM, WHUS 91.7 (Storrs) & http://www.whus.org/
• Any time: Listen to or download any installment ... or subscribe to a podcast ... at A-Infos Radio Project: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php?op=result&action=series&series=New%20World%20Notes

Cheers!
Ken

* Pronounced “thirty-aught-six.” Not to be confused with the more modest .30-30, pronounced “THUD-y THUD-y.” Onomatopoeia, anyone?