Friday, March 18, 2011

The Lightbulb Conspiracy


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, Nos. 12 & 13 -- March 18, 2011

This fortnight in New World Notes, radio programs #159 & 160, March 22 & 29, 2011

The Lightbulb Conspiracy

In brief

A 2-part radio adaptation of an interesting documentary film. It's about a 20th-century innovation in product design: "planned obsolescence." That is, about consumer products designed to fail early so that another must be purchased--and about the bad effects on our lives and on the environment of this wasteful strategy.

Topics include the international lightbulb cartel ("Phoebus"), which agreed to greatly reduce the service lives of bulbs, . . . nylon stockings, originally nearly indestructable then intentionally made flimsy by DuPont, . . . the original ($400) iPod, with a soldered-in battery designed to fail early (which the user could not replace and Apple would not replace), . . . the Epson InkJet printer, which has a chip that makes the unit stop working after a set number of copies, . . . and other outrages.

Plus (in Part 2) the environmental effects in developing countries of the electronic waste we dump there. And we'll meet some engineers and other crusaders who are trying to produce products that are environmentally friendly, long-lasting, and easily recycled.

Part Two (NWN #160) also includes Edition # 2 of The Book Report. This week Ken reviews Russ Baker's good work of investigative journalism on the Bush dynasty, Family of Secrets. Fascinating revelation: Nixon appears to have been innocent of "Watergate"--& framed by G.H.W. Bush (Chairman, Republican National Committee) and other oilmen.

1959 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer. Changes in design alone can lead consumers to replace a product before the end of its service life--another type of planned obsolescence. Click to enlarge.

Notes, credits, & links

The original film was directed by Norway's Cosima Dannoritzer. Most of this radio adaptation was produced by Robin Upton. Robin's contributions include translating the film's spoken Spanish, French, and German into English for overdub. (In his copy of the film, the subtitles are in Norwegian!) Robin previously broadcast his adaptation on his radio show, Unwelcome Guests . I have condensed and slightly rearranged Robin's adaptation to fit the half-hour format of New World Notes.
Fun fact: In the Livermore (CA) firehouse is a lightbulb (above) that has been burning continuously since 1901--for 110 years. (They don't make 'em like they used to!) Check out the latest Webcam photos. By the way, their first Webcam lasted all of 3 years before breaking; they're now on their second.

A free software fix for the Epson InkJet printer is described in Part 2 (NWN #160). No, it's not from Epson.

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "gun") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford.

You can listen to any installment of New World Notes online or else download it (as an mp3 audio file) for later listening. The show is archived at both radio4all.net and (from #90 onwards) The Internet Archive. Either link should get you a reverse-chrono listing of available installments. Or browse the show's Web site: Each installment has a page, and each page has links to the recorded audio.

Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want ... and what they're trying to make us settle for.

Above: Epson's InkJet printer (Model C62). A Doomsday chip inside InkJet printers makes them stop working after a certain number of copies. You can get them working again with some free software (see above). Below: One result of planned obsolescence: mountains of waste, very little of which can be recycled. For a nice photo-essay on the disposal of "e-waste" in (or "onto") a Chinese town--from which essay this photo is taken--see here: http://www.mygreenaustralia.com/2009/12/e-waste-in-guiyu/

Pro bono

We heard some of independent journalist Anne McClintock's fine reporting on the Gulf disaster back in October. Anne has recently published a nice first-hand report on the popular rebellion in Madison, Wisconsin, complete with a 20-photo "slideshow" taken by herself. The slide show is at the bottom of the page. Click on the image to advance to the next slide.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • April 5 & 12 -- Renegades (2 parts)
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



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Saturday, March 12, 2011

Who are the REAL Pirates? ...


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 11 -- March 12, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #158, March 15, 2011

Who are the REAL Pirates?
And Who are the REAL
Mass-Murderers?


In brief

Another installment in the same spirit as #155, "Who are the REAL Gangsters?"

(1) Commentator Glen Ford explains why the real "pirates of Somalia" are multinational corporations and certain Western nation-states. In the absence of any effective national government in Somalia, these outfits have been *plundering* that poor country. Includes a sprightly song celebrating the literal pirates of Somalia--the guys in the rubber boats--by David Rovics.

(2) Anthropologist Elliott Leyton argues that common mass-murderers, unlike common ordinary murderers, reveal a lot about a culture's values. And he cautions that common mass-murderers--who get most of the media publicity--are small potatoes indeed, compared to the leaders of nation-states.

My own example: Bill Clinton killed about 1 million Iraqi civilians through a murderous regime of "sanctions" (import prohibitions). How many people did Jared Loughner kill? (ANSWER: 6, plus 14 injured.) Which rampage did you hear more about in the "mainstream media"?

(3) We present also the first installment of a new (occasional) feature of the show, The Book Report. This week Ken reviews Chris Hedges' Death of the Liberal Class (2010).

Top: One of the joys of parenthood: reading Richard Scarry's books
to your toddler.

Notes, credits, & links

This week's music: David Rovics, Pirates of Somalia

Glen Ford: http://www.blackagendareport.com/

Elliott Leyton: http://www.metanoia-films.org/humanresources.php . http://www.mun.ca/anthro/faculty_staff/leyton.php

Chris Hedges: http://www.truthdig.com/chris_hedges

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "average quality") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford.

You can listen to any installment of New World Notes online or else download it (as an mp3 audio file) for later listening. The show is archived at both radio4all.net and (from #90 onwards) The Internet Archive. Either link should get you a reverse-chrono listing of available installments. Or browse the show's Web site: Each installment has a page, and each page has links to the recorded audio.

Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want ... and what they're trying to make us settle for.

Top: Mass-murderer Richard Speck: Killed 8 student-nurses in Chicago. Bottom: Statesman William Jefferson Clinton: Killed approx. 1 million innocent men, women, & chidren in Iraq through a murderous regime of "sanctions" (import restrictions).

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • March 22 + 29 -- The Lightbulb Conspiracy (2 parts)
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):

Canadian anthropologist Elliott Leyton (with beautiful old shotgun) reminds us that you're much more likely to be killed by your country's head of state than by some retail psycho on the street. So why do Richard Speck, the Son of Sam, and Jared Loughner get all the publicity?

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


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Saturday, March 5, 2011

Controlling the People (2): Schooling and Scapegoating


New World Notes News
Vol. 4, No. 10 -- March 5, 2011

This week in New World Notes, radio program #157, March 8, 2011

Controlling the People (2):
Schooling and Scapegoating

Sometimes prejudiced people's logic is pretty hard to refute.
Most photos: Click to enlarge.

In brief

Our first program on the techniques of social control--#153, "On the Job"--proved very popular (judging from the number of Internet downloads). I expect the second will prove the same. Most of the installment--like all of #153--is adapted from the video documentary, Human Resources.

This week we explore two other mechanisms of social control: schooling and scapegoating.

Also hard to argue with!

(1) In our first segment this week, award-winning teacher John Taylor Gatto and Education professor Alfie Kohn each argue, in different ways, that education is at best a very minor goal of public schooling. The main goal of public schools seems to be training young people to be docile and efficient cogs in a corporate-controlled economic system and state.

Kohn--at his best in this recording--lucidly shows that if the noble professed goals of Education were taken seriously, in many cases schools would be doing the opposite of what they're doing. For one, they'd be encouraging cooperation (which leads to excellent performance) instead of competition (which does not). And schools would scrap grading and--especially--standardized testing.

(2) Then I briefly elaborate on some of Gatto's and Kohn's points with a comic-ironic story of my trying to teach English composition (without grading papers) to college students who care about grades more than about learning anything.

(3) Last, we examine the media-assisted scapegoating of minorities. "Divide and conquer" in action! (Listener Advisory: this segment rebroadcasts strong language--anti-minority "hate speech"--and graphic news reports of anti-minority violence.)

Notes, credits, & links

Thanks to radio producer Robin Upton ( http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/ ) for bringing the documentary Human Resources to light. Wish I knew who sang that great version of "Born in Bethlehem" in the J.T. Gatto section!

New World Notes is produced under the auspices (Latin for "Yum-Yum Tree") of WWUH-FM, a community service of that beacon of light in darkest Connecticut, the University of Hartford.

You can listen to any installment of New World Notes online or else download it (as an mp3 audio file) for later listening. The show is archived at both radio4all.net and (from #90 onwards) The Internet Archive. Either link should get you a reverse-chrono listing of available installments. Or browse the show's Web site: Each installment has a page, and each page has links to the recorded audio.

Series overview: Political and social commentary in a variety of genres. Exploring the gap between what we want ... and what they're trying to make us settle for.

Top: Alfie Kohn. Bottom: Is it an old prison? an old factory? an old state mental hospital? Answer: All of the above: it's my old high school! Don't believe the postcard's lies: Glen-Nor (later Interboro) High School was in Glenolden, not Norwood.

Coming soon (Tuesday air debut date shown)

  • March 15 -- Who are the REAL Pirates? Who are the REAL Mass-Murderers? If you hated #155--"Who are the REAL Gangsters?"--you probably won't like this one either. {wink}
Catch New World Notes (all times Eastern):



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


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