MORE Things Fall Apart

New World Notes #282 (July 30):

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In brief

KD reflects on still more appliances that are self-destructing everywhere he turns. Somehow his ailing washing machine becomes a metaphor for all that's wrong with the U.S. government and economic system. With a comic-satiric song by Roy Zimmerman and a new video by the Progressive economists, ECON4.

Michael Parenti vs God & His Demons

Part One -- New World Notes #280 (July 16):

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Part Two -- New World Notes #281 (July 23):

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In brief

In a telephone interview with me on April 6, 2010, Left-leaning political scientist Michael Parenti discusses his book, God and His Demons (Prometheus Books)--a survey of the woes caused in the name of, and by, Organized Religion.

In Part One, Parenti talks about rampant child sexual abuse by the Christian (and other) clergy and the coverup thereof--and now, at the Vatican, the coverup of the coverup. He talks about the venality of the Protestant televangelists and the oppressive Buddhist theocracy in Tibet before the Chinese Communists took over. He talks about our society's ignoring some sins frequently denounced in the Bible--e.g., charging high interest rates ("usury")--while we piously condemn "sins" the Bible never mentions (gay marriage, abortion). And he rebuts creationism, "Intelligent Design," . . . and some of the conclusions of Charles Darwin.

In Part Two, Parenti discusses the unholy alliance of the Church, the nation-state, and economic power; ... FEMA's enlistment of the clergy to preach obedience to authority; ... and the Christian Right's takeover of the Air Force Academy. He ends with praise for 2 unorthodox 16th-century Christians--Montaigne and Giordano Bruno--and explaining why, despite everything, he's not an atheist.

These installments were originally broadcast, as NWN #112 & 113, in April-May 2010.

Music added: satiric songs by Roy Zimmerman.

Naomi Klein on CIA Project MK-ULTRA

New World Notes #279, for Tuesday, July 9 (WWUH)

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In brief

For two decades or more, the CIA conducted secret experiments in torture and mind-control as Project MK-ULTRA. As subjects they used American and Canadian citizens who were unaware of what was happening to them.

Naomi Klein tells the story of Gail Kastner, who discovered decades later that the CIA (via her psychiatrist) had permanently damaged her mind with drugs, sensory deprivation, and electroshock.

Klein reads from her book, The Shock Doctrine.

This installment is a rerun of New World Notes #64 (May 2009). The profusely illustrated blog page for the original broadcast is well worth a look.

 

Imperialism at Home and Abroad

New World Notes #278, for Tuesday, July 2 (WWUH)

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In brief

Includes the final part of Glen Ford's talk (begun in NWN #276 & 277) plus a short commentary by Ford and a song by David Rovics.

This week, Ford's focus is the US's current attempt (by means of AFRICOM) to control Africa's resources and trade by controlling Africa's militaries. And relatedly, Ford addresses the US government's war against civil liberties at home.

Rovics' song, Meanwhile in Afghanistan, gives another view of military attacks overseas and attacks on the Bill of Rights at home.