Anti-Russia Hysteria

New World Notes #517, 27:32 (January 30)
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Philip Giraldi

K.D. reflects on U.S. exaggerations of the Russian threat in the 1950s. Those "Cold War" lies and distortions greatly increased the profits of the military-industrial complex (as intended). And it looks like the same stunt is being pulled again today.

Next we read an article on the subject by retired CIA officer Philip Giraldi--"Washington Invented Hacking and Interfering in Elections." Then a recording of Giraldi discussing today's anti-Russia hysteria and related issues.

The Giraldi audio is excerpted from the radio program Takes On the World (January 11, 2017). Many thanks to producer and host Jeff Blankfort. An archive of Takes On the World is available on radio4all.net.

Giraldi's article was published in Unz Review on January 10, 2017.

The Map Is Not the Territory

New World Notes #310, 27:28 (February 11):
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Click to enlarge (all graphics)

In brief

Illusion vs. reality in America today.  Getting lost on Groundhog Day inspires a reflection by K.D. on S.I. Hayakawa's maxim, "The map is not the territory." The "map" of reality handed to us by the corporations and politicians falsely depicts the lay of the land (so to speak).  Inaccurate maps are useful to Established Power, bad for the rest of us.

Plus--making similar points--a selection from Virtual Renderings' new audio collage. Includes commentary by Woody Harrelson, Chris Hedges, and Jordan Maxwell and a timely song by Jackson Browne.

Virtual Renderings' collage is titled, "Ponderings From Within Leviathan."  The complete (56-minute) version is available for free download. (Lo-Fi version and program information page are also available.)

Above: S. I. Hayakawa

Below: Suzuki Hayabusa

(Easy to confuse!)

This installment was previously broadcast, as NWN #310, in February 2014.

Power, Propaganda and the Silence of Writers

New World Notes #515, 28:54 (January 16)
Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB) -- Link corrected 2-11-2018
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB) -- Link corrected 2-11-2018

In brief

Independent journalist John Pilger exposes the hypocrisy of the news media--and how they further the aims of Established Power by producing a barrage of propaganda.

The examples he cites are striking. In Pilger's native Australia, the media have invented a child-prostitution scandal among Australia's indigenous people--thus furthering yet another land-grab by the government.

Then there's the press's "propaganda of silence": not reporting facts and stories that contradict the (often false) claims of the powerful.

UN weapons inspectors and all the major U.S. spy agencies report that they have found no evidence that Iran has a program to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has signed and is abiding by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Under the treaty, Iran has the right to enrich uranium to levels useful for power generation and medical research. Enriching it to the much-higher level needed to make bombs would require a huge increase in uranium imports and a huge increase in infrastructure--impossible to conceal.

Israel has not signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and possesses hundreds of nuclear weapons.

Don't look for any of these inconvenient facts on the front page of the New York Times--or from any other Establishment "news outlet."

John Pilger

Notes, credits, & links

Pilger gave this talk on August 23, 2008, at the Melbourne Writers Festival. I've condensed the talk for radio broadcast. A video of the entire presentation is here: http://www.blinkx.com/watch-video/melbourne-writers-festival-john-pilger/ce8xBDNRwI04RdzibPvOjA

This installment was previously broadcast, as NWN # 212, in March 2012.

Killing Us Softly

New World Notes #514, 27:42 (January 9)
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A smart, funny, and important talk on advertising's image of women.

With wit and humor, Jean Kilbourne shows the preposterous body images, emotional styles, sexuality, and attitudes towards violence that consumer advertising presents to women (and men) as desirable and normal. Kilbourne's critique is far from radical, but it is very sound, very interesting, and in places very funny. Both men and women will find this talk well worth a listen.

Based on the video (Edition 3, year 2000). Condensed and adapted to radio by KD. This video is available on The Internet Archive (www.archive.org).

This installment was previously broadcast, as NWN #144, in December 2010. MP3 files downloaded fromthe links, above, are identified as NWN #144.