Alternative Radio

February 1, 2023 National, News & Public Affairs

Beginnings: Movements of Possibility

In times of crisis one can simultaneously see danger and opportunity. Today there is nostalgia for an imagined past and a desire to recreate it. It’s a seductive tale. Things were better then. The country was unchallenged in the world. Jobs were plentiful. Minorities, women, gays, and immigrants knew their place. There was order in the land. But over many decades, as a result of struggle and movements, society evolved and changed. We are at a perilous moment. Do we want to go back or continue to move forward building on hard-fought gains? During another perilous time, Martin Luther King, Jr. declared, “We’ve got to massively confront the power structure.” We are at a crossroads: the beginning of a brighter or darker future. The choice is ours.

January 25, 2023 National, News & Public Affairs

Deinstitutionalization

At eleven years old, Lois Curtis became an out-patient at Georgia Regional Hospital for her cognitive and developmental disabilities. She wound up being confined and sedated in mental institutions until she was 27 when Atlanta’s Legal Aid Society sued Georgia’s Human Services Commissioner George Olmstead. The case of Olmstead vs L.C. went all the way to the Supreme Court and Lois Curtis won in a 6 to 3 decision in 1999. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg wrote, “Confinement in an institution severely diminishes the everyday life activities of individuals, including family relations, social contacts, work options, economic independence, educational advancement and cultural enrichment.” The case has been called the “Brown vs Board of Education” for disability rights.

January 11, 2023 National, News & Public Affairs

Martin Luther King Jr & the FBI

The FBI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was once called by American Indian movement activist John Trudell, as the Federal Bureau of Intimidation. The FBI has a long history of persecuting people for thought crimes, having the wrong political ideas.

December 21, 2022 National, News & Public Affairs

Human Rights & Democracy in the Middle East

The Middle East is in turmoil. The hope and promise of the 2011 Arab Spring are now a distant memory. The toppling of the decrepit Mubarak regime in Egypt was greeted by many Egyptians with joy. But that elation didn’t last long. Since 2014, Egypt is ruled by General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Sisi has changed his uniform for an Armani suit. If you criticize him and his regime you can easily land up in jail or worse. There is something like 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt. In terms of freedom of the press, Egypt ranks 168th out of 180 countries. That doesn’t seem to bother Washington. Cairo is a major recipient of U.S. aid and is a lucrative market for Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrup Grumman weapons sales. Meanwhile, off the radar screen is the ongoing Saudi/UAE bloodbath in Yemen.

December 14, 2022 National, News & Public Affairs

Racing to the Precipice

The warnings about the climate emergency are coming in fast and furious, yet public awareness and political action remain at a low level. The latest report is from the World Meteorological Organization, a UN agency. Its director said, “The impacts of climate change” are “often felt through water—more intense and frequent droughts, more extreme flooding, more erratic seasonal rainfall and accelerated melting of glaciers—with cascading effects on economies, ecosystems, and all aspects of our daily lives.” There is an urgent need for collective action to avoid irreversible tipping points. Meanwhile, The Guardian reports, fossil fuel corporations “are making astronomical amounts of money.” Politically, the mitigation measures taken so far are woefully inadequate. People are distracted. They know more about the World Cup than the climate crisis.

December 7, 2022 National, News & Public Affairs

Iran: Zan, Zendegi, Azadi / Woman, Life, Freedom

Since mid-September, tens of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets across the country to protest the government’s treatment of girls and women and in particular mandatory dress codes. These historic demonstrations center on women’s socio-political rights and democratic governance in Iran. The government has brutally responded. Hundreds have been killed, including children. Many thousands have been arrested. Despite the regime’s violent crackdown, protests have only widened. Demonstrators are shouting “Death to the Dictator.” The Islamic Republic of Iran, now in its 43rd year, has never faced such sustained and widespread opposition. Can it remain in power? The slogan of the protest movement is Zan, Zendegi, Azadi/Woman. Life. Freedom.

November 30, 2022 National, News & Public Affairs

History Lessons

Is history just a bunch of innocuous cold facts and dates? Or is it something more? What can we learn from the past? History is not neutral. It’s an ideological battleground. Witness the vitriolic attacks by establishment figures on those who want a reckoning of African American slavery. They want to obfuscate that sordid history. Or take the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983. What was that about? Or the CIA coup in Chile? Gee, never read about that in school. Elites can lie outright about history. Or they can omit facts that might lead to inconvenient conclusions. The rulers want to keep to their sanitized version of the past and maintain myths about enlightened leaders. Sure, here and there a few bad apples made mistakes but they were the exception, not the rule. Were they?

November 23, 2022 National, News & Public Affairs

History Lessons

Is history just a bunch of innocuous cold facts and dates? Or is it something more? What can we learn from the past? History is not neutral. It’s an ideological battleground. Witness the vitriolic attacks by establishment figures on those who want a reckoning of African American slavery. They want to obfuscate that sordid history. Or take the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1983. What was that about? Or the CIA coup in Chile? Gee, I never read about that in school. Elites can lie outright about history. Or they can omit facts that might lead to inconvenient conclusions. The rulers want to keep to their sanitized version of the past and maintain myths about enlightened leaders Sure, here and there a few bad apples made mistakes but they were the exception not the rule. Were they?

November 16, 2022 National, News & Public Affairs

The rhetoric accompanying war is always saturated with noble sentiments and symbols. Flag, country, duty. We have enemies thus we need better weapons. The military-industrial complex grows and grows. The Pentagon has carte blanche. It asks for a new aircraft carrier, submarine or fighter jet. The answer from the White House and Congress is, “Sure. How many do you want?” The legendary Marine Corps General Smedley Butler said, “War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. It’s an economic imperative which must be stimulated, however deviously.”

November 9, 2022 National, News & Public Affairs

Gig Economics

At first blush, it seems like a dream job and a great way to make money. You always wanted to be your own boss. You’re free and independent. You work where and when you want. It could be a side job giving you that extra income you need. The gig economy has exploded in recent years. But it’s not all that its cranked out to be. Workers are vulnerable. There are no benefits. Some workers wind up working for peanuts. With no regular income, the gig economy can be stressful especially if you have a crisis. What are the ins and outs of gig economics?