CIVILIANISM PODCAST

What can we expect from foreign policy in the Obama administration in 2009 – will U.S. imperialism take precedence, or will peace? We can’t have both. The U.S. continues to impose its will by force around the world, and there is no sign of this stopping any time soon, because our new president says he will increase troops to fight the so-called “War on Terror”.

Gore Vidal, Andrew Bacevich, and Arundhati Roy strongly disagree with U.S. imperialist policy, and so do I. I play portions of all three, and a portion of an interview from KBOO radio.

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The Taliban Control 72% of Afghanistan, Surround Kabul, and NATO is in Denial

“Armed clashes in Afghanistan have reached the highest level since the Taliban was ousted by American-led forces in 2001, according to the United Nations. Taliban leader Mullah Omar today warned violence will rise and urged foreign forces to withdraw, Agence France-Presse reported, in his first public statement in a year. Pakistan militants torched 50 NATO trucks carrying supplies for troops in Afghanistan, the second such attack in as many days, AFP reported today, citing a police official.”

BBC article: Drivers halt Afghan supply route — Lorry Drivers in north-west Pakistan say they will no longer deliver supplies to NATO. If this means the war will have to end, that’s OK.
BBC: Countering the Taleban’s 20-year war
The Taleban is planning for a 20-year war in Afghanistan, so we must too, the article argues. I hope they are completely wrong.

Gore Vidal’s interview was about his book Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace
(here is another interview with him, for more information, not the one I played)
Arundhati Roy’s anti-war talk Come September can be downloaded from iTunes
You can read the transcript here.

Times Online: US accuses Britain over military failings in Afghanistan.

(The In These Times magazine article, “Obama’s Burden” that I read from, is not online.)

Also see: More U.S. troops to Afghanistan? by Russ Feingold

Also see: Official Calls for Sensitivity to Afghan Demands

Also see: Brzezinski: Surge In Afghanistan Risky, Some McCain Backers Want World War IV
Obviously, let’s not let them have it.

It’s time for American imperialism to end and peace to prevail.

This is the last episode of Civilianism for 2008, Happy New Year!

Details of the auto bailout are coming to light. GM might even dump the Cadillac! Cars really do need to evolve, for the good of the economy, the climate, the end of resource wars, and jobs. The auto industry is tied to all of these things, so solving its problems, not just putting a little bandage on it, would help everything.

Why does the U.S. need so much energy? Part of it is our temperature-moderated and leaky buildings, but even more of it is our cars. So along comes the $15 billion auto bailout, promises from the remaining auto makers to modernize, and 3 million jobs are saved. Or are they? It remains to be seen. What we do know is that this is NOT the fault of unions. The auto makers’ failures are the results of their own short-sightedness and lack of vision. We should have 75 mpg cars by now and millions of electric cars on the roads! That last part is exactly the vision of Shai Agassi, the founder and CEO of Better Place.

Better Place is an electric car and electric car powering station plan that is already in development. Cars are being designed, power stations are being put in place, and countries and states are being signed up to get on board. Already signed up are Israel, Japan, Denmark, parts of California, and the state of Hawaii. That means they are going totally green and emissions free with their transportation in these areas. You can read about this great plan here. My podcast includes a good audio recording of Shai Agassi describing his vision of our car future.

The Better Place car

This episode also includes the peak oil/economic collapse story of Dmitri Orlov. He witnessed the transformation of the former Soviet Union to current day Russia through economic collapse, and he describes what he thinks will happen here in the U.S.A. the reasons why. His blog Club Orlov, contains links to his famous “Five Steps to Collapse” presentation.
The Five Steps of collapse, explained in detail. And Introducing the Light-hearted Moment!

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Here are the links to things I read and mentioned in this episode: The Short History of the Electric Car

Thomas Friedman: While Detroit Slept

Saving US Autos the American Way by Brent Budowsky

The Encyclopedia of Country Living
How to live if the bottom falls out! Practical, not violent, survival guide.

Music: Japanese Car by Gideon Freudmann and Unsustainable by Eliza Gilkyson
(and she’s actually from TX)

Baby it’s cold outside! But that doesn’t mean it’s not warming up out there. Heat shock is hitting the public consciousness. Can we do what’s necessary for climate change, and is there time? This episode explores that very serious question. Our hope is that Obama will take action in time to prevent runaway climate change. His new national security team, including Hillary, might help out with that.

Terrorism and wars continue to rage overseas. Bush continues to try to push through last-minute anti-environmental laws that our next president won’t be able to change. Examples are discussed in this episode.

But In America, with new leadership, we hope there is a brighter day coming.
Civilianism will be talking about these changes and asks for your help in letting our politicians know they have to act, and that we are behind them. There have been conferences going on in several locations lately, in preparation for Copenhagen in December 2009, a long 12 months away. The main conference going on at the moment is called the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP-14).
You can read about it here and here at Climatechange.org.

You can also read about the Interfaith Climate Summit in Sweden. You can follow the Poznan Twitter feed for constant updates here — #Poznan UN Climate Summit tweets

It’s time for action, not talk, but the politicians have to get their cooperation hats on. This is the beginning of a new era of cooperation for the world.

This episode contains an interesting story connected to climate change as an introduction to the 2007 documentary “Life At the End of Empire” which you can find on a site full of information, including where to buy the movie at Whatawaytogomovie.com

The latest science suggests that preventing runaway climate change means complete decarbonization. I read most of George Monbiot’s recent article, One Shot Left

Edited testimony of James Hansen, and Tom Helweg-Larson of the Public Interest Research Centre in front of parliament on November 26 is in here too. You can download the whole 68 minute testimony from the Climate Page at ecoshock.org

Song at end: Here’s Your Future by The Thermals

I’m not sure, but I think it’s a song about global warming.

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