CIVILIANISM PODCAST

This episode is mostly about the inauguration and what the new Secretary of State may work on in the next few weeks. Israel’s war with Palestine is finally over. Also, hear Obama take the oath of office a SECOND time.
If you have news to share, send it to me! Email me at news@civilianism.com.
Or use the form at the top of the page at Podcast Liberally, the official website.

This is the first episode of my shorter news broadcasts, called Podcast Liberally News and Commentary, or PLNC for short. I will be including them in my Civilianism RSS feed for a while, and then you will have to get them by subscribing or visiting the website for them, at Podcast Liberally. That used to be a review podcast that I did last year, but my own enthusiasm for it evaporated, so for now I’m back to news and opinion in a form short enough that I can do them more often. Shorter PLNC episodes will be far less draining on my time. And shorter to listen to!

You can subscribe to them at Podcast Liberally.com. I’m keeping this website for Civilianism news and podcasts.

You can download this episode here or subscribe at the PL website.

Song at end: My Country ‘Tis of Thee Pt. 1 by Learning Music from Yes We Puede!
(more free downloads there for everyone)

Bush is gone! This is the full inauguration address of President Barack Obama, January 20, 2009.

Imagine this: We not only have “hope” back but we have a president who respects science and the law again. What a relief!

Download or listen here.
A new episode of PLNC is coming soon. PLNC is new: Podcast Liberally News and Commentary and will be a new podcast under 20 minutes: news and commentary and music. You can see the website here, but I will also be putting it into the Civilianism podcast feed for a while. The Civilianism podcast will also continue but on bi-monthly basis instead of weekly.
Speech recording courtesy of ABC News.

It’s a New Year with all of the Old Problems, and then some.

The slaughter of innocent people in the Gaza strip continues with the blessing of the United States, while Dick Cheney and George Bush go on their media Fairy Tale Hour speaking tours. Both have admitted torture and are trying to avoid being prosecuted for war crimes by kissing up to the Obama administration and the media.

We get 30 seconds of news given to the war in Gaza, which we are helping to fund and supply with weapons, in our mainstream media’s nightly news. No wonder Americans are in favor of whatever it is that Israel is doing.

There were no Hamas rockets during the ceasefire of mid-June through November 4th, when Israel broke the ceasefire by attacking and kiling 6 Palestinians. Now, the propaganda wars are waging as fiercely as the bombing and shooting war in Gaza. As the death toll has gone over 1,000 with most of the dead being civilians, it’s hard to imagine why our Congress has endorsed this brutality, unless you reach the conclusion that the U.S. government is somewhat, ah, . . . . . . corrupt.

Pardon me, did I say that out loud?

Join me in my search for Happiness. I think I have found it.

Here is Froomkin’s little summary of the Bush legacy, ‘The Bush Verdict is In”. World Freedom ‘Retreats for Third Year‘

Livestation TV – watch foreign media in good quality. This episode contains news from Wednesday night from Al Jazeera. Max Blumenthal’s video about the pro-Israel rally he did for Alternet.org is here.

I wish everyone a happy and peaceful 2009.

Podcast artwork by Rami Abbas, for Palestine.

DOWNLOAD THIS EPISODE HERE or subscribe on the right.

End Song: Michael Heart, We will not go down (Song for Gaza)
Middle song: Tom Chartier, Death Don’t Have No Mercy

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.

Download this episode here or subscribe on the right.

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!

Which direction will the U.S. take in the next four years? Will we do the right thing and leave these wars behind and do what’s good for America, or continue to sink money and blood into foolish military campaigns?
This podcast discusses Iraq, Afghanistan, militarism, climate, congressman Waxman’s new job, and more. Audio clips of Cindy Sheehan, mystic Caroline Myss, Michael T. Klare and even Jerry Springer are played.

The U.S. obsession with tasers is spreading to England, which is a terrible idea!
Antiwar.com has Iraq war news.
Read about H.Res. 1531 here, introduced by Congressman Nadler:

Introduced on 11/20/08 — This is the first resolution urging President Bush not to pardon senior administration officials for crimes the President authorized. It urges Congress to investigate those crimes and any pardons relating to those crimes, and urges the Attorney General (current or future) to appoint an Independent Counsel to prosecute those crimes.

The Interview with American author and mystic, Caroline Myss, from New Dimensions, which has podcasts here.
Cindy Sheehan’s interview is from the Jeff Farias show.
Safe Climate or Endless War? It’s a choice we will have to make soon, because we can’t fight climate change smartly and terrorism militarily at the same time.

The Radio Ecoshock show with the Michael T. Klare (author of new book “Rising Powers, Shrinking World”) can be found here.
For a very irritating pro-war attitude, see James Cartwright: Perpetual war speech last week at the MOAA

The AccoLade, a Saudi “girl band” website is a on Myspace here.

Download this episode here or subscribe on the right.

Music played: In this Moment: Beautiful Tragedy (from the Podsafe Music Network) and Hero’s Song by Brendan James from the music of Body of War.

The U.S., according to journalist Chris Hedges, is addicted to war and the dehumanization of an Other. This has serious consequences in the form of collateral damage, which is what his latest book is about. Our war on terror is actually a war on people, because the numbers of civilian dead is climbing, and our next president has said he wants to escalate the war in Afghanistan instead of end it. That means we have to step up our efforts at organizing for peace and pressuring our government to give up seeking revenge and start to focus on a peaceful future.

Who is Eric Holder? Obama’s new Attorney General.

Chris Hedges talks about the Iraq war and his new book about Collateral Damage.
You can see the entire Miami Book TV event from last week at CSPANjunkie.

Obama advisers: Bush era war criminals will walk.

Obama: Warming must be tackled now.
Good speech! This ones gives me real hope for the future.

Congress has fast-track power to Kill Bush rules.
Good! I hope they come through and do it.

What is Islamofascism? It’s a meaningless made-up word that racist people use to justify all sorts of bad attitudes towards people who are from the Middle East or Muslim. It’s a way to demonize them and justify our being at war with them. We have to make sure this war in Afghanistan stops as soon as possible because we are spreading terrorism instead of stopping it and it’s just plain immoral to be trying to solve problems by bombing people. Time to evolve. We need to convince President Obama to end the war in Afghanistan even as he is bringing soldiers out of Iraq, before they are redeployed. It’s time to start to get invovled in a real peace movement, one that looks at the root cause of terrorism and fights it as the crime that it is, not a dehumanizing war where we drop bombs on civilians. Collateral damage is not acceptable now and it never was. (There is no such thing as “avenging” 9/11, no matter what Rachel Maddow says.) An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.

This episode also covers news about Obama, the Iraq status of forces agreement, automakers headed for bankruptcy, the G20 summit and more. You can download it here or subscribe on the right.

Take action on the bailout issue by visiting Break the Bailout by visiting http://www.BreakTheBailout.com — we need to show Congress that we will hold them accountable.

Music by American Sex Machine, Little Green Bag and Michael Franti, The Future

Regime Change 2008! On Tuesday, if everyone gets out and votes, everything changes. For the better! Interview with Independence Party Senate candidate, former Senator Dean Barkley of Minnesota*. Then, a discussion of the election and a message from Noam Chomsky from The Real News. Remember to VOTE on November 4th and vote your conscience. Just avoid the line with McCain’s name on it.

*This is a slightly abbreviated interview. For the entire interview go to this page and download the whole thing. Here is the Independence Party (of MN) website and here is Dean Barkley’s website.

I also explain what happened to my interview with Rosa Clemente of the Green Party and why I have retracted my support for the Green Party presidential ticket this year.

Download this podcast here or subscribe on the right.

THIS is our year for regime change and the whole world is watching!

I would love to hear from you about your voting experience this year. Was it easy or tough, optimistic or dismal? Send me your reports and I will read them or play them in the next podcast. Call my Skype voicemail — 320-300-4273 — with your reports and comments.

Music from the Pisshead Blues Band. The two songs are called 1) Timecard and 2) Need to Know.