Tag: politics/Archives

Our Martyrs

Ibn Thabit feat. Salah Ghaly, “Our Martyrs:”

Tahrir Storify

“Voices from Tahrir”, a Storify list of sources, resources, sounds, inspirations, and videos used in the making of the public radio hour: More…

HV131- Voices from Tahrir

Hearing Voices from NPR®
131 Voices from Tahrir: Portrait of a Revolution
Host: Heba Morayef of Human Rights Watch
Airs week of: 2012-01-25

“Voices from Tahrir” (52:00 mp3):

Bread, Freedom, and Human Dignity:

January 25, 2011. One year ago, a revolution began in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. For the next eighteen days, millions of Egyptians across the country would demonstrate in the streets, demanding the end of their 30-year dictatorship. They were inspired by Tunisians, whose protests, that same month, had forced out the authoritarian regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Now it was time for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to go.

A few weeks after the protests, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch interviewed some of the organizers of the January uprising: union leaders, civil rights workers, young social media activists, family members of of murdered protestors, and mothers who brought their kids to Tahrir to clean after the protests.. These Human Rights Watch interviews provide a rare, eyewitness account of a revolution, told by the Egyptian people, the activists, human rights defenders, and bloggers who persevered during those eighteen days.

The hour features recordings made in the square by reporters and citizen jounalists from around the world, including Daniel Finnan of Radio France Internationale, Al Jazeera, Egypt Daily News, Ramy Roof, and Matthew Cassel of Just Image.org.

Music: “Erhal (Leave)” and “Laugh, Revolution” by Ramy Essam; “Ezzay? (Why?)” by Mohamed Mounir and “Gomaa Hayran (Uncertain Friday)” by Joseph & James Tawadros
from the collection Our Dreams Are Our Weapons – Soundtracks of the Revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. Mix: Robin Wise of Sound Imagery.

More…

Voices from Tahrir

A preview of our upcoming HV hour, “Voices from Tahrir” — a collaboration with Human Rights Watch. This public radio documentary features eyewitness accounts and recordings of the January uprisings (January 25 – February 11 2011) — the one-year anniversary approches:

“Voices from Tahrir- preview” (9:51 mp3):

HV085- Protest

Hearing Voices from NPR®
085 Protest: At the National Mall & Town Halls
Host: Barrett Golding of Hearing Voices
Airs week of: 2011-03-23 (Originally: 2010-02-24)

“Protest” (52:00 mp3):

Protest may be new to some parts of the world, but in America, complaining about the government is a national pastime. We hear protest music and mashups; we go to protest marches, from Vietnam War era actions on the National Mall, to modern-day Tea Parties and Town Halls:

Protest used to be mainly for the young and left-leaning, but recently older right-wingers have joined the party — the Tea Party. When Congressmen went home in 2009, this is what they heard from constituents. Music: Jeff Arntsen, mix: Robin Wise, audio: excerpted from YouTube videos.

A sound collage of protests and protest music over the past 40 years

The popular Burmese rock band Iron Cross is using music to challenge the nation’s infamously repressive regime. In the great tradition of rock and roll, Iron Cross is taking on Burma’s military government with song.

More…

Pubcasting Act

President Johnson signs the Public Broadcasting Act, November 7, 1967

The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 established the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. “Independent producers” and “independent production” are mentioned sixteen times, including, “a substantial amount shall be distributed to independent producers and production entities…”

Some of my other favorite phrases:

The Congress hereby finds and declares that —

It is in the public interest to encourage the growth and development of public radio and television broadcasting, including the use of such media for instructional, educational, and cultural purposes;

Expansion and development of public telecommunications and of diversity of its programming depend on freedom, imagination, and initiative on both local and national levels;

It is in the public interest to encourage the development of programming that involves creative risks and that addresses the needs of unserved and underserved audiences, particularly children and minorities;

The Corporation is authorized to —

Facilitate the full development of public telecommunications in which programs of high quality, diversity, creativity, excellence, and innovation.
—Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, as amended

More…

HV083- Shortcuts- 21st Century III

Hearing Voices from NPR®
083 Shortcuts- 21st Century III: Decade One
Host: Peter Bochan of WPKN-Bridgeport CT
Airs week of: 2010-01-27

“Shortcuts- 21st Century III” (52:00 mp3):

The final hour in our three hour-long retrospective of this first decade of the century, and the millennium:

We survey selected speech, song, and soundbites of the stories and celebs from 2006 thru 2009: Christ’s passion, planetary climate change, presidential contenders, Ponzi schemes, collapsing economies, Tiger, Michael, Sully, Britney, Bush, Obama, foreclosure, bailout, Bradgelina, Miss USA, You Tube, and the continuing decline of western civilization.

Shortcuts are assembled, mixed and mashed by audio wizard Peter Bochan, of All Mixed Up, WBAI-NYC and WPKN-Bridgeport CT. (All three 21C Shortcuts hours are at PRX.)

SOTU or Stevenote?

Seems we’re approaching a “Who’s your favorite beatle?”* moment when both Steve Jobs and Bacark Obama address planet Earth. This Wednesday (Jan 27) there’s a POTUSA State of the Union speech and an Apple “Come see our latest creation” event.

Who’s talk will you pay most attention; which will likely most affect your life? Your answer reveals much about you.

So what’s it gonna be: SOTU or Stevenote?

*Bernard Mickey Wrangle had developed a psychological test of his own. It was short, simple, and infallible. To administer the test, merely ask the subject to name his or her favorite Beatle. If you are at all familiar with the distinct separate public images of the four Beatles, then you’ll recognize that the one chosen reveals as much about the subject’s personality as most of us will ever hope to know.
—Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker (1980).

Taxman Obama

rx proves himself the premiere bi-partisan presidential cut-up; so pay up, folks, there’s a new Taxman in town:

“Taxman Obama vs Rx”

rx: site | space | tube

HV082- Shortcuts- 21st Century II

Hearing Voices from NPR®
082 Shortcuts- 21st Century II: Decade One
Host: Peter Bochan of WPKN-Bridgeport CT
Airs week of: 2010-01-20

“Shortcuts- 21st Century II” (52:00 mp3):

Part two in this three hour-long retrospective of the first decade, of the century, of the millennium:

We survey selected speech, song, and soundbites from 2003 thru 2005; from the invasion of Iraq, to electing a U.S. President, to the flooding of New Orleans.

Shortcuts are assembled, mixed and mashed by audio wizard Peter Bochan, of All Mixed Up, WBAI-NYC and WPKN-Bridgeport CT. Next week, the final part: 2006-2009 (all three at PRX).

HV081- Shortcuts- 21st Century I

Hearing Voices from NPR®
081 Shortcuts- 21st Century I: The First Decade
Host: Peter Bochan of WPKN-Bridgeport CN
Airs week of: 2010-01-13

“Shortcuts- 21st Century I” (52:00 mp3):

The first of a three hour-long retrospective of the first decade, of the century, of the millennium:

After a quick 2009 intro, we survey selected speech, song, and soundbites from 2000 thru 2002; from the 2000 election and recounts, with Bush, Gore, Bill and Hill, thru 911, Homeland Security, and Afghanistan.

Shortcuts are assembled, mixed and mashed by audio wizard Peter Bochan, of All Mixed Up, WBAI-NYC and WPDK-Bridgeport CT. Next week, part two: 2003-2005 (all three at PRX).

Cap’n Trade

The Story of Stuff folk have a new film out on The Story of Cap & Trade. Annie Leonard once again does her simple, straight-forward finger-pointing at job pointing to some devilish details in the current proposals:

Cap & Trade Trailer

The full film is: The Story of Cap & Trade.

HV talked with Annie in 2006.

Gov Outta Medicare?

The reputable Public Policy Polling .
reports:

One question we asked on this poll gives a good idea of how difficult it is to inform the public on this complicated issue. Medicare is obviously an inherently public program, but just for the heck of it we asked the somewhat tongue in cheek question of whether the government should ‘stay out of Medicare.’ 39% of Americans said yes.
—”National Poll: Obama Approval, Health Care, Birthers” ( 172K)

Other sad states of American affairs in thenational phone survey (909 voters, Aug 14-17 2009, MOE +/-3.3%.909): “Do you think Barack Obama was born in the United States?” 44% of Republicans said no. (For all respondents: Yes- 62%, No- 25%, Not Sure- 14%.)

Here’s a question I hope PPP poese in their next survey: “Should aborted evolutionists serve birther Obamacare death panels?” Let folk figure that one out.

Afghan Friends = Future Foes?

As America mulls our Afghan options, let’s also look for patterns in our past overseas interventions: We staged coups for the Shah of Iran and South Vietnamese generals. Panama’s Noriega cashed CIA checks for decades. In the 1980s we sent Saddam $40 billion — making Iraq the third-largest recipient of $US’s. More…

MaJones- Burma

A Scott Carrier (2006) article in Mother Jones, “Rock the Junta; In Burma, a band of heavy metal Christians speaks of liberty between the lines”:

Burma is a forgotten country. You might have a hard time finding it on a map, and it may not even be called Burma on the map you’re looking at. It might be called Myanmar, as that’s the official name for it now. It’s an extremely fucked-up place, the size of Texas, located between Thailand and India, south of China. For the past 44 years, it’s been cut off from the rest of the world by a junta of xenophobic and superstitious generals calling themselves the State Peace and Development Council. Others call them mendacious assholes and hungry ghosts.

Town Halls 2009

Suppose they gave a Town Hall, and a Tea Party showed up. Excerpts for 2009 health care collective chaos…

Town Halls 2009

Note: While HV may not agree with the sentiments expressed, we do love lively freedom of expression.

Audio/Video Production: Barrett Golding
Music: Jeff Arntsen
Audio mix: Robin Wise
Video clips: ABC World News, WGNO- New Orleans, David William Hedrick, The Young Turks, Hot Air Pundit Kathy Castor, Hill Newspaper, YouTube. See playlist- Town Halls 2009 (videos).

HV070- Shortcuts Thru 1969

Hearing Voices from NPR®
070 Shortcuts Thru 1969: From the Moon to Woodstock
Host: Peter Bochan of WBAI-FM
Airs week of: 2009-09-09

“Shortcuts Thru 1969 ” (52:00 mp3):

1969, the year in an hour, another in the Shortcuts series by Peter Bochan of All Mixed Up:

From Woodstock to Altamont, Washington to Vietnam, Chappaquidick to Chicago with stops at Stonewall, Hyde Park, Shea Stadium, The Super Bowl, Memphis, Times Square, Sesame Street, and the Moon. Featuring commentary from John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Iggy Pop, the Smothers Brothers, Richard Pryor, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Roman Polanski, Richard Nixon, JFK, Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong, Walter Cronkite, Ted Kennedy, Burgess Meredith, Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Dennis Hopper, Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Dustin Hoffman, Michael Lang, “Topaz Caucasion”, Chip Monck, Dave Marsh, Joe Boyd, Rob Kirkpatrick, Carl Capotorto, Arlo Guthrie, Hugh Romney, Harry Reasoner, Nile Rogers, various FBI and police agents, The Black Panthers, The Weather Underground, The Zodiac Killer, Apollo 11 astronauts and many others.

Music from Hair, Midnight Cowboy, Sly and the Family Stone, The 5th Dimension, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, James Brown, David Bowie, The Who, Les McCann & Eddie Harris, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Blind Faith, Roy Budd, The Plastic Ono Band, The Jefferson Airplane, Arlo Guthrie, Canned Heat, The Beach Boys, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Joni Mitchell, Beautiful People, Jimi Hendrix, Procol Harum, Henry Mancini and The Stooges! More…

Ted Kennedy 1932-2009

Senator from Massachusetts Edward Moore “Ted” Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009). Here’s his eulogy for his brother Bobby, delivered 8 June 1968 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York; “Address at the Public Memorial Service for Robert F. Kennedy” (9:42 mp3 | transcript):

My brother need not be idealized, or enlarged in death beyond what he was in life; to be remembered simply as a good and decent man, who saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it, saw war and tried to stop it.

Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.

As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him: “Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not.”

HV used an excerpt from above in our Oddio Art interactive toy, and in our survey of 1968.

Health Care Tea Party

Scenes from the Health Care controversy: President Obama and the WH press corps flew into Belgrade, Montana last Friday, for a Town Hall, held in an airport hanger.

The event lasted an hour. The president spoke, took a few questions, then POTUSA and posse headed off to the next stops in their weekend media invasion of the West: Yellowstone, Grand Junction Junction, Colorado, the Grand Canyon, then back to DC.

Meanwhile, one half mile away, those who didn’t have or didn’t want Town Hall tickets began gathering at dawn in a farmer’s field, the designated a free speech zone. Thousands showed up: protesters and Tea Party-ers next to pro-health care reformers and single-payer proponents. They stayed for hours, thru rain, hail, and thunder. They shouted slogans. They listened to speakers. They listened to the President over the radio. Occasionally, they listened to each other. It was a day of division, debate, and democracy.

“Day of Democracy” (8:31 mp3):

Voices include Chief Bill Dove, Linda Kenoyer, Tom Hunter, Don McClarty, Bob Adney, Alene Brackman, John Chaffer, Kent Madin, Lance Criaghead, Henry Kriegel, Joanne Kessler, Tammy Hall, and Bob Folsick.

Local talk-radio host Henry Kriegel rousing the T-Party:

Here in Montana we start ’em early:
More…

Medieval in Montana

Looks like my hometown is finally letting loose it’s requirement that government job applicant’s turn over all their FaceSpaceTwit passwords, buddy lists, and secret Santa names (“Commission eliminates Facebook policy“). However, city fathers still hold onto their claim in an older policy which reserves them the right to “deflower” the first-born of any municipal employee.