WZBC 90.3 FM Newton

Students' #NeverAgain Movement Shifting Political Climate in National Fight Against Gun Violence; Transition to Renewables Only Possible if the World Converts to Publicly-Owned Energy Production; U.S. Senate One Vote Short of Passing Resolution to Overturn FCC's Net Neutrality Repeal

The ability of workers to build collective power is central in Janus v. AFSCME, a case currently before the Supreme Court. We talk about how efforts to weaken workers’ voice masquerade as efforts to strengthen it, and how we can see through them.

The estimated 2.7 million children of prison inmates in the United States are losing their visitation rights. Harvey's story about the diminishing opportunities for children to visit their incarcerated parents was published in The Nation magazine on December 14, 2015. Some of Harvey’s most cherished childhood memories are the times she was able to visit her father while he was an inmate at Soledad State Prison, in California when she was between the ages of 5 and 16. [This show does NOT challenge the legitimacy of the U.S. incarceration machine.]

What does it mean to love one’s country? Why is it so important to be number one? That was the introduction to a Michael Parenti talk given in 1988, at the end of the Reagan administration. That talk became a TUC Radio program and 2004 book published by City Lights. Superpatriotism: How hype, fear, and mindless flag-waving are supplanting informed debate and commitment to democracy. Now, in 2018, so many years later, slogans such as: America First, America the Greatest Country on Earth are having a powerful come back. Resistance to Superpatriotism – even if it is simply remaining seated or taking a knee during the national anthem at a sports event, can draw a hateful response from those who Parenti was concerned about a generation ago.

Clip from Qumsiyeh: "... We launched projects on climate change, on sustainability, on biodiversity, on ecotourism, and on permaculture (one funded by National Geographic!). The struggle continues against difficult odds. We watch our friends in Israeli jail (like four members of the Tamimi family and Munther Amayra). ..."

Initially, antibiotics were a miraculous tool for fighting human disease. Then the big business factory farming industry busted in and discovered they could use vast quantities of antibiotics to accelerate the fattening of chickens, cows, etc. bound for human food. A foreseeable side effect was the development of antibiotic-proof strains of bacteria. These spread around in the farmers' barns, then went to the grocery store, into meat-eaters' bodies, and from there to the entire community. Doctors struggle to keep stricken patients alive, trying stronger and stronger new antibiotics. For some patients, even the antibiotic of last resort no longer works.

We've all seen the knee-jerk respect accorded to military "heroes", including statues, ribbons, fawning thanks, standing for Star-Spangled Banner, etc. After too many years watching this, Knox decided it's time to start recognizing the real heroes of our time, those who buck the system and work for peace and justice.