Welcome to Left Out, reality-based radio on WRCT 88.3FM. Left Out examines news and opinions left out of the mainstream media. Left Out is co-hosted by Bob Harper and Danny Sleator. Today's program is produced by Matt Toups. Listeners are invited to call the program at (412) 268-WRCT (9728), or to send email.
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Listen to the broadcast (requires MP3 player).
Track 1: Sheehan, Alperovitz: (Streaming, Download)
Track 2: Don Mackenzie: (Streaming, Download)
Track 3: Michael Klare: (Streaming, Download)
We play a segment of a speech given by Gar Alperovitz entitled Hiroshima: New Facts & Old Myths. This was given in Ames Iowa in 1994. Alperovitz is a professor at the U of Maryland. He's the author of The decision to use the atomic bomb. He annihilates the common myth that the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan served to shorten the war, and save lives. We play the first 6 minutes of the talk. The full speech is available for a fee from Alternative Radio.
The Bombs Of August by Howard Zinn is a short article to read. Here's a quote:
The Japanese were on the verge of surrender, and American military leaders knew that. General Eisenhower, briefed by Secretary of War Henry Stimson on the imminent use of the bomb, told him that "Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary."
After the bombing, Admiral William D. Leary, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the atomic bomb "a barbarous weapon," also noting that: "The Japanese were already defeated and ready to surrender."
Matthew Rothschild wrote an article in the Progressive, which contains this quote:
"I knew a single word that proved our democratic government was capable of committing obscene, gleefully rabid and racist, yahooistic murders of unarmed men, women, and children, murders wholly devoid of military common sense," wrote Kurt Vonnegut in Timequake. "I said the word. It was a foreign word. That word was Nagasaki."
It looks like Cindy Sheehan is going to be arrested, as described in dailykos.com. She's the mother of Casey Sheehan, who was killed in Iraq. She's been a asking president Bush to explain why he died. Here's an ad from realvoices.org with cindy talking about Casey.
Don is an expert on automobiles, their environmental impact, and how to make them more efficient. Topics to discuss:
The energy bill signed by Bush yesterday: The good parts (tax credits for hybrid vehicles) and the bad parts (missing stuff, like improved mileage standards). Don can describe how the tax credits will work, and how he calculates it will apply to different vehicles. Do they apply "fairly" to all makers?
Hybrid technology is great. It can be used to improve fuel efficiency, or it can be used to improve some other aspect of performance without improving mileage. Is this what some of the models are doing?
Pure electric cars: Why haven't they taken off? economics and practical issues.
Related: Hybrid drivers complete run for mileage mark is an article in the post-gazette yesterday about a local contest in which Prius drivers compete for the most mileage on a tank of gas. The drivers adjust their driving technique to maximize mileage, and make use of the monitoring facilities in the car that show how well its working.
Michael T. Klare is the Five College Professor of Peace and World Security Studies (a joint appointment at Amherst College, Hampshire College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst), and Director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies (PAWSS), a position he has held since 1985. Before assuming his present post, he served as Director of the Program on Militarism and Disarmament at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C. (1977-84).
Writing:
The Twilight Era of Petroleum
The Intensifying Global Struggle for Energy
Imperial Reach
Issues to discuss:
Energy Bill, Bush energy policy, peak oil, the future of oil
US position on nuclear weapons, and its impact.
US position on global warming, and its impact.
Upcoming energy wars?
ABC News anchor Peter Jennings died on August 7. What was missing from the numerous news reports (on this rather unimportant event) was the fact that Jennings was a heavy smoker, which almost certainly accelerated his death. (He was only 67.) Here's a typical article from the AP wire. There's no mention of smoking in it. This is not a coincidence. As reported today by Democracy Now the tobacco industry has been very successful in blocking these kinds of discussions from the mainstream media.
Truth Out
Common Dreams
Information Clearinghouse
Cursor
Tom Paine
The Independent
The Guardian
Consortium News