David Barsamian
On Thursday, August 30, I went to hear David Barsamian speak at the Kiva classroom at UNM. He's founder and director of Alternative Radio, the independent award-winning weekly series based in Boulder, Colorado. He is a radio producer, journalist, author and lecturer. Alternative Radio can be heard in Albuquerque on KUNM on Saturday nights at 6pm (including live streaming at KUNM.org.) His latest books are Targeting Iran with Noam Chomsky, Ervand Abrahamian, Nahid Mozaffari, Imperial Ambitions with Noam Chomsky and Speaking of Empire & Resistance with Tariq Ali and Original Zinn with Howard Zinn. If you go to the website, you can stream or dowload MP3 versions of his recent talks, including one about his recent trip to Turkey, Lebanon, and Syria, KGNU (Boulder), 5 Jul 2007. I haven't listened to that one yet, so I don't know if there's any overlap with his talk here in Albuquerque. This one was recorded by KUNM, so you may be able to hear it in the near future, but the local version will be heavily edited because of time constraints. Maybe the whole talk will be available on his website eventually.
On Thursday he spoke for at least 1 1/2 hours. He was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt which had a picture of a fighter plane, perhaps an F-16, with the word Democracy above the image, and the words "We Deliver" below it. He opened his talk with salutations in several languages, including Armenian, which is his own ethnic heritage. I took a few notes so I could write about his speech for those of you who couldn't be there. Speaking of the desirabilty of impeachment of Cheney and Bush, he criticized Nancy Pelosi for stating that it was "off the table," eliminating that as a tool of political power. He compared the current U.S. regime to Nazi Germany. I hadn't started taking notes yet, so I don't have any quotes or paraphrases about that.
Regarding Iraq, he said that 70% of Iraqis have no running water. Currently, there is an outbreak of cholera there. Two-thirds of the schools are closed, including universities, and the health care system has collapsed. Eight million people are living in poverty and in need of emergency aid. The Red Cross has described the conditions there as unbearable.
Iran has the second largest oil reserves in the world and the fourth largest reserves of natural gas. The Iranian military budget is $5 billion, compared with the U.S. military budget of three-quarts trillion dollars.
Because we live in the "United States of Amnesia," where the media is a "weapon of mass distraction," he gave a short history of our relationship with Iran, with the globalization of the Monroe Doctrine starting in the 1940's, because "It's in our national interest." He satirically cited the conquering of Grenada being one example. The U.S. has four percent of the world's population, consuming 30% of the world's resources.
Throughout his talk, Barsamian referred to G.W. Bush as "The Great Leader," making reference to the manner in which the North Koreans refer to their own leader. However, having recently read the latest Harry Potter, my thoughts turned to The Dark Lord, He Who Shall Not Be Named.
Barsamian closed his talk by read a poem by Marge Piercey from her book, The Moon is Always Female.
The low road
What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
They can set you up, they can
bust you, they can break
your fingers, they can
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can't walk, can't remember, they can
take your child, wall up
your lover. They can do anything
you can't stop them
from doing. How can you stop
them? Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you.
But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.
Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organization. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.
It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean, and each
day you mean one more.
On Thursday he spoke for at least 1 1/2 hours. He was dressed in jeans and a black T-shirt which had a picture of a fighter plane, perhaps an F-16, with the word Democracy above the image, and the words "We Deliver" below it. He opened his talk with salutations in several languages, including Armenian, which is his own ethnic heritage. I took a few notes so I could write about his speech for those of you who couldn't be there. Speaking of the desirabilty of impeachment of Cheney and Bush, he criticized Nancy Pelosi for stating that it was "off the table," eliminating that as a tool of political power. He compared the current U.S. regime to Nazi Germany. I hadn't started taking notes yet, so I don't have any quotes or paraphrases about that.
Regarding Iraq, he said that 70% of Iraqis have no running water. Currently, there is an outbreak of cholera there. Two-thirds of the schools are closed, including universities, and the health care system has collapsed. Eight million people are living in poverty and in need of emergency aid. The Red Cross has described the conditions there as unbearable.
Iran has the second largest oil reserves in the world and the fourth largest reserves of natural gas. The Iranian military budget is $5 billion, compared with the U.S. military budget of three-quarts trillion dollars.
Because we live in the "United States of Amnesia," where the media is a "weapon of mass distraction," he gave a short history of our relationship with Iran, with the globalization of the Monroe Doctrine starting in the 1940's, because "It's in our national interest." He satirically cited the conquering of Grenada being one example. The U.S. has four percent of the world's population, consuming 30% of the world's resources.
Throughout his talk, Barsamian referred to G.W. Bush as "The Great Leader," making reference to the manner in which the North Koreans refer to their own leader. However, having recently read the latest Harry Potter, my thoughts turned to The Dark Lord, He Who Shall Not Be Named.
Barsamian closed his talk by read a poem by Marge Piercey from her book, The Moon is Always Female.
The low road
What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
They can set you up, they can
bust you, they can break
your fingers, they can
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can't walk, can't remember, they can
take your child, wall up
your lover. They can do anything
you can't stop them
from doing. How can you stop
them? Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you.
But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.
Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organization. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.
It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts when you say We
and know who you mean, and each
day you mean one more.
Labels: Alternative Radio, Barsamian, Iran, Iraq, lecture, politics, UNM
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