Episode #277: The Zeppo
First Broadcast: 4/1/02 Opening animation cut off.
Zeppo, of course, was one of the Marx Brothers, whose careers occupy much of the first half of this episode, including
a
never-realized project that involved the now-late
Billy Wilder.
After that, we talk about Mayor Bloomberg's "let 'em eat cake"
attitude towards people who might not want to live next to an incinerator on their block. Too bad if you're poor, says the Mayor. Too bad if you live in New York and have
an insensitive billionaire running your city, says I.
Episode #278: Zero Degrees Kelvin
First Broadcast: 4/8/02 Program began at about 2:01:30 AM, cutting off opening animation. Also looked like chroma was turned down.
Yes, the Kelvin scale and
other science lessons occupy our discussion today before we talk about
the Middle East. What, you want politics all the time?
Episode #279: Whose Privacy?
First Attempted Broadcast: 4/15/02 Program not shown! MNN still graphic stayed on screen from 2:00 AM on.
First Successful Broadcast: 4/22/02 Program began at 2:01:30 AM.
Tonight, we again discuss the fate of the 700-or-so foreign nationals detained in the wake of September 11, whose fate seems largely unknown to the outside world. That and the more sinister aspects of the ill-titled USA Patriot Act fill up most of the episode. Not to mention a nod towards a very interesting Village Voice article at the end, which explains why Giuliani appointees and expense accounts just don't mix.
Episode #280: Am I Off-Center?
First Broadcast: 4/29/02 Episode started at 2:01:30 AM, cutting off the first sentence in the episode--which also contained this week's title.
What did we talk about? The Israeli-Palestinian thing? Yeah, that sounds like it.
Episode #281: Not Exactly The Radical Press
First Broadcast: 5/20/02 Program began around 2:01:30 AM.
Referring this week to The New York Post, which had another classic headline on their front page on the date we taped: "Bush Knew." What did he know about warnings regarding plane hijackings and when did he know it? Maybe a congressional investigation will answer that question. Also: Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin tells The Progressive that Attorney General John Ashcroft isn't as bad as he sounds. Maybe Mr. Feingold thinks so, but as
CNN is so kind to remind us, Ashcroft also thinks criticism of his boss is tantamount to supporting terrorists--a stance with which we at Free New York naturally disagree.
Episode #282: Information To Reach The Public
First Broadcast: 6/3/02 Time Warner's transmission to Channel 67 had horizontal lines of interference in the picture before, during, and after the program; audio also dropped out intermittently during program (i.e., the program was plagued by sporadic bursts of silence). MNN's Quicktime stream was asynchronous; the video was out of sync with the audio.
In this one, we talk about "The Fighting Whites", the FBI's revelation that maybe it could have prevented things from happening the way they did on September 11, and other junk that kept me animated for 28 minutes.
Episode #283: Lack Of Restraint
First Broadcast: 6/10/02 Opening animation cut off.
This most accurately reflects
the current status of the Federal Bureau of Investigation with regard to domestic spying. Of course, we here at Free New York think
the Fourth Amendment to
the Constitution ought to be the last word on that, despite what others say. Also: If
John Ashcroft knew in July of 2001 that commercial aircraft weren't safe to fly on, why didn't he pass this information on to the rest of us? Food for thought.
Episode #284: You Should Be As Pissed Off As I Am
First Broadcast: 6/17/02
This week, we discuss what seems to be the
thoroughly unconstitutional detention of
a man accused of plotting to detonate a "dirty bomb" in Washington D.C.. Now, maybe I'm the only one who's read
the Constitution lately, but its laws cannot be suspended for the purpose of expediency, no matter what the circumstances, whether in wartime or not (and, for the record, the United States has not officially declared war against anyone since World War Two, so technically, the U.S. hasn't been "at war" since 1945), and one's status as a prisoner cannot be changed just to suit the whims of the Defense Department and the Attorney General, no matter what anyone's opinion of the accused may be.
CNN says there is justification in labeling this person an "enemy combatant" based on the circumstances of the last 8 people to receive that designation (8 Germans who arrived in Long Island during WWII--none of them U.S. citizens, as is the case with the person detained here). However, CNN also says all 8 of those people were executed, which is not the case; only 6 of them were executed, the other 2 given life sentences which were eventually commuted by President Truman--and even those sentences might not have been passed had their trial been conducted in the open, as Edward J. Klaris explains in his article in the June 10, 2002 edition of The Nation. Anyhow, detaining a person like this, in my view, violates the following portions of the Constitution:
Article I, Section 9 (see
"The 'Lectric Law Library" for why habeas corpus is so important);
Amendment V;
Amendment VI;
Amendment XIII; and
Amendment XIV, for starters. You should all be very concerned when you can't even rely on the government to uphold the very freedoms which it says are under attack.