Good NPR, Bad NPR, and Ugly NPR

A summary of some really excellent programs as well as some seriously scary propaganda that appeared  over the past two days on NPR, proving once again that one must listen critically, figure out the real message and agenda, and never blindly trust the source.

Todays excellent NPR programs

 02/15/05 Diane Rehm Show
It was totally excellent: here

10:00 Iraqi Election Result
Diane and her guests talk about the results of the recent Iraqi elections: who attracted the most votes and why, the next steps toward a permanent government, how political developments will affect the U.S. military presence in Iraq, and more.

Guests*

• Judith Yaphe,(good guy) senior research fellow at National Defense University and former CIA analyst specializing in the Mideast
  
• Max Boot, (bad guy, neocon PNAC signer) senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations
  

/Rating: 5 stars (out of a possible of 5) / We need Yaphe on as our pundit.

11:00 Mary Doria Russell: "A Thread of Grace" (Random House)
In northwest Italy, peasants, priests, and native Italian Jews conspired to save the lives of 43,000 Jews during the final phase of World War II. Mary Doria Russell presents a meticulously researched novel based on the true story of the Italian underground.

Guest:
Mary Doria Russell, author of prizewinning research in paleoanthropology and two science fiction novels, "The Sparrow" and "Children of God."
Rating: 6 stars

02/15/05 *Fresh Air with Terry Gross*

Federal Judges 2005 Rights Concerns
Guest:
Ralph Neas  is president of People for the American Way, a national social justice organization. He was executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights when he led the successful effort to block the nomination of Robert Bork to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1987.
Rating: 6 stars
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Evil Bushco/neocon Stuff 02/15/05 from NPR Central:

Morning Edition:
* Slanted biased reporting on Beruit bombing and assasination of former PM Harreri: "The finger of suspicion points strongly to Syria" (paraphrasing)

Day-to-Day:
* Digital Culture:
 
To Blog or Not to Blog?
In the wake of the resignation of reporter and blogger Jeff Gannon, NPR's Mike Pesca reports on the potential for Web logs to damage the careers of public figures.
Review: Audio completely distorts/distracts and frame shifts to how bloggers took down Eason Jordon
True Hand of Rove stuf: A MUST LISTEN (after 3pm EST)

Digital Culture:
 
Slate's Kausfiles: The Life of a Blogger
Slate political blogger Mickey Kaus talks with NPR's Madeleine Brand about bloggers and their relationship.
Review: Instructive on possible talking-points in Dark Side's plan of attack on the Gathering independent dirt-digging blogdom Threat /
/Rating: 4 stars

*  
The World: *  More reporting on Beruit bombing and assasination of former PM Harreri: "The finger of suspicion points / even more strongly/ to Syria"  Deep concern expressed by high Israeli officials.  Long quotes that " Syria better not try the same thing against us...." (paraphrasing).

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Valetines Day (02/14/05) Evil PROPAGANDA from NPR Central

*  (I Heart War?) Veterans History Project: More than Love Stories [second link here. First one went down]

Review: Compilation of mostly upbeat hopeful remembrances of life during war-time in US.  that "illuminates the human experience during times of war," said Diane Kresh, director of the Veterans History Project. "The program features stories of perseverance and hope in times of despair."

Narrated by Max Cleland, but it must have been compiled and edited by Leni Riefenstahl It is a piece interspersed diliberately , with interludes of quite obvious patriotic  martial music, heartwarming Christmas images and warm and comforting pop tunes from WW2, Korea, and Vietnam (I'll bet Cleland was spitting mad when he heard the final edit, and relized how he had been used in this piece)

*  
The World: Segment on how Valentines Day is [subtext: brutally] repressed or `illegal'  in [subtext: evil]  arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe, [home of the Evil Dictator Sadda--neh...Mugabe, and a lot of strategic minerals and excellent farmland]