Broadcast on The Paradigm Shift, 2 Aug 2019 4ZZZ fm 102.1 Fridays at Noon.

“Those who can make you believe in absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” – Voltaire

HK Democratic Rights
Ian interviews Hong Kong activists at democracy demonstrations in Brisbane. Lloyd interviews students at UQ protesting the Confucius Institute. (Thanks Lloyd!)

The Greater Threat – Nuclear Winter
Ian Interviews Denis Doherty from the Anti-Bases Coalition about the threat of nuclear war. These are the questions asked:

1) What happened at Hiroshima in 1945 and why?

2) Hiroshima was the first use of nuclear weapons against a civilian population, could it happen again?

3) Is the world close to nuclear war now? If so, where?

4) Chernobyl and Fukushima were terrible nuclear catastrophes, what happened and why?

5) Are similar nuclear accidents possible and if so where?

6) For 74 years August the 6^th, Hiroshima day, has been a focus for people to stop war and put an end to nuclear weapons … how can ordinary people stand against nuclear weapons?

7) The anti-war movement received a set back in 2003 when the Australian government ignored the pleas of a million people on the streets and went to war against the Iraqi people, is the anti-war movement strong enough to resist future wars? How can the anti-war movement become stronger?

See podcast below for the responses Denis gave:

Playlist
Jumping Fences – The Quiet of the Winter Moon – Honte Chosi
Urban Guerillas – Americans are coming
Jumping Fences – The Quiet of the Winter Moon – Shima Uta
Jumping Fences – The Quiet of the Winter Moon

Liner Notes
Shima-uta is a genre of songs originating from the Amami Islands, Kagoshima Prefecture of southwestern Japan. It is also associated with Okinawa. “Shima Uta” (島唄, lit. “Island Song”) is a 1992 song by the Japanese band The Boom whose lead singer was inspired to write the song after a visit to Okinawa: “…for the first time saw a deeper side of Okinawa. I saw some remains of the war there and visited the Himeyuri Peace and Memorial Museum and learnt about the female students who became like voluntary nurses looking after injured soldiers. There were no places to escape from the U.S. army in Okinawa, so they had to find caves. Although they hid from the U.S. army, they knew they would be searching for them, and thought they would be killed, so they moved from one cave to another. Eventually they died in the caves. I heard this story from a woman who was one of these girls and who survived. I was still thinking about how terrible it was after I left the museum. Sugar canes were waving in the wind outside the museum when I left and it inspired me to write a song. I also thought I wanted to write a song to dedicate to that woman who told me the story. Although there was darkness and sadness in the underground museum, there was a beautiful world outside. This contrast was shocking and inspiring. ”
— Kazufumi Miyazawa, fRoots, April 2003.