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Q&A: Pilot Explains Need To Study Flight Automation | Records from a NASA safety watchdog program have found automation-related problems appearing among safety alerts, so we turned to David McKenney, a 30-year veteran pilot who flies Boeing 767 aircraft for United Airlines to see what more can be learned from studying the systems pilots rely on to safely fly their planes. McKenney also serves on a flight deck automation study group comprised of Federal Aviation Administration, aviation industry and research representatives. The committee, whose report is due out this spring, has studied thousands of normal flights and hundreds of incidents and accidents, in an effort to prevent future accidents linked to automated flight systems. The report is expected to warn of a reduction in pilots' manual flying skills and manual flying errors, perhaps linked to an over-reliance on automation systems. The group also found that pilots sometimes have insufficient knowledge of the systems. That knowledge gap was a factor in nearly half the accidents studied. McKenney, commenting as a representative of the Airline Pilots Association, a labor union representing more than 50,000 pilots at 38 U.S. and Canadian airlines, provides insight into why there's a need to evaluate flight automation systems. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. ROBERT BENINCASA: Capt. McKenney, why study flight automation now, 20 years or so into the wide deployment of these technologies? CAPT. DAVID MCKENNEY: We started this project about five years ago, because the industry, including the Airline Pilots Association and the FAA management, wanted an update on the 1996 FAA Human Factors Team report on the interfaces between flight crews and modern flight deck systems. Many changes have been made as a result of that report. However, I think the incident and accident reports that we have now still suggest that the pilots and crews continue to have problems interfacing with the flight path management systems on the aircraft. BENINCASA: Can you tell me what you mean by changes made since then? MCKENNEY: Some of the changes that I know of were in the certification area with the airplanes and design. However, those new rules are only for new aircraft and not the existing aircraft. And they have made changes to how we train, and the emphasis we place on certain things, such as mode confusion. But even though we've trained for that and the pilots have become more used to using what we call the FMS, the flight management systems, they're still making errors. BENINCASA: So, since the report back in the 1990s, regulators have improved the way they look at automation in the certification process. Is that fair to say? MCKENNEY: Yes, there's a current [rule proposal] out now that deals with the errors that pilots make when they're using the equipment. That manufacturer [of flight management systems] has to make sure that they take into account human error, and the errors that people can make using the equipment are reduced. That has not been so in the past. Pilots had to memorize a lot of steps. BENINCASA: Is the study yielding results that you would have expected? McKENNEY: I would say mostly yes. One of the items that I think we found is that new technologies in the flight decks still need to be developed and implemented from a crew-centered design perspective — fully integrated into the flight deck design, with the pilot as the center of that. In other words, what can I do to make the pilot do his job better, versus trying to create something where it flies the airplane and the pilot's there to save the day. We need to have the pilot as the center because what we're finding is that the pilot is being taken out of the loop. Then, when the aircraft has trouble, the pilot doesn't know where the aircraft is or what it's doing sometimes. And then they have to help recover the airplane. BENINCASA: What's one of the things the study confirmed? MCKENNEY: Training is one of them. With the pressures on industry, a lot of the training, some of it has been reduced or it's been shortened. And, we haven't been training for the right things. We're still training on items that have come from 40, 50 years ago, that don't really match today's aircraft. We have not made new programs in some cases to actually train and check some of the skills that are required on today's modern airplanes, such as flight path management. BENINCASA: Do you expect that the group will make any recommendations about FAA rule making? McKENNEY: Yes, we expect to recommend updates to [FAA policies]. The biggest thing that we want to emphasize is how safe aviation actually is. In all these areas where the pilots are part of the system, we mitigate the risk. We have about ten million flights a year in the United States, and these all land completely safe because of the contribution of professional pilots and others in the system. We hear about the accidents, but last year we had no fatalities in our [commercial] operations. People don't hear a |
Waiting For The Flood: More Work, More Worry | As the Louisiana levee system keeps New Orleans and Baton Rouge dry, some cities are preparing to get wet. Water spilling out of the Mississippi River and into the Atchafalaya Basin is starting to rise in more populated areas to the south. With a high-water mark not coming until next week, residents have had plenty of time to prepare. Almost too much time. Blake Farmer of member station WPLN reports. |
Illness, Strife Muddy Kuwait's Succession Process | The death last week of Kuwait's long-time ruler, Sheikh Jaber al-Ahmed al-Sabah, has set off a flurry of speculation about the succession in the oil-rich emirate. The emir's half-brother is next in line, but ailing. And there are long-standing frictions between branches of the ruling family. |
Seeking A Warmer Welcome, Gun Factory Moves Down South | When companies uproot, executives usually point to factors like lower government taxes or fewer unions. But one gun maker, Beretta, blames something entirely different — a law passed in Maryland to try to curb mass shootings. The company recently moved its factory to Nashville, Tenn., because it says the law in Maryland threatened its business. The opening day was celebrated with shooting demonstrations and a warm welcome from state officials. The Italian gun maker says it's being driven out of its longtime U.S. home on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. The political culture there has grown hostile to guns and to the people who make them, the company says. The view couldn't be more different in the city of Gallatin. "They do what the people who live here really appreciate and respect and enjoy," says Mayor Paige Brown. "And so it's been a real pride thing for us." The state of Tennessee spent more than $10 million to woo Beretta. Gallatin has also thrown in a $2 million property tax break and 100 acres for free. Gov. Bill Haslam says the plant has made him the envy of his Republican colleagues. "I literally had the governors of Texas and Georgia and North Carolina and South Carolina and I'm sure a few others walk up and go, 'Dang, Haslam, that's one we really wanted,' " he says. That the governor would even attend the opening shows just how different the climate is for gun makers in Tennessee, says Jeff Reh of Beretta. "Beretta USA was the second-largest private employer in Southern Maryland," Reh says. "In the history of the state, we never had a governor visit the facility." A History Of Tension In Maryland The company's history in Maryland goes back to the late 1970s. In the decades since then, Beretta has clashed periodically with state officials. In 2013, in response to the Newtown, Conn., school shootings, then Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley led a clampdown on ownership of high-powered weaponry. Some proposals would have made it illegal for Beretta to import some of its own products — even for sale to the military, Reh says. The exceptions the company managed to get written into the law were not enough. "But after that experience, we realized how close we had come to being forced out of business by the state government," Reh says. "And that's when we started thinking about moving the entire factory to a gun-friendly state." One of Beretta's competitors, Remington, is also relocating jobs, from a plant in New York to Alabama. It also cites gun laws passed after Newtown as a reason for the move. Beretta will spend about $45 million on the first phase of its Tennessee plant. Although the ceremonial opening was last week, the factory has operated since December. The new plant is expected to create 300 jobs, the company says, and most workers have been hired locally. One exception is Kevin Lancto, a quality manager. He has worked for firearm companies throughout the Northeast and taken some cold shoulders through the years. "Even people in my own family," Lancto says. "You know, when you know people, some people have different ideas about things." Lancto says even his own thinking about guns has changed. He was once an avid shooter. Now he's more interested in the weapons' technical aspects. Still, Lancto says he appreciates working in a part of the country where gun making is more often a source of pride than controversy. KELLY MCEVERS, HOST: When a company moves its headquarters, executives may point to factors including tax incentives or fewer unions. Gunmaker Beretta points to something different, a law passed in Maryland to try to curb mass shootings. The company says the law threatened its business, so it left for Tennessee. And Chas Sisk of member station WPLN reports it's been getting a warm welcome. CHAS SISK, BYLINE: There are certain things to accept at a factory's grand opening, a big ribbon to be cut, speeches, tables overflowing with free food. But at Beretta USA's opening just outside Nashville a few days ago, there was also this. (SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOTS) SISK: A sharpshooter obliterating eggs as they whizzed through the air. The crowd was delighted. (CHEERING) SISK: A shooting demonstration was Beretta's way of saying thank you. The Italian gunmaker says it's being driven out of its longtime U.S. home on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. The company says the political culture there has grown hostile to guns and to the people who make them. The view couldn't be more different in the town of Gallatin, says Mayor Paige Brown. PAIGE BROWN: They do what the people who live here really appreciate and respect and enjoy. And so it's been a real pride thing for us. (Laughter) That would be the Olympic ski shooter. SISK: The state of Tennessee spent more than $10 million to woo Beretta. The city of Gallatin has also thrown in a $2 million property tax break and 100 acres for free. Gov. Bill Haslam says the plant has made him the envy of his Republican colleagues. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) BILL |
Letters: S.C. Textiles, 'Cold Comfort' | Listeners' comments include responses to a report on the South Carolina textile town of Lancaster and a warm memory of the novel <em>Cold Comfort Farm</em>. |
News Brief: Virus Warnings Delayed, Nurses' Safety, Mortage Payments Missed | NPR probe finds conflicts and shortages delayed COVID-19 early warning system. Nurses keep risking their lives to treat patients. And, millions of homeowners skip mortgage payments due to pandemic. |
Amazon's Earnings, and Shares, Surge | The Internet retailing giant Amazon.com turned in one of its best quarters ever. Profits more than tripled, reflecting strong sales of books, music and electronics worldwide. Its shares skyrocketed $14.70, or 21 percent, to $83.95 in after-hours electronic trading. |
In 'A Dog's Life,' One Student Finds Strength | Over the past few months, NPR's In Character series has explored famous American fictional characters -- who they are, how they've inspired us. At NPR.org, audiences have been encouraged to respond to NPR's stories and to write essays about their own favorite characters. One elementary school turned that invitation into a literacy project. About 15 fifth graders at Isaac Dickson Elementary School in Asheville, N.C., wrote about the imaginary personalities they admire most. The students then recorded their essays at public radio station WCQS in Asheville. The characters they picked came from a diverse selection of books: Joseph Plever, who chose Jaypaw from Erin Hunter's forest-felines series Warriors, hooked readers with a question: "Have you ever read a book about a blind cat with anger-management problems?" Ryan Segall wrote about Keladry of Mindelen, from Tamora Pierce's Protector of the Small quartet; Kel, as she's known, "thinks that girls can do anything boys can do, just like me," Ryan wrote. Also: "Because of her I am interested in learning how to use different types of medieval weapons; I too am strong and brave." Other students went with Cassie Logan, the Grinch, Junie B. Jones and more. And one of them revealed a very special connection with Squirrel -- the four-legged protagonist of Ann M. Martin's novel A Dog's Life: Autobiography of a Stray. 'She Represents Kids Like Me' Mark Federman is 11 years old, tall and skinny, fair-skinned, with freckles and thick, wavy hair. He is very polite, answering questions with "Yes, sir" or "Yes, ma'am." He's never recorded himself reading, but he's been practicing. And when it's his turn, he's ready. "Squirrel from a A Dog's Life is an important character because she represents kids like me," he says. Four years ago, Mark was taken into custody by the Department of Social Services in Haywood County, N.C., and placed in foster care. In A Dog's Life, Squirrel gets separated from her mother and brother. In his In Character essay, Mark wrote about the parallels between his life and Squirrel's. "We both have moved from house to house, family to family and life to life in hopes of [finding] a family," he writes. "Squirrel and I have been separated from our big brother and mom." Asked what it is he likes about Squirrel, Mark has a simple answer: "It's me." 'We Never Gave Up' Mary Turner, the Isaac Dickson literacy coach who assigned the In Character essays to her fifth graders, says she wanted them to learn about writing persuasively -- and concisely, since the essays had a 150-word limit. She encouraged the kids to look at characters from contemporary fiction, or from stories that helped them discover a love for reading. "We began to chart titles of books, characters from books, what makes this character a good character," Turner says. From there, a lesson plan developed, "a whole unit of study where kids got to not only brainstorm and list, but then describe and defend." A Dog's Life was a Christmas gift to Mark from his foster mother, Cristina Skillin-Federman. She didn't know much about the story. It was the dog on the cover she was drawn to. "Mark really loves animals," she says. "We have a big dog here, and he always plays with her. The more I was reading about (Squirrel) and about the dog finding its way, I thought that maybe it could relate to Mark, just because of where he was at in his life." Skillin-Federman also liked that A Dog's Life doesn't sugarcoat the story. Squirrel roams the woods, searches for food and nearly dies crossing a busy highway with his brother. The two stray dogs get picked up by humans who want them as pets -- but then they get thrown out. In the four years that Mark has been in foster care, he has moved about nine times. Having had "to move into different homes, and being disappointed because they weren't the right family for us," he says, he could identify with Squirrel's ups and downs. "But we knew there was a family out there waiting for us, so we never gave up," Mark says. Reading about another creature's struggle to find a good fit, he says, "kind of made me feel happy because I'm not the only one. 'Both of our Stories Have Happy Endings' Author Ann Martin says her own dog Sadie was the inspiration for Squirrel. Sadie's mother was a stray who was found wandering the highway just before giving birth to a litter of puppies. "Sadie was so incredibly shy and timid as a puppy that I began to wonder if she would even have survived if [she'd] been born in the wild." Martin says Squirrel finds out just how resilient she is through the course of the story. "As she finds her way through wintertime, through cruel owners, cruel people that she meets along the way, she also discovers that she is a stronger dog then she thought she was," Martin says. "You have to be a strong animal -- and a smart one -- to be able to survive." "Squirrel and I kept going because we knew there was a family waiting for us out there somewhere in the rea |
Hagel: 'No One Individual Vote, Quote Or Statement Defines Me' | (Scroll down for updates.) Responding to those who have questioned his views on Israel, Iran and defense spending, former Sen. Chuck Hagel said Thursday at the opening of a Senate hearing on his nomination to be secretary of defense that: "No one individual vote, quote, or statement defines me, my beliefs, or my record. My overall worldview has never changed: that America has and must maintain the strongest military in the world; that we must lead the international community to confront threats and challenges together; and that we must use all tools of American power to protect our citizens and our interests." On specific issues, Hagel said: -- "I am fully committed to the president's goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and — as I've said in the past — all options must be on the table to achieve that goal." -- "I will ensure our friend and ally Israel maintains its qualitative military edge in the region and will continue to support systems like Iron Dome, which is today saving Israeli lives from terrorist rocket attacks." -- "If confirmed, I am committed to effectively and efficiently using every single taxpayer dollar; to maintaining the strongest military in the world; and to working with Congress to ensure the Department has the resources it needs – and that the disposition of those resources is accountable." Hagel, a Republican from Nebraska, was formally introduced and endorsed by former senators Sam Nunn, D-Ga., and John Warner, R-Va. At the start of the hearing, the committee's ranking Republican — Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma — said he will oppose Hagel's nomination because he believes the nominee has in the past supported policies that "diminish U.S. power and influence." The hearing is being webcast by C-SPAN and by the committee. As we said earlier, this could be one of the more contentious nomination hearings for one of President Obama's cabinet choices. We'll watch for more news and update as needed. Update at 5:10 p.m. ET. On Israel: Of course, one of the most dramatic moments in the hearing came when Hagel was questioned about Israel. The New York Times describes the scene: "Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, surprised the hearing with excerpts on a giant video screen from an interview Mr. Hagel gave to Al Jazeera in 2009. Although it was difficult to hear the short clips he provided, Mr. Cruz asserted that they showed Mr. Hagel agreeing with a caller who suggested that Israel had committed war crimes. "'Do you think the nation of Israel has committed war crimes?' Mr. Cruz demanded. "'No, I do not, Senator,' Mr. Hagel replied." Update at 11:45 a.m. ET. McCain And Hagel Clash Over The "Surge" In Iraq: In 2007, Hagel told then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that President George W. Bush's planned "surge" of more troops to Iraq was possibly the most dangerous "foreign policy blunder since Vietnam." At Thursday's hearing, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain challenged Hagel to answer — yes or no — "were you right or wrong?" After some back-and-forth, Hagel told McCain that "I'm not going to give you a yes or no. ... I think it's far more complicated than that." McCain asked that the record show that Hagel wouldn't answer. Later, as Hagel was responding to another member of the committee, he said "I did question the surge" because he wondered at the time whether it would be "worth the sacrifice." Noting that almost 1,200 American military personnel died in Iraq after the surge and thousands more were wounded, Hagel said he's still "not sure ... not certain" if the surge was the right strategy. Thanks to C-SPAN's video library, we were able to create a clip of Hagel's 2007 comments. |
'I Used To Be A Dreamer': To Change The World, Souad Massi Starts With Herself | Over the past 20 years, Souad Massi has sung provocative songs challenging authority and weaving stories in Arabic, French, and Kabyle, languages from her native Algeria. She's never been afraid to take risks through her music. "You want to know all my secrets?" Massi asks. The Algerian artist laughs and says she has only the best. While on tour in the United States, Massi spoke to NPR's Ari Shapiro from KUOW in Seattle and performed three of her most powerful songs. "I used to be a dreamer. I wanted to change the world. I was so shy and reserved. I didn't know how to talk to people," she explains. So instead, Massi found her outlet through music. She was 17 years old when she wrote her first song, 2001's "Raoui." The title means "Storyteller" in Arabic. Massi says she wrote it to forget her troubles and "just to fly away." Now, Massi is a celebrated international artist. In her 20s, she joined the political rock band Atokar — a rarity for a woman at the time — and eventually left Algeria for France due to government pressure. On her fifth album, 2015's El Mutakallimun — "Masters of the Word" — Massi pays homage to the works of important Arab thinkers and poets stretching from the ancient past to present day. She hopes her music will not only bring peace and healing to Arabs, but all people. "I was very sad to see and to hear what the media shows from the Muslim and Arabic world," Massi says of the album's mission. "We have very intelligent people who have a real gift for humanity. " Iraqi poet Ahmed Matar is one of Massi's chosen poets. Matar spent much of his life in prison for supporting democracy in Kuwait, and now lives in exile in England. Massi says she wants to give a voice to Matar's revolutionary poetry in "Ayna (The Visitor)." The song describes an "enlightened leader" arriving before a large crowd and and asking them to tell him their grievances without fear. The song's narrator describes "my friend Hassan" asking the leader about living conditions and then mysteriously disappearing. One year later, the leader reappears before the crowd. The narrator sings: No one dared, and so I said:"Where's the bread and where's the milkAnd the guaranteed housing?Where's the employment for allAnd the free healthcare?And pardon me, O Excellency,Where is my friend Hassan?" Massi could have turned these words into a mournful tune, but instead the song almost sounds like a satire. She says that it's common in African culture to give sad lyrics a buoyant melody. "We can make a song very... groovy," she laughs. Massi is no stranger to the pain and suffering that plagues the modern world. Though she is not the 17-year-old dreamer she once was, she finds hope when she sees people from all over the world at her shows. "It is very hard to change the world," Massi says. "We have to begin from ourselves to correct what is not good in us. And after that, we can help other people and we can try." NPR's Linah Mohammad contributed to this report. |
'Underground Airlines' Is An Extraordinary Work Of Alternate History | In his new novel, Ben H. Winters imagines that the Civil War never happened and that slavery is still legal in some states. Critic Maureen Corrigan says <em>Underground Airlines </em>is "one<em> </em>suspenseful tale<em>."</em> |
Epicenter of AIDS Is Found: Africa, 1930 | Scientists say they have pinpointed the origin of the AIDS virus. It all started in southern Cameroon in West Central Africa around 1930, according to a study published online by the journal Science. The virus that started the global pandemic --- recognized 25 years ago next week --- passed from chimps to humans in that area. The reservoir of the ancestral virus still exists among chimpanzee communities in the same area of Cameroon. Now that scientists have uncovered HIV's origin, they're hoping to find clues to help battle the pandemic that has since infected 60 million people around the world. Among the first tasks: studying how a virus that doesn't harm chimps can infect humans and devastate their immune systems. MICHELE NORRIS, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Michele Norris. MELISSA BLOCK, host: And I'm Melissa Block. A quarter century after doctors first discovered a strange new disease called AIDS, scientists say they have pinpointed where it came from and they think they know when the first humans caught a chimpanzee virus that became HIV, the AIDS virus that has since infected 60 million people around the world. NPR's Richard Knox has the story. RICHARD KNOX reporting: Researchers were pretty sure that HIV came from a virus ancestor that infected chimpanzees, but Beatrice Hahn of the University of Alabama says the scientific sticklers were unsatisfied with the evidence. Ms. BEATRICE HAHN (University of Alabama): They said well there's still one other thing missing, because if you postulate that this virus is naturally infecting chimps and somehow got transmitted to humans, then there's got a be a reservoir out there where wild chimpanzees are infected with these viruses. KNOX: In fact, no one had ever found the chimpanzee version of the AIDS virus, called SIV for Simeon Immuno Deficiency Virus, in a wild chimp. And it wasn't very common in captive chimps either. So Hahn and her colleagues set out eight years ago to track down the chimp virus in the wild. It was a tall order. Ms. HAHN: It's not easy to get a wild chimpanzee to cooperate. They certainly will not stick their arm out and let you draw a blood sample. KNOX: Hahn knew she could find the virus in urine, but that wouldn't work. HAHN: In the truly wild situation, like in the forests of Cameroon or other places in West Africa, all you can collect is fecal samples. There's just no way you get close enough to these chimps which are under tremendous hunting pressure, that you would be able to collect urine samples. KNOX: So the researchers devised a way to extract the virus from chimp droppings collected from the forest floor and to figure out how many chimps were infected, they had to invent a method of identifying individual chimps by the genes in those droppings. In effect they put a genetic bar code on each fecal sample. The researchers looked where they thought the ancestor virus might be in the dense forest of southern Cameroon. They retrieved hundreds of fecal samples from 10 chimpanzee communities. Their results are published online today by the journal Science. They found the chimp AIDS virus in 16 animals from five communities. Genetically the chimp viruses were a very close match to the human AIDS virus called group M for main. Ms. HAHN: By finding a group of chimpanzee viruses that was very closely related to HIV 1 group M viruses, we were able to hone in, if you will, to zero down on the area in the forest on the chimpanzees that must have given rise to the virus that is now spreading globally and basically has caused the AIDS pandemic. Dr. ANTHONY FAUCI (US Government AIDS expert): I think the study really nails it down for us. KNOX: Dr. Anthony Fauci is the US Government's top AIDS expert. He think the virus probably jumped to humans many times over thousands of years as people hunted and butchered chimpanzees. Dr. FAUCI: No one knows for sure, but it is entirely conceivable that there were multiple dead ends before the societal conditions were ripe for the explosion of an epidemic of sexually transmitted disease. KNOX: Based on gene mutation rates, other researchers calculate that the ancestor of the main AIDS virus first infected humans around 1930. Eventually, it made its way down the Sanha(ph) and Congo Rivers to Leopoldville, now Conchasa(ph), 550 miles downstream. That's when the earliest case of HIV was recorded in a man whose blood was drawn in 1959 for a malaria study. In Conchasa, Fauci says, the virus found its opportunity in the tumultuous conditions of West Africa in the middle of the 20th century. Dr. FAUCI: Dissolution of the family unit, having people separated from the family, people being separated in mines or in trucking, having multiple sexual partners, other sexually transmitted diseases, so that when you have that rare event where it does jump species, now you give it the opportunity to spread from person to person. KNOX: Now that scientists have uncovered HIV's |
China Bans Free Plastic Bags | China may lag behind developed nations in tackling air and water pollution, but it has just taken the lead in one area: banning free plastic bags. In the future, Chinese shoppers will either have to buy them or bring their own. The move is expected to save China millions of barrels of oil each year. ANDREA SEABROOK, host: From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Andrea Seabrook. China may lag behind developed nations in tackling air and water pollution, but it's just taken the lead in one area - banning free plastic bags. In the near future, Chinese shoppers will either have to buy them or bring their own. It's expected to save China millions of barrels of oil each year, as NPR's Anthony Kuhn reports from Beijing. ANTHONY KUHN: The rules announced Tuesday will take effect in June, just a couple of months ahead of this year's Beijing Olympics. The rules ban the manufacture of thin, flimsy plastic bags. Stores can use thicker ones, but they have to charge customers for them. Shoppers laden with bright orange plastic bags are coming out of a supermarket near the Forbidden City. Most of them say they're ready for the new policy. But real estate developer Li Yu Ying(ph) sounded a cautious note. Ms. LI YU YING (Real Estate Developer): (Through translator) I support this policy but I was a little surprised at it just because to be frank it may be hard to implement in China. There are too many people here without a strong environmental awareness. KUHN: China's government says that the country uses up to three billion plastic bags a day. They can often be seen flapping in trees or floating in lakes, a pervasive sign of China's devastated environment. Wu Deng Ming is founder of the Green Volunteer League of Chongqing in southwest China. Mr. WU DENG MING (Founder, Green Volunteer League of Chongqing): (Foreign language spoken) KUHN: This policy is significant, he says, because through these little bags, it will change our lifestyles and consumption habits and take us back to our original, more environmentally, friendly way of shopping. Wu said that folks are likely to go back to putting their groceries in cloth or string bags or straw baskets the way they used to do as recently as a decade and a half ago before supermarkets and plastic bags started becoming common in China. It's still that way in some small towns in rural areas. This week, another country followed China's lead. Australia said it wants to start phasing the bags out by year's end. Anthony Kuhn, NPR News, Beijing. |
The Mandela Playlist: A Life And Legacy, Told In Music | It's worth pausing to consider not only the legacy and achievements of former South African president Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, who died Thursday, but also the rich musical associations of his life. Mandela was born to a high-ranking family of the Mvelo Clan of the Thembu people in Transkei, South Africa, on July 18, 1918. Apartheid reduced groups like the Thembu to "tribes," but such clans represented important political states and kingdoms before colonialism arrived. Throughout his life, Madiba — his clan name, and a title of respect — has shown appreciation for music. His home province, the Eastern Cape, is home to some of the richest musical traditions in the country. The Sounds Of Mandela's Childhood The Xhosa-speaking peoples of the region have a tradition of split-tone singing: Vocalists can create more than one note simultaneously and weave those tones together in magically complex rhythmic patterns. They call it "putting salt in a tune," and this is the music Mandela heard during his village childhood. In addition, the region was a place of settlement for some of the earliest Christian missionaries to Southern Africa. The first indigenous hymn in South Africa, "Ulo Tixo Omkulu" (Thou art God who is great), was written in the early 1820s by Ntsikana son of Gaba, a Xhosa prince who converted to Christianity. The link above demonstrates the hymn sung in church fashion by an Eastern Cape choir, but it has passed into the South African canon, and was also recorded as "Ntsikana's Bell" by jazz pianist Abdullah Ibrahim (at the time, in 1973, he was known as Dollar Brand) with bassist Johnny Dyani on the album Good News From Afrika. Mandela excelled at his various schools, taking his leaving exams at a mission school, the Wesleyan Healdtown Academy. He began studying law at Fort Hare University, also in the Eastern Cape, but after being expelled for joining student protests, he returned home and completed his first degree by distance study. By 1941, he'd left the Eastern Cape for Johannesburg, where he began articles with a law firm and enrolled for an LLB (an undergraduate law degree) with the University of the Witwatersrand. But increasing involvement in politics meant he did not complete the degree at that time, although he obtained sufficient qualifications to practice and to cofound South Africa's first black law firm, Mandela & Tambo, in 1952. In Johannesburg: Practicing Law, Organizing Rebellion Mandela was also a promising amateur boxer, a stylish dresser and a much-admired man-about town who socialized in the politically aware, racially mixed suburbs of the city, such as Sophiatown. The late jazz guitarist General Duze recalled Mandela as a fan of his music, a jazz enthusiast in general and an avid dancer. For a flavor of the music that made Mandela dance, listen to the late singer Dolly Rathebe — the most admired beauty and singer of her generation — and her work with the African Jazz Pioneers, a revival band composed of veteran former stars of the South African jazz scene. The song above is "Meadowlands," written by Strike Vilakazi to protest the destruction and forced removal of Sophiatown in the early 1950s by the apartheid government. This reflects the era when Mandela was energizing the African National Congress Youth League, organizing protest and fighting cases related to unjust apartheid laws. Much of this work had to be carried out clandestinely, as he was carrying a suspended sentence for organizing mass defiance and was "banned" (forbidden to take part in public life or any gatherings for a period) in late 1952. By the early 1960s, repression had increased and Mandela was tasked with establishing and leading Mkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation, MK), the armed wing of the African National Congress. In 1962, he traveled to the U.K. to build support for the anti-apartheid struggle, and around Africa to receive training in Morocco and Ethiopia. Months after he returned, he was arrested and charged with leaving South Africa illegally. As the apartheid state discovered more of the scope and effectiveness of ANC plans, the imprisoned Mandela was put on trial again with other comrades. In June 1964, he began a term of life imprisonment on the harsh lime-quarry prison of Robben Island. It was at that point that the musicians of South Africa and the world began drawing attention to his plight, and to the nature of his struggle. Singing Mandela: South Africans At Home And Abroad The ANC was establishing effective liaison offices in independent Africa and in Europe; in March 1960, 8,000 people attended an anti-apartheid solidarity rally in London's Trafalgar Square. Black musicians and artists had long been leaving the country: Apartheid's rules restricted what they could play and record and with whom they could collaborate. These restrictions, and the censorship, intensified through the years that followed. After the Sharpeville massacre in 1960, and even more after the 1976 Soweto uprising, m |
Here Are The Winners Of The 2018 MacArthur 'Genius' Grants | Updated at 3:57 p.m. ET What could possibly bring together a painter, an economist, a pastor and a planetary scientist? If you ask the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the answer is simpler than you may think: They've all shown creativity, potential for future achievements — and the likelihood that $625,000, meted out over five years, will help them complete their grand designs. In fact, those criteria fit all 25 winners of this year's MacArthur Fellowship, better known by its affectionate nickname, the "genius" grant. Their pursuits span a range nearly as wide as the world itself. That spectrum includes mapping legal aid across the country for the benefit of low-income populations, uncovering abuse in West Virginia's coal industry, and coming up with radical fictions and bringing down pernicious artistic tropes. Now, with a rather sizable infusion of cash that has no strings attached, it includes some even loftier aspirations. "I have promised myself that I will do something new and different with it. It could be both related to my research or something completely different," Sarah T. Stewart, who won a grant for her work exploring how planets collide, tells NPR's All Things Considered. "Right now, I'd like to be as creative with it as the creativity that inspired the award." And that inspiration goes both ways, according to Cecilia Conrad, the MacArthur program's managing director. In a statement Thursday, she concisely laid out one major reason why they've been picked for the grant: "Their exceptional creativity inspires hope in us all." Scroll down to find the full list of winners — along with NPR's previous coverage, where available, and the MacArthur Foundation's reasons why they were selected. (Note: The foundation is among NPR's financial supporters.) Matthew Aucoin, 28, composer and conductor "Expanding the potential of vocal and orchestral music to convey emotional, dramatic, and literary meaning." Julie Ault, 60, artist and curator"Redefining the role of the artwork and the artist by melding artistic, curatorial, archival, editorial, and activist practices into a new form of cultural production." William J. Barber II, 55, pastor and social justice advocate"Building broad-based fusion coalitions as part of a moral movement to confront racial and economic inequality." Clifford Brangwynne, 40, biophysical engineer"Using the principles of soft matter physics and cell biology to illuminate novel mechanisms of cellular compartmentalization that drive biological development." Natalie Diaz, 40, poet"Drawing on her experience as a Mojave American and Latina to challenge the mythological and cultural touchstones underlying American society." Livia S. Eberlin, 32, analytical chemist"Developing mass spectrometry-based methods to differentiate more quickly and accurately diseased from healthy tissues during surgery." Deborah Estrin, 58, computer scientist"Designing open-source platforms that leverage mobile devices and data to address socio-technological challenges such as personal health management." Amy Finkelstein, 44, health economist"Formulating robust empirical methods to illuminate the hidden complexities of health care policy and provide data-driven guidance for future innovations in theory and practice." Gregg Gonsalves, 54, epidemiologist and global health advocate"Working at the intersection of human rights and public health research and practice to address inequities in global health." Vijay Gupta, 31, violinist and social justice advocate"Providing musical enrichment and valuable human connection to the homeless, incarcerated, and other under-resourced communities in Los Angeles." Becca Heller, 36, human rights lawyer"Mobilizing the resources of law schools and law firms to defend the rights of refugees and improve protection outcomes for many of the world's most at-risk populations." Raj Jayadev, 43, community organizer"Creating a model of grassroots collective action that enables individuals facing incarceration, their families, and their communities to play an active role in their defense." Titus Kaphar, 42, painter"Highlighting the lack of representation of people of color in the canon of Western art with works that deconstruct the literal and visual structure of the artwork." John Keene, 53, writer"Exploring the impact of historical narratives on contemporary lives and re-imagining the history of the Americas from the perspective of suppressed voices." Kelly Link, 49, fiction writer"Pushing the boundaries of literary fiction in works that combine the surreal and fantastical with the concerns and emotional realism of contemporary life." Dominique Morisseau, 40, playwright"Examining the intersection of choice and circumstance in works that portray individuals and communities grappling with economic and social changes." Okwui Okpokwasili, 46, choreographer and performer"Making visible the interior lives of women whose stories of resistance and resilience have been |
The Nation: All Eyes On Obama At The United Nations | The sixty-fourth United Nations General Assembly session, which shifts into high gear this week, could be memorable not so much for what is said in mostly predictable speeches by a long lineup of world leaders as for the sustained involvement and presence at UN headquarters of one of them: Barack Obama. The American president plans to be present for more of the General Assembly session than any of his predecessors (if you don't count George H.W. Bush's stint as American ambassador in the 1970s). In another first for the White House, he will chair a meeting of the Security Council on Thursday. On Tuesday he will attend a daylong summit on climate change arranged by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. And yes, today he will deliver the speech that is expected to restore a cooperative American global vision. Over several days he will meet on the sidelines with other leaders. And all that is before heading to Pittsburgh for the G-20 meeting of leading economic powers. He may easily upstage the theatrical Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya, who plans to make his first visit to the UN and the United States, in part because a Libyan diplomat, Ali Treki, has just become president of the General Assembly for 2009-10, succeeding Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua. Diplomats around the UN may wonder why it took so long for the US president to make even a quick a trip to the UN, given that he has had time for extensive foreign travel despite his domestic woes. But his UN ambassador, Susan Rice, has been laying groundwork for sustained engagement for months, stating publicly that the organization is essential to solving global problems. On Friday Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the Brookings Institution about an extensive American agenda for the General Assembly. She, too, will chair a Security Council session, on violence against women in war and peacekeeping. Strong US support for international development work and the advancement of women is anticipated and welcomed by UN officials working in development and many member countries. Obama's high-profile UN appearances carry some risks. The American right could find another cause for ill-informed hysteria — the UN has long loomed as the "black-helicopter threat" that would seize our national parks (that's Unesco's World Heritage and Biosphere Reserve programs) and, indeed, our national sovereignty. It rankles conservatives that the UN is an organization of 191 other national interests apart from our own, and it operates beyond the control of Congress. The UN is full of foreigners, as Madeleine Albright liked to say when she was the American envoy, and there was nothing she could do about it. On foreign shores, Obama will be watched for signs of a new kind of American bullying. Some developing nations have already attacked the climate summit as an unauthorized negotiating session that will pre-empt open debate in Copenhagen in December. In the eyes of many poor countries in Asia and Africa, the industrial nations of Europe and North America should not force poorer countries to make binding commitments on emissions, certainly not unless they are compensated. The United States has long wanted everyone to be part of the solution, especially China and India, which rank among the top four largest polluters in absolute terms. India has been most vocal in insisting that it cannot compromise on continued industrial growth, much of which is fueled by coal. Brazil, a rising economic power, has objected to outside demands that would limit deforestation of rainforest land and other natural resources. Unease will also greet Thursday's Security Council debate on stopping the spread of nuclear weapons. Rose Gottemoeller, the Obama administration's assistant secretary of state for verification, compliance and implementation, made it clear months ago that India, Pakistan and Israel — all with bombs — should sign the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and, ultimately, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which the United States has yet to ratify. Iran, which signed the NPT, is being told to adhere to it. North Korea is still a moving target as it develops weapons and delivery systems while moving in and out of inspection range. None of those countries wants to be on the Security Council's agenda. These are sharp reversals of Bush-era policy. A year ago, a Gallup poll found that around the world Obama enjoyed a broad lead as candidate for president (though in some polls, India and China favored John McCain). His ratings may have slipped abroad as well as at home lately, but anecdotal evidence from international media suggests he continues to enjoy foreign popularity and support, if only out of lingering fascination. Whether the government leaders now on the receiving end of Obama's global prescriptions share that positive opinion will be tested this week. |
Slate's Explainer: How Shuttles Get Back to Florida | The space shuttle Discovery landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in the California desert Tuesday morning. But how does NASA get the shuttle back to its home base in Florida? <EM>Slate</EM> senior editor Andy Bowers explains how space shuttles are transported. |
Egypt's Opposition May Be Losing Steam | Amr Hamzawy, who works at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, says opposition to Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak has lost much of what the U.S. government thought was momentum. Hamzawy speaks with Deborah Amos about Egypt's pullback from what once looked like democratic reforms. STEVE INSKEEP, host: It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Steve Inskeep. DEBORAH AMOS, host: And I'm Deborah Amos. When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice traveled to Cairo two years ago, she described how democracy was taking hold in the region. Secretary CONDOLEEZZA RICE (State Department): The day is coming when the promise of a fully free and democratic world, once thought impossible, will also seem inevitable. The people of Egypt should be at the forefront of this great journey, just as you have led this region through the great journeys of the past. AMOS: As part of our series on democracy movements, we're looking today at what happened since Secretary Rice's speech. Amr Hamzawy works at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He says opposition to Egypt's president, Hosni Mubarak, has lost much of what the U.S. government thought was momentum. Mr. AMR HAMZAWY (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace): We had parliamentary elections in 2005, which was characterized by violence, manipulation, and intimidation of different opposition groups. We still have the regime using its same intimidation and repression instruments against Islamists and non-religious opposition movements. So Egypt has been backsliding since then. AMOS: And in broad terms there are, as I understand, three kinds of opposition. There are the Islamists, the Muslim brotherhood. There is a candidate who actually challenged Mubarak in the election, Ayman Nour, who is in jail. And then there is a broad social group called, Kefayah - enough. Of those three, what group is most likely actually to be able to challenge? Mr. HAMZAWY: The one group which really commands popular support is the Muslim Brotherhood, the major Islamist opposition movement, which is banned. AMOS: Why are they so popular? What are they able to do? Mr. HAMZAWY: Well, they are popular out of two reasons. One, they have been delivering social services to poor segments of the population and to the marginalized. The second reason is definitely that they have a platform which appeals to many Egyptians. Egypt is becoming a more religious society, has become a more conservative place. And the platform of the Brotherhood appeals to many Egyptians. AMOS: President Hosni Mubarak has been elected president five times. How does he do that? How does he keep the opposition from challenging his rule? Mr. HAMZAWY: Well, this is very interesting because Mubarak plays opposition against each other, the Islamists against the secular, liberal and leftist groups, and the other way around. Secondly, the regime of Mubarak has sustained very high levels of fear. Egyptians are afraid of protesting, afraid of becoming politically active because they face severe repression by the regime - intimidation, imprisonment. Just a few days ago, four editors of chief of independent newspapers were sentenced to prison simply for defaming the president and allegedly circulating false news about his health condition. AMOS: The speech of Condoleezza Rice at a university in Cairo was the high-water mark of the Bush Administration's push for democracy in the Middle East. They've retreated from that position. Is there anything that a U.S. administration now can do to promote democracy in Egypt? Mr. HAMZAWY: There is a lot. The Bush Administration has been retreating from democracy promotion allegedly because they need Mubarak and his regime with regard to different key regional issues - Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Iran -while pressing Mubarak to democratize internally. And the U.S. has a great tool. The aid package, means the military of the economic aid package - I'm not saying cut the aid package, I'm just saying condition the aid package to vital significant political and economic reforms. AMOS: Amr, I have seen quotes from some of the democratic opposition in Cairo that say U.S. get out of the way, that if you touch us, you discredit us. Mr. HAMZAWY: It's quite a double-sided picture. The images of the U.S. is at an all-time low. On the other side, he knows that there's only one actor which can push the regime to democratization. So what it really means for American democracy promotion is you have to play it in a low profile way. I mean, the U.S. does not have to announce every time it pressures Mubarak to release a political opposition figure. This is a better way to promote democracy in Egypt. AMOS: Amr Hamzawy, senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Thanks very much. Mr. HAMZAWY: Thanks for having me. AMOS: Our conversations continues tomorrow with a look at opposition groups in Iran. |
Colorado Court Complicates Life For Drug-Sniffing Dogs | A Colorado State Supreme Court ruling is putting some police dogs out of work. NPR's Susan Davis finds out why from Brian Laas, president of the Colorado Police K-9 Association. |
An Elk Sounds Off, and a Season Begins | Rode and Audrey Hagen of Jackson Hole, Wyo., share a SoundClip with us. It's the sound of an elk bugle, an eerie sound that is a sure sign of autumn, when the animals enter rutting season. |
Americans Seek Cheaper, Reimported Drugs | Minnesota Public Radio's Tom Scheck reports on the continued efforts by Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty and others to try to make it easier for citizens in their state to import foreign drugs. Pawlenty testifies at a Senate Commerce Committe hearing Thursday that he's moving forward -- with or without the approval of the Food and Drug Administration. |
Democracy in Afghanistan: Disarming the Warlords | One of the biggest obstacles to free and fair elections in Afghanistan are the countries warlords. Commanding private armies and controlling vast sections of the country, there is little chance that democracy can come to Afghanistan if these warlords aren't disarmed by this September's election. In the final report in this series, NPR's Renee Montagne looks at efforts to disarm these powerful figures and how they are re-inventing themselves as political leaders. |
GE Capital Cuts Off Credit To Gun Dealers | The lending arm of General Electric has stopped offering financing to retailers whose primary business is selling guns. Around 75 retailers are immediately affected. A company spokesman says this is a response to "industry changes, new legislation and tragic events." |
Gamesmanship Or Cheating: A History Quiz | "The line between cheating and gamesmanship is constantly blurred," observes The New York Times in a recent story. The Times, and just about everyone else, is talking about the perhaps-tampering-with-gameballs allegations levied against the New England Patriots — specifically coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Both Belichick and Brady have denied any wrongdoing. In many sports situations, the truth may lie somewhere on the spectrum between cheating and gamesmanship — gaining a competitive advantage through psychological tricks or rules-bending or some other sneaky method. And that line has been blurry for a long time. Widespread acknowledgment of "gamesmanship" as such really opened up with the publication of the 1948 British book The Theory and Practice of Gamesmanship, Or the Art of Winning Without Actually Cheating. In 1960 the British film School for Scoundrels swept across America and was advertised in newspapers as a course in gamesmanship. And by the mid-1960s, American sports figures were touting the positive — and decrying the negative — aspects of gamesmanship. Here then are 10 sports incidents, reported in the past 50 years. The question for you: Which ones exemplify cheating and which ones exemplify gamesmanship? Discuss. 1) The Denton Record-Chronicle in Texas noted in 1965: Legendary Boston Celtics basketball coach Red Auerbach points out that after a turnover a player can return the ball to a referee very slowly to allow his team time to get down court and set up a defense. Auerbach also reminds players that "grabbing or pulling the pants or shirt of the opponent can be very aggravating." The suggestions came from Auerbach's writings on basketball. Here is one more from his popular book Basketball for the Player, the Fan, and the Coach: "Very often slight movements of the body are used to distract the opposing foul shooter." 2) Columnist Maury White wrote in the Des Moines Register in 1970 about the variety of ways that on-court opponents tried to get under the skin of Louisiana State University basketball phenom Pete Maravich. "The championship gambit, for my money, was the opponent who kissed Maravich on the cheek," White opined. "If Maravich had turned and slugged the guy, in view of thousands of people and two referees, he would have been out of the game. So Pete fumed silently — and the kiss accomplished its purpose." 3) Writing in the Los Angeles Times in 1975, Jim Murray called pro baseball the "most larcenous sport." He observed that "groundskeepers let the grass grow if they have a ground-ball pitcher throwing or water the base paths if the other team is faster. " He explained about players who added cork or extra pine tar to their bats. And, he reminded readers that in baseball, "stealing is an honored occupation." 4) In 1977, a UPI reporter recalled the story of American long-distance runner Fred Lorz who hitched a ride for part of the course to help him win the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. According to the dispatch in the York Daily Record, "the cheers turned to jeers and expulsion." 5) In a 1999 Washington Post profile of then-presidential contender Bill Bradley of New Jersey — a former U.S. Senator and a former basketball standout for the New York Knicks and the Princeton Tigers — the reporters tell of Bradley's penchant for "yanking" the body hairs of opponents. "Bradley also devised a humiliating trick play," the Post reported. When a teammate would take the ball out of bounds, Bradley would pretend that he was the one who should take out the ball. As he walked toward the sideline for the exchange, the teammate would toss the ball to Bradley, who would then turn on the unsuspecting opponents. "They'd back off him, and he'd get two free points," a Bradley teammate told the newspaper. "One team we pulled that on twice." 6) In 2003, a man who worked at the Metrodome in Minneapolis told The Associated Press that he had tried to help the Minnesota Twins win by turning on certain ventilation fans in the vast building "during the late innings of close games in an attempt to get baseballs to carry farther." The baseball team professed no knowledge of the matter. 7) Pro tennis star John McEnroe, according to a 2007 ESPN commentary, remembered an indoor match he once played in Memphis, Tenn. His opponent wiped the ball on his sweat-soaked shirt before each serve. "I asked the chair umpire if it was legal, and he said there was no rule," McEnroe said. "I think it added a little skid, an extra slide to the ball." 8) In 2010, a USA Today reporter remembered the 1982 "Snowplow Game" between the New England Patriots and the visiting Miami Dolphins. This was the "pre-Bradychick" Patriots, but there was still controversy when Pats coach Ron Meyer ordered a snowplow on the field to clear a space for his team's placekicker and the Pats won the game 3-0. Miami coach Don Shula later said it was the "most unfair act" ever committed in NFL history. 9) Professional golfer Greg Norman obse |
Ex-Trump Aide Sam Nunberg Now Says He Is Likely To Cooperate With Mueller Subpoena | Updated on March 6 at 11:45 a.m. ET A former campaign aide to Donald Trump appears to have changed his mind and will not fight a subpoena he says he has received in the Russia investigation — after daring special counsel Robert Mueller to arrest him in multiple media appearances. Sam Nunberg called reporters and TV news programs on Monday and said live that he'd gotten a grand jury subpoena as part of Mueller's investigation asking for communications with other people in the Trump orbit — but that he would not comply. "Let him arrest me," Nunberg told The Washington Post. "Mr. Mueller should understand I am not going in." Nunberg then went on multiple MSNBC and CNN shows to publicize his refusal to comply with the Mueller probe. He said he had been summoned to appear before a grand jury on Friday but would not, nor would he produce evidence. What followed was a rambling, at-times incoherent series of exchanges as Nunberg asked for legal advice, opined about whether Trump colluded with Russia, and relitigated an internal Trump campaign power struggle from 2015 — all live, on the air, in real time. "I think that [Trump] may have done something during the election," Nunberg told MSNBC's Katy Tur, adding later, "I don't know that for sure." "I'm not cooperating," Nunberg said. "Arrest me." Nunberg is a lawyer who has been admitted to the New York state bar after graduating from Touro Law Center on Long Island, N.Y. All the same, he asked for legal advice from various cable news show hosts: "What do you think Mueller's going to do to me?" he asked Tur. "Do you think I should cooperate?" Nunberg asked CNN's Jake Tapper. "Why do I have to produce every email? I talk to [former Trump advisers] Steve Bannon and Roger Stone eight times a day." "Sometimes life and special prosecutors are not fair," Tapper quipped. Discussing the request from the Mueller team in an interview with the Associated Press later on Monday, Nunberg said he was "going to end up cooperating with them." In the Whitewater investigation during the Clinton administration, an Arkansas business associate of Bill Clinton's, Susan McDougal, spent 18 months in prison for not complying with a grand jury subpoena. McDougal spoke about Nunberg to the Washington Post on Monday, advising him, "If you don't want to testify, don't go on television and do these teaser interviews." Nunberg also accused former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page of having played a role in the foreign attack on the election. "I believe Carter Page was colluding with the Russians," Nunberg said on CNN. Page was a junior foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign. He traveled to Moscow twice in 2016 and was the subject of surveillance by the U.S. intelligence community. Page stridently denies doing anything wrong. He and Nunberg never overlapped on the Trump campaign. The campaign fired Nunberg in the summer of 2015, when Trump's candidacy was still in its infancy. Business Insider had written about Nunberg's racially charged Facebook posts from years prior, and the nascent political organization jettisoned him. At the time, Nunberg's firing was viewed as part of a broader struggle between Trump aides Corey Lewandowski and Roger Stone. Nunberg decided to relitigate this on Monday. "Corey wanted to push us out. That's the reality. Now Trump loves Corey. I don't know why he does," Nunberg said. By December of that year, Nunberg was saying that Trump's campaign was being led in the wrong direction and predicted that Trump would not win the Republican nomination. By March 2016, Nunberg had endorsed Trump opponent Ted Cruz. The drama continued into the summer of 2016, when Trump sued his former aide for $10 million, alleging Nunberg broke his nondisclosure agreement. After a time, that lawsuit was settled. MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: One of President Trump's former campaign advisers says he won't comply with the Russia investigation. Sam Nunberg worked for the president in the very early stages. He said today he has received a subpoena from Special Counsel Robert Mueller. And he says he is not going to do what it orders him to do. In fact, he said so in a few press and TV appearances today. Here he is on MSNBC. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) SAM NUNBERG: When I get a subpoena like this, the president's right, it's a witch hunt. And I'm not going to cooperate. What do I have to spend 80 hours going over my emails? KELLY: NPR's Tim Mak has been covering this story today. He joins me now. Hey, Tim. TIM MAK, BYLINE: Hey, there. KELLY: First of all, who is Sam Nunberg? I confess I had never heard of him before today. MAK: Well, he's an individual who worked with the Trump organization for four years, then later the Trump campaign in its very infancy. He was fired in the summer of 2015 when it emerged that he had written some racially charged Facebook posts years prior to that. He's been bouncing around as someone who speaks and gives commentary on what the Trump campaign was like and |
Battles Loom For South Africa's Jacob Zuma | Jacob Zuma, South Africa's new president, spent his first full day in office Sunday. Guy Raz takes a look at the uphill battles Zuma will have to take on, including a soaring unemployment rate and his own personal history. |
Lebanese Refugees Finding Safety in Syria | Syria has been blamed in the past for interfering in Lebanese affairs and promoting militant Islamic influence there. Now many people from Lebanon have fled into Syria, looking for safety as Israel and Hezbollah militants battle for control. Syria is struggling to cope with the influx of Lebanese refugees. |
Kathleen Edwards On World Cafe | Canadian singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards is enjoying a huge career boost with her new fourth album, Voyageur. Produced in part by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Voyageur sounds deeply personal and genuine: Edwards sings of failed marriages, life in the spotlight and the delicate happiness that comes with new beginnings. Her acoustic and vocal pairings have brought her comparisons to Gillian Welch, Shelby Lynne and Aimee Mann, but there's something alluring about Edwards that's all her own. With contributions from Norah Jones, Stornoway, Vernon and others, Voyageur sounds dreamy, poetic and quietly sad. In this session, Edwards takes the stage at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia and performs five songs from her new CD. |
Widespread Panic: King of the Jam | While countless bands have tried to claim the throne left vacant by The Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic has made a strong case for itself. Its rootsy Southern jam-rock, informed by jazz and blues idioms, lends it credibility, but the music would be nothing without the musicianship and virtuosity that holds it together. Add to the mix a strong ear for melody within an improvisational setting, and the result is consistently powerful. Formed in 1982, while its founding members were attending college in Georgia, Widespread Panic released its first full-length album, Space Wrangler, in 1988. The disc's promise, matched with a relentless touring schedule, helped to land the band a deal with a major label for its self-titled 1991 release. Subsequent records and tours helped to expand its fan base; "Airplane" and "Can't Get High," from 1994's Ain't Life Grand, even scored Widespread Panic its first hits. On their newest release, Earth to America, the group members go even further toward tightening and focusing the most engaging aspects of their sound while jettisoning excess musical baggage. Though it retains Widespread Panic's improvisational sensibility, the album finds the band distilling its grooves to their essence, especially on the dense, 11-minute opener, "Second Skin." |
Kishi Bashi: Unique Performances In Time | Consider this name: Kishi Bashi. It has a pleasant, repetitive character with a nice — if unusual — little loop. It's an apt stage name for a musician who's creating something haunting, beautiful and maybe a little off-kilter through the technology of looping. Kishi Bashi is also known as K. Ishibashi, a Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist who has toured and played with artists such as Of Montreal and Regina Spektor. When he's on his own, the sound he makes comes from his voice, his violin and his looping machine. "If I have a lot of idle time, I'll tinker with the violin a bit," Ishibashi says. "Usually, I'll just hear something and the words come later. For some reason, my mind works where I don't hear words; it's just sound, so I'll pick a word and then I'll create a story based on that word." The first full-length Kishi Bashi album is called 151a — not exactly Thriller as far as titles go. But as Ishibashi explains, the name has hidden significance: It's a riff on the Japanese expression "ichi-go ichi-e," which roughly means "one time, one place." "It's a play on words that translates as a performance aesthetic of having a unique performance in time, with imperfections, and enjoying it while you can," Ishibashi says. "The saying reminds me to embrace my mistakes and move forward." |
iPad's Distant Ancestor -- 1976 Apple One -- For Sale | Christie's Auction House is planning to sell an Apple One computer, an ancestor of all those Macintosh computers around today. Many years ago, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built the computer in Jobs' family garage. It sold in 1976 for $666.66. Now this relic may sell in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. |
WPA Recordings Captured Life History Of 10,000 Everyday People | NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to StoryCorps founder Dave Isay about the audio recordings made by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) during the Great Depression. |
Zimbabwe's Mugabe Curbs Political Activity | Zimbabwe sees political unrest, as President Robert Mugabe attempts to postpone the country's presidential election. Meanwhile, thousands of protesters take to the streets after Mugabe refuses to let an opposition party host a public rally. Charlayne Hunter-Gault talks with Farai Chideya. |
Obama Campaign: Barack Stinks at Debating | The Obama campaign is circulating a remarkably un-subtle expectations-setting memo. The note quotes myriad news sources praising John McCain's debating chops and foreign policy expertise, along with some of their own special brand of analysis: The centerpiece of John McCain's campaign has been his more than a quarter century of experience in Washington learning about and debating foreign policy. If he slips up, makes a mistake, or fails to deliver a game-changing performance, it will be a serious blow to his campaign. Given his unsteady performance this week, he desperately needs to win this debate in a big way in order to change the topic and get back to his home turf. Along with raising the bar for McCain, the memo also lowers it for Obama -- quoting, among other things, an AP article describing Obama's debate style as "lifeless, aloof, and windy." (The whole Obama memo is after the jump.) For a perspective on this that's not agenda-driven, check out Don Gonyea's piece from today's Morning Edition comparing the candidates' styles in their primary debate performances. -- Evie Stone Read More >> TO: Interested Parties FR: The Obama CampaignRE: Home-field advantage: John McCainDA: September 26, 2008 Already declaring victory before the debate has even started, in ads running on the Wall Street Journal website, John McCain meets Barack Obama tonight to debate foreign policy -- McCain's professed area of expertise. The centerpiece of John McCain's campaign has been his more than a quarter century of experience in Washington learning about and debating foreign policy. If he slips up, makes a mistake, or fails to deliver a game-changing performance, it will be a serious blow to his campaign. Given his unsteady performance this week, he desperately needs to win this debate in a big way in order to change the topic and get back to his home turf. For eight years, McCain has marched in lockstep with every single major Bush decision, while Barack Obama opposed the war in Iraq from the beginning and has called for a focus on Afghanistan and al Qaeda. Americans want to know whether John McCain will stop spending $10 billion in Iraq while the Iraqi government sits on a $79surplus and our economy is in turmoil. Will he continue a policy that has taken our eye off al Qaeda and Afghanistan, and let Iran make progress in building a nuclear weapon? Will he continue the cowboy diplomacy and empty bluster that has shredded our alliances and set back our standing in the world? The fact is, John McCain will continue more of these same failed foreign policies. Barack Obama will lead us in a new direction. On the economy, McCain's words and actions over the course of the past week have illuminated his lack of expertise. He admitted he does not understand the economy -- his erratic, out-of-touch behavior this week, his failure to do anything of substance to move the agreement forward on the bailout, and his commitment to continuing Bush economic policies, demonstrate it. But there are some questions we might see answered tonight after McCain's misadventure to Washington and the phony 'suspension' of his campaign. For example, will McCain finally say where he stands on the unworkable and counterproductive House Republican plan? Will he be willing to buck his own party? According to the pundits, McCain's debating skills are unparalleled, as you can see below, and the expectations for him tonight are sky-high. MCCAIN DEBATE PERFORMANCE New York Times: A Review Of Debates Show That McCain Is Most Comfortable And Authentic When The Subject Is Foreign Policy. McCain "heads into the first debate on Friday with a track record as a scrappy combatant and the instincts of a fighter pilot, prepared to take out his opponent and willing to take risks to do so. ... A review of several of Mr. McCain's debates shows that he is most comfortable and authentic when the subject is foreign policy. And in a stroke of good fortune, foreign policy is the topic for Friday, the first of three 90-minute debates with Senator Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee." [New York Times, 9/23/08] New York Times: McCain Is Likely To Steer The Conversation To His Captivity In Vietnam Which He Showcased Triumphantly Last October In The Debate In A Discourse About Hillary Clinton's Earmark For The Woodstock Concert Museum Where He Mentioned That He "Was Tied Up At The Time" Of The Concert. "McCain is likely to steer the conversation, as he has in prior debates, to his captivity in Vietnam. It was the bedrock experience of his life and is the organizing principle of his political identity. ... He showcased it most triumphantly last October in a debate in Orlando, Florida. The moderator noted that while McCain had strongly supported the troop surge in Iraq, Hillary Rodham Clinton, then seen as the likely Democratic nominee, wanted to pull the troops out. McCain was asked whether the surge was a winning issue for Republicans in 2008. With a quick nod to |
It's a Public Radio Blogtroversy! | But not on this blog, not on my watch. Over at Boing Boing, some irritable (and cheap) This American Life fans have been grousing over paying for podcasts. The debate encapsulates many of the problems of distributing stuff on the Internet, whether it be radio, music or video. Former TAL intern Chris Ladd says not to blame public radio pinup Ira Glass. |
The Bach Collegium Of Munich, | The Bach Collegium of Munich, in concert at the 1994 Prades (PRAHD) Music Festival in France, performs the Concerto in D Minor for Oboe, Violin and Orchestra by Johann Sebastian Bach. (Radio France/EBU) |
Some College Coaches Took Bribes To Fake Students' Athletic Records | Some college coaches took cash bribes to fabricate students’ athletic credentials as part of what prosecutors are calling the largest college admissions scam ever uncovered. Host Lisa Mullins speaks with Here & Now sports analyst Mike Pesca (@pescami), host of the daily podcast “The Gist” and editor of the book “Upon Further Review: The Greatest What-Ifs in Sports History,” about the scandal. This article was originally published on WBUR.org. |
U.S., Mexican Officials Meet On Border Security | Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Attorney General Eric Holder are in Mexico strategizing with officials there on how to fight the arms trade fueling Mexico's bloody drug war. Napolitano recently announced that her department will shift resources to the U.S.-Mexico border in response to the increasing narco violence. |
Portugal Explores The Dark Side Of Its Colonial Past | In the capital Lisbon, 2 public projects represent different views of the country's colonial past. One is a memorial to victims of slavery and the other is a museum celebrating Portuguese explorers. |
Bonus Interview: The Future of Books | Guest Kevin Kelly. Kevin Kelly of Wired Magazine tells us about the digital future of the old-fashioned book, and the copyright issues that complicate it. |
Obama, Staff No Improper Dealings With Ill. Gov. | President-elect Barack Obama and two of his advisers were interviewed by federal agents investigating corruption in the Illinois Governor's Office. Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich is accused of trying to cash in on his power to appoint Obama's successor in the U.S. Senate. An internal review of the Obama transition team finds nothing improper about contacts with Blagojevich. |
Greece Cracks Down on Terrorism as Olympics Near | Greek government officials, pointing to the recent arrest of 15 terrorism suspects, say the nation is serious about security for next summer's Olympic Games in Athens. Elaborate preparations are being made to keep athletes and spectators safe. NPR's Tom Goldman reports. |
Medical Marijuana Use Sprouting In Israel | Israel has become a world leader in the use of medical marijuana. More than 10,000 patients have received government licenses to consume the drug to treat ailments such as cancer and chronic pain. But while the unorthodox treatment has gained acceptance in Israel, it still has its critics. Susan Malkah breathes in the cloud of smoke from a plastic inhaler especially formulated for medical marijuana use. She has a number of serious ailments and is confined to a wheelchair. "It's not like we're kids and we're getting high and going out and partying. You take it, you're by yourself usually, you just do it because you want to be in a better place. You don't want to sit and stew in the pain," says Malkah, who has been using cannabis for about two years. "It's natural, it helps, you don't have to fill your body full of chemicals. It's terrific." More importantly, its use for medical purposes is legal in Israel. Malkah and other registered patients are being prescribed cannabis at the premier medical facility in a country known for its advanced medical care. That's because many of the head doctors at Jerusalem's Hadassah Medical Center are touting its use. Dr. Reuven Or, director of the hospital's bone marrow transplantation department, says Israel was a pioneer in medical marijuana research and quickly saw and began to apply the benefits. Cannabis not only allows patients to regain their appetite, fight nausea and relax, but it's also proven to be an anti-inflammatory. According to Or, medical marijuana use first began in the bone marrow transplant cancer ward. "We started to use it as a routine treatment as part of all the other medications that we give. Slowly we enlarged the use to other cancer patients. We opened here a center that can help patients who are not hospitalized, from outpatients," Or says. Eventually the Ministry of Health got on board, he says. Now, not only are cancer patients entitled to use medical marijuana, but people suffering from an entire list of other ailments including some psychological problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder are able to take advantage of its benefits. One of the reasons it has been so widely accepted in Israel, Or says, is that cannabis use is mentioned in the Torah so the religious establishment doesn't object. His support of medical marijuana is purely scientific, however. "We see many beneficial effects from the medical cannabis and therefore we are very open to use it," Or says. In Israel, the Ministry of Health approves people for medical marijuana use with a recommendation from a doctor. After they get the license, the patient can either have it administered in a center, like the one at Hadassah Medical Center, or the drug can be given at home through one of about a dozen registered companies. And its use has swelled in recent years. There were only a few hundred users in 2005, now there are more than 10,000 licensees. But not everyone is happy about that. "People are waiting to see me now for six months," says Dr. Elyad Davidson, director of the pain relief unit in Haddassah. "I'm dealing so much with people who are waiting for the cannabis or on the cannabis list that it's not letting me treat the general population. So it's absurd in some ways." Davidson says most patients who receive licenses are using cannabis to manage chronic pain. But he warns medical marijuana is not a miracle cure. "We need more research and more knowledge [of] when to use cannabis for medical disorders and when not to use. We need to know that cannabis does have its problems, the public needs to know," he says. Davidson says because it's a so-called "natural" drug that is grown and not fabricated in a lab, it's hard to control the quality of what a patient is getting and it's hard to know, as a doctor, how much a patient should be using. He says there needs to be more oversight and regulation. "I would like to see cannabis as like any of my other medications. It's a new class of medicine, for me that's good, I'm happy about that, but it needs to be dealt in all the aspects like any other medicine," he says. But even medical warnings haven't stopped people from trying something that might alleviate the effects of their illness. Back at the medical marijuana clinic, cancer patient Natalie Badwig is trying to incorporate medical marijuana into her life. "Because of my weight loss, which has been quite drastic," Badwig says. "So the doctor suggested that I, you know, try cannabis and so I did." She's hoping it will help her where nothing else has. |
Risks And Benefits Of The U.S. Speaking Out About Iran | President Trump has tweeted his support for protesters in Iran. But what could the U.S. realistically do to help? NPR's Robert Siegel talks with Gary Sick of Columbia University about U.S. policy options on Iran. |
Negotiations for Darfur Peace Extended in Nigeria | Sudan's government and rebel groups are extending peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria. Rebels have rejected draft peace agreements concerning Sudan's Darfur region, but agreed to continue negotiating with the government under pressure from the United States. |
From The Chamber Music Northwest | From the Chamber Music Northwest festival in Portland, Oregon, a recital performance by cellist Colin Carr and pianist Anne-Marie McDermott: They play the Cello Sonata in E minor, Op. 38, by Johannes Brahms. (Fred Armentrout Recordings) |
Double Take 'Toons: Tax Flattery | Republican candidates Herman Cain (9%), Rick Perry (20%) and Newt Gingrich (15%) are all enamored of a flat federal tax. Steve Greenberg lets some air out of their proposals, while Rick McKee isn't willing to hum along with President Obama's alternative. |
Retail Sales Grow Unexpectedly | Consumers spent more money in November, according to the Commerce Department. The agency says retail sales rose 1.3%. Shoppers apparently weren't intimidated by dismal economic news, including a 10% unemployment rate. It's similar to what consumers did in October, when retail sales rose 1.4%. Still, it's good news for an economy still struggling with what some are starting to call The Great Recession. |
Woes Mount For Boeing's Much-Awaited Dreamliner | Boeing's fleet of 787 test planes remains grounded. An onboard fire during a test flight a month ago revealed a serious problem in the new jet's electrical system and the company is still trying to come up with the precise fix. The composite-built, twin-aisle, long-range jet should have gone into passenger service well over two years ago. But not a single plane has been delivered. The plane Boeing calls the Dreamliner is still being tested. Flight tests are supposed to validate systems and reveal any problems, but a flight on a Tuesday afternoon in November was far from ordinary. A piece of debris inside an electrical control panel caused a short and then a fire. What happened next has been described as a cascading series of failures. The fire self-extinguished within 30 seconds, but the plane lost primary electrical power, Boeing said. The system meant to distribute power to an array of devices -- from cockpit displays to microwave ovens -- went haywire. While the pilots never lost control of the plane and it landed safely, the fire "exposed a fundamental weakness in the systems architecture of this airplane," says Jon Ostrower, a well-connected and closely followed aviation writer. It's just the latest in a long series of problems for the 787, says industry analyst Richard Aboulafia of the Teal Group. "There are three things that make this aircraft unique: One, composite materials -- they found all kinds of problems working with composite materials; two, global supply and design chain, and of course they have had all sorts of problems; and the third is more electric aircraft and, well, turns out they've discovered issues with that part of the aircraft's pioneering design as well." Boeing now plans to rework the software for the power distribution system, but the company isn't offering details or even an estimate of how long it will take. Ostrower and others say the fix could take four to six months. "When you start unraveling software in such an integrated system where one part of the airplane depends on another part of the airplane which depends on another part of the airplane, you get a bit of a domino effect in terms of not being able to just change one thing in isolation," Ostrower says. Stan Sorcher of SPEEA, the Engineers and Technical workers union, adds that extensive outsourcing of the 787 will make it harder for Boeing to implement changes on this jet than it would have been on the company's earlier airplane programs. "The problem-solving culture is much weaker, it's not so strong; there aren't teams," he says. "The suppliers own the designs and when it comes time to develop a solution and implement it, Boeing simply doesn't have the same authority to say, 'This is how we are going to proceed,'" Sorcher says. Suppliers could balk and demand additional payments from Boeing. Meanwhile, airlines that ordered the new jet are growing increasingly restless. On Monday a top official for Air India said the airline will seek $840 million in compensation from Boeing, and recent reports say another carrier, China Eastern, intends to cancel all its 787 orders. Still, about 850 orders for the new model remain on Boeing's books. It's a huge number and the company says it continues to believe the 787 is a great airplane that will deliver outstanding value. STEVE INSKEEP, host: Boeing's long-delayed new jet - the 787 - suffered another big setback last month when a fire during a test flight revealed a serious problem with the electrical system. The test planes remain grounded, and the company's production schedule is sliding yet again. As NPR's Wendy Kaufman reports, the company is still trying to come up with the precise fix. WENDY KAUFMAN: If everything had gone as planned on the 787 program, lots of the new jets would be flying passengers around the world. But not a single airplane has been delivered. More than two and a half years behind schedule, the plane Boeing calls the Dreamliner is still being tested. Flight tests are supposed to validate systems and reveal problems, but a flight on a Tuesday afternoon in November was far from ordinary. Mr. JON OSTROWER: The first indication the pilot had that anything was actually going wrong on the airplane was a fire-indication warning, which popped up right in front of him. KAUFMAN: Jon Ostrower, a well-connected and closely followed aviation writer, explains the jet was on final approach when stray debris inside an electrical panel caused a short and then a fire. Mr. OSTROWER: What then happened was described as a cascading series of failures. KAUFMAN: The fire self-extinguished within 30 seconds. But according to Boeing, the plane lost primary electrical power. The system to distribute power - to everything from cockpit displays to microwave ovens - went haywire. While the pilots never lost control of the plane and it landed safely, Ostrower says... Mr. OSTROWER: This fire exposed a fundamental weakness in the systems architecture of this airplane. KAUFM |
British Columbia Land Claims | Carolyn Jack reports on land claims made by native Canadians. At issue is whether "native oral history" can be used to buttress such claims: the Canadian Supreme Court says "yes"...opponents are challenging the ruling. |
Spandex? Some Cyclists Prefer Tweed | NPR's Shereen Meraji and Heather Murphy were there Sunday when dozens of pretty hip cyclists in Washington eschewed their Spandex in favor of good old fashioned tweed. As Shereen is reporting on All Things Considered later today, the "tweed ride" is a trend that's catching on in Europe and the U.S. The idea: Sometimes it's cooler (fashion-wise) to dress up like a dandy or a quaintrelle than to be outfitted in more modern gear. Shereen says "it's part fashion show, part celebration of the bicycle." Heather put together this photo gallery for us (NPR's The Picture Show, by the way, has many more such fine photo displays): A quick spin (sorry!) around the Web turns up stories about other tweed rides in Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Philadelphia , London, San Francisco and Chicago. Good show! Update at 5:40 p.m. ET: "Tweed ride" lovers have their own blogs -- including Dandies and Quaintrelles. To find an NPR station near you that broadcasts ATC, click here. |
Amir ElSaffar Navigates Uncharted Blue Notes On 'Alchemy' | Alchemy is a step forward in defining and refining the trumpeter's mix of jazz and Iraqi rhythms. |
Boston Marathon Bombers Described As Chechens | Steve Inskeep talks to NPR's Corey Flintoff in Moscow for reaction to news that Boston Marathon bombing suspects are from Chechnya. One suspect has been killed and the other is on the run. Authorities have encouraged Boston-area residents to shelter in place. |
Star Wars Ticket Lines | NPR's Mandalit Del Barco reports that teens are lining up outside theaters in Los Angeles to buy tickets to the new Star Wars movie -- even though the box offices won't start selling them for more than a month! |
Pentagon Touts TV Feed as 'Unfiltered Resource' on Iraq | The Pentagon is making a television feed of briefings from the Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority directly available to media and government agencies -- programming it calls "an unfiltered resource" for providing "the full news story" to news outlets. So far, however, only C-Span has agreed to pay for the coverage. NPR's Lynn Neary reports. |
Midnight Monday Marks the Medicare Deadline | Monday at midnight is the deadline for enrolling in the Medicare drug benefit. Those who miss the deadline may be facing higher premiums for life. Debbie Elliott talks with NPR's Julie Rovner about who should, and who shouldn't, hurry to meet the deadline. |
Ex-Libyan Ambassador Slides Over To Rebel Side | Steve Inskeep talks to former Libyan ambassador Ali Aujali, who quit his official post with the government to become the U.S. representative of Libya's Transitional National Council. He is baffled and angered by the lack of progress toward convincing Washington to hand over the Gadhafi regime's frozen assets to Libyan rebels. |
Government Throws Citigroup $20B Lifeline | The government will step in to shore up Citigroup's troubled assets — at a price tag totaling up to $326 billion. Alex Cohen talks to Wall Street Journal reporter David Enrich about the details of the plan and how the markets are reacting. ALEX COHEN, host: Last night, the federal government announced plans for a new safety net for banking giant Citigroup. The Treasury Department will inject $20 billion of new capital into Citigroup, this in addition to the $25 billion they've already received. Speaking to reporters this morning, President Bush said the move is a key step towards financial recovery. (Soundbite of speech, November 24, 2008) President GEORGE W. BUSH: We have made these kind of decisions in the past, we made one last night, and if need be, we're going to make these kind of decisions to safeguard our financial system in the future. COHEN: We're joined now by David Enrich. He covers Citigroup for the Wall Street Journal. Welcome back to the program, David, and could you explain for us the basic details of this agreement? Mr. DAVID ENRICH (Journalist, Wall Street Journal): Well, there are two aspects; one, as you mentioned, Citigroup is getting another injection of about $20 billion in capital from the federal government. The more important aspect of it, though, is that the government is essentially stepping in as an insurer for Citigroup and is going to take - assume the risk of about $300 billion in risky loans and securities that Citigroup has on its books. It shows a real uncertainty for the company's financial health. COHEN: It's a huge amount that the government's agreed to potentially take on. What did Citigroup have to agree to in order to secure this deal? Mr. ENRICH: Well, Citigroup had to agree with a number of things, and they're giving the government an additional equity stake in the company. They've basically eliminated their dividend for the next few years, and there are also some provisions in there that restrict what their top executives can make from a compensation standpoint. And it's a pretty good deal for Citigroup. There's a little bit of surprise in the market about how the government didn't demand more onerous terms. COHEN: And this agreement comes on top of the hundreds of billions of dollars that they've already promised to bail out other companies. Where is the government going to get all of this money? Mr. ENRICH: Honestly, the government hasn't been very clear on exactly where all this money is coming from. I think the presumption is that at least some of that money, at least the $20 billion that's being injected straight into the company, is coming from the broader $700 billion bailout, which is known as TARP. It's not entirely clear yet where the financing for the rest of this is going to come from, or even how this is going to actually be structured. And I think - there have been quite a few bailouts of financial institutions this year. All of them have come in a fairly frenzied manner, over a weekend; they're being put together pretty much at the last minute. And I think there is, from people I'm talking to, kind of groans of disbelief that this stuff is getting dealt with in such a rapid, reactive manner as opposed to have a forward-looking approach that really tries to address problems before they pose a threat to the stability of the financial system. COHEN: And so far, how have the markets been reacting to the news of this deal? Mr. ENRICH: The markets are reacting pretty well, and the Dow is up about 300 points. Citigroup stock is up 60 or 70 percent. It's still well underneath $10, and it's really remarkable just given the fact that in 2007, the stock was up above $50. So, it's still - Citigroup is trading for a fraction of the value where it was more than a year ago. And investors, clearly, still are very uncertain about the fortunes of Citigroup and of the broader banking sector. COHEN: David Enrich has been covering the perils of banking giant Citigroup for the Wall Street Journal. Thank you, David. Mr. ENRICH: My pleasure. (Soundbite of music) COHEN: Stay with us on Day to Day from NPR News. |
The New Republic: Debt Proposal Must Be Engaged | Jonathan Chait is a senior editor at The New Republic and the author of The Big Con: Crackpot Economics and the Fleecing of America. How should liberals respond to the debt commission? The correct answer, I think, is to see it as an opportunity for a policy success or a political win. The wrong answer is to reject it out of hand. One category of out-of-hand rejection is insistence that we don't need to do anything about the long-term deficit. The "real" problem, according to this line of reasoning, is the economy, not the deficit. Here's Dean Baker writing in TNR: "Given the state of the economy, the co-chairs' report reads like a document from Mars. Just to remind those of us who earn their living on planet earth (outside of Wall Street), the country is suffering from 9.6 percent unemployment. More than 25 million people are unemployed, underemployed, or have given up looking for work altogether. Tens of millions of people are underwater in their mortgage and millions face the prospect of losing their home to foreclosure. We did not get here because of government deficits, contrary to what Mr. Bowles seemed to suggest at the co-chairs' press conference today. We got here because of the bursting of an $8 trillion housing bubble. This bubble was fueled by the reckless and possibly unlawful practices of the Wall Street banks, like Morgan Stanley, the bank on whose board Mr. Bowles sits." I don't follow the logic here at all. We have a short-term economic crisis that requires higher deficit spending to boost demand. And we have a long-term deficit crisis that requires, well, lower deficit spending. I wish there was legislation to address both problems. Indeed, I think the structural deficit ranks well below both the economic crisis and climate change. But that isn't a reason to ignore it. A more common objection is that we do need to address the long-term deficit, but not this way. Kevin Drum complains that the commission's plan ignores rising health care costs, the main driver of higher deficits: "Any serious long-term deficit plan will spend about one percent of its time on the discretionary budget, one percent on Social Security, and 98 percent on healthcare. Any proposal that doesn't maintain approximately that ratio shouldn't be considered serious. The Simpson-Bowles plan, conversely, goes into loving detail about cuts to the discretionary budget and Social Security but turns suddenly vague and cramped when it gets to Medicare. That's not serious." Well, that's true as far as it goes. But we did just pass a major health care reform law that is going to go pretty far in holding down the growth of health care costs. But the Affordable Care Act is not going to solve the deficit by itself. You also need some other budget changes. The commission plan builds upon the cost savings of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, but focuses its energies elsewhere. First we did the health care piece, shoving as much cost saving through the system as possible. Now we can turn mainly to the non-health care piece. Another category of opposition, put forward by a broad swath of liberals, simply criticizes specific provisions in the plan as if invoking unattractive elements is sufficient refutation. Higher retirement age, bad! Slashing the federal workforce, bad! (You can see a lot of these lines here.) I agree! We could design a budget that reaches an attainable deficit and does a far better job of reflecting liberal priorities. But that option is not on the table. The premise here is that reducing the long-term deficit is very hard. All the options are unpopular. If you try to do it while imposing your party's ideal vision of federal priorities, the other party will demagogue you to death and you'll fail. So you need to find some way to reduce the deficit that falls short of your ideal while constituting an improvement over a status quo of letting the deficit run unchecked. And the deficit commission's blueprint does have aspects liberals can get behind. It ends all manner of regressive tax subsidies, including the tax preference for capital gains and dividends. That's a huge policy triumph. It protects retirement benefits for low-income workers. It slashes agriculture subsidies. This may not be the best way to reduce the deficit, but it's far from the worst. Now, this doesn't mean it's imperative that we address the long-term deficit right away. As Matthew Yglesias notes, we might expect that the fiscal adjustment will take place at the moment when deficits cause actual economic consequences. Why not wait until then? An added benefit of waiting is that, while the liberal way to reduce the deficit is unpopular, it's clearly less unpopular than the conservative way to reduce the deficit. People hate tax hikes, except on the rich, but they hate cuts in social programs even more. In theory, liberals could just wait it out until the deficit causes an actual economic crisis, then wait for corporate America to pressure |
Cuban Dissident Couple Survive Strains of Surveillance | Imagine all the strains of a long marriage while being under surveillance 24 hours a day, every day of every month of every year... Lourdes Garcia-Navarro profiles Oscar Chepe and Miriam Leiva, prominent Cuban dissidents who have been married for three decades despite their defiant stance against Fidel Castro's government. |
Israel Agrees to Help Coordinate Palestinian Vote | The Israeli government announces it will hold talks with Palestinian officials to coordinate presidential elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem and Jericho Monday. NPR's Linda Gradstein reports. |
<I>When Brendan Met Trudy</I> | NPR critic Bob Mondello reviews the latest film by novelist and screenwriter Roddy Doyle, the romantic comedy <EM>When Brendan Met Trudy</EM>. |
Women's Beach Volleyball Final Will Be All-American Affair | The United States will have at least two shiny new medals no matter what happens tomorrow at the women's beach volleyball final. After defeating China (2-0) and Brazil (2-1), today, the two American teams advanced to the finals, setting up an all-American match. It means the U.S. will receive a gold and silver. ABC News reports: "In a comeback thriller, Americans April Ross and Jennifer Kessy upset 2011 world champions Brazil after losing nine straight games to the pair, Larissa Franca and Juliana Silva. "The Brazilian team was a gold-medal favorite in the 2008 Beijing Games, but just weeks before they were headed to China, an injury sidelined Silva, forcing Franca to play with a partner with whom she had not practiced with. ... "The other American team, Kerri Walsh and Misty May-Treanor, today inched closer to their third-straight women's beach volleyball gold medal with a victory over China in the semifinal." Reuters spoke to Walsh, who left no doubt that they will play hard against their compatriots. "We have a goal that we really want to accomplish and we're planning on accomplishing it," Walsh told Reuters. |
Economic Debate Takes Form in Campaign | As Democrats narrow the field of presidential candidates, the debate over the economic policies of the Bush White House begin to take shape. NPR's Michele Kelemen gets a preview of some of the points of contention from Robert Reischauer, president of the Urban Institute and former director of the Congressional Budget Office, and Stephen Moore, president of the Club for Growth and a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. |
Behind The Shortage Of Special Ed Teachers: Long Hours, Crushing Paperwork | There is a letter that school districts really don't like sending home to parents of special education students. Each state has a different version, but they all begin with something like this: "Dear Parent, as of the date of this letter your child's teacher is not considered 'highly qualified.' " And then: "This doesn't mean your child's teacher is not capable or effective. It means they haven't met the state standards for teaching in their subject." In any other subject, that's an annoying problem that suggests students may not be well-served. In special education, it means the school district is breaking the law. The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or IDEA, requires that every student have what's known as an IEP — Individualized Education Program. And almost always, those IEPs spell out that students — either some of the time or all of the time — must be taught by a teacher fully certified in special education. Yet around the country, that's exactly the category of teacher that's most in demand, as many states and districts are reporting severe shortages. 'Under A Microscope' "This crisis has been coming for a long time," says David Pennington, superintendent of Ponca City public schools in Oklahoma. Many teachers there are nearing retirement and he's not sure he can replace them. "Forget about replacing them with someone of the same quality," he says. "I'm just worried about replacing them. Period." Pennington's rural district of 5,300 students northwest of Tulsa has been hit hard by the shortage. He says it's extremely difficult to persuade newer special education teachers to stay beyond two or three years. "The job is not what they thought it was going to be," Pennington explains. "They feel like they're under a microscope all the time." On top of the normal demands of teaching, special education teachers face additional pressures: feelings of isolation, fear of lawsuits, and students who demand extra attention. Many are the only special-needs teacher in their grade or their school, or sometimes in the entire district. And then, there's the seemingly endless paperwork. "It is not uncommon," Pennington says, "for a special ed teacher to tell me, 'I did not get a degree in special ed to do paperwork. I got a degree to help kids.' " The IDEA and the IEP require hours and hours of filling out forms and writing reports documenting each student's progress. "And when do teachers do that paperwork? Sometime during the hours of 3 p.m. to 10 p.m.," says Deborah Ziegler of the Council for Exceptional Children, a special education research and advocacy group. "It's like having two full-time jobs." Solutions So what's the answer? Aggressive recruitment, says Trevor Greene. He's the human resources director of Highline Public Schools, a 19,000-student district south of Seattle. "Right now it's a buyers' market," he says. "Districts can't afford to wait around for the right candidate." And he's speaking from experience. When Greene started as HR director last July, he had 30 vacancies in special education to fill before school began in September. "It was pretty ominous at the beginning," he recalls. Greene reached out on every teacher-recruitment platform he could find. He even tracked applicants down on LinkedIn. Eventually, all 30 slots were filled. Greene was even able to find certified special education teachers for all of the positions, which has become a rare occurrence. Many districts are able to fill vacancies only by hiring teachers trained in general education who are willing to make the switch to a special education setting. Betty Olson, the special education administrator for the Boise public schools in Idaho, says she was forced to hire a few general education teachers this year. As the school year approached she was prepared to send some of her district specialists, former teachers who now train new teachers, back into the classroom to fill vacancies. It didn't come to that. But she now has the challenge of helping a slew of new teachers adjust to the world of special education. Olson is getting some help from Boise State University, which has created a new program designed to prepare teachers with little or no experience in special education. Candidates are put on a fast track to complete a master's degree, and they receive one-on-one support as they begin their new career. Similar programs have popped up around the country. "I'm hopeful things will get better," Olson says. Other administrators, like Pennington from Oklahoma, are less optimistic. He believes we're in for a rude awakening. He expects more and more teachers to look at all that responsibility, all that pressure, and conclude that it's not worth it. And so, he wonders, "What happens when it gets so bad that you literally cannot find anyone to be in charge of a classroom?" |
Arabs React to New of Saddam's Capture | Hear NPR's Liane Hansen and Salameh Nematt, of the <EM>Al Hayat</EM> newspaper. |
Trump Considers Potential Actions He Might Take Against Iran Before His Term Ends | President Trump has been talking tough on Iran throughout his presidency. Will he take any action? NPR confirmed possible moves were discussed at a White House meeting last week. |
Plane Crash Outside Moscow Kills Everyone On Board, Says Russian Official | Updated at 11:40 a.m. ET A Saratov Airlines plane crashed about 25 miles from Moscow where it took off, evidently killing everyone on board, said Russia's Transport Minister. The plane disappeared from radar shortly after takeoff from Domodedovo Airport at 2:21 p.m. local time, en route to the Russian city of Orsk located about 1,000 miles southeast, reports the TASS news agency. There were 65 passengers and six crew members on board, says TASS. A State Department official said none was an American citizen. Mixim Sololov, the transport minister, said, "judging by everything, no one has survived this crash." Investigators are still looking into the cause. It happened while temperatures were around 20 degrees Fahrenheit with scattered snowfall. Fragments of the Antonov AN-148 regional jet were found near the village of Stepanovskoye, a spokesman with Russia's Emergencies Ministry told TASS. Russian state TV channel Rossiya-24 broadcast images of plane parts in a snowy field. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the victims and said all necessary emergency assistance was being made available. President Vladimir Putin also offered his condolences to the loved ones of those killed. He postponed a planned trip to Sochi to closely monitor the investigation, reports The Associated Press. |
GM Recall Distrust Trickles Down To Dealers | The General Motors recall puts its dealerships in an uncomfortable spot, having to placate customers as both parties wait for replacement parts to arrive. Brian Bull of WCPN reports that many are reconsidering whether they'll ever buy a GM car again. |
For Startups Marketing To Seniors, A Novel Idea: Move In With Them | The market for products designed specifically for older adults could reach $30 billion by next year, and startups want in on the action. What they sometimes lack is feedback from the people they hope will use their product. So Brookdale, the country's largest owner of retirement communities, has been inviting a few select entrepreneurs just to move in for a few days, show off their products and hear what the residents have to say. That's what brought Dayle Rodriguez, 28, all the way from England to the dining room of Brookdale South Bay in Torrance, Calif. Rodriguez is the community and marketing manager for a company called Sentab. The startup's product, SentabTV, enables older adults who may not be comfortable with computers to access email, video chat and social media using just their televisions and a remote control. "It's nothing new, it's nothing too complicated and it's intuitive because lots of people have TV remotes," says Rodriguez. But none of that is the topic of conversation in the Brookdale dining room. Instead, Rodriguez solicits residents' advice on what he should get on his cheeseburger and how he should spend the afternoon. Billiards was on the agenda, as well as learning to play mahjong. Rodriguez says it's important that residents here don't feel like he's selling them something. "I've had more feedback in a passive approach" he says. "Playing pool, playing cards, having dinner, having lunch," all work better "than going through a survey of questions. Them getting to know me and to trust me and knowing I'm not selling them something — there's more honest feedback that way." Rodriguez is just the seventh entrepreneur to move into one of Brookdale's 1,100 senior living communities. Other new products in the program have included a kind of full-body blow dryer and specially designed clothing that allows people with disabilities to dress and undress themselves. Brookdale has no financial relationship with these startups. But that's not what motivates the program, says Andrew Smith, Brookdale's director of strategy and innovation. "First and foremost, the residents love it," says Smith. "It also provides Brookdale the opportunity to learn about and experience new technologies quickly and inexpensively and to make sure that we understand what residents want and need." Mary Lou Busch, 93, agreed to try the Sentab system. She tells Rodriguez that it might be good for someone, but not for her. "I have the computer and FaceTime, which I talk with my family on," she explains. She also has an iPad and a smart phone. "So I do pretty much everything I need to do." Rodriguez takes it pretty well. "I'm not going to lie to you, I would've liked a more positive response," he says. But "if people don't need it or want it, it's up to us to change, adapt it or make it more useful." To be fair, if Rodriguez wanted feedback from some more technophobic seniors, he may have ended up in the wrong Brookdale community. This one's located in the heart of Southern California's aerospace corridor. Many residents have backgrounds in engineering, business and academia. But Rodriguez says he's still learning something important by moving into to this Brookdale community: "People are more tech-savvy than we thought." And besides, where else would he learn to play mahjong? |
John McChesney Reports On The Massive Task Facing Corporations | around the globe in trying to re-write their computer software before the year 2000. |
GOP Swallows Bitter Pill After Trump Dominates Super Tuesday | After Wednesday night's contests, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have firmed up their front-runner status in the GOP and Democratic presidential contests. |
These Teachers Are Learning Gun Skills To Protect Students, They Say | Will arming teachers make schools safer? While that debate continues across the country, this week more than a dozen school employees from around Colorado spent three days learning advanced gun skills at a shooting range outside of Denver. "I don't have any children of my own," says Kelly Blake, "so these students are my children." Blake is an agricultural education teacher at Fleming School in Colorado's eastern plains. She says she attended the advanced training, learning shooting accuracy, efficiency and gun safety, because she wants to make sure her students are "protected at all times." The training comes from a group called FASTER, which stands for Faculty/Administrator Safety Training & Emergency Response. According to the group, it formed as a response to the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. Each participant received about a $1,000 scholarship from Coloradans for Civil Liberties, a second amendment rights group, to attend. "People are scared," says Laura Carno, the head of that group. "What I am hearing is that parents are saying to their school boards, 'What are you doing to keep my kids safe?' Up to and including armed staff." And in a state like Colorado, with many rural schools, the argument sometimes boils down to time. "To be realistic, from a police officer perspective, we simply are not going to be there in time," says Graham Dunne, a local police officer who came to lend his hand. And it's true, schools in the state can sometimes be 30 to 45 minutes away from the nearest law enforcement. It's clear that educators here would like to consider themselves first responders — stopping possible shooters and treating victims. An FBI study found that during shootings, school staff sometimes have acted as first responders. In the instances considered, though, shooters were stopped more frequently by unarmed civilians than armed civilians. The training stressed tactics, such as how to round a corner safely to stay protected from a shooter, or how to attend to gunshot wounds. And instructors spent time on this question: Do these educators, who normally work as caretakers, have the right mindset to kill a shooter? What if the shooter is a student? Other teachers worry having guns in the classroom is a bad idea, no matter which way you cut it. "I think all teachers would prefer to be given the tools and resources to help our students, as opposed to being forced to shoot them," says Rachel Barnes of Denver. She teaches kindergarten through second grade, and is a member of a new national gun control group called Educators Demand Action. Barnes worries that arming teachers makes it easier for accidents to happen. What about when students, especially little students, ask for a hug? Each morning her students run up to her and give her a big hug around the waist. "To have these little hands touching that gun," she says, "I just don't see how that would mix well with school." One teacher at the training says she just positions the gun so it doesn't interfere with students' hugs. We aren't using her name after her district asked to protect her privacy. "My wardrobe has changed a little bit. I've found what conceals well, what doesn't, what's comfortable." She's carried a concealed weapon into her classroom for more than two years. She says the question of being able to shoot and kill someone she knows has crossed her mind. She calls it her absolute worst nightmare. "I do understand that. And can I desensitize myself and say, 'Yes I will handle this correctly?' I hope I can never answer that question for you." She says carrying a gun is worth it to protect her 20 students. LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: This week, a group of educators in Colorado spent three days learning advanced gun skills. They say they're training to become armed first responders at their schools, stopping possible shooters and treating victims. But other educators in Colorado and across the nation say guns should not be in the classroom. Colorado Public Radio's Jenny Brundin has this report, which we should say begins with the sound of gunfire at this week's training. JENNY BRUNDIN, BYLINE: That sound - that's a seventh grade teacher in action. And that, a school bus driver. Both shooting guns on a sweltering day at a shooting range an hour north of Denver, working on accuracy and efficiency. UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: Something I want to point out to you. BRUNDIN: Burly men in camouflage, weapons experts, give technique tips to educators as they practice shooting while moving. UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: You're blocking it with your other finger. It's making it harder for you to get your mag out. BRUNDIN: Educators say they're doing the three-day training to keep children safe. KELLY BLAKE: I don't have any children of my own. So these students are my children. BRUNDIN: Kelly Blake is an agricultural education teacher at Fleming School in Colorado's eastern plains. BLAKE: I care about each and every one of them. I want to make sure that |
The Perils — And Unexpected Benefits — Animals Caught In Storms Experience | Massive storms can disrupt travel plans, destroy communities and hamper daily routines. Fortunately, sophisticated weather forecasting systems can oftentimes buy humans time to prepare or evacuate when a dangerous storm is approaching. But what about animals? Steven Rinella, host of the Netflix show “MeatEater,” says certain animals can sense and avoid unfavorable weather conditions. Take fish, for example, he says. Their sensitivity to barometric pressure can help them swim away before a storm hits. During Hurricane Dorian, people in the Outer Banks in North Carolina noticed wild horses moving to higher ground and gathering in clusters before the storm. “One of the things the horses will do is they’ll gather up in groups, maybe to stabilize one another, and they’ll face their rumps into the wind,” he says. Some species “just don’t care” about weather conditions, he says. When Hurricane Irma came 13 miles away from a deer study area in 2017, all 60 deer wearing GPS collars survived without changing their normal routine, Rinella says. “The day that it made landfall, they acted just like they always act,” he says, “and they just went about their business like nothing was going on.” Interview Highlights On blacktip sharks steering clear of Hurricane Gabriel “There were some studies that [researchers] worked on in Florida where they happened to have some sharks that were wearing the shark equivalent of a radio collar. Ahead of Hurricane Gabriel in 2001, they had 14 blacktip sharks that were wearing transmitters and all 14 of them moved out to deep water off the coast of Florida ahead of Hurricane Gabriel.” On whether animals can sense the barometric pressure dropping and know they have to move “That’s the idea that most people have. And it seems like fish especially [are] in tune to it. Fish have a thing called the lateral line where they can really sense pressure and can detect pressure changes that could be movement in the water near them, but other things as well. And some fish seem to become active and like to feed when there is a high-pressure system. [For] other fish, a high-pressure system might send them off. [Barometric pressure is] usually something that we, with our instrumentation, can monitor and notice that we have a change in barometric pressure ahead of a storm. If it’s not that, it’s something that we don’t yet understand about what it could be that they’re picking up on and looking at. “… There are certain species that wind up being great winners from storms. There had always been Burmese pythons in the Everglades, maybe going back to the ‘70s, but that number jumped tremendously after some hurricanes destroyed some captive wildlife facilities and freed Burmese pythons, maybe enough of them to hit a sort of critical mass and allow Burmese pythons to really take hold in the Everglades.” On animals being picked up and moved by waterspouts, such as frogs that don’t usually fly but end up taking flight in a storm “Yeah, that does happen. It doesn’t happen to the degree to which we sort of as a society would like to dream of it happening — if you have ever seen the movie “Magnolia,” which ends with this fantastic storm of bullfrogs. But there are cases. I mean, even in 1877, The New York Times reported on eight alligators, about 12 inches long, being dumped within 200 yards near the Savannah River. So I think, on one hand, you could look and a storm can come and one can feel empathy and pity in the short term for individual animals that could suffer some kind of catastrophe and die in mass numbers. But there’s this little bit of solace that can be found in the idea that these big storms and these events are things that also distribute animals in some way, allowing species to move beyond their geographic range and discover new places and evolve into new, beautiful things down the road. From a global sort of wildlife perspective, it’s a bittersweet occurrence when we have massive weather events.” On climate change’s effect on animals “Global climate change, even if it does result in some distribution of species around, life is not able to evolve quickly enough to be commensurate with the destruction that we would see in cases of the Arctic warming, the oceans acidifying, the oceans warming. Personally, I can’t look to species distribution as being a bright spot in a climate change scenario, but it’s almost taboo to say this, but there will be certain species that win from global climate change. Animals that maybe are restricted in their northern movements because of severe winters and as temperatures change, they’ll become big winners. And some part of us might someday look and celebrate those winners. But it’s hard to find anything that like in a holistic sense seems optimistic or great to look forward to for wildlife in terms of scenarios in which we have more and more severe weather and more changes on our pl |
School Counselors Grapple with Military Recruitment | Mounting casualties in Iraq and new access given the military to high school students under federal law have made some counselors wary. While they they understand that the military can offer opportunity, they also know that service is not as appealing as recruitment materials make it seem. |
Brocade Ex-CEO Convicted of Fraud | A jury in San Francisco has convicted Gregory Reyes, the former chief executive of Brocade Communications Systems, of conspiracy to defraud shareholders. The executive of the San Jose-based high-tech firm could face years in prison and millions of dollars in fines. |
Global Warming Conference | For the past two weeks, negotiators have been meeting in The Hague trying to hammer out rules for reducing greenhouse gases. But as NPR's Sarah Chayes reports, the conferees failed to reach an agreement with delegates promising to try again in six months. |
Around Cincinnati for October 21, 2007 | Unplugged Play, Chamber Music Cincinnati Season Preview, Follies at Cincinnati Music Theatre, John Ruthven Interview, Altar Boyz |
Facing the Challenges of Growing Up Gifted | Unlike most folks people her age (or older), Chelsea Dock has performed on the piano at Madison Square Garden, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Chelsea is only twelve years old; she started performing at the age of six. She, her father, and an expert take us inside the lives of child prodigies. We hear from Chelsea; her father, Warren Dock; and Donna Ford, professor of education at Vanderbilt University, where she studies gifted African-American and minority children. FARAI CHIDEYA: This is News & Notes. I am Farai Chideya. Today, we continue our series on kids with the look at gifted children. Meet 12-year-old Chelsea Dock. She plays the piano with the skill of a professional many time her age and her story goes back to her early childhood. Chelsea began taking piano lessons when she was four and a half years old. And a year later, she was winning piano competitions. Here's Chelsea performing when she was only six years old. (Soundbite of Chelsea Dock playing the piano) CHIDEYA: It's beautiful music, but every gift brings challenges. So how does Chelsea and her family deal with them? In a few minutes will talk about how you can tell if your child is gifted, but right now we're joined by Chelsea Dock and her father, Warren Dock. It's great to have you both on, how are you doing? Mr. WARREN DOCK (Chelsea's Father): Fine, thank you for having us. CHIDEYA: Hey, Chelsea. Ms. CHELSEA DOCK (Child Prodigy): Hi. CHIDEYA: So, I absolutely love your playing. I myself took piano lessons but I was - let's put this way, it's not so successful on my end. I may take it up again but not so much successful right now. So what - when you think about the piano, what does it mean to you? Ms. DOCK: Well, I think of like a bunch of like different instruments. How I could like mimic it. CHIDEYA: Yeah, the piano can kind of be a basis for - I mean, a lot of song writers used the piano because you can create a whole - a scene. And then you can take it, and you can add other instruments to it. But how do you hear? Because from what I understand, when you were younger, you weren't really reading music as much as you were just getting up on the piano and playing? Is that right? Ms. DOCK: Yeah, I kind of picked it all up by ear. CHIDEYA: Why did - how - I mean, can you describe what it means to you to be able to hear something and just play it. I mean, most people can't do that. Ms. DOCK: Well, I would say I was blessed with the gift because like I just said, not a lot of people could do it. So it's like for me to be able to hear stuff and pick it up. Like maybe, I can't play the whole piece but I could pick like the melody, then I could say I definitely have been blessed with a gift from God. CHIDEYA: Warren, when did you first know that your daughter had a talent that was beyond just being a good student or anything that is typical for a kid taking music lessons? Mr. DOCK: I would say when she's about three and a half because my older siblings were taking structured music lessons at the conservatory. And what she did, when she had began to just go over to the piano and mimic some of the pieces that they were playing without having any lessons. But I still waited about six months to a year because, you know, I really didn't understand at the time what I had on my hands. So probably about four years old, I took her to the same teacher that was teaching them, and she took her as a student. And six months later, she was playing in public. CHIDEYA: Let's talk about that playing in public thing because it's one thing to be gifted, it's another thing to have the presence and you know, the composure to be out among a group of people. And some kids are shy, they don't like, you know, performing for others. What made you confident that she could deal with being in a situation where other people were observing her? Ms. DOCK: Well, she made me confident because it was something that she wanted to do. Because before she wasn't even ready to perform in public she would, you know, she saw - I guess she saw her brother and her sisters doing it, and she kept prompting that she wanted to go out there and play. And I was always like, oh, Chelsea, you know, you don't have any pieces to play right now, you know. So I knew she had the confidence to play in public. And after she did her first performance, you know, it solidified it right there that, you know, she had the ability to perform in front of an audience, regardless of the size. CHIDEYA: Regardless of the size, Chelsea, you performed at Madison Square Garden, and so, you're kind of up there with the Rolling Stones and all these other rock stars and Bruce Springsteen, you know, as well as these, you know, some of the biggest names in sports. And you were performing, you know, now it's half a lifetime ago for you. Do you remember that evening and what was it like to you? Ms. DOCK: Yeah, the first time |
KCRW Presents: John Legend | In between sold-out shows in Los Angeles, John Legend joined KCRW for an intimate performance at Apogee Studios in Santa Monica, where he played old favorites, new songs, and even a few covers. The nine-time Grammy-winning singer has been on the road nonstop behind his 2013 album Love In The Future, and was in fine form singing his smash ballad "All Of Me." Set List "All Of Me" Watch John Legend's full Morning Becomes Eclectic session on KCRW's website. |
We Have a ScuttleButton Winner! | When you take a word from each of the buttons from the latest ScuttleButton challenge: MARKEY -- the Democratic congressman from Massachusetts DU -- the former mayor of Baltimore SAD -- well, if it's not a happy face, then it's a sad face ... you get MARKEY DU SAD... or the Marquis de Sade. The correct responder chosen at random is Mike Ernest, of Greenville, N.C.! He wins a genuine Richard Nixon campaign button. My favorite incorrect response came from Paula Rich of Nashville, Tenn. She looked at the congressman from Massachusetts, the "Du Knows Baltimore" button, and the SAD face... and came up with -- ready for this? -- "(Jamaica) Plain (Massachusetts) as the nose on your face." After work today, we're all going to party at Paula's house! |
Trump Responds To Pittsburgh Shooting | We look at how President Trump has responded to the shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue that left at least 11 people dead. |
Weekend Edition on Twitter | Weekend Edition is now on Twitter. If you're not familiar with it, Twitter is an online community that lets people from around the world chat with each other over the Web and through text messaging. The trick is your posts can only be up to 140 characters in length. You can now follow what projects Scott and Liane are working on and talk directly with us. Click here to see us tweet! |
Faith Council Members Take A Step Back From Advising Trump | Pastor A.R. Bernard of the Christian Cultural Center and Rabbi Jonah Pesner of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism discuss their reactions to President Trump's Charlottesville comments. |
Biden To Make Historic Census Director Pick With Latinx Statistician Rob Santos | In a historic move, President Biden is naming Robert Santos, one of the country's leading statisticians and the American Statistical Association's president, as his intended nominee to head the U.S. Census Bureau. If confirmed by the Senate, Santos, who is Latinx, would be the first permanent director of color for the federal government's largest statistical agency, which is in charge of major surveys and the once-a-decade head count used for distributing political representation and funding around the United States. The White House announced Santos as Biden's intended nominee in a statement released on Tuesday. Depending on the timing of a confirmation, Santos could finish the term left open by former Director Steven Dillingham that is ending this year. Dillingham was the Trump-appointed director who quit in January after whistleblowers filed complaints about Dillingham's role in trying to rush out an incomplete data report on noncitizens. Santos could be reappointed after the end of a first term, according to federal law. Santos declined to answer questions about the expected nomination, but in a statement to NPR, he called the opportunity to join "some of the most talented statisticians and social scientists in the world" an "honor." "If confirmed, I will support the Bureau and its staff in its mission to provide quality population and economic data to the nation," Santos said. "The principles of transparency, scientific independence, and integrity will be key in allowing the Census Bureau to thrive and innovate over the coming decade." As the bureau's next director, Santos would become a key insider at an agency he has long observed and critiqued from the outside. Santos, who is also a vice president and chief methodologist at the Urban Institute, co-authored a 2019 report warning that the 2020 census could result in the worst undercount of Black and Latinx people in the U.S. since 1990. Last year, Santos co-chaired the American Statistical Association's task force examining the quality of data collected for the national count, which was disrupted by not only the coronavirus pandemic but also interference by the Trump administration. The bureau now faces multiple court challenges over delaying the release of 2020 census results in order to run more quality checks. In addition to helping to plan for the 2030 count, the new director will likely be tasked with helping to manage a cloud of public skepticism and controversy expected to hang over last year's data long after they are made public. In a tweet from February, Santos acknowledged "another big challenge/risk" facing the bureau in its plans to use a new method to protect the confidentiality of people's information in anonymized census data. The state of Alabama has filed a lawsuit alleging that the method, called differential privacy, would make 2020 census data unusable for the redrawing of voting districts, according to the state's court filings. Born and raised in San Antonio and now based in Austin, Texas, Santos would bring the perspective of a self-described "third generation native Mexican American" to the bureau as it continues to work through how to gather accurate information about the country's residents amid shifting demographics. "When I fill out the census form, I check the Latino-Hispanic-Mexican American box," Santos said in a 2019 interview with North Texas member station KERA. "And when it comes to race, I mark 'other' and insert 'mestizo' because that's how I feel about race and ethnicity." Since the Census Bureau became a permanent federal agency in 1902, its top position has been filled almost exclusively by white men. They followed an earlier series of white men who either were ceremonial directors while serving as the U.S. secretary of state (beginning with Thomas Jefferson for the first U.S. count in 1790) or were superintendents of a census that, until shortly after the Civil War, was required to count an enslaved person as "three fifths" of a free person and that, until 1940, excluded "Indians not taxed" from the numbers used to reallocate congressional seats and Electoral College votes. In 1998, the bureau was temporarily led by an African American acting director when James F. Holmes, a survey statistician turned manager for the bureau's regional offices, filled in for about nine months following the resignation of economist Martha Riche, the second white woman — after Barbara Bryant, a market researcher — to be the bureau's director. |
Looking Back: Reflecting On The Past To Understand The Present | In a way, all of us are time travelers. If we just pause and close our eyes we can wander back to our first kiss...our first breakup...that grandparent we should have visited...the summer that went on forever. This week, we explore two emotions that pull us into the past: regret and nostalgia. How can we make these feelings work for us, and what can we learn from them? By some estimates, regret is the most common negative emotion in our everyday lives. At the Regret Lab at Miami University in Ohio, psychologist Amy Summerville has found that a big part of why we struggle with regret has to do with the idea of rumination. It's a word that comes from bovine digestion: for cows, it's the act of chewing, digesting and chewing again. And in terms of our thoughts, it's the same kind of process. "We're chewing them over without actually getting anything new out of them," she says. "People who have ruminative regret tend to be the people who are experiencing the most negative outcomes." But Summerville says that while we tend to experience regret negatively, we can often recast those old "what if" moments in a more productive way. Her advice: Remember that it may not be all your fault. "You're just one agent in a bigger framework," she says. Psychology professor Clay Routledge studies nostalgia, that gentle tug of longing you feel when you hear a favorite song from your high school days, or even recall moments of hardship and loss. Routledge says that some of the most interesting nostalgic memories he has studied come from older British adults who were children during World War II, when Germany was bombing Great Britain. Though many of them were sent to the countryside and separated from their families, he says these difficult memories "stripped away all the nonsense of life and reminded them how precious it is." He says that taking time to reminisce, even about the hard times, can help you rewrite the story of your life. "There is a big element of nostalgia that isn't about us retreating to the past," he says. "It's about us pulling the past forward to the present, and using it to mobilize us, to energize us, to take on new challenges and opportunities." Resources: "Repetitive Regret, Depression, and Anxiety: Findings from a Nationally Representative Survey," Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology: Vol. 28, No. 6, pp. 671-688. "The Regret Elements Scale: Distinguishing the affective and cognitive components of regret," Judgment and Decision Making, Vol. 11, No. 3, May 2016, pp. 275-286 Why Do We Feel Nostalgia? Clay Routledge's animated lesson on nostalgia for TED. Nostalgia Is a Potent Political Agent — Routledge's article for Undark on why people crave the past when the present is distressing. This week's show was produced by Rhaina Cohen and Laura Kwerel, and edited by Tara Boyle. Hidden Brain is hosted by Shankar Vedantam and includes Parth Shah, Jenny Schmidt, Thomas Lu and Adhiti Bandlamudi. Follow us on Twitter @hiddenbrain, and listen for our stories each week on your local public radio station. |
American Indicators Check-In: The Faces And Stories Behind The Economic Statistics | NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with the American indicators, four people whose stories illustrate what the American economy faces a month after President Biden signed a coronavirus relief bill into law. |
Democratic Presidential Campaigns Adapt To Coronavirus Concerns | The leading Democratic presidential campaigns are working to reach voters at a distance, with virtual rallies and more reliance on outreach by phone and social media. |
For Photographer Of Birds, A Spotlight On Beauty | Theodore Cross has spent the last 40 years watching and photographing birds — and water birds are his favorite. He says the water birds have a "courage and beauty" that outshines others. A collection of his photos and stories are collected in a book called Waterbirds. "It's like a disease, I suppose," he tells NPR's Melissa Block. "Except for my family and friends, there are few things I care more about." That love has taken Cross to four continents, from the Canadian Arctic to the Russian Far East tundra to Texas lagoons. He says he's especially drawn to the birds known for incredible migrations. "It's the courage of these guys that appeals to me tremendously," he says. |
President Trump Congratulates Putin On Re-Election | President Trump congratulated Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday for winning re-election, in a contest marred by ballot-box stuffing and forced voting. Trump's words drew an immediate rebuke from Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Armed Services Committee and a longtime Putin critic. The congratulatory phone call came a day after the White House said no such message was anticipated. Officials noted on Monday that Putin's election to a fourth six-year term as president was not a surprise. The Associated Press pointed to widespread reports of forced voting on Sunday, in an effort to show robust democratic support for Putin. McCain was not impressed by the turnout, tweeting "That Putin had to work so hard to drive voter turnout shows the Russian people know his claim to power is a sham." The Arizona Republican was dismayed by Trump's recognition of the Russian election results. "An American president does not lead the Free World by congratulating dictators on winning sham elections," McCain said in a statement. "By doing so with Vladimir Putin, President Trump insulted every Russian citizen who was denied the right to vote in a free and fair election to determine their country's future, including the countless Russian patriots who have risked so much to protest and resist Putin's regime." Trump and Putin have both expressed a desire for improved U.S.-Russian relations. But Trump has been hampered in pursuing such ties by suspicion that Russia interfered on his behalf in the 2016 presidential election, as well as by the ongoing investigation by Department of Justice special counsel Robert Mueller. A White House spokeswoman said Russia's election interference did not come up during Tuesday's phone call. Neither did the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter in Salisbury, England. The U.S. has joined the U.K., France and Germany in demanding answers about that incident from Moscow. Trump told reporters after the call that he expects to meet with Putin "in the not too distant future," though press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said there are no immediate plans for such a meeting. The president said he wants to discuss Syria, Ukraine and North Korea with the Russian leader, as well as what he described as an "arms race" between their two countries. "We had a very good call and I suspect that we will probably be meeting in the not too distant future to discuss the arms race which is getting out of control," Trump said. Despite his cautionary tone, Trump said he is determined to maintain the United States' military superiority. "We are spending $700 billion this year on our military and a lot of it is that we are going to remain stronger than any other nation in the world by far," he said. "We will never allow anybody to have anything even close to what we have." |
Ride 'Em, Chameleon! 'Rango' A Wild, Wacky Western | Dirt, a ramshackle town in the Mojave Desert, is so dry it might better be called Dust, but it sure proves fertile ground for Rango, an animated western that's effortlessly the most exhilarating flight of computer-drawn fancy since Ratatouille. Rango's not just a kiddie-flick (though it has enough silly slapstick to qualify as a pretty good one). It's a real movie lover's movie, conceived as a Blazing Saddles-like comic commentary on genre that's as back-lot savvy as it is light in the saddle. Populated by dog-eared rabbits, desiccated gophers, skinny mice and all sorts of other critters, the town of Dirt is presided over by a garrulous turtle (voiced by Ned Beatty) and regularly terrorized by predators. Chief among the varmints is Bad Bill (Ray Winstone), a Gila monster with a reptilian gang backing him up, and Rattlesnake Jake (Bill Nighy) who's got what looks like a Gatling gun where his brethren have rattles. But even Jake slithers away when pursued by the hawk that soars regularly overhead and that early in the film swoops after a screaming, seriously out-of-his-element chameleon (Johnny Depp) in a loud Hawaiian shirt. How'd the chameleon get here? Long story. Let's just say he hit a bump in the road while seeking a true identity that he will find, more or less accidentally in this ghost-town-in-the-making. He's a hero, albeit not a conventional one. A lizard with no name, he's a suburban tenderfoot and thespian-in-training who's been raised in a terrarium with only a plastic tree, a wind-up fish and a broken doll as companions. Still, chameleons are nothing if not adaptable, and once he's learned to walk the Western walk, this chameleon will be calling himself Rango, cozying up to a lady lizard named Beans (Isla Fisher), pinning on a sheriff's badge and — armed with more bravado than common sense — taking on bad guys. If ever there's been an actor who knows how to change his stripes, it's pirate/gangster/Mad Hatter/demon barber/dude-with-scissors-for-hands Depp. So casting him as an actual chameleon must've seemed a no-brainer. That it's worked out so well was hardly a given, although with Gore Verbinski in the director's chair, it always had a good shot. Rango is Verbinski's first leap into computer animation (not a long leap from the Pirates of the Caribbean flicks, admittedly) — and one he makes with the joy of someone who is well-versed in the limitations of live-action and can't wait to get around them. Here, with help from the digital effects wizards at Industrial Light and Magic (also making their first foray into animation), he's framing shots from inside a rolling soda bottle, or from angles that are as deliriously unlikely as they are spectacularly cinematic, possibly because the great cinematographer Roger Deakins consulted on visuals. Deakins did the same thing a few years back on Wall-E, but it's clear that computer graphics have made advances since then. The light in Rango is breathtaking — dusty, shimmering — and it seems at times as if Deakins realized that the photo-realism it allows for computer-graphic imagery gave him a chance to do all the shots that were too expensive or difficult to manage when he was shooting the live-action Westerns True Grit and No Country for Old Men. (It's worth noting that Rango is proudly and deliberately 2-D, and far smarter about giving depth to its images than any of its animated 3-D predecessors.) Verbinski, meanwhile, is having a field day with riffs designed strictly for film buffs, and with dialogue so loopy it often sounds improvised. (He ignored industry convention and gathered his actors together in a sound studio rather than recording them in isolation.) There's hardly a big-sky stereotype he doesn't trick out with new tricks — wait till you catch the man-with-no-name corker he's come up with — but he and co-screenwriters John Logan and James Ward Byrkit are cribbing their plot points not just from classic Westerns but from the likes of Chinatown, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Apocalypse Now. Kids will be too caught up in the shoot'em-ups to realize how much cleverness is sailing right over their heads, but if you're past adolescence, prepare to corral movie references as they stampede by. The more films you've seen, the more fun you'll have. MELISSA BLOCK, host: If ever there was an actor who knew how to change his stripes, it's Johnny Depp: pirate, gangster, mad hatter, demon barber, guy with scissors for hands. Depp is a regular chameleon. So casting him as an actual chameleon must have seemed a no-brainer. That's Depp's role in the new animated film "Rango." Our critic Bob Mondello says it worked out better than anyone could have imagined. BOB MONDELLO: Dirt, a ramshackle town in the Mojave Desert, so dry it might better be called Dust. It's populated by dog-eared gophers, skinny mice, all sorts of mangy critters and terrorized by predators, including a |
A Favorite Son of Philadelphia Falls in Iraq | Army Cpl. Carl Johnson Jr. of Philadelphia died in Mosul when a roadside bomb exploded near his armored vehicle. Johnson, 21, was a high-school football player who had a motorcycle, nice rims on his car and a way with the ladies, friends say. His high-school football buddies kept up with him on MySpace. NPR's Phyllis Fletcher has this remembrance. |
Republican Senator (And Medical Doctor) On Legislative Response To Coronavirus | NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. and a physician, about congressional efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. |
Stymied By Tariffs, Some New England Businesses Struggle To Stay Afloat | Two New England businesses that have been impacted by President Trump’s tariffs have very different opinions on trade policy. Alliant Metals in Hampstead, New Hampshire, relies on imported stainless steel. The company cuts it on the factory floor with water jets and band saws, President Chris Buchanan says. Buchanan’s wife, Raelene Riley, handles marketing and communications at Alliant. The couple supports the president and his trade policies — even though they say Trump’s 2018 tariffs on imported steel have hurt them. “Material went up 25% immediately, and it was a little tough at first, a lot of customers did not want to hear it,” Buchanan says, “but we had to pass it on because we couldn’t afford to absorb a 25% increase.” Buchanan and Riley are hopeful that the tariffs will help their industry in the long run — even if they make business tough right now. “I don’t think the ship has turned around yet, by any means. And we are being affected by this, and sales are still sporadic,” Riley says “There are pockets of hope, it’s not across the board.” The company saw a hopeful sign a few weeks ago when a couple of clients increased their quantities, Riley says. Up in Arundel, Maine, Stephanie Nadeau and Mike Marceau of The Lobster Company have a very different view on the tariffs. They’re part of a New England lobster export industry. Their business has been hit by the retaliatory tariffs that China placed on U.S. lobsters, imposed to punish the U.S. Nadeau says immediately after China imposed the 35% tariff on U.S. lobsters, the country stopped buying from her and switched to purchasing lobsters from Canada. “100% to a halt,” she says. “We normally shipped 300 [boxes of lobster] day,” Marceau says. “Today, we shipped none.” Their business specialized in Asian exports, Nadeau says. When the Chinese started purchasing lobsters from the U.S., The Lobster Company was on the “front line” of opening up the market, she says. Now, Nadeau opposes the tariffs. “We haven’t evened the playing field with China by any stretch of the imagination,” she says. “There’s no diplomacy coming out of the Trump administration as far as trade deals. It’s broken now, who’s gonna put the pieces back together?” Karyn Miller-Medzon and Jill Ryan produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Peter O’Dowd. Ryan also adapted it for the web. This article was originally published on WBUR.org. |
DOJ Allows Prosecutors To Investigate Trump's False Voting Claims | Joe Biden and his team are moving ahead on plans for their transition to the White House, even as President Trump refuses to concede and continues to make baseless claims of voter fraud. |
Islamic State Reportedly Seizes Last Syria-Iraq Border Crossing | Fighters with the self-declared Islamic State have seized the last border crossing in Syria, where they control half of the country, according to a British-based monitoring group. Syrian government forces withdrew from al-Tanf, known as al-Waleed in Iraq, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The border crossing lies at the extreme northwest of Iraq's border with Syria. Having seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, the Observatory says, ISIS now controls 50 percent of the country. The extremist group is said to control territory in nine of 14 provinces, including Deir al-Zour and Raqqa, Hasakeh, Aleppo, Homs and Hama. Al-Jazeera quotes activists in Palmyra as saying residents are without power or water. "The Syrian regime have bombed several targets for ISIL since last night, but air strikes also targeted two mosques in the city — Othman Bin Affan and al-Iman mosques. Several people have been killed and others injured," one person was quoted as saying by the Qatar-based news agency. "Hospitals and clinics are being bombed, too. There are not enough medical supplies or doctors to treat the injured," the activist said. According to the BBC: "Militants in Iraq are reported to be pressing eastwards from Ramadi down the Euphrates Valley towards Habbaniya where pro-government forces are massing for a proposed counter-attack on Ramadi. "If they take Habbaniya, IS will be close to linking up directly with Falluja, a city close to Baghdad which has been held by the Sunni militant group for well over a year despite repeated attacks by government forces, our correspondent says." |
Ireland Lacrosse Bows Out Of 2022 World Games So Iroquois Nationals Can Play | When invitations went out to men's lacrosse teams to compete in the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Ala., there was a big omission. The No. 3 Iroquois Nationals, a team that represents the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, wasn't on the list. Organizers said the Nationals could not compete because it is not from a sovereign nation — even though players have their own passports. "It was a disappointment and sort of boiled my blood," says Lyle Thompson, an Iroquois Nationals player. The Haudenosaunee are actually the originators of lacrosse, what they call the "medicine game." "All my life lessons really come from the game of lacrosse. Playing in those medicine games, those traditional medicine games and using a traditional wooden stick," Thompson tells NPR's Morning Edition. A petition calling for the Nationals inclusion got more than 50,000 signatures. The Games' organizers recognized their mistake, but the roster of eight teams was full. Enter: Ireland. Its team was set to play in 2022. "None of us would be going to Birmingham, Ala., in the first place if it wasn't for the Iroquois and giving us the gift of their medicine game," Sonny Campbell, a player for Ireland Lacrosse, tells Morning Edition. He says the Irish team wanted to do more than make a statement. So earlier this month, it dropped out of the tournament, allowing the Nationals to take its spot. "We support them, and if it means we'll give up our spot, then so be it. But the Iroquois, they need to be there," Campbell says. Thompson says the move was unexpected. "A sense of me felt bad because they're sort of sacrificing and giving up their opportunity. But a part of me felt like this is the right move, and I do truly believe that," he says. Thompson says Ireland's sacrifice won't be in vain. "The Iroquois Nationals are going to put together the best team the world has ever seen, and representing not just the Iroquois Nationals, but Ireland lacrosse also," Thompson says. The eight teams competing in Alabama will be Australia, Canada, Germany, Great Britain, the Iroquois Nationals, Israel, Japan and the U.S. |
Eating Between The Lines: The Supermarket Shopper's Guide To The Truth Behind Food Labels | Guest: Kimberly Lord Stewart, Award Winning Food Journalist, Editor in Chief of Dining Out Magazine, and a Contributor to Natural Home magazine |
An Orphan's Tale: 'Love in the Driest Season' | For years Neely Tucker was a foreign correspondent covering the world's most dangerous hot spots -- Sarajevo, Nairobi, Kinshasa. In 1997 he was based in Zimbabwe. At that time, the country was the epicenter of the AIDS crisis in Africa. Unable to have children of their own, Tucker and his wife, Vita, threw themselves into volunteer work at a local orphanage filled with sick infants whose parents had died or had simply abandoned them. It was there they met a baby girl named Chipo. In the Shona language, her name means "gift." Like thousands of children in Zimbabwe, she had been abandoned at birth and left for dead. In a new book, Love in the Driest Season, Neely Tucker writes about the struggle to keep Chipo alive, and then the long journey through Zimbabwe's bureaucratic maze to make the child a permanent part of the family. Neely Tucker now writes for The Washington Post, and he and his family live in a Washington, D.C., home filled with artwork, masks and sculpture from Africa. NPR's Michele Norris, host of All Things Considered met with the Tuckers, and five-year-old Chipo, to talk about their experience. |
Venezuela To Display Chavez Body For Perpetuity | Funeral services will be held Friday for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died this week after a long battle with cancer. Dozens of presidents and dignitaries are in Caracas, including the leaders of some pariah countries that are adversaries of the United States. |