Capitol Hill Update
Listen
Democrats joined Republicans in overwhelming numbers today to vote down the President’s request for money to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, saying they want the President to give them a “comprehensive and responsible plan” for what he intends to do with the prison’s detainees before they can support him. We’ll speak with Gail Chaddock, Capitol Hill correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor.
Pakistan
Listen
The UN is calling the refugee situation in Pakistan one of the worst in the world. More than one-million people have fled the fighting in the Swat Valley, where Pakistan’s army is trying to defeat the Taliban. The BBC’s Owen Bennett Jones has been talking to some of the displaced Pakistanis and says the mood has changed and the people are fed up with the Taliban. He joins us from Islamabad.
Captain Kirk’s Chair
Listen
The new “Star Trek” film has grossed over $200 million worldwide, thanks in part to lovers of the TV series. We speak to Tod Sturgeon of Auburn, Washington, who has built a replica of the chair Captain Kirk used in the original series.
Remembering Charles Keith Springle
Listen
Navy Commander Springle, a clinical social worker, will be remembered today in a funeral service in North Carolina. He was one of five troops killed in a mental health clinic in Iraq that served US troops. An Army sergeant allegedly wrestled a gun from another soldier and opened fire. Bob Goodale tells us about Springle’s commitment to helping soldiers in need. Goodale is also director of behavioral mental health at the Citizen Soldier Support Program in Chapel Hill, NC.
- For information on how you can contribute to the Charles Keith Springle, Ph.D Memorial Scholarship Fund please contact Mary Beth Hernandez at (919) 962-6469 or marybeth@email.unc.edu
Extra Golden
From left back: Onyango Wuod Omari, Alex Minoff, Onyango Jagwasi. Front: Ian Eagleson.
Benga music originated in Kenyan dance clubs, but now a group of Kenyan musicians has teamed up with American Indie rockers to bring the sound to the U.S. The band is called “Extra Golden” and Here and Now’s Jill Ryan caught up with them during their tour, promoting their new album “Thank You Very Quickly.”
Music from the show
- Michael Giacchino, “Star Trek”
- Extra Golden, “Gimakiny Akia”
- Extra Golden, “Anyango”
- Extra Golden, “Ukimwi”
- Extra Golden, “Nyajondere”
- Extra Golden, “Jakolando”
- Extra Golden, “Ok Oyot System”
- Extra Golden, “Thank you Very Quickly”
- The Lickets, “Serial East”
- Freddie Hubbard, “Little Sunflower”
- Radiohead, “In Limbo”
- Joe Jackson, “Steppin’ Out”
WHAT ABOUT THE DC SNIPER? HE WAS DISCARGED FROM THE SERVICE, AND WAS GIVEN NO FOLLOW UP TREATMENT, AFTER HE WAS INCARCERATED FOR THROWING A GRENADE INTO THE TENT OF HIS FELLOW SOLIDERS. ALSO, THERE WAS ANOTHER YOUNG MAN WHO DID SOMETHING SIMILAR. WHY IS THIS TIME SO DRAMATIC AND NOT BEFORE?
Posted by T. DENISE GRAVELY, on May 20th, 2009 at 11:47 amThank you for asking tough questions to James E McWilliams. I am bewildered by US “University Experts” who embrace, defend, and promote GMOs to a generally uninformed American public. I am floored by the simplistic way James E McWilliams characterized Bt Corn — as “Insect Resistent”. Organic farmers use natrual Bt which persists for only hours in their gardens and fields. Bt Corn contains Bt insecticide in every cell. Bt Corn is not just insect resistent — it is an insecticide. When it comes to academic research regarding GMO, I am concerned the US no longer has true unbiased science — it is all purchased and predetermined by the biotech industry.
Posted by Bryce, on May 21st, 2009 at 7:16 pm