Beer Summit
President Barack Obama pauses as he speaks about the incident with Henry Louis Gates Jr. and police officer James Crowley, Friday, July 24, 2009 (AP)
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President Obama, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, and Cambridge police officer James Crowley will try to hash out their differences over a beer at the White House tonight. Gates had accused Crowley of being a racist for arresting Gates at his Cambridge home earlier this month. Now a Boston police officer has entered the fray, after sending a racially- charged email to the Boston Globe where he compares Gates to a “jungle monkey.” Our guest is African-American blogger Wayne Bennett.
Ferreting out Fraud in the Crash of ‘29
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In the 30s the Pecora hearings uncovered the fraud that led to the crash of ‘29 and set the stage for the landmark financial markets legislation we associate with the New Deal. We’ll speak with Richard Parker, professor of public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School, and author of several books, including, “John Kenneth Galbraith: His Life, His Politics, His Economic.”
Young Gitmo Detainee in Court
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A federal judge has ordered the release of an Afghan in custody for more than 6 years at Guantanamo Bay Prison in Cuba. Mohammad Jawad is accused of throwing a grenade at a U.S. convoy in Kabul in late 2002. Conflicting reports about his age say he may have been as young as 12 years old at the time. Previous attempts at trying Jawal failed when judges threw out evidence obtained under torture. The Obama administration had asked for more time to possibly move his case to a U.S. criminal court. Evan Perez of the Wall Street Journal joins us.
A New University Goes Online
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“The University of the People” is the brainchild of Israeli entrepreneur Shai Reshef. It’s doors open this fall. Reshef says the school is tuition-free — it charges students for tests, and the amount depends on where you live. Professors, he says, are eager to volunteer their time, and he envisions a school where students teach students using online social media sites.
13 Reasons Why
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In his debut novel, “13 Reasons Why,” Jay Asher deals with the issue of teen suicide. The protagonist, Hannah Baker, records a series of audio tapes, explaining why she took her own life. The story is a powerful lesson in how rumors and innuendo can have disastrous consequences.
Music from the Show
- Air, “Mike Mills”
- Freddie Hubbard, “Gibraltar”
- Radiohead, “There There”
- Charles Mingus, “Pedal Point Blues”
- Yo-Yo Ma, “Bach: Suites for Solo Cello”
- Sigur Ros, “Nybatteri”
Without getting into the substance of today’s discussion, and admitting that being a Vermonter, racial interactions are unfortunately rare, I just had to express how refreshing Wayne (Wain) Bennett’s comments on honesty were. There is such a stark difference between the political posturing and PC blather that we so often hear, and the mature honesty that Mr. Bennett described. Only when the unsubstantiated prejudices and fears are openly and safely discussed can REAL understanding evolve. I am not sure I will have anything of substance to add to his blog but his words were a breath of “Fresh Air”.
Posted by Doug Varney, on July 30th, 2009 at 1:44 pmBy only disappointment in the substance of the Washington “Beer Summit” was the pedestrian selection of Bud Lite as the choice of the President.
[...] media and networking, and the tuition will be free. Founder Shai Resheff discussed the concept on WBUR’s Here and Now: “The University of the People” is the brainchild of Israeli entrepreneur Shai Resheff. It’s [...]
Posted by A New Social Media U Goes Online – Engaged Life Learning, on July 30th, 2009 at 2:26 pmFinally!
NPR uses the “T” word, torture, to accurately describe what the U.S. has been doing with regard to the 85% of Gitmo detainees that are completely innocent of any wrongdoing at all.
The NPR ombudsman, who defended NPR’s double standard of using “torture” to describe other country’s utilization of “enhanced interrogation” but refusing to do so when exactly the same torture techniques are used by the U.S., has, apparently, broken NPR’s rule mandating hypocrisy by finally deciding to allow use the word “torture” whenever torture actually occurs, regardless of who’s doing the torturing.
Could intellectual honesty and honor actually be creeping into the NPR corporate psyche?
Let’s hope so. And if it is so, NPR deserves congratulations for growing up and for doing what journalist are supposed to be doing: telling the truth objectively, and without prejudice or bias.
See this Glenn Greenwald piece for more info:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/07/31/detention/index.html
Posted by chrisrb, on July 31st, 2009 at 3:40 pmUh-oh, looks like you may be in some hot water. You are obviously a liberal-commie-pinko-hippie for using the word “torture” to describe, well…TORTURE. Remember what Ms Sheppard said
“Would it be better to, say, describe the technique and then say some call it torture? I do not think enhanced interrogation techniques is acceptable either. That’s why I come down on describing the technique and adding that some call it torture”
So shame on you for violating NPR’s policy.
You either use “Enhanced Interrogation Techniches” or “prisoners left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees throughout which time the prisoner is doused with cold water, prisoners bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet with cellophane wrapped over the prisoner’s face and water is poured over him causing extreme pain, dry drowning, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological damage or, if uninterrupted, death…”
This incident of Journalistic honesty will be reported to the proper authorities. You have been warned!
Posted by Robert Piercy, on July 31st, 2009 at 5:37 pm