Lockerbie Convict Released
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The Libyan man convicted in the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am jet over Lockerbie Scotland has been released because he’s critically ill with cancer. He’s returning home to Libya. We’lll have a report from Peter Hunt of the BBC.
‘Hands off my Health Care’
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That’s the motto of some people who are packing town hall meetings to voice their opposition to healthcare reform. We’ll speak with Amy Menefee, a policy advisor for the group, Patients First, which is an offshoot of the conservative organization “Americans For Prosperity.” She’s on a bus tour in Indiana for the group.
The Uninsured Congressman
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Rep. Steve Kagen is a democrat and a doctor — and he explains why he has opted out of a generous health insurance package offered to lawmakers. Until his uninsured constituents are able to have access to something similar, he’ll be uninsured.
New Credit Card Regulations Take Effect
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New rules from the Obama Administration’s Credit Card Reform Act take effect today, and credit card companies are raising rates and charging more fees in preparation. Nationally-syndicated Chicago Sun Times financial columnist Terry Savage explains what that means for credit card users. Savage is author of the forthcoming book “The Savage Number: How Much Money Do You Really Need to Retire?”
The Science of Making it Rain
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For decades scientists have been experimenting with increasing precipitation to arid parts of the world by seeding clouds from above with chemicals and forcing a reaction that produces rain and snow. Now, they are manipulating clouds from the ground. Philip Ross, Senior Editor at IEEE Spectrum magazine visited the Desert Research Center in Nevada to learn more about the process.
Should ‘Beanballs’ be Banned?
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Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz says Major League Baseball should ban beanballs. That’s when pitchers throw deliberately at batters. His op-ed on the topic appeared in the Boston Globe this week and he joins us to talk about it.
Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Hunts Down Oddities
Ripley Entertainment's Edward Meyer stands by a male African elephant with two trunks. (AP)
Ripley’s Believe it or Not! has been entertaining people for more than a century, with items like a portrait of President Obama made of gumballs or a shrunken head made by a tribe in Africa. Now, despite the recession, Ripley’s is expanding and expected to open eight new museums in the next few years. We hear about the hunt from Edward Meyer, vice president of exhibits and archives at Ripley Entertainment, Inc.
Music from the show
- Traffic, “Rainmaker”
- Peter Dixon, “Nagog Woods”
- Led Zeppelin, “Fool in the Rain”
- Ahmad Jamal, “Patterns”
- Joe Jackson, “Steppin’ Out”
- Jimi Hendrix, “Voodoo Child”
The interview with Amy Menefee was infuriating. You allowed her air time to spout her half-truths without any challenge. Moreover, you did not identify her affililiation with “Americans For Prosperity” which is clearly an organization with an extreme right wing agenda, as clearly demonstrated by their web page. I tune in to you in order listen to intelligent commentary; I can tune into Glen Beck if I want to listen to the rants of the lunatic, red-meat right.
Posted by George Curran, on August 20th, 2009 at 12:28 pmYou failed to point out that the “Hands Off My Health Care” thing is an astroturf organization under the aegis of “Americans for Prosperity” which has been behind a lot of the disruptive activities at Town Hall meetings. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have such people on to air their opinions, but it is extremely disingenuous to allow them to portray themselves as some sort of “grass roots” initiative, because, as a few minutes of reasearch shows, they are not.
Posted by bibliodrone, on August 20th, 2009 at 12:28 pmGeorge, you beat me to it.
Posted by bibliodrone, on August 20th, 2009 at 12:33 pmDid you see how Barney Frank handled the hecklers? Look on youtube it was really funny.
Posted by Trader, on August 20th, 2009 at 5:42 pmPatients First is funded by Americans for Prosperity, which gets about $5 million a year from David and Charles Koch, private owners of Koch Industries, which they inherited from their daddy. At one time it was just oil and gas. Now they also do futures trading and other business. They use their money to support Republican candidates and attack Democrats. The Koch brothers are Ayn Rand thinkers. They believe they are gifted to know what’s good for everyone else. They think they generated their own wealth, not any of their employees or geologists or oil tax breaks. They hate all taxes and regulations against pollution, but they love the oil and mineral depletion tax breaks and they love global warming. I don’t understand why the Koch brothers get to spread their propaganda on NPR via their paid mouthpiece, Amy Menefee.
Posted by Tracker, on August 20th, 2009 at 6:39 pm