Toyota Announces Fix
"No Sell" signs are posted in the windows of new Toyota vehicles at Wondries dealer in Alhambra, CA Thursday, Jan 28, 2010. (AP)
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Toyota says it has figured out how to fix the sudden acceleration problem that affects at least eight of the company’s U.S. models. Dealers say they can begin repairs on faulty cars as early as this weekend, but will it get customers back in the showroom? We’ll speak with Justin Hyde, Washington Correspondent for the Detroit Free Press.
No NYC Trial for Confessed 9/11 Mastermind
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The White House has all but ruled out trying confessed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in lower Manhattan, but administration spokesmen insist he will be tried in a criminal rather than military court. We speak with Evan Perez, who covers the Justice Department for the Wall Street Journal, and former military lawyer Scott Silliman, who is executive director of the Center on Law, Ethics and National Security at Duke University Law School.
Maine Lawmaker Pushes for Cellphone Warning Label
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We talk with Maine state representative Andrea Boland about why she is pushing legislation to make her state the first in the union to require that cellphones be labeled with graphic warnings of possible brain cancer risks.
GOP Targets President Obama’s Former Senate Seat
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Just weeks after Republican Scott Brown won the senate seat held by the late Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts, Republicans are now targeting President Obama’s former seat in Illinois. Primary races are tomorrow, and Tea Party activists say the Republican front-runner isn’t conservative enough. Can the Tea Party make a difference in Illinois? Also, we look at contentious primaries in the race for governor and in the House seat once held by former speaker Denis Hastert. Our guest is political reporter, Rick Pearson, of the Chicago Tribune.
Singer-Songwriter Steve Earle Wins Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album
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Beyonce and Taylor Swift won big last night, but we also want to congratulate songwriter Steve Earle.
Contemplating Fatherhood, Family Dysfunction, and Abu Ghraib
Author Nick Flynn (Joyce Ravid).
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When best selling author Nick Flynn saw the photos of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison, he became obsessed with the subject, eventually going to Istanbul to hear some of the detainees’ stories. As he explored the subject, he realized that his parents, his father- a homeless ex-con- and his mother, who committed suicide in her early 40’s, had had their own connections to torture. Nick interweaves past and present as he awaits the birth of his first child in his new memoir “The Ticking is the Bomb.”
Music from the show
- Peter Dixon, “Nagog Woods”
- Ahmad Jamal, “Patterns”
- Tito Puente, “Royal T”
- Moby, “Myopia”
- The Wee Trio, “Fresh Air”
- Steve Earle, “Transcendental Blues”
- Townes van Zandt, “White Freightliner Blues” performed by Steve Earle
- Doug Carn “Fatherhood”
I was disappointed, maybe I should say shocked, to hear the nonsense about cellphones in today’s program. It is FALSE that “the jury is still out on whether cell phones cause cancer,” as Robin Young stated. There is no known physical mechanism by which microwave photons can break DNA in a way to cause cancer. Clinical research for almost 2 decades has failed to find any correlation between cell phone use and cancer. Fabricated and anecdotal evidence of the type cited in your program can never replace hard science.
To take the argument further, a reckless piece such as today’s calls into question “Here & Now” as a source of thoughtful news and commentary. It is a slippery slope. Now you endorse crackpot theories about electromagnetism, the listener fears that tomorrow you will bring someone speaking for homeopathy, the next day creationism, and what will come next? Trade protectionists? Flat earthers? Erich von Däniken?
For some science on the subject, please read the article “Einstein didn’t win the Nobel Prize for the theory of relativity. He won it for showing that you don’t need to worry about radiation from your cell phone” at the following address:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/08/30/ED16179.DTL
Posted by F Pait, on February 1st, 2010 at 1:03 pmNational Cancer Institute apparently still thinks “the jury is out” with cell phones.
“…however, some, but not all, long-term studies have suggested slightly increased risks for certain types of brain tumors (9, 10). Further evaluation of long-term exposures (more than 10 years) is needed.”
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/cellphones
Posted by jon, on February 1st, 2010 at 3:13 pmError in reporting the Toyota history on Monday 2-1-’20. The accident of the officer of the law and family near San Diego was in 2009, not in 2002 as you reported. Your point was that the problem had been an ongoing one since 2002, but it was another incident in that year, not the San Diego officer.
Posted by Gayle Lopes, on February 1st, 2010 at 4:36 pmGayle Lopes
San Diego
Gayle, you’re so right, of course that horrible accident was just this past August (I have a friend visiting from Rancho Bernardo, we were just talking about it before that segment)
I misspoke
thank you!
Robin
Posted by Robin Young, on February 2nd, 2010 at 9:27 amI was astonished on tuning into WBEZ to hear an interview with a state representative who was obviously completely ignorant on the topic she was discussing. How can anyone be taken seriously who states that electromagnetic (EM) radiation is dangerous and exposure must be minimised. This of course ignores the fact that light is EM radiation and that life cannot exist without it.
This is another example of scare mongering about technology. There are plenty of real problems and threats without making up imaginary ones.
Posted by Iain Bertram, on February 2nd, 2010 at 9:40 am