September 2, 2007 No Talking Heads

We're thinking this will be a check-in on the new issue of Works in Progress. Until I get guests confirmed, I'll be posting stories I'm watching.

Updated (9/1/2007): I'll be joined by Wally Cuddleford who wrote the cover story on police brutality. Wally is also the co-coordinator for WIP.

Local
Blogger Responds to Baird Letter Backing Bush Surge in Iraq, Effin' Unsound
Crowd pounds Baird's Iraq stance: Town hall - A hostile audience tells the Washington Democrat, "You're not representing us", Oregonian
- Angry anti-war constituents greet Baird at town hall meeting, AP Coverage via Seattle PI
- Baird Faces Angry Citizens, NW Progressive Institute Blog
- Report from Vancouver, Washington: Rep. Baird Gets Blasted, coverage from Stranger blog (SLOG); mostly interesting for the reader comments at the end of story.
- a few accounts here and here from OlyBlogger Emmettoconnell on Washblog.

National
Gonzalez Resigns, Finally, NY Times
Washington Post Coverage
Iraq Weapons Are a Focus of Criminal Investigations, NY Times
- I would think keeping more weapons out of Iraq would be a good thing. But since weapon selling is our biggest export, we can't help ourselves. At least they're killing themselves over there and not on the "homeland."

International

August 26, 2007 No Talking Heads

Local
New Bread and Roses Blog, OlyBlog
Bush order limits health plan, Olympian

National
Feds Pay $80,000 Over Anti-Bush T-Shirts, ABC News via Boing Boing
Army could be too stretched for extended buildup, AP via Olympian
Disney asks UW to remove study info from UW-website which quetioned the effect of DVDs on infants, Puget Sound Business Journal
White House Declares Office Off-Limits; Administrator of Missing E-Mails Not Subject to Open-Records Law, It Says, Washington Post

The claim, made in a motion filed Tuesday by the Justice Department, is at odds with a depiction of the office on the White House's own Web site. As of yesterday, the site listed the Office of Administration as one of six presidential entities subject to the open-records law, which is commonly known by its abbreviation, FOIA.

Warner Calls for Pullouts By Winter; GOP Senator Suggests Move Would Prod Iraq, Washington Post

". . .a new National Intelligence Estimate provided a mixed assessment on Iraq seven months after Bush ordered more U.S. troops to the country. The report, produced by the CIA and 15 other intelligence agencies, determined that "there have been measurable but uneven improvements in Iraq's security." But it predicted that the Iraqi government "will become more precarious" in the next six to 12 months, with little hope of reaching accommodation among political factions."

"The Last Month of Summer" by Sarah Bear (21:16)
- Sarah presides over the Flower Child Day School in Olympia, WA. This is her story about the end of summer.

8/19/2007 No Talking Heads

Local
Baird sees need for longer U.S. role in Iraq, The Olympian
Biodiesel plant stirs hopes in Grays Harbor, Seattle Times
Plans for cargo center collide with concerns about prairie; Maytown residents have misgivings about land’s future amid proposed freight facility, the Olympian

"They're pollution magnets," said Diane Sonntag, leader of the Friends of Rocky Prairie, a 500-member group formed to oppose the logistics center. "You have thousands of trucks coming in. When they come in, they sit there and idle. This area will be transformed into a huge air pollution problem."

Did the Ports of Olympia and Tacoma obtain this site without doing environmental impacts, hoping that they could PR/market their way out of the environmental impacts?
Olympian videos of discussion of issue; Friends of Rocky Prairie outline an alternative to proposed site - TransAlta site in Centralia.
LOTT ready to buy 1.9 acres for expansion, Olympian

National
U.S. to Expand Domestic Use Of Spy Satellites, Wall Street Journal via TJ
Padilla, 2 co-defendants convicted of helping Islamic extremists, plotting overseas attacks, Associated Press

International,
U.S. Signs $30 Billion Defense Aid Pact with Israel, NY Times

"Israel and the United States signed a deal on Thursday to give Israel $30 billion in military aid over the next decade in what officials called a long-term investment in peace."

8/12/2007 No Talking Heads

I've pre-produced my show this week. I recorded a great story about the end of summer written by Zoe's pre-school teacher, Sara Bear. That will air at the end of the month, hopefully.

This week's show:
1). Interview with Vince Brown, local poverty activist and musician (Red Brown & the Tune Stranglers) about redevelopment of downtown Vancouver, WA. After reading a series of articles on the Olympian about downtown redevelopment of 3 regional cities, Bremerton, Bellingham and Vancouver, WA, I wanted to get someone's perspective on how these redevelopment efforts affected the poor and homeless. The Olympian articles didn't talk about this angle at all.

2). Interview with Norman Solomon about the new film, War Made Easy. This was conducted by Dennis Bernstein of KPFA's Flashpoints which you can hear weekdays at 5pm on 94.1FM in the Bay Area or streaming here.

8/5/2007 No Talking Heads

(guests will be Janet Blanding, TJ Johnson, Harry Levine)
We'll be reviewing the new issue of Works in Progress

Local
Former Safeway site considered for Olympia City Hall, Olympian
- is the Olympia Food Coop out of the running? - we'll have Harry Levine from the food coop on to talk about it.

National
42.8% Efficiency: A New Record for Solar Cells, Treehugger Blog

International