Today’s show took us out to Long Island. We talked with WNYC’s own Andrea Bernstein, as well as Bruce Lambert, Long Island correspondent of The New York Times, discussing Governor Pataki’s formal request to President Bush to re-allocate several billion dollars in federal funding. Originally, the funds were allocated for the purpose of rebuilding Lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center attack, but the Governor now wants the money applied to a new tunnel and rail link from Lower Manhattan to JFK airport. The advantage of the idea is that it gives passengers a one-seat train ride from Manhattan to the airport; the train would also make it easier for Long Island commuters to get to the city without changing trains.

Is this a good use of money that was supposed to help rebuild the area around the World Trade Center? Tell us what you think.

Posted by leboheme at 04:04 PM

Development within our city limits is always contemptuous. In the last year the fate of the Far West Side, Downtown Brooklyn and the Atlantic Yards has ruffled a lot of feathers. But talk about development of Governors Island has been lost in the crowd of sports arenas and office space.

22 acres of the land is controlled by the National Parks Service as it is land marked. The remaining 150 acres could be developed into anything. Ideas that have been batted around: a casino, conference center, education center, luxury housing. The list could go on… the catch is that whatever is built at the bottom of the island has to maintain the historic area of the island financially.

Mayor Bloomberg has remained rather silent over the matter. With the island finally open to the public this may be an occasion to voice our own opinions. Of course this could also just another opportunity for people to get hot under the collar in what could be an already hot summer.

Tell us what you would like to see on Governors Island. Email us

Posted by leboheme at 04:12 PM

Callers to the show today felt that Republicans visiting here for the convention will need to get out and about in New York City. Although, one thought it highly unlikely that conventioneers from outside of the Northeast region would feel safe enough to explore "Sodom and Gomorrah." It's a pity that security concernsmight prevent out-of-towners from riding what The Next Big Thing recently called "the great leveller."

One listener found it offensive that a Canadian caller referred to President Bush as "an idiot." The comment was left standing without a challenge. The sentiment was that respect should be maintained for the office regardless who sits in it.

Tell us what you think!

The Supreme Court decisions can be found by clicking here.

Posted by leboheme at 03:12 PM

Whether to rebroadcast an old program is often a tough call. Is the program still topical? If people have heard it before, will they want to listen again?

In the case of our "Culture Storm" taping from last May, we knew the discussion on "life and politics in the election year" was mostly still current, but it contained one long conversational digression on why Disney didn't want to release Michael Moore's "Fahrenheit 911". Was it fealty to right wingers in the government? Fear of box office backlash?

How things have changed! Seven weeks later, the Weinstein brothers have spirited the film out of Michael Eisner's clutches and into a cinema near you--opening today nationwide!

Michael Moore has also since admitted that he knew a year ago that Disney would not distribute the film.

But the hubub over still hasn't really been explained. Was it Moore's manipulative side? An earnest attempt to shield Disney from the association with a controversial film? Did Michael Eisner feel he had to coddle conservatives?

Tell us what you think!

Posted by leboheme at 03:27 PM

Daniel Libeskind defended himself from New York Time's writer Robin Pogrebin's article "The Incredible Shrinking Daniel Libeskind." Mr. Libeskind's design for the World Trade Center has whittled down as has his influence since Larry Silverstein flexed his muscles and hired David Childs from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Libeskind remained diplomatic throughout and repeated that the collaboration between the various partners reflects the democracy in its purest state.

Posted by leboheme at 04:17 PM

Today we discussed the treatment of detainees in both Iraq and Afghanistan with Julian Barnes and Chitra Ragavan from US News and World Report. The conversation about detainees continued with Seymour Hersh from The New Yorker. Both conversations referred to the President Bush's order which can be read here.

Text of order signed by President Bush on Feb. 7, 2002, outlining treatment of al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees:

1. Our recent extensive discussions regarding the status of al-Qaeda and Taliban detainees confirm that the application of Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of August 12, 1949, (Geneva) to the conflict with al-Qaeda and the Taliban involves complex legal questions. By its terms, Geneva applies to conflicts involving "High Contracting Parties," which can only be states. Moreover, it assumes the existence of "regular" armed forces fighting on behalf of states. However, the war against terrorism ushers in a new paradigm, one in which groups with broad, international reach commit horrific acts against innocent civilians, sometimes with the direct support of states. Our nation recognizes that this new paradigm – ushered in not by us, but by terrorists – requires new thinking in the law of war, but thinking that should nevertheless be consistent with the principles of Geneva.

2. Pursuant to my authority as commander in chief and chief executive of the United States, and relying on the opinion of the Department of Justice dated January 22, 2002, and on the legal opinion rendered by the attorney general in his letter of February 1, 2002, I hereby determine as follows:

a. I accept the legal conclusion of the Department of Justice and determine that none of the provisions of Geneva apply to our conflict with al-Qaeda in Afghanistan or elsewhere throughout the world because, among other reasons, al-Qaeda is not a High Contracting Party to Geneva.

b. I accept the legal conclusion of the attorney general and the Department of Justice that I have the authority under the Constitution to suspend Geneva as between the United States and Afghanistan, but I decline to exercise that authority at this time. Accordingly, I determine that the provisions of Geneva will apply to our present conflict with the Taliban. I reserve the right to exercise the authority in this or future conflicts.

c. I also accept the legal conclusion of the Department of Justice and determine that common Article 3 of Geneva does not apply to either al-Qaeda or Taliban detainees, because, among other reasons, the relevant conflicts are international in scope and common Article 3 applies only to "armed conflict not of an international character."

d. Based on the facts supplied by the Department of Defense and the recommendation of the Department of Justice, I determine that the Taliban detainees are unlawful combatants and, therefore, do not qualify as prisoners of war under Article 4 of Geneva. I note that, because Geneva does not apply to our conflict with al-Qaeda, al-Qaeda detainees also do not qualify as prisoners of war.

3. Of course, our values as a nation, values that we share with many nations in the world, call for us to treat detainees humanely, including those who are not legally entitled to such treatment. Our nation has been and will continue to be a strong supporter of Geneva and its principles. As a matter of policy, the United States Armed Forces shall continue to treat detainees humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of Geneva.

4. The United States will hold states, organizations, and individuals who gain control of United States personnel responsible for treating such personnel humanely and consistent with applicable law.

5. I hereby reaffirm the order previously issued by the secretary of defense to the United States Armed Forces requiring that the detainees be treated humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of Geneva.

6. I hereby direct the secretary of state to communicate my determinations in an appropriate manner to our allies, and other countries and international organizations cooperating in the war against terrorism of global reach.

This article also be found at here

Posted by leboheme at 05:40 PM

Joe Klein had some choice words for New York Times book critic Michiko Kakutani. Kakutani wrote a rather scathing review of Bill Clinton’s memoir My Life(Knopf2004). The review appeared in Sunday’s Times on the front cover and has become news in itself. Klein’s feeling towards the review was that she was reaching too far for a ripping read and missed the point of the book.

“…I think she needs to find a day job for God’s sake, she has been reviewing for 40 years, I think there should be a statute of limitations for columnists and critics…”

Where does this animosity come from? Perhaps…the review of Klein’s book by Kakutani, The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton(Broadway Books2002), two years ago. Katutani had similar sentiment for Klein:

“The subtitle of Joe Klein's new book, "The Natural: The Misunderstood Presidency of Bill Clinton," suggests that the author is going to give us a new take on the Clinton presidency, that he is going to correct what he sees as misapprehensions about that administration, or provide a new take on Bubba.

The truth of the matter is: he doesn't.”

Barbed words on both sides.

Posted by leboheme at 05:03 PM

Opponents of the mayor’s plans to build a football stadium for the Jets on the far west side of Manhattan include the owners of Madison Square Garden and Cablevision, James and Charles Dolan. They are among the elected officials, business leaders and civic groups who make up the New York Association for Better Choices, an organization fighting the stadium plan. One of the ads they're running objects to the stadium specifically because of the size of the public subsidy for a sports facility. Except as today’s guest, New York Magazine’s Craig Horowitz pointed out, Madison Square Garden receives its own sort of subsidy -- MSG hasn't paid any city real estate taxes in the time the Dolans have owned the company.

Posted by leboheme at 05:02 PM

Should protesters at the August GOP convention in New York be allowed to gather on the Sheep Meadow in Central Park?

The question has been fodder for some shrill tabloid headlines, but on the show today United for Peace & Justice's Leslie Cagan struck a more conciliatory note, saying a rally in Central Park would simply be the safest option, and "we think that if he [the mayor] had the opportunity to hear that directly from us hopefully, we'd convince him."

Newsday 's Sheryl McCarthy, who penned a column critical of U for P & J said that historically, rallies belong elsewhere:

"That goes to places like Washington Square Park Union Square Park, Tompkins Square Park. Central Park does not have that kind of history. And I think other people of the city who don't wanna take part in this huge deomstartaion have the right to use the park and not be a part of a political demonstration."

What will you do during the convention?

I'm going to be a volunteer at the convention. I'm very much for Kerry and I want to engage Republicans, if I can, in a discussion.
-Rita on the Upper East Side

Ed Koch would be proud!

Posted by leboheme at 04:04 PM

Staff Report No. 17, issued today by the 9/11 Commission provides the most complete timeline to date on the airline hijackings of September 11, 2001, and the federal government's response.

Among its findings:

>there were serious communications deficiencies between government officials on the morning of 9/11, and at one point President Bush had to use a cell phone to reach VP Cheney.

>Vice President Cheney issued a "shootdown order" on hijacked planes that was not followed because of confusion in the chain of command.

>The hijacking of flight 175 (the second plane to hit the WTC) was not immediately noted because the responsible air traffic controller was also following hijacked flight 11.

Read the report [adobe acrobat required]

Posted by leboheme at 10:57 AM

Seven years ago, before reality shows like "Newlyweds" and "Nip/Tuck" made intimate details about ordinary people's lives available to the general public, documentarian Murray Nossel began gathering some remarkable footage from the lives of a gay male couple who were trying to have a baby.

That footage has become a film, "Paternal Instinct". It's noteworthy not only for the level of intimacy (the viewer is privy to the surrogate mother's insemination and the baby's birth) but also because it avoids the familiar debates about the morality and challenges of gay parenthood.

But who got to give the sperm?

Gay dad Mark told us: "it was a negotiated process. Because I felt that [my partner] Erik was going to be much more tied into the parenting relationship. So I didn't want to be left out in the cold. So Erik said, OK, you can have the first child be yours, and the second child will be mine."

[more]

feedback (via email):

If the liberals do not win, it is because we somehow feel the need to carry this baggage (eg, surrogate witch mothers handing over their child to a couple of gay guys), which the majority will never accept.
-JM

Why does this guy refer to his kid as his "biological" child and as the mother as a "surrogate"? She's the mother's child as well. She just surrendered her. Just wondering.
-EC

It is easier for gay people to have biological children. It is very difficult for gay men to adopt. Adoption is difficult for all people, by the way.
-G

Posted by leboheme at 04:37 PM

On his second night on deployment in Iraq last September, Staff Sgt. Georg-Andreas Pogany saw a mutilated corpse and suffered a breakdown. He reports that the following morning his body was shaking, he vomited repeatedly, and began doubt his ability to complete his mission. A few weeks later, Pogany was charged with cowardice, and offense that can result in the death penalty.

The Army eventually dropped the charge, but Pogany told us today that he's still in litigation and now believes that Lariam, an anti-malaria drug, caused him to suffer a sever panic attack in Iraq. The Army, according to Pogany, did not warn of Larium's side-effects, which are well-documented.

Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) has recently called for an investigation into Lariam.

You can read more about Pogany's experience in the July issue of GQ.

one listener responds (via email):

the far better anti-malarial drug is called MALARONE. you only have to
take it for 2 weeks. no side effects, except cool dreams. just took it
in brazil. no problems. no one should touch Larium.-AD

On the program tomorrow: the 9/11 Commission hearings, former Treasury Secretary Robert Reich, and gay dads.

Posted by leboheme at 05:05 PM

40 million Americans claim Irish descent, and many of them can also claim Irish citizenship. That's because Irish law grants the grandchild of any Irish citizen the automatic right to become Irish too. For many years, it was a sentimental gesture of little real value to anyone.

But today, with one of the best economies in Europe, Ireland has become a magnet for immigrants from Eastern Europe and Asia. A country of net emigration has become a hot immigration destination, and the children of those immigrants born in Ireland have been considered Irish under the law.

Until last Sunday. That's when a majority of Irish voted to do away with "birthright" citizenship and impose a system closer to the European norm, where linguistic ability and the intention to reside in the country must be proven.

On the show today, we discussed the matter with Carol Coulter, legal affairs correspendent for the Irish Times. While many of our listeners thought the move churlish, others felt a small country like Ireland had to do something to protect its traditions. Listener feedback.

On the show tomorrow: British Muslim comedienne Shazi Mirza.

Let's not forget that the Irish culture that we know today was formed in part by the intrusion of the Roman St. Patrick into the indigenous Celtic culture.
-TMB

My very liberal relatives in my native Netherlands are struggling with this very thing, in particular in connection with extremist Islam and the criminality
of young Arab immigrants. While the Netherlands seamlessly absorbed
Indonesians who chose to become Dutch at Indonesia's independence, this
is a whole other issue and has too many ramifications to go into.
-RH

Does that include descendants of slaves who were raped by their Irish owners? Thanks for your time...
-DL

Posted by leboheme at 03:43 PM

Please take a look at our extended blog entry, we have compiled some of your emails honoring Ray Charles.

Be sure to email us your response.

Hey there! Love the show...

I am a photographer and was lucky enough to work with Ray Charles once, when he was out with BB King. He was a treat, and could instantly mimic my voice exactly! After a while, he turned to me and said:

"You know, photography is the only field I know where you can get it wrong 99 out of a hundred times and still look like a genius--I have to get me a job like that!"

Thought you would like that!

AP in Brooklyn

Thank for acknowledging the passing of a truly amazing American. Ray Charles did more to advance humankind in one song then some presidents have done in two terms in office.

EL

I think its wonderful that the President has declared today a national day of mourning in memory of Ray Charles. I just saw part of the funeral on CNN which showed the arrival of Prince Charles. Does anyone know if they are related?

DJ in Manhattan

It is somehow fitting that amidst the hoopla and tributes for Ronald Reagan comes the close of the life of a truly great American - That of Ray Charles. Ray Charles was an artist who overcame great poverty and hardship to bring the world the warmth of his amazing music - beautiful, heartfelt and inspirational. A great musical artist who will be greatly missed though the legacy of his recorded work will live on to entertain and inspire future generations.

NS-Y

Now *he* was a great American! Where's his state funeral?
TM

Yes, if there is a 'great communicator' to honor this week, it is most certainly Ray Charles. Thank you for that acknowledgment. I can't think of a single emotion Ray Charles failed to capture through his croons, moans, shouts, whispers, or laughs.

MC in Brooklyn

Posted by leboheme at 02:38 PM

One of the aspects not mentioned in analysis of the Mayor’s noise control proposal seems to be the one thing most of our listeners want addressed: car alarms. During our discussion of the bill today, many listeners weighed in on this aural bane of NYC living. Some pointed to the notion that car alarms do nothing in the way of theft deterrence, merely attacking the ear drums of innocent bystanders. Others said they witnessed car stereo thieves at work, completely unfazed by the blaring alarm. In fact, the City Council holds hearings on the matter tomorrow. Here are some selected emails on the matter, including listener opinions on Mister Softee trucks.

Be sure to email us your response.

I watched a thief steal a car radio while the alarm was on (I lived on the 5th floor) and he was gone before anyone could reach him.
-JK

while it is true that there is a 3 minute maximum for car alarms that go off falsely, this is almost never enforced by the police. it has been my personal experience that even when the police observe a false alarm for more than 3 mins, they still opt not to ticket the car. either way, 3 mins is too long; it takes only a few seconds of a false alarm outside your window to wake up a baby, etc.
the police need to be encouraged to ENFORCE the laws that exist.
-RB

MOTORCYLES with souped up mufflers are TERRORIZING
downtown Manhattan. Swarms of riders--especially on weekends--create a DEAFENING ASSAULT on the human body that leaves a trail of car alarm CACOPHANY. I can only imagine the effect on my 11 MONTH OLD daughter!
-C

Maybe:
- Car alarm only goes off if access is gained to car (not just bumping it)
- car alarm only goes off if wheels turn or car
is moved (gps position) after it is triggered
I think if there is the will there is a way.
-PK

why don't police enforce unnecessary honking of horns laws?
huge source of revenue.
and less noise.
-MH

The worst noise in my neighborhood, upper 90's by 1st Ave, is from car radios, worse when windows are open but hearable when they're closed too, and motorcycles.
fine people who play car radios loudly enough so word gets
-ED

the only reason that car insurance companies give a discount is b/c NYState law requires this. the discount is NOT offered b/c insurance companies see a statistical deterrent effect from car alarms.
the discount is very small ($20/year) and certainly is not worth the nuisance.
we need to get nystate to stop forcing insurance cos. to give this discount
-RB

This proposal is absolutley absurd. Bloombergs new york is transforming new yorkers into a bunch of whimps. This is new york, we chose to live here. I am seeing new york, on a daily basis, become a place where people no longer need to communicate in order to live.
Perhaps I may be disturbed by some noise, but that is better than being disturbed by a cop telling me to pipe down.
This is NOT the suburbs. Go to the berkshires if you want peace and quite.
-SC

sirens.... shreaking screaming sirens... are the most pervasive and constant noise pollution I hear every time I'm in NYC
(at least Manhattan) ... but it's not likely they wil be banned ...
-JC

Car alarms are the worst. Not only are they triggered by motorcycles and thunderstorms but any high wind and the passing of airplanes. For those of us who live in a landing path the combination can be deafening.
Additional irritants are the blaring of radios from cars and apartment windows, and yes, the Mr Softee truck which has made me come to hate "Pop Goes the Weasel". I yearn for the gentle tinkle of the Good Humour bells.
-KO

I was listening to one of the segment of your show and I did not really understand who was Mr. Softy.
Thank you,
-SB

Posted by leboheme at 12:01 PM

The Wall Street Journal has posted the document, "The Working Group Report on Detainee Interrogations on the Global War on Terrorism"

We will be talking about this in today's interview with author James Bamford.

Email us your thoughts

Posted by leboheme at 10:14 AM

Here's a question that apparently occupies a lot of our listeners (and emailers): why has the United States never had a successful, durable of economic populist movement, similar to European socialism?

New York Times columnist David Brooks thinks he has the answer: the United States is an aspirational society, as exemplified by Architectural Digest magazine: "who can possibly live in any of those homes that people read about? They're so neat, it looks like people vacuum out the inside of their toasters."

Brooks was on the show today, officially to discuss his new book "On Paradise Drive", an exploration of suburbs and the American dream. But listeners were more vexed by the riddle of aspiration, and the absence of a popular working-class movement in the United States.

Listeners respond (via email):

The reality is that the American people are literally brainwashed into believing that they are better off than they really are - they are lulled into a false sense of security by the media-AR

to say there has never been an economic populist movent in this country reveals an astounding ignorance of american history, the wobblies, Huey Long, origins of the labour unions etc. on American marterialism, exept for the puritans, africans ans a tinyminority of immagrants, the only reason anyone came to this country was for material reasons, duh. -JS

The "down-trodden" class uprising hasn't happened because A: WE DON'T HAVE TIME (many cannot even get to the polls to vote because they have to work 16 hour days) and B: WE DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY THE RIGHT TO ORGANIZE!-CLH

we all have expectations of becoming wealthy, so we don't really want to rock
the boat.
-JD

Posted by leboheme at 04:30 PM

On our show last Friday, Dick Morris said Hillary Clinton is lying in saying her daughter Chelsea was near the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. Senator Clinton made the comments in an interview she gave a week after the attacks and Morris says Chelsea contradicted her mother in her own article five months later. The former aide to President Clinton and now syndicated columnist uses this to attack the Senator’s credibility.

But on closer inspection of both Clinton’s accounts, the truth is a little more nuanced. Chelsea wrote that she was watching television in a Union Square apartment when the planes hit, but was in the World Trade Center’s vicinity when they actually collapsed. Senator Clinton seemed to indicate Chelsea was there “when the planes hit,” seemingly confusing this with the event that happened an hour later.

On September 17th 2001, Hillary told Jane Pauley on NBC’s dateline that Chelsea had gone on “what she thought would be a great jog” and that she was going to go around the towers. She followed this with, “and then the plane hit,” leaving the impression that Chelsea was jogging downtown at the time of the collision.

In November, 2001, Chelsea wrote an article in the now-defunct Talk magazine about the day’s experience, and this is where the contradiction arises. Based on press reports of the article, Chelsea doesn’t mention anything about a jog, but she talks about seeing the plane hit the tower on television in the apartment.

Morris took this to mean that Chelsea’s story turns Hillary’s on its head, making Hillary an outright liar and on our show last Friday (and in his book), Morris characterized Hillary’s comments like this:

‘Chelsea decided it would be a great day for a morning jog and she jogged around the towers of the world trade center. She heard the airplane hit, she heard it she did. And she was saved because she had ducked into a coffee shop.’ Now we know that’s a lie. Chelsea 5 months later wrote an article for Talk magazine saying she was home in her apartment.

With these comments, Morris says you get the impression that Hillary’s account puts Chelsea downtown when the planes hit. Here are Hillary’s comments as quoted from a transcript of the Dateline piece he refers to:

Senator HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON: She'd gone what she thought would be a great jog. She was going down to the Battery Park, she was going to go around the towers. She went to get a cup of coffee and--and that's when the plane hit.

PAULEY: And to see the smoke...

Hillary doesn’t mention anything about Chelsea being “saved” by the coffee shop, but the mention of jogging so close to the planes being hit, might suggest Chelsea was in more danger than she actually was.

Also, Morris says Hillary is referring to the planes hitting when Hillary says, “she did hear it,” but the rumble they refer to is more likely to be the towers collapsing than a planes’ collision. (and there is always the possibility that NBC edited out comments in between).

At the time of Chelsea’s article, Matt Drudge made a big deal of this by quoting Chelsea as saying she was “miles from Ground Zero -- when she learned of the attacks!”

But Chelsea did write that she was downtown when the towers actually collapsed (“12 blocks away”). She had over an hour to get from Union Square (where she saw the – presumably second – collision at 9:03 AM ) to lower Manhattan (where she was when the towers collapsed at 10:05 AM). Mapquest estimates the distance at 2.1 miles. Here’s a quote from the Talk magazine article (as reported by The Chicago Tribune):

I remember very little about how I got so far downtown…I do remember standing in line at a phone somewhere and hearing a deafening rumble.

On the show, Morris used this as a reason that Hillary Clinton would not make a good President:

Take that as an index of character and personality. Do you want a president who completely and utterly, makes out of whole cloth, not an exaggeration, fabrication, makes something like that up in order to bond more closely with the rescue workers, the cops, the firemen who booed her offstage?

We will take calls on this later in the week, but in the meantime, email us your thoughts.

Posted by leboheme at 06:13 PM

Is Senator Clinton more like former President Richard Nixon or former Senator Robert F. Kennedy? That's the question that's bugging political consultant Dick Morris. Morris, of course, advised for Mrs. Clinton's husband when he was President. Now he has a book out, "Rewriting History"--a response to Senator Clinton's bestselling memoir "Living History". On our show today, Morris weighed Hillary's relative similarities to Dick and Bobby.

LIKE DICK: "There is a Nixonian quality to her, of a complete misrepresentation of who she is by public persona. That misrepresentation conceals not only her bad parts but her good parts too."

LIKE BOBBY: "she has the same seat in the senate as a carpetbagger, after being the alter-ego to a president."

Not exactly flattering stuff, but once Morris had dispensed with disparaging Hillary, he had some nice things to say too:

"I think that underneath the deception, the misrepresentation, the paranoia, the materialism, lies one of the finer minds in our politics, one of the best-motivated people in our politics and someone whose perspective is sorely needed."

Touché!

Posted by leboheme at 02:25 PM

Thomas Suozzi can be considered a political maverick. He is the youngest person to be elected as Nassau County’s Executive, the first democrat to be elected to the position in 30 years and only the second in the history of the county. His constituents elected him to clean up Nassau county’s finances and now he has taken it upon himself to “Fix Albany.”

In his interview with Brian this morning he spoke about this initiative and his goal to help voters hold their politicians responsible for their actions.

Posted by leboheme at 03:34 PM

Please check out our extended entry which contains some of the emails we received from listeners during Brian's interview with Thomas Friedman from The New York Times.

Can't remember who it was who analogized the Iraq government process with Michael Jackson's nose. The point is that one surgery resulted in improvement; a second might make it a little better; subsequent ones mess it up. By my count, Iraq's government will have four surgeries....

I know it's a tiny detail, but "outsourcing" can be completely domestic--it happens all the time when banks sell off their internal IT departments to big providers like IBM or Accenture. Moving work to different countries to take advantage of differences in the global economy is something different, and doesn't –automatically- happen at the expense of domestic jobs.

How can you compare a violent Iraqi Islamic fundamentalist iman with the Likud party's democratic vote against a Gaza pullout (recent oped calling both extremists)? Does democracy work for you only when you approve of its results?

Posted by leboheme at 02:57 PM