In 1981 the first cases of HIV/AIDS were reported by the CDC. It wasn't till 1984 that the virus was isolated and identified. Twenty four years later we are still far away from a cure. Tomorrow marks the 17th commemoration of World AIDS day.

UNAIDS focuses on one theme a year, this year the focus is on Women and Girls. We want to focus our observation of the day by opening our phones to our listeners living with HIV/AIDS. We would like you to share your history living with the disease. How did you find out, how did you tell others, how many pills do you have to take a day?

The open phones segment will take place at 10:30am tomorrow morning and our show line is 212 267 9692. You can also email us here.

Posted by leboheme at 03:18 PM

For the first time since Barnes and Noble's superstores took Manhattan by storm in the mid 1990s, a big new independent bookstore is opening.

The conventional wisdom says independents can only survive if they carve out a niche (gay, women's, arts, etc). McNally Robinson, a family-owned chain with outlets in the Canadian plains provinces, wants to prove the wisdom wrong.

Tomorrow on the show, the owner, Sarah Robinson, explains why she dropped her career as a book editor and brought the family business to New York.

What do you want to ask her? Tell us!

Posted by leboheme at 03:00 PM

The Federal Communications Committee is in the headlines again this week with its criticism of ABC over their “steamy” promotion for “Desperate Housewives” before Monday Night Football. Chairman Michael Powell said he found the news "disappointing" and the network issued an apology. The promo skit featured the bare back of a character facing a footballer and the FCC says it is reviewing complaints. But how representative are the complaints on the population as a whole? Blogger Jeff Jarvis put on a reporter's hat by filing a Freedom of Information Act for commission documents. His efforts uncovered details on another FCC action - the record $1.2 million fine for Fox over a “sexually suggestive” scene in "Married by America". Jarvis’s FOIA determined the 59 complaints the commission cited were written by just 3 people. “This is America's ‘moral values’ army: three strong,” he concluded. We’ll hear Jarvis story on Monday’s show. In the meantime, he urges others to follow his lead by filing their own FOIA request.

What do you think?

Posted by leboheme at 02:02 PM

According to Transportation Alternatives as many as 112,000 adult New Yorkers ride their bikes on any given day and up to 2 million New Yorkers own bicycles. With so many of us on two wheels City Councilwoman Madeline Provenzano has proposed a licensing scheme. Under her plan anyone over the age of 16 should have to register their bicycles or pay a $300 fine and in some cases go to jail.

In a city as congested as New York this may have its benefits if it is aided by certain additions, such as more bike lanes. But such a proposal could also harm the biking community by making it that much harder to move around the city.

Posted by leboheme at 09:40 AM

Tune in to the show tomorrow to hear NPR’s Daniel Zwerdling report on the abuse of immigrants in American jails. Focusing on two prisons in New Jersey, Zwerdling discovered a pattern of abuse, including physical assault and the use of dogs to terrorize detainees, dating back to the mid 1990s. Many of these detainees had already been punished for their crimes.

Zwerdling’s reports air Wednesday and Thursday on All Things Considered. Hear him speak with Brian live on Thursday’s show.

Also coming up Thursday:
What makes a voice attractive? Scientists say it helps to have a nice body.

Whose voice do you think is sexy? Tell us!

Posted by leboheme at 02:02 PM

Some blue Americans have been trying very hard to channel their anger/ sadness into something positive and so sorryeverybody was born. As the word has spread within the blogosphere the site has been flooded by countless photographs of Americans very apologetic over George Bush's election victory. And thankfully those apologies have now been accepted, thank goodness it was getting a little awkward.

Out of the Cabinet
Right before the show (five minutes before the show to be exact) the AP announced that Colin Powell was resigning from his post. So how soon before we see his photo at sorryeverybody.com?

Posted by leboheme at 02:41 PM

At least Three reports in national newspapers tackled the issue of voter fraud in the presidential election this week. In a sign internet stories have a stronger chance of simmering into the mainstream these days, all three tell the story of blogs charging conspiracy theories along with others charging against the charges. In a world of many internets, it’s hard to keep track of all the claims and counter-claims so we've compiled a list of sites weighing in. The difference between the liberal blogs is notable (with some calls for Kerry to "unconcede" and others saying just deal with it), but the conservatives are not surprisingly unequivocal

Read the list

Let us know your thoughts

BlackBox
http://www.blackbox.org/

Us Together
http://ustogether.org/Florida_Election.htm

Greg Palast
http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=392&row=0

A call for Kerry to "unconcede"
http://journals.aol.com/libgal81/AmericasRegression/entries/770

Kevin Drum's skeptical analysis
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2004_11/005147.php

American Prospect blog, Tapped's take
http://www.prospect.org/weblog/archives/2004/11/index.html#004781

The Nation's David Corn urging democrats to move on
http://www.davidcorn.com/2004/11/a_stolen_electi.php

DailyKos disappointing disgruntled democrats
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/11/8/11406/1935

Campaign Desk's analysis of the analysis
http://www.campaigndesk.org/archives/001108.asp

Conservative blog, Little Green Footbalshttp://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=13561_NYT_Smears_Blogs_With_Kos_as_an_Example

The German take!
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,327359,00.html

Posted by leboheme at 03:32 PM

Tomorrow on the show we will look into the murder of the Dutch film maker Theo Van Gogh, which has shocked the tiny European nation known for its deep level of tolerance. Things may be changing there as this is the second public assassination in as many years. Rumors have been spreading over the brutal nature of Van Gogh's death, and clues have led to radical Islamic groups. Since the assassination tensions have been rising and tempers flaring resulting in the bombing of an Islamic school.

Always controversial (known as the Dutch Michael Moore) Van Gogh had been working on the second part of a two part movie written by Somali-born Dutch Member of Parliament Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The two had repeatedly received death threats over their portrayal of four Muslim women who were beaten, raped and forced into marriage in a short ten minute documentary.

So where will all of this controversy drive this country?

Posted by leboheme at 03:55 PM

Richard Dawkins will be giving a reading at Barnes & Noble Upper West Side on 2289 Broadway, at 82nd St New York NY 10024 this evening (11/9/2004) at 7:30 p.m. He will be accompanied by his wife, actress Lalla Ward.

Posted by leboheme at 01:21 PM

New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey was heavy on the apologies when he gave his farewell address today. He emphasized he was not, apologizing for “being a gay American,” but for letting his “personal feelings impact my decision-making.” In a bid to leave on a high note (albeit prematurely), McGreevey touted his achievements, like reforms of the state's child welfare agency and environmental protections. But just as he finishes his term, the New Jersey Star-Ledger uncovers more potentially salacious details on the Governor, including a penchant for frequenting go-go clubs and a hushed up relationship with a (female) prostitute. Tune into the show tomorrow morning for a discussion of the Governor's political legacy.

Posted by leboheme at 04:45 PM

Journalist Greg Palast thinks so. Here is his article at Tom Paine.com and a link to his website.

Let us know what you think.

Posted by leboheme at 11:52 AM

Today is the 25th anniversary of the Iranian Embassy hostage crisis. A quarter-century later, relations with Iran are nearly as tense as they were then, with large numbers of US troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, just beyond Iran's eastern and western borders.

Ken Pollack is a "liberal hawk", an interventionist Democrat whose 2002 book The Threatening Storm: The Case for Invading Iraq has since proved to contain many false assumptions about Iraq's weapons capabilities (for a mea culpa, click here).

On tomorrow's show, Pollack asks us to trust him again--this time on Iran. His new book, The Persian Puzzle suggests that Iran's hard-line regime is not about to change, shouldn't be meddled with, and stands a good chance of developing nuclear weapons. Should we worry? Tune in tomorrow.

[campaign gear remainders]

The Kerry-Edwards pill case (buy one, get one free)

Posted by leboheme at 03:30 PM

I don't even know what to think at this point. Do any of the individuals who voted based on abortion or religious issues understand the global implications of re-electing this dimwit?
-SC

To say that the Swiftboat allegations sank the Kerry bid for the Presidency is dishonest. It did not. Kerry changed his focus every five minutes during his campaign and gained little traction until the closing stretch.
-DE

The tragedy of the Bush campaign and Presidency is that he has exacerbated the divide and ignored the needs of the half of the electorate that did not vote for him.
-CK

The Democratic Party is like a train wreck happening is slow motion,
that started with the loss of the South and the vilification of the
word "Liberal" under Reagan, continued with the failure by Gore to
properly contest Florida, the rubber stamp for Bush's War in Iraq, and
the lack of vocal outrage by Dems at all the lies and civil liberties
violations by the Bushies.

What outrages me is that I feel that I am still helplessly watching the
train wreck happening.
-ESR

I live in Colorado and voted for the Libertarian candidate, Michael Badnarik. I'm surprised that the term "morals" is bringing so much fervor to the American public because I believe that each and everyone of us bases our votes, at least in part, on our moral makeup. But the way we define morals can be like night and day.

So what does anyone mean when they say that they are basing their vote on morals??????
-AS

Posted by leboheme at 04:09 PM

Our inbox has been stuffed with tales of voting woes, voting ease, and general excitement about the presidential election.

In case you want to vote but don't know where to do it, try this page recommended by a listener.

Feedback:

I voted this morning in Jersey City and was surprised that an exit interviewer for WABC-TV was set up INSIDE the polling place, about 10 yards from where the actual voting was taking place. They were set up complete w/ camera crew, backdrop & seats for the reporter & interviewee. You couldn’t get in or out of the election site w/o being stopped by the reporter. Is this legal?
-DT

I am not an immigrant but my in-laws are. (from Italy). And though they have been citizens for over 15 years I just learned something the other night when I was visiting them. My mother-in-law was under the impression that since she is registered Republican that she has to vote Republican! She was also under the impression that they would know who she voted for. Simply put, she was afraid to vote for someone other than Bush.
-KM

I'm leaning toward Nader - "they" say NJ is going to
go for Kerry; Nader represents my views very closely, particularly on Israel/Palestine. So I can vote my conscience. And I believe that no state's electoral vote has ever been won or lost by 1 vote, so I doubt that my choice will result in NJ going for Bush.
-ER

I have been listening to your program for several weeks and listening to 30 issues in 30 days and have made up my mind in the last month to vote for President Bush. I am doing so because, as the daughter of a doctor, I cannot cast a vote that involves John Edwards becoming the Vice-President of the United States. Furthermore, as The Economist pointed out, Mr. Edwards is a "rank protectionist" and I am an ardent supporter of free trade.
-PR

I couldn't bring myself to vote for either Bush or Kerry, so I voted for Badnarik, the Libertarian candidate. Afraid that if Bush loses, it will send a message of weakness to the terrorists. I don't believe Bush "lied" about the WMD and the rationale to invade Iraq, which I supported, but I think he's made his position an easy target by his inability to concede any mistakes.
-MB

Tuning in from outside of Pittsburgh, PA and wanted to let you know that I cast my vote for John Kerry today. I am a practicing Catholic who does NOT agree with abortion or partial- birth abortion, however, I did not like the fact that my faith was trying to sway my vote towards Bush based on his pro-life stance. I think people should remember that Bush has been president for 4 years now and he has STILL not made abortion illegal, nor does it seem like he will.
-MN

I realized this year that 2 variations of my name appeared as two people when I went to vote today. (I only voted once.) Also, my wife and sister-in-law are registered to vote where they currently live, where they recently moved from, and also they still appear on the voter rolls at their parents’ home address. So just taking this small sample, 3 votes were cast today yet 8 “people” were registered to vote. How do pollsters account for this?
-RF

Posted by leboheme at 02:22 PM