Good Politics Radio

The following podcast is brought to you courtesy of A World of Possibilities and The Mainstream Media Project.

On both land and sea, human activities are inflicting damage on a scale that may well be irreversible. Our future is imperiled by the heedless pursuit of energy and development to feed a civilization that has still to learn to conserve as well as consume. Two winners of the prestigious TED Prize examine our impacts and urge us to embrace a conservation ethic to return vitality and diversity.

Guests:
Sylvia Earle, Oceanographer, Explorer in Residence, National Geographic Society
Edward Burtynsky, Photographer Toronto, Canada

(Click on a guest’s name to listen to their full unedited interview.)

Credits:
Host: Mark Sommer
Senior Producer: Gregg McVicar
Associate Producers: Naihma Deady, Matt Fidler
Production Engineer: Michael Schwartz
Music in this program: “When the Music’s Over” – The Doors – Rhino/Wea; “A United Earth I” – Alan Stivell and Youssou N’Dour – Putumayo World Music; “Oceanic Part 2″ – Anoushka Shankar and Karsh Kale – Manhattan Records; “Dancers in the Land of Po” – Keola Beamer – Windham Hill Records; “Unspoken” – Katia Labeque – Unspeakable.

Funding: listeners like you.

Duration: 55:00 minutes

Click here to listen to the podcast.

Ms. Mary Racelis, of the Philippines, is a social anthropologist and academic-activist whose research and publications at the Ateneo de Manila University’s Institute of Philippine Culture have focused on urbanization, urban poverty, community organization, informal settlers, people’s empowerment, gender, children and youth, and broader development issues. A strong proponent of community organizing, she carries out action-research with urban poor groups and NGOs to strengthen community planning , implementation and monitoring .Her international service began with UNICEF in New York as Senior Policy Specialist, Family/Child Welfare, Women’s Development and Community Participation, followed by 9 years as Regional Director, UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa, Nairobi.

Upon retiring from UNICEF, she returned to the Philippines as the Ford Foundation Country Representative, and subsequently rejoined the Institute of Philippine Culture as its Director. She continues to serve as a consultant to several international development agencies, including UNICEF, the Asian Development Bank, and the World Bank, and is a member of several NGO boards, most recently Childwatch International Research Network.. In 2003-04 she was invited by Kofi Annan to serve on the UN Secretary General’s Panel of Eminent Persons on United Nations – Civil Society Relations. Among her sources of joy and pride are her five children and 13 grandchildren.
We would like to thank our podcast sponsors who make this free podcast possible: (more…)

For the first time in a weekly address, the President is joined by the First Lady as they celebrate Christmas. They both honor those serving overseas, those who have sacrificed for their country, and the families that stand by them.  The First Couple encouraged Americans to visit www.whitehouse.gov to learn how they can show their support to our soldiers and their loved ones.

“PRESIDENT:  Hello everyone, and Merry Christmas.  As you and your families gather to celebrate the holidays, we wanted to take a moment to send greetings from our family—from me, from Michelle, from Malia and Sasha—and from Bo.

FIRST LADY:  This is our first Christmas in the White House, and we are so grateful for this extraordinary experience.  Not far from here, in the Blue Room, is the official White House Christmas Tree.  It’s an 18-foot tall Douglas-fir from West Virginia and it’s decorated with hundreds of ornaments designed by people and children from all over the country.  Each one is a reminder of the traditions we cherish as Americans and the blessings we’re thankful for this holiday season.

PRESIDENT:  That’s right, especially as we continue to recover from an extraordinary recession that still has so many Americans hurting: parents without a job who struggled to put presents under the Christmas  tree; families and neighbors who’ve seen their home foreclosed; folks wondering what the new year will bring.

But even in these tough times, there’s still so much to celebrate this Christmas.  A message of peace and brotherhood that continues to inspire more than 2,000 after Jesus’ birth.  The love of family and friends.  The bonds of community and country.  And the character and courage of our men and women in uniform who are far from home for the holidays, away from their families, risking their lives to protect ours.

To all our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen—I have no greater honor than serving as your Commander in Chief.  I’ve been awed by your selfless spirit, your eagerness to serve—at the Naval Academy and West Point.  I’ve been energized by your dedication to duty—from Baghdad to the Korean Peninsula.  Michelle and I have been moved by your determination—wounded warriors at Walter Reed and Bethesda, fighting to recover, to get back to your units.

And I’ve been humbled, profoundly, by patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.  In flag-draped caskets coming home at Dover.  In the quiet solitude of Arlington.  And after years of multiple tours of duty, as you carry on with our missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, your service, your readiness to make that same sacrifice, is an inspiration to us and to every American. (more…)

The following podcast is brought to you courtesy of A World of Possibilities and The Mainstream Media Project.

Indigenous peoples, living closest to nature, feel the threat of climate change first. They have a potent message to deliver to the climate treaty negotiators meeting in Copenhagen in December 2009. The climate is changing the way they’ve lived forever, so they’re adapting in order to endure. Do the rest of us have the wisdom and ingenuity to change along with the changing climate?

Guests:
Andrea Carmen, Executive Director, International Indian Treaty Council
Gunn-Britt Retter, Head of the Arctic and Environmental Unit, Saami Council
Mike Williams, Chairman, Alaska Intertribal Council
Sarah James, Gwich’in tribal leader, Arctic Village, Alaska; winner, Goldman Environmental Prize
Tom Goldtooth, Executive Director, Indigenous Environmental Network
Shagire Shano Shale, Gamo elder and Ethiopian mountain pastoralist; Wolde Gossa Tadesse, interpreter(TCF)

(Click on a guest’s name to listen to their full unedited interview.)

Credits:
Host: Mark Sommer
Senior Producer: Gregg McVicar
Associate Producers: Naihma Deady, Matt Fidler
Production Engineer: Michael Schwartz

Music in this program: Open – “Caribou Skin Hut Dance” – Sarah James – Soundings of Planet; “A United Earth I” – Alan Stivell and Youssou N’Dour – Putumayo World Music; “Hunter” – Bjork – Pid; “Caribou Skin Hut Dance” – Sarah James – Soundings of Planet; “Crazy Horse” – John Trudell – Reincarnate Music.

Funding: The Christensen Fund.

Duration: 55:00 minutes

To listen to this podcast click here.

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Senator John McCain of Arizona.  He spoke about the Health Care Bill currently being debated and urged voters to contact their elected officials.

“Hi, I’m John McCain. Today, after nearly a year, the Senate Democrats are still trying to scramble together their latest proposal to ‘reform’ America’s health care system, which constitutes one-sixth of the American economy.
Millions of Americans are very worried that whatever bill emerges from the confused and secretive process Democrats used to cobble this legislation together will ultimately do more harm than good. And, they have every right to be.

The biggest problem in our health care system, and the greatest concern of a majority of Americans, are its out of control cost increases. For years, health care costs have grown far faster than the rate of inflation, makinghealth care insurance increasingly expensive and unaffordable for more and more Americans and their employers. The best thing government could do to ensure more Americans have access to health care insurance is to institute reforms that would rein in costs and make health care more affordable for more Americans. Regrettably, there’s nothing in this legislation that effectively addresses the problem of health care hyperinflation – in fact, experts tells us the Democrat legislation makes matters worse.

Instead, Democrats are proposing – in an era of high unemployment, record deficits, and national debt – to spend $2.5 trillion on another unsustainable entitlement program. To pay part of the costs of this enormous new burden on American taxpayers, $500 billion in new tax increases will be authorized almost immediately.
An additional half a trillion dollars in so-called ‘savings’ will come from cutting Medicare, including from home health care services and the popular Medicare Advantage program that 11 million seniors currently use. However, reforms of the system, such as they are, will be delayed for four years. (more…)

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Representative Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee.  She urged against U.S. participation in international climate change agreements in Copenhagen.

“Hi, I’m Congressman Marsha Blackburn, and I have the great honor of representing Tennessee’s Seventh District.

“Next week, I and a number of my Republican colleagues in the House of Representatives will head to Copenhagen – Denmark’s capital city – where diplomats and politicians from all around the world have gathered in an attempt to reach an international, UN-brokered agreement on climate change.

“If President Obama has his way, the Copenhagen conference will produce mandatory emissions limits that would destroy millions of American jobs and damage our economic competitiveness for decades to come.

“To comply with this UN-brokered agreement, Washington Democrats want to impose a ‘cap-and-trade’ national energy tax, a bureaucratic nightmare that would make households, small businesses and family farms pay higher prices for electricity, gasoline, food and virtually every product made in America. This legislation is currently making its way through the Senate after passing the House of Representatives in June.

“President Obama himself has said that as a result of this national energy tax, electricity prices would, and I quote, ‘necessarily skyrocket.’  His own Department of Energy has determined that millions of jobs would be lost. (more…)

President Obama, in his weekly address to the nation explains that while he continues to focus on jobs, it is also profoundly important to address the problems that created this economic mess in the first place. He commends the House of Representatives for passing reforms to our financial system, including a new Consumer Financial Protection Agency, and blasts Republican Leaders and financial industry lobbyists for their joint “pep rally” to defeat it.

“Over the past two years, more than seven million Americans have lost their jobs, and factories and businesses across our country have been shuttered.  In one way or another, we’ve all been touched by the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

The difficult steps we’ve taken since January have helped to break our fall, and begin to get us back on our feet.  Our economy is growing again.  The flood of job loss we saw at the beginning of this year slowed to a relative trickle last month.  These are good signs for the future, but little comfort to all of our neighbors who remain out of a job.  And my solemn commitment is to work every day, in every way I can, to push this recovery forward and build a new foundation for our lasting growth and prosperity.

That’s why I announced some additional steps this week to spur private sector hiring.  We’ll give an added boost to small businesses across our nation through additional tax cuts and access to lending they desperately need to grow.  We’ll rebuild more of our vital infrastructure and promote advanced manufacturing in clean energy to put Americans to work doing the work we need done.  And I have called for the extension of unemployment insurance and health benefits to help those who have lost their jobs weather these storms until we reach that brighter day.

But even as we dig our way out of this deep hole, it’s important that we address the irresponsibility and recklessness that got us into this mess in the first place. (more…)

This week on American Radio Journal: Lowman Henry talks with Matthew Continetti author of The Persecution of Sarah Palin: How the Elite Media Tried to Bring Down a Rising Star about the enduring popularity of the former Alaska Governor; Andy Roth of the Club for growth has the Real Story on the “public option” as the health care debate gets underway in the U.S. Senate; And, Col. Frank Ryan, USMC (Ret.) has an American Radio Journal commentary on the principles which should guide solutions to our national problems.

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American Radio Journal is produced and distributed by the Lincoln Institute of Public Opinion Research, Inc. The Lincoln Institute is a 501c3 non-profit educational foundation based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Founded in 1993, the mission of the Lincoln Institute is: “To promote the ideals of free market economics, individual liberty, and limited government through the conduct of public opinion research and related educational programs.”

The Lincoln Institute accepts no government money and is completely funded by philanthropic grant making foundations, corporations, and individuals.

To listen to the broadcast click here.

The Republican Weekly Address was delivered by Carly Fiorina, California Republican candidate for the Senate.

“Hello. This is Carly Fiorina. And today I’d like to speak to you as one of the more than two and a half million women in America who have been diagnosed with breast cancer — and beaten it.

Like everyone else who’s diagnosed with cancer, I never thought it would happen to me. I was fit, healthy, and active. I even got regular check-ups. But earlier this year, just two weeks after a clear mammogram, I discovered a lump through a self-exam.
Soon after that came the diagnosis, the surgery, the long and difficult treatment regimen, and the painful experience of wondering whether I would make it, whether I’d pull through.

I’m fortunate to live near one of the greatest cancer centers in the world. I’m fortunate to have the incredible love and support of family and friends.

And, my diagnosis gave me time to think about my future — because one of the things that happens when you have to face your fears, including the fear of dying, is that you can face your future with renewed hope and enthusiasm.
My doctors tell me I have won my battle with cancer. And I realize that this makes me one of the lucky ones. Last year alone, more than 40,000 Americans died from breast cancer. Aside from lung cancer, breast cancer is the most fatal form of cancer for American women. Nearly 200,000 new cases were reported last year alone.

That’s why a recent recommendation on mammograms by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a government-run panel of health care professionals that makes recommendations on prevention, struck such a nerve. (more…)

President Obama, in his weekly address to the nation said the jobs numbers released yesterday indicate that the job loss trend is improving, but that his administration remains committed to accelerating these trends and putting more Americans back to work.  Next week, the President will announce additional ideas about growing the economy and adding jobs to our economy.

“Every month since January, when I became your President, I’ve spoken to you about the periodic reports of the Labor Department on the number of jobs created or lost during the previous month; numbers that tell a story about how America’s economy is faring overall.

In those first months, the numbers were nothing short of devastating. The worst recession since the 1930s had wreaked havoc on the lives of so many of our fellow Americans. Yesterday, the numbers released by the Labor Department reflected a continuing positive trend of diminishing job loss.

But for those who were laid off last month and the millions of Americans who have lost their jobs in this recession, a good trend isn’t good enough. Trends don’t buy the groceries. Trends don’t pay the rent or a college tuition. Trends don’t fulfill the need within each of us to be productive, to provide for our families, to make the most of our lives, to reach for our dreams.

So, it is true that we, as a country, are in a very different place than we were when 2009 began. Because of the Recovery Act and a number of other steps we’ve taken, we’re no longer facing the potential collapse of our financial system or a second Great Depression. We’re no longer losing jobs at a rate of 700,000 a month. And our economy’s growing for the first time in a year. (more…)

The following podcast is brought to you courtesy of A World of Possibilities and The Mainstream Media Project.

Fasten your seatbelts. Now put on your thinking caps; you’ll need ‘em. And while you’re at it, tie on those wings of unfettered imagination. We’re about to enter a different kind of twilight zone. This is not your biochem class nor a biotech lab. This is biomimcry, an emerging art and science of a very different kind that uses the evolutionary genius of nature to inspire new approaches to some of our most vexing problems.

Today on A World of Possibilities, “Designing with Nature.” We’ll explore how green design is being applied to environmental challenges ranging from toxic carpets to contaminated wastewater. What are the possibilities and constraints in applying these principles more broadly to help clean up both what we use and how it’s made?

Guests:

Host: Mark Sommer
Senior Producer: Gregg McVicar
Associate Producers: Naihma Deady, Matt Fidler
Production Engineer: Michael Schwartz
Field Engineers: Steven Short, Rori Gallagher, Kara Hochner
Music in this program:

“Desert Rose” – Daniel Lanois – Anti/Epitaph Records; “A United Earth I” – Alan Stivell and Youssou N’Dour – Putumayo World Music; “Wild Thing” – The Troggs – K-Tel Records; “Shells” – Keola Beamer – Windham Hill Records; “Green Rainbow” – Lunar Drive – Begges Banquet US; “Flight Of The Cosmic Hippo – Bela Fleck & the Flecktones – Warner Bros./Wea Records; “Mother Nature’s Son” – The Beatles – Apple Records.

This program was funded by The Park Foundation.

Duration: 55:00 minutes

Click here to listen to this podcast.