Author: storiesinamerica

After the past few elections, I, like many, wanted to know if the United States is as divided as we are led to believe. Are the media stereotypes about people living in the so-called “red states” accurate? I wasn’t finding any answers in my San Francisco bubble, so I decided to take a six-month leave of absence from my radio job, held an auction to raise money, bought a 1984 Toyota van, and headed to Texas. The goal of the trip was to get past the sound bites and have conversations with people, most of whom you’ve never heard of, about the issues they care about and why they vote the way they do (or not).
Over the course of my journey, I interviewed hundreds of people, including a Democratic cowboy from Linden, Texas who called George W. Bush a wannabe; a Montana hunter who is thinking about leaving the conservation movement to fight for gay rights; a former evangelical pastor who now preaches inclusion in Tulsa, Oklahoma; moderate Republicans who believe Bush is the worst environmental president in history; Republicans who oppose Bush’s foreign policy, but are afraid to speak out; pro-choice Republicans; doctors and patients at the only clinic that provides safe and legal abortions in Mississippi; and opinionated people who don’t vote. I write about my journey in my new book, Red Highways: A Liberal’s Journey into the Heartland. Here’s a story about one of the many veterans I met.

After four months on the road, I still found myself saying, “I can’t believe there’s a Wal-Mart here.” When I assumed a town was too small for a Wal-Mart, it practically hit me in the face. I did several interviews in Wal-Mart parking lots because they were always full and just about everyone I approached was willing to talk.

A few minutes after finding a parking spot at the Wal-Mart in Alva, Oklahoma (population 5,288), a 24-year-old guy named Eli pulled up next to me. He was wearing jeans, a blue and white checkered button up, a baseball cap with a torn bill, and sunglasses. Eli served in Iraq for four months in 2003. He was stationed in Camp Doha in Kuwait before the invasion started and was 10 miles south of Baghdad after the bombing began. Not long after we began talking, it was clear he was filled with pent-up anger and needed to vent. “We had 40 days with no shower, five severe sand storms, a month without ammunition. We went through a lot.”

“A month without ammunition?”

“Thirty-eight guys and the only thing we had was 210 rounds and 210 rounds is supposed to be for one person. Some crap happened.”

“What’d you do?”

“Throw rocks? Everybody else had tents. We didn’t. Everybody else had air conditioners. We didn’t. The only thing I had to eat for three days was crackers. We ran out of water for a full day. We went through a lot.”

As Eli spoke, he had a painful expression on his face. “I lost a friend in Colorado. He was over there one week shy of a year. He had an affair with a colonel. He brought it home with him. The day before he was supposed to be court-martialed, he went down to the local park and blew his brains out. A $250,000 life insurance policy was supposed to go to his family. His family only gets 25 percent since it was a self-inflicted wound.”

“How has all of this affected you?”

“I have nightmares every single day. I’ve lost several friends over there. For some reason, Bush is still keeping us over there.”

“After going through all of this, have your opinions about the war changed?”

“Yes, they have. Bush could have done a lot of things differently. He sent us over there to do a mission. A lot of people have died doing that mission. It’s about time they finish it up and come home. I was over there for two weeks in 120-degree weather. I was wearing a t-shirt with a jacket over it and coveralls for two weeks straight. I have the option to go back over, but I’m not going to because I have the option this time. My grandpa’s health is real bad so I’m going to stay back and help with the family. I’ve been there and I’ve done it. I know how bad it is. I’ve lost several friends over there. My cousin was over there. He just had shoulder surgery. He’s my age and is disabled.”

“Are people around here still joining the military?”

“Our numbers are so low. I’m with the Kansas National Guard now and they said we’re down 2700 compared to this time last year. That’s bad. Recruiters are losing their jobs because they can’t get people in.”

“Are your friends’ opinions about the war changing?”

“Kinda yes, kinda no. Some people are a little bit more gung-ho than I am. They want to go back over there and shoot somebody. I tried to go deer hunting since being over there. I can’t do it. It’s not a challenge to me. There’s a lifeless animal with no gun. I can’t do it. We had machine guns over there. You name it, we had it. If somebody came up to us, you better be bringing lunch `cause we’re the U.S. We’re gonna tear you up. But a lot of people’s opinions have changed. Several guys from here in Alva and the surrounding areas went ahead and quit. They were thinking about staying in for the whole 20 years and after they got back, they said, `My time is up. I’m through.’ One guy was in for 22 years and he’s 62-years-old. He resigned to go over there with us and he got gallstones. When he got back, he was gonna stay in for another year, but he quit because of so much crap that happened. Some people got treated good; some got treated bad. Like I said, 40 days without a shower. Hand wipes. Toilet paper. That’s what you can send the troops. Prayers. We always ask for prayers. Toothbrush. Toothpaste. Shaving cream. Razors and a picture or two.”

“When you look at how much we’re spending on this war, you would think there would be an abundance of those goods.”

“There’s not. I celebrated my 22nd birthday over there and the barracks were named after me because I got so much mail. I had eight boxes come full of you name it, I had it. What they first told us when we went over there was, `We’re not going to have bacon. No pork allowed. It’s against their religion.’ As soon as we set base up, guess what we get? We get pork because we’re on U.S. soil. We’re on the Army base. I’m Army National Guard. Everybody says we’re weekend warriors. We only serve one weekend a month, but we make commitments like everybody else. I’ve got several friends in the Marines, Navy, you name it. We all sacrifice our lives. We sacrifice our marriages and our kids. I haven’t been the same since we got home. I know a friend who, as soon as he got home, told his wife, `No more. I’m getting a divorce.’ Women are treated like crap over there. Women are the backbone of the family. Women do all the work. The men are the bosses. Men tell the women what to do. Women will do everything.”

“You mean the Iraqi women?”

“Yes.”

“Did you have many interactions with Iraqi families?”

“Yes. Several came up to us and started to learn our language. We had several English interpreters over there. We learned a little bit of their language. We went through a three-hour class to see how they speak: no, yes, here’s some food, here’s some water. We really couldn’t give them that stuff because it was just like throwing a piece of candy to a bunch of kids. You give one, you have to give to every single one of `em. I remember several people would come up and say, `I want food. I want water.’ I had to say, `I can’t give you nothin’. It’s against regulations.’ Some of them loved us being there because they knew what we were doing. We were trying to get rid of Saddam and give them power so they’re not in war every single day. So some were grateful that we were there and others said, `U.S., just go ahead and leave. We don’t need you.'”

“Have opinions about the war in this area changed?”

“Yes, a lot of people who were with Bush have turned against him because it’s gone on too long. What are we doing there now? At this very moment, what are we doing? We’re still trying to help them gain control of their country. We have problems here in the U.S. People are dying everyday. It’s time to come home. Let people spend the rest of their lives with their families. It’s gone on too long. It’s gonna be like this for several more years.”

Rose Aguilar is author of the new book Red Highways: A Liberal’s Journey into the Heartland. Rose also hosts Your Call, a daily call-in radio show on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco, writes for Alternet.org, and offers political analysis for the BBC.

My book was officially released today. Please spread the word. It’s a true labor of love and a grassroots effort. The voices in my book deserve to be heard.

Here’s more information:

A San Francisco radio host grown tired of media stereotypes, Rose Aguilar held an auction to raise money, bought a van, and set out on a six-month road trip through the red-state South and West to find out what voters really care about. Equal parts travelogue, political reportage, and personal discovery, Red Highways challenges conventional wisdom and calls for a more thoughtful and productive dialogue between Red and Blue America.

“Red Highways is riveting — I could not put it down. Alive with the voices of real people, it is both heartening and heart wrenching, both enraging and inspiring, full of insights and information. If you want to understand our country, and care about its future, read this book!”
-Riane Eisler, author of The Real Wealth of Nations and The Chalice and The Blade

“Red Highways takes us out of our personal ‘Green Zones’ to taste the diverse complexity of so-called conservative states, and challenges stereotypes reinforced by the corporate media. For mindless drivel from a pundit, watch CNN; for a clear view of what people of various political ideologies in the U.S. want, think, and believe, read this book.”
-Dahr Jamail, author of Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq

“Straight-ahead reporting on a road trip into the heart of Red State America for urban liberals who cannot (or dare not) make the tour themselves. Full of surprises.”
-Joe Bageant, author of Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America’s Class War

Aguilar breaks shallow stereotypes by traveling through states that usually vote Republican–Texas, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, and Montana–to talk to people of all political stripes about the issues they truly care about and what they expect from politicians.

This is a travelogue with all the attendant local color you might find on the road with Alton Brown, but pure politics.

Sections include:

*Domestic Violence Changed My Politics
*The Last Family Planning Clinic in Mississippi
*Conflicted Christians
*Segregated Sundays
*Overworked and Underpaid
*Off the Front Lines and Forgotten
*Green Republicans

Additional Praise:

“The `red’ state of Idaho is a hotbed of opposition to the Patriot Act. The `blue’ state of Connecticut sends ardent backers of the war in Iraq to Congress. America is neither so red as Republicans would imagine, nor so blue as Democrats hope. It is, in fact, a rich, complicated, at times frightening, at times reassuring shade of purple that Rose Aguilar captures not with the jaundiced eye of a political commentator but with the nuance of a novelist.”
-John Nichols, political writer, The Nation

“Red Highways is a trip through the USA’s byways, far beyond what the author calls “the media’s obsession with stereotypes.” Rose Aguilar takes us along as the rubber meets the road–and guides us through a remarkable quest for human substance instead of media clichés.”
-Norman Solomon, author of Made Love, Got War: Close Encounters with America’s Warfare State

“Rose Aguilar brings curiosity and compassion to this beautiful story of a diehard liberal’s journey into the soul of middle America.”
-Harvard University Professor Linda Bilmes, co-author of The Three Trillion Dollar War

Dear Gwen Ifill,

It’s hard to believe that just a few weeks ago, the national media were fixated on lipstick. What a difference a Wall Street crash makes. It’s been remarkable to hear conservatives on the Sunday talk shows discuss the growing income gap, stagnant wages, and job losses. If it weren’t for the economic crisis, who knows what the inane topic of the day would be.

It’s a good time to be the moderator of such an important debate. If the lead story were lipstick, you’d probably be criticized for asking “gotcha” questions, but because this country is on a downward spiral, I’d be willing to bet that most people expect you to ask tough questions about issues that actually matter.

The women I’ve interviewed over the past few months are tired of questions about flag lapel pins and the petty back and forth. They’re also tired of being ignored. Other than polls, it’s all too rare to hear from actual voters.
Over the past few days, I’ve asked women, both in person and over the phone, what question they would like you to ask Sarah Palin at tonight’s debate. These women have dedicated their lives to fighting for the poor, affordable housing, abused and neglected children, the constitution, social justice, equal pay, veterans, equal rights for all, the uninsured, reproductive rights, civil rights, and innocent civilians whose lives have been forever changed by U.S. sanctions and bombs.

When I tell women about this article, they first chuckle, then take a deep breath, and say, “Where do I begin?” You’re probably experiencing similar feelings. I would love to know what your preparation process has been like.

Here are the questions the women I interviewed would like you to ask Sarah Palin:

“Could you please describe your understanding of the obligations and authority assigned to the three branches of U.S. government as set forth in the Constitution?”
–Elizabeth de la Vega, former federal prosecutor, Los Gatos, CA

“Governor Palin, 248,000 children in Ohio are without health insurance. How do you stand on funding programs to help our poor and disadvantaged children? Senator McCain supported President Bush when he vetoed SCHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Where do you stand on SCHIP?
–Marian Hann, Receptionist, Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio, Columbus, OH — Senator John McCain received a 10 percent rating from the Defense Fund — Alaska ranks near the bottom for providing children’s health care

“John Mccain’s voting record on veterans does not reflect what comes out of his mouth. How will you improve care for veterans’ families left hanging? What will you do to ensure the VA hospitals give the vets the treatment they deserve so they don’t have to jump through hoops to get it? The VA didn’t treat our son. The number of veterans committing suicide is on the rise. A lot more needs to be done.”
–Joyce Lucey is the mother of Jeffrey Lucey, who committed suicide after being in Iraq for five months in 2004, Western Massachusetts

“If you were to become Commander-in-Chief, would you require military women who’ve been raped to pay for their own rape investigation kits as the constituents of Wasilla do? Nearly all soldiers found guilty of raping a fellow soldier do no jail/brig time. What would you do to change this policy to serve justice? Do you think this is justice? There are reports of female soldiers dying of dehydration due to fear of being raped on the way to the porta-johns. Would you appoint an independent investigator to look into both this and the claims that women servicemembers who are murdered in country are being wrongly classified as suicides? Why did you delete rape kit funding from the budget when you were mayor? Alaska’s rape rate is 2.5 times the national average.”
–Wendy Barranco, 22, President, Los Angeles Chapter of Iraq Vets Against the War, Los Angeles, CA — Wendy Barranco served as an anesthesia technician at a Tikrit field hospital from October 2005 to July 2006

“What’s your platform for issues of importance to Native Americans and Indian health services? It’s getting worse here. We’re constantly losing our funding.”
–Naomi Harjo, Patient Service Coordinator, Native American Health Center, a nonprofit, community-based organization, San Francisco, CA

“Even in the current free-market some cancer medicines – like Avastin – cost $100,000 a year. What would the Governor do to make sure that everybody – rich and poor – gets the medication they need?
 “Consumers are worried about chemicals being added to the food supply which may cause cancer and other diseases. Children are particularly at risk. And there’s ample science to support these concerns. What would you do to make our food less dangerous?”
–Barbara Brenner, Executive Director, Breast Cancer Action, San Francisco, CA

“Governor Palin, this is the first time I’ve paid such close attention to politics. I was shocked to learn that you allow people to shoot animals from airplanes in Alaska. Why do you allow aerial hunting? How many animals have been killed as a result?”
–Angela, 70, Thrift Shop Volunteer, Petaluma, CA

“Even though the U.S. has for decades been the richest nation the world has ever seen, it has never been able to eliminate poverty by depending on trickle-down from wealthier sections of the economy.  Now that poverty is growing again, and a rising number of people with full-time jobs are in poverty, and the burden of poverty falls most heavily on women and their children, what are the proposals to get these women on their feet and out of poverty?
Our country’s escalating health care crisis – 47 million uninsured, many millions underinsured and health care benefits under siege from employers – has just as devastating an impact on women and their families as the financial crisis has on people in the finance industry.  Maybe more of an impact.  Would you say it’s time for the institutions that are bailing out Wall Street to also rescue the people of Main Street from our failing health care system?”
–Ethel Long-Scott, Executive Director of the Women’s Economic Agenda Project, an organization committed to attaining economic human rights for all people, Oakland, CA

“Will the McCain/Palin ticket implement work supports–especially paid maternity/parental leave?”
–Sylvia Allegretto, Economist, Institute for Research on Labor & Employment at UC Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

“Governor Palin, you have said that you believe that climate change is a real occurrence and the immediate effects can be felt all across your own state of Alaska, but when asked if `man’ is the cause of climate change, you argue that it matters not who or what is ultimately to blame for this phenomenon, rather, that we accept it as a reality and move on from there.  Simultaneously, you are a firm believer in `drill here, drill now’ as the solution to our nation’s energy crisis. How do you reconcile these two positions, particularly given that there is  scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels, primarily oil, gasoline and coal, is the primary cause of climate change and, more importantly given your position on offshore drilling, that drilling in waters depths greater than 500 feet releases methane, a green house gas at least twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide in its contribution to global warming?  If we do not acknowledge that the oil, gas, and coal industries and the consumers of these products are the cause of climate change, but rather aggressively pursue the expansion of these industries, how can we possibly expect to change course and save your state from melting in the ocean in the process?”
–Antonia Juhasz, 37, Activist and Author of The Tyranny of Oil, San Francisco, CA

“If you’re so pro-life, why are you so pro-war?”
–Pauline, 72, Real Estate Agent, Petaluma, CA

“Congratulations on being able to pull off being a working mother of five children. As vice-president, what are you going to do to guarantee that all American women have access to the same kind of childcare that you clearly have access to?”
–Jo Kreiter, 43, Choreographer, San Francisco, CA

“How do you intend to address the fact that an estimated 10,000,000 American children a day go hungry? What is your policy on helping working mothers get affordable childcare? What are your views on the successful re-entry of prisoners back to the community? What are your views on drug laws? Are they effective in stemming crime? Is incarceration the best way to deal with drug-related crimes? How should girls be protected from sexually abusive male relatives/fathers so that they don’t get pregnant?”
–Margo Perin, Restorative Justice Teacher, CA

“According to an Alaska Eagle Forum questionnaire you completed in 2006, when you were running for governor, you said you opposed hate crime legislation. You were asked, “Will you support an effort to expand hate crimes laws?” You answered, “No, as I believe all heinous crime is based on hate.” If someone is physically assaulted because she is Jewish, Christian, African American, a woman, or  gay, why shouldn’t the law provide for an increased penalty?”
–Kathryn Russell-Brown, Professor and Director, Center for the Study of Race & Race Relations, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

“If you were to become President, and then you were offered the opportunity to nominate a Supreme Court Justice, whom would you pick, and why?”
–Joni Eisen, 61, President, Potrero Hill Democratic Club, San Francisco, CA

“Do you have any friends who are pro-choice? How do you feel about women who are pro-choice?”
–Donna

“How would you ensure that U.S. intelligence agencies focus their warrantless surveillance resources on real terrorism threats rather than on prying into the private lives of law-abiding Americans?”
–Nancy Talanian, Director, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Northampton, MA

“Women across the country are battling low-wage or lower-paying jobs while often being the sole provider of the family.  What is your position on wages and the right to organize, particularly as it affects women?”
–Sushma Sheth, Miami Workers Center, Miami, FL

“Do you truly believe that the earth was formed 6000 years ago with all flora and fauna in place? What do you make of all the scientific studies on the age of the earth?”
–Bea Kreloff, Art Workshop International, New York, NY

“What is the job of the vice-president? What are five qualities of a good leader and how do you exemplify them? Where have you traveled? Why should I vote for you?”
–Mary McGloin, 35, Actor and Grad Student, Washington DC

“You campaigned for governor of Alaska on a ticket of open and transparent government. Yet, you are now refusing to cooperate with a bi-partisan investigation into your own abuse of power and instead allowing Senator McCain’s campaign such interference that the legislature has asked the Alaska State Troopers to look into witness tampering. How can the American people trust you?”
“You publicly acknowledge that Alaska, as the only Arctic state, is suffering from the effects of global warming. You also like to champion yourself as having taken on the oil industry. Yet, you recently challenged a Bush Administration attempt to list polar bears as a threatened species, citing studies by scientists known to question the human contribution to climate change and stating the designation would “deter activities such as…oil and gas exploration and development”. Explain these contradictory positions.”
“You’ve stated that you don’t support a women’s right to have an abortion, even if she is a minor who’s been raped by her father. Would you, as vice-president, seek to uphold the law, which protects a women’s right to choose or would you seek to overturn Roe v Wade?”
–Karen Button, Writer and Activist, Spenard, AK

“What are your plans to strengthen services to help women and children recover from abuse?”
–Cathi Martarella, Invest in Kids Education Coordinator, Every Child Matters, St. Louis, MO

“Why won’t you give other women the same choice you made when you decided to have your latest child?”
–Lisa Soldavinia, Yes! on Prop 2, Petaluma, CA

“You don’t support reproductive rights or raising the minimum wage, so why are you capitalizing on running as a female candidate? Your policies run counter to the interests of women. Please explain.
–Loretta Ross, Founding Member and National Coordinator of Sister Song: Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective, a network of grassroots agencies representing women of color — Loretta was one of the first African American women to direct the first rape crisis center in the United States in the 1970s

“Governor Palin, I’m very concerned about our country and the impact we are having on the rest of the world. What foreign policy issue is at the top of your list? Not Senator McCain’s list. Your list.”
–Tina, Concerned Citizen

“Do you support the Community Choice Act and the right of people with disabilities to live free from fear of living incarcerated and in institutions? Senator McCain opposes it. How do you feel? Also, please share your plan for affordable and accessible housing.”
–Marsha Katz, Community Organizer, ADAPT, a grassroots group fighting for people with disabilities, Missoula, Montana

“What would you do to support women who are struggling to support their families?”
–Susannah Morgan, Executive Director, Food Bank of Alaska, Anchorage, AK — the food bank serves 83,174 people annually — demand is growing

“What’s our responsibility to the promises we made to Afghan women, many of whom have seen no improvement? The situation is actually getting much worse. It was safer to be in Afghanistan in 2002 than it was in 2007. Also, there’s never any mention of the lives lost in Iraq and Afghanistan due to the U.S. invasions. What role should the U.S. play in ensuring the safety and security of the civilians living in the countries we enter?”
–Anne Brodsky, Associate Professor of Psychology, The University of Maryland, Author of With All Our Strength, Baltimore, MD

“What is your position on the bailout plan? What do you think of Reagan’s deregulation position? Are you in favor of deregulation? Also, what do you think about the crisis that’s happening across this country? The unemployment rate is 11 percent in the African-American community. If you look at black men between the ages of 18-35, it’s at 35 percent. People are hurting.”
–Jeanette Foreman, Media Justice Activist, Prometheus Project, Atlanta, Georgia

“John McCain has said he would like to close Guantanamo. What should happen to the approximately 250 detainees who are being held there?”
–Stacy Sullivan, Counterterrorism Advisor, Human Rights Watch, New York, NY — she recently returned from Guantanamo

“As a woman and a mother who has a disabled child, what do you think about the impact the war and the sanctions have had on the Iraqi people? Over 500,000 Iraqi kids were killed during 12 years of sanctions. Tens of thousands of children have been killed in Afghanistan and Iraq. What is your response to this violence? Also, you say you prefer adoption to abortion. What do you think of the United States’ adoption policies? What should change?
–Malihe Razazan, Host, Voices of the Middle East on KPFA 94.1 FM, Oakland, CA

“You told Katie Couric that you consider yourself a feminist. What does feminism mean to you? You also said you have a gay friend who `chose’ to be gay. Do you really think that being gay is a choice? Do you think gay Americans should be treated with the same equality as everyone else? Why do you think the vicinity of Alaska and Russia being close gives you foreign policy experience?”
–Candace Nichols, Executive Director, The Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada

Feel free to share this list with your colleagues. As painful as they’ve been to watch, we’re hoping the McCain campaign ‘allows’ Sarah Palin to do a few more interviews before the election.

Good luck tonight. We’ll be watching.

Sincerely,
Rose Aguilar

Rose Aguilar is the host of Your Call, a daily call-in radio show on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco, and author of the new book, Red Highways: A Liberal’s Journey into the Heartland

I’m trying to get into the habit of posting info about the guests on Your Call on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco. It’s a call-in show and we’d love to hear from those of you who have the luxury of listening to the radio during the day and appreciate in-depth conversations.

Investigative journalist Craig Unger will be on  today from 11 am – noon PST on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco. You can also listen live online or podcast the show.
Here’s what’s coming up this week:

*Monday – A conversation with Molly Bingham and Steve Connors, the filmmakers behind “Meeting Resistance“
Synopsis: What would you do if America was invaded? “Meeting Resistance” raises the veil of anonymity surrounding the Iraqi insurgency by meeting face to face with individuals who are passionately engaged in the struggle, and documenting for the very first time, the sentiments experienced and actions taken by a nation’s citizens when their homeland is occupied.

*Tuesday – A conversation with Craig Unger, author of “The Fall of the House of Bush” – Is George W. Bush the beginning or the end of the Republican Party as we know it? How much influence do the neocons still have? What about the Religious Right? Who will this unholy alliance back in November?

*Wednesday – The first in our yearlong series about the commons. Who controls space? Do military and commercial uses of space threaten its status as a shared resource?

*Thursday –  Teen pregnancy rates are on the rise for the first time in 15 years. Is it time to rethink how we educate kids about sex?
Guests: Shelby Knox, a Baptist teenager who fought for sex-ed in Lubbock, TX
A roundtable of San Francisco high school students

*Friday – How did the media cover the week’s news?
Guests so far: Max Brantley, editor of the Arkansas Times – he wrote an excellent article about Mike Huckabee in November

Hi all,

Thought you’d be interested in a few of this week’s radio shows. We’ve been doing an “On the Record” series where we get past the soundbites and rhetoric of the presidential hopefuls and instead focus on their voting records and campaign contributions. I’ll post more on that later…

 
Here’s what’s coming up…

Your Call airs from 10:00-11:00 am PST on 91.7 FM in San Francisco. You can also listen online or download the podcast.

Monday, 11/19 – How are different cultures dealing with aging? What is being done to ensure culturally sensitive care?
Guests: Dr. Rita Hargrave – she specializes in the health needs of the aging population and runs EthnicEldersCare.net, a site designed for people who are currently or will be caregivers to ethnic elders
Wesley Mukoyama, executive director of Yu-Ai Kai, a Japanese American Community Senior Center in San Jose

Tuesday, 11/20 – Have we reached peak oil? Once it hits, will our way of life will drastically change? Are we prepared? How will we adapt?
Guests: Michael Klare, author of Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Dependency on Imported Petroleum
Vijay Vaitheeswaran, author of Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future

Wednesday, 11/21 – On the Record: Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich – What’s his voting record? Where is he getting his campaign contributions?
We’re hoping to have him on the show for 10 minutes or so…

Thursday, 11/22 – A Thanksgiving Special: California’s first people
Before the Spanish began colonizing California in 1769, more than 300,000 Indians representing over 100 tribes lived here. Following the European people’s arrival to California, diseases, massacre, and other factors brought the Native population down to 25,000.

Friday, 11/23 – A repeat of our interview with Indian activist Vandana Shiva

*I host a radio show in San Francisco and post info about relevant show topics

A few weeks ago, we began our ‘On the Record’ series. What are the voting records of presidential candidates? Where are they getting their campaign contributions? Who’s making the decisions behind the scenes? The goal is to get past the spin and sound bites.
We kicked off our ongoing series by taking a look at the record of Senator Hillary Clinton. Last week, we focused on Senator Ron Paul.

Today, we will talk about former Senator Mike Gravel. We’ll be joined by Greg Giroux, senior political writer for Congressional Quarterly, and Joe Lauria, an independent reporter who’s writing has appeared in the Progressive, the Boston Globe and the Sunday Times of London.

Senator Gravel will join us from 10:20-10:40 am PST. If you live in the Bay Area, you can tune in at 91.7 FM or you can listen online.

During the last debate on CNN, Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Gravel was only given 5 minutes and 37 seconds to answer 10 questions. His fiery, straightforward approach made quite an impression. Senator Gravel is well known for releasing the Pentagon papers during Vietnam and working day and night to end the draft. Gravel wants the troops home now, favors replacing the income tax for a national sales tax, says the IRS should be abolished, and supports the legalization of drugs. What else does he stand for? Why would a man who left politics 20 years ago want to be President?

After the first presidential debate in April, The Washington Post wrote in an editorial that “voters trying to sort out their presidential choices aren’t helped by debates cluttered with the likes of Mike Gravel.”

In an interview with the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire, former Democratic Party chairwoman Kathy Sullivan said: “I believe that going forward the networks should politely dis-invite Mr. Gravel. He just detracts from the time from the other candidates. He’s not a serious candidate.”

Mike Gravel was the first Democrat to enter the presidential race. The 77-year-old is from Springfield, Massachusetts. He moved to Alaska in the 1950s. After Alaska became a state in 1959, Gravel served in the state House of Representatives. He served as a U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1969-1981. In 1981, he lost his reelection campaign to Republican Frank Murkowski and has been largely absent from the political stage ever since.

He says he initially entered the presidential race to push his National Initiative System, which would allow citizens to bring proposals to a popular vote. But once he was in, he says he realized voters needed a serious alternative to his fellow candidates.

*I host a radio show in San Francisco called Your Call and post about it when relevant.

Senator Hillary Rodhman Clinton is in California on a two-day trip raising money for her presidential bid and picking up endorsements. As most media coverage continues to focus on the sound bites and staged speeches, we’re focusing on records and money trails. On today’s Your Call, we’re beginning our On the Record series. What are the voting records of presidential candidates? Where are they getting their campaign contributions? Who’s making the decisions behind the scenes? We’re kicking off our ongoing series by taking a look at the record of the only woman running for President: Senator Clinton.
For the next year and a half, hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent to get your vote. The presidential primaries are nearly seven months away, but the spin, the inside the beltway analysis, and the staged soundbites are drowning out candidate’s records. When candidates leave behind their consultants, they make declarations they can’t take back. Their votes.

Over the next four months, Your Call will have ‘On the Record’ shows to look at candidate’s voting records. Each month, we will highlight three of the 20 candidates running for president.  Today we’re talking about the only woman in the race: New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Since her election to the senate nearly 7 years ago, Senator Clinton has voted more than 2,000 times.  They include a vote for the war in Iraq, a vote for the Patriot Act, and a vote against its extension.

According to a Washington Post analysis, Senator Clinton has voted with a majority of her Democratic colleagues 97.2% of the time. She opposed John Roberts and Samuel Alito’s nominations as chief justice, supported increased funding for embryonic stem cell research, and supported a bill to expand oil and gas production in the Gulf of Mexico.

The ACLU has given Senator Clinton a lifetime score of 74%
Human Rights Watch – 89%
Plannd Parenthood – 100%
Secular Coalition for America – 100%
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – 88% – in November, 2005, she approved a tax bill to extend tax cuts primarily aimed at the wealthy
United States Public Interest Research Group – they work to preserve the environment, and protect consumers – 90% – in June, 2005, she voted no on an amendment to increase auto gas milege standards – in September, 2005, she voted against an amendment to strip subsidies for the nuclear, coal, gas, and oil industries from the Senate energy bill
Darfur Scores – a project of the Genocide Intervention Network – A+
Public Citizend – 90% – voted yes on a free trade agreement with Oman

Her most significant vote was for the Iraq war. The New York Times is out with a lengthy piece about Senator Clinton’s war votes.

What does Senator Clinton’s voting record say about what she would do as President?

In addition to focusing on voting records, we’ll also discuss campaign contributions. Senator Clinton is currently traveling up and down the state of California raising money for her war chest. As of the latest filings with the Federal Election Commission, which date from the first quarter of 2007 (January to March), she was in the lead with a $36 million war chest, shattering previous records for funds raised at that stage of a campaign, with hefty sums coming from large financial firms, lawyers and lobbyists.

We’ll also discuss Senator Clinton’s inside circle of consultants, campaign managers, and fundraisers.

Today’s guests:

Michael Tomasky, editor of the Guardian USA, the American focused wing of the British newspaper, the Guardian. Before joining the Guardian he was the editor of American Prospect, and from 1995 to 2003 he was chief political columnist of New York magazine.  He is author of “Hillary’s Turn: Inside Her Improbable, Victorious Senate Campaign.”  

Ari Berman, a contributing writer for The Nation and a Puffin Foundation writing fellow at The Nation Institute. Berman’s latest article, “Hillary Inc.,” is about Senator Clinton’s campaign ties to big business.

*I host a radio show in San Francisco called Your Call and post info about it when relevant.

Today we’re revisiting a show we recently did about the true financial costs and health effects of the Iraq war. On May 9, UCSF held a symposium to discuss these very issues.

From 1956 to 1965, the Vietnam War cost the U.S. the equivalent of $662 billion in today’s dollars, according to the U.S. government’s Congressional Research Service.

Four years after the U.S. invaded Iraq, the cost of the war as of 9:05 am PST was $429 billion. At this point, there seems to be no end in sight.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that in their mid-range scenario, the war will cost over $266 billion more in the next decade, putting the direct costs of the war in the range of $500 billion.

One of our guests says that number underestimates the war’s true costs. Professor Linda Bilmes teaches public finance at the Kenendy School of Government at Harvard University. From 1999-2001, she was assistant secretary of Commerce in the Clinton adminstration. According to her recent paper, “Soldiers Returning from Iraq and Afghanistan: The Long-Term Costs of Providing Veterans Medical Care and Disability Benefits,”  the true cost of the war will be more that two trillion dollars.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in more than 53,000 wounded soldiers. Tens of thousands soldiers suffer traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and debilitating chronic pain.

On the Iraqi side, the human cost has been disastrous. Two wars and a decade of sanctions has resulted in the worst mortality rates in Iraq’s history.  A new report by Save the Children shows that in the years since 1990, Iraq has seen its child mortality rate soar by 125 per cent, the highest increase of any country in the world. Its rate of deaths of children under five now matches that of Mauritania.

Studies reveal that generations of Iraqis are growing up with posttraumatic syndrome, lack of health care and malnutrition.

A few facts from an excellent Al-Ahram article called, “Pity the sick of Iraq” (a must read)

*A recent UNDP-backed study reveals that one-third of Iraqis live in poverty, with more than five per cent living in abject poverty.

*More than 500,000 Baghdad residents get water for only a few hours a day. And the majority of Iraqis get three hours of electricity a day, in contrast to pre-war levels of about 20 hours.

*At the outset of the 2003 war, the US administration pledged to cut Iraq’s child mortality rate in half by 2005. But the rate has continued to worsen, to 130 in 2006, according to Iraqi Health Ministry figures.

*According to the United Nations Children’s Agency (UNICEF), about one in 10 Iraqi children under five are underweight (acutely malnourished) and one in five are short for their age (chronically malnourished).

*The Iraq Medical Association reports that 90 per cent of the almost 180 hospitals in Iraq lack essential equipment. At Yarmouk Hospital, one of the busiest hospitals in Baghdad, five people die on average every day because medics and nurses don’t have the equipment to treat common ills and accidents, according to Yarmouk doctor Hussam Abboud. That translates to more than 1,800 preventable deaths in a year in that hospital alone.

Dr. Dahlia Wasfi is an Iraqi American physician and activist. She attended the UCSF event to discuss how the war has impacted the Iraqi people. Dahlia spent her early childhood in Iraq. She last visited Iraq last January for 3 months.

The symposium also focused on the ramifications of trauma and torture. The event is being organized by the Iraq Action Group of UCSF. That’s a recently formed group that includes a coalition of students, faculty, and staff members.

Professor Linda Bilmes and Dr. Dahlia Wasfi were guests on the show, which airs today at 10:00 am PST on 91.7 FM in the Bay Area or online. You can also sign up for our podcast.

(I host a radio show called Your Call on KALW 91.7 FM in San Francisco and post information about show topics when they’re political.)

On Monday’s show, we’ll be talking about Africa’s oil.

The United States now imports the same amount of oil from Africa as it does from Saudi Arabia. Between now and the end of the decade, $50 billion will be invested in the exploration and production of oil in Africa, one-third of that money coming from the U.S.

How is oil and the money it brings transforming the continent? Is any of the money benefiting the African people? Those are a few of the questions John Ghazvinian set out to answer as he traveled through 12 African countries .
On Monday’s Your Call, we’ll talk to Ghazvinian about his travels and his new book, Untapped: The Scramble for Africa’s Oil.  

“Thanks to more than a decade of wildly successful discoveries by the world’s largest oil companies, as wel as the efforts of a growing army of Washington lobbyists and lawmakers, Africa has been quietly transformed in policy-making circles from an insignificant backwater into a potentially lucrative new ssource of oil and gas for the global market. Listen to some of the more zealous advocates and you may even hear wild talk about how it may soon ‘replace the Middle East.'”

Here are a few facts about Africa’s oil:

One-third of the world’s new oil discoveries since the year 2000 have taken place in Africa. Of the 8 billion barrels of new oil reserves discovered in 2001, 7 billion were found there.

Since 1990, the petroleum industry has invested more than $20 billion in exploration and production activity in Africa. $50 billion more will be spent between now and the end of the decade, the largest investment in the continent’s history – and around 1/3 of it will come from the U.S.

Three of the world’s largest oil companies – the British-Dutch consortium Shell, France’s Total, and America’s Chevron – are spending 15 percent, 30 percent, and 35 percent respectively of their global exploration and production budgets in Africa. Chevron alone is in the process of rolling out $20 billion in African projects over a five-year period.

Chevron alone is in the process of rolling out $20 billion in African projects over a five-year period.

Early on in the Bush Administration, Vice President Dick Cheney put together an energy task force predicting that Africa would soon become one of the fastest-growing sources of oil for the U.S.

Industry estimates suggest West African oil and gas will supply 25% of U.S. energy by 2015

Ghazvinian writes: “Lawmakers are getting excited about the possibility of shifting some of our oil dependence from the Middle East to Africa. A former senior official charged with African affairs recalls Kansas Senator Sam Brownback rushing up to him one afternoon in October 2002, positive glowing with excitement. “What do you think about bases in Africa? Wouldn’t that be great?””

Your Call airs from 10:00-11:00 am PST on KALW 91.7 FM. You can listen online and/or sign up for the podcast here.

Here’s what’s coming up:

Tuesday – Why is rape and sexual violence still a silent issue? And what can men do to prevent it?
Guests from San Francisco Women Against Rape and Men Can Stop Rape

Wednesday – Why do good people torture? What happens to people who torture?
Guests: Philip Zimbardo, author of The Lucifer Effect – In a study he conducted in 1971, Stanford college students were randomly assigned to play the role of guard or inmate for two weeks in a simulated prison, yet the guards quickly became so brutal that the experiment had to be shut down after only six days.

Tony Lagouranis, self-described former torturer at Abu Ghraib

Thursday – What’s it going to take to end the genocide in Darfur?
Global Days for Darfur – Events from April 23-30

Friday – How did the media cover the week’s news?

Why are statistics about women still so sobering? Will women’s equality become an issue in the 2008 presidential election or will candidates continue to treat women as an “interest group?”

I post info about my radio show when the topics are relevant (these days, most shows are political — maybe not the yoga show)…

On today’s radio show, I’ll be joined by Lis Wiehl, author of “The 51% Minority: How Women Are Still Not Equal And What You Can Do About It,” and Ruth Rosen, author of “The World Split Open: How the Modern Women’s Movement Changed America.”

Check out Ruth Rosen’s latestly article, “The Care Crisis,” in the latest issue of the Nation.

Here are a few sobering stats about women:

*For every 10 men in executive positions in this country, there is only one woman.

*In the history of our country, 98 percent of our senators have been men.

*76 percent of the federal judges in the U.S. are male.

*During his years as a legal adviser to President Reagan, chief justice John Roberts opposed legal and legislative attempts to strengthen women’s rights, questioning “whether encouraging homemakers to become lawyers contributes to the common good” and disparaging “the purported gender gap.

*Despite the growing number of discrimination complaints, the administration chopped the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s budget by $9 million and demanded it reduce its caseload.

*According to the International Labor Organization, more than 120 countries currently have laws providing paid maternity leave, and a 2004 Harvard Univ report showed that, out of 168 countries studied, the U.S. is one of just five that does not offer some form of paid maternity leave.

*Age discrimination claims by women increased 39% in the last decade, while claims by men dropped 24 percent.

*Domestic violence is the single biggest threat of injury to women in America, more than heart attacks, cancer, strokes, car wrecks, muggings, and rapes combined. Every day in the U.S., an average of four women die as a result of domestic violence

*According to the DOJ, an estimated 2 million wives are beaten by their husbands each year, an average of one every 16 seconds.

*1 million teenage girls become pregnant every year. 78% of those pregnancies are unintended.

*80 percent of schools that currently teach sexuality education are promoting abstinence as the preferred or only option for adolescents.

*Only 15 percent of large group plans cover all five of the most common methods of birth control. In 1998, two months after Viagra entered the market, a Business and Health report found that insurers were paying for Viagra three times a often as they paid for oral contraceptives. This lack of coverage results in women of reproductive age spending approximately 68 percent more than men in out of pocket health care costs.

*26 states have introduced bills allowing pharmacists to refuse to fill birth control prescriptions. Eight are considering the implement “conscience clauses” to protect pharmacists to refuse.

Tune in if you can. You can listen online and we’re now podcasting. The show airs from 10:00-11:00 am PST.

“In 2005, a retired army reserve officer complained to the Pentagon’s fraud hot line that the Defense Department had overpaid for kitchen appliances, shelling out $1,000 for popcorn makers and toasters and $5,500 for a deep-fat fryer that cost other government agencies $1,919. Although he provided a four-page spreadsheet showing 135 cases of higher prices, the Defense Department dismissed his tip without checking with him.”
–David Isenberg, research fellow at the Independent Institute — Budgeting for Empire
So this is where our money is being spent.

Say what you will about the Democrats. They are holding hearings on everything from global warming and censoring scientific research to wiretapping and Iraq spending. The White House is FINALLY being held accountable for their BS. They’ll keep feeding the ‘war machine’ for as long as they can, but at least the info is on record.

Gotta love Fiscal Conservatives:

“The levels of deceit and ignorance are so high that we cannot even begin to understand how bad overall American fiscal irresponsibility is,” said Mr. Isenberg.

Please read this and forward it on. The final spending report is scheduled to be released next week. On February 6, Rep. Henry Waxman plans to hold hearings on Iraq contracts. The committee has asked executives from Halliburton to testify. Waxman presided over the most famous hearings in ’94 when the 7 tobacco CEOs said they didn’t add nicotone to their cigarettes.

Here are a few highlights from the Independent’s new Budgeting for Empire report:

Front line equipment is wearing out–and there is no budget to replace it. “Senior marine officials admitted that if the war in Iraq ended tomorrow… it would cost $12.8 billion to reequip … vehicles and gear lost in combat and through wear and tear. That outlay would take up a significant portion of the corps’ yearly budget….”

The Army’s plan to boost combat power is built on the unlikely assumption that “no new major demand will arise for U.S. soldiers at home or abroad”–yet the U.S. military is spread thin around the world, and the political climate is volatile.

The final tally for earmarks–spending inserted in a bill to benefit a specific Member of Congress– in the 2006 Defense Appropriations bill are expected to top $12.2 billion. This is a record high.

In 2005, the Defense Department paid $1,000 for popcorn makers and toasters and $5,500 for a deep-fat fryer. When a retired Army officer with evidence of the problem came forward, he was dismissed without any investigation.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan cost even more than the public thinks because of accounting “tricks” and questionable budget rules used by both the executive and legislative branches, such as excluding the costs of the war from regular budget appropriations.

Nearly two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall, and despite Defense Secretary Rumsfeld’s proclaimed mission of transforming the military, every single Cold War weapon system that was previously in the procurement pipeline remains.