Charter schools in NYC are getting alot of attention over the past few years for the quality of education they are providing and the methods they use to do so. But what do we know about charter schools and how they function?
My guest today is Catherine Barufaldi of the Explore Charter School in Brooklyn, NY. For just over 2 years now she has worked at a successful charter school and has a lot to say about what sets her school apart from traditional public school. In this program she talks about her experience while also explaining what exactly is a charter school and what do they mean for the future of education in the US.
A new congressional report reveals that in 2008 the United States further increased its already leading position as the world’s biggest arms dealer. From fighter jets to machine guns and far beyond, no nation in the world comes close to the number of weapons produced by American companies and sold in every corner of the globe.
$37.8 billion is total amount of income made on weapons deals by US manufacturers last year. A number that represents 2/3 of all deals made in the entire world. Let me repeat that, two-thirds off all weapons deals on this planet involve American manufacturers.
This statistic from the same year that so many people lost their jobs and their homes, with record numbers of Americans without health insurance, and a new president being elected on a platform to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (though mostly it was about Iraq).
Most media reports and analysis will focus on this huge share of the worlds weapons made by US companies, but what about those other companies? Nations such as Italy, Russia, and France as all major players in the remaining 1/3 of the world’s arms exporters. Both Italy and France being interesting examples of nations from within the EU where supposedly we are more anti-war and sensitive when it comes to where our money/weapons go.
Set against the backdrop of an economic crisis, a climate crisis, and violent conflicts raging on multiple continents, the news that weapons manufacturers had their best year ever, is something beyond shameful.
The bottle might look unique and the image might be of a ecological alternative style bottled water company, but is that the whole story? Investigative journalist Anna Lenzer examined Fiji Water in her recent piece for Mother Jones, looking into the details of who owns the company, their environmental record, as well as their relationship with the nation of Fiji and its military government. She joins me to explain her experience and what she learned.
Useful links:
The Article: Spin the Bottle
Response from Fiji’s PR person and other followup info
Details about the holding company (Roll International) that owns Fiji Water
Fiji suspended from Commonwealth
Anna also mention’s the BBC’s programming about Bottled Water
It was this week 4 years ago that hundreds of thousands of human beings in the American city of New Orleans were left stranded as the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina rose all around them. It was this week, 4 years ago, that the truth about the lack of plan and the blatant incompetence of a government became clear. And having been born in a country, as well as a world, that has such a narrow and limited understanding of history, it is this week, 4 years later, that I reflect on a great crime committed against hundreds of thousands of people, many who died, and still more who have never really recovered from what took place in New Orleans.
In 2006, one year after the Federal Flood, I wrote the following post on this blog.
In 2007, thanks to a bit of help from a supporter of this program, I went down to the Gulf Coast and visited with relief workers in New Orleans. Among the things I reported on, how people’s houses were being stolen from them.
In the coming days Ill be looking back at the podcasts I recorded during my journey, following the path of destruction and broken promises. After that, it is also important to get back to the present, as the situation has not been resolved, and the Federal Flood continues to make its victims suffer.
“Do you fear an arms race over the arctic?” the host of The Current Podcast asked an Inuit representative during a recent episode. The gentlemen spoke at length about the problems of the Inuit population in the high arctic and his concerns about the Canadian federal government doing military exercises in the arctic as opposed to giving much needed attention to public services and infrastructure.
Among the many things I learned while listening to this program, was the story of the Inuit High Arctic Relocation. I had never heard about the actions of the Canadian government during the cold war, relocating 87 Inuit people from northern Quebec. The government claimed, and still claims, that this was in order to alleviate problems Inuit had in northern Quebec by giving them a new and not over-populated region to practice their traditional living. However, as is illustrated in this program and other historical record, Canada was seeking to make settlements in the high arctic to prove that they own it and have people living there.
Many decades later, they’re still trying to prove it is theirs, and the Inuits still have problems stemming from government neglect.
Listen to the program to hear interesting details from a compelling source.
Part II of my interviews with hackers at HAR2009 earlier this month. Once again I’m asking people from different countries how their healthcare system works. This time I speak with a Brazilian, a Slovakian, a Dane, and a Swiss person, who tell me their experiences with insurance, doctors, hospitals and much more.
If you haven’t heard part 1, I recommend you go back and hear it first before listening to these. The point of doing these interviews was not to somehow gather examples of how public or national healthcare is great, rather it is to show people throughout the world, especially in the US where the government could possibly adopt a public insurance option, how it works (well or not so well) for other nations.