Weekend Voices 6/27/09

Executive Producer/Host: Amy Browne
Contributors: Carolyn Coe and Matt Murphy

Segment 1: Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian now living in the U.S., speaking in Bangor, Maine on 6/24/09 on the topic of Palestinians and Israelis working together for peace. The event was co-sponsored by the Eastern Maine Chapter of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom (the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace) and The Center for World Religions, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC) at George Mason University. In just four years, Brit Tzedek v’ Shalom has become America’s largest Jewish peace group with over 45,000 supporters, and 40 chapters nationwide. This event was part of a Speaker’s Series they are sponsoring. For more information about Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, contact Barbara Kates at bkates50@hotmail.com or 207-947-6858. For more information about CRDC: www.gmu.edu/departments/crdc

Segment 2: Maine Folklife Center needs community support and involvement as it struggles to survive following budget cuts. Matt Murphy talks with Executive Director Pauleen MacDougall. FMI: www.maine.edu/folklife or 207-581-1848

Segment 3: All the latest news from the Bagaduce Music Lending Library and Flash in the Pans with the Blue Hill Pops— an interview with Mary Cheney Gould, Founder, Organizer and Music Director
The Blue Hill Pops Concert will be Friday July 3rd at the George Stevens Academy gym in Blue Hill, Maine. FMI: www.bagaducemusic.org

Talk of the Towns 6/26/09

Producer/Host: Ron Beard
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Topic: Balancing Act- Promoting and Protecting Maine’s Outdoor Legacy
Guest: Patrick McGowan, Commissioner, Maine Department of Conservation

How would you describe Maine’s outdoor legacy– is it accurate to say that the Department of Conservation mission contains a balancing act–to promote the use of Maine’s outdoors and to protect those resources, part of it’s “quality of place”? What are the main functions of the Department of Conservation and how is it organized?

RadioActive 6/25/09

Producers/Hosts: Meredith DeFrancesco and Amy Browne

Today we look at a stand Maine health care providers are taking against climate change, we hear about shifting policy on the application of industrial pesticides in the state and we look at Congressman Michaud’s TRADE Act which would reorganize US trade priorities.

1.On Monday, Governor Baldacci signed a bill which will create a statewide registry for notification of agricultural pesticide application by aerial spray or air carrier application equipment.
Guest: executive director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) Russel Libby discusses what the legislation does and where it has fallen short on the protection of people and organic crops from pesticide drift. FMI www.mofga.org

2.On Tuesday, 100 healthcare professionals from across the state sent Maine’s Congressional delegation a letter urging them to take decisive action to address climate change specifically the United States production of green house gases. The focus of the letter was the public health implications of climate change. We speak with Dr Lani Grahm, the co-president of the Maine Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Her organization ,as well as the Maine Medical Association have stressed their deep concern on the issue. FMI www.psr.org/chapters/maine www.cleanandhealthyme.org

3. A bill which would establish stringent standards for future free trade agreements, and the review and potential renegotiation of current free trade agreements, was introduced yesterday in Congress.
HR 3012, the “Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment” or “TRADE” Act was introduced, with 106 co-sponsors, by Maine Congressman Mike Michaud, the Chairman of the House Trade Working Group.
The TRADE Act would require adherence by country signatories to labor, environmental and human rights standards, as well as addressing the privatization of public services, intellectual property rights and procurement policies.
Even more significantly, the Act would require a review, and potential renegotiation, of a number of current trade agreements, including NAFTA, CAFTA and the World Trade Organization’s Uruguay Round agreements, based on the Act’s new trade standards.

Guest: Sarah Bigney, Maine Fair Trade Campaign www.mainefairtrade.org

Louche 6/25/09

Producer/Host: Gray Parrot
Studio Engineer: Amy Browne

Topic: The monetary system in the U.S. has been used to subvert the ideals of the U.S. Constitution

How has the abandonment of the gold and silver standards turned U.S. citizenship into an indebted state?
What are some steps that can be taken to correct the situation?
When in U.S. history did the changes occur that precipitated the current monetary system?

Guests/Panel: Neil D. Salisbury, Richard Wayne, David Yosarian, Edward Parrot

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