Joe returns from vacation to join Abe in taking a snapshot of the body politic.
It's summer. It's hot, it's sticky, and an election looms in November. What can we expect? Nearly halfway through President Obama's first term, what is the state of the American zeitgeist? Has the president delivered on his promise of hope and change? Are the Teabaggers worth taking seriously (no, really ...)? Have we shrugged off the toxic malaise of the Bush Years? What can we expect on Election Day?
And perhaps most importantly, do Abe and Joe have anything worth saying?
About a decade ago, a friend and I visited the infamous Dachau concentration camp, just outside Munich Germany. As a Jew the experience was intense and overwhelming. We visited the barracks, gas chambers, crematorium, and later the cemetery where untold remains of hundreds of thousands of our people are buried.
The last place we visited was a small chapel. It was tastefully built in a way that you would not know it was not original to the site. Although it was clearly a church, perhaps run by a local monastic order, it was appropriate and welcoming to all.
Every now and then, we get one right. The 9th Circuit Court overturns California's gay marriage ban.
In a nod to outmoded notions like equality and inalienable rights, the Ninth Circuit Court overturned California's ban on gay marriage last week. As some radio hosts have observed, injustice and iniquity endure, but there has been an inexorable march in America toward a condition of more freedom, more justice, more equality. We're not fully equal yet, folks, but we just got a little more equal. Reaction from the right has been predictable.
And there's homework! Verizon and Google are on the verge of striking a deal with the FCC that would effectively end Internet neutrality. This would usher in an age where Internet providers would be able to give preferential treatment -- in the form of speed and access -- to the content of their choice, ending the grass-roots populism that has characterized the Web to date.
So call the White House comment line, 202-456-1111, and tell them to keep the Internet neutral and free. While you're at it, call Nancy Pelosi (202-225-0100) and Harry Reid (202-224-3542) and tell them the same thing. Or, sign the petition.
Hes been lighting up the Westcoast with his blend of electronic superfudge. Catch up with him about the new Chip Chop release, a few Portland shows and find out what goes on in the mind of the sonic scientist. It all starts at 8pm on Portlands own 90.7fm KBOO.
Oregon House District 43 is one of the most diverse in the state. It also faces some of the biggest challenges: high unemployment, high rates of police misconduct, high displacement from gentrification.
This week Dave and Jo Ann talked with State Rep. Lew Frederick about what role the state can play in addressing some of these problems.
This month's show is an hour long production on the Pacific Hermitage, established this summer in the hills above White Salmon and Bingen on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge; and which is residence to three Theravada Buddhistmonks grounded in the Thai Forest Tradition. Stephanie Potter interviews the senior monastic there, Ajahn Sudanto, and various other monks and lay people who share why they value having such place of refuge.
