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Here's a bio, copied from: http://www.nci.org/conf/clip-garwin.htm:Richard L. Garwin is Fellow Emeritus at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York. From 1997 to 2004 he was Philip D. Reed Senior Fellow for Science and Technology at the Council on Foreign Relations. He joined IBM Corporation in 1952, after three years on the faculty of the University of Chicago, and was until June 1993 IBM Fellow at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center. He has also been Professor of Public Policy in the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Dr. Garwin received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Chicago in 1949. Dr. Garwin is coauthor of many books, among them Nuclear Weapons and World Politics (1977), Nuclear Power Issues and Choices (1977), Energy: The Next Twenty Years (1979), Science Advice to the President (1980) and Managing the Plutonium Surplus: Applications and Technical Options (1994). He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is a long-time member of Pugwash and has served on the Pugwash Council. The U.S. Government awarded him the 1996 R.V. Jones Foreign Intelligence Award and the 1996 Enrico Fermi Award, and the 2002 National Medal of Science, from President Bush.More recently (2001) Dr. Garwin coauthored (along with Nobel Prize winning physcist Georges Charpak) Megawatts and Megatons -- a turning point in the nuclear age?.
One thing they don't point out in the above bio is that Dr. Garwin has been an outspoken critic of the "Star Wars" missile defense systems, and other US policies. He has managed to get onto important government panels, while at the same time remain an outspoken critic of policy. We'll talk to him about the big picture of the energy economy. Some points to bring up:
- Big question (perhaps address near the end): The US is currently a glutton for energy. Is it possible, or even desirable for this to continue? How will it be possible, politically, to wean the US from this addiction?
- For the electrical energy supply, what are the prospects for (1) nuclear (2) fossil fuels (coal) (3) wind (4) geothermal (5) reduction in consumption.
- Specifically regarding nuclear energy, can you address these concerns:
- Waste storage
- Danger of nuclear accident (natural and terrorist)
- Diversion of nuclear fuels into weapons
- Production of dangerous pollutants (e.g. CFCs in the production of nuclear fuels, as raised here by Helen Caldicott).
During the show we discussed an excellent book review article by Anatol Lieven in the current issue of The Nation. It's adapted from his forthcoming book America Right or Wrong: An Anatomy of American Nationalism. The article is entitled Liberal Hawk Down and it dissects the nationalistic tendencies of several self-proclaimed liberals, such as Paul Berman. Bob read this paragraph from the article:
Given the threat posed by Al Qaeda and its Sunni extremist allies to virtually every state and elite in the Muslim world, and given the savage divisions between these forces, the Shiite tradition and secular Arab nationalists like the Baath, there was a cornucopia of opportunities after September 11 to seek Muslim allies in the war on terrorism. From this point of view, for the Bush Administration to have succeeded in uniting Shiite radicals, Baath die-hards and Sunni extremists in Iraq; to have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq while simultaneously threatening Iran and Syria; and to have alienated both Turkey and Saudi Arabia--this almost defies description. It is a kind of baroque apotheosis of geopolitical cretinism.We also discussed an article from The Atlantic entitled Welcome to the Green Zone The American bubble in Baghdad by William Langewiesche. (You can read the first few paragraphs here.)
The article dissects the way in which the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq has botched the job of getting things working by adhering to an extreme free-market "American Way" doctrine, despite its total inappropriateness to the situation. The article has many hilarious examples, including the results of imposing the traffic laws of the state of Maryland onto Baghdad. The fact that there are no traffic cops and no court system to deal with disputes did not seem to deter them in their zeal to "Americanize" Baghdad.
From Feminist Daily News Wire:
Several high-ranking leaders in the Catholic Church have recently said that the obligation to vote for a candidate who opposes abortion rights is a priority over all other issues in the upcoming presidential election. Some, including Archbishop Charles Chaput of Colorado, have declared that voting for a pro-choice politician is a sin, and must be confessed before receiving communion.Almost unbelievably, to the Bishops, the issues of stem cell research and abortion trump everything else. Including the death penalty, and the waging of imperialist wars.
Quote from The Nation:Two Pittsburgh stations are slated to air this illegal propoganda. To find out more and to do something, go to this page.The documentary Stolen Honor, produced by former Tom Ridge stooge Carlton Sherwood, and airing between October 21 and 24, accuses Kerry of actually prolonging the war in Vietnam as a result of his antiwar activism.
Sinclair's stations include Fox, ABC, CBS, WB and UPN, fourteen of which air in crucial swing states. Federal election law prohibits public corporations and labor unions from airing "electioneering communication" sixty days before an election. But Sinclair dubs the anti-Kerry attackumentary "news content."
The first Presidential debate was an embarassment for Bush, who showed himself to be a petulant, clueless jackass who can speak only in prepared soundbites. Kerry had him on the defensive from the start, and Bush never recovered his equilibrium. The Cheny-Edwards debate underscored Bush's poor performance by making it absolutely clear who wears the pants around the White House. True to form, Cheney maintained with absolute conviction that down is up, but Edwards held his own by calling him on his deceptions and delusions. But it often seems that voters respond more to form than substance. Bush recovered somewhat in the second Presidential debate, but Kerry successfully forced him to adhere to extreme positions that stand little chance of winning over the undecided. And, of course, the earth is flat. Tomorrow night is the third and final Presidential debate, on domestic issues. After that it'll be 100% mud-slinging from the Republicans, who have not a leg to stand on in this election. Today's Paul Krugman column summarizes 8 lies to be expected from the Republicans in the next few weeks.
Friday's labor department report was not good. This is the last such report before the election. Of course, according to the administration down is up, so bad news is in fact good news.
Here are a couple of excerpts:
From Voice of America:
From Bloomberg:The U.S. economy added 96,000 jobs last month -- fewer than investors expected and less than the number needed to provide jobs for a growing workforce.
Friday's closely-watched report from the Labor Department also showed the unemployment rate stayed steady at 5.4 percent.
Dollar Falls After U.S. Economy Adds Fewer Jobs Than Predicted Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell by the most in two months against the yen and tumbled versus the euro after hiring by U.S. employers unexpectedly slowed in September, damping confidence in the economy and expectations for a quicker pace of Federal Reserve interest-rate increases.
Being a "class traitor" he's a particularly interesting case: many people like him fall all over Bush and fall into line pretending that Bush is a great leader.
During the vice presidential debate, Dick Cheney suggested that viewers go to "factcheck.com", instead of "factcheck.org". This URL was an advertising site maintain by an ISP in the Caymans, who then re-directed to www.georgesoros.com in response to the deluge of hits.
Not only were there no weapons, but there were not even any weapons programs. The inspection regime worked. Perfectly. It kept Hussein totally unarmed. Of course this was knowable (in fact known) in advance, by the government and by the press. (Check out the movie Uncovered: The War on Iraq to see a dozens of international policy experts, CIA agents, and diplomats saying exactly this.) Now the right-wing spin machine is kicking in to make this out like some sort of a huge shocking SURPRISE!
According to Electoral Vote Predictor 2004, the predicted electoral vote count continues to teeter back and forth, with Bush currently ahead 274-260, with the lead changing almost daily. It seems likely that the outcome will remain in doubt right up to, and quite possibly past, the election.
Truth Out
Common Dreams
Information Clearinghouse
Cursor
Tom Paine
The Independent
The Guardian