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Blog: Whistleblower or Traitor? The Jury’s Still Out
June 18th, 2013
Edward Snowden is a 29-year old native of North Carolina. He never completed high school, and never went to college, and is unmarried. He has attained a GED and after a being discharged from the military following a training accident in the early 2000’s, found work as a security guard at the National Security Agency (NSA). He was later hired at the CIA to work on information technology security. Most recently he has been working as a contractor with the firm Booz Allen Hamilton, also on information technology matters.
Two weeks ago it was revealed by The Guardian newspaper that Mr. Snowden was the source of the leak that exposed the NSA’s secret surveillance program. A program whereby the NSA allegedly tapped into the central servers of nine... [Read More]
Episode: The NAFC with Dr. Rani Whitfield
June 13th, 2013
The National Association of Free & Charitable Clinics is a non-profit organization dedicated to the needs of the more than 1,200 free and charitable clinics in the US. Their one-day CARE clinics provide medical services free of charge to anyone who is uninsured and in need. In the 12 years of their existence they’ve helped more than 15,000 people receive medical care and attention.
In this week’s episode, Dr. Rani Whitfield, Associate Medical Director of the NAFC in New Orleans, joins us to discuss the work of the NAFC and how it is helping those in need. Dr. Whitfield details the services provided by the NAFC and talks to us about the upcoming one-day clinic being held on July 3rd in New Orleans.
You can contribute to the NAFC’s cause by clicking here.
Follow Dr. Rani Whitfield on Facebook and Twitter.
Blog: Independent, but Very Political
June 11th, 2013
Chris Christie is the outspoken, in-your-face governor of New Jersey. He is a Republican but as evidenced by his embrace of President Obama in the wake of Superstorm Sandy last year just weeks before the presidential election, he has no problems offending his own party if he believes what he’s doing is right. He has a fiercely independent streak.
Which is why it was very interesting to see how events played out when Governor Christie was faced with a decision on how to fill a US Senate seat from New Jersey recently made vacant by the passing of Senator Lautenberg.
Governor Christie was confronted with a choice. He could just appoint... [Read More]
June 6th, 2013
By the time the average American child reaches the age of 18 it’s estimated they will have witnessed approximately 200,000 acts of violence in the media. According to the National Television Violence Study 60% of approximately 10,000 programs sampled contained violent material. There is an average of 6,000 violent interactions in a single week of programming across both cable and broadcast channels. What are the effects of this imagery on our nation’s young people and on our society as a whole?
In this episode we discuss the need to ask this important question and conduct more research on this topic. We detail some facts regarding violence in the media and we also discuss the role that violence in the media can play in the current debate on gun control.
Blog: It's Going to be a Bumpy Ride
June 4th, 2013
The main provisions of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare as it is more commonly known) are set to take effect January 1, 2014. In anticipation, many states are beginning to set up their health insurance exchanges, the main distribution arm of the law.
The main goal of the exchanges is to provide customers with a marketplace where they can buy affordable health insurance. The law requires insurers to provide health plans to all consumers, regardless of health or age, and requires all consumers to purchase a plan or pay a penalty. The goal of the law is to make health care more affordable for the ill and prevent healthy people from... [Read More]
May 30th, 2013
In a previous episode we spoke about the growing opportunity gap in this country between children born to upper socio-economic homes and those born into lower socio-economic homes. We outlined a recent Harvard University study that identified the four key factors that are the largest determinants to future success for children.
Recently there have been some additional findings on this opportunity gap, especially as it relates to the income level of the family that a child is born into. In this episode we outline some of these most recent findings and discuss how they relate to those we outlined in our last show on the topic. We discuss how growing evidence is bringing us closer to a point where we may want to hit the “reset button” on our society and how it’s being structured.
Prof. Reardon’s NY Times article can be found here.
The report conducted by the Saguaro Seminar at Harvard University can be found here.
May 28th, 2013
President Obama gave a major foreign policy speech last week in which he sought to pivot the country away from an unending, all-encompassing war on terror to a more focused campaign against individuals and small groups that would threaten national security. The President touched on just about every major aspect of the conflict: the use of predator drones, the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the need for proper civilian oversight of targeted military action, etc. He even managed to mention Benghazi and the Justice Department’s seizure of reporters’ phone records.
It was a thorough speech as far as topics covered goes. He spoke for about an hour. But by the end of it, one was left wondering just what exactly the president was trying to say.
Was he admitting culpability for civilian deaths... [Read More]
May 23rd, 2013
Three scandals came to light last week that have rocked Washington DC. They’ve thrown the administration back on its heels and are threatening to overtake what was once an ambitious second-term agenda.
In this episode we tackle the 3 major stories that broke last week. We take the scandals one by one, give you the who, what, where and why, and try to make some sense of the stories for you.
Gregory Hicks’ testimony before the House Oversight Committee can be found here.
May 21st, 2013
It certainly has been an eventful couple of weeks in Washington, DC. Three separate scandals have dominated the airwaves. They’ve knocked the administration on its heels and are threatening to stall what was once an ambitious second-term agenda.
There’s the ongoing investigation into the events surrounding the attack in Benghazi. There’s an investigation into the IRS for targeting conservative organizations for its tax exemption applications. And there’s the revelation that the Justice Department, without notice, tapped the phones of Associated Press reporters.
But just how scandalous are these scandals? Are they really the worst political... [Read More]
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