2010-08-28-samantha-clemens.Mp3

The floods have been described as epic – more vast than Haiti, Katrina, and the tsunami…

Mercy Corps is an international aid organization based in Portland, Oregon and is right in the thick of things.

Joy Portella is director of communications and leads a team of professionals dedicated to documenting and reporting Mercy Corps’ work in 40 countries.  She has traveled to global hotspots including North Korea, the Gaza Strip and Haiti.

She joins us to talk about it all:

• Describe the flood in US terms – if it happened here, what would it look like?
• What are aid agencies doing – how does it work?
• We hear conservatives complaining that everyone comes to the US for everything…What have other governments committed?  Are there aid agencies from other countries that are as involved as American agencies?
• What is it like working with Pakistan?  Given the political tensions that exist right now, does that affect your work?
• Is there ‘donor fatigue’ for this crisis, given how many other things are in the news – the Gulf of Mexico, etc.?

• Hot enough for you? Changing your mind about climate change? If you believe that climate change is happening and we’re destroying the planet, is it immoral to run your air conditioner?
• Arizona, immigration, the feds – Let’s be real – Arizonans are bearing the brunt of the lack of economic opportunity in Mexico. What are we willing to do to help them cope with immigration?
• BP sends Anadarko a bill…

2010-06-19-samantha-clemens.Mp3

Who is apologizing to BP and why?

And Father’s Day – paternity leave in Sweden? Primate Dad’s strutting their stuff with babies? Should there be a presumption of joint custody when parents divorce? Sperm donors? Is this a good idea? How many half-siblings are out there who don’t know it?

What’s on your mind?

Not good.  Really really not good….

December 12, 2009

Climate change

Outside the United States, the world is pretty much on board with the notion that the climate is changing in profound ways and that human activity is partially the cause. Within the United States however, there is a stubborn minority who believe it is all hype, or a natural occurrence, or a conspiracy by scientists, politicians, environmentalists and other overt and covert liberals. They reject the notion that there is a scientific consensus, they believe the insurance companies’ risk assessments with which they price their products are simply jumping on the bandwagon, and so forth. We look at the scientific consensus and what the skeptics have to say about them, and also pose few questions from a Green IQ test we stumbled upon.

We’re joined by Brenda Ekwurzel, Federal Climate Scientist, Union of Concerned Scientists.

The unlucky

We get an update on how things are going at the Somerville Homeless Coalition from Mark Alston-Follansbee, Executive Director.  Personal experiences, funding, what works, who helps.

Podcast

Jared Diamond makes the case that some businesses have become among the world’s strongest positive forces for environmental sustainability…  Now I gotta say, I have greatly admired Jared since “Guns, Germs and Steel” so I feel like i gotta listen….

He cites examples with three companies:  Wal-Mart, Coca-Cola and Chevron…