Arwa Gunja

• FINANCIAL TAKEOUT:  The National Bureau of Economic Research is going to release a statement later today that says that they don't know when, or even if, our nation's current recession came to an end. New York Times Wall Street and finance reporter Story Louise Story joins us with more from this Times' Exclusive.
• LISTENERS TAKEOUT: You called in with ideas on how to fix your city or town's budgetary woes.

 

UPDATED 8:22pm

Arwa Gunja here on the night shift.

Not too much has changed for tomorrow’s show. We’re asking you, our listeners, how you would proposing trimming the budget for your local city or town. If you were the mayor, what cuts would you make? Send us your responses and we’ll use them tomorrow morning in a conversation we're having about struggling cities. We’ll be focusing on Baltimore and Detroit, but we know communities across the country are hurting. Send us your stories and suggestions by calling 1-877-8-MYTAKE or leaving us your comments here on our website.

We will also be joined by mine safety expert Ellen Smith for a closer look at Massey Energy. This is the company that owns and operates the West Virginia mine where at least 25 people were killed after an explosion earlier this week. The rescue efforts have been stalled because conditions have been deemed too unsafe for workers to move forward, though four miners remain trapped underground. Massey is the sixth largest coal company in the US. Tomorrow we’ll get a profile of both the company and its controversial CEO, Don Blakenship.

And every Friday we - and our partners at The Week Magazine - bring you a series we call, “Good Week, Bad Week,”  to determine who had a good week and who had a bad week. Send us your nominees. Again, you can call us at 1-877-8-MYTAKE or leave us a message right here on our website.

UPDATED 7:00pm

Arwa Gunja here on the evening shift.

As many of our listeners may already know, our host, John Hockenberry, is in Denver all week this week broadcasting from member station KUVO. He got a chance to meet up with Bill Reinert, national manager of the Advanced Technology Group for Toyota USA. Mr. Reinert helped design the Prius. Tomorrow we’ll bring you a conversation about how cars are getting more complex and technologically advanced - and what that means for you, the consumer.

We also want to take a moment to address a concern raised by a listener about a segment today on Wikileaks, a website that leaks sensitive information while keeping its sources anonymous.  This week, the controversial website posted a classified video that showed the deaths of 12 Iraqi men, including two employees of the Reuters News Agency, during a 2007 incident in Iraq. The video appeared to show Americans in an Apache helicopter firing on unarmed men. Two listeners wrote to us to express frustration that we hadn’t mentioned a report released by the Pentagon late Monday, which said that some of the Iraqis involved in that incident were indeed carrying weapons. We called US Central Command to ask what their report found. We’ll tell you what they had to say tomorrow on the show.

We’re also closely following the uprising in Kyrgyzstan, where protesters have overthrown the government. Kyrgyzstan is one the most important US allies in Central Asia and home to an American air base used for missions in nearby Afghanistan. We'll keep you posted with the latest tomorrow in the show.

• RALEIGH TAKEOUT: We take a closer look at the mine blast in Raleigh County, West Virginia, hearing from Chuck Nelson, a former miner, who tells us why mining is so important to the culture of the county. 
• LISTENERS TAKEOUT: Beyond the sadness, condolences and concern our listeners asked another question: should the acquisition of energy still be so dangerous?

Monday night's explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Raleigh County, West Virginia, left 25 confirmed dead and four more miners missing underground. Rescue operations were stalled yesterday because conditions were deemed too dangerous. The mine is owned by Massey Energy Company, which was immediately criticized for allowing egregious and numerous safety violations. Massey's CEO, Don Blankenship, responded in an interview with the Metronews radio network in West Virginia, saying, “violations are unfortunately a normal part of the mining process. There are violations at every coal mine in America.”

President Obama takes to the mound tonight in the stadium of the Washington Nationals to throw the ceremonial first pitch. It's a tradition started 100 years ago this month by President William Howard Taft.

We take look at what's ahead this week with Marcus Mabry of The New York Times and Rob Watson of the BBC. This week, the U.S. and Russia sign a new arms treaty, Treasury Secretary Geithner visits India, and a date will be selected for elections in the United Kingdom. Plus, Tiger Woods returns to the green.

More than 4,300 human genes have been patented by private companies or academics. But yesterday, a Federal District Court in Manhattan ruled that Myriad, a biopharmaceutical company, could no longer hold the patent on several genes, including two that are closely associated with breast and ovarian cancer. The ruling has reignited an ethical debate over whether a gene - something that exists naturally and in every human - can become intellectual property. 

 

UPDATED 7:00 p.m. Alex Goldmark here. 

Some new additions to the show. 

Tomorrow we talk with Special Master Kenneth Feinberg. He's also known as President Obama's "pay czar." But before he was handed the tongue twisting title of Special Master for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Executive Compensation he was also the Special Master for the 9/11 Victim's Compensation Fund. So he's an old hand at heading up special projects on a large scale. We'll be asking him about bonuses and pay of course, but also about the man behind the tough decisions of national import. 

Now that election results in Iraq are in, the real challenges start. How will different factions in Iraq form a coalition government? The post-election government in Iraq will have play a serious role in how, and how fast, US troops can pull out. So we're watching that closely. 

We love trends. So we're looking into reports that sexual harassment claims are on the rise ... from men. We want to know if this means that incidents are increase, that more men are willing to speak up, or both. 

 

 

And we'll find out why Wrestlemania and pro-wrestling generally are just so darn profitable. 

At least four times in the last year, Philadelphia has been taken over by flash mobs made up of massive numbers of teenagers who congregate in one place at the same time. The gatherings are usually coordinated through text messaging, Twitter, or other electronic means. It sounds innocent, (and indeed, most flash mobs are utterly benign) but lately, the gatherings in Philadelphia have taken a violent turn, resulting in injuries and damage to properties and businesses.

After setting ten new world records, juggler David Slick wins our "good week" nod. Two British rowers had a terrible week as their luck ran out and they were eliminated during the last mile of a 2,500-mile rowing race.

UPDATED 12:25 a.m.

Arwa Gunja here on the night shift.

It’s been nearly 12 hours since Alex checked in with you, and a lot has changed in the show. Most importantly, The New York Times is breaking a story (now up on its website) about a priest from Wisconsin who molested as many as 200 deaf boys. And though top Vatican officials, including the current Pope, knew about it, they did not defrock the priest. The Times says their “highest priority was protecting the church from scandal.” The reporter, Laurie Goodstein, joins us in the morning to give us the details of the astonishing case.

We’ll also be bringing you an interesting technology conversation. Has technology eliminated the element of surprise? With caller ID we know whose calling before we pick up, can get answers instantly on the internet, and know any and all details about basically everyone through social networking sites. Or does technology create more surprises than ever, because we never know what’s next?

And I’m just getting word from our Washington Correspondent, Todd Zwillich, that the Senate could be in session all night voting as the reconciliation process carries on. Will it all be over by morning? It's still uncertain, but we’ll find out.

UPDATED 7:00 p.m. Arwa Gunja here on the night shift, putting the final touches on tomorrow's show. Takeaway producer Anna Sale is in Haiti all this week, and tomorrow she’ll talk about how local Haitians have been an extending a helping hand to those in need. She’s profiling a young Haitian man who has been regularly visiting a hospital to help an orphaned toddler  (whom he had never met before) badly injured after the earthquake.

We’ll also check in with Andrea Bernstein, the director of The Takeaway’s Transportation Nation project. She spoke with Ronald Simms, the deputy of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It may come as a surprise that only a third of America’s neighborhoods are actually affordable when you factor in the cost of transportation.

And we’re still following the latest with Google’s pull out of mainland China. Tomorrow we’re asking listeners what is more important in THEIR lives: Google or China? If you look around your house, how many products are made in China? Which could you more easily give up? Leave a comment below or call in: 877-8-MY-TAKE (877-869-8253)

UPDATED 6:30 p.m.

Arwa Gunja here on the night shift.

Not much has changed for tomorrow’s show.  We learned this afternoon that Google has decided to shut down its operation in China. The company made this decision after it learned Gmail accounts were being hacked by the Chinese and after months of talks over China’s censorship rules. Internet users in China will now be redirected to the Hong Kong version of the search engine. Who wins and who loses in this deal? China is the largest and fastest-growing internet market, but Google is the most popular search engine. And what does this mean for China’s role as an emerging powerhouse in the global market?

We also take a look at disabled employees in the workforce. The unemployment rate for people with disabilities is at 14 percent, compared to 10 percent in the general population. We’ll ask what can be done to narrow that gap.

POSTED 2:00 - The future of public education; Lessons learned from Massachusetts' attempt at universal health coverage; The author of the book that inspired 'The Green Zone,' opening ...

UPDATED 10:00 p.m.

Arwa, here on the night shift.

Not too much have changed this Anna blogged this morning. We’ve added a segment to the show to talk about Vice President Joe Biden’s trip to Israel. He’ll be wrapping up a four-day visit tomorrow and will be delivering a speech at Tel Aviv University. We’ll talk with Aaron David Miller from the Woodrow Wilson Center about where things stand when it comes to US-Israeli relations.

South by Southwest kicks off this week, and it’s for more than just music and movie fans. It’s also one of the most prestigious conventions in the technology world. Twitter was actually introduced there in 2007. We’ll talk with our Tech Correspondent Baratunde Thurston about what to watch out for this year.

Illinois has a long history of political corruption. Four of the past eight governors have been indicted on corruption charges, and dozens of other public officials have been convicted on similar grounds. In February, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, Scott Lee Cohen, stepped aside after allegations that he had abused his wife.

Massachusetts is one of forty-six states that offer tax credits to filmmakers who agree to produce their movies in that state. The benefit for the Commonwealth is added jobs and more local business while the film is in production. But some are calling for the governor to put a cap on the tax credit in order to balance the budget.

Chelsea King, a 17-year-old girl from San Diego, was raped and killed last month by John Gardner, a man with a history of sex crimes. Gardner was previously incarcerated for molesting a 13-year-old girl in 2000, but was let out of prison early in 2005. The case has sparked a heated national dialogue about the strength of laws intended to protect children from sex offenders. And the question of where sex offenders should live has come up in Florida, as offenders there struggle to adjust to society after prison sentences.

The national step competition in Atlanta, Ga. two weeks ago was packed with mostly African American competitors. The dance form, rooted in African American history, has largely been associated with black colleges and fraternities. But on Feb. 20, a white team from the University of Arkansas did more than just win the competition. They ignited a dialogue about race relations and whether a particular race should be entitled to a certain part of American culture.