WGBH Radio; The Callie Crossley Show

I'm Calen crossly and this is the Cali Crossley Show. Today we're hitting the rewind button on this week's news from the great lady's front pages to the stories on the small screen and the reporting that never reached our radar. We're going to look at the news that was and wasn't. We'll be dropping in on community and alternative presses for a look at the big stories from the small papers were today's neighborhood news becomes tomorrow's mainstream headlines. We'll top off the hour going tring from the serious to the sublimely ridiculous with ragtime a tour of the tabloids and a round up of this week's pop culture. Up next on the Calla Crossley Show from gumshoe reporting to gossip rags. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi Singh.

Israel in the Palestinian Authority plan to hold face to face peace talks for the first time in more than two years. It's a significant step in Washington's attempts to revive the peace process. And Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is hoping to build momentum with a meeting in a matter of weeks on behalf of the United States government. I've invited Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Abbas to meet on September 2nd in Washington D.C. to relaunch direct negotiations to resolve all final status issues which we believe can be completed within one year. The leaders of Egypt and Jordan have also been invited. The tough economy has more American workers turning to their financial future to make ends meet now. NPR's John Snyder has more on a new survey from the country's largest administrator of retirement savings accounts. Boston based Fidelity Investments says a number of American workers who had outstanding loans against their fidelity for a 1 K accounts in the

second quarter reached 22 percent a 10 year high. That's 2 percent more than a year earlier. Hardship withdrawals also peak during the period. Fidelity says sixty two thousand workers participating in its plans initiated a hardship withdrawal in the second quarter compared with 45000 a year ago. Fidelity says loans and withdrawals were highest among workers who are in their peak earnings years between 35 and 55 years old Fidelity's quarterly survey is closely watched the company runs retirement plans for some 11 million workers. Giles Snyder NPR News Washington. And as worries over economic recovery continue U.S. stocks are feeling a Dow's down nearly 100 points at ten thousand one hundred seventy six. The last of three inmates who escaped from a prison in northern Arizona has been captured. Arizona Public Radio's Gillian Ferris Kohl has details. John McCluskey and his alleged accomplice Kathlyn Welch were apprehended in a campground in

northeastern Arizona less than 200 miles from where McCluskey escaped from a medium security prison. A nationwide manhunt had authorities searching for the pair near the U.S.-Canada border. The couple was captured after a ranger with the Apache said Graves National Forest found what appeared to be an abandoned campfire. That's when he came in contact with McCluskey whom he recognized from a wanted poster released this week by the U.S. Marshals Office. A SWAT team waited until dark to storm the campground where they arrested McCluskey and Welch. Two other inmates escaped along with McCluskey but were recaptured earlier this month. A report found serious problems at the prison where the inmates were being housed including faulty security for the perimeter fence which the convicted murderers scaled during their escape. For NPR News I'm Gillian Ferris Kohl in Flagstaff. Dow's down 92 from Washington. This is NPR News. Thailand is extraditing a suspected Russian arms dealer to the U.S. to face terrorism charges. After two years of diplomatic pressure from Washington

the suspect Victor Boot is accused of selling arms to leaders in conflict zones around the globe but was nicknamed The Merchant of Death which inspired the Hollywood movie Lord of War starring Nicholas Cage. Australians go to the polls in the nation's federal election in just a few hours as Stuart Cohen reports from Sydney. It's shaping up to be the closest race for prime minister there in nearly half a century. Australia's two party leaders Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott have been crisscrossing the country over the past couple days on whirlwind tours trying to firm up support for their respective parties in dozens of swing seats for Opposition Leader Tony Abbott. It included a marathon 36 hours with no sleep. A blackout on advertising began two days ago. So this is the only way to reach any last minute undecided voters. The latest polls show Julie a Labor party with a very slight edge. But the prime minister isn't taking anything for granted. I think it's going to be a Niobe of a Saturday night. I think this is going to be one of the closest prices the nation has ever saying.

Voting is compulsory in Australia and around 95 percent of the country's roughly 14 million voters are expected to turn out at the polls. For NPR News I'm Stuart Cohen in Sydney. The North Korean government's reportedly on Facebook. That's the word from Seoul which accuses its northern neighbor of using social networking sites to spread propaganda against South Korea and the U.S. So says Pyongyang also try to spread its message through a Twitter account but that's no longer accessible in South Korea. I'm Lakshmi Singh NPR News. Support for NPR comes from the William T Grant Foundation supporting research to improve the lives of young people online at W.T. Grant Foundation dot org. Good afternoon I'm Kalee Crossley and this is the Calla Crossley Show. Today we're hitting the rewind button on the week's news with a look at the stories that barely reached our radar. Joining us to talk through some of the stories that might have escaped our tension are Sue O'Connell Robert

Whitcomb And Arnie Arnesen. Sue O'Connell is the co-publisher of bay windows and the South in news. Arnie Arnesen is a radio and TV commentator and a former New Hampshire state legislator. And Robert Whitcomb is the vice president and editorial page editor for The Providence Journal. He'll be joining us shortly. Welcome back everybody. Thank you. Thank you. So Sue I'm going to kick it off with you with the piece that was in the south in news about this interesting story about the South into Linux. Camden public housing development two adjacent developments right one handles it seems by the federal government and another by the state and the people in the states are not fairing so well. Yeah it's one of those very complicated stories and one of those very complicated things if you ever drive slowly through a neighborhood and you see public housing and you see one that looks like hey I'd like to move in there. And when you're like oh those poor people who live there. And this is an example of that. Only like in the same sort of block. And it's also the example of the new blood

and fresh blood of city council you know and why it's so great to get new people to run for office and have to be held accountable to their campaign promises which they made just last year and that would be Arroyo in can solve Who have you know they really really worked hard to be of the people for the city council. And as you know the Boston City Council doesn't have a lot of power. They have the ultimate power over the budget but not a lot of power. And this is an example of work that they can really do which is to call attention to this problem where one housing development just you know isn't even sure where the money is coming from. The people involved aren't sure if they're invited to the meeting or not and can solve O in Arroyo are able to just step in and say OK let's shine a spotlight on this. Let's find out where the funds are coming from. What what kind of money they need in the housing development to bring it up to speed and really just involve the people who live there which again is another challenge within all city politics is letting people know that they are involved in the way that the city works and involved in how their housing works.

I think this is good I think you know it's all about people like you around since we were there a lot of passionate about this with the people in the project. Oh yeah absolutely I mean you know it's my experience in the in the housing development world is that in every community there there there are the advocates who understand that there is money to be had to make the development better and safer and in some instances I know that you know there's probably a number of people listening saying well why don't they get it so good you know it's a housing development. But some of it is just safety issues and some of it is just minimum. Where I work and in the other end it also makes the neighborhood look better you know that some of these developments are not just in Boston in the south but everyone are just eyesores and there's no need to have them. When you have architects you know young architects who would love to cut their teeth you know really make the city vibrant by doing public housing or public buildings or public access ability that are artistic and functional

and really the next wave if you like with your own friends who are very much much more creative. You look at a way to sort of write all of those stark and exactly look at the history of some of the great architect leading the leading internationally now and they cut their teeth in Europe. Yes housing money. I'm thinking Sears versus Ikea right. As you just said. And right next door to each other Arnie. Exactly. They're inexpensive but one looks so much nicer than the other and I hear the Castro controllable. I mean I got the vibe I worked I lived in Mission Hill in Boston for many years and was on an activist in Mission Hill and during And that's a housing development that was redone mission main and it's you know partially Section 8 partially good old fashioned housing development some people bought condos and I remember holding a public meeting and one of the residents saying well I don't want to live too close to the train tracks. Well you know I grew up in Revere with the blueline in my backyard and I was like that's tough you know. Yeah so I get that there's that feeling of entitlement about it but you know housing developments help all of us if it's done

well. I mean I want you to respond but I want to just let people know that what we're talking about here. Here's one of the residents that we have mold in our bathrooms our basements are flooded. We have poor electrical systems. Only two or three things can be plugged in at one time so we're not talking a real Arny and you know windows open for the heat that's the other thing that can drive you crazy if you drive like a housing development in the winter and the windows are open because the heat doesn't work. Yeah OK so I'm going to object. Oh it's I think it was that what you will talk Arnie. It's got it's got to be All because some guy said that my plumbing is 50 years old here so I'm first of all there are couple things I have my Nonna not yet and I have accountability where the hell did the money go. Right because they're talking about you know being promised 50 million and only receiving 4 million. And I just want to mine anyone who owns anything or has a home. Maintenance is required and if you don't maintain the cost five years down the road 10 years down the road is ten times more expensive. So they're sort of cutting off their nose to

spite their face. It isn't just about looks. It's about cost. That's why I think these people should be you know legitimately outraged because you know now to deal with mold before you were dealing with a broken pipe right. You know you deal with a broken pipe and the mold as people in New Orleans how difficult it is to get rid of mold. It is an incredible headache. And that's where I think there's a real problem but isn't it interesting Sue you mentioned that the Federal there was federal money for the federal housing project. But the state people couldn't access Ronnie because it was a state project. And I'm thinking you don't know when you move in a minor project of the state project is housing. Get with the pros. And this is one of the things I didn't know either until my reporter brought it to my attention. You know I mean it's really just one of those those those those little weird weird differences you know we suddenly see a state police person there you're like why is that stable will it stay property because it's you know and that was a federal property and it looks like oblivious rightly. Yes the borough to the public you know like yeah well that's what if anything

wrong going on. Now this is a very that's why this is that we do under the radar stories is a very important story that I certainly had not and nothing knew nothing about prior to this maybe the recession. Yeah the publisher. All right well speaking of news that some may not know about Robert let's go to your paper. We're talking about a University of Rhode Island native a guy who's been on the scene at the BP spill whose research is suggesting something different Tell us about it. Well you know the research is suggesting there's almost that oil spilling or 80 percent of the oil spill in the Gulf is just down below and a plume. As they say so it's actually in the water. And who knows what the long term effects would be you know I think of those of famous oil spill on Cape Cod in 1969. Buzzards Bay right off West. And it's good it's doing damage to as we speak. It's still in a lot of the marsh and I think what Chris has done and I know

Chris a little bit he's just grasping for breath. This is crazy already. Chris Reddy is Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and just a brilliant guy he's a very good explainer to I think one of his strengths is his right to talking to a general audience he occasionally for it from a thesis and he just reminds us this problem has not ended just because they've capped the well exactly. A lot of this rock is in the water you know and you know who knows what the long term effects might be on the you know the genetics and sort of the metabolism of everything of these creatures in the Gulf of Mexico has already suffered a lot of insults anyway because of all the crud flowing into the Gulf from the Mississippi River among other places so I think his point basically is that most of the oil still in the water call it column and it will have long term effects. We don't know what they are. Let me just add this so that before you sue an army weigh in this is the first scientific paper that's come out of this bill for people to know he did. He knew what he was looking for

when he got down there and he did a very quick. Assessment and get the funding to look at this. He deployed a submersible call sentry and went way down so he could see was it still down there and he describes it as a sniffing machine that allowed us to hunt for oil. So now Arnie you had something to say. Well there's a couple of things one I do want also comment that at least the federal government did an amazing turn around not only was he ready to do this investigation but they gave him the funding and he was there immediately so every time we said the government can't do anything right at least they got him there. The other thing is is that what why this spill is so different is that it's so damn deep and so the question is when you have a spill that's that deep under the ocean is it different than the spills we've seen in much more shallower areas and what I think is fascinating is is that it doesn't look the same. You know we think this bill should be you know it should rise to the top it should be this thick greasy stuff it isn't. It's translucent. It's almost transparent. That doesn't mean because it's clear that there is an oil in there that was the most amazing part of this sniffing

machine is that it smells the oil it doesn't mean you're toxic these are talk to Carnarvon and we don't know it's going to kill all the black to Nepal which are exactly you know it depends upon you know. There's sort of like the calm of life if you will. You know I love the fact that I don't know any other animals eat the plankton other animals eat to eat those animals but the point I've heard made a couple of times and I don't know I don't think you'll know the answer to this and but it is that because it was natural oil because it was untreated because it was crude because it was actually from the earth rather than from a boat or ship or any of that is that there's there's some hope that it just will it won't be as devastating. I mean and this is kind of one of those better. Yeah I like your cup before you got cut kind of things but you know I mean is there any knowledge that that because it just came out of the ground that we might be slightly better off than if it had fallen out of a ship. No not really not in these quantities in their natural oil leaks all of the places are natural sulphur you know Sulphur Springs but nothing lives and sulphurous frankly

kills everything. Yeah well I think that's sort of a Knology there yeah. Just because it's natural I mean what we did it was an everything natural right material which we know and we actually brought it out of the ocean squat. And you know it's still talk sick. It's amazing to me that a this huge thing that happened which has such a long term impact is you know really pretty much gone away from the front pages. And yet we're about to really experience the impact of it. And one of the things that Christopher Reddy has said bravely I think is that he's been quite critical of scientists making quick what he calls unsupported claims about the effects of the oil spill I guess meaning we see it on the top we scoop it up it's all gone. And obviously this work proves it's not all gone is we know it's not all gone even from the top. But well you know posture is to say the problem is you know we don't know if it could be just beginning and we don't know how far this stuff is going to go this is if this picked up in the current come up the East

Coast we don't know how much stuff it's going to poison if there's no total in five years we may have a reason for it. Here's the scary thing that's why you know clean air that kind of thing is so hard. This is all about the fact it was capped on July 15th. So we thought OK we're done with it. The cap is there was fine without realizing that the consequences of this huge plume you know miles under the ocean has it. I mean water is fungible because everywhere you know and we can't easily see it so I think that's part of the problem is we're just not observant and we're not plugged into what we should be afraid of. Get it off our desk and somebody else is like yeah right. I'm Kalee Crossley we're looking at local news with Sue O'Connell Robert would come in Arnie Arnesen will be back after this break. To look at a couple religious stories coming out of New Hampshire Stay with us. Support for WGBH comes from you. And from Ace ticket.

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radio by making a financial gift in any amount securely online at WGBH dot org. She spins out. It was mayhem. John Mellencamp new CD no better than this was recorded on his days off while he was on the road with Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson. On the next FRESH AIR a musical retrospective with John Mellencamp. Join us and see. If you made a gift of support to WGBH around this time last year. Please check your member card to see if it's time to renew. You can always do your part securely online at WGBH dot org. And thanks. I'm Cally Crossley and this is the Calla Crossley Show. If you're just tuning in we're hitting the

rewind button and looking at the local news that went under the radar this week talking between the headlines today are Sue O'Connell Robert Whitcomb And Arnie Arnesen Sue O'Connell is with bay windows in the south in news. Robert Whitcomb is with the Providence Journal. Arnie Arnesen is a radio and TV commentator based in New Hampshire where Arnie. You all are trying to get the message out. About Isaiah. To bear you no worries there. Well it's really interesting. This guy fab coo son has something in common with Rush Limbaugh. They were both addicted to OxyContin. Oh but the difference is you know I just he gets remarried and this guy's finds Jesus. OK so this is what happens. Hey everybody I'm religious and you're going to do drugs. Well what happened was he found Jesus and Asor and he wants everyone to know how important this was because it turned his life around. SO LET doesn't mean that he just doesn't proselytize at the Dunkin Donuts he wants to go farther than that and he wants to build this large electronic message board

on Route 4 in giant jester and what he wants is these signs for Jesus. And every day he wants like different Biblical you know expressions coming up about Jesus and about you know finding faith. And the question then is is this sign permitted. And that's really what the issue is and of course initially everyone thought it was like this neon sign this electronic you know be changing every 15 minutes and people like oh my god we don't allow this in Chester and he said no no no no no this is merely neon halted just once a day. I just don't want it to be static. So the question is Is it a sign issue is it a religious freedom issue is it going to drive charges to a nuts issue. And but I thought it was so fascinating because again it's about Jesus which is why it gets you know covered in the Union-Leader It's why everybody suddenly notice it is actually really more of a signage question than anything else. But now we've attached Jesus to it. So it takes on all these new meanings and all these new dimensions. And then as you look at this story in China Chester then you get to go

to Vermont and in Vermont there's this couple that owns 800 acres I would my live in there and they want to build a 24 foot tall cross on the hill top of their property as an expression of their faith. Now that's not a problem except they want to win it 24 hours a day. Thank you Lee. So everyone's gone on not quite sure I moved to like northern Vermont because I wanted to be out to see the stars not going to see a cross instead. So again it's all these expressions of religious freedom and it sort of reminded me that this is our kind of mini version of the models of what's going on in New York and how do we how do we embrace it. You know how do we how do we live within and what does religious freedom mean doesn't mean anyone can do anything anywhere. Or does it mean that you have to take you know a sense of the community you have to sort of live within the zoning laws of a town. And that's really what the tension is here because a lot of these things are going to go to court. You capture it completely correctly I mean I think the whole thing about the community center that happens to have a mosque inside of it which is kind of like calling any hospital a church because they all have you

know praying as inside of their chapel exactly you know it's I felt bad for the board in New York who are just trying to decide if architecturally this was a historic site or not. You know and like whether or not it can be neon or whether or not you can light it. These boards of towns are have this heavy burden of. Keeping our Constitution safe by making a judgement on local zoning laws you know and it's it's interesting and everyone dances around. I think even the folks against the mosque in New York know in their heart of hearts that it's constitutionally the way it should be. What I said was really a tension you know between a physical structure under a building and belief an expression of belief and these things have to be kind of weighed up against each other and they're you know they're building permit and safety provisions that have to be watched none of these none of these rights I mean the First Amendment is not one I am 100 percent for everything.

I mean you know somebody is it's somebody putting up a I don't know a nuclear nuclear waste unit church or something like that. You're going to you're not going to let the church do that. I mean there are all kinds of constraints that have long been approved. You can't put up a 40 probably a church after you probably can't put up a 40 square storey building with a cross on top of it. So it's truly a question of degree seems to me the state at the time. And the stay would probably be able to regulate it. You know Mike and I talk like my peeps go through this all the time the gay peeps. You know when you cross the country with the rainbow flag you know especially when you're really really Republican conservative areas of Florida where they have a very tiny gay pride celebration of 15 people and they want to hang a rainbow flag over the bridge through the main way where people have hung flags forever and suddenly there's a zoning ordinance that you can bring no flag over the bridge and then there are no flags no one can have any flat and that's pretty obviously what you're putting up a structure

or a building that really gets right dicey. What do you think about how this is keeps you know all of these expressions and these are both both in both cases people who say their faith turned them around that this was really important to them and they want to spread that to other people who want to share that feeling and that redemption with other people. But it seems that we're all across the country. We're seeing more attempts to have a public expression of their faith what do you think about that. I'm good with that I'm one of those Christian I'm kind of like the Obama Christianity where I don't really have a church you know but I believe that I'm Christian. And anytime anybody wants to pray for me I'm all for it. And anytime anybody wants to express their religion in a way that is. Within zoning laws I support it fully. I mean even the Catholic Church which I don't have a lot going on with I support all sorts of expressions of religion because I think that the more expressions we have in this country of religion the more comfortable

we become with diversity. Sure and if you want to be right you're profligate. You know with a little bit more than you know what are the limits and that's that I that's a question because they can preach you know public places but again within limits and the cross isn't a problem for example in this in this this couple this couple in northern Vermont want to put this cross on and said it's going to be lit 24 hours a day like 25 feet tall right. And someone said you know we moved to Lincoln so there'd be no he on signs and you know and there but that person is saying. But this this kind of cross requires it to be led. This is what the Revelation says and I'm going OK well then find another revelation. You know like look for something else. But then I got to go. One of the tricky case yes sort of. My hunch is the time would have the right to ban it. But I'm a little if they like it they like the flag 24 hours yeah right the American flag 24 hours a day for a lot of places. You know they go to big flags. What about the signs for Jesus guy. What about him. What about that.

I think he's going to be fine. I think I think the question is it really is it's a it's a zoning issue for signage I don't whatever he writes Who cares and I don't think anyone really cares about that. Again it just gets exciting because you put the fig leaf of religion on it and suddenly you think the summer now it's a story and you can't be permitted. You know this is religion NO NO NO NO NO IT'S A SIGN I will go with it. And he's not even a church. I mean what he has right now is he just bought a piece of property in foreclosure. Well I believe I don't think you know very you know the Bible is filled with contradictions. You know I you know I know I'm here to bring the sword but how many contradictions will put up there. One contradiction of turnover. Well if he wins in a lot of people will be getting some biblical verse where they did not get it before. So let me move on to the UK. Leviticus let me because I'm moving on to a piece in bay windows. The majority of Rhode Island voters support legal recognition of same sex marriage as Little Rhody is funny because Little Rhody have an openly gay mayor David Cicely me and

House Speaker and House Speaker right and a very pro gay senator for a United States senator for a very long time and everything we forget about Rhode Island we've got a great gay marriage and same sex marriage things happening and civil unions in New England and. Look at what Owen didn't say what the heck is going on down there is nothing happening they've got a vibrant community. I mean I went down there for Gay Pride two years ago and felt like a sailor on leave it was like everything that Boston Brahman Boston is. Rhode Island was not you know it was it was a great time. And finally you know we've got some good good data that shows what we expected. Because as you live around same sex marriage you start to find out it's really not the biggest deal in the world if if you're not gay and you don't really care in Rhode Island as religious as Rhode Island is and as well as the group's breakdown Rhode Island we're just thrilled and it has given a life to the folks that are working to bring you know same sex marriage to Rhode Island Bob certainly can talk a little bit more

about you know how that happens and which way it will go but there certainly now feel like they have the data in place to start really making an effort because of the direction things are going is a still a big strain of social conservatism. Right. Economically liberal you know kind of Truman after you know in a crisis but still a lot of social conservatives here. Far fewer though and I think what's happened in Providence especially probably it's become a much kind of more complicated city in the last 20 years it's become much more of a city again started to believe in like 1900 like the richest city in the country. Going to a place was kind of. Come back and as a result of this are people coming in here from all over the world. You know it's much more multi aesthetic and it's much more of a jumble. I mean I got to say when I was down there two years ago I've certainly been to Rhode Island many times but spent the weekend down there I felt like I was in some great new bubbling urban centers. You know I mean the whole I know there's the mixed feelings about the fire on the river and all that but it really was just it was multiethnic

it was welcoming it was friendly and it was a party I mean you don't have all the crazy restrictions that you do in Massachusetts that has quite competitive times but it's much more so brown and risk you know bring it right right. OK already smaller. Well you know it has it has it has the benefit of time. I mean it's not cold in New England where New England is clearly changing and leading the nation when it comes to this whole issue. So it's had a chance to watch it. It has a chance to absorb it realize that nothing has changed. And I also say something else. I also says it speaks to the Catholic Church the Catholic Church has been questioned on so many levels on so many things that I think even though it's a religious place Rhode Island I think it's also recognizing that it can be a tolerant place as well. Because I think that the church is being questioned across the board on so many things and I think even on this issue what Allen is prepared to say you know what. If you love someone you should marry. And don't you know having an openly gay I mean this is this is a message to all the gay closeted elected officials that are listening and there are number of them just here in Massachusetts

having David says Leni in a public position where his being gay was not something you had to talk about every day or every It would get over an issue. Never in your you know one cared and that no one cared that says Vali important point as well. All right well moving on to a story that I'm very excited about down your way about linking these and improving the services from T.F. Green Airport to Boston commuter rail service happy I can't wait I can't tell you about it. Well they're going to put it what they call intermodal station. It's going to open in October and it's going to connect to Green Airport which is sort of the big airport really the only substantial airport around here with rail service so you'll be usually be able to take a train to the airport and the little our little airport here is very handy. It's very easy to get it in the right airport. So they need a longer runway.

That's right they need to be able to fly to the west coast of Europe and I think that will happen. But there is I don't know there's a lot of airlines that just you know have cheaper fares there are a lot of people are now driving there to try to get some cheaper fares. I would certainly hop on a train and go over there and I'm on the story and I'm happy to do it it's just not whole getting from the training. You know I could just jump on the train to the but getting from the train to the airport is always the problem is that you get out of the NPT and gets a little thinner bowl and takes a people mover to the airport and that's good. You take some of the stress off Logan I want to show I want to show the service some folks in Manchester Yes I had a dream that we should have a monorail from the Manchester Airport right into downtown Manchester into the horizon center and therefore people would need to have cars that would actually develop the city even more and the whole idea of making it seamless that you know that airport is going to succeed because you don't have to rent a car you don't have to bring your car I mean that's what people want and that's ultimately what we need I think across the whole Northeast. Absolutely and that's one of our great acts.

Comparative advantages having public record station and I look at that I also see jobs for folks as I see Arnie at the story that you told us about the solar company which has its seventh location worldwide but based in Merrimac This is amazing. This is this is an incredible story this is just a little little company with these two guys got together I guess sort of like in their garage the sort of garage or basement story and they realized that solar was the future. And so they started in Merrimac and now they have locations all over the world they just opened their newest location in Hong Kong. But the depressing part of the story here is their headquarters their design element it all happens in Merrimack New Hampshire. But 80 to 85 percent of their business is Asia for selling solar equipment and that is the part and making it just kind of struggling. You're sure your pay better than service in the manufacturing is moving to Asia but the manufacturing but also the acquisition is moving they are leapfrogging all over us when it comes to energy efficiency. So the good news is they designed it they came up with the

idea and we are not investing in it. We're not acquiring it we're not building it. So it's both a good news story and a bad news story. But what I love is their headquarters is in Merrimack. They have Shanghai they have Hong Kong. They also have Missoula Montana. You know I mean it's really it's speaks to the future but I just hope that we read this and say why are we buying this stuff why aren't we making it now that China is number two as though in the world's economy I'm getting pretty nervous because they say in 20 years they'll still pass us I think 20 minutes is more like you know I want to begin to let the trade deficit get you know before exactly the name of the company by the way for those who are curious is G.T. solar and the spokes person for G2 solar says that they employ 250 to 300 people in Merrimack and they have this new expansion will not impact their U.S. operations but as you said the U.S. operations could be bigger if we were sold on solar. All right finally you talked about under the radar Sue. Yeah. Cousin who's running again. And it's a brawl for us

Sheriff. Your piece says he held a rally and he hoped for 40 people and four people showed up and it's important to say his son's last name because there's also Hasan running again song a Chang-Diaz in the in the Senate so this is a song which one is a SMITH Yes. SMITH Yes antiscience Smith is an interesting character. He was he was involved he committed a murder as a teenager and his record was sealed and somehow he was able to get a job as a corrections officer and he alleges it probably is correct that his record was leaked and once it was leaked he was let go as a corrections officer and then there were some sexual harassment charges brought against him. OK we're running out of time. Bottom line what about him. He thinks he should be sheriff. And I'm thinking he's not going to be. No I don't think so either he's got some credibility issues is running anybody can anybody can run for office that's right remember that anybody can you know meet running against a brawl and brawl.

Probably not going to happen for him but you got to appreciate his moxie. I appreciate his modesty and I like it because he's well under the radar dearly. So is his campaign you know his wife. All right we're leaving it bare right now. We've been talking a local news under the radar with Sue O'Connell co publisher of bay windows and south in news and radio and TV commentator Arnie Arneson as well as Robert what comes with the Providence Journal. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. Coming up we're taking a turn from the serious to the sublimely ridiculous with a tour of this week's tabloids. We'll be back after this break. Stay tuned. Eighty nine point seven. Support for WGBH comes from you and from the Office of Cultural Affairs.

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radio. If you signed on as a WGBH member at the end of last summer. Thank you. Your gift helped to liberate NPR News to countless commuters. Incredible concerts to a legion of students and reliable intelligence broadcasts to millions of cylinders on a 9.7 into so many more GBH done. Please keep making an impact by keeping up with your membership. You can renew your support online at WGBH dot org. This is eighty nine point seven. WGBH Boston NPR station for trusted voices and a local conversation with FRESH AIR and the callee Crosley shout the new eighty nine point seven WGBH. It's rag time. A few of the week's coverage in tabloids. It's a low brow examination of the salacious to the ridiculous and everything in

between. But this being public radio we'll conduct our review with the help of some highbrow analysts point he had Poobah of pop culture Thomas Connelly a professor in the Department of English at Suffolk University and Rachel Reuben the chair of the department of American studies at UMass Boston. Hey you too. I go and get what we got to get started with the latest hot news that Steven Tyler of Aerosmith has been named a new judge on American Idol. And before we talk about it I want to give people a sense of Steve Tyler's music music judging creds. And here's a sample of his craft a song that might describe his music career. The track is titled permanent vacation. Oh that's enough of that. You know I thought this was a little story but it's been all of the chatter around here maybe because of his sort of area roots. What do you think.

Well the I'm interested in how angry the ban seems to be the other members of the group who are furious that they had to read about it online. And this is of course been going on for a while with Steve Tyler having its own trajectory whether it be into the audience when he falls off the stage or sings at a Home Depot. He really you know has his own career. But what is he going to be like on TV every week I just can't imagine. Well people are calling him a sellout Rachel and I was amused this morning I heard Lauren Beck and felle Cohen who is a columnist at The Boston Herald described him as the Gerald Ford of rock n roll. I don't. Care I got it. I just I thought first of all it is odd to call a performer a sellout for performing I just think that's really strange. I you know like most people who've I've lived in this area long enough that I've collected my own Steven Tyler stories. But you know the first I want to say that he hit Steven Tyler and Aerosmith were the first really really big

rock'n'roll collaborators with hip hop music groundbreaking the when they teamed up together with Run DMC to do a version of their song Walk This Way. Right it was just brilliant and wonderful. And then here well actually you know not far from here at King Richard's Faire Massachusetts's renaissance fair. My 5 year old son got to ride on an elephant with Steven Tyler who comes every year because somebody's got their hair in the tank for Steven Tyler in the big leagues. When I sang recently at the UMass Boston graduate with time. Time is boring to me and I think maybe for maybe a better comparison then I do think he's boring what do you think I mean the hair I mean you know he's he's interesting in the sense of not not not interesting is a trainwreck maybe more like a boss right. You know I just I just wonder you know and this is it we don't have to stay on this disguise his whole career was before all of these performers were even thought of but even before they were

embryos I just can't figure out how a weekly connection with him is going to work. I really don't see that. Even though you're in the tank for him I'm definitely and. I think he has the capacity to be quite charming and he is a professional musician musician I mean or certainly he has the professional qualification to do it. Yeah yeah. Okay well enough of that let's go to somebody who is an international pop star and that would be Michael Jackson still more than a year after his death. And just let me give you a little sample of why he's still in it. An international star hears some of his music. Of course that's beat it and that is going to be a song that's on one. A new video game time which features songs from Michael Jackson. When I first read this I immediately said why not. It made perfect sense to me looking at the video style that he developed and his whole

his. The fact that his persona was so important seems tailor made for videos. It's a little ghoulish that it's after his death but given the sensitivity of the makers of the music of the video of the video games I don't really see this is exploitation I see it as you know career development. Well you know it's as we know Rachel he's been making more his estate has been making more money since his death. This is going to be an X-Box 360 Playstation 3 we know in Tendo D.S. PlayStation Portable. And this was announced at games come convention in Germany. Are you surprised. Oh no I'm not at all surprised. I mean it's not pretty even that particular to Michael Jackson there you know all now of the music playing and the dancing games with various you know pop stars and celebrities of different kinds. I mean my heart sank a little bit when I saw it because I thought you know it's bad enough the one time I've tried to play you know Guitar Hero and sort of was the worst person that was a rock band I was the worst person there. But for people to try to you know dance like Michael

Jackson is sort of setting everybody up for a spectacular failure. Yeah but it's not surprising and I'm no accident that it came out in Germany because really he's much more when you go to other countries you really gauge the hugeness of his pop Well let's talk about that there's a couple of countries that Rio they're putting up a statue in his honor and they're raising money in Prague to build one. This is incredible they want to put it up and what's the LeT not hill where formally the largest statue of Stalin was erected outside of the Soviet Union. And they're raising they're having an easier time raising money for this than for building a gallery to host a series of paintings by Alphonse muka the Slavic epic and the young people of Prague are much more things asked about a statue of Michael Jackson than they are to host you know their people's historical canvases. And once again rates of these people weren't born. Most of them the ones that are raising the money to build a statue when Michael Jackson was really you know. Tops in his career.

Well I think their presence sort of makes that a debatable statement. Right I mean his career sort of extended you know into their into their things. It's really interesting though to sort of compare the statue proposed in Rio and the one in Prague because it sort of gives you like all different size of globalization of culture the statue in Rio is and is meant is in one of the what was formally one of the worst slum neighborhoods in the country where Michael Jackson filmed a video for his song All I want to say is they don't really care about us. You know it's just it's like profound moments of kind of international solidarity and hybrid in the music. Because he had a really important Brazilian percussion you know group played with him on that and it's a very powerful video of people I'm seeing at the agency. However the video and then this I think they should see it particular this year because there's Michael Franti and spearhead have had a huge hit with the song also filmed with a Brazilian percussion group in a some different slum neighborhood in Brazil so it's hard not to see that as following in the footsteps

of Michael Jackson. OK. I was fascinated by a story that came out the MTV T.J. Twitter jockey as we know in TV really pioneered video junkies and now the technology has moved on and they had held a contest and the winner was Gabby Gregg and here she is in the immediate aftermath of her big win on a local news show in good good day in Chicago. And when you found out what was it like knowing that I'm still thinking myself. It was very surreal very surreal moment. We work so hard for three months competing against each other I made friends with all the other contestants so. It was bittersweet but I'm obviously happy I won. Gabby Gregg known as Gabby fresh for those who are into Twitter's 23 year old Detroit native she has won a $100000 job to Twitter for MTV and they asked her to enter the competition because of her blog. Young fat and fabulous No. What you would expect as the person to

represent MTV. Knowing what I was amazed at when I watched her winning and the first thing she did was she started tweeting. And for a moment I said well you know I'm out of it I think it's rude but then later I realized she's doing her job. Yeah but her fans expect and she just she has such oh wonderful presence. I really see her going a lot farther than being a Twitter jockey. Well she had so many fans this is why they wanted her to come over to MTV Rachel. One hundred fifty thousand hits a month on her own site young fat and fabulous. Yes. Well you know it's funny and I really hope she does go someplace else because she does seem sort of fabulous. I remember very distinctly those MTV video jockeys before. Now of course MTV hasn't played music videos in a really long time but those guys they got rid of those guys long before they stopped playing the music videos it was just a sort of form that that didn't take. It did not follow in the footsteps of the you know the problem of radio deejays with personalities and

approaches and. And I can't see how this is really going to last that long either so. You know once it's not a novelty anymore. I at least hope it will open some doors for her. Well she's a Mount Holyoke grad so I think she's smart enough to figure out how to make this work. Seems like she is. And by the way she's 5. She wears an eighteen and twenty and her purse her blood young fat and Fabulous was only started in 2008 and it was for a fashion for plus size girls young and trendy So congratulations to Gabby Gregg. Now here's on the opposite spectrum from celebrity star Halle Berry has just been tapped to be on the cover of the September Vogue and there is significance about that. RACHEL Yes there is significant is only the second woman of color to be on the cover of the September issue of Vogue their most important issue of the year. The previous one was Naomi Campbell in 1909 of course you know she's back in the news again with her whole testimony about the blood

diamonds she was given. So you know part of me is saying you know in so far as I'm able to relate to the cover of Vogue magazine you know I can't believe it took them another 20 years you know it's ridiculous and I'm cheering for it. You know of course like one does have to point out that Halle Berry particularly as pictured there is not a woman who poses a serious threat. To the narrow standards of beauty the racialized standards of beauty in this country and furthermore the text on it refers to you know quote her saying something about how her baby changed her life so it's really very like domesticating of her takes her and says OK OK you can be on the cover of Vogue magazine but you know you are a mother you know and so you know it's a little bit you know it's there there's a little bit sort of historical baggage I think on that in both of those two ways. What what grabbed me was the people defending Vogue using the example well you know Oprah was on the cover once even though it was in the September issue and these

loyal Vogue readers who feel as though somehow their integrity or their social credit is impugned because they have to defend themselves for this being the first time a black woman's been on the cover of the September issue in 20 years I mean it says a lot about the the disconnect between the fashion world and. Well to quote you Tom Connelly it's all about commerce. All right. This week speaking of tweeting Justin Bieber. Young I guess he's an artist. Go artist and Kanye West have been expressing great admiration and respect for each other and they're talking about collaborating So first listeners. Here's For those of you who aren't familiar with Justin Bieber this is from his song you smile. It. Couldn't be more vanilla. And here's Kanye West to give you a sense of Kanye West style and this is from His glory.

My. Hope. Would be an accent. But. That's. OK. Here's what a mash up would sound like of the two of them collaborating. I wish. My. Mother. Would. Save me or me Rachel save me save you. How could I possibly save you I mean you know part of coursed part of Justin Bieber's appeal is what you quote you called but now lies he's sort of one in a line of like unthreatening teen idols aimed at younger girls. You know the thing is the collaboration may happen it may not happen but what interests me is that at this point the rumor is an important cultural product and we have to see it that way and it has been you know since the 1930s when you know movie studios used to start rumors that costars of films were dating you know romantically involved with each other when they weren't. But the

whole RINO the rumor was something people consumed a got something out of and yes an aspect of it was also all about commerce. So you know on one level it is like a way that if it happens you can sort of see it as these two recording artists energizing their careers. It makes perfect sense to me. You know and as I said on another level if it doesn't happen people have been talking now about you know Justin Bieber and Kanye in this new way. And you know that's I think fun for fans and that's good for you know the people who make money off of it. Well I don't know which is more unforgivable but the rudeness to Taylor Swift or even giving any seriousness to Justin Bieber I mean Taylor Swift a Judy Garland compared to Justin Bieber. This is just incredible to me. And I'm just afraid Usher is going to be. Yes please. But again I mean that's all I'm saying is what does Wes how does Wes somehow think this is going to help his demographic certainly it'll help Justin Bieber's. But what. What a

strange world for him. Because you brought up the Taylor Swift incident when he sort of dissed her at those awards and maybe this is a way for him to clean up his act you know more. Yeah I don't think I can think of. I want to talk about an icon who died just recently Abbey Lincoln was a jazz singer and the import of her career and we've seen a lot of tributes to her since her death. She was a 900 50s nightclub singer. In fact for a long time I did know she sang because I knew of her work in that iconic film nothing but a man which is often showed in in film classes. But she's had a fabulous long career doing a kind of jazz singing that really was was unique to her in her style. And Tom comment on what you think the impact generally is such a relief to talk about a real artist after the previous segment. She's really extraordinary and she's part of an interesting generation. Eartha Kitt and Nancy Wilson who really refused to become quote unquote jazz Shon

to Zz's who expanded their role and everyone can is really. It raises the bar immeasurably to work with Max Roach is still so moving and it's moved so I don't want to diminish it because if I say it's moved beyond history to really the realm of pure art those of you who don't know art just youtube her and listen to the way that she sings and her phrasing and her her power is is both raw and also heart rending it's just it's just extraordinary listening to Max Roach of course was a bebop artist iconic drummer and the two of them were married and collaborated for some time use their talents for a support of the civil rights movement. Rachel Yeah I mean I I really well you know I think we've talked about several important musical artists but on Abbey Lincoln was completely spectacular. And so. Opened up what it means to to sing the song. I think in really challenging ways and I'm thinking particularly here of the the middle part of her we insist freedom

now which is early it was 1960 and in the part in the middle which is called it's like a triptych in the middle parts called protest. She you know starts making these nonverbal noises they're utterances they're not scatting and they're just you know they're just unbelievable. I got a chance to see her once in the 80s at a huge concert that was some sort of benefit for anti-apartheid organizations. And I'm really glad that I know that I did that it just blew my young little mind. Me too every time I got to see her here at scullers she won the Jazz Master Award in 2003. And those as Tom said You should check out her work we're going out on one of her songs is called Bird alone. And I thank you both for another addition of ragtime we have been speaking to Professor Rachel Reuben and Professor Thomas Connelly. You can keep on top of the Calla Crossley Show by visiting our website WGBH dot org slash Kelley closely.