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I'm Kelly Crossley and this is the Kalak Rossley show. Today we're hitting the rewind button on this week's news from the Gray 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 was will be dropping in on community and alternative presses for a look at the big stories from the small papers where today's neighborhood news becomes tomorrow's mainstream headlines. We'll top of the hour mentoring from the serious to the sublimely ridiculous with ragtime a tour of the tabloids and a roundup of this week's pop culture. Up next on the callee cross the show from a gumshoe reporting to gossip rags. First the news. From NPR News in Washington I'm Lakshmi saying. Michigan Congressman Bart

Stupak a major target for the Tea Party says he will not seek re-election after 18 years together we've accomplished what you sent me to Washington to do health care for all Americans. STUPAK making the announcement just moments ago he was one of the final holdouts of the Democrat's passage of a landmark health care bill. His yes vote made him one of the biggest targets of conservative opponents made evident when Tea Party activists holding rallies across the nation recently called for stupid acts re election defeat in his home state. U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens plans to retire this summer. We have more on this from NPR's Pam Fessler. The decision by Stevens who's the court's oldest member at age 89 had been anticipated for months. He said he plans to retire when the court finishes its current term in late June or early July and that he hopes a successor will be confirmed before the new term begins in October. Stevens is part of the court's liberal block and his departure provides the second opportunity for

President Obama to fill a position on the court. Among those said to be possible choices are Solicitor General Elena Kagan and federal appellate judges Diane Wood and Merrick Garland. In a statement Chief Justice John Roberts said Stevens had earned the gratitude and admiration of the American people. He was appointed to the court by President Ford in 1905. Pam Fessler NPR News Washington rescuers in West Virginia still are unable to get to four missing miners who've been trapped underground since an explosion Monday today. Crews had to evacuate the mine in Montcoal after encountering heavy smoke. Kevin Stricklin of the Mine Safety and Health Administration says it's been frustrating for the rescuers. It's very emotional for all the rescuers. We want to get in there. But it's also emotional if something would happen to the rescuers when we know that we have a far and very good possibility of an explosion if we don't do something to inert the atmosphere. Monday's explosion killed 25 miners wholesale inventories were up in a larger than expected pace in February as

businesses restock warehouse shelves. We have MORE from NPR Scott Newman the healthy gains again in February are a good sign that the economy is on the mend. More inventory at the wholesale level means businesses are feeling more confident about retail sales. The major economic driver wholesalers increased inventories by six tenths of a percent in February. That's better than the four to five tenths of a percent. Analysts had expected. Even so businesses are staying lean. The inventory to sales ratio a measure of how long it would take to sell down inventory remains at a historic low of just over one month. Scott Newman NPR News Washington. Dow's up forty two points. This is NPR News. A Vatican spokesman says Pope Benedict the 16th is willing to meet victims of clerical sex abuse but he's also defending the Pope against what he calls unfounded allegations of covering up sexual abuse. NPR's Sylvia

Poggioli has this from Rome. Father figure he could be said the pope has written that he is available for you meetings with sex abuse victims Benedict has met with victims while visiting the US and Australia and with Canadians at the Vatican. Nevertheless he has come under fire for alleged mishandling of cases as archbishop of Munich and as the cardinal in charge of the Vatican office dealing with clerical sex abuse. Nobody acknowledged that transparency and rigor are urgently needed to show the church is run in a wise and just manner. He said proper selection and training of prospective priests will be crucial in preventing further abuse. But he insisted the pope is deserving of respect and support in the face of unfounded allegations of cover ups. The Vatican has been on the defensive with numerous officials insisting the media is waging a hate campaign against the Catholic Church. Sylvia Poggioli NPR News Rome. NATO's investigating a military aircraft crash in southern Afghanistan overnight that killed three American troops and a civilian worker.

A number of people were injured in Zabul Province. The Taliban is claiming responsibility. The first space walk of shuttle Discovery's mission is over today astronauts disconnected an empty ammonia tank that will be replaced with a new one outside the International Space Station. The crew plans to conduct two more spacewalks to complete the job. Discovery is on a two week mission Nassa plans to retire its space shuttle program later this year. I'm Lakshmi saying NPR News Washington. Support for NPR comes from the Wallace Foundation. A source of ideas for expanding learning opportunities beyond the school day at Wallace Foundation dot org. Good afternoon I'm Kelly 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 about some of the local stories that might have escaped our attention are Sue O'Connell Peter Katz and Arnie Arneson. Sue O'Connell is the co-publisher of bay windows and the South in news. Peter Katz is the executive editor of The Boston Phoenix. And Arnie Arnesen is a radio and TV commentator and a former New Hampshire state legislator. Sue O'Connell Peter Katz is an Arnie Arnesen. Welcome. Thanks. Thank you. I want to start off with the Boston Public Library and the cuts that the head of the library Amy Ryan proposed just this week. There had been rumors that at least 10 of the 26 branches would close. She proposed cutting out for a fan a lower Mills Orient heights and Washington village. And the criteria that used were borrowing rates with the foot traffic the number of programs and the building conditions which turned out to be actually. A pretty important thing if you had to upgrade the facility and that was going to be costly. So so the South End Library escape the cut thus far so what do you think about this proposal. Well I again this is this seems to be the conversation we have on

a number of topics every week. It's a rock and a hard place kind of conversation that the cuts need to be made. I think it will probably address. You know the borrowing issue and the usage issue is a bigger conversation why were those libraries not used as much as others what are the community ties What is the library system doing wrong that isn't reaching out to folks who see the resource that Ben Franklin brought us as such a great idea and I think that that could spur a larger conversation about how we could do a better job. And you know I don't want to be Pollyanna asked but there might be an opportunity here to be to be better citizens to our fellows and bring the library system to them in a way that works for them. I'm not going to cast aspersions on the bus of public libraries a gathering of its criteria however some of the people who have lived in those areas who protested the closing of these libraries say they are used quite a bit and particularly by young people after

school. So now you have a situation where those libraries are not there for homework and other things and. You know no matter what anybody says there is a digital divide that exists very much in this country and that's where a lot of kids go in those poor neighborhoods to be able to use those facilities. I wanted to ask both Peter and Arnie to weigh in on this because one of the charges coming from the areas that were cut or the people said these are areas that have no political clout frankly. And if there were it would happen other places because they would expect to get some pushback. What do you think. I don't buy that. See the growth in dog just which was the library I used as a kid and it's near where some of your relatives cousins will love you is politically potent area. I don't know about East Boston the Orient Heights is or you know it's definitely yeah. I mean what they've done is. Something's gotta give.

I mean the mayor orchestrated this fairly well you know threaten to you know shut half down shut just a few you know on human terms. These libraries are my journal. Compared to some others I think they'll hit the kids the hardest of all. The bigger story here that no one has gotten that is that the public library system has suffered from benign neglect for every year of them and you know would ministration Menino has a board of trustees that are bought and sold and under his thumb they are supposed to be looking out for the libraries interests not Menino his interests. And this is not a crisis that just came out of nowhere. This has been you know this has been building for years. And the Menino administration rather than be proactive in deal with what the libraries should be like have just been living and going along used as a pawn for patronage and money.

But he's supposed to be the biggest booster of the library system. He says who. OK no no no. Says who says him. OK now you know listen he canned the he pressured the trustees to get rid of Birdie Bogalay saying he wasn't sense of that enough to the needs of the neighborhood library. Well when I've been I've been in many of these neighborhood library meetings everything the current director Amy Ryan lovely person has said that the libraries are now doing was done under her predecessor's name. Look Bernie and the mayor didn't get along. That's life. You know he was quite competent. The fact of the matter is is that we need the library system to be reconfigured and the mayor is has tried to use this quite real very real fiscal emergency as a way to cover up the fact that they've been letting business go on. You told me you know it doesn't take political risks. What do you say Arny. I wrote something down I feel like we're eating our seed corn. And the

reason I say that about the libraries especially is during a downed economic time that's when the libraries become the most important because the first thing you're going to do is going to cut off your internet access if you even have the Internet you're going to cut off your newspapers if you even get a newspaper. You want to place it safe for your kids. So here you have people losing their jobs trashing their dollars trying to figure out what to do. And when the library suddenly becomes a more important away sis that's when you make the decision to cut them. I think you're absolutely right I think for the longest time libraries have never gotten the kind of attention it's not just Boston's problem it's across the board. But this is the time when actually it's part of the social safety net work that you want to prop up not walk away from and I think that's one of the things that people like Mayor Menino are not recognizing I understand dollars but this is more than a library. It's a it's a nursery. It's an information source. It's day care it's after school care. It's where people come together. It's where you learn to survive and find the next job when you lose your job

because that's the place we actually start researching where to go next. So I think that's the problem that what if you know what you've got. What do you go. I mean that becomes I mean it's clear I mean no one wants to cut libraries I don't think that that but what do you cut. Yeah one of the things they suggested Well I got hours everywhere and I'm just going to say that she's not. You know one of our Yeah one of the things that she said was she's going to try to maintain the hours however ninety two people are going to in addition to these four places being shut down. We're going to lose their jobs. And the goal there is to try to maintain the hours across the rest of the rest of the branches to stay alive and Peter is just about how where to cut. Well it's not with the law. Anyone who knows about city operations will tell you that Boston has to fire you know city fire houses to more than it needs. I don't know. I used to know this number of since forgotten that cut those two out. Now you say well my God what's going to happen to this neighborhood whatever that was just a big fire this week here in Boston but it's not it's just is Boston probably can do with a few less

libraries. Talk to the municipal finance bureau they'll say that the fire the potman this overmanned has too many people fire boxes. Fire ball is there another point is going to reason I bring up the firehouse is not to be anti firemen or anti safety units that city government not just Boston. Any city or town in the nation. Avoids making rational choices at the time. Rational choices at the appropriate time so that now take the tube. Except for the sake of argument that closing two fire houses would be a rational thing. How many other modest proposals like that may be closing for libraries is a rational thing. If this was done of the time when there wasn't a great crisis about that the the really great crisis might not be so great. We put everything off. Yeah but Peter you made the best statement though you said the problem is I'm not anti farm and that's the frame every time during those times we're not

under the financial gun. You try to look at well let's well what can we get rid of what fire departments or what buildings. People say oh you don't like firefighters or you don't like it. Oh you don't like a lot of things you watch if you act as if that's really what you're talking about. What you're trying to do is make rational decisions based on both economics and geography and yet instead what you're told is you somehow hate that division of that group. That's when you simply ask these nonprofits to open the libraries I mean we're asking we're asking the right tools and the nonprofits you know which has been an idea that many a city councilor has brought up over many years so we go to Harvard we go to be you we go to B.S. and we say Listen fund the libraries. Well there are two suggestions right there. Cut the firemen nonprofits from the libraries. Politicians get a backbone and stand up for it and be right. Well that's our gift. OK Peter I want to go to a story that's gotten a lot of attention in your paper a piece by Harvey silver of late saying this cyber bullying legislation is really might cause some unintended consequences. And this is a story

coming off of the Phoebe. What's your last name sir. Phoebe Prince is France's cyberbully death. And some response to it if people feel angry about it they want to see some action. But Harvey says not so fast not so fast and it's a it's not mind numbingly complicated but people can go to the Phoenix thought Connie if they'd like to read it. Look at it this way. The district attorney who's done a excellent job with these bringing these prosecutions is using laws that already exist to bring these alleged miscreants to justice. Harvey I'm self says that he thinks he is you know a better than even shot that many of them will be convicted of something. So these on token prosecutions we already have the laws we need we don't need to add more laws. What Harvey also talks about is that look this is a so what

this is the sort of bill that people. You know a whole host of people used to try to regulate speech to regulate what's called hate speech. Now I have to say I'm not in favor of hate speech but I am in favor of free speech. And it's a very fine line. You know look the high school my son goes to has a zero in has for the four years he's been there. Zero tolerance towards bullying. They don't have any special laws. Anything happens boy you are in the office and you know it is dealt with. I mean one time a kid tripped over him and you know they but they were both in an office because they thought oh this looked like it was dealt with in about three minutes. No it wasn't bullying fine. But we felt good about it because they were sensitive. You know you can't legislate thoughts you can't legislate actions. And I think the bottom line of Harvey's piece is the laws exist to

prosecute these kids. It's unfortunate there aren't laws to prosecute the teachers. But the reason I did it sue is because there wasn't the kind of response. Well exactly I mean Peter pretty much sums up my my my opposition to where they had existing and we've always had existing laws to stop this and they usually aren't inactive that teenagers live under some bubble that exempts them from the same laws that we all live under. OK well we're going to pick this up and some more stuff on the other side of the break I'm Kelli Cross and we're looking at local news with Sue O'Connell Peter Katz isn't Arnie Arnesen let us know what's going on in your neighborhood. Is there something happening in your community that we should be talking about. If so we want to hear from you. Call us up at 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. That's 8 7 7 3 0 1 89 70. We'll be back after this break. Stay with us. With

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catch Sondheim at 80 live at the Kennedy Center in Washington. See complete rules of entry online at WGBH dot org. This is Brian O'Donovan. Don't miss weekends on the new eighty nine point seven. We've got a whole new line up of public radio's favorite weekend voices. Hello and welcome to the Bob Edwards weekend. This American Life marriage guys. This is NPR's ON THE MEDIA. I'm glad St.. And a Celtic sojourn at a new time. Saturday afternoons at 3 weekends are all for new flavor. Along with the staples you've always loved what's been a quiet weekend like what we got here on the new eighty nine point seven. WGBH. Hello I'm Krista Tippett. I hope you'll join me on Saturday April 24th at the Charles Hotel for a day of conversation together with Harvard Divinity School. Call 8 8 8 8 9 7 WGBH or visit WGBH dot org slash Speaking of Faith. I'm Kelly Crossley and this is the Calla Crossley Show. If you're just tuning in we're hitting the rewind

button and looking at the news that went under the radar this week. Joining us to talk about the headlines are Sue O'Connell Peter Katz's And Arnie Arnesen. Sue O'Connell is with the bay windows and south in news. Peter Katz is with The Boston Phoenix. Arnie Arnesen is a radio and TV commentator. Let us know what your stories are in your own town that aren't getting the coverage they deserve. It's 8 7 7 3 0 1. Eighty nine seventy. That's 8 7 7 3 0 1. Eighty nine seventy. Now the for the break we're talking about this piece in the Phoenix about anti-bullying legislation really not being the way to go. Arnie I'm going to let you weigh in on it very quickly because I want you to transition the story up your way about the new hand Hampshire Republican National Committee chairperson resign. I keep I keep running this Aristotle quote in my head the one thing that no state or government can do no matter how good it is is to make its citizens morally virtuous. And the reason I keep thinking about that is that I think you're right Peter there are laws in place we actually saw them.

Doesn't this kind of remind you of what's going on between the military tribunals and a criminal court or talking about now at the at the national level. Whenever you see a unanimous vote in a house that happens so quickly after an event you know that this is an emotional reaction and not a rational reaction. And if they looked at any of the research most researchers and psychologists have looked at this issue and said these bullying laws don't work sometimes they drive things underground. They they don't if teachers don't know to pay attention. Writing the law isn't going to really make that much of a difference. And I keep thinking about what happens in my own family. I mean there's bullying between my daughters. I look at the NRA they believe legislator I mean there's lots of it. Right I said I'm looking at this in a much more global context and in that context I'm not sure that these laws are going to do anything but set people up to fail and create a chilling condition for speech. I don't think that's going to teach what we want taught. You know there is a respect for her right now. OK.

Lead us off on this New Hampshire Republican National Committee chairperson I resign I'm excited I'm sorry. Thank you. OK. TERENCE Well you know we all know about what happened to the poor Republican National Committee because it turns out they spent about two grand fund raising at the voyeur an L.A. based lesbian bondage themed nightclub. And it was like unbelievable what the chairman still do. Well what I love about this story is that there have been two reactions to the story. One happens in my home state of New Hampshire where the National Republican Committee men Sean Mahoney who also happens to run a magazine called business to Hampshire is so outraged it put him over the top and he decides he has to resign as the National Republican Committee man because this is disses. This is it. It's over. And of course at the same time as he's doing this word is out that he may run for Congress. Word is out that he just wrote this amazing piece in business New Hampshire about what a fabulous group the Tea Party protesters are. And I think this is an opportunity for him to really start to court the Tea Party folks saying See I've rejected those bad Republicans.

Some point you might want to consider me a good Republican of the Tea Party ilk but that's what's going on. So I'm looking at Sean Mahoney walking away from the Republican Party and then I travel down to Louisiana my favorite place to go. And sure enough what do I find. I find Stormy Daniels and Stormy Daniels as a former adult entertainment star. And what if she decided to do. She sees this $2000 investment in the porn industry as the best thing they've ever proven. And as a result she's decided she's become a Republican she's leaving the Democratic Party and she's going to run against Senator David Vitter because as she said as I've said for well over a year it's time that our government and our tax policy begin rewarding entrepreneurship creativity. It's time again to inspire positive risks and out of the box thinking in the interest of growing a strong economy and a strong America men. All right I think. Aside from Stormy Daniels who has our host That's pretty funny. I think that his

resignation weedman if we want to look at it cynically. OK. OK. This you know the thing that there's nobody said that kept Michael Steele in his job the reason that he wasn't fired after this incident is because these committee chairpersons respect the job he's done so with people like this guy in New Hampshire start resigning. Then his power base is gone right. Yeah. Well yeah I think I think that to some regard it is I mean there's there's no doubt that the general idea is that a lot of his work is just so we can make a you know write a book and make some some public appearances when his time at the helm of the Republican National Committee is done but at the same time you know it's fun to make fun of. But it's a very small mistake in terms of you know money and the number of people that you have to control the bigger story I think is will the Tea Party actually be able to form a true conservative voice you know the people who are conservatives not necessarily. You know race is not

jobs nor are they just anti-Republican are they going to be able to bring people together that may actually get some footing on a real party and that's you know you look at the people report our tea party people. Yes they're not the people we see on the news right you know. So who are they and are they really going to become a party I think it is. Well Peter and the Boston Phoenix David Bernstein has a piece looking at that and this is the prelude to the Tea Party meeting in Boston next week. And the title says it all is for terrorism. Yeah it's a pretty frightening develop you know there. You know I think back to when I was a kid in the 60s in the early 70s and you know I remember being in the anti-war marches and I stopped going after one day I saw a you know a North Vietnamese flag flying and it was another I was any less opposed to the war but I was not in favor of the other side. You know I wonder how people must feel today when you you may go to one Tea Party meeting and you see all these Confederate flags

flying which to me if I remember my history correctly that was the side that was fought for slavery while the union side was opposed to it. But I'm I'm I'm getting off from a subject I mean I think the Tea Party movement began as a legitimate expression of populist rage. What's happened though is that the Republican Party has co-opted it and it hasn't had to do very much to do so. As a matter of fact anyone interested in following up on this the American Conservative hardly a left wing publication in its second last issue dedicated its whole cover story to how the Republican Party is manipulating the Tea Party. For its own well you have a chance to see when they hear Reno next week. I'm not going to miss it. I mean I'm not joking when I say I know I want to go down and take a look myself. Well I think either

I think I'm sorry. I just think that the Tea Party the Tea the Tea Party protesters have been manipulated by Fox News and by the you know ardently. And they and they and they've been pushed to an extreme. But I think even Republicans are beginning to realize what that means. Senator Coburn just about a week ago was speaking in Oklahoma and he was hearing all the sort of very angry language from Tea Party protesters in his audience. And he actually had to say to them stop stop watching Fox News you better watch CNN as well. Stop yelling about Nancy Pelosi she's a nice woman. He is scared. And this is a very conservative senator who would be one of those people that would want to manipulate them to his benefit. But I think he sees a mob out of control and now his good friend who he used to room with. You know stupid back. Yeah I'm just you know because I both lived at C Street. Together they lived in that house together. And suddenly he sees his friend resigning and trust me it isn't because he wants to spend more time with his family. I think he wants to live to see his family. That's how scary it has gotten

so much of the world last word on this isn't this isn't possible that this is a both and situation and what we have are the people who represent the kind of protests that Peter witnessed when the tea party got started are for whatever reason unwilling to say there is a man here too and that's not me. Right no yeah yeah I mean you absolutely have a number of white men over certain age who see things in the country that are disturbing to them but they're not crazy terrorist they're just sort of misguided. And I also think you can't discount what happened during Katrina. What happened during 9/11 which which are leading these men to think you know what if I'm going to protect my family I need to have a gun. You know and those aren't necessarily political actions those are actions of men who are afraid or want to protect their families and how they all play into this mix is the volatile you know you get the crazies. You've got the people who are afraid that may come to it somewhat.

You know I don't want to defend them either but I don't want honestly by how they get there. And then you've got the people who have ideas about you know more of a libertarian streak. Through them and you've got all these people together and the people in the middle have to disown the people on the extreme and that's that's what happens in every political party it's a dangerous mix is no doubt about it. I've had to deal with some of these. These folks that have their web broadcast through big windows with things that we've written in the past and they're scary It absolutely is scary to have your reporter have his home address put up on one of these crazies websites with volatile language that would would harm him and it's a frightening idea but at the same time you can't be frightened by them. One of the thing is somebody who benefited from party support is Senator Scott Brown I've never heard of him. OK. Well I have to come to you because you're doing a countdown in the bay windows. Yes Scott Brown continues to ignore us. Scott Brown continues to call the senator's office every day and I was just telling Peter off air they laugh at us now when

we call but I don't think they're laughing at us I just think they're laughing at our persistence. So we call Senator Brown's office both in Washington and Boston every day. We are urging our Facebook fans in our tweet fans and everyone on our front page to call Senator Brown and ask him either why he won't respond to bay windows the gay and lesbian newspaper or why he won't give us a guest opinion or is he good at what dress the gay lesbian transgender bisexual community at all he has reached out to everyone else under the sun. And although I know he's busy which is the answer we got like the first time we asked that he was busy. I know I could leave right now and call the White House's press office calls the president's press office and get an answer from them. And if Senator Brown is more busy then President Obama I want to know what he's up to. Well you also are concerned because there's two pieces of legislation that he want he has not commented on which is why climate change piece explained that. Well it's very important yeah. I actually don't know a lot about the climate change issue but the don't ask don't tell issue he sits on the

Armed Services Board. Obviously we're all talking about Don't Ask Don't Tell and what's he going to do I by no means want to said nothing. He said nothing and by no means do I want to paint the idea that I think he's he's not going to vote our way from time to time I mean I actually think he may be a thoughtful independent minded Republican and conservative but he's given us no reason to think that. And by ignoring us is just starting to enrage us. Well you should channel Barry Goldwater to be straight to fight and die for your country I actually just need to shoot straight. It's very Goldwater Barry Goldwater in my work you never going to Massachusetts elected a right wing nut. Yeah. Now we hope that when we. OK. OK. Let's be blunt. That's what we call the right wing that he was a nobody in the state Senate he's also a you know a couple of tracks short of a boxset as we like to say he's not the brightest bulb on the face of the earth. That's a little odd e-mail says

you know he was a non entity who's devolved into a right wing nut. If there's any signs of original intelligence there he's yet to show them. I mean I'm willing to be persuaded but not talking to people isn't the way nothing you know you were you raised the point last week we've also just allowed he can write a guest opinion he does not have to sit down and be interviewed by any of us. He can just send us a guest opinion. It doesn't even have to say interact with our community and our constituents not as already you know or you know make a recommendation to get a semi-truck and I think you should park it out in front of his office and every day change the number and the number is on the side it's been day 200 since you responded to us. It's been I mean eventually it's kind of a form of water torture. Right it works. I also don't want to I don't want to be in Azad either that this is why we go for him is that he won't talk to the gay community. You know I don't know that that's going to be a tipping point but I don't want to give him any fodder. Well maybe somebody listening will get his attention on this. OK around about those

stories that you think didn't get enough attention and editorial in your editorial this week Peter in the Boston Phoenix you raised a very low visibility campaign happening the replacement for Anthony solutio seat. Really I've heard almost nothing about this there are six people running. Yeah well you know local local races don't get the attention they once did you know it's funny for all the talk about Massachusetts being home to political junkies. Present company excluded you to one even though I'm surprised. Yeah it's a hell of a race and you know maybe one reason this there are six people running all of who could do with a good job. So that made you say one should. You said we endorsed him Florida who would made a good run last time. I have to say he when he sat down and talked with us he was someone who got it. You know he he he he struck me as someone who understood how you

talk to a vulgar and have an idea and then translate it into legislation and most important of all he's interested in the impact that the legislation would have. He has a really good sense of what it's like to be on the street for example he said look if if you were a freshman senator and you were given 50000 bucks to do with whatever you wanted in your district what would you do he said. I would have beds for drug addicts for women in Charlestown he didn't miss a beat. And we said well why Charleston why women he said at the moment everyone's paying a lot of attention to the male addicts but the women that Exxon are getting the. And it was just he didn't even pause. OK. I'm just I want to make sure Sue and Arnie get in this whole one story that we have our story to and you know that would definitely be the lack of attention that's being paid to this race. We at the windows actually didn't endorse in the race to Peter's point former mayor of Cambridge Denise Simmons who's openly lesbian would make a great a great senator as would Jim Flaherty

who I was equally impressed by him when he came in to meet with us about to the point we're talking about a couple of weeks ago. Knowing how to get the votes know knowing how to count them knowing how to run a campaign. You know it looks like he may actually win this race. If anyone shows up to vote our name something I think that went under the radar there with you that a lot of campers need to know about this tax on tax on. I tell you that tax campgrounds why Iraq has such nirvana where Nirvana come here don't pay a cent you know and it is. Well see I'm I'm resenting this because and one of the rationales was was the reason why we can't tax campgrounds is a lot of homeless people live in tents and therefore we would be taxing the homeless and I said wait a minute that's their shelter we love property taxes it's just the same thing. It's just a tad to me but that shows you we're so desperate for revenue. We go there we get yelled at. We pull back and we have no capacity one of the richest states in the nation has no capacity to find cash.

So you go figure you know. And as a result since we can't tax tents we definitely look at gambling. So that's what we had to walk away from the pup tent and now live in the casino and we're told that toll thing is not completely gone away either. You know that about the soul thing either. Well you like that one too and there's no spine in Congress. We have 400 legislators and 24 senators and a governor and between all of them we can't find this guy. Well there you have it and we've been having a lively conversation talking news with Sue O'Connell co-publisher of bay windows and south in news Peter Katz is executive editor of The Boston Phoenix and radio and TV commentator Arnie Arnesen of New Hampshire. Thank you all for joining us. Coming up we're taking us 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 to eighty nine point seven. The

support for WGBH comes from you and from Curious George. Let's get curious. The new exhibit at Boston Children's Museum where you can experience the world of Curious George and visit places featured in the books and television show now through June 6. Details at Boston Children's Museum dot org. And from the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by Julian qwerty in music of legacy Shostakovich and Chekhov April 13th through 17th info at 8 8 8 2 6 6. Twelve hundred and from the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Welch and Forbes and the Post Club. Pleased to sponsor news and culture on the new eighty nine point seven. Learn about sponsorship and six one seven three hundred fifty five hundred. GBH examines the casino gambling debate in Massachusetts with a special TV and radio series The Last Resort.

Tune in to MORNING EDITION this week for stories about how this issue is affecting the region. Then on Thursday eighty nine point seven welcomes key stakeholders to the Emily Rooney and Kelly Crossley Show starting at noon on WGBH TV present special editions of Greater Boston and basic black beginning at 7:00 p.m. on channel 2. Learn more and share your comments at WGBH dot org slash last resort. Hello I'm Krista Tippett. I hope you'll join me on Saturday April 24th at the Charles Hotel for a day of conversation together with Harvard Divinity School. We'll talk about faith the pulse of religious life and new directions for the Christian church. WGBH members can attend a free call 8 8 8 8 9 7 8. Or visit WGBH dot org slash Speaking of Faith to get your tickets for this day of conversation and ideas. Thanks and I hope to see you on April 24th. Why is a nine point seven. Because the way some Kenyans run about it barefoot may be better for their bodies than running in shoes because you'll only hear Marco Werman and the

world on the new eighty nine point seven. WGBH radio. It's rag time a view 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. Our pointy head pooh bahs 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. Welcome you to. Well Tiger is back on the greens at the Masters in Augusta. We can't make it a week without talking about it in the that's all I give you. You know I was here. Well first I want everybody to hear not only is he on the Masters and he's in a leadership position in the

in the in the contest but he released at the same time this ad which Let's take a listen. Tiger I am more prone to be inquisitive. To promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are. And I jus learned now that it is from Nike and it features the voice of his deceased father and they gleaned it from some documentary that had been done. I just found out that actually the father was talking about the mother and so they put this together. So that's the background. Rachel what do you think. Well you know I was thinking that Nike might need to change its slogan from just do it to just do it just don't

text about it afterwards. Yeah but you know it's very good it's crass but you know one one has to imagine all of the very high level meetings that Nike's PR people and advertising people had in which they figured out that they were able to you know if it looked like they'd be able to turn the Tiger Woods scandal to a profit. You know so to me it seems you know it's just corporate profiteering. You know frankly I hope that all of these these same ilk that was responsible for the deaths of the 29 miners in West Virginia this week. This is supposed to be Tiger humble. That's why they went to the father whom he referred to in his press conference saying I should listen to him more. Well I also feel that people who really follow Tiger Woods closely blame the father for this because I mean he's been pushed him all through his childhood his whole life are supposed to be golf and then the moment he takes a breather he goes

crazy. And it also it's really it's really shamelessly manipulative I agree with everything that that Rachel said. But I love the parodies that have popped up with the soundtrack now parodies you know you other of the last time I looked there was 16 I listen to the tiger imploring one of his mistresses to take his name off her fall own and things like that. And also the face being manipulated into her. Grin. So I think it's going to work though because I think people want to forgive Tiger Woods. Only if they have they can stop hearing about this. I'm going to I can't let you get away with the fact that you said he was going to tank when you get to the Masters. Not yet. Are you eating crow now I was just going to say. Can you hear me chewing my words. OK. But he's he's not even in the top 10 but he is hitting the ball the way we expect him to. Right and they said it was the best day he's had ever I guess and you know all right one thing that struck me as I'm one of the people who really

holds the green jacket in reverence the screaming of the crowds I said to myself This is the Masters. Somewhere Bobby Jones is you know stopping his ears. This is I mean this is like Arnie's army Arnold Palmers fans right. Unheard off at the Masters. Literally it's going to make him more popular you think. Rachel this humbling attitude. Well. A place I don't normally as I don't know how long the humbling attitude can last. And the smiley and the smiling. OK I know that it's hard to say. Well as we say From the sublime to the ridiculous. The film Kick-Ass is adapted from Mark Miller's hyper violent Comic Book of the same name. It stars Nicolas Cage as Big Daddy and Chloe Moretz as his daughter hit girl. The premise is that they are a father daughter crime fighting duo with aspirations of taking down the mob. Here's a listen. Playgrounds overhearing never play.

Oh yeah you see that did you. That's what we're superheroes who love us. Peters April 16. Did country then kick ass on Facebook. Tom what is going on here they're not superheroes. Batman is a superhero. Spider-Man is a superhero. Superman is hipper superhero Wonder Woman is a superhero. These are thugs drawn from the darkest recesses of Quentin Tarantino sensibility and I don't care if the scene s and aesthetic boosters of this film Call me a prude I'm just this is puke worthy of the language that child was given to speak and the violence. This is an assault to women this is an assault to children. This is an assault to every decent vet every decent vestige of family living and I mean that in the widest sense possible left in America this is really a horror show and for people to talk about this from a you know from the

perspective of film is just ridiculous. What this this 11 year old was made to do. I mean it's what Kill Bill is one thing but this is outrageous even Nicolas Cage. Nobody's compas for morality or proper behavior. Step back from this film and things. Maybe they should have cast someone older. Yeah and Rachel there seems to be a trend now. I saw this piece on YouTube where these kids were doing a play based on Scarface and they're using all the language the kind of language the Thomas protesting right now and they're all dressed up in these outfits they're gunning down people what's And then they have a little kid at the Red Sox you know sings kind of the right hand that's right. What's going on here. Well you know there are a couple of things going on here I mean first of all I have a slightly more open mind about the movie than than Thomas does although you know if I were to go see it it would break mine. Don't go see Nicholas Cage rule. OK all right you know that the you know it's what people have been saying about the comics since the 1950s you know they're perverting the young there you know glorifying violence they're

going to cause moral decay. So you know so far nobody has been able to demonstrate that cause and effect that directly in terms of you know that the language popular media doing it more now it feels like a popular media doing what more now I think it's in these positions to you know be saying these weird things and and it just seems more but no no I you know it does it does it does seem you know that that like the. It changes in society and develops and moves and evolves what's considered acceptable and what's not and maybe we are in some kind of transition period. But there are two things I would want to separate out about the movie. And one is sort of the working conditions question right the things that this young activist is asked as part of her job to say or do. And then the other is the effect that representation in the film might have on us. And you know and in terms of the the former and I don't mean I'm not going to say this just to be a buzzkill but there are I think we focus on focusing on this because not despite But because it's a really really superficial

example of endangering working conditions for a child. So we can worry about her and still get to buy our Apple computers and our Disney T-shirts you know with there that are made by acknowledged you know child labor. So you know it's it's it's hard for me to worry you know too much about the about the girl there is the the language that she's asked to be used and I would be interested more in thinking about what the representation what effect it might have. And some people feel differently because she's 11 and the kid on the Red Sox kid was five. So I do think there's a difference between you know five and 11 I like for kids to be taught that different registers of language are appropriate in different situations but not to like. Do you think that the answer is necessarily to shield them from you know from different expressive forms in. In my own house with my son my son when he was little Our rule was you can only use certain words when it's absolutely demonstrative really only. The only word that will express your need is to

express it. And never around Grammy though. This is way beyond that I'm afraid I cannot buy that. Having an 11 year old girl using the c word is somehow empowering. This is trashing everything every social advance that's been made in the last 30 years for women and for respect for children and respect for women also. That's the another pro kickass camp is great. Now you know little girls can be just as horrible as little boys. Since when should we aspire to violence and filth and you know really you can laugh at me Rachel but the laugh and the proof of what. It's not an exaggeration to say that this degrades our society. It's happened and kick ass is exhibit A. Well hopefully it'll tank at the box office and then we won't though. That'll be a lesson learned by Hollywood on the bottom line is always happens. Well let me switch the topics to the Archie comics. Big news there are cheese in an interracial romance with the leader of Joseph and the pussy cats.

Rachel Yeah I mean lots of people picked up on this is really interesting to me. It is it's fascinating it's kind of charming and it is in the great superhero you know comic book tradition of team ups. Right normally It's when two superheroes get together from different comic books to to fight a villain together. Here you have the two characters from their separate comic books involved in a romance. What's interesting to me about it is that there have been attempts by by writers of the Archie comics series to bring an interracial romance into the strip before into the comic books before and as reason recently as 2000 an 8. The whole notion was v. him minutely shot down and the reason the difference seems to be that in that case it was Veronica who was going to be involved in an interracial romance so it was that you know that image of you know the white girl black boy that we still I think as a society carry a huge amount of baggage around with about and that seemed much more

threatening then than Archie being in the relationship with with the you know the you know the singer from Josephine the Pussycats. What does it do to one of the key dichotomies of the second half of the 20th century. Betty or Veronica. It it mixes it up a little bit and that's all I can say. But I think it's great I think Iraq is great and you know how can you love Josie and the Pussycats the long tails and ears for hats. Yeah I think we've got another race you know it's interesting to me the Jersey Shore are the people who do the Jersey Shore franchise are casting about for Asian Americans have gotten talian group I guess they've got a group of Russians Russian Americans and now they're going Asian American. What say you about this. Well I think it's an adjective. If you look at the description and they're looking for the Real Housewives of Boston is being shopped around and the description of the sort of people they want it's a cookie cutter. They want a loud aggressive

smarmy people they want loud care and they put it in quotation marks. Boston casting sent out a call for you know the real housewives and so forth. And this Jersey Shore Thing. They all want people who are they hope are going to do something embarrassing. You know Snooki is their dream date. And I think that's what they want to find with Asian Americans now. Snooki is a character on the Jersey shore with the Italian American. Now is this something that although you know Snooki is not really I mean and this is the interesting thing she's not really telling Americans oh ok what does that mean. But is this what somebody might say always this is an attempt to dismiss the quote unquote model minority and show that they're just as lowlife as the rest of us. Well that was going to be my point to you Rachel if taking Tom's point about how they are the words of the casting you're going against the stereotype they're trying to highlight because you know Asian-Americans according to the stereotype would not be allowed in all the other things that Tom just described. What do you think about them. So yeah so you know maybe. Well I don't I don't know I mean there's a

way in which work against a stereotype you know can be helpful or I can call attention to it. I just sort of interested in tracking how far the show will move in terms of its group casting calls Syria that period were like more or less seem to be accepting of the Jersey Shore the Italian-American version and even embraced affectionately referring to the characters as credos and we deaths and so forth. I think with the Russian American one it got a little more dangerous when one of the producers said you know wouldn't it be fun if we could get a mail order bride on the show. And now moving you know to Asian-Americans which Yes have been you know had the model minority stereotype applied to them but are still less assimilated into the American mainstream than the previous two groups. And so in terms of you know the particular historical baggage and references they're moving sort of further and further in a dangerous direction and they have to know it.

Yeah I don't care. It's about a malign thing it'll be very interesting to see audience response. Rachel you've got the mike I want you to start off talking about this new proposed ABC show called downfall which I think is terms of all the horrific things we've talked about on this hour. This one takes the cake. A reality show where people are going to either throw the losers off the top of a building or out of money that they write off the top. Yes a game show that is going to be filmed on tiredly on the top of a skyscraper. And so when contestants lose or you know answer questions wrong whoever to be set up their prize money will be tossed off the top of the skyscraper demonstrating they're losing it and the the creators of the show have said that they do want to figure out a way to also have losing contestants go off the top of the skyscraper with I don't know what nets or bungee cords or something. What does it matter. I doesn't. It is horrible it's horrible and there's been a fair amount of negative reaction already that has to do with how abusive that seems to you know to that image. But what

really struck me is that you know a few years closer to the September 11th attacks you couldn't imagine a game show that made fun out of people going off of the top of skyscrapers. It would just be unimaginable. And now we seem to be in an entirely different historical moment. Or it's no longer post 9/11 but post post 9/11 where you know coming up on the 10th anniversary and we're already ready to imagine people going off the top of skyscrapers for fun. Tom and if you you know do a web search on this you get scenes from the running man that Arnold Schwarzenegger movie about you know literal death game show and the most of the comments centered around were already there. Again this this brings up you know the slippery slope I mean we've come a long way from putting on a chicken outfit from Monty Hall on Let's Make A Deal. I am horrified by this. For all of the reasons that are mentioned and even the fact that they would consider I don't care what the net is on the bottom the possible liability

innately any one little thing and someone's dead and it's horrible to imagine that people would enjoy watching that. And what do we say I mean looking at the stories that we've talked about today with the exception of Archie in and Josee there's you know violence ratcheted up. There's language ratcheted up and there's extreme actions ratcheted up. Where are we as a society YOU GUYS WE NEED THIS COUPLE priest Barbie to pray for us. There you go. Well thank you for another edition of ragtime 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 Calla Crossley. This is the Calla Crossley Show. Today's program was engineered by Kate Conklin and produced by Chelsea Merz. Our production assistant is Anna white knuckle be. We are a production of WGBH radio Boston NPR station for news and culture.