News & Public Affairs
Renewable Portfolio Standards criticized listen
08/15/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: renewable energy, global warming, climate change
Last summer, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist unveiled three executive orders intended to make the state a leader in controlling emissions of the greenhouse gasses that cause global climate disruption. One of those orders called on the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) to require utilities to produce electricity using renewable energy sources.
On Wednesday the PSC issued a first draft of its Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). But some environmentalists say the standards do not go far eno...
Be the first to commentMcCain supporter Nils Diaz on nuclear power listen
08/15/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: nuclear power, climate change, global warming, John McCain
Reducing carbon dioxide emissions is a necessary first step in controlling global climate disruption. Everyone agrees that cutting down on the use of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas is necessary, but opinions differ on whether nuclear power is a smart alternative.
Today, WMNF spoke with experts with different opinions about whether nuclear power is one solution to solve global climate disruption. Dr. Nils J. Diaz served as chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under G...
Be the first to commentRocky Anderson on the 2008 election listen
08/15/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Friday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Rocky Anderson, 2008 election, Ralph Nader, Barack Obama, John McCain, human rights, torture
Former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson was known as one of the most progressive mayors in the country. His second term ended early this year and he opted to not seek a third term. Anderson is currently president of the advocacy group High Road for Human Rights.
WMNF spoke with Anderson yesterday at the Florida Conference of Cities meeting in Tampa. We asked Anderson his opinions about the 2008 Presidential election.
“…Those [Democratic and Republican presidential nominees] who are...
Be the first to commentCreative Loafing film critic loses job listen
08/14/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Lance Goldenberg, Creative Loafing
Lance Goldenberg, the longtime film critic for Creative Loafing and the Weekly Planet, has been laid off by the paper.
WMNF reached Goldenberg this afternoon at his home in Tampa. Just a day after learning the news, he still appeared stunned, saying he had no idea that he was about to lose his job after 19 years.
In a statement released this afternoon, the editor of Creative Loafing, David Warner called Goldenberg a "reliably expert voice on film in Tampa Bay, one with an engaging...
Be the first to commentJudge: Amendment 5 too confusing for ballot listen
08/14/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Amendment 5, Legislature, tax swap, education
A judge in Tallahassee today struck the so-called tax swap from the Nov. 4 ballot, saying the language was "misleading" and didn't give voters "fair notice of the content and sweep of the proposal."
The amendment asked voters to eliminate the state-set school property tax forever and directed the Legislature to replace the education money with $9 billion to $11 billion gained from other taxes and budget cuts. But the replacement money, called the "education hold harmless amount," was only ...
Be the first to commentBiography of Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson
08/14/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Thursday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Chicago Convention 1968, gonzo journalism, Rolling Stone Magazine, Hell's Angels, Ernest Hemingway, Robert F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon
Good afternoon, Welcome to Radioactivity, I’m Rob Lorei. Coming up an interview with University of Florida professor William McKeen about his new biography of Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.
But first a lot of listener comments have come in in the last 24 hours. Some about previous listener comments and some about the interview yesterday with Jack Cole of the groups Law Enforcement Officers Against Prohibition, a group that thinks the drug war has failed and drugs should be legalized...
1 commentsFEC asked to investigate Walmart election tactics listen
08/14/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Walmart, Barack Obama, 2008 Election, union legislation
Labor groups today asked the Federal Trade Commission to determine whether Walmart violated federal election laws recently by organizing meetings across the country recently, where they discussed the impact of elected Democrats on legislation that would make it easier for workers to unionize companies, including Walmart.
That legislation is the Employee Free Choice Act, which Walmart opposes.
The complaints were filed by a variety of groups, including the AFL-CIO and WakeUpWalMart.Com...
Be the first to commentFlorida cities strategize to end climate disruption listen
08/14/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: climate change, Rick Baker, Mary Mulhern, Rocky Anderson
The Florida League of Cities is meeting in Tampa this week. A pre-conference seminar sharing ideas about how cities can help solve global climate change was held this morning at the Tampa Convention Center.
This seminar, Beyond Lightbulbs and Hybrids: Local Government Solutions to Global Climate Change, was co-sponsored by the Florida League of Mayors. Rocky Anderson, former mayor of Salt Lake City, said he helped launch an environmental program in 2001 called Salt Lake City Green that had...
Be the first to commentClinton diehards will protest at convention listen
08/14/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Thursday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: 2008 election, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, 2008 Convention
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's name will be placed in nomination at the convention in Denver later this month.
Some Clinton backers had said they would leave the convention after Clinton speaks on Tuesday night, as part of an ongoing protest against Obama's nomination.
Some of those groups say they will do everything they can to create attention in Denver.
One group is called PUMA, Party Unity My A*s. On the group’s website, it says they need 150 Obama delegates to switch to Clinton...
Be the first to commentConference on health disparities among minorities begins listen
08/13/08 Seán KinaneWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: African American, Health, Latino, health care, minorities
Minorities don’t get the same quality of health care as whites in the U.S. A conference addressing these disparities began today in Tampa.
Florida’s Surgeon General Ana Viamonte Ros delivered the keynote address at the 2008 Florida Minority Health Disparities Summit. The theme of the conference is "Bridging the Gap: Embracing Solutions to Eliminate Health Barriers.”
Viamonte Ros said there are seven health areas that disproportionately impact minorities: “HIV-AIDS, immunizations, cance...
Be the first to commentEx-law enforcement officers say legalize drugs
08/13/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: drug war, legalization, marijuana
Should drugs such as marijuana be legalized?
Our guest is Jack Cole, executive director of the group Law Enforcement Against Prohibition or LEAP. He spent 26 years with the New Jersey State Police. He’ll be in the Tampa Bay area this weekend.
For more information, visit CopsSayLeglizeDrugs.org.
Be the first to commentPinellas Commissioner Welch on Dawson verdict listen
08/13/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Wednesday Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Javon Dawson, Uhurus, Bernie McCabe, Gov. Charlie Christ
About two dozen protesters traveled from St. Petersburg to Tallahassee, demanding a new investigation into the shooting death of teenager Javon Dawson.
The protest came less than 24 hours after Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe exonerated St. Pete Police officer Terence Nemeth in an eight-page report on the death of Dawson.
Nemeth said that Dawson was pointing a gun at him when he shot him dead at a graduation party in June. But critics said Dawson was unarmed, and said it wa...
Be the first to commentTo what extent is China communist?
08/13/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: China, communism, socialism, Tibet, Falon Gong, Doug Guthrie
Next up, a look at the economic and human rights situation in China. We’ll hear an interview with Doug Guthrie, a leading scholar on China.
Guthrie is a professor of sociology at New York University. He’s the author of several books on China including Dragon in a Three-Piece Suit: The Emergence of Capitalism in China. In the wake of the massive media coverage of the Olympics in China, there were big missing questions: to what extent is China’s government communist, how much freedom do ...
Be the first to commentFormer GOP congressman Leach endorses Obama
08/13/08 Robert LoreiRadioactivity: Live Call-In (Wednesday) Listen to this entire show:
Tags: Jim Leach, 2008 Presidential Election
Former U.S. Rep. Jim Leach, a leading Republican moderate with a foreign policy background, is endorsing Democrat Barack Obama for president.
The former Iowa congressman's endorsement was announced yesterday. He’s part of a group of a group of GOP activists crossing party lines this year.
I spoke with Congressman Leach earlier today.
Be the first to commentEconomist says hard times still ahead listen
08/13/08 Mitch E. PerryWMNF Drive-Time News Friday
Tags: Economy, Fuel Prices, spending
Sales at U.S. retailers dropped in July for the first time in five months as record gasoline prices and tighter credit reduced automobile purchases.
Labor figures showed that import prices rose 1.7 percent in July from the previous month, more than economists had projected, after a 2.9 percent increase in June. That led one economist to tell Bloomberg media that the U.S. is now in the "midst of a long-term trend in inflation."
Joe Bruseulas from Merk Investments in Palo Alto says, "We...
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