Not much to report today 1/27/05

Listened to less than an hour of Morning Edition today. and sort of heard The Connection a bit.

Started out this morning with the training of Iraqi forces. Report concluded that it will be a 3-5 year job at the very least. Interview was with a Major General who trained troops between 03 and 04.

Today is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz – listened to a story recorded in New York by StoryCorps (the story behind StoryCorps is fascinating, too – some other time) by Debbie Fischer. Her father, Oscar, was a survivor and was liberated. What a sad story! The story went on to an interview with Dr. Alan Berger who pointed to the Maus books as a good example of what happens to children of survivors – relationships are intense, kids feel they have to make up for what was lost. The grandkids of survivors are now making pilgrimages to the camps and ghettos – all in all a really interesting evolution.

<>Terrible commuter train accident yesterday is beginning to wind down. Now there are 11 dead overall. Turns out there was some poor suicidal schmuck who parked his stupid SUV on the tracks so he would be killed by the train. He jumped out of the truck at the last minute, and instead of killing himself, killed and injured plenty of other people. Idiot. Apparently he is in jail now, and the folks in Cali are thinking about what charges to bring against him. I hope he rots in jail on suicide watch.

Where do they come up with these stories? Malpie Ranch story was a refreshing view of ranching and environmentalism. To keep developers out, and to keep the land beautiful and plentiful a group of 30 ranchers has banded together to work with the government on preservation and profitability. Interviews were with ranchers and with environmentalists. The dissenting viewpoint was from a rancher in the area who has not joined the group. He worried about conservation easements that might take land away from him or his heirs. Turns out that there is a ton of support for these “working landscapes” of the west. Cool.

The Connection, what little I heard of it, was about top secret documents. The question was, “Is there too much secrecy in government?” Both sides were presented. The too much secrecy guy (I missed his name) was really shrill. I could not tell you about the other side. I don’t remember actually hearing much from that person. Lost my Internet connection in the middle, so missed a good deal of the show.