Q&A: LYNNE McTAGGART, Journalist and author

Written on January 1st, 2008
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Journalist and author LYNNE McTAGGART's research on THE FIELD included meetings with top frontier scientists in Russia, Germany, France, England, South American, Central America and the USA. During these meetings, she saw that what these scientists were working on seemed to overthrow the current laws of biology, chemistry and physics. Their theories and experiments also compounded into a new science, a new view of the world. Lynne concludes that her research paints a picture of an interconnected universe. With THE INTENTION EXPERIMENT, McTAGGART asks a great question. Can our thoughts influence the world around us? Top scientists have teamed up with her to create the world's largest ever mind-over-matter experiment. Thousands of volunteers are testing this possibility in a series of web-based experiments, making it the largest mind-over-matter study in history. plus a brief commentary by TERESA O'NEILL

JODIE EVANS Co-founder, CODE PINK & ANNIE LEONARD creator of a powerful online video, THE STORY OF STUFF

Written on December 19th, 2007
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JODIE EVANS, Co-founder, CODE PINK: Women for Peace They're launching www.dontbuybushswar.org on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. When Ralph Waldo Emerson visited Thoreau in jail, he asked the author of Walden, "Henry, what are doing in there?" Thoreau responded, "Ralph, what are you doing out there?" Our statement is not against taxation or government. Many of us will continue to pay a portion of our taxes that support the vital functions of government. But we will hold in escrow or redirect the portion of our war taxes to humanitarian aid projects and projects such as those providing relief to survivors of Hurricane Katrina. "The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard" is an engaging new short film that explains the "materials economy" in 20 fun-filled minutes. Yes, fun-filled. Produced by Free Range Studios, which developed "The Meatrix" -- an animated short about factory farming that ranks among the cleverest uses of Internet technologies to deliver a politically progressive message -- The Story of Stuff features the wonderful Annie Leonard, amusing graphics, lots of humor, and a complicated analysis presented in an easy-to-understand conversational tone. You can watch the whole thing at www.StoryofStuff.com You'll have to watch the film to enjoy the humor -- there's no easy way to convey the playful cartooning with serious purpose. But I guarantee chuckles even for the most austere.

JOSEPH CIRINCIONE: VP for National Security, Center for American Progress & CHEF ANN COOPER: Director of Nutrition Svs, Berkeley CA Unified School District

Written on December 11th, 2007
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When no WMD could be been found in Iraq, several members of the Bush administration justified the imminent preemptive invasion because we could “not afford for the smoking gun come in the form of a mushroom cloud.” Turns out Saddam had no bomb, probably no bomb program. We've heard consistent fear-mongering from a Bush administration that appears eager to attack Iran. Bush himself recently linked Iran to WWIII! Now comes word from the National Intelligence Estimate that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The administration handles Musharraf with kid gloves as he asserts dictatorial powers to control a very volatile Pakistan, home of Doctor Khan's global atomic sales operation. 2005 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, has high praise for JOSEPH CIRINCIONE'S BOMB SCARE. "At a time of challenges and uncertainties regarding the nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime, the book offers a comprehensive review of the history and theory of nuclear weapons, as well as of the policy options before us today in our common endeavor to address the most pressing threats; existing arsenals, the emergence of new nuclear-armed states, and nuclear terrorism.” CHEF ANN COOPER is a renegade lunch lady who works to transform cafeterias into culinary classrooms for students - one school lunch at a time. She has transformed public school cafeterias in New York City, Harlem and Bridgehampton, NY, and now in Berkeley, CA, to teach more students why good food choices matter by putting innovative strategies to work and providing fresh, organic lunches to all students. __Currently, Chef Ann is the director of nutrition services for the Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD), improving meals at 16 public schools with a population of over 9,000 students. In her work with public schools, Chef Ann is at the forefront of the movement to transform the National School Lunch Program into one that places greater emphasis on the health of students than the financial health of a select few agribusiness corporations. Chef Ann's lunch menus emphasize regional, organic, fresh foods, and nutritional education, helping students build a connection between their personal health and where their food comes from. Chef Ann's newest book, LUNCH LESSONS: CHANGING THE WAY WE FEED OUR CHILDREN, is overflowing with strategies for parents and school administrators to become engaged with issues around school food - from public policy to corporate interest. It includes successful case studies of school food reform, resources that can help make a difference and healthy, kid-friendly recipes that can be made at home, or by the thousands for a public school cafeteria.

ADRIAN LEVY and CATHERINE SCOTT-CLARK

Written on November 26th, 2007
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ADRIAN LEVY and CATHERINE SCOTT-CLARK are award-winning investigative journalists who worked as staff writers and foreign correspondents for the Sunday Times of London for 7 years before joining the Guardian as senior correspondents. They are the authors of The Amber Room: The Fate of the World's Greatest Lost Treasure and The Stone of Heaven: Unearthing the Secret History of Imperial Green Jade, and their newest, DECEPTION: Pakistan, the US, and the Secret Trade in Nuclear Weapons. They have reported from South Asia for more than a decade, and now live in London and in France.

Q&A: TOM HAYDEN & BARBARA BECNEL

Written on November 15th, 2007
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Over 25,000 young people have died in America's gang wars since 1980 - a bit less than half the number of soldiers who lost their lives in Vietnam. In cities across America current and former gang-members are like traumatized war veterans with no way home. Tom Hayden's book STREET WARS indicts the domestic law and order politics that dominate current policy and suffocate inner city youth. It has been almost two years since Stanley Tookie Williams was executed after being denied clemency by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the wake of his death, Stanley Tookie Williams' memoir BLUE RAGE, BLACK REDEMPTION, will be re-released to shed additional light on Tookie's personal and public fight for redemption. Part 1 of the book, entitled Blue Rage, chronicles Tookie's gang life as a co-founder of the Crips. During this time he committed hundreds of crimes and was eventually charged with the murder of four people. In 1981, Tookie was convicted and sent to Death Row for twenty years. Throughout his time in prison, he maintained his innocence for the crimes for which he was convicted. The second part of the book, Black Redemption, looks at the work Tookie completed and legacy he crafted behind bars-his books, awards, anti-gang initiatives, and Nobel Prize nominations.