Your Call 082008 Following the Money- Where does your campaign contribution go?

When you give $100 to a political candidate what do they spend it on? On the next Your Call break down the expected $1 billion dollars candidates will have spent before November's election. The FEC is releasing the latest fundraising totals for the presidential race Tuesday. How much of it will go to advertising? Salaries? Mailers and signs? Who wins and who loses in the billion dollar run for the White House? It's your call, with me, Rose Aguilar and you, weekdays at 11.

Guests:
Evan L. Tracey in Washington DC
is the founder and chief operating officer of Campaign Media Analysis Group, a TNS Media Intelligence company. CMAG is the leading custom media-research company for politics and public affairs advertising expenditure data.

Julie Rajan in Sacramento
Executive Director of the California Clean Money Campaign, a coalition building organization building state-wide support for pubic financing of election campaigns.

Ira Teinowitz in Washington
Washington Bureau Chief for Advertising Age

Massie Ritsch in Washington
Communications Director for The Center for Responsive Politics, a national research group that tracks money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy.

Click to Listen: Following the Money- Where does your campaign contribution go?

Your Call 081908 Your Water Footprint

How big is your water footprint? On the next Your Call we'll talk about the surprising amount of fresh water used to support our daily life. This is World Water Week, and we'll be looking at how much water is made unusable in the manufacture and consumption of the goods we all use. On average, says WaterFootprint.org, that adds up to 655,000 gallons of fresh water per year, and most of it isn't from showers or washing off your driveway. To make a single glass of beer, manufacturers use 20 gallons of water; a pound of beef uses nearly 1,000. Do you know how much water you use everyday? It's your call, with me, Rose Aguilar and you, weekdays at 11.

Guests:
Kai Olson-Sawyer in New York
Water project manager for H2O Conserve, a non-profit that promotes water conservation.

Gil Friend in Berkeley
Founder, President & CEO of Natural Logic, a Berkeley-based company that does environmental consumption analyses of businesses.

Click to Listen: Your Water Footprint

Your Call 081808 Assessing the Georgia-Russian War

What's really happening in Georgia? On the next Your Call, we'll dig beneath the headlines with the New York Times' James Traub, CIA critic Mel Goodman, and the Independent Institute's Ivan Eland. The United States sent advisers to build up the Georgian military, including an exercise last month with more than 1,000 American troops and Israel has sold weapons to Georgia. What is this conflict about? Is it about oil? Disputed territory? Why are the U.S. and Israel interfering in Russia's backyard? It's Your Call, Monday at 11, with me, Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Mel Goodman
Senior fellow and director of the national security program at the Center for International Policy. He is former professor of international security studies and chairman of the international relations department at the National War College. He was division chief and senior analyst at the CIA's Office of Soviet Affairs from 1976 to 1986. He is author Failure of Intelligence: The Decline and Fall of the CIA and The Wars of Edvard Shevardnadze.

James Traub in New York
Contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine, where he has worked since 1998. On August 10th he wrote the Week in Review article about the Georgia-Russia war, entitled, "Battle Cry- Taunting the Bear." James Traub is author of the forthoming book, The Freedom Agenda: Why America Must Spread Democracy (Just Not the Way George Bush Did).

Ivan Eland in Washington DC
Senior Fellow and Director of the Center on Peace & Liberty at The Independent Institute. He spent 15 years working for Congress on national security issues, including stints as an investigator for the House Foreign Affairs Committee and Principal Defense Analyst at the Congressional Budget Office. His book The Empire Has No Clothes: U.S. Foreign Policy Exposed has just been updated and re-released.

Click to Listen: Assessing the Georgia-Russian War

Your Call 081508 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday Media Roundtable when we sniff out the bias and applaud good work. This week Russia and Georgia went to war. What explains the dramatic difference in coverage of the fighting between American and Russian media? Were the facts in question, or did bias hide facts from both audiences? We'll speak with Pulitzer prize winner David Cay Johnston, Gail Chaddock of the Christian Science Monitor and independent reporter Tim Shorrock. Is unbiased reporting the same as reporting whose bias you agree with? It's Your Call.

Guests:
Gail Chaddock in Washington DC
Congressional Correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor;

David Cay Johnston in Chatauqua, New York
Pulitzer Prize winner, former New York Times tax reporter and author of Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)

Tim Shorrock in San Francisco
Independent investigative journalist and author of Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 081408 BAN 5

What is the Bay Area's arts community chewing on these days? On the next Your Call we'll speak with the curator of and some of the featured artists in Bay Area Now 5. BAN 5, now on display Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, is the most expansive survey of contemporary art created in the San Francisco Bay Area. When you give nearly three dozen artists free reign to envision the Bay Area, what do they see? What do you? It's Your Call at 11 a.m. with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Kate Eilertsen in San Francisco
Acting director of visual arts for YBCA and one of the curators of Bay Area Now 5.

Ala Ebtekar
Iranian American painter. His work is as influenced by the mythology and folklore of his Iranian heritage as he is by the legends and lore of hip-hop culture. Ebtekar holds a BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and an MFA from Stanford University.

Elaine Bucholtz
Lighting and visual designer. Her most recent work utilizes video and light in relation to sculptural forms, digital prints, and preexisting sites in architecture and nature. She is an adjunct faculty member in the Art and Art History departments at Stanford University.

Taraneh Hemami
Guest-curator of a special exhibition at BAN 5, Theory of Survival, an exploration of the Iranian and Iranian-American diaspora community. Hemami is a Bay Area artist who finds the common ground between collective and participatory art projects and community leadership.

Click to Listen: BAN 5

Your Call 081308 Green Car Conundrum

Do alternative fuel cars solve our problems? Can a car based transportation system ever be sustainable? On the next Your Call we'll discuss the latest electric, hybrid, low-emission diesel and alternative fuel cars. Makers of next generation electric cars say they get the equivalent of 170 miles per gallon, but are the claims road tested any better than the prototypes? Are hybrids better than today's diesel? Does changing the fuel in the motor solve all or even most of the problems we get with cars? It's your call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Shannon Arvizu in LA
Writes for Autobloggreen.com and Triplepundit.com and is a PhD candidate in Environmental Sociology at Columbia University. Her thesis is about the clean car movement.

Meghan Sinott in Portland
Publicity, Advertising and Apparel organizer for the June 2008 Carfree Cities Conference in Portland, Oregon

Michou Olivera in San Francisco
Co-owners of Luscious Garage a SF repair shop that only works on hybrids. Olivera BARTs to work and on weekends rebuilds classic muscle cars.

Russ Heimerich in Sacramento
Spokesman for the California Bureau of Automotive Repair's Drive Healthy Campaign

Click to Listen: Green Car Conundrum

Your Call 081208 Doha round of world trade talks

What happened to the Doha round of world trade talks? On the next Your Call, we'll discuss the WTO talks in Geneva and get an update on the movement opposing free trade and globalization. Last month, negotiations broke down after nine days. So what happened? What role did the U.S. play? Who is benefiting from these trades polices? And nine years after 500,000 people took to the streets of Seattle, how strong is the anti-globalization movement? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Victor Menotti, Program Director with International Forum on Globalization

Deborah James, the Director of International Programs of Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington.

Click to Listen: Doha round of world trade talks

Your Call 081108 Summer Reading Picks

What are your summer reading picks? On the next Your Call, we will have a conversation about books and why it has become so difficult to get Americans reading more literature. According to National Endowment survey, fewer than half of Americans are reading literature and Americans between the ages 15 to 24 spend almost two hours a day watching TV, and only seven minutes reading. How much time do you spend reading books? And what are you reading now? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Doris Moskowitz, owner of Moe's Books in Berkeley.

Kevin Ryan, owner of Green Apple Books

David Kipen, National Endowment for the Arts' director of Literature, National Reading Initiatives, and program director of The Big Read

Click to Listen: Summer Reading Picks

Your Call 080808 Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call, it's our Friday Media Roundtable. This week is the one-year anniversary of the murder of Oakland reporter Chauncey Bailey. We'll speak with the Bay Guardian's Tim Redmond about the Chauncey Bailey Project. We'll also discuss coverage of Ron Suskind's new book, which reveals that the Bush administration engaged in a "disinformation campaign" by forging documents in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq. What did you think of the coverage? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guests:
Tim Redmond in San Francisco
Executive Editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian

Nathan Guttman in Washington DC
Staff writer for the Forward

Eve Fairbanks in Washington DC
Associate editor of The New Republic.

Click to Listen: Media Roundtable

Your Call 080708 The Dark Side of the War on Terror

Who should be held accountable for violations of international and domestic laws against torture? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with investigative journalist Jane Mayer about her new book, The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How The War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals. In the name of the "war on terror," the United States has become a country where people are detained indefinitely without charge, and subjected to abuse and humiliation. Will the Bush administration ever be held responsible? How do we pull back from a culture of impunity? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar.

Guest:
Jane Mayer, investigative journalist

Click to Listen: The Dark Side of the War on Terror

Your Call 080608 Pacific Connections- Olympic Edition

In the lead up to the Olympics, what have you learned about China that has surprised you? The next Your Call is a replay of the special Pacific Connect, recorded Tuesday night at 9pm. We will discuss how China and the rest of the world have changed their thinking about one another since Beijing was awarded the Olympics 7 years ago. For many Chinese, the Olympics is a moment of nervousness and pride, and for many Americans, it is the most intense interaction they've ever had with China and Chinese culture. What did you learn? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Bevin Chu, (in Taipei)
Pro Chinese blogger. American trained architect who works professionally in both Taiwan and Mainland China;

Guoqi Xu (in Beijing)
Wen Chao Chen Chair at Kalamazoo College, Michigan and author of Olympic Dreams: China and sports, 1895-2008

Sasha Gong (in Virginia)
One of the most widely read Chinese language bloggers and the Senior program officer of the American Center for International Labor Solidarity, AFL-CIO

Dr. Patrick Hatcher (in San Francisco)
Director of the Center for the Pacific Rim at the University of San Francisco. He specializes in Asian American history, politics, peace, and war.

John Pomfret (in Washington)
Edits the Washington Post's Outlook section. He is the former chief China correspondent for the Post from 1998-2004 and author of Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China.

Click to Listen: Pacific Connections- Olympic Edition

Your Call 080508 Non-violence in Israel-Palestine

How strong is the non-violence movement in Israel? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with two Israeli filmmakers, Shai Carmeli Pollack and Rachel Leah Jones, who are using their camera to raise awareness about the Occupation. Sahi Carmeli Pollack's documentary film Bil'in Habibti documents the struggle against the construction of the wall by the residents, internationals and Israelis in the village of Bil'in. So who is watching these films? And do they make any difference? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Rachel Leah Jones, producer of the documentary film, Ashkenaz

Shai Carmeli Pollack, producer of the documentary film, Bil'in my love

Click to Listen: Non-violence in Israel-Palestine

Your Call 080408 Foster Care in Focus

What is life like for foster children? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about how kids are faring in the foster care system. There are 10,000 children in foster care in the Bay Area, half of them over the age of 10. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed a number of foster care bills, including one that allows children to participate in court hearings. What else needs to be done to ensure the system works well for foster children? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Erika Dirkse-Rescher, case supervisor at San Francisco Court Appointed Special Advocate Program

Chantel Johnson, California Youth Connection Legislative and Policy Coordinator

Sergio Medina, Field Coordinator with Office of Refugee Resettlement at Catholic Charities

Click to Listen: Foster Care in Focus

Your Call 073108 The Kids Are All Left

How do today's young liberals participate in the political process? On the next your Call, we talk to a panel of young people who have recently become political activists and who are trying to mobilize other progressive youth. Polls and election analysts predict that the 18-to-29-year-old voting bloc will play a decisive role in this fall's presidential election. Why are young voters turning to the left in record numbers, and how are they using new technology to organize? What can these activists learn from the protesters of the 1960s? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Young political activists

Click to Listen: The Kids Are All Left

Your Call 073008 By Bike, BART or Bus

What kind of a vacations can you take when you're taking public transportation? On the next Your Call we'll talk about all the places you can end up in Northern California when you start out at your corner bus stop. In its annual summer vacation survey, the American Automobile Association said the average North American vacation will cost $244 per day for two people. If you're one of the millions of Americans not flying or driving this summer, how far away can you get from your own front door? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:

John Vlahides in San Francisco
A travel writer and author of five books for Lonely Planet, including the California, Southwest USA Travel Guide and Coastal California Travel Guides and the Lonely Planet San Francisco City Guide.

Brad Day in San Francisco
Founder and Managing Editor of the Weekend Sherpa, a free, weekly e-mail and Web site giving people recommendations on the Bay Area's best outdoor pursuits and little-known adventures. The email goes out every Thursday.

Jim Allison in San Francisco
Spokesperson for BART and MyBART, an email newsletter and website about finding activities, discounts on those activities, events and destinations that you can ride BART to.

John Trippe in San Francisco
Founder/ Editor of Fecal Face dot com, a comprehensive, art and culture website supporting the art scene in San Francisco and beyond since 2000.

Click to Listen: By Bike, BART or Bus

Your Call 072908 Women Leave the Workplace

Why are so many women leaving the workforce? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about how the economy is affecting women. In 2000, 74.9 percent of women worked. Last month, that number fell to 72.7 percent. Women are increasingly impacted by layoffs, outsourcing, stagnant wages and the discouraging prospect of an outright pay cut. How alarming is the situation? And what needs to be done? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
Sylvia A. Allegretto, labor economist with Institute for Research on Labor and Employment

Ariane Hegewisch, Scholar-in-Residence at the Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) and an international fellow of the Center for Work Life Law.

Ethel Long-Scott, Executive Director of The Women's Economic Agenda Project.

Click to Listen: Women Leave the Workplace

Your Call 072808 The California Budget Standoff

What's going on with the California budget? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the state's budget stalemate. Governor Schwarzenegger wants to sign an executive order to lower 200,000 state workers to minimum wage until the budget is passed. But the state controller has described the governor's plan as "an untenable burden on state workers." Who is going to be impacted? And what does it take for the state to pass its budget? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Adrienne Suffin, chair of the Employment Development Department (EDD) Task Force.

Jean M. Ross, founding executive director of the California Budget Project

John Laird, Assemblymember and chair of Budget Committee. He represents the 27th Assembly District portions of Monterey, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties.

Click to Listen: The California Budget Standoff

Your Call 072508 Friday Media Roundtable

On the next Your Call it's our Friday Media Roundtable -- the day we discuss how the media covered the week's top stories. This week, Barack Obama traveled the world from war zones to world capitals, and the anchors of every network were right there with him; when presidential candidate John McCain arrived for campaign events in New Hampshire, one local photographer and reporter was there. The progressive blogosphere met up in Austin, and Bosnian war criminal Radovan Karadzic was discovered impersonating an alternative medicine guru in Belgrade. Did you get the reporting you needed to put those stories in context? It's your Call with Rose Aguilar, and you

Guests:

Ken Silverstein in Washington
Washington Editor for Harper's Magazine and author of Washington Babylon for Harper's Online

Jamal Dajani in San Francisco
Senior Director for Middle Eastern Programming at LinkTV

Adrian Wooldridge in Washington
Washington Bureau Chief and 'Lexington' columnist for the Economist magazine.

Click to Listen: Friday Media Roundtable

Your Call 072408 Spies for Hire

When intelligence is privatized, how do you ever get it back under public control? On the next Your Call we talk with investigative journalist Tim Shorrock, author of Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing. Private contractors have been a part of the American military since the war of independence, but American spies used to have government employee ids. Shorrock tells how all of that changed since 9-11, and now more than three-quarters of the $60 billion intelligence budget is spent on intelligence contracting. When the contractors who collect the intelligence work for the same companies that will be hired to act on the intelligence, who will know what the true picture is? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:

Tim Shorrock in San Francisco
Author of Spies for Hire: The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing

Click to Listen: Spies for Hire

Your Call 072308 Do photographs change your environmental views?

How do photographs affect your views on the environment? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with world renowned photographer Edward Burtynsky, whose work was featured in the documentary Manufactured Landscapes. Burtynsky has made it his life's work to explore and document humanity's expanding footprint and the ways in which we're reshaping the surface of the planet. Do photographs have the power to alter the way we think about the world and our place in it? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:

Edward Burtynsky, the subject of the film Manufactured Landscapes, is a respected Canadian artist whose work is displayed in fifteen major museums across the world.

Amanda Herman, who from 2005 until 2007 worked with families and individuals displaced by Hurricane Katrina and produced the film Lost Island.

Rosanne Olson worked for five years as a photojournalist before moving to Seattle, where she works as a commercial and fine arts photographer. This spring, she published a body image book titled This Is Who I Am: Our Beauty in All Shapes and Sizes.

Click to Listen: Do photographs change your environmental views?