Commentaries
July 2003

Chucking Cell Phones
This summer, commentator Rick Cleveland has been taking a break from work -- and riding his bicycle a lot. He sees all kinds of things by the side of the road: beverage containers, hubcaps, busted cassette tapes and CDs, the occasional old shoe, dead animals -- and broken cell phones. He's thrown more than one cell phone in anger himself.

The Cost of War
Senior News Analyst Dan Schorr says that the flap with the Saudi government over "sources and methods" had the intended effect of diverting attention from the cost of the war in Iraq.

Prison Call
Commentator Judy Belk's sister is in prison. They don't get to visit often, but they occasionally talk by phone. Sometimes, Judy misses her sister's calls. That's when Judy feels like she's been sentenced, too.

50 Percent
Commentator and medical student Joe Wright says his medical school dean tells each new entering class, "50 percent of what you will learn in medical school is wrong. The problem is, we don't know which 50 percent." That means that science is always changing and finding new cures.

Internationalism in Iraq
NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the British-American coalition in Iraq is quickly becoming internationalized, with manpower and troop contributions from a growing list of other countries.

Paris Fashion
Paris has always been one of the most popular summer vacation destinations for Americans. Despite the friction between the United States and France in recent months, commentator Debra Schifrin decided to spend a week by the Seine. She was surprised to see one of the French fashion trends now is camouflage -- and that the Parisians wearing it did not connect it to war.

Office Corps
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield says to restore troop strength abroad, he is going to take personnel out of office jobs at home and ship them overseas. Satirists Bruce Kluger and David Slavin create a mock recruitment ad for the "U.S. Army Office Corps" -- where men staple and collate.

Kevin Kling on Sitting with Cows
Storyteller Kevin Kling remembers his job at a Chinese Noodle factory and his buddy Larry. Larry hangs out at the Uptown bar. One day, Larry goes missing. Larry tells Kevin that he was sitting with the cows. It turns out that Larry worked at a meat-processing plant, and visiting the cows was his way of looking for forgiveness.

Intelligence on Iraq
News analyst Daniel Schorr says weeks after the Africa-uranium story hit the headlines, the Bush administration is still struggling to get its story straight.

Jeanette
Commentator Elissa Ely describes a profoundly ill patient reliant on care givers whose efforts go far beyond the call of duty.

Wikis
It might sound a little crazy, letting just anyone write whatever they want on your Web site. But that's just what Wikis are designed for. Wikipedia.org, for example, lets the public collaborate to build a surprisingly accurate encyclopedia. Commentator David Weinberger says wikis are one example of "social software," intended to allow people to work together with ease.

Obedience School, Eastern-Style
Commentator Daniel Pinkwater explains how the influence of samurai movies shaped his latter day behavior when it came to dog training. Rather than use force, Pinkwater sought the Eastern-way -- a path of doggie enlightenment. The results were personal injury and a return to traditional methods.

Car Accidents
When 86-year-old George Russell Weller drove his car into the Sana Monica farmers' market on Wednesday, he killed 10 people and injured dozens more. The incident rekindled the debate about elderly drivers. But commentator Maryann Gray hopes that it also makes room for another kind of discussion. Twenty-five years ago, she hit and killed a child by accident. In a society that offers support groups and self-help books for everything from acne to shopping addictions, she says those who injure or kill other people in traffic accidents suffer alone.

Temporary Autonomous Zones
Commentator Andrei Codrescu discusses a theory conceived by philosopher Hakim Bey. He proposed the concept of temporary autonomous zones -- a poetic fancy. It's about enclaves of poets and artists found throughout the world in places where there are crash pads and cafes.

Presidential Responsibility
NPR Senior News Analyst Dan Schorr says Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to the United States, originally meant to celebrate the special relationship between America and Britain, is now fraught with tension.

Presidential Responsibility
NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr compares different presidents and their willingness to accept responsibility for mistakes, or shift the blame to others.

Weingarten's Girlfriend
Commentator Hank Rosenfeld weaves a humorous tale about his affair with a friend's girlfriend in New York City. Whenever Weingarten went out of town, Hank moved in on the girlfriend. The affair ended when Weingarten came back early and the girlfriend, who seemed happy in the relationship, turned on Hank. Hank left New York City for good after that.

The President's Path
Commentator Jay Bryant says that President Bush's African trip demonstrates his newfound approach to foreign policy, just as did the war in Iraq. After Sept. 11, Bush was forced to focus more on international problems in a way that the historian Walter Russell Mead would describe as "Wilsonian." Bryant writes theoptimate.com.

Tribute to My Sixth-Grade Teacher
Fifteen-year-old Anthony Brooks tells the story of his relationship with his sixth-grade teacher, who died tragically during the school holidays. He says Tanya Figueroa pushed him to be his best. Anthony Brooks comes to us through Radio Rookies at member station WNYC.

Bush Administration Secrecy
NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says the Bush administration's secrecy is keeping the American public in the dark about too many of its dealings.

San Clemente
Summer means summer travel, and summer travel often means visiting family. When commentator Louise Rafkin visited her mother earlier this summer, she was reminded of an incident from her childhood in San Clemente, Calif.

Anatomy
Gross anatomy is an integral part of medical school for first-year students, including commentator Joe Wright.

'Pirates of the Caribbean'
The movie Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl opens July 9. Commentator Andrea Cooper isn't going anywhere near this one. During a trip to Disney World last year, Cooper spent more time with Disney pirates than she ever wanted to. She and her daughter were on a ride that broke down, and they found themselves trapped with animatronic pirates yelling, "Die, ye scum!" over and over and over again.

Iraqi Weapons Intelligence
NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says mounting questions about whether intelligence was manipulated in the lead up to the Iraq war may undermine the Bush administration's credibility.

Bush's Policy
Commentator Byron York says that it's only natural that so much reporting about next year's presidential race has focused on Democrats. There are, after all, nine candidates, and we don't know who the nominee will be. And on the Republican side, there's no suspense in President Bush's re-election race. But the election has an effect on the way the President governs; he has compromised on some issues -- like Medicare -- in order to appeal to the political center he's going to need to win a second term. York is White House correspondent for The National Review.

Fourth of July Cannons
The Fourth of July concert is a staple in cities around the country. Last year, commentator Daniel Ferri and his wife went to Houston's concert, where he shot a cannon during the 1812 Overture -- sort of.

Women on Bikes
Commentator Marion Winik traveled to the Mid-Atlantic Women's Motorcycle rally in Gettysburg, Pa. It's an event that changed her view of women who ride bikes.

My Mother the Car
Commentator John Sedgwick just inherited his mother's car. He felt a little funny about it, because the car reflected all of her personal quirks: her sunglasses were still on the gearshift; the stereo speakers were all turned off on one side, because she didn't like the music coming at her from everywhere. In fact, driving her car was a little like driving his mother. Sedgwick is the author of the novel The Education of Mrs. Bemis.

Headhunted for Love
Like many people, commentator Jennifer Baumgardner obsesses with messages on her voicemail. But recently she got one from a matchmaker who was headhunting for an Ivy League professor.

Liberia
NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says the question of whether the U.S. military should participate in peacekeeping efforts in Liberia looms large as President Bush prepares to visit to Africa next week.

Art and Fear
Commentator Aaron Freeman says that art is the antidote to fear.

Hot Men
Commentator Robin Chotzinoff says that if men really want to be hot, they should forget the $5,000 raincoats and $150 haircuts featured in men's magazines. Instead, they should have kids and become hottie dads.

Permanent Hard Drive Record
Ever decide to clean out your hard drive? Probably not. It's too easy to do a search for the material you're looking for. So lots of information from a long time ago that you probably don't need is just sitting there. Commentator David Weinberger says it could be there forever. The ability to store huge amounts of data in such a small physical space is changing the way we think about our past.

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