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Drones

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

PBS - By Brianna Lee - Dec. 21 (Special Report) - Long imagined as a science fiction scenario, robotic warfare is very much today’s reality. As Randall Munroe of the web comic XKCD put it, “We live in a world where there are actual fleets of robot assassins patrolling the skies. At some point there, we left the present and entered the future.”

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Attack of the Attack Ads: Citizens United and the 2012 Elections

Sun, 16 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - By Evelyn Messinger - Oct. 16 (Opinion) - In 2012, two tidal waves will reconfigure the American electoral system and the news media that cover it. A tsunami made of money will buoy up the structure of entrenched political power, while a huge wave of personal technology will disrupt it. I can predict both of these events with certainty because they've happened every election year over the last couple of decades. Still, the changes in 2012 may be dramatic. Angry citizens around the world have been using a potent combination of mobile phones, social networking and broadcast television to upend established political orders. Now it's Americans who are angry, and this election could spark a new level of activism leveraged by these same tools. At the same time, this will be the first general election since the so-called "Citizens United" Supreme Court decision, which tossed out the last vestiges of regulations limiting campaign financing. Among other effects, this will translate into a record numbers of attack ads next fall. Taken together, these two changes may profoundly affect our democracy, and they deserve a closer look.

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'Clearing the Smoke': The Benefits, Limits of Medical Marijuana | PBS NewsHour | PBS Video

Wed, 07 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - Sep. 07 (News) -

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Name That Firework

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - Jul. 03 (Special Report) - Every year, A Capitol Fourth strives to bring you the best fireworks of any July 4th celebration. But did you know there are more than a dozen types of firework effects? Here are a few of the styles that you may see at the A Capitol Fourth celebration. Peony The most common type of firework, the peony shell type is a spherical break of colored stars that burn without a tail effect.

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Why Every Student Should Learn Journalism Skills

Tue, 24 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - By Tina Barseghian - May. 24 (Interview) - How do we make schools more relevant to students? Teach them the skills they need in the real world, with tools they use every day. That's exactly what Esther Wojcicki, a teacher of English and journalism at Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto, Calif., is attempting to do with the recent launch of the website 21STcenturylit.

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Fighting for bin Laden

Tue, 03 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Frontline - By Stephen Grey, Martin Smith - May. 03 (Special Report) - Two days after Osama bin Laden's death, Frontline presents this special report with inside access to the two biggest fronts in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. First, correspondents Stephen Grey and Martin Smith go inside The Secret War and uncover new details of CIA-funded Afghan militas tasked with guarding the border, gathering intelligence and launching kill raids against the insurgents and their Al Qaeda allies. Based in Afghanistan, their work is focused on Pakistan. A former commander of one of these teams, the Khost Protection Force (KPF), tells Frontline about how the team crosses the Afghan border into Pakistan's tribal areas. Under the protection of drone aircraft, they fire mortars against Taliban and Al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan.

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Crowdsourced Fact-Checking? What We Learned from Truthsquad

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 19:40:53 -0800

PBS - Nov. 16 - It was quite a claim. But was it true? That's a common, and important, question -- and it can often be hard to quickly nail down the real facts in the information-overloaded world we live in. Professional fact-checking organizations like PolitiFact and

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Rape as a weapon of war in the Democratic Republic of Congo | Need to Know | PBS

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - Sep. 27 (News) - In this extended web interview, Alison Stewart speaks with Anneke van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch about the roots of conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the use of rape as a weapon against communities there.

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The Facebook co-founder who got away

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - By Lauren Feeney, Chris Hughes - Sep. 25 (Interview) - While Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg edges his way up Forbes’ list of the richest people in America and is cast as villain in the must-see movie “The Social Network,” (premiering tonight at the New York Film Festival), his co-founder Chris Hughes is about to launch a new social network — one aimed at fighting poverty and its attending ills. Hughes left Facebook in 2006 to work for the Obama campaign and revolutionized politicking with his new media strategy, centered around My.BarackObama.com, an online community for supporters of the now-President. Hughes’ newest project, Jumo, a social network for the social justice sector, is expected to launch this fall.

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The Ethics of Sanctions

Mon, 13 Sep 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - By David E. Anderson - Sep. 13 (News) - On July 1, President Obama signed legislation imposing new unilateral sanctions on Iran that he promised would “strik[e] at the heart of the Iranian government’s ability to fund and develop its nuclear program.”

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Health Reform Misinformation Persists; Medicare Solvency Now Stronger

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:00:00 -0700

NewsHour - By Judy Woodruff, Kathleen Sebelius - Aug. 02 (Interview) - With more measures from the health care reform law set to take effect, more states are filing legal challenges as well. Judy Woodruff talks to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius for more on the latest health care reform developments and what consumers may see next. JUDY WOODRUFF: We take a closer look now at these developments and the battle over the law with the secretary of health and human services, Kathleen Sebelius. Madam Secretary, thank you for being with us. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary KATHLEEN SEBELIUS,: Good to be with you, Judy. JUDY WOODRUFF: So, four months in after the law passed, and still such vehement opposition out there. Half the states are trying to repeal this in one form or another. How do you explain this? KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: Well, I think, first of all, this has been a long and very partisan debate, full of lots of misinformation. So, there are a lot of people who still don't know what's in the law, don't know what exactly it means to them and their families. And what we're trying to do is actually get information, get some tools, as the president said, whether it's the new Web site, healthcare.gov, which is really pretty dazzling -- it gives people information that they have never had before in one place -- or, you know, mailing information to seniors. Once people know what the law means to them and their families, that their adult child stays on their plan, or that no longer will a child with a preexisting condition be able to be kicked out of an insurance plan by insurers, they become much more enthusiastic about what actually the Affordable Care Act does. JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, I want to ask you about that, because the president did say that in the run-up to the passage of this legislation. He said, once people knows what's in here, they are going to like it. But the polls still show, yes, there is some more support, but over 50 percent of seniors still say they are disappointed in this law. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: Well, when you think about what happened to seniors during the course of this debate, it borders on outrageous. Senior, I would say, were really targeted with a whole series of misinformed statements that were designed to scare them about the law, to get them to actually call on their members of Congress and Senate to stop it, starting with everything from death panels, which still most seniors think are part of the Affordable Care Act. JUDY WOODRUFF: Is that right? Most seniors still think that? KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: Absolutely. The recent polling says that seniors think this actually was passed into law. Seniors think that there is a change in their guaranteed benefits under Medicare. Nothing could be further from the truth. The guaranteed benefits are not only stronger than ever. We're going after fraud and abuse in a way that has never been focused on. And the Medicare solvency is much stronger than it was before the law was passed. JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, I want to ask you about that in a minute. But today's ruling by a Virginia judge, saying that this -- this challenge to the constitutionality of the law can go forward, what about the argument that is being made that it's not constitutional to tell people they must buy health insurance? KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: Well, I think, when you think about it, Judy, first of all, it's not a surprise that the ruling came today. I mean, what it basically does is, now there can be a debate on the merits of the case. So, it's really a threshold argument: Did the attorney general have standing to go ahead? JUDY WOODRUFF: What do you mean it's not a surprise it came today? KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: Well, I think that, being portrayed as somehow a major ruling, all the judge said is, come to court and then talk about the merits of the case. We're convinced that there are -- strong constitutional basis for this. And the interstate commerce, which is the purview of the federal government, governing business that travels back and forth across states, when you think about health care, there is a lot of interstate commerce. A lot of the health markets are regional. And people pay -- taxpayers pay for every dollar of uncompensated care. For everyone who comes through an emergency room door, that goes on to the backs of taxpayers and lots of people who pay insurance policies and pay more for those who are uncompensated. JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, meanwhile, you have Republicans who are saying, whatever happens in the courts, they're going to continue to try to chip away at this legislatively. They're going to try to deny funding for big chunks of this. Do you ever worry that you are out there trying to defend something that's going to be hollowed out? KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: Well, I hope we are able to engage in a straightforward manner this fall in that debate. I think it's fine for Republicans to go to their constituents and tell parents who have a child under the age of 26, your son or daughter, we want to take back their right to enroll in your insurance policies. We want to make sure that insurance companies, Mr. Republican Congressman or Congresswoman, are going to be able to kick your sick child out of a plan. We want to make sure that seniors will not see their prescription drug doughnut hole closed over time. That's a debate I welcome and I hope that we are able to talk about. Repealing this bill means taking benefits away from lots of Americans who are really relying on this change, once and for all, to get some tools into their own hands. JUDY WOODRUFF: On the savings that you have been talking about today that will be realized for Medicare, Republicans like Charles Grassley -- you have got -- and the insurance industry now saying the cuts that will come to private Medicare plans will result in huge increases in premiums for seniors, which will then force them to give up their Medicare. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: Well, I don't think that's accurate, first of all. The data shows that about a fourth of Medicare beneficiaries choose Medicare Advantage plans. We have more companies offering Medicare Advantage right now than we have ever had before. We anticipate... JUDY WOODRUFF: These are the private... KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: These are the private choices. So, you can either choose traditional Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan. But we have overpaid by about 14 percent. And everybody else in Medicare pays for that overpay -- pays more for their Medicare policies, no additional health benefits to the people who choose. And all we're saying is, gradually, over time, that overpayment should stop. We think there's going to be plenty of choices. JUDY WOODRUFF: And what is going to happen to those seniors who are in these plans? KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: They will absolutely have the choice of those plans. Those plans will stay in effect. They will stay in the market. In fact, the Centers for Medicare Services has issued a notice to companies, saying there will not be a cut next year. There will be a flat line for Medicare Advantage plans, so come in with your package of proposals. Come in with your bid. But we think there are going to be plenty of options for seniors who want to continue in a Medicare Advantage plan. JUDY WOODRUFF: Let me ask you about another headache out there, and that is Medicaid funding for individuals, the poor. A number of states, governors are coming to you, to the Obama administration, saying, wait a minute, this law means that we don't have the flexibility to deal with these rising Medicaid costs. Our budgets are being stretched and strapped. What are you saying to the states that are struggling with this right now? KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: Well, first of all, as you know, I was one of them, until very recently, governor of a state, watching the Medicaid budget. And this is a federal-state partnership, no question about it. I mean, the first thing we need to do is get Congress to act on the extension of the assistance for Medicaid programs across the country. That's been pending now for months and months and months, and tonight again came a near vote in the Senate. It's now been pushed off to Wednesday. But that's a huge step forward for states, to pass the FMAP, the federal matching plan. Secondly, in 2014, when the Affordable Care Act has an expanded Medicaid opportunity for lots of adults who don't qualify, it's paid for 100 percent by federal funds for the first four years and then gradually recedes to a 90 percent federal funding. So, this is a huge number of people who currently are coming through the doors of emergency rooms in states. States are picking up costs for all kinds of health-related costs. And the federal government is saying, we think we should cover everyone, and we think we are going to pay for it, states, and help you in this partnership. JUDY WOODRUFF: So many, many questions out there. And we thank you for dealing with some of them with us. Secretary Sebelius, thanks so much. KATHLEEN SEBELIUS: Sure.

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Property Insurance Crisis in the Sunshine State

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - Jul. 31 (News) - This First Coast Forum looks at the property insurance crisis in the Sunshine State. Some have warned that the state is on the verge of economic disaster if a major storm blows through. A large number of homeowners in the state are now covered by Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, potentially opening the state up to huge liability claims.

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Prosecutors Charge White Man for Racially Motivated Shooting in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By A.C. Thompson - Jul. 20 (News Report) - Nearly five years after Hurricane Katrina, federal prosecutors have charged a white man with federal hate crimes for his role in the racially motivated shooting of three black men in the aftermath of the storm. The five-count indictment accuses Roland Bourgeois of plotting to defend his Algiers Point neighborhood in New Orleans from "outsiders" including African Americans and shooting and seriously wounding three men who were walking toward a temporary evacuation center.

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Thomas Saenz, president of the Mexican-American Legal Defense

Thu, 08 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - By Tavis Smiley - Jul. 08 (Interview) - We would cease to be one country if Arizona could have its own immigration laws and California had different immigration laws and Texas had different and New York and Maryland and Maine and all the rest of the states had their own immigration laws. Then we would cease to be one country. Each state would become its own country if we allowed each of them to have their own immigration regulations.

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Oil Spill Media Access: Reporters Still Given The Runaround Even As Public Health Concerns Mount

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 00:00:00 -0700

Huffington Post - By Jason Linkins, Bridget Desimone - Jul. 01 (News Report) - The latest chapter in the media's ongoing struggle to cover the Gulf Oil Spill comes courtesy of PBS Newshour's Bridget Desimone, who has been working with her colleague, Betty Ann Bowser, in "reporting the health impact of the oil spill in Plaquemines Parish." Desimone reports that on the ground, officials are generally doing a better job answering inquiries and granting access to the clean-up efforts. But Desimone and Bowser have encountered one "roadblock" that they've struggled to overcome: access to a "federal mobile medical unit" in Venice, Louisiana: "The glorified double-wide trailer sits on a spit of newly graveled land known to some as the "BP compound." Ringed with barbed wire-topped chain link fencing, it's tightly restricted by police and private security guards."

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"Gasland" . NOW on PBS

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - Jun. 26 (Special Report) - Will the boom in natural gas drilling contaminate America's water supply? NOW talks with filmmaker Josh Fox about 'Gasland', his Sundance award-winning documentary on the surprising consequences of natural gas drilling.

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Coast Guard's Allen: 6,000 Barrels of Oil Captured on Friday

Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:42:26 -0700

NewsHour - Jun. 05 (News Report) - Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen told reporters Saturday morning that a containment cap atop the leaking oil well funneled about 6,000 barrels (252,000 gallons) of oil over 24 hours on Friday to a tanker on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

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A new season of hate in America

Thu, 13 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - By Jon Meacham - May. 13 (Opinion) - Anger is perhaps America’s oldest collective national emotion. Without it there might not be a United States at all. But there have been times when the force that perennially divides us is not anger, as much as its more violent and more disturbing cousin — hate.

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Uganda: Out of the Wild

Tue, 11 May 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - By Singeli Agnew,Serene Fang,David Ritsher - May. 11 (Special Report) - In the lush mountains of western Uganda, tourists come to the dense forests in search of rare and exotic animals. What they don’t anticipate is coming in contact with some of the world’s rarest diseases. That’s what recently happened to an American tourist who came down with a mysterious and deadly disease after visiting a cave known for its bats. “We’re still not exactly sure how she acquired the infection,” says Dr. Stuart Nichol of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “We know that she did enter the mouth of the cave but didn’t go very deep into the cave.” A team from the CDC found that she’d contracted Marburg virus -- a hemorrhagic fever that causes extensive internal bleeding. Hers was the first case to reach the United States. During the same period, another outbreak of hemorrhagic fever was devastating a remote village in the same region. It was discovered to be a new strain of the Ebola virus, which scientists believe was transmitted to humans who ate infected bush meat.

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Plastic Bag

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - By Ramin Bahrani - Apr. 23 (Entertainment) - A discarded plastic bag ventures through a barren America looking for its maker. This short film is part of the FutureStates series, which forecasts future events and predictions.

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Crimes at the Border | FRONTLINE/World | PBS Video

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - Apr. 21 (Special Report) - 3 stories from a small planet: human smuggling on the Mexico/U.S. border, discovering secret human rights abuses in Guatemala, and a local pop star sings about ecological toilets in Mozambique.

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Women in Afghanistan Struggle for Security Amid Peace Talks

Sun, 04 Apr 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - Apr. 04 (News Report) - Despite ongoing peace talks that could lead to a ceasefire in Afghanistan, security for Afghan women – especially those who have spoken up for women’s rights – continues to deteriorate.

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Birth & Youth, part 1 | The Buddha | PBS Video

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0700

PBS - Mar. 23 (Other) -

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Digital Nation

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0800

Frontline - By Rachel Dretzin, Douglas Rushkoff - Feb. 05 (Special Report) - Within a single generation, digital media and the World Wide Web have transformed virtually every aspect of modern culture, from the way we learn and work to the ways in which we socialize and even conduct war. But is the technology moving faster than we can adapt to it? And is our 24/7 wired world causing us to lose as much as we've gained? In Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier, FRONTLINE presents an in-depth exploration of what it means to be human in a 21st-century digital world. Continuing a line of investigation she began with the 2008 FRONTLINE report Growing Up Online, award-winning producer Rachel Dretzin embarks on a journey to understand the implications of living in a world consumed by technology and the impact that this constant connectivity may have on future generations. "I'm amazed at the things my kids are able to do online, but I'm also a little bit panicked when I realize that no one seems to know where all this technology is taking us, or its long-term effects," says Dretzin. Joining Dretzin on this journey is commentator Douglas Rushkoff, a leading thinker and writer on the digital revolution -- and one-time evangelist for technology's positive impact. "In the early days of the Internet, it was easy for me to reassure people about what it would mean to bring digital technology into their lives," says Rushkoff, who has authored 10 books on media, technology and culture. "Now I want to know whether or not we are tinkering with something more essential than we realize."

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Martin Luther: Reluctant Revolutionary | Empires | PBS Video

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0800

PBS - Jan. 27 (Dramatization) -

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