Friday, October 30 2009

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Friday, October 30, 2009

Just Where Is the Stimulus Cash Going?

Today, the White House releases a huge amount of raw data on how and where stimulus money is being spent. We talk about the numbers we know so far, what listeners have noticed, and what we'll be looking for in the tea leaves. We're joined by WNYC reporter Andrea Bernstein, Pete Herman, a currently unemployed ironworker from Brooklyn, N.Y., and Charlie Dilbert, a construction worker from Cincinnati whose job is being paid for with stimulus money.

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Takeouts: Health Care Bill, World Series, 'Squeezed' Listeners

  • Washington Takeout: Takeaway correspondent Todd Zwillich looks at the details of the House health care reform bill.
  • Sports Takeout: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin reviews Game 2 of the World Series, as the Yankees tie things up with the Phillies, 1-1.
  • Listener Takeout: We hear from listeners about how employers are squeezing more work from their employees.

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Pakistan: Attacks on Civilians Driving Anti-American Sentiment

As Pakistan reels from a series of bombings – the latest, yesterday, claimed at least 85 lives – Pakistanis are increasingly blaming those who they feel are responsible: Americans. We talk to BBC correspondent Aleem Maqbool and Sana Salim Malike, a medical student in Karachi, Pakistan, about the growing anti-American sentiment on the ground there.

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The Internet's Linguistic Expansion: 外贾.us?

Today, the International Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is expected to approve a decision that will allow non-Latin letters to be used in internet domain names. It’s a significant change in how people will access the Internet, but Takeaway technology contributor Queena Kim says it might not be such a great one – at least for web surfers in the United States.

“It’s a great win for the 60 percent of Internet users out there who don’t speak English and don’t use Roman characters.”
—Queena Kim, Takeaway technology contributor, on Internet authority ICANN approving the use of non-Roman characters in website URLs and other domain names

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Screams and Chills: The Best Scary Movies

It's our Halloween horror flick round-up. We asked Takeaway listeners and our contributors, Newsday film critic Rafer Guzman and Spout editor Karina Longworth, to compile a list of the best horror films ever. Classics like "Cat People" and "Night of the Living Dead" made the list, but so did big '80s blockbusters like "Alien."

Click through to read Rafer and Karina's full list and watch video clips from some of the classics.

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Honduran President Zelaya Expected to Return

The political crisis in Honduras may soon be coming to an end. After weeks of negotiations, ousted President Manual Zelaya could soon return to power. We speak with Marcelo Justo in the BBC's South America bureau.

“This [was] a very modern version of a coup d’etat with a lot of institutional back-up for it. So now there’s been an agreement which [previously] seemed impossible … Latin America seemed to have left behind all this era of coup d’etat and has basically supported the idea of institutional and democratic reforms.”
—Marcelo Justo in the BBC's South America bureau, on the potential return of ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya after an atypical coup d'etat

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Cracking the Whip: A Profile of Majority Whip James Clyburn

Democrats in the House have unveiled their health care bill. The time for voting is near and the stakes couldn’t be higher. The man in charge of wrangling every last vote from the party currently on top in Congress is the House Majority Whip, Democratic Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina. As the whip, Clyburn is responsible for making sure his party and President Obama achieve their top domestic priorities. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich sat down with Clyburn yesterday. He also walked the halls of Congress to talk with representatives about what it's like to be the whip – and what it's like to be whipped.

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Takeouts: GDP, NFL, Listeners Retrain

  • Money Takeout: Louise Story talks about the latest GDP numbers and just how confident consumers seem to be feeling.
  • Sports Takeout: Ibrahim Abdul-Matin looks ahead to the NFL games this weekend.
  • Listener Takeout: We hear stories from listeners who have retrained to keep up with the changing economy.

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FBI Reaches Out to Imams After Deadly Detroit Raid

The FBI is reaching out to local imams and community leaders in Detroit after the leader of a radical Islamic group was killed in an FBI raid late Wednesday night. We discuss local reactions and the charges filed against others targeted in the raid with Craig Fahle, host of WDET's Detroit Today, and Victor Begg, chair of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Michigan.

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Colombia Opens Military Bases to US

Colombia will sign a deal with the United States today to give the American military access to seven of its military bases. The deal has been in the works for months, and it has raised concerns among several South American countries. BBC correspondent Jeremy McDermott joins us from Bogota, Columbia, to talk about the implications of this deal.

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Margaret Atwood and 'The Year of the Flood'

Margaret Atwood, the Canadian writer famous for her inventive and dark novels — including "Oryx and Crake," "The Handmaid's Tale" and "The Blind Assassin" — talks with us about science, devotion,and her new novel, "The Year of the Flood." Unlike her previous standalone works, this book is something of a companion piece to "Oryx and Crake," involving characters new and old. It also includes a separate "soundtrack" of hymns about God, the earth and animals.

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Scare Fest: Halloween Movie Mash-Up

All this morning, we've been talking about scary movies and what's got you shivering in your seat. We've compiled a mash-up of our listeners' scary movie suggestions.

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