Toyota From Congress To Courts
After a grilling in Congress this week, Toyota’s next battlefield may be the court room. As many as 16 class action lawsuits are in the works for cases involving sudden acceleration of vehicles. One case that’s drawing national attention is that of Kua Fong Lee in Minnesota. The 32 year-old man was sentenced to 8 years in prison, after an accident that killed three people. He has always claimed that the brakes on his 1996 Toyota Camry didn’t work. Now the judge may be willing to give the case another look. Our guests are Suzanne Ziegler, business reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Sean Kane, a car safety advocate and founder of Safety Research & Strategies.
Germany's Maria Riesch speeds down the course during the first run of the Women's slalom, at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics(AP)
Vancouverites Look To Olympic Legacy
This weekend the city will be sending its guests back to all corners of the globe. The 21st Winter Olympics closing ceremony is on Sunday night, 16 days after the Games began. Steve Lus, who’s a reporter for CBC Radio in Vancouver, shares his perspective as the Olympics draw to a close.
Murder In Dubai… Who Done It?
We talk with the BBC’s Jonathan Marcus about the diplomatic row Israel now finds itself in with a number of nations over the killing of Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai on January 19th. Some of the 26 suspects in the assassination had forged passports belonging to foreign nationals living in Israel who say their identities had been stolen. There’s suspicion that Israel’s spy agency Mossad was behind the operation.
Helping AIDS Orphans In Swaziland
The African nation has the world’s highest rate of AIDS infection — with over a quarter of the population infected. Most deaths in the country are now due to AIDS and life expectancy has fallen dramatically. from 61 years to 32 years. Mr. Welcome Mathabela Mkhalipi and Ms. Mavis Vilani both work with The Bantwana Initiative in Swaziland. We’ll speak to them about their work.
Yuriko, A Dancer With Martha Graham
Yuriko rehearsing students at The New School in Martha Graham's 1936 work "Steps in the Street" in 2006 (Flickr/Matt Sussman)
Some artists need only one name. Yuriko is one of them. As a young woman during WWII, she and her family were interned with other Japanese-Americans in the US. Somehow she managed to open a dance studio in the camp and taught. She eventually moved to New York where she worked as a seamstress, but still dreamed of a profession in dance. She became a dancer with Martha Graham and danced in the film and stage versions of The King and I. Here and Now’s Lynn Menegon spoke with Yuriko, who is 90 years old. Yuriko was recently speaking to students at The Boston Conservatory.
Music From The Show
- Peter Dixon, “Nagog Woods”
- Ashley MacIsaac, “Sleepy Maggie”
- Moby, “Inside”
- Ahmad Jamal, “Patterns”
- Medeski, Martin and Wood, “Bloody Oil”
- Aaron Copeland, “Appalachian Spring,” performed by Leonard Bernstein and the New York Philharmonic
