[hrothgar]

National Public Radio (NPR) produces some very good shows. One of my favorites is one called "On Point" which is good enough that I time my trips to gym based on their schedule. For example, right now there is an hour long discussion about the recent spike in US helicopter losses in Iraq, attempting to explain whether this is

1. A statistical fluke
2. Reflections improved tactics on the part of the insurgents
3. Is an outgrowth of changes in US operational tactics

WBUR maintains an archive of previous shows, many of which are well worth listening to. Some of the best discussions this month included the following:

The U.S. and Iran and the Growing Threat of War.
The war in Iraq is suddenly looking like an ugly stare-down with Iran, and there are fears of an accidental war. We'll ask where exactly we're headed in the Persian Gulf. - (Monday, February 05, 2007)

Nuclear Terrorism
Loose nukes. We'll take an insider's look at proliferation and the terrifying trade in materials for a suitcase bomb. - (Wednesday, February 07, 2007)

Big Business Going Green
Big business is facing the future and global warming, and, going green. Greener than the president. - (Monday, January 29, 2007)

The archives are available at http://www.onpointra....asp?m=1&y=2007

[akhare]

Thanks for the pointer -- I love NPR, but hadn't (yet) heard of the program.

On a completely tangential note, I am intrigued by people who manage to use iPods and other personal listening devices while working out.

For me it's either:

1) Too dangerous to run with headphones outside.

OR

2) The damn headphones keep coming off when running indoors and it's too distracting anyway.

So, my choices are limited to blaring radio and not too many people at the gym are into NPR ...

[the saint]

akhare, on Feb 8 2007, 10:16 PM, said:

Thanks for the pointer -- I love NPR, but hadn't (yet) heard of the program.

On a completely tangential note, I am intrigued by people who manage to use iPods and other personal listening devices while working out.

For me it's either:

1) Too dangerous to run with headphones outside.

OR

2) The damn headphones keep coming off when running indoors and it's too distracting anyway.

So, my choices are limited to blaring radio and not too many people at the gym are into NPR ...

Get headphones that hook around your ears. I swear by them.

[hrothgar]

akhare, on Feb 9 2007, 01:16 AM, said:

Thanks for the pointer -- I love NPR, but hadn't (yet) heard of the program.

On a completely tangential note, I am intrigued by people who manage to use iPods and other personal listening devices while working out.

For me it's either:

1) Too dangerous to run with headphones outside.

OR

2) The damn headphones keep coming off when running indoors and it's too distracting anyway.

So, my choices are limited to blaring radio and not too many people at the gym are into NPR ...

Elliptical trainers, rowing machines, and stairmasters....

[akhare]

hrothgar, on Feb 8 2007, 05:48 PM, said:

Elliptical trainers, rowing machines, and stairmasters....

What are those? I should look for them under the treadmills . On a serious note, I am self confessed running junkie when it comes to using the gym...

[Winstonm]

Speaking of Iran, did you happen to see Sen. Hagel's comments from GQ interview that when the WH first sent the war resolution to Congress in 2002 it left open the entire region as possible targets? Hagel went on to say he, Biden, and Lugar had to re-write it to make it clear it covered only Iraq.

"In an interview in GQ Magazine, Hagel reveals that the Bush administration tried to get Congress to approve military action anywhere in the Middle East — not just in Iraq — in the fall of 2002. At the time, Hagel says, the Bush administration presented Congress with a resolution that would have authorized the use of force anywhere in the region:

HAGEL: [F]inally, begrudgingly, [the White House] sent over a resolution for Congress to approve. Well, it was astounding. It said they could go anywhere in the region.

GQ: It wasn’t specific to Iraq?

HAGEL: Oh no. It said the whole region! They could go into Greece or anywhere. Is central Asia in the region? I suppose! Sure as hell it was clear they meant the whole Middle East. It was anything. It was literally anything. No boundaries. No restrictions.

GQ: They expected Congress to let them start a war anywhere in the Middle East?

HAGEL: Yes. Yes. Wide open. We had to rewrite it. Joe Biden, Dick Lugar, and I stripped the language that the White House had set up and put our language in it.

Asked about his vote in support of the final Iraq war resolution, Hagel told GQ, “Do I regret that vote? Yes, I do regret that vote.”