Satire
(sound of pencil scribbles)
Dear Canada....it's Tuesday December 20th, before
I deliver my annual Christmas letter to all my devoted
listeners....let me take a moment to go off-script----
to read something I wrote myself as a big thank you
to the little people, (paper uncrinkles--clears throat--reads
slowly, deliberately like an illiterate Mob Boss)
Currently....
To yous guys (and the chicks) at the Current....them
that write the stuff in which I read. Yous guys write
totally good. And yous are all very attractive individuals.
Thanks for making me be so funny. I got famous, and
can you believe it? Thanks...Love, the Voy-...Voy,
Chay...err, (sounding out the word) Love the Voy---ssss.
THE VOICE....hey that's me ME!
And this is The Current.
Christmas Letters – Hughes
News
It's no surprise that the Holiday season is the busiest
time of year for the post office. Last year, Canada
Post delivered 652 million seasons greetings to people
around the world. But it's not just chocolates, personal
cheques and tidings of joy that make the rounds. For
many of you, Christmas brings one other special delivery,
a traditional greeting that some quickly devour and
others might toss into the garbage. And no, we're not
talking about Aunt Clair's Famous Fruit Cake.
Christmas is often the time of year for what's called
the family newsletter---that annual opportunity some
take to reflect on their year that was. The highs,
the lows and everything, and sometimes that really
means everything in between.
Take the case of the Hughes family. Doug Hughes is
the author of "Hughes' News", the family
newsletter. He's been producing the Hughes' News for
20 years. Normally, his Christmas newsletter is a 16-page,
bound booklet that recaps the year, but this year's
edition is, well, a little more comprehensive. The
2005 edition of "Hughes News" is 142 pages.
Doug Hughes was in Santa Clara, California.
Christmas
Letters History
While the size of some family newsletters has grown,
so has the number of recipients. There was a time when
Christmas letters were much more intimate affairs.
But that was in the days before the world went digital.
Richard West is a professor of Communication
at the University of Southern Maine, and he's the co-author
of Perspectives on Family Communication. He's been
studying Christmas letters and other forms of family
communications for 15 years, and we reached him at
his home in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.
And if, after hearing all that, your quill is quivering
with trepidation at writing your holiday letter, we
asked Lesley Carlin, one of the Etiquette
Grrrls and
the co-author of Things You Need To Know, and More
Things You Need To Know, for some admonitions
on the finer points of the family update letter.
Listen
to The Current:  Part
1
(Due to various rights issues some segments may be
edited for internet use)
The Current: Part 2
Canada Torture
The questions surrounding the detention of Binyam
Mohammed in Cuba's Guantanamo Bay are now beginning
to darken Canada's doorstep. He's the British resident
being held as a terrorist suspect. He alleges that
over the course of his detention, he was interrogated
by Canadians.
Binyam Mohammed is charged with being part of the "dirty
bomb plot" that involved US citizen Jose Padilla.
He's also one of five detainees, including Canadian
citizen Omar Khadr, who have been selected from the
hundreds at Guantanamo for a military trial. He's currently
waiting for the US Supreme Court to decide on the legality
of those tribunals.
To discuss his case, we were joined by his lawyer
Clive Stafford-Smith. We reached him in Dorset, southern
England.
Torture Author
Binyam Mohammed's allegations are not the only time
Canadian identities have been caught up in international
controversy. In September, 1997, two Israeli secret
agents were caught traveling with Canadian passports
in Jordan, allegedly on their way to assassinate a
leader of the Palestinian group Hamas. That case was
never fully resolved.
And it may never be entirely clear what sort of involvement
- if any - Canada had in the case of Binyam Mohammed.
However according to our next guest there is little
doubt that Canada has historic connections to the use
of torture by Americans.
In the early 1950's at Montreal's McGill University,
Canadian psychologist Donald O'Hebb pioneered the study
of sensory deprivation. And his controversial work
led directly to the CIA and the invention of something
they called "No Touch Torture".
To talk about torture, its development and Canada's
historic role we were joined by Alfred McCoy. He's
written a book called A Question of Torture and
we reached him in Madison, Wisconsin.
Listen to The Current: Part
2
(Due to various rights issues some
segments may be edited for internet use)
The Current: Part 3
Torture
Author (cont’d)
We continued our conversation with Alfred McCoy, the
author of the book, A Question of Torture.
Before the break we were talking about the development
of the American policy of "no touch torture".
In this segment we moved the discussion to more recent
developments in the American torture debate. Just last
week, President Bush appeared to bend to the concerns
of Senator John McCain by agreeing to a sweeping torture
ban.
Diamond Mine
Ten years ago, a small-fry exploration company named
Tahera struck pay dirt on the barren lands northeast
of Yellowknife, near the Nunavut-Northwest Territories
border. And by pay dirt, we mean diamonds ... gorgeous
white ones of the Liz Taylor variety.
Tahera saw a huge opportunity and changed its name.
No longer was it Tahera Exploration ... it was now
firmly called Tahera
Diamond Corporation. And it was
about to do something almost unheard of for a company
of its modest size it was going to build and operate
a diamond mine. But Tahera soon discovered that building
a mine isn't as easy as changing your name.
Thanks to a little luck and a whole lot of Bay Street
smarts, Tahera is opening up a new facet in the Canadian
diamond industry. The company is putting the finishing
touches on its Jericho diamond mine operations. And
by March, those precious white stones should be sparkling
off an assembly line. Dave Miller of CBC Yellowknife
has been following this shimmering story and he joined
us from a studio in Yellowknife.
Music Bridge
Artist: Steve Dawson
Cut: CD8 “Photograph”
CD: “We Belong to the Gold Coast”
Label: Black Hen Music
Spine #: BHCD 0030
Last Word – Voice Letter # 4
We opened the program with a discussion about letter
writing, those annual Christmas updates some families
include with their Christmas cards to keep everyone
up to date on their personal lives. So we thought we'd
tell you a little bit about the year we've had ...
(PAUSE) ... oh, you don't want to hear it. Instead
the last word goes to The Voice and the his Christmas
letter that finally ends.
Listen to The Current: Part
3
(Due to various rights issues some
segments may be edited for internet use)
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