Our guest host was Tom Harrington.

Satire

It's Tuesday November 14th.

The federal government has committed $80 million dollars to safeguarding urban transit systems against terrorist attack. The money will be spent primarily on new surveillance cameras and communications equipment.

Currently, expect the cameras to pick up the following images: under-funded downtowns, pot-holed streets, ailing infrastructure.

(voice horrified, amazed) My God, the terrorists have already STRUCK...

This is the Current.

Re-elected Toronto Mayor - David Miller

In London, England, Mayor Ken Livingstone imposes highly controversial - road tolls that drastically reduce congestion in the city. In New York City, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani goes on a mayoral rampage spearheading an anti-crime plan that cleans up the streets and attacks the crime rate.

In Toronto, Canada's own big city Mayor, David Miller, has significant plans of his own among them expanding the transit system. And yet instead of boldly forging ahead he is forced to wait. Wait… for Federal and Provincial Governments to approve things and cough up the cash needed to do them. That lack of power, and lack of money, are frustrations shared by city mayors across the country.

So despite just having been elected mayor of the sixth biggest government in Canada - for the second time. David Miller is perhaps, strangely, struggling for the power afforded his international cohorts. This morning, The Current asked him if he's ready to lead the charge for all the Cities in Canada, and if, perhaps, David Miller should consider playing a role as the mayor of mayors. Mayor David Miller joined us in our Toronto studio.

Listen to The Current: Part 1

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

The Current: Part 2

Microcredit – Dr. Yunus

There are those who have been lauding a simple plan to alleviate extreme poverty with analmost evangelical zeal. And the fervour has grown exponentially - since just last month - the man behind the scheme won the Nobel Peace Prize for it.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus, an economist from Bangladesh, first began preaching the potential for his plan three decades ago. The simple - yet revolutionary idea - asserts that charity isn't the answer to addressing poverty lending is.

Small loans - anywhere from 20 bucks - can be enough to kickstart a business. It's been dubbed microcredit and it prompted Dr. Yunus to establish Grameen, a Bengali bank that has provided almost $4-billion in loans to millions of Bangladesh's poorest families.

And Grameen's success has spawned similar institutions around the Globe helping 100 million people by the end of this. And just this week, Ottawa pledged $40 million to help people gain access to microfinancing. Dr. Yunus is in Halifax this week for the Global Microcredit Summit, and that where we reached him.

Listen to The Current: Part 2

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

The Current: Part 3

Amish Photo Case – AP Journalist

It's something we rarely stop to consider… the meaning of a simple photograph. Depending on your vantage point it can represent everything from a precious memory, to a violation of the 10 commandments. And it's the latter that forms the basis of an unusual lawsuit - one launched by a Canadian Amish man against the United States.

It all began when the man was asked by the U.S. department of homeland security to pose for photo I-D so he could continue living with his wife and two children in Clarion County, Pennsylvania. Trouble is the rules of U-S immigration conflict with the rules of the Bible. And members of the Old Order Amish religion believe it is a sin to be photographed.

So in order to defend one deeply held religious conviction - the man chose to violate another by initiating legal action - he goes against the Amish belief of non-resistance. To tell us more about this conflict we were joined by Joe Mandak. He's been following this story for Associated Press for the past two years. He joined us from his office in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Amish Photo Case – Kraybill

To give us a sharper picture of why this issue - both legally and morally - would resonate so deeply with those of Amish faith we were joined now by Donald Kraybill. He is a senior fellow at the Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College, Pennsylvania.

Amish Photo Case – Documentary Maker

As we just heard Donald Kraybill argues that the popularity of photographs exposes the value we - in the mainstream - place on celebrating the individual.

And as we become more enamoured with technology that encourages us to just point and click... are we, as Mr. Kraybill suggests, becoming increasingly narcissistic? Camera phones, pocket digital cameras, myspace and youtube mean snapping, storing and sending images has become, well, ubiquitous.We stopped by Toronto's Eaton Centre to get a few expert opinions from a circle of teens in a food court.

Our next guest has spent much of her life observing through a more traditional camera lens. Jennifer Baichwal is a documentary filmmaker who explores ethical issues that develop when mainstream photographers start snapping pictures along the margins. One of her films, The True Meaning of Pictures, followed renowned Appalachian photographer Shelby Lee Adams, an artist best known for his portraits of so-called Hillbillies living in Eastern Kentucky.Jennifer Baichwal joined us from Creemore, Ontario.

Jennifer Baichwal’s latest film, which follows photographer Edward Burtynsky as he visits some of the world's worst environmental disasters, is called Manufactured Landscapes.

Last Word – Stephen Bulger

We've been looking at how we view photographs from several different angles this morning. So we ended the show with some thoughts from a man who has collected hundreds of photos of people he doesn't even know.

Stephen Bulger has curated more than 80 photography shows during his career. His gallery in Toronto has an impressive collection of snapshots and books but his true photographic passion is his collection of other people's photo albums. He estimates he has dozens of family scrapbooks.

Mr. Bulger says if the album is good enough, he can glean much from a stranger's world - all through the images they've left behind.

Listen to The Current: Part 3

(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)

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