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It's Tuesday, September 25th.
Video gamers by the thousands lined up last night for the midnight launch of Microsoft's Halo 3 game. The game invites players to war against an alien race of religious zealots. Advertising has often included the line "Finish The Fight" to recruit gamers into the imaginary war.
Currently, US government spin doctors want to know why no one from the Halo team was around when George Bush landed on an aircraft carrier a couple of years ago.
This is The Current.
Myanmar – Reporter/British Embassy
When thousands of Buddhist monks take to the streets in protest in Myanmar, you know it's no longer just about the price of fuel. The protests in the country formerly known as Burma began last month after the ruling military government raised prices on gasoline, diesel fuel and on natural gas. But now that the monks have joined ranks with the protestors, some say it's the decades-old military government of Burma that could finally be running out of gas.
Others, however, are concerned that the government may crack down on demonstrators as they did nearly 20 years ago, when some 3-thousand people were killed during a similar democratic uprising. Most were students, a few were monks.
In a moment we'll hear from some Burmese Canadians who were involved in those 1988 demonstrations and fled their country as a result.
But first we spoke with a Burmese journalist in Yangon earlier this morning. He didn’t want us to use his name on air for fear of repercussions, but he did say the situation is very tense.
To get more on the situation on the ground from someone who is more free to speak openly, we reached Ruth Bradley Jones. She is a political officer with the British Embassy in Yangon.
Burmese-Canadians Reaction
Yesterday Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Bernier called on the Burmese authorities to respect the human rights and the freedoms of the protestors. Canada also called for the unconditional release of pro-democracy activists. Canada currently bans exports to Burma.
Now, as world leaders are reacting to events in Burma, Burmese citizens both living in the country and living abroad must balance the hope for change with the reality of history.
Dr. Alice Khin Saw Win was working as a doctor in Rangoon treating those injured in the demonstrations nineteen years ago.
Today she's a Lecturer in the Faculty of Nursing and Medicine at the University of Alberta and the Director of Burma Watch International. She joined us from her home in Edmonton.
Aung Tin was a university student who demonstrated in the 1988 uprising. He is now the Chair of the Canadian branch of the National League for Democracy-Liberated Areas -- a political party operating on the Thai-Burmese border and abroad. He was in our Toronto Studio.
Listen to The Current: Part 1
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The Current: Part 2
Guantanamo Bay - Black Sites
As both American and Canadian forces continue to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan, both nations have felt the heat of the debate over what to do with captured terror suspects.
In America, the quarrel over extending basic legal rights to detainees peaked once more last week. The U.S. Senate voted in favour of granting habeas corpus to detainees in U.S. custody. It was supposed to be a landmark victory for human rights activists, but practically it was a hollow one although a majority, it still came 4 votes short of the 60 needed to pass.
Meanwhile, a less-public debate among psychologists on exactly how to interrogate detainees and what role psychologists should play in those interrogations hit a peak of its own in late August.
Dr. Mary Pipher, author of the book Reviving Ophelia, has returned a presidential citation she had received from the American Psychological Association. It was a protest against the association's continued involvement with interrogations at Guantanamo Bay and the Central Intelligence Agency's so-called black sites around the world. Dr. Mary Pipher joined us from Lincoln, Nebraska.
APA Response
For some perspective from the American Psychological Association, we were joined by Rhea Farberman. She is the director of communications with the association, and she joined us this morning from Crofton, Maryland.
Canadian Update
Here in Canada, the Code of Ethics governing psychologists does not deal specifically with torture or enhanced interrogations. But it does state that psychologists are not to engage in any activity contravening international humanitarian law. It also instructs them to speak out when they witness clearly unethical behaviour.
Dr. Peter Bradley, is a member of the Canadian Psychological Association and teaches at the Royal Military College. He says psychologists do work with the Canadian military, but only in areas of recruitment and counseling.
But there have been more troubling links in the past. In fact, some of the tactics the CIA uses in interrogations today were developed at McGill University in Montreal.
In December, 2005, we brought you an interview with Alfred McCoy, author of A Question of Torture. He described how McGill was a hotbed of psychological research for the CIA in the 1950s and 60s. And we now know it included the abuse of unsuspecting patients at the Allen Memorial Institute, under one-time American Psychological Association president, Ewan Cameron.
In our interview Alfred McCoy told us about some of the research, including sensory deprivation techniques, under another man named Donald Hebb. We aired a clip from our December 2005 interview with Alfred McCoy, author of A Question of Torture.
Listen to The Current:Part 2
(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)
The Current: Part 3
Coal Mining – Coal Miner
The only thing dirtier than coal itself is the bad press surrounding it. Collapsing mines, proven health risks, environmental destruction… it's a dirty resource the world is supposed to be weaning itself from.
But coal and the mines from which it comes remain pretty attractive to many countries. Thanks to an increase in demand from such places as China, some say the industry is digging itself out of its bad rep, and undergoing a sort of renaissance.
Swiss mining company Xstrata is spreading $15 million dollars to see if it's worth opening a coal mine in Donkin, N.S. Is it a potential economic windfall, or an unsustainable disaster-in-waiting?
That's precisely the question for the people of Donkin. Despite Nova Scotia's rich mining tradition, there hasn't been much good news lately. But if Xstrata gives the go-ahead in 2008, the area can expect 275 new full-time jobs.
Dan Kahlbenn is a third generation Cape Breton coal miner -- his career began when he was 18 years old and lasted 24 years until the last underground coal mine shut down in Nova Scotia in 2001. Since then he has been working in places such as Fort McMurray and the Northwest Territories. Away from his wife and children.
But Dan is back in Cape Breton, employed with 18 other miners to explore the viability of a new coal mine in Donkin. For him and many other Cape Bretoners, a return to coal, means a return of a different kind.
Coal Mining – Pro
Another person with high hopes for a new Nova Scotia coal mine is Alfie MacLeod. He worked for Devco, when Donkin was the first considered for a possible mine back in the 1980s. Now he's the Conservative MLA for Cape Breton West. Alfie MacLeod joined us from our Ottawa studio.
Coal Mining – Con
Now, not everyone is celebrating coal mining's potential comeback to Nova Scotia. For federal Green Party Leader Elizabeth May, the issue puts her between, well, a rock and a hard place. Saying no to coal mining, is also saying no to jobs - all in a province where she will run for election, federally. Elizabeth May joined us by phone from Ottawa.
Coal Mining – Overview
Well, coal mining is buried in controversy. But to examine whether it's still viable as a global industry, we were joined by Larry Hughes.He's a professor of Computer Engineering at Dalhousie University and heads his department's Energy Research Group. Larry Hughes was in Halifax.
Last Word
Earlier in the program we explored some of the stories behind the latest pro-democracy protests in Myanmar. And we mentioned Aung San Suu Kyi , the leader of the National League for Democracy, a political party that actually won the 1990 general election, but was never permitted to take power by the military junta.
The 62 year-old continues to live under house arrest. On Saturday, she was seen at the gate of her home, as protesting Buddhist monks passed by and offered her blessings.
We ended the program today with the voice of Aung San Suu Kyi, accompanied by the music of Damien Rice and Lisa Hannigan. Their song, "Unplayed Piano," was dedicated to her on her birthday this last July.
Listen to The Current:Part 3
(Due to various rights issues some segments may be edited for internet use)
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