December 19, 2008

Today's guest host was Jim Brown in Calgary.

It's Friday December 19th.

Iraqi police destroyed the shoes of an Iraqi journalist after he threw them at President George Bush during a press conference earlier this week

Currently, Iraqi security forces are hailing this as their first ever successful counter-terrorism operation.

This is the Current.

In-Law Trouble

Okay, we know the song says it's the most wonderful time of the year and everything. But the holiday season brings an awful lot of pressure too. Expectations are high. And emotions can get a little raw ... especially when you factor in the inevitable visit with the in-laws. And according to a new study most of that in-law tension is between women.

We aired just a few of the stories posted at a blog called mother-in-law-stories.com. Yes there are blogs devoted to such in-law dramas. And according to Terri Apter there's a good reason for that. She interviewed 156 people and observed countless numbers of family gatherings. And she found that 55 per cent of mother-in-laws are "disappointed" in their son's choice of mate and that 50 per cent of married women say their relationship with their mother-in-law is "strained and uncomfortable."
Terri Apter is a psychologist at Cambridge University and she was in Cambridge, England. Her forthcoming book is called What's Wrong With Me?

In-law Trouble Panel

Well clearly, family gatherings -- in-laws and all -- can be a minefield. So for some thoughts on why that is and advice on survival tactics to make it through relatively unscathed, we were joined by two people. Louise Fox teaches etiquette courses. She's also the owner of The Etiquette Ladies which has branches across the country. She was in Toronto this morning. And Sig Taylor is a marriage and family therapist based in Calgary.

Listen to Part One:

Obama's Bad Habit

For all the adulation directed at Barack Obama, he has one vice that has some Americans shaking their heads. He's a smoker. Or at least he was. We aired a clip with how he explained the situation to Tom Brokaw on Meet The Press earlier this month.

Now there are plenty of people in the world who brush off their doctor's advice, ignore the social stigmas associated with smoking and light up anyway. But there are some who say the leader of the free world needs to be held to a higher standard and that he has a responsibility to set a good example.

Cheryl Healton is the President and CEO of the American Legacy Foundation, an independent organization that works to end smoking. She was in Washington.


Smoking Obama: Lapham

But not everyone agrees. Lewis Lapham is the former editor of Harper's magazine. He's now the Editor of Lapham's Quarterly and he was in New York City.

Music Bridge

Performer: Five Stone
CD: Instrumentals
Cut: "Strike and Fade"
Label: November Sixteenth Publishing
www: www.fivestone.net

Calendar Documentary Promo

With 2009 just a couple of weeks away, people are no doubt buying up calendars for the New Year. And there are a lot of choices out there. On Monday, we'll have a documentary about one of those chocies. It's a calendar put together by Shane Keating of Calgary. His nephew Corporal Shane Keating was killed while on duty in Afghanistan. The calendar has the pictures and words of many of the soldiers killed in Afghanistan. The idea .. to put a human face on those who died. The CBC's Adrienne Lamb prepared the documentary and we aired an excerpt.

You can hear the documentary "Day by Day" by the CBC's Adrienne Lamb on Monday here on the Current.

Music Bridge

Artist: Bedouin Soundclash
CD: Sounding a Mosaic
Cut: CD 5 "Gyasi Went Home"
Label: Stomp Records
Spine #: STMP043

Listen to Part Two:

History of Christianity

There's a symbol that appears occasionally on memorials and stone carvings across southern India and coastal China. It dates back to the early middle ages. And it shows a cross -- the symbol of the Christian faith -- growing out of a lotus flower, the symbol of Buddhist enlightenment.

For Philip Jenkins, it's the perfect representation of another version of the Christian tradition ... one that is now long forgotten but one he thinks could still teach us some valuable lessons about religious tolerance.

Philip Jenkins is a professor of History and Religious Studies at Pennsylvania State University. His newest book is The Lost History of Christianity: The Thousand-Year Golden Age of the Church in the Middle East, Africa and Asia -- And How it Died. He was in State College, Pennsylvania.

Last Word: Mother in Law vs. Son in Law

Later today on CBC Radio One, it's The Point and host Aamer Haleem will be dissecting the fine art of conversation. That's The Point at 2 o'clock -- 2:30 in Newfoundland and Labrador. And tonight at 10 o'clock on CBC Television, The National will continue its series on Acts of Kindness.

Earlier in the show, we got some expert advice on in-law encounters over the holidays. And we ended the program today with two more thoughts about coping with your in-laws ... dueling pop songs actually. First up is Eddie K. Doe's 1961 hit "Mother In Law" followed by a response song by The Blossoms called "No Good Son in Law."

Listen to Part Three: