Pt 1: Amnesty Controversy - We started this segment with a clip of Moazzam Begg. He's the founder of a group called CagePrisoners and a former prisoner himself at the United States Military Prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Listen here:


Read more here

Pt 2: Pride House - For the first time at an Olympic Games a Pride House - a place open for gay and lesbian atheletes and others to be out at the Games - at 2010 there are two pride houses have opened in BC: One in Whistler and one here in Vancouver. Kathryn Gretsinger had a chance to check out the Vancouver house earlier this week and she joined Anna Maria to tell us more about the Vancouver pride house.

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Read more here

Pt 3: Skeleton Talk Tape - The men's and women's skeleton events start today. That's the sport where athletes launch themselves head-first down a man-made tube of ice on a sled that's not much bigger than a cafeteria tray.

Listen here:


Read more here

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Special Edition of The Current with Anna Maria Tremonti in Vancouver

It's Thursday, February 18th.

Olympic organizers have altered the fences around the Olympic flame to give spectators an unobstructed view.

Currently, they'll also add fog lights and a rain tarp so everyone can actually see it.

This is The Current.

Amnesty Controversy - Sahgal

We started this segment with a clip of Moazzam Begg. He's the founder of a group called CagePrisoners and a former prisoner himself at the United States Military Prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Since his release from Guantanamo, Moazzam Begg has been a high profile defender of the rights of others who have been imprisoned or detained in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere. Among other things, he has worked with Amnesty International, one of the most widely respected human rights groups in the world.

And that is when Gita Saghal decided she had to draw a line. She was the head of Amnesty International's Gender Unit until she was suspended from her post last week, after she publicly denounced Amnesty's decision to work with Moazzam Begg and CagePrisoners. She argued that Moazzam Begg promotes extremist views that are incompatible with the defence of universal human rights and that the Amnesty's reputation is tarnished by its association with him. Gita Saghal was in London, England.

Amnesty Controversy - Secretary General

For Amnesty International's view of the situation, we were joined by Claudio Cordone. He is the organization's interim Secretary General and he was in London, England.

Listen to Part One:

Pride House

For the first time at an Olympic Games a Pride House - a place open for gay and lesbian atheletes and others to be out at the Games - at 2010 there are two pride houses have opened in BC: One in Whistler and one here in Vancouver. Kathryn Gretsinger had a chance to check out the Vancouver house earlier this week and she joined Anna Maria to tell us more about the Vancouver pride house.

Music Bridge

Artist: Junior Boys
Cd: Begone Dull Care
Cut: 3, Bits & Pieces
Label: Domino
Spine: DNO 215

Listen to Part Two:

Skeleton Talk Tape

The men's and women's skeleton events start today. That's the sport where athletes launch themselves head-first down a man-made tube of ice on a sled that's not much bigger than a cafeteria tray.

To the untrained eye, the sleds don't look like much more than a fiberglass bed with a pair of runners. But they are actually complex pieces of technology, usually made up of about 100 parts. Some of Canada's best athletes ride a Canadian-made sled including Melissa Hollingsworth, one of our top contenders.

Dominic Girard is a producer with The Current and he joined Anna Maria to tell the story of one of the top skeleton sled makers in the world.

Letters

Time for our weekly look at the mail. And our Friday host Bob McKeown joined Anna Maria from Toronto.

Heil: The colours gold, silver and bronze have been tinting the outlook of Canadians' this week ... as the country's medal count stands at five. And Monday on the program, we heard from Canadian skier ... Jennifer Heil. Fresh from her silver medal win in the women's moguls. She spoke in front of our live audience about her training regimen.Hearing her speak inspired many listeners to write in.

Serial Killers: Last week, the news that Colonel Russ Williams had been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of two women stunned the country. Colonel Williams was the commander of Canada's largest airforce base, CFB Trenton. And those who knew him professionally and privately were left wondering how well they really knew him. Friday on The Current, we spoke with Pat Brown, an investigative criminal profiler and the author of Killing for Sport: Inside the Minds of Serial Killers. Then we heard from you.

Giabrone: On to other stories now. On February 1st, Toronto city councilor Adam Giambrone stood up with his live-in partner at his side to announce his bid to be the city's next mayor. But the bid was short-lived. A week later Mr Giambrone called off the campaign, after an "inappropriate relationship with a young woman" came to light. But was it the relationship itself that brought Mr Giambrone's political career to a screeching halt ... or how he dealt with the fallout? Last Thursday, we put that question to two political insiders. This topic is surely on the mind of many listeners as we received a ton of mail after airing this segment.

Haiti: On Tuesday, as part of our on-going coverage of the situation in Haiti, we talked about how to get cash into the hands of Haitians when banks aren't able to do the job. Now there is a tale of another kind of bank that is worth reflecting on as countries around the world are funneling aid to Haiti... And there are valuable lessons to be learned from the tale of the Haitian Creole pig.

Melanie Newton is an associate professor of Caribbean History at the University of Toronto. She was in our Toronto studio.

Music Bridge

Artist: Thievery Corporation
Cd: Mirror Conspiracy
Cut: 3, Indra
Label: 4AD
Spine: CAD2K 06

Listen to Part Three: