Cole, Prescott — Greed is Now Respectable, Part One: Elder Financial Abuse

A will is a legal document that one prepares to identify what should be done with property after the writer has died.  In recent years, a document called a “living trust” has come into fashion that if it fits a persons needs and is done properly, would achieve the same purpose. Occasionally so called “free seminars,” are advertised living trusts.  Some of the gatherings are calculated to be more than instructional.  Rather they are calculated to sell the attendees, mostly senior citizens, a living trust at a surprisingly low price, as well as reverse mortgages and annuities.

Prescott Cole, an attorney working with California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, based in San Francisco, California is our guest on this edition of Radio Curious, in the first of two discussions on financial elder abuse.  In this program we will discuss living trust seminars, how they are organized and what some of their goals are.

I spoke with Prescott Cole from his office in San Franciso on May 27, 2011 and began our conversation by asking him to describe a living trust seminar.

The website for California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform is canhr.org. This interview was recorded on May 27, 2011.

The book that Prescott Cole recommends is the “Bartimaes Trilogy,” by Jonathan Stroud.

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Sisk-Franco, Caleen — Puberty Rights of the Winnemem-Wintu

The “Middle Water People” are a small tribe near Mount Shasta, in Northern California. During World War 2, they were relocated and their homeland was flooded to make the Shasta Dam.  After an 80 year lapse, the tribe has reinvigorated a ceremony there, called the Puberty Ceremony, which honors a girls transition into womanhood.  For 3 days and nights, men sing and dance on one side of a river, while the women, pass on traditions to girls on the other side.

The summer of 2011, the tribe will be holding the puberty ceremony for it’s future chief.  But holding a ceremony on stolen land can be a challenge. The forest service refuses to grant the tribe private access to their ancestral land along the McCloud river, because they are an “unrecognized” tribe.  Their ceremony is held with recreational boaters driving by, and camping as the tribe holds it’s right of passage. Under the guidance of their Chief and Spiritual Leader, Caleen Sisk Franco, the Winnemem-Wintu have sued the federal government to protect their rights and their ancestral land. She describes the puberty ceremony and it’s importance to their way of life.

Radio Curious Associate producer Christina Aanestad spoke with Caleen Sisk Franco, the chief and spiritual leader of the Winnemem Wintu tribe in Northern California in August 2011.

The Book Caleen Sisk Franco recommends is “Winnie the Pooh,”  by A.A. Milne.

For more information on the Winnemem Wintu you can visit their website: www.winnememwintu.us

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Johnson, Richard W. — His Philosophy and Optimism

This edition of Radio Curious is again about Richard W. Johnson Jr., publisher of a group of newspapers in Mendocino County, California, called Mendocino Country.  He died March 16th, 2011.  The interview was recorded in June  2008 shortly after voters passed Measure B, a ballot measure that attempted to regulate marijuana growth and production.  The measure repealed an earlier ballot initiative Richard Johnson wrote, Measure G in 2000, that set a limit of 25 plants and 2 pounds of processed marijuana.  Measure B reduced the limits to 6 plants person and 8 ounces of processed marijuana.  Richard Johnson was opposed to Measure B and we began our conversation when I asked him why he took on this issue considering the fact that he did not use marijuana.

Richard W. Johnson said he didn’t have time to read because he was too busy writing.

Originally Broadcast: June 18th, 2008

Click here to listen to the program or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Jerome Waldie — Fair Play for Frogs Part-2

As a lawyer and a student of political science, I have come to appreciate the anomalies and humor of politics. One story that fits both of those categories well is the relationship between Nestle J. Frobish, the Chair-Creature of World-Wide Fair Play for Frogs Committee and the late Jerome R. Waldie, his former nemesis a Member of Congress from Antioch, just east of San Francisco, California. Their dissension arose in 1961 when Waldie was a freshman member of the California State Assembly and chose to introduce what came to be known as the “Frog Murder Bill,” resulting in Frobish organizing what turned out to be a 45 year campaign to get Waldie to renounce, what Frobish called his “vestigial impurities” visited upon him as the “mad butcher of the swamp.” Waldie finally acceded in 2006 and in this interview originally broadcast on June 11, 2007,  tells us why.

The book that Jerome Waldie recommends is, “It Can’t Happen here,” by Sinclair Lewis.

Click here to begin listening or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Frobish, Nestle J. — Fair Play For Frogs, Part 1

Frogs play an important role in the world’s ecology and are their occasional demise is sometimes noted as an impending ecological disaster. In 1961, a newly elected member of the California State Assembly, Jerome R. Waldie, introduced a bill that read in full:  “Frogs may be taken using slingshot.” Little did he know that this bill would plague him throughout his political career, in the California Legislature, United States Congress, and as a candidate for Governor of California. Our guest is Nestle J. Frobish, the Chair-Creature of the World Wide Fair Play for Frogs Committee, an organization founded in Berkeley, California soon after Waldie introduced what became to be known as the “Frog Murder Bill.”

“Fair Play for Frogs, The Waldie – Frobish Papers,” the collected correspondence between Nestle J. Frobish and Congressman Jerome R. Waldie was published as political spoof in 1977.  Around that time some misguided people, including Congressman Waldie accused me of being Nestle J. Frobish.  Let me make it clear, here and now:  I Barry Vogel am not now, nor ever have been Nestle J. Frobish. However I did speak the with Chair-Creature Frobish by phone as he lurked near a pond at Frog Central in northern Vermont on May 21, 2007, so this rather preposterous story could be told from at least his perspective. My interview with Jerome R. Waldie, humbly presents his perspective and may be found on this web-site.  The interview with Frobish was originally broadcast May 21, 2007.

The book Nestle J. Frobish recommends is “State of Denial,” by Bob Woodward.

Click here to begin listening or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

Crane, Susan — Civil Disobedience: Personal Values Over Personal Freedom

Radio Curious hosts a conversation with Susan Crane, founder of plowshares who will be discussing her lifetime commitment to ending nuclear proliferation through non-violent direct action.  She’s awaiting sentencing,scheduled for March 2011, for pouring her blood on trident submarine machine bombs in the state of Washington.  A grandmother, in her 60s Susan Crane faces up to 10 years in federal prison for her actions.  In this edition of Radio Curious, Susan Crane discusses practicing a code of non-violence in every day life as well as using non-violent civil disobedience as a means to creating peace in the world.

The interview with Susan Crane was recorded in the studios of Radio Curious in Ukiah, California, on January 29th, 2011.

The articles Susan Crane recommends instead of a book, are by Judge C.J. Weeramantry and  be read on the links below:

http://www.jonahhouse.org/Disarm_Now_Plowshares/judge-weeramantry-trident.pdf

http://disarmnowplowshares.wordpress.com

Click here to begin listening or on the media player below.

Click here to download and subscribe to our podcast.

Podcast: Download

The Power of the Prosecutor — Eyster, Esq., David

The power of any criminal prosecutor and especially a local district attorney, is immense.  The given job of the DA is to serve justice, and the on-going question is what process to employ in order to achieve justice.  Not all prosecutors have experience as a defense attorney and as a prosecutor.  In Mendocino County, California, David Eyster, an attorney with experience on both sides of criminal cases, was elected to the office of District Attorney and will assume the position of chief law enforcement officer of the county on January 3, 2011.  When he visited the studios of Radio Curious on December 27, 2010, we had a conversation about the role of a criminal defense attorney and how that will affect his new role as prosecutor; his attitude toward “overcharging” criminal violations, what he calls “leveraging the defendant;” the use of the grand jury in criminal cases; and his plans to prosecute unfair business practices.  We began when I asked him about the role of the criminal defense attorney.

The book David Eyster recommends in the “Autobiography of Mark Twain.”

Click here to begin listening to the interview.

Click here to download podcast.

Podcast: Download

Pinches, John & Madrigal, Holly — Mendocino County 3rd District Supervisorial Candidates Differing Views

This week Radio Curious is joined by 3rd District candidates for Supervisor in Mendocino County, incumbent John Pinches and challenger Holly Madrigal. Host and attorney Barry Vogel asks them both the same questions, independently of one another so you can compare their answers.  The interviews were recorded October 8th, 2010, at the studios of Radio Curious in Ukiah, California.

The book John Pinches recommends is, “Genocide and Vendetta,” by Lynwood Carranco and Estle Beard.

The book Holly Madrigal recommends is, “Last Call,” by Daniel Okrent.

Click here to listen, or on the link below.

Click here to subscribe to and download the podcast with John Pinches and Holly Madrigal.

Podcast: Download

Nelson, Judge David, — Will Justice Move When the Courthouse Does?

The Mendocino County courthouse is moving.  Join us for conversation with Judge David Nelson, who sits on the site selection committee. We discuss when, where and why the Mendocino Courthouse is moving, and how people can have a say about the courthouse location.

The book David Nelson recommends is, “The Lacuna,” by Barbara Kingsolver.

This interview was recorded in the studios of Radio Curious September 17th, 2010.

Click here to listen or on the link below.

Click here to subscribe to and download the podcast with Judge David Nelson.

Podcast: Download

Clancy, Susan A., Ph.D. — Sexual Abuse of Children (and the Catholic Church)

If you have been sexually abused as a child, or know someone who was, listen to this edition of Radio Curious with host Barry Vogel and Susan A. Clancy, Ph.D, author of “The Trauma Myth:  The Truth About the Sexual Abuse of Children – and Its Aftermath.”  This conversation discuss’s the myth of when trauma of child sexual abuse takes place, how and the abuse is perceived by the victim, and the effects of denial, minimization and blame, and how this issue within the Catholic Church is not being resolved.  Susan A. Clancy, Ph.D. is currently the Research Director of the Center for Women’s Advancement, Development and Leadership at the Central American Institute for Business Administration in Nicaragua.  This interview was recorded on April 12, 2010, with Susan A. Clancy Ph.D. from her home in Managua, Nicaragua.

The books she recommends are “Happiness: A History” by Darrin M. McMahon, and “In The Woods,” by Tana French.

Click here to begin listening.

Click here to download the podcast of this program.

Podcast: Download

« Previous Page — Next Page »