VOASE0410_Health Report

10 April 2007

Looking for Weight-Loss Answers
Many people struggle with losing weight, and keeping it off. But experts say the most successful plans include a well-balanced diet and exercise.

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This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

A listener has written from China for advice about how to lose weight. Michael

in Shanghai says he is twenty-six years old and has battled obesity for most of his life.

Doctors say obesity, also known as severe overweight, is a complex condition. A doctor may advise medical interventions in addition to changes in behavior. But experts say the most successful weight-loss plans include a well-balanced diet and exercise.

People who want to avoid weight gain have to balance the number of calories they eat with the number of calories they use. To lose weight, you can reduce the number of calories you take in, or increase the number you use, or both.

Experts at the National Institutes of Health say to lose weight, a person should do an hour of moderate to intensive physical activity most days of the week. This could include fast walking, sports or strength training.

You should also follow a nutritious eating plan and take in fewer calories than your body uses each day.

A recent study looked at four of the most popular dieting plans in the United States. Researchers at Stanford University in California studied more than three hundred overweight women, mostly in their thirties and forties.

Each woman went on one of the four plans: Atkins, The Zone, Ornish or LEARN. The women attended diet classes and received written information about the food plans.

At the end of a year, the women on the Atkins diet had lost the most, more than four and one-half kilograms on average. They also did better on tests including cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

Christopher Gardner led the study, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He says the Atkins diet may be more successful because of its simple message to lower intake of sugars. Also, he says the advice to increase protein in the diet leads to more satisfying meals.

He says there was not enough money to also study men, but that men would probably have similar results.

But last week, another report suggested that only a small minority of people have long-term success with dieting. The report in the journal American Psychologist was based on thirty-one studies.

Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, medical school found that most dieters regained their lost weight within five years. And often they gained back even more. But those who kept the weight off generally were the ones who exercised.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. I’m Katherine Cole.

VOASE0410_Explorations

10 April 2007

Exploring the Richly Detailed History and Art of Woodworking
Learn about the different methods of working with wood. And meet Phil Brown, a wood turner in Bethesda, Maryland.

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Shirley Griffith with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. At a store called

Phil Brown at work turning a bowl on his lathe

Sansar Gallery in Bethesda, Maryland, you might see work by the wood turner Phil Brown. His many wooden bowls and containers have a smooth and modern look.

One tall bowl with a wide opening is made from black cherry wood. It is so perfectly formed it is hard to believe it is handmade. How did Phil Brown make this bowl? We will answer this question as we explore the many artistic traditions of wood.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

People from almost all cultures throughout history have been making objects from wood. Some of the first wooden objects included weapons and tools. Early cultures also learned to make boats, buildings and furniture for the home from this material. However, it is not always easy to say which wooden objects existed during a historical period because they often did not last as long as objects made from clay or metal.

VOICE TWO:

Experts say most current woodworking tools were developed by the beginning of the Bronze Age, about five thousand years ago. These tools include the saw, ax, chisel and drill which are used to cut and shape wood in different ways. The lathe may have been developed as early as two thousand seven hundred years ago.

This tool holds and rotates the wood. As the wood turns, the wood worker uses a sharp tool to slowly and evenly cut pieces from the wood.

VOICE ONE:

There are many methods of woodworking and each culture has its own traditions. Artistic wood creations include architectural decoration on buildings, furniture for the home or even carved animals.

For example, in Thailand, richly detailed carvings from teak and other hard woods are an important part of ancient palaces and religious buildings. Woodcarvers were a very important group of artists. A person needed many years of training with experts to be a wood carver. Wood carvings often include plant forms such as the lotus flower as well as figures taken from Hindu and Buddhist religious stories.

VOICE TWO:

The carvings are very detailed and must be carefully planned. Usually, a carver draws out the patterns and forms on paper. Then the artist cuts holes along the outlines of the design. This paper is placed on the piece of wood then covered with chalk dust.

The white chalk dust goes through the holes in the paper and marks the wood so the carver has a visual guide to begin cutting. Finished woodcarvings are often painted, sometimes with gold to reflect the surrounding light. These expertly made golden carvings give an airy lightness to Thai buildings.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Some wood working traditions developed more recently. For example, wood artists in

An animal carved by Manuel Jimenez

the state of Oaxaca in Mexico have been carving mask face coverings and toys for hundreds of years. But Manuel Jimenez became one of the most famous carvers in Oaxaca by creating a newer tradition.

In the nineteen fifties, he saw a growing demand for traditional Mexican art that visitors wanted to buy. He decided to experiment with new kinds of wood and forms. He started carving expressive animals such as frogs, coyotes and rabbits out of copal wood.

Soon, his whole family started helping produce these lively, wooden creatures. The Jimenez men carved the creations while the women painted them with bright colors and patterns. Other wood carvers in the area also started making their own kinds of animals. Now, Oaxaca is famous for this special kind of wood art.

VOICE TWO:

Colorful paints are not the only way to finish a wood object. In countries like Japan and China there is a rich tradition of painting wooden bowls, boxes and other objects with lacquer. The first kinds of lacquer were made from resin material taken from special trees. Lacquer paint creates a very hard and smooth surface over the wood and protects it from water. Japanese and Chinese lacquer work is often red or black. Sometimes it can be decorated with pieces of silver or gold metal to create an image.

VOICE ONE:

And, sometimes wood can even decorate wood. Inlay is a way of decorating wood with a pattern or image made out of small pieces of wood. The many small pieces of wood can have different colors or patterns. Some inlay experts in seventeenth century France and Spain added valuable materials like shiny mother-of-pearl or tortoise shell to the detailed wood inlay.

VOICE TWO:

In the United States, the Shaker tradition of furniture making is known for its simplicity of form. The Shakers were a religious community that came to the United States in the eighteenth century from England. They practiced an intense form of spiritual observance and believed strongly in the value of hard work and keeping busy.

An example of a Shaker chair

The Shakers developed their own style of furniture. They designed it very carefully with the idea that making something well was an act of prayer. They made furniture that was as simple and useful as possible because they believed extra details and designs were unnecessary and wrong. But their furniture in its total simplicity became famous for its beauty.

Chairs to sit on are probably the most well known Shaker furniture. The very fine and thin wood pieces give these chairs a clean and graceful look.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Phil Brown is an American artist who creates art with wood in a different way. He lives on a quiet street in Bethesda, Maryland, near Washington, D.C. In his workshop, he turns large pieces of wood into fine containers. Let us meet this expert wood turner whose bowls we talked about earlier and learn how he started his career.

PHIL BROWN:

"I'm Phil Brown. I'm a wood turner. I make bowls out of solid wood. The wood comes from our local trees and I have a shop at my home where I do the work. I've been a wood worker ever since I was a kid. And in the early seventies I wanted to get back to doing some wood work and we saw lots of interesting work in Maine on some trips there and I had a chance to get some apple wood from a friend …what are you going to do with apple wood but maybe turn a bowl out of it. So I bought a used lathe and a book about turning and gradually taught myself to turn a bowl."

VOICE TWO:

A black cherry wood bowl turned by Phil Brown

In the living room of his home Phil Brown has a special area where he shows his finished art. There are bowls of all shapes and sizes. Some are deep and large with reddish brown colored wood. Others are small with yellowish wood that has dark lines and shapes.

Mister Brown can explain exactly where and when he found each tree that he used to make a bowl. And he can show you what all the lines and rings in the wood represent. They are like maps of the tree's life. Some lines are caused by fungus organisms while others show the area where a branch of the tree trunk used to be. But to really understand Mister Brown's wood turning art, you have to visit his workshop downstairs.

VOICE ONE:

The workshop is filled with many tools and machine parts. On one wall there are shelves filled with roughly cut wooden bowls that are drying out. Allowing the wood to dry helps guarantee that it will not change shape later on. Before "turning the bowl thin" Mister Brown puts a layer of epoxy paint material over the roughly cut bowl. This hardens areas of the wood that might be softer or contain fungus. Then, Mister Brown places the bowl on his lathe.

(SOUND)

VOICE TWO:

A bowl made from holly by Phil Brown

The lathe turns the wood quickly. Using a long metal tool called a gouge, Mister Brown slowly cuts away at the wooden form. With great skill he slowly keeps cutting away until the bowl has the right thinness and form.

Then, Mister Brown uses rough sandpaper to smooth the gouge marks in the wood. As the wood becomes smoother, he uses finer and finer kinds of sandpaper. He sometimes fills any holes or cracks with a mixture of epoxy glue, sanding dust, and brown paint. Finished bowls are so smooth and perfect they do not even feel like wood.

VOICE ONE:

Phil Brown shows his beautiful bowls at several fine craft stores and in art shows. He even has a bowl at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Sometimes he sells works directly from his workshop. His turned wood bowls cost hundreds of dollars. Many people have collections of his bowls in their homes.

Mister Brown says he is influenced by the work of sculptors like Henry Moore and Isamu Noguchi. He says he likes to make bowls that have smooth surfaces and that bring out the natural color of wood. His finely made art is a celebration of the life of a tree and the endless possibilities of wood.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Shirley Griffith.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m ­­­­­Steve Ember. You can read and listen to this program on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for Explorations in VOA Special English.

Bush Renews Call for US Immigration Reform

By Paula Wolfson White House 09 April 2007

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President Bush is making a renewed push for big changes in U.S. immigration laws. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports it is one major issue where Mr. Bush believes he can work well with the new Democratic Party majority in Congress.

President George Bush makes remarks on comprehensive immigration reform, 09 Apr 2007, in Yuma, Arizona

The president says now is the time for comprehensive immigration reform.

"This is a matter of national interest and it is a matter of deep conviction for me," he said. "I have been working to bring Republicans and Democrats together to resolve outstanding issues so that Congress can pass a comprehensive bill and I can sign it into law this year."

Mr. Bush spoke in Yuma, Arizona, a town close to the U.S. border with Mexico. It is an area that sees numerous crossings - many of them by illegal immigrants trying to sneak into the United States without getting caught.

The president has said more needs to be done to enhance security on the border. And during his visit - the second to Yuma in less than a year - he saw some of the latest innovations in border enforcement.

He was briefed on the un-manned planes used for aerial surveillance, visited a patrol station, and inspected two layers of fencing recently erected along one segment of the border.

President Bush said enforcement is key.

"Past efforts at reform did not do enough to secure our nation's borders," he said. "As a result, many people have been able to sneak into this country. If you do not man your borders and do not protect your borders, people are going to sneak in and that is what has been happening for a long time."

But the president said enforcement is only part of the answer.

Once again, he stressed the need for a guest worker program, and steps that would enable some illegal immigrants to apply for legal status with strict conditions. Mr. Bush said that will help American employers who have jobs no one else will do, will free up border agents to chase criminals, and will curb abuses by smugglers who ask a high price for passage across the border often under horrific conditions.

"If you want to take the pressure off your border, have a temporary worker program," he said. "It will help reduce not only the number of people coming across the border, but it will do something about the inhumane treatment that these people are subjected to."

President Bush tried and failed to get a comprehensive reform package through Congress in the past legislative session when it was under the control of his Republican Party. It was blocked primarily by conservatives who wanted a focus strictly on tough enforcement measures. They pushed through a bill to fortify the border, which Mr. Bush signed last October.

Democrats have been more open to steps that would help would-be immigrants work in the country legally. But Speaker Nancy Pelosi has warned support among members of her party is not universal. And she has told the president she can not pass comprehensive reform without some Republican votes.

The president told a crowd of border agents and others in Yuma that he remains optimistic.

"We will continue to work with members of both political parties," he said. "I think the atmosphere up there is good right now. I think people generally want to come together and put a good bill together."

But hanging over the debate on immigration is the escalating dispute over funding for the Iraq war.

The dispute has soured relations between the White House and Congress, but Bush administration officials say they believe a good immigration bill is still possible.

A White House spokesman told reporters traveling to Yuma with the president that even though the war dominates the headlines, there is still of a lot of quiet work going on behind the scenes on issues like immigration.

Iran Announces Progress in Nuclear Program

By Gary Thomas Washington 09 April 2007

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks to the media at a press conference in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, 04 Apr 2007

Iran says it has enhanced its capability to enrich uranium. The announcement sparked quick condemnation from the United States and Europe. But, as VOA Correspondent Gary Thomas reports from Washington, it is not clear just how significant a step it is.

With an atomic symbol superimposed over an Iranian flag as his backdrop, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Iran is capable of enriching uranium on, what he termed, an industrial-level.

But in his announcement, made at the Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran, he did not define "industrial-level."

Matthew Bunn, senior researcher at the Managing the Atom Project at Harvard University, says although the statement was vague, the announcement was a clear snub to the U.N. Security Council, which has demanded Iran halt uranium enrichment."

"It is a clear statement of resistance to the Security Council legal requirement that Iran suspend all enrichment activities," he said. "It is a clear statement that they are not going to do that, they are going to move ahead at full speed. What we do not know is how far they have come and how fast they will move forward from here."

The announcement brought swift condemnation from the United States and its European allies. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack called it a lost opportunity for Iran to halt its nuclear work and enter negotiations. He said Iran has a credibility problem.

"The problem is with the behavior of the Iranian regime in answering the international system's legitimate questions about its nuclear program," said McCormack. "And quite frankly, we have gotten to the point, now, in the international community where the members of that international community, including the Security Council and the IAEA board of governors do not believe Iranian assurances that their program is peaceful in nature."

The Security Council has imposed limited sanctions on Iran for its nuclear activity. The Security Council and Germany believe Iran is determined to acquire a nuclear weapons capability. Iran denies the charge, saying it is only working to build peaceful nuclear energy for power generation.

Iran has announced a goal of installing 3,000 centrifuges at the Natanz plant. The centrifuges spin at supersonic speed to enrich fuel for nuclear reactors. If Iran has 3,000 operating centrifuges, analysts say it would be a significant step towards building a nuclear bomb.

But Paul Kerr, an analyst at the Arms Control Association, says there is reason to believe Iran's claims of nuclear prowess are exaggerated. He says Iran is believed to currently have only 1,000 operational centrifuges.

"I would say the diplomatic consequences of this are clearer than the technical consequences. And we are just going to have to wait to get some more detail both from the IAEA and from the Iranians," said Kerr. "I think some of their officials, at least in the past, have provided some details about what is going on. So we are really just going to have to wait."

The IAEA, or International Atomic Energy Agency, is due to deliver another report on Iran's nuclear program to the U.N. Security Council in late May.

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我们正在维护中, 可能还需要几天的时间, 维护的时间比我们预想要长些, 不过我们会加紧工作,争取尽快开通服务. 谢谢大家的耐心和支持.

VOASE0409_Science In the News

09 April 2007

On Its Way to Pluto, Spacecraft Gets a Close Look at Jupiter
Researchers question the usefulness of CT scans in preventing lung cancer deaths. And differences in life expectancy between black and white Americans narrow.

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VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. On our program this week, we will tell about new suggestions for treating heart attack victims. We also tell about a test for lung cancer. But first, we report on new pictures from a far-away planet.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Jupiter's Little Red Spot, seen from 3.5 million kilometers

The New Horizons spacecraft has made some of the most detailed pictures ever taken of the planet Jupiter. Yet the American spacecraft is only passing by the planet. New Horizons is attempting to become the first space vehicle to visit Pluto.

New Horizon's pictures of Jupiter and three of its moons are filled with surprises. Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system. The planet has a deep, thick atmosphere of clouds made of hydrogen, helium, methane and ammonia.

New Horizons used its Long Range Reconnaissance Imager camera to take pictures of a storm called the Little Red Spot. The pictures will help scientists learn how the storm developed.

VOICE TWO:

New Horizons also made pictures of Jupiter's moon Io. The pictures were taken just as the volcano Tvashtar sent a cloud of dust two hundred ninety kilometers above its surface. At the time, the spacecraft was only two million five hundred thousand kilometers away from the moon.

Scientists say the pictures look like a similar volcanic eruption on Io in nineteen seventy-nine. At that time, the Voyager Two spacecraft captured a picture of the volcano Pele erupting. But New Horizon's pictures of Tvashtar are more detailed.

Another target for the camera was the largest of Jupiter's moons, Ganymede. Pictures show an icy world with ancient dark areas and bright newer areas where space objects struck the surface.

New Horizons also took pictures of Europa, another moon of Jupiter. Europa is believed to have an ocean one hundred kilometers below its frozen surface.

VOICE ONE:

The American space agency launched New Horizons in January of last year. Although smaller than a car, it is the fastest spacecraft ever launched. It has traveled at speeds of over fifty-seven thousand kilometers an hour.

New Horizons is expected to reach Pluto in two thousand fifteen.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Lung cancer kills more Americans than any other kind of cancer. Smoking is a leading cause of the disease. Signs of lung cancer include chest pain, breathing problems and the sudden expulsion of air from the lungs. The signs may not appear until the disease is fully developed.

Doctors have different ways to find lung cancer. One test is an x-ray imaging process called computed tomography, or CT. A CT test, or scan, can be helpful in finding very small growths on the lung.

Last year, the New England Journal of Medicine published a report about CT scans and lung cancer. The report said early discovery of lung cancer with the test followed by an operation could save lives. It estimated that patients whose cancers were found early and then removed had a ten-year survival rate of ninety-two percent.

VOICE ONE:

Now, another report is disputing the findings. The Journal of the American Medical Association published the report. Peter Bach is a lung specialist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. He says early CT testing is not only unproven, but can cause great harm to patients. He says some patients died from unnecessary operations. Others suffered heart attacks, infections and even a collapsed lung.

Doctor Bach says CT scans are successful at finding small growths in the lungs. But he says such growths do not always spread quickly or cause serious harm. For that reason, he says, it only seemed in the earlier study that lung cancer deaths were prevented.

VOICE TWO:

Doctor Bach and his team examined information about more than three thousand two hundred people. All of the patients either smoked or were former smokers. They were tested for lung cancer. Doctor Bach says CT scans missed the fast-growing, deadly cancers. He says the tests showed only very small, slow-growing cancers. The CT scans led to a rise in the number of lung cancer operations.

Thirty-eight of the patients died of lung cancer over a five-year period. Doctor Bach says that same number of patients would have died without early CT scans.

Medical experts say the debate on preventing lung cancer deaths through such tests will continue until a larger study is completed.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, can save the life of someone whose heart has stopped. The condition is called cardiac arrest. The heart stops pumping blood. The person stops breathing. Without lifesaving measures, the brain starts to die within four to six minutes.

CPR combines breathing into the victim's mouth and repeated presses on the chest. CPR keeps blood and oxygen flowing to the heart and brain.

However, a Japanese study questions the usefulness of mouth-to-mouth breathing. The study was published in the British medical magazine, The Lancet. Doctors in Tokyo examined more than four thousand people who had suffered cardiac arrest. In all the cases, witnesses saw the event happen.

VOICE TWO:

More than one thousand of the victims received some kind of medical assistance from witnesses. Seven hundred and twelve received CPR. Four hundred and thirty-nine received chest presses only. No mouth-to-mouth rescue breaths were given to them.

The researchers say any kind of CPR improved chances of the patient's survival. But, they said those persons treated with only chest presses suffered less brain damage. Twenty-two percent survived with good brain ability. Only ten percent of the victims treated with traditional CPR survived with good brain ability.

VOICE ONE:

The American Heart Association changed its guidance for CPR chest presses in two thousand five. The group said people should increase the number of chest presses from fifteen to thirty for every two breaths given. Gordon Ewy is a heart doctor at the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Tucson. He wrote a report that was published with the study.

Doctor Ewy thinks the CPR guidelines should be changed again. He said the Heart Association should remove rescue breaths from the guidelines. He argues that more witnesses to cardiac arrests would provide treatment if rescue breaths are not a part of CPR. He says this would save lives. Studies show that many people do not want to perform mouth-to-mouth breathing on a stranger for fear of getting a disease.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Life expectancy is the average number of years people are expected to live. In the United States, that average has been increasing since the late eighteen hundreds. But, life expectancy for black Americans has always been lower than that for white Americans. In the nineteen-eighties, the difference in life expectancy rates for blacks and whites increased and later decreased. Until now, these changes had not been explained.

Sam Harper of Canada's McGill University and other researchers decided to investigate. They examined deaths among blacks and whites in the United States between nineteen eighty-three and two thousand three. This meant investigating forty-six million deaths. The results were published in the Journal of American Medicine.

VOICE ONE:

Professor Harper says the study shows that American blacks are living longer. He says their life expectancy is nearly that of whites. In nineteen ninety-three, for example, white men lived an average of eight and one-half years longer than black men. In two thousand three, the difference had narrowed to six and one-half years.

The researchers say the biggest improvement in life expectancy was noted among black males between fifteen and forty nine years of age.

VOICE TWO:

Professor Harper says the changes appear linked to successes in reducing violence linked to the drug crack cocaine. He says increases in the sizes of police forces and economic improvements all appear to have helped young black males live longer.

But, the researcher says additional improvements are needed. He says the disease AIDS and heart disease in African-Americans are also keeping their life expectancy rates less than whites. He says there is also a need to reduce the higher death rates among newborn African-Americans.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Lawan Davis, Mario Ritter and Caty Weaver. Brianna Blake was our producer. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

VOASE0409_Agriculture Report

09 April 2007

Disappearance of Honey Bees a Mystery
Congress hears experts on crisis that could affect billions of dollars in agricultural products and raise food prices.

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

What has happened to America's honeybees?

Last fall, beekeepers from states with warm climates began to report a sudden loss of honey bees. Losses were reported in twenty-four states and into Canada. Today, some beekeepers say thirty percent to ninety percent of their honey bees are gone. Food prices could go up as a result.

And some beekeeping businesses have failed.

Many kinds of plants, trees and grasses need bees to pollinate them. Bees gather nectar from flowers during this process. The liquid gives them food and material to make honey. As the bees land on flowers, their bodies pick up and drop off fine particles of pollen. Most flowering plants need pollination to reproduce.

Honey bees can die during the winter. But few dead bees have been found. Instead, the bees seem to have disappeared. Experts call the condition "colony collapse disorder."

Agriculture Department official Caird Rexroad said the collapse threatens about fifteen billion dollars worth of the country's farm economy. Mister Rexroad commented at a hearing of a House of Representatives agriculture subcommittee.

Mister Rexroad said the cause of the sudden loss of bees is not clear. The number of honey bees already had fallen before the colony collapse disorder began.

Experts say the varroa mite is at least partly responsible for the earlier decrease in honeybees. The mite is a tiny creature that feeds on honeybees. It may play a part in colony collapse disorder by carrying bee viruses. Or the problem may be caused by other diseases and weather conditions.

A group of scientists is examining bees from more than one hundred colonies across the country.

The researchers also are studying the pollen, honey, and wax that the bees produce. They are working with the Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service.

Diana Cox-Foster of Pennsylvania State University is part of the scientific group. Miz Cox-Foster says the nation needs honeybees that can defend themselves better against disease and insects. The recent mapping of most of the honeybee's genes offers hope of a stronger honeybee some day.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts and audio files of our reports are on our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Steve Ember.

VOASE0408_This Is America

08 April 2007

From Bob Marley to Franklin Roosevelt, History in Sound
Some of the 25 newly added recordings to be preserved as part of the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.

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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Shirley Griffith. This week -- some recorded sounds for all time.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., recently added twenty-five sound recordings to its National Recording Registry. Congress established this registry list under a law called the National Recording Preservation Act of Two Thousand.

Recordings are added yearly. They have to be at least ten years old. And they have to be culturally, historically or artistically important.

Members of the public make suggestions online. The library also gathers nominations from experts in music, recorded sound and historic preservation.

VOICE TWO:

The twenty-five new additions chosen by the Librarian of Congress, James Billington, were made between nineteen-oh-four and nineteen eighty-eight. Some are in the library itself. Others are in collections throughout the country. The library is identifying the best existing versions of the recordings. These will be expertly restored, if needed, to protect them for the future.

VOICE ONE:

Rolling Stones

Many of the latest additions to the registry come from popular music. One of them is "Blue Suede Shoes," recorded by Carl Perkins in nineteen fifty-five, a year before the version by Elvis Presley.

Another addition is the nineteen sixty-five hit "Satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones. Also, Paul Simon's nineteen eighty-six album "Graceland," recorded with the South African singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

(MUSIC)

But the list also includes classical pieces like "Il mio tesoro," from "Don Giovanni," sung by tenor John McCormack in nineteen sixteen. And there are spoken word recordings, like one from nineteen sixty by comedian Bob Newhart.

Bob Marley

Social protest is also represented. For example, the album "The Wailers Burnin'" with the reggae singer Bob Marley is from nineteen seventy-three.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

That was "Get Up, Stand Up," from the last album that Bob Marley released under the name "The Wailers."

But let us begin our musical trip back in the nineteen twenties -- the Jazz Age. Jelly Roll Morton was one of the pioneers of jazz. He helped spread its popularity in New Orleans, Chicago and throughout the country.

In this nineteen twenty-six recording, Jelly Roll Morton leads his Red Hot Peppers in "Black Bottom Stomp."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The National Recording Registry honors memorable words as well as music. The latest additions to the list include "The Osage Bank Robbery" from the radio program "The Lone Ranger." The show was heard December seventeenth, nineteen thirty-seven, making it the earliest known recording from that popular series.

VOICE TWO:

Two brothers rob a bank. The criminals try to hide in an old mine. But they should have know that the Lone Ranger would catch them. Listen now as the hero rides off on Silver, his trusty horse.

(SOUND)

"'High-ho Silver! Away!' A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty 'High-ho Silver!' The Lone Ranger!"

VOICE ONE:

President Roosevelt gives his "Day of Infamy" speech to a joint session of Congress, December 8, 1941

Another new addition to the registry is a speech by President Franklin Roosevelt to Congress. Roosevelt was asking Congress for permission to declare war. He made the speech the day after the Japanese attack on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

(SOUND)

FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT: "Yesterday, December seventh, nineteen forty-one, a date which will live in infamy, the United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the empire of Japan."

VOICE TWO:

World War Two ended in nineteen forty-five.

The years after the war became a time of economic growth in the United States. Many people moved out of big cities and into newly developed suburban communities. Birth rates increased. It became known as the Baby Boom.

The nineteen fifties are remembered as a time when lots of Americans were happy with their lives. But not everyone was.

Allen Ginsberg was a poet but also a social activist. Problems like poverty and inequality angered him. In a nineteen fifty-nine recording, he reads from the opening lines of his most famous poem, "Howl."

ALLEN GINSBERG: "I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked "

(SOUND)

VOICE ONE:

Social activism is also the message of several songs among the newest additions to the National Recording Registry. Fighting racial injustice is the theme of "We Shall Overcome."

Yet Pete Seeger wrote the song as a labor protest. In the first version, he used the line "I shall overcome." But later he changed the word "I" to "we." The song became a theme for the civil rights movement.

Here is Pete Seeger performing "We Shall Overcome" during his concert at Carnegie Hall in New York in June of nineteen sixty-three. People in the audience are singing along.

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VOICE TWO:

Some people think the greatest singer of the twentieth century was Sarah Vaughan. Her nineteen seventy-three album "Live in Japan" is now added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.

We leave you with Sarah Vaughan singing "Over the Rainbow."

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VOICE ONE:

The Library of Congress now has two hundred twenty-five recordings listed in its National Recording Registry. And the library is currently accepting nominations for the two thousand seven registry. The library says it must receive suggestions by July first to be considered for the list.

For a link to the Library of Congress Web site, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts and audio archives of our programs.

VOICE TWO:

Our show was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Shirley Griffith with Steve Ember. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

VOASE0408_Development Report

08 April 2007

Judging African Leaders by Good Governance
The Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership will be announced in October.

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This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Sudanese billionaire Mo Ibrahim believes there is nothing more important for Africa than good leadership. Mister Ibrahim has created the world’s richest prize, worth five million dollars over ten years. The winner also will receive two hundred thousand dollars every year for life. An additional two hundred thousand dollars a year will be made available for good causes supported by the winner.

The Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership will be awarded for the first time in October. Former heads of state and government from African countries south of the Sahara Desert will be considered. Candidates must have left office in the past three years and have shown good political leadership.

Mo Ibrahim (left) meeting with Kofi Annan in Geneva, Switzerland, April 2, 2007

Former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan will lead the committee that will choose the winner. The committee will examine research from a special rating system. The Ibrahim Index for African Governance will measure national progress in several areas. They include economic and social development, peace and security, human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The index was developed at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Kofi Annan says good governance is the single most important way to end poverty and support development. He says the idea behind the Mo Ibrahim prize is to produce better leadership and governance in Africa. In a similar way, the Nobel Prize has supported scientists to excel in medicine, physics, chemistry and other areas.

Mister Ibrahim says the prize is not meant to reform dishonest leaders, nor will it end corruption in Africa. And, he says the prize may not be given every year. If no excellent candidate is identified, Mister Ibrahim says the money will be used for other important causes. These include leadership programs or financial assistance for African students.

Mo Ibrahim says he can think of no better way to spend his money than to invest in Africa's future. The Sudanese billionaire started a mobile phone business, Celtel International, nine years ago. It is now one of Africa’s most successful companies.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. You can read scripts and download audio of Special English programs at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Bob Doughty.

Hong Kong Feng Shui Master Predicts Pets' Fortunes

By Claudia Blume Hong Kong 07 April 2007

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Many people in Hong Kong regularly consult feng shui masters, practitioners of traditional Chinese fortune telling, to find out about their future. For those who want to know what is in stock for their cats and dogs there is now a special service: a feng shui master claims he is the world's first pet fortune teller. Claudia Blume in Hong Kong reports.

Alan Ngan and pet dog Chiffon

Feng shui master Alan Ngan strokes the fur of a tiny Pekinese dog called Chiffon. He has already asked her owner for the pet's date of birth and now examines its body shape and face.

Master Ngan says Chiffon is nervous because she has too much of the feng shui element "wood" and suggests the owner should sing to the dog before it goes to sleep.

He also recommends buying red or purple clothes for Chiffon to improve her overall well-being, and he advises the avoidance of the colors green and brown.

Owner Stephanie Law explains why she took her pet to see a feng shui master.

Client Stephanie Law consults Feng shui Master Alan Ngan about her dog's fortune

Law says she wanted to find out what her dog is thinking and if she has any health problems.

Alan Ngan started telling the future of his customers' pets nine years ago. He says it is harder to predict an animal's future, as their life expectancy is shorter than that of humans.

His job is easiest when the owners know the exact birth date of their pet. If they do not, he examines the animals' body shape.

According to feng shui theory, every being is linked to one of five elements and knowing it is essential for predicting the future. Ngan determines a pet's birth element by looking at the animal's shape.

He says if pets are a bit round, for example, they have the water element and if they have a more triangular shape, they have the fire element.

Up to 20 pet owners come each week to see Ngan in his tiny office in a shopping center close to the border with China. Most of them bring dogs.

But - for a fee of $100 per session - the feng shui master says he can predict the future of all kinds of animals, including snakes and insects.

Feng shui is a widely practiced philosophy offering insight to many people, particularly in Chinese cultures. Ngan is a rare example of someone who is attempting to extend its principles to the animal world.

President Bush Repeats Call For War Funding Bill

By Scott Stearns White House 07 April 2007

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President Bush says he will veto funding for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq because opposition legislators have attached timetables for a troop withdrawal from Iraq. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, Democrats say wins in last year's congressional elections show that voters want U.S. troops to come home.

President Bush

In the two months since he asked Congress for emergency war spending, President Bush says Democrats have worked to substitute the judgment of Washington politicians for generals in the field.

"In both the House and Senate, Democratic majorities have passed bills that would impose restrictions on our military commanders, set an arbitrary date for withdrawal from Iraq, and fund domestic spending that has nothing to do with the war," he said.

"The Democrats who passed these bills know that I will veto either [House or Senate] version if it reaches my desk, and they know my veto will be sustained," President Bush continued.

Because the votes in both chambers of Congress were close, it is unlikely that Democrats will find the two thirds majority needed to override the president's veto.

Democrats say their legislation fully funds the wars and includes money for other priorities, including levees in Louisiana that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Democratic leaders say timetables for a troop withdrawal will force Iraqi leaders to take greater responsibility for their own security and will stop the president from pursuing what they say is an open-ended commitment of American forces.

Howard Dean

In the Democratic radio address, party chairman Howard Dean said opposition legislators are willing to work with President Bush to find a solution.

"It is time for the president and the Republicans in Congress to stop trying to bully their way through this and work with Democrats to end the war," he said.

"It is time for the president to show respect to the American people who voted overwhelmingly to leave Iraq. President Bush and his Republican allies did not have a clear plan when they misled our nation into this war, and they do not have a clear plan to get our troops out," he added.

A public opinion poll by Newsweek magazine says a majority of Americans favor setting a deadline for troops to leave Iraq. Fifty-seven percent of those surveyed support getting U.S. troops out within a year.

President Bush and Democrats in Congress blame each other for delaying funds for troops. Defense officials say they will have to cut back on training and equipment repair if there is not additional funding in the next few weeks.

US Air Strike Targets Militia in Southern Iraqi Town

By Margaret Besheer Bagdad 07 April 2007

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A US military convoy drives through Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad, Iraq, 06 Apr 2007

Iraqi and U.S. forces continued security operations for a second day in the southern city of Diwaniyah. Meanwhile, Iraqi officials say a regional conference on Iraq will be held early next month in Egypt. From Baghdad, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more on the day's developments.

The U.S. military says its forces launched an air strike on Diwaniyah Saturday as clashes between militiamen and security forces continued for a second straight day. The military said the fighters were using shoulder-fired rocket propelled grenades.

U.S. military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver said a local resident tipped police off about the fighters.

"We received information about the location of the militia members from a local who provided a tip to police," said Garver. "The information was translated into an air strike mission by the Iraqis and a U.S. F-16 [aircraft] came in and attacked the target and destroyed it."

Lieutenant Colonel Garver said it is the first time an air strike was conducted with Iraqi soldiers talking to coalition pilots.

"This is a big step forward for the Iraqi army, for the Iraqi security force, to be able to coordinate this type of complex operation," he added.

Meanwhile, operations continued in Baghdad in support of the security plan. Military officials say U.S. and Iraqi troops discovered weapons caches and bomb making materials and captured terrorist suspects in the capital.

The U.S. military reported the deaths of two more American soldiers in separate bomb blasts in Baghdad. Both attacks occurred Friday. April has been a particularly deadly month for U.S. troops, with 17 killed in the first week.

Hoshyar Zebari (file photo)

In a separate development, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari says a conference on Iraq will be held May 3rd and 4th in Egypt. It will include regional neighbors as well as the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and so-called Group of Eight industrialized nations.

Zebari said the purpose of the meeting is to involve Iraq's neighbors and other influential countries in supporting Iraq's security.

This conference follows an ambassador-level meeting held in Baghdad last month that also discussed the security situation.

Hijacked Cargo Ships Released in Waters Off Somalia

By Cathy Majtenyi Nairobi 07 April 2007

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Somalia

In Somalia, two cargo vessels that had been hijacked by pirates have been released. Cathy Majtenyi reports for VOA from Nairobi.

The first of the vessels seized, the MV Rozen, was in pirate hands for more than a month. It had just delivered 1,800 metric tons of relief food from the World Food Program on February 25 when pirates hijacked it.

The ship, leased from the Kenyan-based Motaku Shipping Company, and her 12-member crew were then held in a small port near the town of Bargal in the semi-autonomous Puntland region of Somalia.

The Motaku Shipping Company's manager Karim Kudrati tells VOA he has been negotiating with the hijackers since the middle of March through his agent in the Puntland town of Bosasso.

Kudrati says he began negotiating only after he lost confidence in the ability of Somalia's transitional government to help him recover his ship and crew.

"We were being told by the authorities concerned that there is something happening, there is something happening and we'll get to you soon, but it was not happening and it dragged on up to 39 days," said Kudrati. "There was no other solution to it, so when I took it upon myself and told my agent to see if he could find a bunch of elders who could go and speak to these guys."

The ship was released late Thursday night.

Kudrati says this is the fourth hijacking of his company's ships off the coast of Somalia in two years.

He says his company is the only one willing to go to Somali because of the piracy problem, mostly to deliver humanitarian food aid.

But, says Kudrati, his company might reconsider delivering shipments to Somalia because ransom payments have taken a huge chunk out of his business and the crew is less willing to take risks now.

"Now I think their morale is very down, and I don't know whether they would agree even to go back. But I also am feeling a very bad pinch," he added. "Nobody is coming and compensating me. I might decide to close down completely."

The other hijacked vessel, the MV Nimatullah, was released Friday after being held by pirates for less than a week. It had just anchored at Mogadishu port on April 1 when hijackers forced the ship and her 14-member crew to sail to waters off northeastern Somalia.

Piracy has been a big problem in Somali waters, with warlords and their militias using piracy as a source of income.

VOASE0407_People In America

07 April 2007

John Kenneth Galbraith, 1908-2006: He Strongly Influenced Economic Thought in the United States for Many Years

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VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Barbara Klein with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Economics is a field based on mathematics. Yet it cannot provide answers to every problem. Some people question whether economics is a science at all.

For many years, possibly the loudest critic was himself an economist, John Kenneth Galbraith.

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VOICE ONE:

John Kenneth Galbraith

John Kenneth Galbraith was an economist, liberal thinker, author, professor, presidential advisor and ambassador. He. stood over two meters tall. He was excellent at arguing positions and making complex ideas understandable. These two qualities made Mister Galbraith a powerful personality able to influence people at the highest levels of government.

He was also a productive writer and an effective critic of many popular ideas of his time. For some, he was an easy person to dislike. He was very sure of himself and his arguments. Yet, he clearly influenced the economic ideas of many people, including politicians and presidents.

VOICE TWO:

John Kenneth Galbraith was born on a farm near Iona Station, Canada in nineteen-oh-eight. It was a long way from the East Coast of the United States and the political power centers he would come to influence. He learned about politics from his father, William Archibald Galbraith, who was a farmer. He also served in many local government positions and was a community leader. John once said that his mother, Sarah Catherine Kendall Galbraith, wanted him to be a farmer also. But she died when he was fourteen.

VOICE ONE:

Young John first studied agriculture at Ontario Agricultural College. But he soon found economics more interesting. His studies led him to the University of California at Berkeley. He got a doctorate degree in agricultural economics in nineteen thirty-four.

In his early years, Mister Galbraith was greatly influenced by the economist Thorstein Veblen and his book, "The Theory of the Leisure Class." Mister Veblen argued that people gathered wealth for the purpose of "conspicuous consumption." He meant that people earned money to spend on valuable things to gain respect in society.

Mister Galbraith said he was also deeply affected by the economic disaster that was expanding around him and across the country: The Great Depression.

(MUSIC: Woody Guthrie)

The Great Depression severely affected the American economy and society. At the height of the Depression, at least one in five Americans did not have a job.

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VOICE TWO:

Mister Galbraith became an instructor at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In nineteen thirty-seven, he became an American citizen. He married Catherine Atwater, the daughter of a New York lawyer. They later had four sons.

John Maynard Keynes

That year, Mister Galbraith also went to England to study under the most influential economist of the twentieth century. John Maynard Keynes was teaching at Cambridge University at the time.

He had published the "General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money" the year before. Mister Keynes argued that deep economic crises required strong measures by the government. He said large public works projects and government price controls were needed to increase employment during economic downturns.

VOICE ONE:

In nineteen thirty-nine, John Kenneth Galbraith began working for the government. He joined the National Defense Advisory Committee in Washington. He later was in charge of controlling prices for the Office of Price Administration.

Mister Galbraith held the powerful position of top price controller in the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In nineteen forty-three, however, he was forced to resign from the job. Later, he would say that he had been ousted by the politics of price control.

The same year, Mister Galbraith started writing for Fortune magazine, which was owned by noted conservative Henry Luce. Mister Galbraith developed into a highly skilled writer. Even his strongest critic praised his writing ability, even if they did not agree with what he wrote.

VOICE TWO:

Near the end of World War Two, Mister Galbraith took part in the Strategic Bombing survey. The study was meant to measure the effectiveness of the American bombing campaign against Germany. He angered many people by saying that the bombing had done little to halt the German war effort. He found the Germans had simply moved industrial operations to new places after the bombing.

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VOICE ONE :

In nineteen fifty-eight, Mister Galbraith published his most famous book,"The Affluent Society." He argued that while private individuals in America were becoming wealthier, public institutions were growing poor. He criticized the American culture that he said was rich in goods but poor in social services.

Mister Galbraith also used the term "conventional wisdom" in the book. This term describes an idea that everyone accepts as true, but is not closely considered or examined.

"The Affluent Society" created a lot of discussion at the time. Critics said the book forced the nation to reexamine its values. It is still considered an excellent example of reasoning and writing.

VOICE TWO:

Mister Galbraith was also involved in politics, which was unusual for an economist. He

Mister Galbraith speaking with President John F. Kennedy

wrote speeches for Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson during two campaigns in the nineteen fifties. Mister Galbraith later became a trusted adviser to President John F. Kennedy.

President Kennedy appointed him ambassador to India in nineteen sixty-one. Thirty years later, Mister Galbraith received India's second-highest civilian honor for his work to strengthen ties between India and the United States.

VOICE ONE

The years working for the Kennedy Administration were happy times. But on November twenty-second, nineteen sixty-three, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.

Vice President Lyndon Johnson took office after the tragedy. Mister Galbraith had good relations with the new president and became an adviser. But that lasted only until the war in Vietnam became the biggest issue in the United States. Mister Galbraith opposed the involvement of the United States in the war. He spoke about that time.

SOUND: "I liked Lyndon Johnson very much. And I respected him as a man who combined intelligence with a will to action--a wonderful combination. And so breaking with him in the mid to late sixties on the issue of Vietnam was something I regretted very much."

Public opposition to the war in Vietnam caused President Johnson not to seek another term in office. The issue of the war caused Mister Galbraith to become active in politics again. He supported the anti-war presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy.

He even nominated Mister McCarthy at the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago, Illinois, in nineteen sixty-eight. Mister Galbraith would later say: "I was more strongly moved by the need for opposition to Vietnam than any other major issue of my lifetime."

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VOICE TWO:

In the years after the Vietnam War, Ken Galbraith put his energy into writing. He debated conservative thinkers such as his friend William F. Buckley, Junior. And he continued to advise Democratic Presidents.

In nineteen ninety-six, his book "The Good Society" was published. It was an update of his book "The Affluent Society." He wrote that his earlier concerns had worsened. The United States had become even more a place for the wealthy, or a "democracy of the fortunate."

John Kenneth Galbraith receives the Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton

In all, he wrote more than thirty books during his career. In two thousand, President Bill Clinton recognized Mister Galbraith's service by awarding him the Medal of Freedom.

VOICE ONE:

John Kenneth Galbraith died in two thousand six at the age of ninety-seven. William F. Buckley said his friend was more interested in the social and ethical questions related to economics. Mister Galbraith's books lack the mathematical and statistical research found in most works on economics. Yet they remain excellent examples of thinking about social responsibility and ethics.

One of his most famous criticisms of his profession was this: "Economics is extremely useful as a form of employment for economists."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

This program was written and produced by Mario Ritter. You can download this program and others from our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Barbara Klein.

VOICE ONE:

And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.