Are you in a PIGS country?

Hello, Lucy from Europe Today here. We’re going to be looking at the European countries that have been worst hit by the economic crisis, the unflatteringly named PIGS – Portugal, Ireland, Germany, and Spain. Portugal votes on whether to accept the government’s proposed austerity measures. It’s the latest country expected to adopt spending cuts, tax hikes and wage freezes for civil servants.

Videos from We Media Miami Forbes Richest People

Afghanistan: hearts and minds

Nato and Afghan forces are contining their biggest offensive since the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001. Military commanders say they’re making progress in Taliban strongholds in the south. But they know enduring success depends on keeping promises to local communities to bring them a better, safer life. Will this new strategy of counterinsurgency be able to win hearts and minds? On Saturday on Newshour, Nato’s top civilian representative in Afghanistan and the number two in the US military command tell Lyse Doucet about their plans to turn the tide in Afghanistan. Then we put their case to our panel of experts. But what do you think? Can this strategy ever work?

Do we really want to talk?

Here’s a post I’ve just put up on the Wemedia blog. Thought you might want to take a look.

On air: Are you proud of your country’s richest people?

I’m sure he’s coping, but Bill Gates is no longer the world’s richest man according to Forbes magazine. That honour goes to the Mexican telcom giant Carlos Slim. The Chinese and Brazilians are also making a march on the top spots. So is the rise of these developing world billionaires something for their countries to be proud of? Do you look at the richest where you live and think they reflect well on you and your fellow countrymen and women?

Or do you have an issue with anyone having wealth on this scale? Is it obscene for one individual to have more money than whole cities in their country?

Videos from Miami Wemedia

Show Open: March 10, 2010

First half of show:

Second half of show:

On air: Has America lost its power over Israel?

US Vice President Joe Biden’s trying to recover from the embarrassment of arriving in Israel on a peace mission, to be greeted by an announcement of 1,600 new homes being built in disputed East Jerusalem. So is the US now ignored by Israel? A once strong force that has lost its influence? Or has Israel always done what it wants, regardless of outside pressure? This is how the visit is playing in Israeli and Palestinian newspapers.

On air: The end of the office?

I’m just back from the opening reception at WeMedia and I wanted to share on conversation I had while there. Ritchie Lucas runs a company called Think Factory. He believes that the way we build our working lives around offices is incredibly inefficient (and believes the net can connect the unemployed with those who could use their ability). As well as that, he told me that information is now more important to all of us than people and relationships with them. We don’t need to see the person who’s providing us with a service, and we don’t need to see the people we work with he argued. We just need the information they can give us. It’s a radical idea that would change how we work and how we get others to work for us. Now of course, he ‘s hoping this will happen as his business is built on this, but do you think Ritchie’s logic holds?

Doing a good job or being true to your conscience?

Is this just another story about a man that cannot deal with his own sexuality? It seems so, for Californian State Senator Roy Ashburn who has come out as gay, who has a voting record that has opposed every social initiative to support gay rights in California.

However, Senator Ashburn says that he did the right thing by supporting the views of his majority conservative constituents. He is quoted here in The Christian Science Monitor as saying: “My votes reflect the wishes of the people in my district,”

On air: Violence in Nigeria

Two questions appear to be at the centre of your discussions of the weekend’s shocking violence near Jos. They are: 1) Why is it happening? and 2) why isn’t more attention being paid to it? (Though Hillary has now commented.)We’ll ask both, as well as hear about our sister’s show Africa Have Your Say’s discussion on what now needs to be done to present such massacres happening again. Questions and comments welcome… and pls leave your number if you want to come on air. We won’t publish the number online.