My guest today is author and speaker James Bradley, who has written not only the legendary, "Flag of Our Fathers," but the provocative new book, "The Imperial Cruise," which gives us  a new perspective on President Theodore Roosevelt and his secret diplomatic mission to  the Pacific and to expand our influence to Asia.

             


     The Imperial Cruise                          Flag of Our Fathers
                                                                   Rock from Mount Suribachi

James Bradley is the fourth child of Iwo Jima flag raiser, John "Doc" Bradley. Raised in Wisconsin, Bradley studied at the University of Notre Dame, Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan and graduated with a degree in  East Asian History from the University of Wisconsin. When he was thirteen years old he read an article by James Michener in Reader's Digest which I paraphrase: "When you're twenty-two and graduate from college, people will ask you, 'What do you want to do?' It's a good question, but you should answer it when you're thirty-five." Michener explained that his experiences wandering the globe as a young man later inspired his book on Afghanistan, Spain, Japan and other places.

              

When he was nineteen years old, he lived and studied in Tokyo for one year. He later brought his Japanese friends home to Wisconsin. His father, John Bradley, had helped raise an American flag on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima and had shot a Japanese soldier dead. But his father John Bradley welcomed his friends to his home.

Bradley has vast experience writing and producing corporate films and corporate meetings; he has traveled the world, living and working in more than 40 countries for nearly a decade. Bradley has run companies in the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. He has jumped out of airplanes at 15,000 feet, has scuba-dove in deep waters worldwide, trekked to Mount Everest's base camp and walked among lions in Africa. He is an avid reader of history, enjoys discovering exotic cuisine, cliff diving, golfing and snow skiing.

For the past ten years, the James Bradley Peace Foundation and Youth For Understanding have sent American students to live with families overseas. Perhaps in the future when we debate whether to fight it out or talk it out, one of these Americans might make a difference.  He remains a professional motivational speaker and he is the author of Flag of Our Fathers, Flyboys, and The Imperial Cruise. He divides his time between homes in New York's Westchester County, and Jamaica.

Download | Duration: 00:51:51

My guests today are Brian Lee Crowley and Jason Clemens. and our subject is “The Canadian Century and Moving out of America’s Shadow”

           

              Jason Clemens                                Brian Lee Crowley                         
                                                 
Brian Lee Crowley is the Managing Director, Macdonald-Laurier Institute. MLI is the only think tank in Ottawa dealing with the full spectrum of issues falling under the jurisdiction of the federal government. The Institute, which opened its doors officially in March 2010, fills a glaring gap in Canada’s democratic infrastructure. Canada is the only G7 country not to have such a full-service think tank in its national capital speaking to the national electorate, policy decision-makers and opinion leaders, about national policy.
Crowley has a long and distinguished record in the think tank world. He was the founder of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS) in Halifax, one of the country’s leading regional think tanks. AIMS is one of the world's most honored think tanks. It is a four time winner of the prestigious Sir Antony Fisher Award, which recognizes excellence in public policy think tank publications and projects. No think tank in the world has won this honor more times than AIMS. Crowley is a former Salvatori Fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington DC and is a Senior Fellow at the Galen Institute, a health care policy think tank also based in Washington. In addition, he is a member of the "Conseil scientifique" (Research Advisory Board) of l'Institut Turgot (Paris, France); the Research Advisory Board of the Frontier Centre for Public Policy (Winnipeg); and the Nigerian Institute for Public Policy (Lagos, Nigeria).
 
In September 2009, Key Porter Books published Crowley's fourth book, Fearful Symmetry: the fall and rise of Canada’s founding values, which quickly found its way onto the Canadian best sellers lists. Among his many other books and other publications, Crowley co-authored two projects on the Canadian health-care system both of which won the Sir Antony Fisher Award. In recognition of his health-care work, he was named to the most influential recent provincial health-care inquiry in Canada, the Alberta Premier’s Advisory Council on Health (the Mazankowski Committee).

Other major policy areas where Crowley has taken a leadership role include its work on equalization, Canada-US relations, public school performance and accountability, EI reform, natural resources and public finances, and regional development policy.
 
From 2006-08 Crowley was the Clifford Clark Visiting Economist with the federal Department of Finance. This is the most senior independent economic policy advisory position within the federal government and carries with it the rank of an Assistant Deputy Minister. During his time in Ottawa, Crowley worked on a broad range of policy files and redesigned the pre-budget consultation process. In 2007 he was named one of the 100 most influential people in Ottawa by The Hill Times.
 
Crowley has headed the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC), taught politics, economics and philosophy at Dalhousie University, University of Manitoba, University of Winnipeg, le Collège Universitaire de Saint-Boniface, the City of London Polytechnic (UK) and the Université d'été at Aix-en-Provence (France) and been constitutional advisor to the governments of Nova Scotia (Charlottetown negotiations) and Manitoba (Meech Lake negotiations). He has been a Salvatori Fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, a diplomat for the EEC Commission, an aid administrator for the UN in Africa, an advisor to the Quebec government on parliamentary and electoral reform and a Parliamentary Intern at the House of Commons in Ottawa.


        

                    Richard J. Garfunkel
 
Crowley is a frequent commentator on political and economic issues for the CBC, Radio-Canada and many other media, and is a former member of the Editorial Board of The Globe and Mail (one of Canada's two national newspapers). He holds degrees from McGill and the London School of Economics, including a doctorate in political economy from the latter.

Jason Clemens is the Director of Research at the Pacific Research Institute. He also directs strategic planning and budgeting for the Institute. Prior to joining PRI he held a number of positions at the Canadian-based Fraser Institute over a ten-plus year period, including the director of research quality, resident scholar in fiscal studies, and the director of strategic planning and budgeting. He has an Honors Bachelors Degree of Commerce and a Masters’ Degree in Business Administration from the University of Windsor as well as a Post Baccalaureate Degree in Economics from Simon Fraser University.

He has published over 50 major studies on a wide range of topics, including taxation, government spending, labor market regulation, banking, welfare reform, productivity, entrepreneurship, public choice economics, and economic prosperity. He has published over 250 shorter articles, which have appeared in such newspapers as The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, The National Post, The Globe & Mail, and all major daily papers in Canada as well as in major U.S. papers and websites such as the Washington Post, L.A. Daily News, San Francisco Chronicle, San Diego Union-Tribune, Detroit Free Press and Detroit News, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Sacramento Bee, Human Events, Townhall.com, and the Flash Report. Mr. Clemens has been a guest on numerous radio and television programs across Canada and the United States, including ABC News. He has appeared before committees of both the House of Commons and the Senate in Canada as an expert witness and testified before state legislatures in California. In 2006, he received the prestigious Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 award presented by Caldwell Partners as well as an Odyssey Award from the University of Windsor.
                                           

Download | Duration: 00:51:43

Wednesday, June 9, 2010, at 12:00 Noon, I am hosting my show, The Advocates on WVOX- 1460 AM, or you can listen to the program’s live streaming at www.wvox.com. One can call the show at 914-636-0110 to reach us on the radio.  My guest today is Dr. Isamettin A. Aral. Our subject is “Cancer: The fight and the role of screenings!”

Dr. Isamettin A. Aral, M.D is a Board Certified Radiation Oncologist with more than 15 years of clinical practice experience.  He has distinguished himself as a leader in the field of Radiation Oncology.  He is currently engaged in a private practice of Radiation Oncology, near his home on Long Island. 

Dr. Aral has held many senior positions over the past 10 years, functioning as both a physician executive and administrator.  Most recently he served as the Chairman of Radiation Oncology at Staten Island University Hospital (SIUH), which is one of the largest facilities in the North Shore-LIJ Hospital system.  While at SIUH, Dr. Aral developed an active oncology service that saw in excess of 600 new patients annually.  Prior to joining the Staten Island team, Dr. Aral held similar positions in Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, the New York Harbor VA, and the Northport VA. 

Prostate cancer therapy has been an ardent focus of Dr. Aral’s clinical and research efforts.  His writings have been published in numerous peer reviewed journals.  He has been requested to provide information on prostate cancer screening and therapy for many national media organizations. With the assistance of local new personalities, Dr. Aral has provided detailed information regarding the current status of prostate cancer screening.   This information has regularly aired on ABC’s, Good Morning America show.   Dr. Aral’s public service efforts extend to his involvement in patient centered events, including the National Cancer Survivors Day events that are held annually in June. 

Dr. Aral holds a clinical appointment at the State University of New York, where he serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology.  He has been an educator to many residents and was awarded the distinguished faculty educator award, by the Resident and Fellows Alumni Society.  Education of medical students, residents and fellows has been an important focus of Dr. Aral’s efforts. 

In addition to his clinical practice of medicine, Dr. Aral is a member of the New York Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves.  He holds the rank of Major and is currently stationed near his home on Long Island  You can reach Dr. Aral directly by dialing 516-222-2020/ext#7427 or his email at tomotherapy@nrad.com .


                                                                      

Download | Duration: 00:53:38

My guest today is Guy Fairstein. Our subject is “Legal Aid, the Legal Services of the Hudson Valley and equal justice under law.”

Guy R. Fairstein is a graduate of Williams College (B.A., 1966) and the University of Virginia School of Law (LL.B., 1969). 

During almost 40 years in the practice of law, Guy has concentrated his practice in the field of civil litigation, mostly cases involving commercial transactions and business entities, and some cases in the field of trusts and estates.  He has represented individuals, privately owned businesses, and some large corporations, in all phases of civil litigation.  Clients for which he has tried cases include Allied Stores Corporation (age discrimination action), KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (injunctive action under the Railway Labor Act), and Simon & Schuster (breach of contract action).  

After having spent 20 years as an associate and a partner in a Manhattan law firm, followed by 14 years of counsel to a White Plains law firm, Guy is currently a solo practitioner in White Plains, New York. For almost 20 years Guy has given his time to service as a volunteer mediator in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  Since July 2008 he has provided pro bono representation to indigent clients as a volunteer attorney working in association with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley.  Guy’s niche pro bono practice area concerns default judgments, wage garnishments and frozen bank accounts.

Last month the New York State Bar association honored Guy’s pro bono work by awarding him its President’s 2010 Pro Bono Service Award for the Ninth Judicial District (Westchester, Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess and Orange Counties). Guy is a life-long Westchester County resident and was raised in Mount Vernon, NY. In addition to his wife, two children and two granddaughters, Guy’s interests outside the practice of law include classical music, in particular the music of Gustav Mahler.  He is the brother of the renowned author and former NYC Assistant District Attorney Linda Fairstein.

                                                         

Download | Duration: 00:50:59

My guest today is David Leven. Our subject is “The Family Health Care Decisions Act,” which goes into force on June 1st and its implications.

David C. Leven has been the Executive Director of Compassion & Choices of New York since 2002. The mission of Compassion & Choices is to improve health and end-of-life care, expand choices at the end of life and provide high quality counseling, support and advocacy services to the terminally ill and family members and to those planning for the end of life.  Mr. Leven is a graduate of the University of Rochester and Syracuse University College of Law. Before assuming his current position he practiced public interest law for 30 years, legal services for the poor and prisoners’ rights law. Between 1973 and 1979 he was Executive Director, Monroe County Legal Assistance Corporation and between 1979 and 1999 he was Executive Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York.  He has also served as Executive Director of the Westchester Council on Crime and Delinquency and as Deputy Director, Drug Policy Alliance. 

  Mr. Leven is a leading proponent for expanding choice at the end of life. He is also an expert on the under treatment of pain and advance directives. Mr. Leven played a leadership role in having legislation introduced and enacted in New York, in 2007, to improve pain and palliative care and to increase the number of people who complete health care proxies. He also was active in efforts to secure passage of the Family Health Care Decisions Act, enacted in 2010.  He is continuing legislative advocacy efforts to ensure that patients have their pain treated effectively and that their health and end-of-life wishes are respected.   

Mr. Leven speaks and lectures frequently to diverse professional groups and citizens, including physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, seniors, lawyers, college, law and nursing students, business men and women and religious congregants. He is a regular guest lecturer at College of New Rochelle School of Nursing and has spoken at most of the New York City area law schools as well as at Yale, Syracuse and Albany law schools. Mr. Leven has appeared on Fox Cable TV, CBS TV, Channel 2 Local News, Regional News Network TV, Fox Radio, CBS AM radio, BBC, WNYC, WVOX and WLIB. He is a periodic guest on the WBAI Health Styles program.
 
Mr. Leven has served on numerous boards and committees including the Westchester End-of-Life Coalition Board of Directors, Family Decisions Coalition, Legal Aid Committee of the New York State Bar Association, which he chaired between1978-83, and the board of the New York State Coalition for Criminal Justice, which he chaired twice. Mr. Leven is a recipient of numerous awards. These include, among others, the Public Interest Law Award of the New York State Bar Association, Committee on Public Interest Law and the Westchester Civil Liberties Union, Civil Liberties Award. In 1999 he was the Distinguished Public Interest Lawyer in Residence at Touro Law School.

Download | Duration: 00:52:30

My guests today are investment consultant Jay Rosenberg and Marshall Berol, investment manager of the Encompass Fund.Our subject is “The Economy, the Financial Markets and the Cast against Goldman-Sachs!”

Marshall Berol has been an investment manager in San Francisco, CA since 1982.  Since 2000, he has been the co-portfolio manager of Malcolm H. Gissen & Associates Inc. , see: www.encompassfunds.com/  In addition, for more than 15 years, Mr. Berol has owned his own investment firm, BL/SH. Mr. Berol’s management experience has focused primarily on investments in publicly traded companies. Mr. Berol did his undergraduate work at the University of California (Berkeley) and received a J.D. degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Jay Rosenberg is the Principal and Chief Investment Officer of Arrival Capital Management LLC. He has been a finance and legal professional for the past twenty years, as well as an active investor. He holds JD (law) and MBA (business) degrees from Columbia University, where he studied value investing, behavioral finance, and valuation techniques from some of the foremost practitioners and academics in the field.  Mr. Rosenberg has served in government, as both a federal law clerk and as Deputy Chief of Staff for the Deputy Mayor for Finance and Economic Development of the City of New York. He has also been the Capital Finance Director of a publicly traded education management corporation. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania where he studied economics and history. Jay grew up in New York and New Jersey, and graduated from the Horace Mann School. He now resides in Manhattan with his wife, Lilli, and three children.

                                                          

                                          Jay Rosenberg                                      Marshall Berol

Download | Duration: 00:52:52

Wednesday, May 12, 2010, my guest today is Thomas Nesi, author of Poison Pills : The Untold Story of the Vioxx Drug Scandal, who was last on the Advocates on November 12, 2008.

Our subject is how the American pharmaceutical industry obtains processed opium, from countries worldwide, while trying to deprive the Taliban of its “cash crop” to finance world-wide terrorism! Thomas Nesi is a communications professional with more than thirty-five years experience in medical communications and strategic planning. He is a published author and professional lecturer as well as a medical film-maker.  

Mr. Nesi has worked for leading pharmaceutical companies and medical schools as media and marketing advisor, general consultant and competitive research analyst.  His work has been extensively produced and published and includes the noted ABC television special Fight For Life and the hard-cover and paperback book The Fire Inside (W.W. Norton, 1997.)  Tom has lectured at Harvard Medical School and the University Medical Center of Princeton on medical marketing, bioethics and public relations practices. 

Tom Nesi founded TJN Communications in 1990, and has done work for AstraZeneca LP, Pfizer, JJ/Merck, Glaxo, and Pharmacia among many others.  Tom was an editor, reporter and consultant to Medical News Network and organized medical coverage of meetings such as the American Heart Association. Nesi has a B.A. degree from Columbia University and a Masters Degree from the University of Southern California

McFarland-Smith Opium presentation:
www.matthey.com/media/Presentations/tradingupdate_jan06.pdf
British Royal National Institute’s instruction for the use of Diamorphine (British term for heroin)

                                          

The Painkilling Fields: England Opium Poppies…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-468430/emailArticle.html
Aoxing Pharma and Johnson Matthey PLC joint venture regarding poppy cultivation:

You can find out more about Tom Nesi and his writings at  www.tomnesi.org 

Download | Duration: 00:51:57

My guest today is Professor Lewis B. Frumkes, author, writer, humorist and teacher and our subject is “The Future of Publishing and the Writer’s Conference”

Lewis Burke Frumkes is the author of seven books including "How To Raise Your I.Q. By Eating Gifted Children," "Manhattan Cocktail," and "Metapunctuation," and host of his own radio show on WPAT in New York. He teaches Critical Thinking at Marymount Manhattan College and is Director of its Writing Center which he created in 1994 and developed into a literary showcase for the college. Among the Center's premiere offerings is the Best-Selling-Author Series which occurs each spring and features leading authors such as Tom Wolfe, William Styron, Erica Jong, Wally Lamb, Mary Higgins Clark, talking about the writing life. The Center also runs fifteen courses in creative writing and journalism taught by professional writers and editors and listed through the continuing ed department. In summer it puts on a writer's conference focusing on fiction as well as non-fiction that has been called one of the finest small conferences in the land. Frumkes has taught writing as a visiting professor at Harvard University and currently serves on the programs committee of the Harvard Club in New York. He is also a member of the editorial board of the Writer Magazine, the country's oldest writing magazine. His humorous essays have been collected in dozens of journals, and anthologies and he has written for most major magazines. Highly sought after as a speaker Frumkes has delivered talks at The Yale Club, The Harvard Club, Sarah Lawrence College, The English Speaking Union, The Colony Club and numerous other venues, and he frequently appears as a guest on radio and television. Information about the Writer's Conference at Marymount Manhattan College, which will beled on June 3rd, can be found at www.mmm.edu.

                                                 

                                             Lewis Frumkes                                  Richard J. Garfunkel at WVOX

Download | Duration: 00:51:54

My guests are Norman Solovay and Shari Gordon. and our subject is “Divorce American Style.” conflict resolution and the consequences for the American family,

Shari Gordon, a 1985 graduate of Union University at Albany Law School, has been practicing law in excess of 24 years, and is currently a member of the Law Offices of Shari R. Gordon located in Yorktown Heights, New York, a firm concentrating in matrimonial litigation and divorce mediation.  Shari earned the Gabrielli Best Brief Award while attending Union University at Albany Law School in 1984, and assisted in the preparation of, and was acknowledged by the author of, the four volume treatise “New York Matrimonial Law and Practice”, by Timothy M. Tippins.  Shari also has an extensive background in criminal defense as a former Senior Staff Trial Counsel with the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society, Bronx County. Shari was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society in 1982. She is presently co-Chair of the Family, Children and Court’s Committee for the Westchester Women’s Bar Association and co-Chair of the Reproductive Rights Committee for the Women’s Bar of the State of New York. She resides in Croton-on-Hudson with her two sons, Samuel and Noah. 

              


Norman Solovay chairs the Alternative Dispute Resolution practice at McLaughlin & Stern, one of New York's few old-line firms to have set up a separate department for trying first to settle cases before rushing into court with them.  As the author of several books in the field he has become a leading proponent and practioner not only of the standbys of mediation and arbitration, which he wrote about initially, but a recognized leader in efforts to educate the Bar regarding new, evolving and/or revived settlement techniques such as collaborative law, one of the most expanding methods utilized to settle divorces amicably. 
 
Following receipt of his BA Degree from Cornell and service as an officer in the Korean War, he attended Columbia Law School were he was an editor of the Columbia Law Review. After joining the Rosenman Colin law firm out of law school, Mr. Solovay left and became Law Secretary to Charles D. Breitel then still at the Appellate Division prior to his elevation to Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. Following that, Mr. Solovay came to Holtzmann, Wise & Shepard where he served for many years as head of its litigation department.  While his primary work there was the conduct of litigations of all kinds, including some high profile divorces, it was his handling of a number of major international arbitrations that provided his first exposure to the world of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and caused him to write the first of his books. . 
  
After the dissolution of the Holtzmann firm, he founded Solovay, Marshall & Edlin with his son, Michael Solovay.  While still there he authored The Internet & Alternate Dispute Resolution:  Untangling the Web, dealing with various forms of ADR and the internet. When Michael's expanding corporate department was sought and acquired by a giant law firm, Mr Solovay was freed to devote more time to his ADR work.  Mr. Solovay is an active member of the NY State Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section, where he chairs its Collaborative Law Committee, and of the New York City Bar Association's ADR Committee. He has since, in addition to chairing his present firm’s' Dispute Resolution practice,  become actively involved in organizing, presenting and participating in various Bar Association ADR programs, as well as in programs abroad, most recently in India.  

Download | Duration: 00:50:53

My guests are Barbara Burt, the Director of the Frances Perkins Center in Newcastle, Maine, and Mr. Christopher Breiseth, former President and CEO of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, and a Board Member of the Perkins Center.

Our subject is Frances Perkins, a fighter for social justice, and the role of the Frances Perkins Center: www.francesperkinscenter.org/ and their effort to support and sustain Social Security.

Barbara Burt is a graduate of Boston University and Harvard University School of Education, Barb brings varied experience to the position. She has been a writer and editor for many publishers and educational institutions, including Houghton Mifflin, McGraw-Hill, Scholastic, National Geographic, and Harvard University.

Long an advocate for responsive government and progressive politics, Barbara joined Common Cause in 2003, eventually becoming vice president and director of national election reform programs. In 2007, Barb became the online communications director for Chellie Pingree's successful campaign to represent Maine's First Congressional District in the 111th Congress.

                                    

Chris Breiseth                         Frances Perkins                          Barbara Burt

Dr. Christopher N. Breiseth is the immediate past president and CEO of the Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt Institute, located at the FDR Presidential Library and Museum in Hyde Park, New York, serving in that position from 2001 to 2008. He was president of Deep Springs College in California from 1980 to 1983 and of Wilkes University from 1984 to 2001. He earned his B.A. in history at UCLA, a Masters of Literature in Modern British History from Oxford and a Ph.D. in European History from Cornell. While at Cornell, he lived at the Telluride House where Frances Perkins was a guest for the last five years of her life while she was teaching at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Together, Breiseth and Miss Perkins organized two seminars for house members, one with Henry A. Wallace, the other with James Farley. Following Miss Perkins's death in 1965, Breiseth wrote an article, "The Frances Perkins I Knew," which provides some of the material on Frances Perkins's life at Telluride House for Kirstin Downey's book, "The Woman Behind the New Deal." The article is available on line. He also served for a year and a half in 1967 and 1968 as Chief of Policy Guidance for the Community Action Program which was part of the Office of Economic Opportunity, President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. He is married to Jane Morhouse Breiseth and they have three daughters and two grandchildren.

Download | Duration: 00:53:06