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Newsom to Address Green Questions on Current Tomorrow

Leanne Maxwell — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:24:10 GMT

Current invited the public to submit and vote on questions for Mayor Gavin Newsom regarding his run for governor and his green platform. Six of the questions will be chosen alongside picks from editors at Treehugger, Grist, Huffington Post Green, Chelsea Green, and Good Magazine. The interview will be streamed live on Current at Noon tomorrow.

Currently, the top questions address Schwarzenegger's proposal to close 220 state parks, high speed rail along the I-5 corridor (the person addressing the question doesn't seem to know about the federal government's recent high-speed rail proposal), and the urgent water crisis.

Some of the questions aren't quite coherent, or they have valid arguments against why they wouldn't work, such as San Francisco going 100% solar in five years. So, you still have time to vote for ones that you think are more legitimate.

Current TV Reporters Sentenced to 12 Years in N. Korean Jail

Jay Barmann — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:32:04 GMT

Euna Lee and Laura Ling, the two Current TV reporters nabbed by North Korean border guards while they were doing a story about human trafficking on the Chinese-North Korean border, have been sentenced to 12 years hard labor in what former U.N. Ambassador Bill Richardson has called a "high-stakes poker game" that has more to do with our nuclear relations than it does with these women and their alleged crimes. A Korean-language TV station has reported that the women were convicted of "hostility toward the Korean people."

North Korea issued warnings today to fishing boats to stay clear of the country's eastern coast, raising concerns about an upcoming missile test. KCBS reports that a professor in South Korea believes the 12-year sentence is relatively meaningless, saying the issue "will be resolved diplomatically in the end." The U.S. State Department, which has no formal diplomatic ties with North Korea, has demanded their release. Fox News is reporting that Al Gore may hop over there to help negotiate their release, but take their reporting with a grain of salt.

Vigil for Laura Ling and Euna Lee at City Hall Tonight

Leanne Maxwell — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:20:30 GMT

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In an effort to raise awareness about the plight of Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the two CurrentTV journalists detained in North Korea, there will be a vigil tonight on the front steps of City Hall from 6 to 8 p.m. The women, who are likely being used as pawns in the volatile relations between North Korea and the United States, go on trial tomorrow and have been assigned a North Korean attorney.

The two families appeared on the Today Show (featured above), Larry King, and Nightline on Monday. They will also be on Anderson Cooper tonight at 7 p.m. (PST).

Laura Ling's sister, Lisa Ling, said that the Swedish ambassadors have seen the women three times so far, and they appeared healthy. Although no one knows what really happened with regards to the women allegedly crossing the border, Lisa Ling said that when the Current crew left for China, they had no intention of crossing into North Korea.