The Pdx Peace Coalition has called on the Portlland City Council to consider declaring Portland a Sanctuary City for GI resisters.

If passed the resolution would prevent Portland Police from executing Federal warrants for soldiers absent without leave from the Military.

The activists spoke of the toll that the wars in Iraq and Afghaniatan are having on soldiers and the courage it takes to refuse to go. Over 5000 veterans are expected to committ suicide this year alone.

I'm happy to share a sneak peak at the latest version of the website, which will make it easier for visitors find what they are looking for.  Below you will see our new navagation menu displayed along the top of the page and new ways to interact with programs via their webpage.

Friday, December 19
Doors Open 6:30p, Live music begins at 7:00p

Squaredance calling by Paul Silveria with live music by Ebenezer. Also Lee Highway and Too Loose Cajun Band

Secret Society Ballroom, 116 NE Russell, Portland.  All ages, cash bar.  Sliding scale tickets $10 - $50 includes 1 raffle ticket ($50 tickets include a KBOO membership)

Advance tickets available through Brown Paper Tickets.  Tickets also available directly from KBOO or at the door

Come on out to the first ever square dance benefit for KBOO. Hear great local music! Meet your favorite KBOO programmers! Win raffle prizes! Learn traditional square dance! No partners or experience necessary. A fun, interactive way to support your favorite community radio station, celebrate winter and dance your boots off.

Words & Pictures travels north to Bellingham, Washington, to visit Canadian comics and animation wizard Michel Gagne, whose work runs the gamut from the abstract jazz-inspired film Sensology to concept design for Disney and Pixar. 

Gagne's bewildering take on the Dark Knight for DC Comics (Batman: Spore) infuriated traditional superhero fans, and his recently unveiled project Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet breaks the mold for computer-based gaming.  Recorded with the kind assistance of KUGS-FM Western Washington University.

Four members of the notorious anti-gay church of Fred Phelps arrived in Portland this morning to protest Portland’s support of gay rights. 

They were vastly outnumbered by counter-protesters, who called for equal rights for all.

KBOO’s Rebecca Nay reports. 

 Dr. David Naimon hosts an Interview with Charles Barber about his book "Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry is Medicating a Nation."  Barber explores the ways pharmaceutical companies exert pressure on Americans to medicate themselves, how America has come to account for 66% of the global consumption of antidepressants,  and how without an industry to promote them, non-pharmaceutical approaches that have the potential to help millions, are tragically overlooked.

Large drug companies use various means to create an artificial need for their expensive (and highly profitable) products, then rush in to fill the orders.  Drug marketers intentionally blur the distinction between everyday problems and what used to be considered serious mental illness in such a way that people under the daily stress of modern life can be easily persuaded that a quick fix for stress lies in a pill bottle.  Direct-to-Consumer advertising plays a large role, as well as the time and expense related to non-drug therapeutic options, in convincing consumers to request medication in cases that just 10 years ago would have considered drugs to be inappropriate treatments.

Host Per Fagereng speaks with Robert Parry, award-winning investigative journalist for Consortium News. Parry's books include Lost History: Contras, Cocaine, the Press & "Project Truth;" Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq; Secrecy and Privilege: the Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq and "Neck Deep: The Disastrous Presidency of George W. Bush," written with two of his sons, Sam and Nat.. His recent pieces include "The Danger of Keeping Robert Gates" and "Obama Risks Clinton-Era Mistakes," which states: "After a masterful campaign, Barack Obama seems headed toward some fateful mistakes as he assembles his administration by heeding the advice of Washington's Democratic insider community, a collective group that represents little 'change you can believe in.' ..."

How do the latest technologies affect our communities? How can we use science to benefit society and how do we keep it from harming us? KBOO's The Digital Divide attempts to answer these questions and ask a few of our own through interviews, recordings, and commentary. The show touches upon such issues as open source, privacy, transparency, intellectual property, free speech, accessibility, hacking, net neutrality, file sharing, piracy, social networking, pollution, bioethics and more.

The Bush Administration dismantled the White House system for archiving e-mails and never put a new one in place as required by the Federal Records Act. The missing e-mails cover the period of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff's contact with the White House as well as the time period of the outing of CIA operative Valerie Plame.

 Last week a federal Court  allowed an important lawsuit to to move forward in attempts to preserve these important records.