Defense Cuts May Affect Boeing Workers In Long Beach; General Karpinski, Commander Of Abu Ghraib; Billy Crystal; FilmWeek
Defense Cuts May Affect Boeing Workers In Long Beach
The Air Force has scrapped plans to order additional C-17 cargo planes, which could bring Boeing Co. a step closer to shuttering its Long Beach plant in 2008. Boeing has about 6,500 employees in Long Beach, at California's last major airplane manufacturing plant, where the four-engine jet used to transport personnel and heavy equipment in Iraq and Afghanistan is assembled. But the Air Force recently told Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld it can’t afford more C-17s beyond the 180 it has ordered, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing Pentagon and defense industry sources. Boeing has built 145 C-17s since 1993, with the last of the $175 million planes scheduled to be delivered in late 2008, according to The Times. Larry Mantle discusses the impact of this decision on the local economy with Kevin Klowden, Research Economist with The Milken Institute, and Jacki Harris, President of UAW Local 148, which represents 2,600 workers at the Boeing plant in Long Beach.
General Karpinski, Commander Of Abu Ghraib
In her new book, One Woman’s Army: The Commanding General of Abu Ghraib Tells her Story, General Janis Karpinski tells her side of the horrifying events that took place at that infamous Iraqi prison. Karpinski will discuss her career in the army and her deployment in the first Gulf War, where she won a Bronze Star. When she was assigned to oversee the MPs at Abu Ghraib, Karpinkski found herself resented as a reservist and as a woman. She maintains that she was a scapegoat and that the torture that took place there was the responsibility of higher-ups, though mostly lower-level servicemen and women were punished.
Billy Crystal
Larry Mantle talks with actor and comedian Billy Crystal about his new memoir, 700 Sundays, about his life and career.
FilmWeek
Larry Mantle and critics Peter Rainer of the Christian Science Monitor, Andy Klein, film editor and chief critic of both CityBeat and ValleyBeat, and Charles Solomon, animation critic for amazon.com discuss this week's new releases, including Jarhead, Chicken Little, I Love Your Work, The Dying Gaul, The Passenger, and Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price.
Peter Rainer discusses his recent trips to Montreal's World Film Festival as well as the Toronto International Film Festival.