Midday Magazine on WAMC

Despite the proud prose that presaged it and all the periodic pronouncements that sought to endow it with continuity, ours has, from the outset, been an aggressively promoted ‘Marketocracy.’  Though an apt description, “The land of the free” and “Home of the brave,” does not apply to everyone, equally.  It is and has always been subject to selective affirmation.

New York State's response to recent mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut and Webster, New York comes in the form of the toughest gun laws in the Nation.

Governor Andrew Cuomo's gun law package features many measures he presented in his State of the State address.   Budd Schroeder is Chairman of the board of directors of SCOPE - the Shooters Committee on Political Action, which has 200 affiliated gun clubs across New York State. Schroeder thinks Cuomo has overstepped his leadership position.

In light of widespread concern surrounding school safety following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, Ulster County officials are seeking comments from the public about how best to make the county’s schools safer places. School administrators are also in on the discussion.  

  Last Friday was the deadline for comments to be lodged with the DEC on its most recent set of regulations for the controversial natural gas drilling process known as hydrofracking.

Predictably, the well-organized and vociferous anti-fracking crowd seized on the opportunity to make yet another public plea to Governor Andrew Cuomo that he reject the idea of drilling in the Marcellus Shale.

Not all of the top films of 2012 are big-budget, and high-profile. Indeed, quite a few are low-budget. They are independently produced American films, or they are foreign language titles. And so here is a sampling of some of the year’s outstanding under-the-radar titles.

Once again, we tune in and listen to what you had to say!  We roll back selections from this week's WAMC Listener Comment Line. 

Vermont's continuing effort to recover from Tropical Storm Irene is the focus of a conference  at Norwich University today.  
    
Vermont Irene Recovery Officer Sue Minter says the Irene and Beyond Summit will not only discuss continuing needs due to Irene damage, but also begin to shape a statewide response system for future disasters.

With gun control in the National spotlight, scores of protesters are expected to greet gun enthusiasts when they arrive at an upstate New York venue that's hosting a firearms show this weekend. Capital Region Bureau Chief Dave Lucas reports.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s State-of-the-State speech Wednesday did not directly speak to unfunded mandates. Some county executives say that although mandate relief is important and very much needed, they did not expect the governor to talk about it. However, at least one did.

Governor Andrew Cuomo presented a broad agenda in his State of the State address on Wednesday. North Country officials were pleased with the Governor’s focus on the upstate economy and tourism.