Our season 4 Newsmakers guest, former President of Mexico, Vicente Fox, weighed in on the controversial Arizona immigration law this week.  President Fox has strong feelings about the southern border of the United States and the impact it has on free trade, the relationship between the two countries and the continent as a whole.  He shared those feelings when he visited the Lesher Center, and in his book, which came out shortly after that visit.  He has been somewhat quieter than I thought he might be throughout this current debate, however, as this is one of the first time I have noticed him speaking out on the subject.  Click below to see video of the interview courtesy of the Washington Post.

Vicente Fox on the Arizona immigration law courtesy of the Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2010/07/28/VI2010072803840.html

One of our best presentations at Newsmakers was in 2008, when legendary journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein joined us.  Their visit to the Lesher Center made national news when the Watergate duo revealed that the previous day, they made a trek to Santa Rosa to visit Mark Felt (aka "Deep Throat") in what was Bernstein's first ever meeting with the most famous source in the history of journalism.  Woodward will return to the East Bay, flying solo this time, to be the keynote speaker at the Contra Costa Council's annual "Contra Costa USA" program on Jan. 27. 

The Council is not only the premier economic development association in our region, it has been one of the important partners in producing Newsmakers.  Their annual conference is a terrific public policy event that was one of the original inspirations behind the Lesher Speaker Series.  It routinely sells out, is the place to "see and be seen" as they say, and they will have an excellent keynote in Woodward, who seems to make news wherever he goes.

So mark your calendar for Jan. 27, 2011.  You will not want to miss Woodward's return to the East Bay, and you will want to get tickets early while they are available.  See the link below for a recap of last year's CCUSA program.  It gives a good flavor for what the whole conference is like.

Recap of "Contra Costa USA," 2010
http://www.contracostacouncil.com/ccusa.php

It appears to be the consensus of those media figures with institutional knowledge, that the Afghanistan War documents that just made their way into the public domain are the biggest intelligence bombshell since the Pentagon Papers.  Our 2009 Newsmakers guest, CNN Terrorism Analyst Peter Bergen, is one of the foremost experts on Afghanistan and the war we are fighting there.  He was on CNN ;last night with Anderson Cooper to talk about the leaked documents.  Click below to see what he had to say.

Peter Bergen on CNN re: leaked war documents
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/web/07/26/afghanistan.wikileaks/?hpt=C1

I mentioned in a recent blog entry the participation of our upcoming Newsmakers guest, Tom Brokaw, in the events around the recent 50th anniversary celebration of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.  In addition to appearing at one of the public readings, Brokaw has also penned an essay for the new book Scout, Atticus and Boo, which contains perspectives from famous people, and what the landmark novel meant to them.  You can read Brokaw's essay courtesy of the Daily Beast by clicking below.

Brokaw's To Kill a Mockingbird essay in the Daily Beast and the new book, Scout, Atticus and Boo
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-07-10/to-kill-a-mockingbird-turns-50-tom-brokaw-on-why-its-special/

Our upcoming Newsmakers guest, CNN's Soledad O'Brien, will be releasing her new book soon, entitled The Next Big Story.  You can read an excerpt courtesy of CNN.  Click below.

Excerpt from Soledad O"Brien's upcoming book, The Next Big Story
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/07/12/soledad.obrien.haiti/index.html

Astronaut Sally Ride, who gave a memorable presentation at the Lesher Center back in 2007, was in the Midwest last week headlining Motorla's Innovation Generation Network conference.  Dr. Ride promoted her message of strengthened math and science education in her talk, which you can read more about by clicking the link below from the Daily Herald suburban Chicago newspaper.

Daily Herald on Dr. Sally Ride's recent speech to the Motorla Innovatio Generation Network conference
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=393761

Our Newsmakers friend, sportswriter Frank Deford, devoted his recent commentary on National Public Radio to the spectical that was LeBron James' decision to sign with the Miami Heat.  As always, Deford has a thoughtful take that should make even James partisans think a second time.  Click below to read.

Frank Deford on the media frenzy around the LeBron James announcement
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128489843

Our Season 5 Newsmakers guest, country music superstar Naomi Judd, has been doing more than just prepping for the upcoming Judds farewell tour.  She recently joined an effort by the Natural Resource Defense Council to limit certain types of coal mining. 

Judd is an interesting political animal with friendships that span the ideological spectrum from Maya Angelou to Sarah Palin.  Like many Americans, she has a wide range of political views, and one might not have expected this as one of her pet causes.  Read more from Rod Perk's NRDC blog below.

NRDC on Naomi Judd joining their anti-mining campaign
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/rperks/naomi_judd_joins_nrdcs_music_s.html

Our Newsmakers friend, Cal Ripken Jr. is in the news again with regard to his former team.  Speculation has swirled around the now-hapless birds of Camden Yards that Ripken might consider re-joining the organization in some capacity, whether it be in the front office, or even to manage. 

In this USA Today Article from last week (see link below), Ripken admits that he is having active talks with the O's about becoming a part of the organization.  This is a move that would seem to make a lot of sense for both Ripken and the team that has never been the same since he retired. 

USA Today on Cal Ripken Jr. talking to the Orioles about returning to baseball in some capacity
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/dailypitch/post/2010/07/cal-ripken-jr-considers-return-to-orioles-organization/1

Our future Lesher Speaker Series guest, author/radio host/travel expert/commentator, Peter Greenberg, is also one of the most active bloggers in the world on a wide range of subjects.  I'm looking forward to asking him how he gets it all done.  Click the link below to read his piece on the recent BP capping the Gulf Coast oil leak.

Peter Greenberg on the oil leak cap
http://www.petergreenberg.com/2010/07/16/bp-caps-well-but-oil-spill-catastrophe-continues/