HOST:
Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC, in VOA Special English.
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This is Doug Johnson.
On our show this week … some old-time blues music, and aquestion about the F.B.I.
But first, we investigate the roots of a national observance.
Arbor Day
HOST:
April thirtieth is Arbor Day in the United States. It is not anofficial holiday. Children still have to go to school. Instead, itis a day for planting trees. Shep O’Neal has our report.
ANNCR:
“Arbor” comes from the Latin wordfor tree. The idea for Arbor Day came from the American Midwest morethan one-hundred-thirty-years ago. At that time, Nebraska was notyet a state. It was a territory. The land was wide and open, andflat mostly. There were almost no trees.
A reporter named Sterling Morton moved to Nebraska. He and hiswife loved nature. They planted trees and flowers around their newhome. Mister Morton became the editor of the first newspaper inNebraska.
He wrote about agriculture and the importance of trees. Nebraskaneeded trees to prevent the wind from blowing away the soil. Treesalso protect against the hot summer sun.
Sterling Morton became an official of the Nebraska Territory. Heproposed a tree-planting holiday. Local agriculture officialsorganized the first “Arbor Day” on April tenth,eighteen-seventy-two. There were prizes for planting the most trees.
Experts say more than one-million trees were planted in Nebraskaon that first Arbor Day. The idea for a day for planting trees beganto spread to other areas of the country. By eighteen-seventy-four,every state celebrated Arbor Day.
Today, most states celebrate Arbor Day on the last Friday inApril. But some celebrate at other times, when the weather in theirarea is better for planting trees. For example, the southern statesof Florida and Louisiana celebrate Arbor Day on the third Friday inJanuary. Arbor Day in Oregon is April fourth. In Colorado, it isApril sixteenth.
The National Arbor Day Foundation is a private group that helpspeople plant trees and plan Arbor Day activities. And I bet you canguess where the National Arbor Day Foundation has its headquarters.That’s right, Nebraska.
The F.B.I.
HOST:
Our VOA listener question thisweek comes by e-mail. A student somewhere in China wants to knowabout the F.B.I.
The F.B.I. is the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is the maininvestigating agency of the Department of Justice in the UnitedStates. The F.B.I. enforces more than two-hundred federal laws. Butit says its two most important jobs now are to prevent terrorism andspying.
The F.B.I. assists other law enforcement agencies in the UnitedStates and foreign countries. It has the world’s largest collectionof fingerprints and is also known for its crime laboratories.
The F.B.I. employs about twenty-seven-thousand people. They workin fifty-six offices in the United States and more than fortyoffices in other countries.
More than eleven-thousand men and women serve as special agents.They investigate crimes like bank robberies, but also crimesinvolving computers, the environment and terrorism.
The F.B.I. has been criticized for its part in the failure tostop the hijackings on September eleventh, two-thousand-one. F.B.I.Director Robert Mueller recently went before the national commissioninvestigating the attacks in New York and Washington.
Mister Mueller said the F.B.I. and other agencies have made manychanges since then. He said new laws have made it easier to shareinformation about possible terrorist threats. He said these effortshave to led to al-Qaida supporters and the seizure of millions ofdollars in terrorist financing.
Eric Clapton Plays Robert Johnson
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HOST:
Singer and guitarist Eric Claptonhas a new album. It honors one of the early American musicians whohelped invent the kind of music known as the blues. Faith Lapidushas more.
ANNCR:
Over the years, Eric Clapton has sold millions of records on hisown and with bands like Cream and the Yardbirds. The British-bornmusician says he has been successful because of the influence of oneman, Robert Johnson. Johnson died a mysterious death innineteen-thirty-eight. He was only twenty-six years old.
The new album is called “Me and Mister Johnson.” It containsfourteen Robert Johnson songs. Eric Clapton does not play them theway Johnson did. But he is true to the heart and soul of the bluesthat Robert Johnson wrote and played.
Here Eric Clapton plays a Robert Johnson song called “LittleQueen of Spades.”
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Eric Clapton is one of the few musicians today who continues theblues tradition begun by Robert Johnson. We leave you with anotherRobert Johnson song from “Me and Mister Johnson.” This one is called”Kind Hearted Woman Blues.”
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HOST:
This is Doug Johnson.
I hope you enjoyed AMERICAN MOSAIC. Join us again next week forVOA’s radio magazine in Special English.
This program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Paul Thompson,who was also our producer. Our engineer was Tom Verba.
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