Secretary of State John Kerry met with his Russian counterpart, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, and top officials from Ukraine and the European Union in Geneva on Thursday to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis in Ukraine. Yesterday, Jay-Z joined Mayor Eric Garcetti to announce the "Made in America" music festival will be held in Grand Park over labor day weekend.
World leaders look for a diplomatic solution to Ukraine crisis
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that world leaders have come to an agreement on how to defuse the crisis in Ukraine.
Kerry met with his Russian counterpart, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, and top officials from Ukraine and the European Union in Geneva on Thursday to find a diplomatic solution. Kerry said the participants agreed on several points including requirements that all illegally armed groups must disarm, all illegally occupied buildings, streets and squares be vacated and Kiev will grant amnesty to protesters and occupiers with the exception of those found guilty of capital offenses.
In a move that Kerry called a final "concrete step", Kerry also said that the OSCE special monitoring mission will undertake a special role assisting Ukrainian authorities to immediately de-escalate the situation.
The agreement could hit the pause button on proposed economic sanctions that the US and the EU had planned to impose on Russia if no solution was agreed upon. But Kerry did not mince words when making it clear to Russia that any further escalation would not be tolerated. If Russia continued to provoke Ukraine, there would be no choice but to impose further costs, he said.
Is the agreement a slap on the wrist for Russia? Should the protesters and occupiers be granted amnesty?
Guest:
Will Pomeranz, Deputy Director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center
New report: The internet is too interconnected to fail
A new report is calling for a more systematic and comprehensive monitoring of internet security and finds the current approach used by world governments and companies too piecemeal and ineffective.
The report released this week by the Atlantic Council and Zurich Insurance Group, says the internet has become an entity too interconnected. A single vulnerability has the potential to bring the entire system down to its knees.
"There are a number of reasons to believe the internet of tomorrow will almost certainly be less resilient, available, and robust than today. It will also be more likely to initiate and cascade global shocks," Jason Healey, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Cyber Statecraft Initiative, writes in the report.
Healey says our current “one risk at a time” approach to safeguarding the web has proven to be outdated and ineffectual, given how much the internet has evolved. The report argues that we must switch from a reactive to a preventive mindset so that issues could be detected and fixed before they become too destructive to contain.
A rethinking of how to better bolster web security has taken on increasing urgency in the wake of the recent discovery of the heartbleed bug, which has threatened to expose sensitive information of users because of a faulty encryption tool used by hundreds of thousands of web sites.
Guest:
Jason Healey, Director of the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council and co-author of the report
Mayor Garcetti and Jay-Z team up to promote downtown LA concert
Jay-Z’s “Made in America” music festival is officially coming to Downtown Los Angeles’ Grand Park. Mayor Eric Garcetti and Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter announced Wednesday that the Budweiser-sponsored festival will be held Labor Day weekend.
The two-day event is expected to draw as many as 50,000 people and will be the first paid-entrance event at the so-called “people’s park.” The lineup has not yet been announced, but tickets went on sale Wednesday.
Mayor Eric Garcetti said the festival will be an economic boon to the city and he hopes it will draw attention to the two-year-old park as a civic gathering spot. Other city leaders have raised concerns about safety and logistics.
Councilman Jose Huizar, who represents Downtown, urged the city to hold off issuing the permit for the concert, citing concerns about street closures and alcohol sales at the concert.
Is a big festival in Grand Park good for Los Angeles? Could an event like this establish the park as a central iconic space in the heart of Los Angeles? Can Downtown handle 50,000 concertgoers? Do the logistical and safety concerns outweigh the potential benefits?
Guest:
LA County Supervisor Gloria Molina
What are the economics of bringing organic food to the masses via Walmart, Costco?
As organic products continue to grow in popularity an increasing number of retailers are looking to get in on the action. Walmart, the country’s largest retailer and grocer, announced this week that it will become the exclusive retailer of Wild Oats organic products, offering them at nearly 25 percent cheaper than other competitors. Wild Oats will supply Walmart with 100 pantry staples from olive oil to canned veggies. Approximately 90 percent of the products will be USDA-certified organic.
Stores such as Target and Costco are following Walmart’s organic lead. Target is in the process of expanding its inventory of “natural, organic, and sustainable” products. Target will introduce more than 120 new products over the next several months under a new category “Made to Matter - Handpicked by Target.” Costco is now carrying items such as organic beef and some vegetables in an attempt to draw in younger consumers.
How will Walmart’s decision to expand its organic selection affect other grocers? Will organic farmers be impacted by an increase in demand? How will the this impact agriculture in California?
Guests:
Joe Dobrow, author of “Natural Prophets: From Health Foods to Whole Foods--How the Pioneers of the Industry Changed the Way We Eat and Reshaped American Business” (Rodale Books, 2014). He served as head of marketing for Fresh Fields, Whole Foods Market, Balducci’s and Sprouts Farmers Market.
Philip Howard, an associate professor who studies food systems at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Should solar panels replace open land in Owens Valley?
Owens Valley residents are putting up a fight over the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s plan to build two square miles of solar panels in the desert. The project, the Southern Owens Valley Solar Ranch, would generate enough power to serve 75,000 homes annually, and would fulfill the city’s obligation to boost renewable energy supply by 2020.
Residents of Owens Valley have been ferociously critical of the field of solar panels, which would cost $680 million dollars, create fewer than 10 permanent jobs, and bring in no property tax revenue.
Critics have expressed distress at the destruction of the untouched landscape in the valley and the lack of long term economic plans. Inyo County has accepted DWP’s $4 million offer of compensation for potential damage to roads, and a $2 million loan to create short term housing for workers.
How will Inyo County proceed in its dealings with the DWP? Is the renewable energy from the solar panels worth changing the environment in Owens valley? What are the viable alternatives?
Guests:
Michael Webster, Assistant Director of Power System Planning and Projects, Department of Water and Power
Bryan Kostors, founder and lead editor of Deepest Valley, a group of community members and citizens that are passionate about the protection and well-being of Inyo County, California
Does science disprove god?
Thinkers such as Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens, and Lawrence Krauss, have vehemently argued that breakthroughs in modern science have irrefutably proven that God does not exist. Now, respected science journalist Amir Aczel has come up with a rebuttal to this narrative of thinking, raising doubts about science’s ability to disprove the existence of God.
Based on interviews with eleven Nobel Prize winners, prominent physicists, theologians and spiritual leaders, "Why Science Does Not Disprove God" provides a fascinating history of science and draws out the religious implications of our expanding understanding of the universe. Can a belief in science and God coexist?
Guest:
Amir Aczel, author of numerous books, including “Why Science Does Not Disprove God” (William Morrow, 2014) and “Fermat’s Last Theorem” (Basic Books, 2007). He is currently a research fellow in the history of science at Boston University, and his writing regularly appears in Scientific American, Discover, and other publications