Parental Notification Initiative; The College of Cardinals and the Papal Conclave; SPRING FORWARD: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time
Parental Notification Initiative
A group called Life on the Ballot is backing an initiative to place on Governor Schwarzenegger’s special election in November. The initiative called “The Parents’Right to Know and Child Protection Initiative” would require doctors to notify the parents or guardians of unmarried women age 17 or younger 48 hours before performing an abortion. Opponents of this initiative include Planned Parenthood and the ACLU fear that parental notification would place an undue burden on a young woman’s right to have an abortion. Larry will also discuss the unknown effect the initiative might have on the Governor’s special election plan since the measure could motivate huge numbers of single-issue voters to go to the polls. Joining the conversation is Albin Rhomberg, spokesman for the Parents Right to Know and Child Protection Initiative, Kathy Kneer, President and CEO of Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, and Bruce Cain, Robson Professor of Political Science, and Director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley.
The College of Cardinals and the Papal Conclave
Cardinals meet today to begin the voting process to elect a new Pope. It is unlikely that any that any American cardinals will be considered for the position, but several Latin Americans have been mentioned as the potential first pope from the Third World. According to the Associated Press, they include Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes and Honduran Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga. There is also talk of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, or Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the Vicar of Rome and a powerful Italian Cardinal, as possible successors to John Paul II. Or, will it be Cardinal Scola, the Patriarch of Venice? The truth is: no one really knows much about this process, let alone who will be elected to be the next Pope. Jeff Israely, Time magazine bureau chief in Rome, and Father James Fredericks, Professor of Theology, Loyola Marymount College, join Larry to discuss the Papal succession.
SPRING FORWARD: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time
Author Michael Downing joins Larry to ponder the history of why America adopted daylight saving time nearly a century ago. The idea of it came from a British architect in 1907, and many nations used daylight saving time during WWI. America stopped using it after the war, and then New York City made it law in 1920. The rest of the country adopted daylight saving time in fits and starts, with some people in favor of it (like baseball fans) and others opposed to the idea, like farmers. Michael Downing joins Larry to talk about his book Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time (Avalon).