Armenian Genocide Story Blocked at LA Times; Ethanol: Solution Or New Problem?; Special Counsel Investigates Karl Rove; A Year Inside The Nation's Most Exclusive Police Unit
Armenian Genocide Story Blocked at LA Times
Los Angeles Times managing editor, Doug Frantz, prohibited veteran reporter Mark Arax from publishing his story on the Armenian genocide. Frantz reportedly did so because he believed that Arax, who is ethnically Armenian, had taken a position on the Armenian genocide. The LA Times has launched an internal investigation over the matter according to reporter Mark Arax. Larry and his guests discuss the controversy.
Ethanol: Solution Or New Problem?
Its supporters tout it as the key to getting off foreign oil. Derived from corn, sugars or grasses, ethanol can be produced domestically, and since it comes from plants, the production processes will consume atmospheric carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas. But many environmentalists point out serious downsides, and say its no substitute for efficient cars and mass transit. In fact, a new study from Stanford University says the widespread use of ethanol could cause serious ground-level smog problems in the Los Angeles basin. Larry talks with proponents from both sides about the ethanol debate.
Special Counsel Investigates Karl Rove
An obscure federal investigative unit known as the Office of Special Counsel is launching a broad inquiry into elements of the White House political operations headed for more than six years by Karl Rove. The focus of the investigation is twofold. One aspect involves the firing of David Iglesias, a U.S. Attorney from New Mexico. The other centers on the political nature of a PowerPoint presentation that J. Scott Jennings, a Rove aid, made at the General Services Administration this year. Larry and guests talk about the significance of this new investigation for the Bush White House.
A Year Inside The Nation's Most Exclusive Police Unit
Special units tasked with the disarming and disposing of unexploded bombs are now ubiquitous in U.S. police departments. Although the implementation of bomb squads increased about 25 percent after 9/11, one police department found it necessary to operate such a unit early in the last century. Established in 1903, the New York City Police Department Bomb Squad is the oldest in the nation. In their new book Bomb Squad, veteran journalists Richard Esposito and Ted Gerstein chronicle a year spent working within the NYPD Bomb Squad.