Today on AirTalk we'll discuss how the "hate group" label could be inhibiting political discourse, examine the ins and outs of enforcing the mandatory condom use law for adult films, review new movies as part of FilmWeek, and sit down with the director of "Death by China," a documentary about the economic relationship between the U.S. and China.
Southern Poverty Law Center’s ‘hate map’ under scrutiny after shooting at Family Research Council
Is the Family Research Council a hate group? The head of the conservative Family Research Council says out-sized rhetoric and its inclusion on a list of hate groups contributed to the shooting of an unarmed security guard at their headquarters earlier this week.
The list is part of a “Hate Map” published each year by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors white supremacist groups, citizen militias, and, increasingly, larger organizations like FRC and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). FRC president Tony Perkins told Bill O’Reilly today, “Because they disagree with our positions on marriage and certain religious issues, [they] have labeled us a ‘hate group’, and that gives license to lunatics like this to come in with a gun and shoot innocent people.”
The Southern Poverty Law Center condemned the shooting, and says it never advocates violence as a solution. But it’s not taking the Family Research Council off its hate map, either. SPLC fellow Mark Potak has said his group, “has listed the FRC as a hate group since 2010 because it has knowingly spread false and denigrating propaganda about LGBT people — not, as some claim, because it opposes same-sex marriage.”
It seems far-fetched to say that the SPLC is responsible for the shooting because of its list. However, it raises the question – when do you call a hate group a hate group, and why? And does the Family Research Council qualify?
Guests:
Mark Potok, Senior Fellow, Southern Poverty Law Center
Jesse Walker, Senior Editor, Reason Magazine and Reason.com; author of a forthcoming book, The United States of Paranoia
How should the city of LA enforce mandatory condom use in the adult-film industry?
A working group in the City of Los Angeles’ City Administrative Office issued a report Wednesday with recommendations on how the city should enforce the mandatory use of condoms in the city’s adult film industry.
The ordinance to require condom on porn sets went into effect earlier this year, but government officials are trying figure out how to enforce such a tricky ordinance. The adult film working group that issued the study has recommended the city identify health-care workers who could visit sets to enforce the new law.
“We came up with what we thought was a common sense approach to establish an enforcement mechanism,” said Miguel Santana, City Administrative Officer for the City of Los Angeles, on AirTalk.
City leaders are now hoping that the condom rule will be expanded to Los Angeles County so that the county health department would be in charge of inspecting adult film sets. County officials, as reported by the L.A. Times, say an adult film permit office would cost a minimum of $291,000 a year. Film L.A. said it issued 22,000 film permits last year and 480 of those were for adult film shoots.
Opponents of the ordinance say it impossible to enforce and that if it goes ahead many producers will leave the southland.
“The thing that’s so frustrating is that it’s completely unnecessary. We haven’t had a transmission of HIV on an adult set in more than eight years, nationwide. So it really is a non-entity,” said Diane Duke, Executive Director of the Free Speech Coalition, on AirTalk.
Michael Weinstein, President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation says that it is not all about HIV/AIDS cases but the general health of these porn actors.
“There was an 18-percent increase in syphilis cases between 2010 and 2011. We had 164,000 cases of chlamydia in the state. And we had 27,000 cases of gonorrhea and 2,500 syphilis cases. STDs are a huge problem and this industry is a hot spot,” Weinstein added.
The new review process will take at least 90 days to develop after officials issue a request for proposals, solicit bids and establish a fee program for the porn industry.
Weigh In:
Will this law ever be able to be enforced? Will the extra layer of bureaucracy send the already struggling film industry out of Los Angeles? How will adult-film workers be protected from diseases and is this law the most effective way to ensure their health?
Guests:
Miguel Santana, City Administrative Officer, City of Los Angeles
Diane Duke, Executive Director, Free Speech Coalition
Michael Weinstein, President, AIDS Healthcare Foundation
FilmWeek: The Expendables 2, ParaNorman, The Odd Life of Timothy Green, Sparkle, Cosmopolis, Why Stop Now and more
Larry is joined by KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell, Henry Sheehan and Charles Solomon to review this week’s new films, including The Expendables 2, ParaNorman, Cosmopolis and more. Also, we’ll take a moment to look back at the films of Elvis Presley, as today marks the 35th anniversary of his death. TGI-FilmWeek!
Guests:
Tim Cogshell, film critic for KPCC and Box Office Magazine
Henry Sheehan, film critic for KPCC and dearhenrysheehan.com
Charles Solomon, animation critic for KPCC, author and historian for amazon.com
Trailer for The Expendables 2
Trailer for ParaNorman
Trailer for The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Trailer for Sparkle
Author, filmmaker Peter Navarro on documentary 'Death By China'
Ever since the financial crisis of 2008, the economy has been on the forefront of every American’s mind.
With the election ratcheting up and November drawing ever closer, it’s getting even more pronounced. And when one considers the economy, it’s impossible not to consider the influence China has had on the United States. Since 2001, the country has been flooding U.S. markets with illegally subsidized properties. During that time period, we’ve seen 50,000 American factories disappear, and unemployment is a chronic problem for over 25 million Americans. To make matters worse, the U.S. owes China over $3 trillion due to its economic trade relationship with the totalitarian nation.
In his new documentary “Death by China,” Peter Navarro adapts the book of the same name he wrote with Greg Autry to the big screen. He tackles the issue of the relationship between the U.S. and China by interviewing a wide array of journalists, politicians and other experts.
How broken is this international economic situation? Is it possible to fix it before it’s too late? How did we get to the point where we owe this much to another country? How is it affecting our nation’s economy in the short and long term?
Guests:
Peter Navarro, Writer, Director and Producer of the documentary film Death By China; Professor of Economics at UC Irvine
Jordan Levine, Economist and Director of Economic Research, Beacon Economics
Trailer for Death By China