President Obama's Chamber of Commerce speech. AOL announces the purchase of Huffington Post. UC Irvine protest students are set to be indicted. Should the President be able to shut down the internet in case of a cyber emergency? The Bible’s mixed messages on sex. Representative Jane Harman is stepping down.
Can Obama succeed without the support of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce?
For most of his Presidency, Obama’s relationship with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been strained at best. But today his tone is one of compromise and conciliation. The Chamber has orchestrated a very strategic plan to get more Republicans elected to Congress and to push the Obama Administration and Congressional Democrats closer to reflecting the goals of the business interest it represents. The Chamber’s power and influence is so great that President Obama has, as a political necessity, moved closer to business to get support for his job creation efforts and health care reform—two issues that will play big with voters in 2013. Will this strategy work?
Guests:
Lisa Graves, executive director of the Center for Media & Democracy
Dan Mitchell, senior fellow, Cato Institute
You’ve got $315-million - AOL buys Huffington Post
The Packers may have won the Super Bowl, but Arianna Huffington is arguably a bigger winner this morning, as AOL has agreed to purchase The Huffington Post for $315-million. This merger instantly creates one of the biggest media companies in the world, with global and local reach to be leveraged across every platform, including the web, smartphones, and tablets. Arianna Huffington will become editor-in-chief of HuffPo and the newly formed Huffington Post Media Group, which will include all of AOL’s content sites, including Patch, Engadget, TechCrunch, Moviefone, PopEater, MapQuest, Black Voices, and Moviefone. Together, the companies will have a combined base of 117 million unique U.S. visitors a month -- and 250 million around the world. Will this move transform AOL for the better? Might it have a negative impact on the Huffington Post?
Guest:
David Folkenflik, Media Correspondent for NPR News
“Irvine 11” charged with conspiracy
The Orange County District Attorney has charged the so-called “Irvine 11” with conspiring to disrupt a speech by Israeli ambassador Michael Oren at UC Irvine last year. In a statement, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas defended the misdemeanor charges against the Muslim students saying “we cannot tolerate a preplanned violation of the law, even if the crime takes place on a school campus and even if the defendants are college students.” Last month, AirTalk broke the story that an Orange County grand jury had been convened and was considering conspiracy charges against the students. Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of UCI’s School of Law, said the students didn’t have a first amendment right to disrupt the speech, but that the criminal charges aren’t warranted. UCI had already taken disciplinary action against the disruptive students and suspended the Muslim Student Union (MSU) for the fall 2010 quarter. The MSU is also serving two years of probation. If convicted, the students face possible fines, probation, community service or jail time. Are the charges fair or overly harsh? What impact will they have?
Guests:
Tony Rackauckas, Orange County District Attorney
Jacqueline Goodman, Fullerton-based criminal defense attorney representing 7 of the UCI students charged
Jane Harman leaving Congress for bipartisan-ier pastures
Rep. Jane Harman, who has represented the Los Angeles area in the House for nine terms, is planning to step down to head up the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She sent out an email today notifying her constituents and explaining her decision. "I have always believed that the best solutions to tough problems require a bipartisan approach, and bipartisanship is the [Woodrow Wilson] center's 'brand. …Serving at its helm provides unique opportunities to involve the House and Senate, top experts, and world leaders in 'great debates' about the most pressing foreign and domestic policy matters.” A special election will be required to determine the congresswoman's replacement, begging the question: who will step in to fill the vacuum that Harman is leaving behind?
Guest:
Kitty Felde, KPCC’s Washington Correspondent in DC
Should the President be able to shut down the internet in case of a cyber emergency?
The tech world is abuzz with news of a proposed cyber security bill that would allegedly allow the president to activate a “kill switch” to shut down the internet in the case of a cyber emergency. But the three senators who authored the “Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset “ Act bristle at the term “kill switch” and are going to pains to make a distinction between the 5 day internet blackout in Egypt and what they term a true “cyber security emergency.” They insist that although the bill enables the president to “protect the U.S. from external cyber attacks,” this is not the same thing as shutting down the internet. So what does it allow exactly? How will this differ from Hosni Mubarak’s internet disconnection? And why are tech companies skeptical and cyber freedom activists on high alert?
Guest:
Dave Zax, Fast Company reporter
Steve DelBianco, NetChoice
What does the Bible say about sex? - depends on the chapter & verse
What does he Bible say about premarital-sex, sexual desire, same-sex relations and divorce? According to professor religion Jennifer Wright Knust, when it comes to sex the Bible is full of contradictions, telling us that prostitution is okay under certain circumstances, that women can fulfill their desires outside of marriage as long as they’re beautiful and that divorce is acceptable but remarriage is considered adultery. In her new book “Unprotected Texts” she examines what the Bible actually says about these matters and concludes that despite popular claims to the contrary, the Bible cannot and should not be used as a rulebook for sexual morality. With so many mixed messages, can we rely on the Bible to guide us in these areas that affect us most intimately?
Guest:
Jennifer Wright Knust, author of Unprotected Texts: The Bible’s Surprising Contradictions about Sex and Desire (Harper One)