Following the murders of three Muslim American students in North Carolina, how does law enforcement determines whether a crime is driven by hate? Also, marketers beware, research shows using love to sell products stops single people from buying. Then, with the upcoming release of "Fifty Shades of Grey," why aren't there more kinky films?
How law enforcement determines whether a crime is motivated by hate
The murders of three Muslim American students in North Carolina have sparked outrage and questions over the shooter’s motive.
Chapel Hill police say a parking dispute most likely led to the crime, but vow to continue their investigation to determine whether religious hatred was a factor. How does law enforcement determines whether a crime is driven by hate? What criteria are used? How long do these investigations usually take?
Guest:
Brian Levin, criminologist and attorney; director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at Cal State, San Bernardino where he specializes in analysis of hate crime, terrorism and legal issues
Pasadena man explains why he wants to volunteer to die on Mars
Tomorrow, about 100 people will come one-step closer to become the first settlers on the Red Planet for the Mars One program.
The caveat, it’s essentially a one-way trip and the final four volunteers won’t return to earth. Why would anyone want to join such a mission?
Guest:
Evan Dorn, a web developer based in Pasadena, CA and Mars One program applicant
Marketing love turns off consumers, study says
Americans will be spending an estimated $19 billion for Valentine’s Day this year. Not joining the hordes of consumers during the Hallmark holiday, unsurprisingly are singles.
Rather than indulging in retail therapy to ease the sting of loneliness during the love fest, a consumer psychologist expert says they spend less. Lisa Cavanaugh’s research published in the Journal of Marketing Research found individuals spend less money, choose lower-end products and will eat lower-calorie food when marketing reminds them of relationships they don’t have.
Using a loving couple, running in slow motion on a beach to sell teeth whitening strips, won’t get any business from single consumers. She says, “By reminding people of relationships they don’t have, marketers inadvertently make consumers feel undeserving — less worthy of treating and rewarding themselves.”
If you’re single, do you think advertising affects how much you spend on yourself? Will Valentine’s Day impact how much you treat yourself?
Guest:
Lisa Cavanaugh, Consumer Psychologist at USC Marshall School of Business, author of study “Because I (Don't) Deserve It: How Relationship Reminders and Deservingness Influence Consumer Indulgence”
Assisted suicide case filed in San Francisco Superior Court: Can right-to-die come to California?
The latest attempt to shape the right-to-die debate has come in the form of a lawsuit filed by a cancer patient and five doctors with the San Francisco Superior Court.
At present, California has a ban on physician-assisted suicide. Oregon, Washington and Vermont have passed legislation by either the legislature or the ballot box allowing terminally ill patients to obtain lethal doses of medications from their physicians, while New Mexico and Montana gained differing degrees of right-to-die protection from court cases.
Last November, the debate resurfaced with the case of Brittany Maynard, a 29-year-old woman who moved to Oregon to take advantage of their assisted suicide law after she found out that she had terminal brain cancer.
Now, California is experiencing the debate on multiple fronts. The new lawsuit joins an effort by legislators to introduce a bill in the California State Senate that would establish an end of life option for terminally ill patients.
In addition, there is speculation that, if either or both of these efforts were to fail, advocacy groups would attempt to get a measure on the ballot for a popular vote, reflecting the success of such initiatives as Oregon’s in 1994 and 1997 and Washington’s in 2008.
Should terminally ill patients be able to obtain lethal doses of medications from their physicians? How can the rights of patients be squared with claims by those who oppose right-to-die legislation that patients would be pushed into assisted suicide? Is a court challenge the best way to enact end of life legislation, or is it just an additional tool for advocates to create change and shape the debate?
Guests:
Kathryn Tucker, executive director of the Disability Rights Legal Center and the lawyer representing the plaintiffs in this lawsuit
Leo Wallach, Principal at RALLY, an issue advocacy firm that works at the intersection of strategic communications and public policy.
How kids paid the price for adults’ mistakes in Little League World Series scandal
The story of the Jackie Robinson West Little League baseball team is a heart-warming tale about a group of under-privileged kids from one of Chicago’s more dangerous neighborhoods rising above adversity and poverty to shine a good light on a part of town that wasn’t always seen that way.
During this summer’s Little League World Series, the team from JRW on Chicago’s South Side ran roughshod through nearly every other team they faced on their way to beating the team from Las Vegas to win the Little League World Series U.S. Championship. Though they ultimately lost to the International champions, South Korea, in the final game, they became the first team made up entirely of black players to win a U.S. Championship, and in doing so, won the hearts of fans across the country.
Yesterday, the news broke that the kids from JRW would be stripped of their U.S. Championship after it was discovered that several kids on the team resided outside of the Jackie Robinson West district. The U.S. Championship was awarded to the Las Vegas Mountain Ridge Little League Team.
Should the kids from JRW be punished for the mistakes made by adults? What would be an appropriate alternative to stripping the team of its title?
Guests:
Jon Greenberg, columnist for ESPNChicago.com. He followed the team last summer on its Little League World Series run and wrote a column yesterday for ESPN about them being stripped of their title.
Bill Littlefield, host of “Only A Game,” NPR’s sports show that airs weekends on affiliate stations across the country and is based out of NPR affiliate WBUR in Boston.
'Fifty Shades' tamed kink for the mainstream movie crowd
That France's film board gave a PG-12 rating to "Fifty Shades of Grey" hints at where this steamy flick stands in the limited line of erotic, mainstream, American films.
Opening this weekend for Valentine's Day, the cinematic adaptation of the book that popularized sado-masochistic sexuality was dismissed as "really a romance, we could even call it a bleuette — a sentimental tale,” said the French ratings president Jean-Francois Mary. (To be fair, Mary is being criticized heavily for the PG-12 decision.)
Despite the marketing truism that "sex sells," movies about sexual fetishes are rare and mostly forgettable - a lonely exception being "Secretary" starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader that was liked both critically and commercially.
In our pornographic, sexualized culture, why aren't there more kinky films? And why aren't they better made? Is film the wrong medium for restrained, suggestive erotica?
Guests:
, Chief Film Critic, Variety
Amy Nicholson, KPCC Film Critic and Chief Film Critic, LA Weekly