IRAQ…IS IT TURNING INTO A CIVIL WAR?; ROY ROMER TO LEAVE LAUSD; INDEPENDENT VOTERS ON THE RISE IN CALIFORNIA; U.S. PORT DEAL RAISES BIPARTISAN CONCERNS; THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATHENAEUM AT CALTECH
IRAQ…IS IT TURNING INTO A CIVIL WAR?
The death toll is mounting in Iraq after yesterday's attack on a Shiite shrine. Officials say at least 111 people have died in the violence since blasts shattered the 12-hundred-year-old Askariya (ah-skah-REE'-ah) shrine in Samarra, a mostly Sunni Arab city 60 miles north of Baghdad. The hardline Sunni Clerical Association of Muslim Scholars said 168 Sunni mosques had been attacked around the country, 10 imams killed and 15 abducted since the shrine attack. The Interior Ministry said it could only confirm figures for Baghdad, where it had reports of 19 mosques attacked, one cleric killed and one abducted. In response to the reprisals, Sunni Arabs have suspended their participation in talks on a new government. Is a civil war beginning in Iraq?
ROY ROMER TO LEAVE LAUSD
The Los Angeles Unified School District board has started an executive search to find a replacement for departing Superintendent Roy Romer, who announced last week that he does not intend to complete the 16 months remaining on his contract. Larry talks to Romer about his decision, his thoughts about his tenure at LAUSD, and his hopes for the future.
INDEPENDENT VOTERS ON THE RISE IN CALIFORNIA
The number of independent voters in California has doubled since 1990. They now comprise more than 18% of the state’s electorate. Why is this trend occurring? Is this the beginning of the end of California’s polarized, two-party system? Larry Mantle tackles these questions and more with political analysts David Lesher and Sherry Bebitch-Jeffe.
U.S. PORT DEAL RAISES BIPARTISAN CONCERNS
President bush faces a rebellion from leaders of his own party, as well as from Democrats, about a deal that would put Dubai Ports, a company owned by the United Arab Emirates, in charge of major shipping operations in New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami and Philadelphia. While President Bush vehemently defends the deal, the White House said Wednesday he was unaware of the pending sale of shipping operations until the deal already had been approved by his administration. Bush brushed aside objections by leaders in the Senate and House that the $6.8 billion sale could raise risks of terrorism at American ports. He pledged to veto any bill Congress might pass to block the agreement involving the sale of a British company to the Arab firm. Larry speaks with guests including Senator Barbara Boxer about the bipartisan objections to the port deal.
THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ATHENAEUM AT CALTECH
Larry Mantle talks with Arden Albee, Ph.D., Professor of Geology and Planetary Science Emeritus, Dean of Graduate Studies at Caltech, and Romy Wyllie, author of Caltech's Architectural Heritage, From Spanish Tile to Modern Stone, about the Athenaeum.