The fast food breakfast wars are heating up as Taco Bell introduces its national breakfast menu. How will McDonald's breakfast sales fare after Taco Bell's menu launches? Later, why is it so difficult to keep a secret? Patt Morrison guest hosts.
Polio-like mystery illness appears in California children
About 20 cases of a polio-like syndrome have been found in California children since 2012, causing severe weakness or paralysis in one or more limbs—and physicians and public health officials are still scratching their heads trying to determine what exactly is ailing them.
Dr. Keith Van Haren, a pediatric neurologist at Stanford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, is part of the team investigating the illness. He says it’s not polio, as those affected had been vaccinated against the disease. He will present the cases of five impacted children at the American Academy of Neurology's upcoming annual meeting.
Scans of patients spinal cords showed damage patterns similar to those found in polio sufferers. Several of the children have tested positive for enterovirus-68, a virus that is usually associated with respiratory illness but has also been linked to polio-like illnesses. The children, whose average age is 12, have not recovered mobility of their paralyzed limbs.
Polio is a vaccine-preventable illness that has disappeared from much of the world—including the United States—but it continues to affect people living in developing countries. The 18 cases of polio reported so far this year were in southeastern Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.
Those investigating the California illness are urging physicians to report new cases of acute paralysis as they work to determine a cause.
For more resources and contact information you can visit the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health website.
Guest:
Dr. Keith Van Haren, a pediatric neurologist at Stanford University. He and his fellow researchers will present findings of these infections at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting in Philadelphia next month.
Dr. Thomas Mack, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Pathology at the Keck School of Medicine, USC
AZ Governor faces pressure from business groups to veto 'anti-gay' bill
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer still has not come out publicly and said whether she will sign the state's controversial religious freedom bill (SB 1062) that passed the legislature last week. The Governor is now under increasing pressure from corporations and business groups to veto the bill over concerns that it will hurt the state's economy.
The bill allows business owners and employees with strong religious beliefs to deny service to gays and lesbians. Companies from American Airlines to Apple, which announced last November that they will build a sapphire glass plant in Mesa, AZ, urged Gov. Brewer to quash the bill.The new Apple plant could bring an estimated 2,000 jobs to the state.
The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council have also asked the Governor to veto the bill over concerns that it would be a setback to the state's economic recovery. There is some data to back up their concerns. Research from the progressive think tank Center for American Progress showed that a boycott sparked by an immigration crackdown in 2010 cost the state $141 million in lost contracts and convention business.
Will pressure from corporations and business groups affect Gov. Brewer's decision? Will signing the bill lead to any measurable economic loss?
Guest:
Jeremy Duda, Governor’s Office Reporter for the Arizona Capitol Times
Fast food breakfast wars heat up with lunchtime McMuffins and Taco Bell’s waffle taco
Breakfast on the go is big business for the fast food chains that dominate the early morning drive-thrus. The Golden Arches might be most people's first stop for an early morning sausage biscuit but they're going to be facing new competition from an unlikely source.
Taco Bell is encroaching on McDonald's turf with the introduction of its new national breakfast menu starting on March 27. The menu is designed to appeal to its customer base of young men with items such as a waffle taco, the A.M. Crunchwrap and breakfast burritos.
The company's president Brian Niccol said in an interview that he thought the taco chain could go up against the Egg McMuffin and "turn the breakfast conversation into a two-horse race.”
The kicker is that you'll be able to get your Taco Bell munchies all the way until 11am - a half hour longer than you can get breakfast at McDonald's. But now, possibly from the incoming threat of competition, McDonald's is looking into extending their breakfast hours until 11am.
McDonald's USA president Jeff Stratton noted recently that cutting off breakfast on the weekends at 10:30 a.m. "doesn't go very well" with the millennial generation. Biscuits, Hotcakes and other items bring in roughly 20 percent of the company's U.S. Sales.
Will McDonald's sales suffer once Taco Bell is on the scene? Will the new menu become a game changer in the fast food breakfast business? And, importantly, how long will it be before you can get an Egg McMuffin for lunch?
Guest:
Sam Oches, editor of the fast food industry publication QSR magazine.
Early ovary removal may save lives for women with BRCA mutations (Poll)
A new study authored by Dr. Steven Narod at the University of Toronto shows that women with BRCA 1 and BRCA 2 mutations may benefit from early screening and even prophylactic removal of their ovaries to avoid ovarian cancer.
The study found that if women with these mutations have their ovaries removed by age 35, they can reduce their risk of ovarian cancer by up to 80 percent.
The study findings were so overwhelming that researchers think that ovary removal women with the BRCA 1 should become standardized. Other oncologists support the study findings in a more reserved way, saying that routine screening for women with familial history and evaluation of options, including early prophylactic oophorectomies, could save lives.
Is early ovary removal the best way to prevent ovarian cancer for women under 35 with BRCA mutations? Are there other options for women who may want to wait to have children? How will this study affect oncology and gynecology in the future?
Guests:
Dr. Joyce Liu, MD, MPH, instructor in medicine, Harvard University,
Dr. Noah Kauff, Director, Ovarian Cancer Screening and Prevention, Gynecology Service, Department of Surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital
Does the Mt. Gox collapse undermine Bitcoin’s economy?
Leading Bitcoin exchange and storage site Mt. Gox has apparently collapsed today after a week of tumultuousness and a year of business trouble. The site, initially built to digitally trade Magic cards, evolved into a transaction and storage site for Bitcoin.
Cyptocurrencies like Bitcoin used in online transactions have made waves in recent years as acceptance of virtual money has evolved. Bitcoin grew from a less-than-pennies way to pay for online services into a bartering tool accepted by some banks, casinos, and businesses. The currency reached a high point when one Bitcoin was valued at about $1000 and has since fluctuated vastly.
Disruptions in trade of Bitcoin on Mt. Gox have raised questions about the currency’s stability -- could a shutdown or hack like this undermine the entire currency? What makes currency -- in any form -- valuable? Can virtual money be devalued by virtual problems?
Guests
Chris O’Brien, technology reporter, Los Angeles Times, who’s been covering the story.
Bhaskar Chakravorti, Ph.D, Senior Associate Dean for International Business and Finance and Executive Director of the Institute for Business in the Global Context (IBGC) and Council on Emerging Market Enterprises at the Fletcher School at Tufts University
Guide dog fraud on the rise in California
Guide dog advocates are pushing California lawmakers to do something about the growing problem of dog owners fraudulently presenting their pets as “service dogs” in order to take the masquerading mutts places they’re not otherwise allowed.
Service dog harnesses, badges and vests can all be purchased online—and phony service dogs can be a nuisance to businesses and those who depend on genuine service animals.
Misrepresenting a pet as a service animal is already a misdemeanor in California, but enforcement is difficult. Business owners are not allowed to require proof of the service dog’s legitimacy.
In a Senate committee hearing Monday, legislators listened to concerns from members of the disabled community, guide dog trainers and business owners to determine whether policy changes are necessary to address to problem.
Have you seen dogs dressed as service animals misbehaving in public spaces? Should more be done to ensure that all animals presented as service dogs are the real deal?
Guest:
Marc Mason, Acting Executive Officer, State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind, which licenses guide dog schools and guide dog instructors in California
Why is it so hard to keep a secret?
Could it be true that secrets really are no fun, unless you share with everyone?
Research indicates that secrecy can be a source of both mental and physical distress, since keeping secrets requires continual effort. It appears that more meaningful secrets require more effort to keep.
One recent study found that when subjects were asked to conceal their sexual orientation during an interview performed more poorly on spatial tasks and reacted more rudely to criticism.
All this mental exertion could actually wear your body down. Some scientists have indicated a link between keeping emotionally charged secrets and illnesses as common as a cold to more serious chronic diseases.
Do you struggle with keeping secrets? Have you felt the burden of concealing an important secret? How have you dealt with keeping a meaningful secret?
Guest:
Atlantic Magazine’s Sarah Yager, Associated Editor, Atlantic magazine, who’s the author of the piece