The investigation of the missing Malaysian jetliner is still ongoing. The plane was carrying 239 people when it vanished on a flight between Kuala Lumpur to Beijing over the weekend.What are some leads that investigators are pursuing? A California man is suing a Las Vegas Casino arguing that he was too drunk to gamble. Is there a legal case that he was too drunk to gamble?
Criminal enterprise or tragic accident? Mystery of missing Malaysian jet intensifies
Questions still linger over why a Malaysian jetliner carrying 239 people vanished on a flight between Kuala Lumpur to Beijing over the weekend. A few clues including a large oil slick found in the ocean near Vietnam and a yellow object that looked like a life raft turned out to be false leads and there is still no sign of the Boeing 777 aircraft.
Investigators are looking into the identities of all passengers on board and have identified one man who was traveling on a false passport.
International investigators haven't ruled out any possible causes of the accident, including terrorism, but Taiwan's national security agency dismissed reports that an anonymous tip they received last week warning that terrorists were targeting Beijing's international airport was connected to the disaster.
Answers to what happened to the jetliner are likely to remain a mystery until wreckage from the crash is found, which could take years.
How do investigators start piecing together what happened to the jet? What are some leads that investigators are pursuing? Is it possible that a mechanical malfunction brought down the jet? How does a huge aircraft completely vanish from the radar with no distress signal?
Guest:
Captain Ross "Rusty" Aimer, former United Airlines pilot and CEO of Aero Consulting
Brian Michael Jenkins, Terrorism Expert and Senior Advisor to the President of the Rand Corporation
Earthquake Storms: The Fascinating History of the San Andreas Fault
California lives under the threat of a tectonic time bomb, thanks to the San Andreas fault. While earthquake kits are commonplace in homes across the state in preparation for ‘the big one’, little attention is given to the history of the geological feature.
In his new book, Earthquake Storms, John Dvorak begins to demystify the inner workings of the San Andreas fault through the stories of scientists who've studied the vast crack in the earth for over a century. The book also explores the evolving nature of the fault and the insight it provides into America's seismic future.
Guest:
John Dvorak, scientist and author of “Earthquake Storms: The Fascinating History and Volatile Future of the San Andreas Fault” (Pegasus, 2014)
Too drunk to gamble? Man sues Las Vegas casino after losing $500,000
A California businessman who filed a lawsuit against the Downtown Grand Las Vegas Hotel and Casino says he's not being a sore loser after leaving a hefty $500,000 behind on the casino's blackjack tables.
Mark Johnston says he was served 20 free drinks by the casino, which he claims used the alcohol as a tactic to part him from his cash. Johnston says he shouldn't have to pay his debt to the casino - including the $250,000 the casino loaned him - because its employees gave him so much alcohol that he blacked out and could not be responsible for his actions.
Johnston describes himself as a veteran gambler who's lost his fair share of cash in casinos, so why should he not be held responsible this time around?
It turns out that casinos do bear some responsibility for the free drinks they dole out to gamblers. The Nevada Gaming Control Board is now investigating the Downtown Grand to determine whether it violated gaming regulations that prohibit casinos from "permitting persons who are visibly intoxicated to participate in gaming activity" and from providing "complimentary service of intoxicating beverages in the casino area to persons who are visibly intoxicated."
Does Johnston have a legal case that he was too drunk to gamble? Should casinos be responsible for over-serving alcohol to gamblers?
Guest:
Sean Lyttle, lawyer in Las Vegas representing Mark Johnston, the plaintiff, in the case
Joseph M Kelly, a professor of business law at SUNY College at Buffalo and an associate of the Catania Consulting Group, a gaming consultancy in New Jersey. He is licensed to practice law in Illinois, Nevada, and Wisconsin. He is also co-editor of Gaming Law Review. He has represented many major casinos, but not in the area of debt collection.
Libertarian Rand Paul wins Republican Straw Poll
Once again this year, Senator Rand Paul (KY) was the most popular choice for a presidential candidacy as voted by the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The annual straw poll had Paul ahead by 20 points with 31 percent.
Although Tea Party champion Senator Ted Cruz (TX) and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie are more well known across the country, they came in with just 11 percent and 8 percent respectively.Sliding in between was Ben Carson - a popular African-American conservative speaker and former neurosurgeon - with 9 percent of the vote.
Why was the Republican who is most committed to libertarian principles vaulted to the top for a second year in a row? Will there be a resurgence of that wing of the GOP?
Guest:
Doyle McManus, Washington columnist for the Los Angeles Times
UC Davis creates center for the study of coffee science
UC Davis has introduced a new Coffee Center to its Foods for Health Institute. The coffee-focused program joins other food and beverage programs at UC Davis, which has made valuable contributions to the food and wine industries and is home to the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.
The UC Davis Coffee Center is currently being run on an ad hoc basis, funded by the Foods for Health Institute but without a permanent home. Once partnerships with the coffee industry firm up funding models, the university may introduce a coffee sciences major.
Research at the coffee center will examine every stage of production in the ever-growing coffee industry. Coffee producers that have partnered with Davis to foster the new coffee program cite the changing market and the need to better understand coffee crops as part of what inspired the Coffee Center.
How could research in coffee science change the industry? Can UC Davis do for coffee what it did for wine?
Guest:
J. Bruce German, director of the Foods for Health Institute at UC Davis
The Sabremetric Revolution: how have analytics changed baseball?
In the decade since the Oakland Athletics record winning season and the subsequent publishing of bestselling book “Moneyball,” sabremetrics, the empirical analysis of baseball, has revolutionized front offices for teams all over the country.
The 2002 A’s used creative statistical interpretation to topple the richest, most stacked teams, setting an example for other teams that mathematical analysis could help win baseball games.
In their new book, Benjamin Baumer, former Mets sabremetician, and Anderw Zimbalist, an economics professor and sports industry consultant, explore the growth of sabremetrics in baseball.
How accurate are sabremetrics? Does this kind of statistical analysis really level the playing field, or is there only so much you can do with the talent you have? Is sabremetrics just a trend, or does it have larger potential?
Guests:
Andrew Zimbalist, Coauthor, “The Sabremetric Revolution: Assessing The Growth of Analytics in Baseball” (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014); Robert A. Woods Professor of Economics at Smith College, a frequent sports industry consultant and media commentator, and author of many books, including In the Best Interests of Baseball? Governing the National Pastime