A federal court ruled that a Lancaster City Council meeting's opening prayer that mentioned "Jesus" was constitutional. If different religions are invited to pray in government meetings, should mentioning religious figures be allowed? We'll also discuss the potential halt of California's $68-billion high-speed rail project due to a financial mismanagement lawsuit. Later, we'll look at why owners are willing to spend so much money on healthcare for pets, examine the weight behind North Korea's threats, and look into how restaurants strike back via Twitter for reservation no-shows. Then, author Shereen El Feki joins AirTalk to discuss changing sexual mores in the Arab world.
Court OKs prayer mentioning Jesus Christ at Lancaster City Council meeting
A federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday that it was not unconstitutional for the Lancaster City Council to open its meeting with prayer mentioning Jesus Christ.
The case started in April 2010, when a pastor and former mayor prayed, “In the precious, holy and righteous and matchless name of Jesus I pray this prayer.” To Shelley Rubin and Maureen Feller, mentioning “Jesus” meant the government endorsed Christianity and took the case to court.
Mayor R. Rex Parris said the city council allows prayers from different religious leaders, including Muslims, Sikhs, Wiccans and Christians and that the residents of Lancaster are not bothered. Because multiple religions are allowed and there was no proselytizing, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court that the prayers were constitutional. Prohibiting sectarian figures would cause every religion to edit their prayers, a practice that has been ruled unconstitutional under Marsh v. Chambers in 1983.
However, one 9th Circuit Court judge, Judge Diarmuid O'Scannlain, wonders how people would react to Scientology prayers and cited the Rubin v. City of Burbank ruling that does not allow references to religious figures in prayer. The lawyer challenging the Lancaster City Council plans seeking a rehearing and possibly an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Should public prayers be allowed by city councils? Is mentioning sectarian figures unconstitutional? Does allowing prayer from multiple religions unify or divide residents?
Guests:
Roger Jon Diamond, Attorney representing plaintiffs in suit against Lancaster; based in Santa Monica
Mathew Staver, Dean and Professor of Law at Liberty University School; Vice President of Liberty University based in Lynchburg, Virginia; Founder and Chairman, Liberty Counsel - an international nonprofit litigation, education, and policy organization dedicated to advancing religious freedom.
Mutiny on the high speed rail project
California’s high speed rail project has faced opposition from several constituencies throughout the state. But its toughest criticism yet comes from longtime proponents of the project who say that too many political compromises are undermining legal safeguards, among other complaints. One former high-speed rail backer recently filed a civil suit seeking to halt the project due to financial mismanagement.
How will this division impact the future of California’s bullet-train? What is the California High Speed Rail Authority’s response to the criticism? Will high-speed rail get back on track?
Guests:
Ralph Vartabedian, National Correspondent for the Los Angeles Times
Dan Richard, Chairman of the California High Speed Rail Authority
How much are you willing to spend to extend your pet’s life?
Dog owners today spend an average of $655 dollars a year on health care for their pets, up 50% from a decade ago. Health care costs for cats are up nearly 75 percent. Why is this?
For one, veterinary medicine has advanced significantly in recent years, and so there are options for pet owners that just weren’t available 10 years ago. Veterinary hospitals have specialty doctors offering everything from oncology treatments to MRIs and these days very little is out of reach. Meanwhile, we seem to be treating our pets like family more than we ever have before, and we’re willing to go to greater lengths to care for them than ever before.
But how far is too far? Individual specialty procedures can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and owners without pet insurance (which is still rarely purchased) will spend upwards of $1,000 per day to keep a pet in treatment, just to see the treatment fail.
Is there a price that’s just too far? Are families only making the pain of losing a pet worse by adding a financial burden? Are veterinarians making the choices more painful by offering expensive treatments?
Guest:
James A Serpell, Center for the Interaction of Animals and Society at University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine
North Korea saber rattling too loud to ignore
North Korea announced Tuesday that it put all its artillery and strategic rocket units on “No. 1 combat readiness” targeting the U.S. mainland, Hawaii, Guam and South Korea. This latest in a series of escalating threats is in response to new U.N. sanctions and joint military drills by the U.S. and South Korea.
North Korea successfully launched a three-stage rocket in December as well as its third nuclear test just last month. Additionally, North Korea threatened to turn Washington and Seoul into a “sea of fire.” The U.S. maintains that North Korea has not developed long-range missiles capable of hitting the continental U.S. But the military has announced plans to add interceptors to the anti-missile system in Alaska.
How real are North Korea’s threats? What exactly is North Korea’s military capability?
Guest:
Jim Walsh, Ph.D., International security expert and a Research Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Security Studies Program
LA restaurateur shames no-shows on Twitter: Do you approve? (Poll)
Imagine planning a delicious dinner party then suddenly your committed guests turn into no-shows and don't even call to cancel. Well, restaurants deal with the problem on a nightly basis, but one Beverly Hills eatery has had enough.
This past weekend, Noah Ellis of the high-end Vietnamese spot Red Medicine
who made reservations for the hottest night of the week, then failed to materialize. In a statement, Red Medicine says, "We lost 20% of our total reservations on a Saturday, and a huge chunk of our prime-time bookings ... We understand emergencies happen, but most diners who no-show most likely don't think twice about it."
Hi Kyle Anderson (323), I hope you enjoyed your gf's bday and the flowers that you didn't bring when you no-showed for your 815 res. Thanks.
— Red Medicine (@redmedicinela)
Hi Kyle Anderson (323), I hope you enjoyed your gf's bday and the flowers that you didn't bring when you no-showed for your 815 res. Thanks.
— Red Medicine (@redmedicinela) March 24, 2013
Also, big thanks to Carlos MacManus, Colin Rolfs, Allison Joyce, Sam Java, Daniella Brown, and Matt Lopez for no-showing btwn 730p-930p.
— Red Medicine (@redmedicinela)
Also, big thanks to Carlos MacManus, Colin Rolfs, Allison Joyce, Sam Java, Daniella Brown, and Matt Lopez for no-showing btwn 730p-930p.
— Red Medicine (@redmedicinela) March 24, 2013
All the nice guests who wonder why restaurants overbook and they sometimes have to wait for their res should thank people like those below.
— Red Medicine (@redmedicinela)
All the nice guests who wonder why restaurants overbook and they sometimes have to wait for their res should thank people like those below.
— Red Medicine (@redmedicinela) March 24, 2013
They said the Twitter flaming won't be a regular practice, but they want to bring attention to the problem.
Are we just less polite or thoughtful when it comes to dealing with businesses? We wouldn’t just no show to a dinner party, why would we do so with a restaurant? If restaurants adopted this more widely, would it prevent people from “no-showing?”
Changing sexual mores in the changing Arab world
Writer, journalist, and broadcaster Shereen El Feki spent five years exploring how the Arab world is changing, but she does it in the context of sex. El Feki felt sexual politics permeated the Arab world and affected its religion, politics, economics and culture. Although she focuses on Egypt, El Feki set out to understand public opinion on sex. She found religious laws that restrict nudity during sex, a Saudi Arabian man who was beaten and imprisoned for speaking about sex publicly, and young women with mutilated genitals to suppress sexual desire.
The public also disapproves of homosexuality and single mothers, and many believe that husbands may beat their wives if they refuse sex. El Feki wrote her new book, “Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World” from her perspective as a Muslim woman with a Western education. In her book, she wanted to give voices to Arab women through interviews with virgins, housewives, and activists, and El Feki hopes that political change will eliminate sexual taboos.
Are these views concerning sex rooted in history, culture, and religion? Do you think there’s the potential of change? And how does the Arab world’s view of sex compare with the Western world?
Guest:
Shereen El Feki, Author, “Sex and the Citadel: Intimate Life in a Changing Arab World;” Journalist; Vice-Chair, United Nations’ Global Commission on HIV & Law; Ph.D. in molecular immunology