Meg Whitman's lead drops for the GOP nomination. Tensions increase between North and South Korea over torpedo attack. Next, the rising threat from deadly bacteria. Balancing alternative energy development and natural resources in the Mojave Desert, and California educators sue the state over school funding. Later, the intriguing lives of ants- they're just like us!
Whitman drops to single digit lead for California GOP nomination
Meg Whitman has dropped to a nine point lead over Steve Poizner for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, according to a new poll released by the Public Policy Institute of California. While Whitman was ahead by 50 points in March, she now leads Poizner 38 percent to 29 percent. At the same time, about one-third of likely Republican primary voters remain undecided before the June 8 election. What's behind Whitman's drop and Poizner's gain, and what is your stance on the candidates?
Guests:
Carla Marinucci, political writer for The San Francisco Chronicle
Allen Hoffenblum, Publisher of The Target Book that looks at all political races in California, and former GOP consultant
North Korea sank South Korean battle ship: now what?
The North Korean government today accused South Korea of fabricating evidence that the North sank a South Korean navy ship in March. North Korea has repeatedly denied involvement and warned that any attempt at retaliation would provoke “all-out war.” Investigators from the United States, Australia, Britain and Sweden concluded that the torpedo responsible for sinking the ship had markings consistent with other North Korean missiles. How has the international community responded to their report? Are further sanctions likely? And, can the North’s relationships with the South and with the United States get any worse?
Guests:
Jim Walsh, International security expert at Security Studies Program, Center for International Studies, at M.I.T.
Gordon Chang, author of Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World (Random House)
Our futile fight against deadly bacteria
Every year, drug-resistant bacteria infect more than 2-million people in the United States – and kills over 100,000 of them. But just as these drug-resistant infections are spreading rapidly in hospitals, high schools and college locker rooms, research and development into new antibiotics has come to a screeching halt. In his new book The Rising Plague, infectious disease specialist Dr. Brad Spellberg tells the story of this potentially devastating public health crisis. How dire is this scenario? What should be done to bolster the production of new and effective antibiotics?
Guest:
Dr. Brad Spellberg, author of Rising Plague: The Global Threat From Deadly Bacteria and Our Dwindling Arsenal to Fight Them (Prometheus Books); infectious disease specialist and member of a national task force charged with attacking antibiotic resistant infections
Stormclouds over Desert Protection Act of 2010: conservation pitted against renewable energy
A Senate committee this morning took up legislation authored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) that attempts to balance alternative energy development and protection of natural resources in the Mojave. At issue: would the bill hinder the development of solar projects in the desert?
Guests:
Molly Peterson, KPCC reporter
John White, executive director, Center for Energy Efficiency & Renewable Technologies
Chase Huntley, clean energy policy advisor, the Wilderness Society
California educators sue state over education funding
A broad coalition of California school districts and educators has filed suit against the state over its education funding. The lawsuit, whose plaintiffs include the California School Boards Association and the California State PTA, alleges that the state has violated the California constitution's guarantee to make education a priority and asks that a new, more stable financing system is created. Larry gets the latest on the announcement.
Guest:
Julie Small, KPCC reporter
Mark Moffett’s Adventures Among Ants
Think you know everything there is to know about ants? Think again. Biologist Mark Moffett, “the Indiana Jones of Entomology,” has traveled the globe on a strange and wonderful journey into the hidden world of ants. In tales from Nigeria, Indonesia, the Amazon, Australia and California, Moffett uncovers a parallel ant universe rife with warfare, terrorism, traffic jams and highway infrastructure. For example, the largest battles recorded for any living thing are going on right now in Southern California, where a million Argentine ants die each month in territorial disputes raging underfoot in the suburbs of San Diego; this invasive ant species, with unified colonies ranging up to a trillion individuals, is causing massive environmental damage across the state. What else are these coordinated, creative creatures up to? What can we learn from their behaviors, which are strikingly similar to our own?
Mark Moffett will speak and sign copies of his book on Sunday, May 23 at 2 p.m. at Caltech's Baxter Lecture Hall as part of the Skeptics Society's Distinguished Lecture Series.
Guest:
Mark Moffett, author of Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari With a Cast of Trillions (University of California Press). He is a biologist, explorer, National Geographic photographer and Research Associate at the Smithsonian Institution