A Chinese company has put a $4.72 billion bid for Smithfield Foods Inc, one of the biggest pork producers in the U.S. What would the Chinese company do with Smithfield and what other large acquisitions has China made? Also, why are more Democrats giving commencement speeches than Republicans and does that affect our nation's youth? Then, O.C. journalists recap tragedies and their hot button issues, and Facebook tries to deal with sexist hate speech. Later, are great white sharks actually extinct, and is infidelity becoming more common in marriages? Larry also interviews Michael Feinstein about his new role in Pasadena Pops.
Is China’s purchase of a US pork supplier a sign of things to come?
Smithfield Foods Inc., one of the biggest pork producers in the U.S., has agreed to be bought by Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd., the majority shareholder in China's largest meat processor, for about $4.72 billion.
The deal is the largest takeover of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm. The deal needs the approval of federal regulators and Smithfield shareholders. The acquisition points to China's growing appetite for meat and other foods, driven by the expansion of the country’s middle class and the changing eating habits that go along with it.
But in light of the myriad food contamination scandals coming out of China in recent years, many in the U.S. are concerned that the purchase would impact the stateside food supply chain negatively. Larry Pope, the CEO of Smithfield, has said that the deal is meant to boost pork export to China and not the other way around.
Guests:
Peter Navarro, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of California, Irvine; director of the documentary, "Death By China"
Bill Marler, food safety lawyer in Seattle.
Few colleges invite conservatives to be keynote speakers, are they doing their students a disservice?
Last month protests at the University of Massachusetts broke out during Republican strategist Karl Rove’s keynote address, and banker Bob Zoellick withdrew from speaking at Swarthmore College.
It didn’t surprise American Enterprise Institute’s Director of Economic Policy Kevin Hassett, who’d been putting together a survey of commencement speakers across the country and found that they were overwhelmingly liberal in the politics. Surveying the top 100 universities and top 50 liberal arts colleges in the US, and gleaning information about speakers’ party affiliations and public contributions to political parties, Hassett found that of 84 speakers in 2012 with identifiable party affiliations, only 4 Republicans were invited to speak at the top 150 schools, compared with 69 identifiable liberal speakers.
According to Hassett, “There is no question that a primary objective of today’s institutions, which allow conservatives to be shouted down if they are invited at all, is not to educate students but rather to educate reliable Democratic votes.” Is he right?
Guests:
Kevin Hassett, Director of Economic Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute; he wrote the LA Times op-ed that says higher education has gone too far vilifying conservative voices
Jon Wiener, Professor of History at UC Irvine and an editor and blogger for The Nation
OC Roundtable: Irvine teens car crash, danger at Disney, Honda Center’s firing and hiring and more
Our Orange County journalists tells us about recent tragedies and controversies, including the five students who died in a car crash in Newport Beach, Disney’s dry ice explosion, the layoffs at the Honda Center, and Senator Barbara Boxer’s continuing examination into the San Onofre nuclear plant. Also, should fire pits be removed to improve air quality, and should taxpayers or individuals be billed for expensive rescue operations?
The University High school student that died in a high speed car crash was driving without a driver’s license or learner’s permit. Although the student, Abdulrahman M. Alyahyan, tried to obtain a license, he was from Saudi Arabia and was unable to prove his legal residency to the DMV. While driving his Infiniti G35 with four teenage friends from Irvine High School on Monday, the car hit a tree in the median, split in two and lit up in flames. Four of the students died at the scene and the fifth died at the hospital.
Also, Christian Barnes, an outdoor vendor for Disneyland resort, is in prison for possibly being connected to an explosion at Disneyland. A dry-ice bomb went off in Toontown, but there were no injuries. And also in Anaheim, the Honda Center is hiring. After laying off 400 food service employees, they replacing them with 500 new ones. Honda said this decision is to improve food services, but did it have anything to do with a California Enterprise Zone tax credit?
Senator Barbara Boxer is calling for an investigation and a public hearing before the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station is opened. The plant has been shut down for over a year because of a radiation leak, and Boxer recently released a 2004 letter from Southern California Edison that showed concerns about the longevity of the plant’s generators.
Many Southern California residents are ready to hit the beach this summer, but are evenings spent with friends and family around the fire pits numbered? Air quality regulators believe fire pits pose a health risk to local residents and are trying to remove more than 800 fire pits on Southern California beaches. And for those who skip the beach and go hiking instead, should they be billed if they need to be rescued or should the taxpayers cover the costs?
Guests:
Ben Bergman, KPCC’s Orange County reporter
Teri Sforza, OC Register reporter
Nick Gerda, reporter, Voice of OC, an investigative news non-profit
How should Facebook define and deal with sexist hate speech?
Bowing to pressure from activists and advertisers, Facebook says it will try to police misogynistic content posted by users. What's still unclear is how the social media company will define offensive content and what steps will follow.
A recent campaign by women's rights groups drew widespread attention to Facebook pages promoting violence against women. They include graphic photos of abused women, right alongside clickable ads. Too close for comfort for advertisers, including Nissan, which pulled their ads from the site.
Now Facebook says it will treat anti-women sites the same way it treats racist content and other postings defined as hate speech. Critics of the move are concerned about a private company policing speech and defining "hate speech." Facebook has received flak for removing sites that promote atheism in the Middle East and for taking down images of breastfeeding mothers. As private entities, social media companies are not obliged to protect free speech, just their own bottom line.
What's more valuable for Facebook - providing a free-for-all venue for user-generated content or one with a low tolerance for distressing or controversial subjects?
Guests:
Jaclyn Friedman, Executive Director, Women, Action and the Media (WAM!); WAM is an advocacy group that helped spearhead a campaign asking Facebook to treat misogynistic content as they treat hate speech
Jillian York, Director for International Freedom of Expression, Electronic Frontier Foundation - an advocacy groups that specializes in speech and privacy issues on digital platforms
Just how many great white sharks are there?
Great white sharks are the kings of the ocean. They are what is known as “apex predators,” which means they are the hunters and rarely the hunted. And for good reasons: great whites could stretch over 20 feet, weigh up to 3 ½ tons and chow down some 11 tons of food each year.
Despite all that we know about the great white shark, one thing has been difficult to figure out—exactly how many of them are out there. But whether they will be designated permanently as an endangered species hinges precisely on that question.
The sharks have been closed to commercial and sport fishing in the state since 1994. Since March, the fish have been protected under the California Endangered Species Act, which lasts for a year. The Fish and Wildlife Commission is set to discuss making that classification stick in early 2014.
Three environmental groups—Oceana, Shark Stewards and the Center for Biological Diversity—are the main forces behind the push to get the fish listed. Their rationale is based on a single census done between 2006 and 2008, which estimated the population to be around 200. But other scientists say that the population is actually much larger and resources should be devoted to protecting other species instead.
Guests:
Geoff Shester, California Program director of Oceana, the world’s largest advocacy group working solely to protect the world’s oceans
Michael L. Domeier, President of the Marine Conservation Science Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on issues in marine biology and fisheries
Why do 40 percent of marriages experience at least one episode of infidelity?
Is cheating more common that we would like to admit? Is it becoming more prevalent in our society because of technology and social media?
Psychiatrist and marriage expert Dr. Scott Haltzman calculates that about 40 percent of marriages have suffered from infidelity. Although this is a rough number, Haltzman’s new book, “The Secrets of Surviving Infidelity” examines why so many people have had affairs and if a marriage can survive after infidelity.
Haltzman believes the formula for infidelity is a combination of need, opportunity, and the inability to control impulses. However, certain personality types and medical conditions, as well as those with high profiles, can also increase the potential of committing extramarital affairs.
How can a marriage survive after infidelity? When should a couple try to work it out and when should they call it quits? Can trust ever be regained?
Guest:
Dr. Scott Haltzman, M.D., psychiatrist and marriage expert, author of “The Secrets of Surviving Infidelity” and “The Secrets of Happily Married Men: Eight Ways to Win Your Wife's Heart Forever” (Jossey-Bass, 2007)