This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case challenging a California law that requires anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers to provide information about abortion and other services. We also parse through the week’s political news; on World Kindness Day, what is the kindest thing a stranger has done for you?; and more.
Week in politics: How the Senate GOP is responding to Roy Moore allegations, wrapping up President Trump’s Asia trip and more
Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore says he’s going to sue the Washington Post over the report it published last week in which four women, one of whom says she was a minor at the time of the alleged incident, accused Moore of sexual misconduct in the late 1970s, when he was a young assistant district attorney.
Moore has denied the allegations, calling the Post story “another attack on my character and reputation” aimed at damaging his Senate campaign. Some Senate Republicans have already reacted in the wake of the story, and on Monday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said during a press conference in Louisville that he believes the women in the story and that Moore should step aside. We’ll look at the developing story and how it impacts Moore’s Senate campaign.
Meanwhile, President Trump is wrapping up his trip to Asia. His final stop is the Philippines, where he has been attending the annual Association of Southeast Nations economic summit. All eyes have been on Trump and Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte, whose war on drugs has led many to accuse him of human rights violations. President Trump has praised Duterte’s toughness on crime in the past. We’ll look at whether the President accomplished his goals for this trip and find out why Duterte sang President Trump a Filipino love song during a dinner Sunday night.
We’ll also compare the Senate and House GOP tax reform plans, introduce newly-appointed Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and update the latest on the sexual harassment investigation in California’s state capitol.
Guests:
Caroline Heldman, associate professor of politics at Occidental College and author of “Protest Politics in the Marketplace: Consumer Activism in the Corporate Age” (Cornell University Press, 2017); she tweets
Sean T. Walsh, Republican political analyst and partner at Wilson Walsh Consulting in San Francisco; he is a former adviser to California Governors Pete Wilson and Arnold Schwarzenegger and a former White House staffer for Presidents Reagan and H.W. Bush
Over-the-counter v. Opioids: what a new study reveals about pain management
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. examines whether over-the-counter drugs are as effective as opioids in relieving pain.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, researchers found that a combination of two non-addictive drugs had the same or better pain relief results as a trio of opioids. Medications were administered in a Bronx emergency department to 416 patients with acute pain. Patients had injuries including bone fractures, sprained ankles and a dislocated shoulder. They were divided into four groups, each with a different medication or set of medications: Percocet, Vicodin or Tylenol No. 3. which have combinations of opioids and acetaminophen, and one group with an ibuprofen/acetaminophen combination.
With the ongoing conversation about opioid addiction, how could this study shed light on how pain relievers are prescribed? Larry speaks to the author of the study today to find out more about its results.
Guests:
Dr. Andrew K. Chang, M.D., M.S., a professor of Emergency Medicine and Vice Chair of Research and Academic Affairs at Albany Medical College; he is lead author on the recent study, “Effect of a Single Dose of Oral Opioid and Nonopioid Analgesics on Acute Extremity Pain in the Emergency Department A Randomized Clinical Trial”
Dr. Howard Fields, M.D., Ph.D., professor of neurology and physiology at UC San Francisco; his research focus includes pain management and opioid pharmacology
SCOTUS to hear challenge to CA law that requires pregnancy centers to post abortion information
(AP) The Supreme Court is stepping into a free speech fight over California’s attempt to regulate anti-abortion crisis pregnancy centers.
The justices said Monday they will hear an appeal from centers that complained that a new state law forces them to provide information about abortion and other services.
Read full story here.
We reached out to the office of Attorney General Xavier Becerra, but he was unavailable for comment. To read his defense of California’s Reproductive FACT Act, visit here.
Guests:
Brad Dacus, president and founder of Pacific Justice Institute, a legal defense organization specializing in religious issues headquartered in Sacramento, California
Amy Everitt, state director for NARAL Pro-Choice California, the advocacy group that sponsored the original Reproductive FACT Act (AB 775) signed into law in 2015, which requires California pregnancy centers to provide information regarding low-cost and free abortion services
A closer look at WWI’s chemical warfare and the secret groups who created the ultimate WMD
The 1993 discovery of a chemical weapons dump next to American University stunned Washington, D.C. residents, but decades of ongoing cleanup still offered little details of the facility that left it there.
It was known that the grounds had been leased during World War I for testing by the research division of the army’s Chemical Weapons Service, but journalist Theo Emery went on to research the American University Experiment Station, encountering terrifying accounts of the young soldiers, chemists and engineers who secretly experimented and trained with toxic gasses in the first wartime use of chemical weapons.
Emery’s years of research and hundreds of interviews have now been published in his new book, “Hellfire Boys: The Birth of the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service and the Race for the World’s Deadliest Weapons.”
Host Larry Mantle speaks to Emery about his findings and how they revolutionize our understanding of WWI and the destructiveness of man’s ingenuity.
Guest:
Theo Emery, longtime journalist of many publications; his latest book is “Hellfire Boys: The Birth of the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service and the Race for the World’s Deadliest Weapons” (Little, Brown and Company, 2017); he tweets
Today is World Kindness Day. Call in with the random acts of kindness you’ve experienced
Yes. There’s a day of observance for everything. And today belongs to kindness.
November 13 is World Kindness Day. It was first minted in 1998 by a coalition of NGOs to spread the good deeds in the world.
To honor this special day, AirTalk wants to hear your stories of ordinary kindness from a stranger you’ve experienced.
The number to call is 866.893.5722.