Today on AirTalk we'll preview tonight's presidential debate, check out a law which could require all porn actors in L.A. to wear condoms, consider the city council's decision to reverse the ban on pot dispensaries, ask for your opinions on former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's new book and figure out how to activate our own "inner lie detectors."
Boy, is it ever the economy! Obama and Romney kick off debate season tonight
“It’s the economy, stupid” is a phrase coined by political strategist James Carville during Bill Clinton’s first successful presidential campaign in 1992, but those words couldn’t be truer than they are in the 2012 presidential race. In fact, the economy is so significant that it will be the focus of over half of tonight’s first debate between President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
While the economy is certainly a primary concern to many if not most voters, not everyone is pleased with how much airtime will be spent talking about financial security. Some relatives of victims in the Aurora shooting massacre, which happened near the Denver debate location, sent a letter to moderator Jim Lehrer asking for gun control issues to be addressed. Another issue that may not see the light of day in the debate is the overpopulation of the U.S. prison system.
Is the economy important enough to warrant over half the focus of tonight’s debate? What other important issues are not being given enough attention throughout this year’s presidential race?
Guests:
John McCormick, politics reporter for Bloomberg News
William Beach, director, The Heritage Foundation's Center for Data Analysis
Dean Baker, economist & co-director, Center for Economic and Policy Research
LA voters could put a condom on every porn actor
In January, Los Angeles became the first city in the nation that requires adult film actors to wear condoms during filming. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which sponsored the city initiative, has put a measure on the November ballot that would make the ordinance apply to all adult film production in Los Angeles County. The “Los Angeles Porn Actors Required to Wear Condoms Act” aims to protect members of the adult film industry, and their partners, from HIV and other sexually-transmitted diseases.
RELATED: Click to read all KPCC coverage on the Los Angeles condom proposal
But many of those in the industry strongly oppose the measure. Actors find the requirement uncomfortable and unnecessary. Some say that if the condom proposal is passed, the new law might send the porn industry – and the roughly $1 billion in business it generates ... out of Los Angeles. According to No on Measure B's communications director James Lee, workers in the industry are careful.
"These are industry performers that work with other performers, that shoot their scenes, do the work on the set, and they go home," he explained. "It's their career. There's a financial incentive for them to stay clean."
Current industry standards, Lee says, call for frequent testing as it is; each performer is tested every 14 to 28 days. Lee added that the percentage of industry workers racked with STDs is minuscule compared to the general public.
"If we lived in a world where everybody in the population was tested as often as often as porn performers were tested, we wouldn't have problems like STDs," he said.
To Lee, the best way to approach the safety issue is comprehensive testing and adopting the most recent treatment technologies.
"Where we ought to be going is better testing, better treatment, and improving the system, not creating another layer of government beaureacracy that's going to cost tax payers, that’s going to drive the industry underground, that’s going to force more people away from testing," he said.
Michael Weinstein, executive director of the AIDS Health Foundation said that the industry's attention to vigorous testing is laudable, but not foolproof.
"We test in order to find people who have the disease and test them and break the chain of infection. But the best form of protection, according to every authority, is condoms," he said.
Weinstein added that every sexual transmitted disease has a window period where it's undetectable, and even those who test negative could have contracted something bad. He said that with over 90 percent of the industry strives in California, business concerns are a non-issue.
To Weinstein, it is a pornography performer's right to have safety on the job. "This is the only legal industry where people are required to go to work and contract diseases," he continued.
How has the adult film community complied with the city-wide ordinance so far? Has it been difficult to enforce? How would expanding the law change things for the porn industry, and those who make their living by it? Do the health concerns outweigh the potential economic hit for the city?
Guests:
James Lee, communications director for No on Measure B
Michael Weinstein, executive director, AIDS Health Foundation
Pot-shop law whac-a-mole continues as LA City Council drops ban on dispensaries
The latest move in the chess game between Los Angeles’ medical marijuana dispensaries and the city officials was made yesterday when the L.A. City Council voted 11-2 to repeal their own controversial ban on the collectives instituted in July. With the repeal the issue will not be left up to voters in a March election and the roughly 1,000 dispensaries in Los Angeles will remain open for the time being.
But the pot shops are far from in the clear – city officials are hopefully optimistic that a recent federal crackdown will mean that many of the facilities will soon wind up being shuttered by federal authorities without the use of city resources.
Many dispensary owners are feeling vindicated after collecting tens of thousands of signatures in favor of a repeal of the ban but with the vote the L.A. City Council also pressed state legislators for clarification about existing state laws that allow for the legal sale of marijuana for medical purposes in California even though pot remains illegal under federal statutes.
When will the legal status of L.A.’s pot shops be resolved? What is the best way to get medical relief for patients who might benefit from legal medicinal marijuana while keeping neighborhoods safe?
Guests:
José Huizar, City Council Member representing the 14th District which includes the neighborhoods of Boyle Heights, Downtown, Eagle Rock, El Sereno, Garvanza, Glassell Park, Hermon and Highland Park
Yamileth Bolanos, president and founder of the Greater Los Angeles Collective Alliance; patient operator for PureLife Alternative Wellness Center in Los Angeles
Arnold Schwarzenegger's very public secrets
California's most famous governor is known for reaching the top: of bodybuilding, Hollywood, public service and, recently, personal scandal.
Last year, when Maria Shriver filed for divorce, everyone found out a tryst between Schwarzenegger and his housekeeper, Mildred Baena, resulted in a child. Little Joseph had been living among the Schwarzenegger household for 14 years. The revelation made international headlines and was in the news for weeks, embarrassing everyone it touched.
Then, like all personal transgressions it faded to the background, until this week's release of Schwarzenegger's memoir, "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story." In the last few days, high-profile interviews on "60 Minutes," “The Daily Show” and "Piers Morgan Tonight" have once again displayed Arnold's ambitious nature and charismatic charm. Altogether, they've also rehashed the public embarrassment, even adding new details.
Why would Schwarzenegger go there? What do you think his motivation is? Is it based on narcissism or righting a wrong? Does his choice to air “dirty laundry" bother you or do you reserve judgement? Why or why not? Are you reading "Total Recall?" If you're an Arnold fan, what's your reaction to it all?
Former federal investigator shares tricks of the trade for spotting deception in our daily lives
How often are you lied to? It’s probably more often than you think, according to lie detection expert Janine Driver.
Driver previously worked as a trained lie detector for federal government agencies including the FBI and the CIA. Now Driver has a new book explaining how to use your inner lie detector to smoke out the fibs and fakes in your everyday life.
It’s a fact that everyone lies. It turns out one of every five times a person opens their mouth, they’re probably lying. Whether they are little white lies or big outrageous ones, they can all affect one’s professional and personal life.
Are inconvenient truths better than lies? What’s the best way to boost one’s B.S. barometer? How can we learn to tell fact from fiction?
Guest:
Janine Driver, author of You Can’t Lie to Me: The Revolutionary Program to Supercharge Your Inner Lie Detector and Get to the Truth (HarperOne); former federal investigator with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms