Today on AirTalk we'll discuss the spreading rash of protests around U.S. embassies in the middle east and hash out the latest details of the Anit-Muslim video that was made here in California that triggered it all, we'll be joined by our panel of Orange County journalists to dissect the latest news surrounding the O.C., a snapshot of our current foreign policy positions and how our presidential candidates are positioning themselves around the uprisings, the latest tiff between the AHA and PETA over the use of Animals in show business; and looking for the latest in sex research? There's an app for that. Plus, the latest news.
Middle-East outrage spreads as the origin of 'Innocence of Muslims' video is vetted
Middle East violence sparked by a controversial American-made video depicting the Prophet Muhammad spilled into Yemen and Iran today.
Tuesday’s violent protests at U.S. embassies in Cairo and in Libya led to the deaths of four Americans in the Libyan city of Benghazi. One of the Americans killed in Benghazi was the U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, who was a popular figure in Libya credited with helping the new Libyan government in the aftermath of the ousting of longtime dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
President Obama has vowed to mete out justice to the perpetrators of the deadly clash in Libya and former presidential candidate John McCain today joined Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s hard line criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of the crisis. Meanwhile, back in the U.S., the origin of the controversial video and the identity of the man who produced it continues to remain muddled. The international response to the amateurish and incendiary video “Innocence of Muslims” has set off a media manhunt that so far has led to a Southern California man named Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. Nakoula is a Coptic Christian with a criminal record who may have used the pseudonym “Sam Bacile” to produce the film.
It is still unclear whether the expanding Middle East protests were sparked by the video or were part of a coordinated attack by al-Qaeda intended to mark the anniversary of the attacks of September 11th, 2001. Regardless of the flashpoint, the developing incident continues to cause bloodshed and has brought foreign policy issues front and center in the American presidential election.
What can cause a poorly-made video to lead to deadly riots halfway around the globe? How will the developing event affect the upcoming election?
Guests:
Borzou Daragahi, Middle East correspondent for The Financial Times joining us from Turkey
Christian Caryl, editor of Foreign Policy’s Democracy Lab website; Senior Fellow, Legatum Institute, “an independent, non-partisan public policy organisation based in London whose research, publications, and programmes advance ideas and policies in support of free and prosperous societies around the world.”
Jeffrey Goldberg, national correspondent, The Atlantic; author, Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror; and recipient of the National Magazine Award for Reporting
Father Joseph Boules, Presbyter, St. Mary & St. Verena Coptic Orthodox Church in Anaheim, part of the Coptic Orthodox Church Diocese of Los Angeles
OC journalists’ roundtable
Larry and our talented trio of Orange County journalists riff on the latest news from the O.C. First up: a battle between a Costa Mesa councilman and the city’s police union, two Anaheim police officers involved in fatal shootings who are back on the job, the controversy over how Anaheim council candidate Steven Chavez Lodge’s name would appear on the ballot and much more.
Guests:
Teri Sforza, Staff Writer for the Orange County Register
Norberto Santana, Editor-in-Chief of the Voice of OC, a non-profit investigative news agency that covers Orange County government and politics
Gustavo Arellano, Editor of the OC Weekly and author of "Taco USA" and “Ask A Mexican”
The foreign policy question for Obama and Romney
While facts are still coming out about the violent protests in Egypt and Libya, it has become clear that foreign policy will be taking a larger role in this election cycle than previously thought.
The economy will likely still dominate the issues come November, but the issue’s appearance is a stark contrast to just a few weeks ago, when Mitt Romney barely touched on foreign policy proposals at his own party’s convention. Now, the campaigns are sparring over the words and tone of specific phrases regarding the protests, and both Romney and Obama are trying to assert their own perspectives of what the role of the U.S. should be abroad.
This topic could only grow in importance, considering the fact that the U.S. embassies in both Egypt and Yemen have become the home of unruly, rock-throwing mobs. So what should the U.S. response be to what’s happening in the Mideast? Should we stay the course we’re on now, or take decisive military action?
Traditionally in times of war or conflict, the public rallies around the president. Is that likely to happen with Obama at the wheel? Will he get a bump? And what about Romney, who has already been criticized harshly for his stance on the issue? Will the criticism subside or stick?
Guests:
Adam Schiff, Congressman representing California’s 29th district, serves on the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence which oversees the nation’s intelligence activities, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI), and the National Security Agency (NSA)
PETA and American Humane Association clash over animal safety
Despite PETA and the American Humane Association seemingly fighting on the same side of animal safety, the two non-profit organizations are battling over the use of animals in entertainment.
HBO and the American Humane Association drew criticism over its safety protocols after three horses died during production of the TV show “Luck.” Now, PETA, which opposes any live animals to be used on film or television sets, has “accused AHA of failing to provide adequate oversight to ensure the safety of animals,” according to the LA Times, after receiving ‘whistle-blower’ complaints of improper animal care from the sets of other TV programs and films.
In PETA’s letter submitted to the AHA, PETA claimed that, “In some cases it is alleged that AHA management looked the other way or was even complicit in arranging for the filming of sequences that were potentially dangerous for animals.” In its response, AHA stated the allegations were by “second and third party sources, including a disgruntled AHA employee.
These allegations derive from falsehoods, inaccuracies and deliberately misleading statements.” Is oversight of animals used in entertainment too lax? Are animals pushed too hard during production?
Guests:
Kathy Guillermo, Senior Vice President of PETA
Paul Raybould, Chief Innovation Officer, Senior Vice President, Humane Hollywood, American Humane Association
Sex research: there’s an app for that
Until Alfred Kinsey started researching and studying human sexual practices in the late 1930s, sex was something that Americans did more than they discussed.
Kinsey started out as an entomologist, but when he turned his scientific mind to the study of human sexuality he nearly single handedly invented the study of sexology. But in the ensuing decades some have criticized the scope of Kinsey’s research, given that his sample size largely consisted of white college kids from the Midwest.
Recently, The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University has brought research on American sexual practices into the 21st century with a mobile app that fits right in the palm of your hand. The app is called Kinsey Reporter and it allows users to anonymously and voluntarily report human sexual activity – both their own and acts they observe. The results are then used by researchers and shared freely on a central website.
But if you’re longing to report your more intimate moments you’ll have to wait. The new General Counsel at Indiana University decided to suspend the app for additional vetting. How can technology change the study of sex? Would you report your luckier moments in the name of science?
Guests:
Jennifer Bass, Communications Director, The Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction
Filippo Menczer, developer, Kinsey Reporter smartphone app; Director, Center for Complex Networks and Systems Research and Professor of Informatics and Computer Science, Indiana University, Bloomington
Making The Kinsey Reporter App | The Kinsey Institute