Today, we talk about US airstrikes in Iraq in an attempt to head off the progress of ISIS. We also discuss the one day out of the year where hackers gather in Las Vegas to meet up. Later on, the moon will appear more massive this weekend, we check out the week's news and much more.
US begins targeted airstrikes in Iraq
In Iraq today, American warplanes hit an artillery battery which was being used by Sunni militant forces to shell the northern town of Erbil.
President Obama announced that he had authorized the use of force to protect U.S. personnel in Erbil in a speech yesterday. He also said the U.S. would use airpower if it was necessary to protect tens of thousands of Yazidis who are surrounded by ISIL militants in northern Iraq.
The BBC's Reda El Mawy joins Take Two for more on the current situation in Iraq.
US airstrikes in Iraq: Who are the Yazidis?
One reason President Obama has sanctioned air strikes in Iraq is to help the Yazidis, a small religious sect of about a half million living in northern Iraq.
Many of the Yazidis have been driven from their homes and remain trapped on a mountaintop. As a result, the president has also given the green light on humanitarian air drops.
"They're without food, they're without water, people are starving, and children are dying of thirst," he said. "Meanwhile, ISIL forces below have called for the systematic destruction of the entire Yazidi people, which would constitute genocide."
Ken Pollack, senior fellow of Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, joined Take Two on Friday to tell us who the Yazidis are.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
On the origins of the Yazidi religion:
"It grows out of one of the most ancient religions of the Middle East, Zoroastrianism, which was the religion that was practiced by the Persian empire, which of course dominated most of the Middle East for much of ancient history. Over the course of time, the Yazidis have picked up a whole variety of other aspects of other religions. There are elements of Christianity mixed in there, there are little pieces of Islam mixed in there, a bunch of other pieces as well, but it kind of starts off with this basis in Zoroastrianism."
On why not many people know about them:
"Their religion has been misinterpreted over the years. As we've seen in the news recently, Sunni Muslim fundamentalist groups like ISIS see the Yazidis as heretics, as devil worshippers, which the Yazidis and I think most people who know anything about the Yazidi religion would tell you, does represent a very serious mischaracterization of their religion. For the reason, the Yazidis have felt persecuted over the years, and as a result they've tried to keep to themselves."
On the misrepresentation of their religion:
"A core element of it, is the idea that God created seven angels, and the most important of those angels has a role that Muslims, some Muslims at least, misinterpret as being identical to the myth of Satan in both the Christian bible and more importantly in the Koran. There are very important elements of the Yazidi version of what happens with this angel, Melek Taus, that is very representative, very similar to the Islamic story of the fall of Satan. In fact, they even use the same word, it's just that the Yazidis see this angel as being a very powerful and positive force, a force of good, a very constructive force, whereas the Muslims cast him as being evil."
The Flashback: President Obama and Iraq, Congress sinks to new lows and looking back at Richard Nixon's resignation
Airstrikes resume in Iraq, women are smarter than men and what do you get the man who has everything?
Congress agreeing on something might be nice.
Just some of the topics we're tackling today in the Flashback - that's Take Two's look at the week in news, and today we talked to
, a staff writer for Slate and
of National Journal.
PRESIDENT OBAMA AND IRAQ
We'll start with President Obama in Iraq ... now he hasn't made any commitments to putting troops on the ground and has characterized this as a humanitarian effort ... but his main talking point before he was elected was that he would end the Iraq War ... will this be seen as him going back on his word? And what does this mean for his legacy?
The situation in Iraq is getting worse, Syria is still war torn and early today the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas fell apart … what can the President do now?
The President is constantly blasted by conservatives for his stance on gay marriage, his desire for immigration reform - but now with a return to Iraq, what will his liberal base think?
CONGRESS AND APPROVAL RATINGS
And this week a Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 51 percent of Americans disapproved of the way their OWN representative in Congress is "handling his or her job."
This is the first time in 25 years that the percentage rose above the 50 percent margin.
MICHELLE OBAMA AND HER FUTURE
And from one side of the approval measure to the other ... that's the first lady Michelle Obama. Recently she sat down with former First Lady Laura Bush for a discussion connected to the recent summit of African leaders and she used it to urge African first ladies to become more active politically. Here's a sample
Another thing that she talked about was her plans for the future - saying her work for military families would continue. Could she be testing the political waters?
LOOKING BACK ON RICHARD NIXON'S RESIGNATION
And today is the 40th anniversary of the resignation of former President Richard Nixon ... here's a video of the resignation:
How does it compare to other high profile resignations?
Sundance comes to you this weekend
Not everyone has the time or the connections to head to Park City, Utah, to check out Sundance. So why not have Sundance come to you?
This weekend, its Next Fest heads to LA.
"I think it's something that's been at the forefront of our minds: sort of the notion of expanding the awareness of independent film," says John Cooper, director of the Sundance Film Festival.
Organizers also changed up the venue this year around to the theatre at downtown's Ace Hotel.
"We saw the theatre and we just knew that it would be the home for this," says programming director Trevor Groth. Among this year's showcase is, as star Aubrey Plaza puts it, a "zom rom com dram."
"Life After Beth," is about a girl who dies, but comes back to life as a zombie to reunite with her boyfriend.
"It's a heartbreaking love story," says Groth. "It's about relationships and processing of them when you start to drift apart from them, whether they are alive or dead."
As a bonus, Sundance has paired each screening with either a conversation with filmmakers or a musical performance. For example, Father John Misty will perform live after "Life After Beth."
"We like the notion of different mediums coming together, and we really wanted to play around with this in programming," says Cooper. "I really like the notion of giving a really unique experience that's different than what everybody else is doing."
Next Fest runs through this weekend, and for more information and tickets, head HERE.
Aubrey Plaza talks 'Life After Beth' and the zombie rom-com
Aubrey Plaza started making her mark as April Ludgate on NBC's Parks and Rec, where she's played an intern-turned-Ron Swanson's assistant-turned Deputy Director of Animal Control.
The actor and comedienne has parlayed that success into several movie roles, from a smaller part in "Safety Not Guaranteed" to the lead in the coming-of-age comedy "The To Do List."
Now, she's appearing in "Life After Beth," as a young woman who actually comes back from the dead as a flesh-eating zombie -- thus perhaps giving life to an all-new genre: The zombie rom-com.
Taking a look inside Russia's 'Silicon Forest'
Mention Siberia, and one could conjure up images of gulags or endless stretches of snow — certainly not a hub of burgeoning technology. However, that's exactly what's there. Welcome to the "Silicon Forest," which is Russia's answer to the American dominance in tech innovation.
Visual journalist Grant Slater recently visited the area, and he talked to Ben Bergman on Friday to discuss what type of technology the Russians are building and why it might not be a bad thing if they took their technological know how to America.
To hear this interview, click on "Listen Now" in the left corner.
Hackers descend upon Las Vegas for Black Hat, Def Con conventions
This week in Las Vegas, while gamblers are risking it all at casinos, there are two gatherings where people are taking absolutely no chances when it comes to online security.
Venture Beat reporter Richard Byrne Reilly joins Take Two from the Black Hat and Def Con conventions where, once a year, the world's top hackers leave their online chat rooms and actually meet face-to-face.
Actor Brendan Gleeson discusses 'Calvary'
Stories of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church have become unfortunately all too common, and the crimes can often go unpunished in the real world. However, one victim of abuse at the hands of a priest decides to take his revenge in the film "Calvary," and reveals his intentions to a priest during confession.
Actor Brendan Gleeson, who you've seen in "Braveheart" and "Gangs of New York," plays Father James Lavelle, the priest who hears the victim's confession.
Gleeson talked to Take Two's Alex Cohen on Friday's show. Here's what he had to say about how his character handles hearing what this victim has to say:
"It is his worst nightmare to be confronted with what he knows is there all the time, which is the abuse that has been happening in the church and the cover up of that abuse. One of the things that comes from the movie is that child abuse is not something that we move on from and forgive and everything just goes back to the way it was -- it's a life sentence. I think he's acutely aware of the communal guilt involved in that. He's a man of the cloth, and it was done by people of the cloth, so I think his initial reaction is ineptitude. He feels his own ineptitude to answer the question."
Gleeson and writer John Michael McDonagh apparently ironed out the plot at a pub in Ireland while finishing up work on "The Guard." He said that McDonagh had seen waiting to write something about a good man who has to "take the flak" for the wrongdoings of others in this profession.
"He said, 'If I write it, will you do it?' And I said yes," Gleeson said.
Chef Susan Feniger shares how to turn your garden bounty into delicious recipes
Summer might be bringing your garden a little more than just sunshine. You might also find yourself with a surplus of vegetables.
Why not transform that back yard bounty into delicious recipes?
Border Grill co-chef and owner Susan Feniger joined Take Two Friday to share some of her favorites.
Minty Lime Cooler
Makes 2 servings
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice 1/3 cup sugar 1/2 cup packed mint leaves 1 (12 ounce) bottle cold sparkling water lime slices and mint sprigs for garnish
Combine the lime juice, sugar and mint in a blender. Puree until smooth. Fill two tall glasses half-full with ice cubes. Pour half of the lime juice concentrate in each. Top with sparkling water, garnish with lime and mint and serve.
Mojito
Pour 1 oz. White rum into tall glass with ice, and top with Minty Lime Cooler.
Copyright ©2014, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger www.bordergrill.com
Spanish Gazpacho
Makes 6 to 8 servings
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 tomato, cored and quartered
1 small green bell pepper, cored and seeded
1 large cucumber or 4 pickling or Kirby cucumbers*, peeled and chopped
5 cloves garlic
1 to 2 small jalapeño peppers, seeds optional, to taste
2 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed
1 32-ounce can tomato juice
Fresh chives, chopped, for garnish
Mayonnaise:
3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoons tarragon vinegar or white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
Tabasco, to taste
In a food processor, combine celery, tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, garlic, jalapenos, and bread and process until fine. Transfer to a blender along with tomato juice and puree in batches until smooth. Strain and set aside.
Make mayonnaise by whisking together egg yolks, paprika, vinegar, and salt in a large bowl. Gradually add olive oil, one drop at a time, whisking constantly until an emulsion forms. (As the mixture thickens, you can begin adding the oil faster.)
After mayonnaise is formed, start adding reserved vegetable puree 1/4 at a time, whisking constantly, until thoroughly blended. Adjust with Tabasco and chill for a minimum of 2 hours. Serve in chilled bowls, with a sprinkling of chopped chives.
*Kirby or pickling cucumbers are small, pale green cucumbers with fewer seeds and a milder flavor than larger cucumbers
Copyright © 2014, Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger, bordergrill.com
'Super Moon' is back, larger and closer than ever
If you look up in the sky Sunday night, you'll see the perigee full moon, which sounds cool, but not as cool as what you probably know it by: the Super Moon. The Super Moon will be the largest and closest of 2014.
KPCC’s science reporter Sanden Totten joined Take Two on Friday to talk more about what we can expect to see and what makes this super moon so special.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
On what makes the super moon look super:
"The moon's orbit around the Earth is elliptical. That means that sometimes it's closer to the Earth than usual, and that's what happens during this full moon, so it's a coinciding of the moon being closer than usual and being full ... so the moon is actually going to be about 30,000 miles closer than the normal distance. And, as a bonus, it'll look about 30 percent brighter and maybe seven to 10 percent larger in the sky."
Other interesting elements of the super moon:
"There's actually an optical illusion, so if you catch the super moon when it's nice and bright and full, when it's low on the horizon, you may have noticed it looks ginormous some days. Well, it's not actually bigger in the sky, but it's a sort of trick of perspective when it's near things close to the horizon or at least, that's what scientists think is going on.
So, it'll look really big, and it'll look really bright. One of the cool things about the super moon: It's closer, so it actually has a slight more of an effect on tides ... high tides and low tides are about an inch greater or lesser than usual during this time, so there might be a little bonus for surfers who go out during the super moon."
You can check out some of our past super moon coverage here.
Reading by Moonlight with David Kipen
Our regular book critic and literary contributor David Kipen joins us once in a full moon for his roundup of bibliocentric events: Reading by Moonlight.
He's the founder of the lending library, Libros Schmibros, in Boyle Heights, which celebrates its fourth birthday Aug. 10.
This lunar cycle Kipen recommends:
- Midnight release party for Haruki Murakami's new novel, "Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage," at Skylight Books in Los Feliz
- Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide, releases September 3
- August 26 centennial birthday for Argentine writer Julio Cortázar
Hear David Kipen read Cortázar's extremely short one-page story, "A Continuity of Parks" from the collection, "Blow Up and Other Stories":