AirTalk for October 25, 2011

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Mayor meddles in public pension panels

With prospective cuts looming, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has to be concerned about the city budget. But how much influence should he exert?
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ACLU report alleges widespread racial profiling by FBI

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) claims the FBI targets specific American communities across the United States based on race, ethnicity, national origin and religion for “assessments” and possible criminal investigation.
Members of Islamist Ennahda party addres

From dictatorship to free elections – What's next for Tunisia and the ‘Arab Spring'?

Tunisians at home and abroad voted in free elections for the first time over the weekend. Ennahda, a moderate Islamic party, is on track to win the largest number of seats, according to early domestic results. Party officials told reporters that Ennahda was ahead in nearly every voting district, and it expects to receive over half of the vote when the final results are tallied.

'What would Jesus cut?': Christian groups debate poverty programs

There is no debating that Jesus Christ has always come across as a charitable guy. He spoke a lot about caring for orphans, widows, the sick and the poor. Where we don't have Jesus on the record are his thoughts on the current fiscal debate. What would Jesus have said in a news conference about the debt ceiling showdown, for instance? What comment would he offer on the Affordable Care Act? Would he say high taxes are a necessary sacrifice?

Conficker Worm vs. The Cabal: The world’s first chapter in its digital warfare saga

In late 2008, the Internet was struck by “a worldwide digital blitzkrieg,” according to Mark Bowden. In his new book, “WORM: the First Digital World War,” he expounds on a destructive piece of malware that has puzzled experts and infected more than 12 million computers worldwide. It was called the Conficker worm, and it infected business networks, Britain’s defense ministry and parliament systems, France and Germany’s military computer networks, the Houston Municipal Court and Southwest Airlines among others.