Patt Morrison Blog

Posts about “Politics/Public Affairs” Category

• Patt Morrison for Thursday, June 4

  20 years ago, it was communications technology that brought the images of Tiananmen Square to the world. Since then, the internet and cell phones have made just about anyone a potential journalist, even as China has tried to put up a virtual wall. What steps are the Chinese government taking to control information and do any of the lessons from Tiananmen apply to today’s media?

  An Umbrella that Melts in the Rain? A new study shows that nearly two-thirds of bankruptcy filings in 2007 were due to medical bills. What might be surprising, however, is that 77.9% of those had private insurance. Isn’t that exactly why we get private insurance—to protect us from the financial ravages of a serious illness?

  Will the NBA playoffs be Magic? We hope not—and if precedent has any say in the matter, the Lakers are going to slaughter the Orlando Magic. BUT, you can’t predict basketball…

  Oscar nominated director Taylor Hackford, famous for The Devil’s Advocate, Dolores Claiborne, La Bamba, and An Officer and a Gentleman tries his hand at the stage. He’ll size up the stage versus the set.

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  • June 4, 2009 12:40 PM by Aimee Machado
  • Comments (7)
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture, Sports/Recreation
  • Tags: Lakers, Magic, muslim world, NBA Finals, Obama, speech, Taylor Hackford, Tiananmen

• Will that Bugle Play Taps at Hollywood Park?

  The sport of kings may come up one monarch short. Inglewood’s city council votes tonight on whether to convert the 238 acres of the 71-year-old Hollywood Park racetrack to a two-billion-dollar retail-and-residences complex. We spent time on what racing means in So Cal, about the prospects for track life after Hollywood Park, and the prospect that the state would sell the Del Mar racetrack to help close its budget gap.

  The former Egyptian ambassador to the U.S. sized up President Obama’s pending big speech at Cairo University. It’s a paradox, because at the same time that the president is popular in the Muslim world, that same population’s positive attitudes toward the U.S. are pretty low. Will the speech send a little tough love Egypt’s way — and Israel’s too, when it comes to the Palestinians?

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s reported budding relationship with a KTLA anchorwoman and former Miss USA has raised the question of those tricky work relationships — in the office, with subordinates or superiors, with competitors. Coke once fired an employee who was engaged to a Pepsi accountant. What are the go and no-go guidelines for these relationships? Judging from your calls, there are no hard and fast rules; some of these relationships work, some simply don’t — like Clint’s. He told us about the new office secretary 20 years his junior, a Filipina on an expired tourist visa, who ended up marrying him — and bailing out just as soon as she got her green card. Already terrific comments on the Ms.-Lonelyhearts-For-The-Day blog, and please, keep ‘em coming!

  Tomorrow, how the 20 years of technological breakthroughs since Tienanmen Square have affected politics and public life in China, and Oscar-winning director Taylor Hackford turns his hand to the stage, and to Vegas lounge music.

  — Patt Morrison

  As President Obama takes his cult of personality to Egypt to forge a new American path in the Muslim world, a former Egyptian ambassador to the US sizes up the political itinerary for Patt.

  And in politics closer to home: The Inglewood City Council announces their decision tonight on the “Hollywood Park Tomorrow” project, a huge retail and residential development to mow down the landmark Hollywood Park race track. We ask, what does the vote mean for the greater horse racing industry?

  It’s a prototypical mixed bag for homeowners and house hunters: property taxes are down, prices are down and inventory is high, but don’t count on much of a return for selling your house. What’s the mood of SoCal homeowners?

  Finally - dating do’s & don’ts - according to public opinion, the Mayor of LA is taking part in a major dating no-no, dating a (second) television reporter who covers him. That made us think about other professional dating behavior that might cross the line - for example, the story of a coca cola manager who was fired for dating a pepsi accountant. Do you have a story to share?

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  • June 3, 2009 11:21 AM by Aimee Machado
  • Comments (18)
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture, Sports/Recreation
  • Tags: Egypt, Hollywood park race track, hollywood park tomorrow, homewoners, Inglewood, Mayor of Los Angeles, President Obama

• Sacramento Limbo -- How Low Can They Go?

  How much more can the governor and the legislature lop out of the budget, and where? Both the governor, in his speech to the Legislature, and Speaker Karen Bass, talking to me today, said they get buttonholed by people begging them to save their state funding. One 24-year-old woman, who’s had AIDS since she was six, testified that the proposed cuts coming down the pike mean she won’t get her meds — and she’ll die. A man testified that he wouldn’t receive dialysis any more, and he too would die. Republican state Sen. George Runner, for his part, told me that Californians will not tolerate a wave of early parolees across the state. Not only are there no good choices any more — looks like there are just about no choices, period.

  More cheerily, we spent a good part of the second hour with three big-name producers: Bruce Cohen, Marshall Herskovitz and Gale Anne Hurd. As the weekend’s big sold-out conference on producing approaches, we got a free in-studio seminar on what producers do and what the the job, and Hollywood, will look like in the the face of the Internet, a dwindling market — or so some think — for smart, character-driven drama, and an overweening appetite for films that get created entirely to give someone an excuse to use special effects. One caller wanted to know why movies are so darned long — Gale Anne Hurd’s answer was that not many movies have long running times: they may just feel like it if you’re sitting in the audience.

  Tomorrow, the prospects for President Obama’s trip to Egypt, from the viewpoint of a former Egyptian ambassador to the U.S.

  — Patt Morrison

  Just three months after Sacramento closed its last budget gap, legislators again face a $24 billion hole—where’s the money going to come from and what revenue options, if any, are on the table?

  While missiles are being fired, a nuclear bomb detonated in N. Korea, and a successor to Kim Jong Il is rumored, two American TV journalists are still being detained there, accused of spying and illegally crossing the border—what are their fates in this international crisis?

  And the summer movie season looks like a box office lollapalooza in bad times—just how do films get produced and marketed, and to what kinds of audiences? Three major film producers walk us through the hows and whys.

  Finally, the annual Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3) kicks off today with announcements of a Beatles version of the game Rock Band, and new versions of fantasy football favorite “Madden,” Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Star Wars, and Assassin’s Creed 2, among others.

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  • June 2, 2009 12:13 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
  • Comments (10)
  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Environment, History, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture
  • Tags: film, Kim Jong Il, Laura Ling, movies, North Korea, producers, recession, Rock Band, Star Wars, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Assassin's Creed 2, California budget crisis, detained journalists, Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), Euna Lee, fantasy football

• Summer classes? No sweat -- because there's [almost] no school

  Doesn’t anybody ever do summer like the Beach Boys any more?

  ”We’ll all be gone for the summer/We’re on safari to stay/Tell the teacher we’re surfin’/Surfin’ USA.”

  They may have no choice this summer; the LAUSD is offering summer classes to perhaps a third of the 225,000 students who enrolled last year — budget cutbacks mean that pretty much only high school students trying to complete graduation requirements and some special ed students get summer school.

  A lot of parents and a few students phoned in about the mess this puts them in for electives and other special programs, as well as the simple question of what to do when the kids are at home and the parents are at work. One work-at-home mother says she’s encouraging her son to explore the neighborhood this summer, to play, bike, read — a notion that freaks out other parents who were already astonished that she encouraged her boy to walk the five blocks home from the bus stop.

  Nobody has lemonade stands and hammocks any more?

  Journalist Gretchen Peters’ astonishing book about the heroin trade in Afghanistan got everybody sitting up and taking notice. It’s financing the Taliban and Al Qaeda’s terror campaigns, and the U.S. will be as hard pressed to break the dangerous drug cycle in Asia as it has been in Latin America — maybe more so. Even though Afghan heroin doesn’t make its way to the U.S., for the most part, the stupendous fortune it puts in terrorists’ pockets does its own damage.

  Tomorrow, two U.S. TV journalists are still being held in North Korea — what’s happening to them? And high-profile film producers talk about their trade.

  — Patt Morrison

  AIG and GM may have been too big to fail, but what about the world’s eighth-largest economy—CA wants Feds to back its loans with TARP, but what legs does the state with the worst credit rating in the nation have to stand on?…Did the U.S. know about the drug smuggling activities of both its enemies and allies in the Karzai administration but repeatedly turn a blind eye—journalist Gretchen Peters joins us with the story of Afghanistan’s exploding heroin trade…Eager to reform a convoluted tax code, close a multi-trillion dollar budget deficit AND fund hugely expensive programs like single-payer healthcare, the Obama Administration is considering the VAT—is the long-term payoff worth the pain at the cash register?…And summer school feels the recession crunch—what are cash-strapped parents to do with kids this summer?

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  • June 1, 2009 1:00 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
  • Comments (18)
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Education, History, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture
  • Tags: afghanistan, Air France, Bailout, Gretchen Peters, heroin trade, Karzai administration, opium trade, recession, summer school, TARP, VAT tax

• Bugs and Hugs and H2O No-Nos

  Under the “What’s with kids these days?” heading, here’s a ”new” trend among teenagers that of course the rest of us are just picking up on now: indiscriminate hugging!

  The hallway embrace, the before-class and after-school hug — it’s common on campuses these days, but there’s always more to it than that. A USC sociologist helped us to parse the behavior in the social hierarchy of huggers vs. huggees, and why a generation that has a million virtual ”friends” they’ve never met is so invested in the physical embrace. We got some terrific calls from students too — please, keep calling in so we can hear* from *you and not always just *about *you!

  The new water regs take place in LA on Monday, and the DWP chief, David Nahai, took your questions about the new rules that he hopes will cut back water use by 15% — either by the carrots of persuasion or the stick of enforcement. Don’t hose off your driveways and sidewalks, don’t run your sprinklers on any days but Mondays and Thursdays, after 5 p.m. and before 9 a.m. — and put in drought-tolerant plants. We use more than half of our water — that’s drinking-quality water, every drop of it — outdoors!

  And a study in the journal Science has found about a thousand different kinds of bacteria camping out on our skin, but before you grab that anti-bacterial gel, don’t forget that many of those bacteria are good bacteria, on patrol to keep the bad guys off the turf that is your forearm [and navel and armpit, and so on …]

  On Monday, how differently would we wage war in Afghanistan if we treated the Taliban like a drug cartel instead of an ideological force? Because heroin is the cash crops that bankrolls the Taliban and some Al Qaeda forces. Follow the poppies-to-terrorism trail next time.

  — Patt Morrison

  New mandatory conservation measures to cut water use by 15% go into effect Monday. How can you avoid a rate increase? Do the rules cover drip irrigation? And can your neighbors rat on you? We get the answers…and a few suggestions for “water-wise” landscaping.

  Click here for more info on the regulations that go into place on Monday

  Bacteria have colonized us inside and out and, a new study shows, that might not be such a bad thing—we get the latest on the Human Micro biome Project…And hugging—it used to mean something, and now everyone does it, everywhere, and all the time. Are today’s youth chucking off America’s Puritanical yoke by frequently embracing one another? Patt talks with a sociologist about the reasons for this generational shift and what it means.

  Are you a “hugger”?

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  • May 29, 2009 11:55 AM by Aimee Machado
  • Comments (31)
  • Categories: Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture
  • Tags: bacteria, drip irrigation, hugging, mandatory conservation measures, Micro Biome Project, water regulation, water-wise

• California's budget bleeds out -- now what?

  So, how do you like Plan B?

  With last week’s budget ballot props going down in flames, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has let us know how he’ll have to make up the $5.5 billion difference.

  For starters, cut CalWORKS — state welfare/workfare — completely. That saves a billion three, but it would also mean the state no longer gets a check for more than twice that amount in matching-plus funds from the feds.

  But wait, as they say on the infomercials — there’s more! Cut insurance to a million poor kids, end Cal grants to incoming college freshmen, cut virtually all the money for salaries for park rangers and park maintenance people.

  Even the $6 million for the state’s poison control hotline would be cut. But as the hotline’s director and our other guests argued, short-term savings would mean long-term costs, big ones. Stop answering the phones on the poison hotline, and a $6 million savings could turn into a $70 million cost, as people crowd emergency rooms and call paramedics about spider bites and bathtub cleansers. Make college unaffordable to good high school students and you create an unqualified employment pool. it goes on and on.

  What surprised me weren’t the numbers — we’d gotten an inkling of how bad they’d be — but the calls. A least a third of you were waiting to say, ‘Raise taxes!’ One caller wondered how big a check the average California family would have to write to keep most services in place. And another wondered about why sin taxes — cigarettes and liquor — are so low, and whether raising them couldn’t stanch some of this budget bleeding.

  Tomorrow, we plan to talk about the tens of millions the governor says he could save by letting nonviolent felons out of prison a year early — and we help you get ready for the June 1 deadline for new water use rules coming down from the DWP.

  — Patt Morrison

  i don’t expect that’s a widely shared viewpoint but it does suggest that the cuts raise the spectre that phil ansell at LA county’s CALWORKS evoked: a Third World scenario of unemployment, homelessness, hunger and death multiplying into the thousands, as a consequence.

  California needs to slash another $5.5 billion, so what are the new realities of budget bloodletting? For starters, California could become the only state to forgo a welfare program, health insurance could be denied to poor children, nonviolent criminals could get out of prison a year early, Cal Grants for college students could be phased out, and 80 percent of State parks could be shut down…We check in for the latest in the bitter internal SAG stalemate—does the vitriol change anybody’s mind about their vote, and can the union ever be repaired?…And Fairfax High School has just elected its first male prom queen. Queen Sergio Garcia told reporters, “I’ll be wearing a suit, but don’t be fooled, deep down inside, I am a queen!” Is this a shining example of tolerance or diversity run amuck?

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  • May 28, 2009 12:31 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
  • Comments (39)
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture
  • Tags: Cal Grants, California budget, gender roles, Prom Queen, SAG, state parks, welfare

• R U fed up w txtng 2?

  What did that doctor call it — text-opathy? The student-teen-20-something texting craze may seem like the usual adolescent obsession with gab, from the telephone to email, but the New York Times story we talked about pointed out the differences: distraction, poor grades, short attention span, sleeplessness, and sore thumbs.

  Did you hear Reina Hardesty and her father? She’s the Orange County 13-year-old who sent and received something close to 24,000 text messages in a month. That’s no typo. Her parents have now put limits on her, and she says that frankly, she doesn’t mind. And that’s what we heard from other callers, including a recent high school grad: it’s a bit of a relief not to have to respond to that constant Pavlovian ”pinging.”

  Some of you faulted the parents for not establishing limits, and some of you, like Harvey, blogged the sentiment that phone companies have families wrapped around their marketing finger. Angelia’s the mother of two, who blogged that her kids use cell phones for emergencies only. ”They simply don’t have time to send or receive 10,000, 5,000, or even 10 messages a month. They are too busy living real lives.”

  LAUSD superintendent Ray Cortines always generates lots of calls and blog comments, and now, especially, with another $135 million in budget cuts coming down on his head, he heard from you about the effect on the school year, the school day, classroom size and teachers.

  It doesn’t look good — either at LAUSD or in Sacramento, where the governor and Legislature are making those $5.5 billion in cuts, now that the five budget propositions failed in last week’s election. We’ll be spending a good deal of time tomorrow finding out what will be whacked. So far, the proposals would cut state welfare programs entirely, phase out Cal grants for college students, end health care insurance for a million poor kids, close about 80% of state parks, and cut a year off the sentences of nonviolent offenders.

  It’s gonna get ugly — check that, uglier — out there.

  — Patt Morrison

  Billions in new cuts await California Gov. Schwarzenegger released a budget plan yesterday that would eliminate welfare, drop 1 million poor children from health insurance, cut off new grants for college students and shut down 80 percent of state parks, and would make California the only state with no welfare program. Are these cuts unavoidable?

  The Toll of Texting They do it in the classroom, in restaurants, while crossing busy streets, and under their covers well into the night. In 2008, the average American teenager sent and received 2,272 text messages per month—double the 2007 average. And now psychologists and physicians are beginning to take stock of texting’s health effects—anxiety, falling grades, stress injuries, and even an inability to psychologically separate from one’s parents and grow into autonomous adults. Is texting affecting a generation’s health?

  Big Man on Campus It’s hard to say which set of numbers is worse—LAUSD’S budget or its ranking among the state’s urban school districts—and at least on the budget front, it’s only going to get worse before it gets better. Ramon Cortines, the superintendent of the nation’s second largest school district is here for his once-a-month visit to answer Patt’s questions and yours.

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  • May 27, 2009 12:34 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
  • Comments (15)
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Education, Environment, Health, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture
  • Tags: adolescents, Big Man on Campus, Budget, cuts, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, health, LAUSD, Ray Cortines, texting, welfare

• Prop 8: Who's In Charge Here?

  To me one of the most interesting aspects of the Proposition 8 ruling upholding the initiative to ban same-sex marriage is the constitutional game of paper-scissors-rock among California voters, courts and the Legislature. Who’s in charge? Whose say-so trumps whose?

  How can the state Supreme Court throw out Proposition 22, an anti-gay marriage measure from 2000, and then, a year later, uphold Proposition 8, which I believe passed with a smaller margin than Proposition 22?

  It can. And a lot of it has to to do with the constitutional standards of the language of the propositions themselves, a lot has to do with judicial deference to the ballot box, and a lot has to do with the state’s Constitution, which is so easy to amend that we have about 500 amendments, but very hard to revise. A small but important distinction.

  Rick Hasen, who teaches law at Loyola, came on to explain some of these nuances, and referred to an 1894 ballot measure which denied otherwise qualified Californians the right to vote if they weren’t literate in English. Under California’s constitution, that was legal, and it wasn’t until 1970 that that was overturned. In 1964, after the state banned discrimination in housing, the voters approved a real estate-backed initiative that essentially let Californians discriminate in housing — and that initiative stood until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned it three years later.

  The upshot: watch for a rematch of the gay marriage vote next year, or not long thereafter. In which case, if the ban fails, paper may beat paper.

  It’d be typically Californian if you find on the ballot at the same time as a new gay-marriage initiative the name of Supreme Court justice Carlos Moreno. His term expires next year, and while Supreme Court justices’ reelections are usually a slam-dunk, some yes-on-8 forces are outraged that his was the sole vote to overturn Proposition 8. Already they’re talking recall.

  I know what you’re thinking: here we go again.

  — Patt Morrison

  Prop 8 Upheld The decision is in. The State’s Highest Court decided today to uphold the voter approved proposition 8 - although the justices voted unanimously to uphold the 18,000 same-sex marriages that took place in California last year. What steps will the supporters of same-sex marriages take now? We discuss the ramifications of today’s ruling with the lead council from both sides. And your calls and comments as well.

  POTUS picks SCOTUS President Barack Obama announced his pick to replace Justice David Souter: Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the U.S. appeals court of New York. She’ll be the first Latina on the bench and one who came from humble beginnings: the daughter of Puerto Rican parents; she was raised in the Bronx. The President stressed the qualification of empathy. What kind of a confirmation process is in store for this veteran of the federal bench?

  North Korea Tests Nuclear Bomb North Korea reportedly tested two more short-range missiles Tuesday, a day after detonating a nuclear bomb underground, pushing the regime further into a confrontation with world powers despite the threat of U.N. action.

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  • May 26, 2009 12:09 PM by Aimee Machado
  • Comments (32)
  • Categories: History, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture
  • Tags: Judge Sonia Sotomayor, North Korea, Nuclear, Proposition 8, same-sex marriage, SCOTUS

• Patt Morrison for Thursday, May 21

  Is California Too Big to Fail? Just days after California voters rejected a series of state-budget ballot measures, debate erupted in Washington over whether the federal government should provide a loan guarantee that California officials say they need to avert a cash crisis. Secretary Geithner expressed doubt that he could help California out of our fiscal crisis. But isn’t California too big to fail?

  Varrio Hawaiian Gang Members Arrested Dozens of arrests have been made and about 150 indictments have been issued for members and associates of the predominantly Latino gang, Varrio Hawaiian Gardens. The gang is accused of trying to push black people out of the Hawaiian Gardens neighborhood through the use of murder and other violent crimes. The U.S. attorney’s office is touting the raids and arrests as the “largest gang takedown in United States history.”

  Happy Birthday from Hizbollah Neil MacFarquhar has been living in the mid-east on and off since he was 3 years old. MacFarquhar was the mid-east correspondent for the New York Times for five years and currently holds the position of United Nations bureau chief for the paper. In his latest book, The Media Relations Department of Hizbollah Wishes You a Happy Birthday: Unexpected Encounters in the Changing Middle East. MacFarquhar delivers personal accounts of his life in Libya as a child, as an adult, as a reporter and tries to show what he refers to as the, “…underexposed side of the Middle East.”

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  • May 21, 2009 12:25 PM by Aimee Machado
  • Comments (8)
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, History, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture
  • Tags: California, Geithner, Happy Birthday from Hizbollah, Hawaiian Gardens, Hezbollah, Neil MacFarquhar, U.S. Attorney's Office, Varrio Hawaiian Gang

• Wails to the Chief and Constitutional Convention 2.0

  Did you bring your olive oil with you to lunch? Because Bill Bratton supplied the balsamic vinegar!

  The always-tart police chief defended what his department is doing to shoulder some of the city’s budget woes, and took his at-bat turn with your calls and questions, from helicopter noise to traffic tickets as a money-making technique.

  The chief is not everybody’s cup of tea — to mix food metaphors — but I’m always glad when we can let you hear from him, and especially vice versa!

  The hour we spent analyzing the election results wasn’t exactly cheerful but it was enlightening, and while a constitutional convention maybe the only way to go to undo some of the misrule we’ve had a hand in voting ourselves into, even that idea is fraught with potential conflict. Who’s chosen? And how? Do they represent ethnic/gender/economic/political diversity? And the biggest question, who’d be willing to give up power to someone else to streamline government and make the state work better? Voters? Legislators? Taxpayers? Uh-huh, sure.

  Maybe if we required the conventioneers to wear stockings and knee breeches as constitutional conventioneers did in this country more than 200 years ago …

  Tomorrow, an author who grew up in oil-rich Libya and even got birthday emails from Hezbollah.

  — Patt Morrison

  Is California Ungovernable? It isn’t a new question, by any stretch of the imagination, nor is this the first time that California has faced financial ruin, political sclerosis and voter apathy. But after a year of bloody partisan battle in Sacramento that has only managed to produce a budget deficit of $20 billion or more, it might be time to ask the question again, only this time with a call to action: Is California simply too big, too politically and demographically divergent to govern in a sensible way?

  Special Election Break down: What Now? Special Election Day has come and gone and with all propositions on the ballot failing last night (with the exception of 1F), where does that leave Californians? What did voters say, what does it mean, and now how are we going to get out of this budget crisis? We break down the post-election analysis.

  Ask the Chief Carmen Trutanich has won the City Attorney race, even though LAPD Chief Bill Bratton and the Mayor supported his contender. How does the Chief feel about it the day after? Also on tap: the move by the city budget committee to put a freeze on hiring police officers (the action was later prevented by the full council); recent claims made by Bratton that the crime rate is down to levels of the 1950s; and the difference in LAPD resources given to two recent hit-and-run investigations - one a high-profile USC student and the other a little known construction worker. That—and your questions—for the Chief.

  Enjoy it While it Lasts: Low Gas Prices Will Prove Fleeting While absorbing consistently bad news about job losses, evaporating 401(k)’s and billion-dollar bailouts, it was the one small comfort you could take away from an all-around lousy economy: gasoline prices were comfortably low again, retreating from $4/gallon we saw last year. How much pain is coming down the pipeline this summer and beyond?

  Got a question for the Chief? Call in today @ 1-866-893-5722 between 2 - 2:40 p.m. or post your question below….we’ll try and get it on the air.

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  • May 20, 2009 12:02 PM by Aimee Machado
  • Comments (23)
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs
  • Tags: ask the chief, California Special election, gas prices, LAPD chief Bill Bratton, Propositions, Schwarzenegger

• California, the Nation's Official Pace Car -- Just Not for the Economy

  For years, California battled the auto industry to set its own auto emissions standards; now California’s standards will become the nation’s.

  President Barack Obama’s Rose Garden ceremony brought together combatants — the auto industry, environmentalists, auto workers, along with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mary Nichols, head of the state Air Resources Board, who talked to us right after the event — to announce a pedal-to-the-metal increase in fuel efficiency standards for U.S. automakers over the next seven years, and a corollary cut in greenhouse gas emissions. As I discussed with one guest, this might not have happened if the auto industry — which battled higher fuel efficiency standards at every step — weren’t on the ropes and beholden to U.S. taxpayers. But, as the fortune cookies say, sometimes a crisis is an opportunity.

  It was odd to be talking about how to hold onto employees instead of firing them, but that’s what Google’s doing with a new algorithm to track potentially restless employees and try to keep them happy. Our guests pointed out that there’s still that X-factor, the human factor, that requires plain old, face-to-face understanding of employees’ needs and hopes — and how dangerous the binge-and-purge practice is, firing experienced workers in a poor economic climate and then regretting it a few months later.

  And it’s graduation season, when commencement speakers are important and famous but not necessarily worth listening to. Timothy Noah’s was here with his nifty ”Slate” piece on the need to hear not from successful men and women but from enlightening and entertaining failures really struck a nerve with listeners. Hardly any of you remembered a word that your commencement speakers said — although someone did recall Neil Diamond singing ”Louie, Louie” with suitable NYU grad lyrics. Bill Cosby was adjudged to be boring, Lyndon Johnson forgettable except for the massive security, and … well, gee, I can’t remember any of the others, either. QED.

  I’d love to read more of your commencement-speaker stories here on the blog —

  Tomorrow, an election post-mortem and the work of chiefing, with the LAPD’s Bill Bratton, on ”Ask the Chief” — you ask, he answers.

  — Patt Morrison

  California Paves the way to Higher MPG…and the Rest of the Country Finally Follows* In a deal that seeks to appease California, a skeptical auto industry and environmentalists, the Obama Administration announced more stringent fuel efficiency standards that is more-or-less a copy of California’s mandate of a 30% reduction in the greenhouse gas emissions of all automobiles sold in the U.S. by 2016. The biggest shocker in the deal is the willing participation of auto manufacturers—will it work, or is it too good to be true?

  Google Tackles Brain Drain For years Google has been using a patented algorithm to bring them closer and closer to what they hope to one day achieve, the perfect search engine. Now the company is using that same approach on its employees. Google has come up with an algorithm to help them crunch the numbers on who on their staff of 20,000 is most likely to quit. We discuss new strategies in employee retainment and how the numbers might know you are ready to walk…even before even you do.

  New Leader for NASA? President Obama meets today with Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Charles Bolden Jr., a candidate for the new head of NASA. Bolden’s nomination raises larger questions about the future of NASA: President Obama said in March that he wanted to reinvigorate the space program, but a new NASA administrator would need to persuade lawmakers to commit up to $120 billion for a new lunar program to ultimately prepare for a manned flight to Mars. Can it happen in this economy?

  Pomp and Circumstance…and How about Some Failure? Eminence is the one pre-requisite for any commencement speaker and just about every speech is some variation-on-the-theme of how to be happy and successful. But Timothy Noah thinks that’s a fallacy - successful people don’t really know what made them successful and moreover, we don’t learn how to live our lives better from our successes, but from our failures. So in these uncertain economic times, what kind of speaker might better guide the graduates of 2009?

  What kind of commencement speaker would YOU want to listen to? Let us know below or call-in live begining at 2:30 p.m.: 1-866-893-5722.

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  • May 19, 2009 12:12 PM by Aimee Machado
  • Comments (15)
  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Sports/Recreation
  • Tags: brain drain, cafe standards, google, greenhouse gas emissions, mpg, NASA, pomp and circumstance, Timothy Noah

• Car Talk, KPCC Style

  The two most vivid images from today’s program come from cars:

  My guest Michael Pollan, who wrote ”In Defense of Food — An Eater’s Manifesto,” revealed the eyebrow-raising news that people between 18 to 45 eat one out of every five meals in their cars. I guess ”mpg” will have to mean ”meals per gallon.” Among the other many bits of wisdom in Pollan’s book (like “eat meals at a table — a desk is not a table”) is the admonition never to buy food at the same place you buy gas.

  Between Pollan and Dr. David Kessler, the former head of the FDA and another recent guest, we really got a novel and revolutionary perspective on how to change eating habits in this country, where we suffer wild food-mood swings between a Puritanical suspicion of food as anything more than mere body-fuel, and the gluttony of recreational eating and pointless calories.

  The second car image: KPCC reporter Frank Stoltze, squeezed between Repubilcan Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic Assembly Speaker Karen Bass in the back seat of a car as the governor and the speaker campaigned in LA’s black churches for Tuesday’s ballot propositions. Frank’s a terrific, hard-nosed reporter, which made the governor’s badinage with him all the funnier. Give the gov points for being able to laugh in the face of potential election disaster; it looks as if the big budget props will likely fail on Tuesday.

  Tomorrow: NASA may be getting a new jefe and, after years of the Bush Administration blocking California from applying the Golden State’s own greenhouse gas auto emissions to itself, President Obama wants the nation to embrace California rules, to put the brakes on greenhouse gas emissions nationwide.

  — Patt Morrison

  Last Ditch Push to Pass the Props Governor Schwarzenegger spent his Sunday at South LA churches hoping to sway voters on his ballot propositions. He needs all the prayers he can get. His props are trailing at the polls (outside of 1F) and voters are angry. KPCC reporter Frank Stoltze tagged along with the Governor and Speaker Bass as they made their pitch throughout the Southland.

  Netanyahu Comes to D.C. At the White House today, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Obama met to discuss Middle East peacekeeping. Is the approach of this administration any different from the last? And will Prime Minister Netanyahu ever agree to an independent Palestine? We discuss what came out of the meeting.

  The Sunscreen Debate - Is More Really More? Even though the FDA proposed a cap on SPFs at 50+, brands are still putting sky-high skin protection on the shelves and consumers may be buying in. From 75 to 85 and now to 100, the auctioneer is raising the number and raising it fast - but, is there any merit in SPFs that high, or is just brand hype?

  Will the Next Supreme Court Justice Come on Down! One of the greatest guessing games in politics, aside from maybe the identity of vice presidential candidates, is over a president’s nominee for a vacant Supreme Court justice seat. Liberal groups cry out for minority nominees that will reflect the changing demographics of the country while conservatives are hoping to minimize the damage. Who are the leading candidates and what will be the Obama legacy on the Court?

  Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants. Award winning author Michael Pollan is back on the road to talk more about what we should and should not be eating. In his latest New York Times bestseller In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, Pollan explains why we should avoid the center aisles of the grocery store, think often of our great-grandmothers, and the difference between actual food that is safe to consume and the ever dangerous edible food-like substances.

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  • May 18, 2009 12:24 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: Environment, History, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture
  • Tags: In Defense of Food, Michael Pollan, middle east, Netanyahu, peacekeeping, Propositions, sunscreen, supreme court justice

• Patt Morrison for Friday, May 15

  If They Fail, What Then? By just about everyone’s account, all ballot props 1A thru 1F are expected to fail next week in Governor Schwarzenegger’s special election. And in spite of the pleas, threats, and political theater of his press conferences, that will leave the state hanging with a $21 billion deficit. So if they all fail, what is the state of California to do? Back at square one with a less-than-cooperative legislature, we ask the people. What do you think is the next step to solving our budget crisis?

  Is the USC Basketball Program in Foul Trouble? There has been a cloud of scandal surrounding USC’s basketball team for a few years now, ever since allegations that the Trojans’ former hoops star O.J. Mayo received approximately $30,000 in gifts and cash from an agent while was still playing college ball. Now there are new developments in the Mayo case tied to the same shady associate who first blew the whistle on USC and Mayo: Trojans coach Tim Floyd may have paid cash to help get Mayo onto the team, a major violation of NCAA rules. There is clearly smoke surrounding USC, but is there fire beyond the speculation?

  Having “the Talk”—One Heck of a $10 Trillion Credit Card Bill A U.S. president has a rare moment of honesty about the dire state of U.S budget deficits and the overall National debt. But what does a $10 trillion debt mean for the average American?

  Anyone Got a Good Lawyer Joke? The race for one of the largest government legal offices in the country has gone from ugly to uglier. In one corner, there’s Councilman Jack Weiss and in this other there’s former prosecutor Carmen Trutanich. Both campaigns have filed complaints with the city Ethics Commission and neither seems to be stopping their controversial negative ads. We discuss the two candidates and their campaigns as the May 19th election nears.

  Tweet. Tweet. What Are You Doing? Twitter—it was all the rage, but history tells us it’s only a matter of time before it’s replaced with something new. The technology that marketed itself somewhere between a sms message and a blog seemed only to have a trickle of a following at first…and then it exploded. Are we over it yet or have we only begun to understand its potential? We consider the utter insignificance, or virtue, of the medium. What are you thinking?

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  • May 15, 2009 12:02 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture, Sports/Recreation
  • Tags: National debt, Obama, sports, twitter, USC

• Patt Morrison for Thursday, May 14th

  The Race to Replace Hilda Solis Heats Up Hilda Solis gave up her Congressional seat to become Labor Secretary. Now, twelve candidates are vying to replace here in the San Gabriel Valley-based 32nd Congressional District. Two well-known Democrats are considered the front runners: State Senator Gil Cedillo of Los Angeles and State Board of Equalization member and former Assemblywoman Judy Chu of Monterey Park. Last night Patt hosted a debate co-sponsored by CAUSE and SVREP with the Democratic candidates. Today, we air excerpts from that debate and discuss the race with Raphael Sonenshein.

  April Showers Bring May Flowers…and May Revises Gov. Schwarzenegger presents two versions of his revised May budget in a 2:00 pm press conference today—one represents the standing budget if voters approve all the Governor’s measures on the May 19th special election ballot, while the other represents a scenario in which all initiatives fail. The latter would include severe budget cuts. Critics are skeptical of the Governor’s timing: with just five days before the election, is this a mere scare tactic?

  Mayor Declares Fiscal State of Emergency We check in with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, about his press conference earlier this morning to oppose the City Council Budget Committee’s effort to freeze the mayor’s police hiring, as well as to discuss his push earlier this week to get the City Council to declare a fiscal emergency of the $530 million deficit Los Angeles is facing in the next fiscal year.

  The Lottery Wars At a time when most businesses could use a bail out, there’s one industry that’s booming: despite incredible odds and a failing economy, we just can’t stop playing the lottery. Last year, 124 million Americans played, pulling in hundreds of millions of dollars for the industry. What possesses us to pour hard-earned money into such a statistically poor investment and could our vice even help us solve problems like our state’s gaping budget gap? We take a look at the history of this American institution—from its roots in Jamestown, to the modern, multi-billion dollar business.

  Prop 1C: Gambling with the State Budget Prop 1C would repeal current requirements that lottery revenue be used only for education, and authorize unlimited borrowing against future lottery proceeds to avoid cutting state government spending. The 2009-10 budget already includes $5 billion from this source, but opponents say the extra revenue encourages gambling and exploits the poor. Could the measure work to balance our $42 billion state deficit as it has in Florida and Texas?

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  • May 14, 2009 11:15 AM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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  • Categories: Business/Economy, Education, Politics/Public Affairs
  • Tags: 32nd Congressional Debate, Antonio Villaraigosa, CAUSE, fiscal emergency, Governor Schwarzenegger, Hilda Solis, Lottery Wars, May Revise, Prop 1C, SVREP

• Sweetening the Pot for Health Care Reform, One Vanilla Coke at a Time

  Remember that old Coca-Cola ad campaign, ”Coke is it”? Now it may be ”it” again, as in, ”tag, you’re it.” The Obama Administration is thinking of taxing sugary soft drinks and caloric fruit drinks and sports drinks and bottled teas — not the diet ones — as one way to raise money for health care coverage for all Americans.

  We already tax tobacco and liquor and other products in part to offset the social costs they create. Should we tax sweet drinks — at maybe three cents per twelve ounces — to help address problems of obesity and diabetes that hold hidden costs for all of us?

  The guest from the beverage industry debated the fellow from the Center for Science in the Public Interest over the tax, which now exists in about a dozen states already, and why to single out soft drinks and not, say, fast food?

  Sugary lemonades that would be included in this tax plan — but the Lemonade Initiative doesn’t sound like a sugary enterprise. It’s a new group of parents of LAUSD students trying to find a ”third way” in the district [hence, making lemonade out of lemons], and willing to put everything on the table, from going charter schools to even breaking up the district. It supports the teachers, but wants more accountability and a reasonable way of getting rid of bad teachers.

  They’ll be out in force in the San Fernando Valley on Friday. Who won’t be out, period, on Friday? Teachers. Their union had planned a boycott but a judge issued a restraining order. Instead they’ll be ”dialoguing” — lame word — with parents, and wearing black.

  Tomorrow, highlights of a debate among some candidates to succeed Labor Secretary Hilda Solis in her old Congressional seat.

  — Patt Morrison

  Gathering UTLA, LAUSD & L.A.’s Parents for a Nice Glass of Reform Lemonade In the never-ending debate about the sad state of public education in Los Angeles, there are two predictable sides to every argument: the Los Angeles Unified School District and the teachers, usually represented by their union. Now a group of LAUSD parents are seeking to enter the fray with a simple goal: getting the two warring factions to talk and get moving on real school reforms. What exactly is the Lemonade Initiative?

  Unlocking the Terrorist Scrapbook: From Photos to Memos While the Obama Administration was deciding to not release inflammatory photos of prisoner interrogations today, the Senate Judiciary Committee was hearing about the Bush Administration’s torture policies - two different pieces of the larger puzzle on the country’s post-9/11 national security strategy. What’s next: will court cases eventually win the public release of abuse photos that will play out like Abu Ghraib Part II, and will everyone from Dick Cheney to Nancy Pelosi eventually be testifying in front of Congress?

  NTSB Holds Safety Hearings on Buffalo Plane Crash The National Transportation Safety Board is holding hearings into the safety issues raised by the February crash of an airliner near Buffalo that killed 50 people. Witnesses in the hearing are expected to provide new allegations about training shortcomings, as well as the prevalence of chronic pilot fatigue and lapses in cockpit discipline. How worried should we be about training for commuter airline pilots? We get the lowdown from day 2 of the hearing.

  Sin Tax on Soda Pop? In a bind to pay for President Obama’s proposed $1.2 trillion overhaul of the health care system, Senate leaders are considering federal taxes on soda and other sugary drinks. Congressional Budget Office reports estimate that adding a three cent-tax to 12-ounce servings would generate $24 billion over the next four years. Proponents say the tax would lower consumption, reduce health problems, and save medical costs, but the beverage industry claims it would unfairly hit lower-income Americans and wouldn’t deter consumption. We hear from both sides.

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  • May 13, 2009 12:35 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: Education, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture
  • Tags: buffalo, LAUSD, NTSB, plane crash, sin tax, soda pop, the lemondae initiative, UTLA

• Guns, Germinating Budget Ideas, and Steeling Ourselves for College Tuition Hikes

  I know, I know, it’s a stretch — playing on the title of Jared Diamond’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book. But sometimes you have to give in to these impulses …

  Sheriff Lee Baca says he believes that the gun buyback program is a good idea, even though some of the guns may not even work. You all went to town with your calls and blog comments for the man from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.Mmaybe the most interesting was from someone who signed himself/herself just as ”a veteran”:

  I “worked with a gun buy back program in Iraq. What happened was they gave us broken, old guns that they may not have even owned. That is irrelevant, however. The important part was it was a chance to open a dialogue with desperate and destitute gun owners - exactly the people who you want to talk to.

  And remember, Iraq has a higher standard of living than South Central.”

  The likely tuition hike for Cal State students, coming on the heels of the UC increase, hits wide and deep, as we heard from the man in charge of Cal State budgeting — in part because this is the latest of many such increases. We heard that bigger class sizes, fewer class offerings and more years spent slogging away for that degree await any Cal State students — if they can afford school at all, with larger loans and work-study burdens.

  And stay tuned for more about the LA city budget. The mayor’s called for a declaration of a fiscal emergency. As bad as this year looks, a half-billion dollars down, next year could double that to an even billion that we come up short. We talked today about budget cuts to the Neighborhood Council program, but it’ll hardly stop there. Sometimes it seems like California government at every level is a patient who’s bleeding out … if you didn’t hear our pro-and-con on Proposition 1B, on K-14 school funding, give it a listen before you vote on May 19.

  Tomorrow, the NTSB hearings into the fatal commuter plane crash in Buffalo in February.

  — Patt Morrison

  Students Absorb Blows from Failed State Budget, Recession Students of any of the 23 California State University campuses should prepare to pony up an extra $306/year for classes to pay for the state’s severe budget shortfalls—UC students will have to pay 9.3% more in tuition fees as well. The hike for CSU comes after system-wide admissions were cut by 10%, designed to hold down enrollment to save money. With budget cuts continuing and probably more fee hikes on the way, can California’s vaunted public higher education network continue to achieve at high levels?

  Gun Buy-back Programs—Do They Work? Last weekend the LAPD held a heavily attended gun buy-back program, offering gift certificates to individuals in return for their firearms. But where are these guns coming from and are these programs really a successful way to get guns off the streets and reduce crime?

  Prop 1B: Education Funding Hangs in the Balance Appearing on the special statewide ballot next week, Prop 1B is just one of six propositions that are part of the 2009-2010 state budget and tax increase agreement. With California schools facing heavy cuts, supporters hope 1B will pass, mandating supplemental payments of $9.3 billion to schools and community colleges. Opponents and proponents weigh on the benefits and effects of the measure.

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  • May 12, 2009 12:09 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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  • Categories: Business/Economy, Criminal Justice, Education, Politics/Public Affairs
  • Tags: budget cuts, Cal State, commuter plane crash, NTSB, Prop 1B

• Patt Morrison for Monday, May 11

  After 6 Years of Reconstruction in Iraq, What will be the American Legacy? Even as Iraqi reconstruction was a constant in American policy since 2003 so were the plagues of waste, fraud and misguidance during the American reconstruction effort. As American troops slowly begin to cycle out of Iraq for good, Stuart Bowen, Jr., the inspector general who oversaw the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq is here to talk about what went right, what went wrong and how can apply these lessons to Afghanistan.

  In Studio: Stuart Bowen, Jr., Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction

  New Command in Afghanistan Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he asked for the resignation of Gen. David McKiernan, the top general in Afghanistan today. Gates said new leadership is needed as the Obama administration launches its strategy in the seven-year-old campaign. The change is aimed at “getting fresh thinking, fresh eyes on the problem.” Who is Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal?

  Proposition 1F: Holding Lawmakers Accountable or Useless Symbolism? Amid a group of budget and tax-related propositions that will be tough to swallow for California voters, Proposition 1F was supposed to be the spoonful of sugar that would help the medicine go down. 1F would prevent elected members of California’s government from receiving pay raises in years when the state is running a deficit. But will 1F really deter dragged out budget negotiations and properly punish floundering state leaders?

  Hidden Kitchens in Southern California Davia Nelson and Nikki Silva are better known as the Kitchen Sisters. They are the creators of numerous stories for public broadcast about the lives, histories, art and rituals of people who have shaped our diverse cultural heritage. Hidden Kitchens, their award-winning radio series on NPR, explores the world of unexpected and below the radar cooking happening every day in kitchens across the country.

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  • May 11, 2009 12:25 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: History, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture
  • Tags: Davia Nelson, Gen. David McKiernan, Hidden Kitchens, inspector general, Jr, Kitchen Sisters, Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, Nikki Silva, Proposition 1F, reconstruction in Iraq, Robert Gates, stuart Bowen

• We're All Pavlov's Snackers -- Just the Words ''Doughnuts'' or ''French Fries'' Can Get Us Going. Now, Here's How to Stop!

  It sounds like war, when you come down to it — war against ”recreational eating.” And Dr. David Kessler helped to supply us with weapons.

  He’s the former head of the FDA, and he began researching and writing his book ”The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Diet” after watching a woman confess on ”Oprah” that she was on auto-pilot when it came to eating. She ate when she was sad, when she was happy, when she was hungry, and when she wasn’t.

  It was good to hear Dr. Kessler confess that he’s not immune — if he’s even on a plane heading for San Francisco, he starts obsessing about Chinese dumplings. But he says he’s learned to shut off the commercial come-ons and shut down the impulse to eat when eating has nothing to do with hunger and everything to do with manipulation and sensory gratification and the unholy food trio of salt/fat/sugar.

  Please do read the wonderful, insightful blog comments about how listeners have learned to beat their own urges, and add your own! [I’m absurdly proud of myself for being able to say ‘no’ to any chocolate that isn’t dark chocolate!]

  Less than two weeks before the May 19 special election, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is really pouring it on. He’s briefed CalFire about the cutbacks state firefighters could face if, as the governor says, the six ballot propositions don’t pass, but the Sacramento Bee’s resident skeptic, columnist Dan Walters, wasn’t having any of it, as he made clear on the program. Still, as the fire season starts early with a blaze in Santa Barbara County, reported by KPCC’s Brian Watt, the governor’s saber-rattling may end up having an effect on voters.

  And the accidental killings of dozens, maybe scores of civilians by a U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan couldn’t have come at a worse time. The president of Afghanistan is in Washington, D.C. meeting with State Department officials and President Obama about how the President can pursue his intention to beat the Taliban right there in Afghanistan. More meetings with the Afghani and Pakistani presidents tomorrow, and we’ll surely find out more thereafter.

  Speaking of tomorrow, it’s the second-to-last day of Be Kind to Animals Week, so please do — not just this week but every week! And we’ll get a dose of Matt ”Money” Smith and his co-authored book, ”The Great Book of Los Angeles Sports Lists. Swell trivia — did you know that some renowned Dodgers’ nicknames include ”Smokey,” ”Wimpy,” ”The Vulture” and ”Black and Decker”?

  — Patt Morrison

  Governor Warns of Firefighting Cuts if Props Fail Earlier this week Gov. Schwarzenegger briefed state firefighter unions and Cal Fire that he was prepared to cut 1,700 firefighters from Cal Fire’s firefighting staff, saving $80.8 million. As the first wildfire of the season rages in Santa Barbara it would seem like poor timing to start considering cuts to the state’s firefighting capabilities, but these are desperate times for California’s budget. Will the Governor’s warning change the way you vote on May 19th?

  This is your Bank on Xanax: Stress-Test Results are Coming… On Thursday the Federal Reserve plans to deliver the results of stress tests on U.S. banks that may show that 10 or more companies need additional capital to weather a deep recession. The stress tests have been equally criticized and lauded as a way to shed light on true health of banks. Will the tests bring transparency or cause a panicked run by stressed-out customers on stressed-out banks?

  The End of Overeating Love pizza just a little too much? Can’t stop yourself from eating that whole bag of chips? It might not be completely your fault. In his new book, former FDA food commissioner David Kessler examines America’s battle with overeating and obesity. Kessler maintains that today’s food industry is manipulating the American public to overeat in the same way that the tobacco industry manipulated it to smoke.

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  • May 6, 2009 12:24 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: banks, cal-fire, david kessler, fda, governor schwarzenegger, stress-tests, the end of overeating

• Visa Jobs, Visa Cards, and Remembering DeLuise

  You may remember her as a California congresswoman, but now Hilda Solis is Secretary of Labor, and boy, is her plate full — she ran through the full-course menu for us on today’s program: the Employee Free Choice Act, to make it easier to unionize, and of course jobs — stimulus jobs, ”green collar” jobs, skilled-immigrant visa jobs … and we didn’t even have time to get to dessert! Hope to have her back when the bill clears Congress — if it does — and heads to President Obama’s desk.

  We also have to revisit the implications of the Credit Cardholders’ Bill of Rights. No more retroactive hikes in interest rates, no more applying payments to lowest interest rate balances and leaving the highest interest rate balances unpaid, no more unsolicited credit cards sent out to kids. So many good calls and questions from you today that when the bill is finally signed, we need to bring back our experts to assess what the changes will mean — both to consumers, and to the banking industry, which says it’s being unfairly slammed for practices that it needs if it’s going to be able to keep credit available to the people who need it.

  Dom DeLuise died last night. I know, everyone loves him in ”Blazing Saddles.” But ”The Twelve Chairs” may be my favorite Mel Brooks film, and DeLuise was choice in that, as a rascally Russian Orthodox priest Father Fyodor, trying to justify his thieving ways on his knees in prayer: ”Oh God, You who know all — you know.”

  Tomorrow, the former head of the FDA, David Kessler, has an anti-diet book. It’s all about overeating, and as it says on the very first page, this means you. And me. And all of us. It’s as much about our brains as our bellies, and how our appetites are being manipulated.

  — Patt Morrison

  Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor Secretary Solis is a strong supporter of the Employee Free Choice Act, a new bill that would make it easier for workers to organize. As a congresswoman, Solis supported legislation to broaden workers’ rights, and she has support from labor unions AFL-CIO and the SEIU. Patt talks with the Secretary about her new position and her plans for the Labor Department.

  Credit Cardholders’ “Bill of Rights” and the Prospects of Real Reform An effort is underway in Congress, backed by President Obama, to enact a new credit cardholders’ “bill of rights” that promises to scale back some of the credit card companies’ most unsavory behavior. Is the new bill of rights, which has already passed the House, real reform or merely a list of feel good but ultimately toothless provisions? Can we change our own bad habits with credit cards?

  New U.S. Agenda for Pakistan and Afghanistan? Tomorrow, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will meet with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari. The administration will be seeking assurances that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal is safe and that it’s military intends to face down Taliban and al-Qaida extremists in coordination with Afghanistan and the US. How historically significant is this meeting and what will be resolved?

  Cinco de Mayo with Two Too Hot Tamales The Too Hot Tamales are here with ideas to spice up your Cinco de Mayo table. Whether it’s perfecting that guacamole, rethinking grapefruit as an essential taco topping, or venturing into new culinary dimensions (think Strawberry Margarita Cheesecake and Cucumber Melon Margaritas)—they have advice!

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  • May 5, 2009 12:41 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy, History, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture
  • Tags: Afghanistan, Bill of Rights, Cinco de Mayo, Credit Cardholders, Hilda Solis, Pakistan, Secretary of Labor, Too Hot Tamales

• Patt Morrison for Monday, May 4

  May 19th Ballot Series: Props 1D and 1E In 1998 and 2004, Californians voted in favor of Props 10 and 63 to authorize a fund-shift of annual tobacco tax revenue to early childhood development programs and a shift of income tax surcharge revenue to mental health programs. Now Props 1D and 1E on the May 19th ballot propose reallocating those funds to ease the state’s burgeoning deficit and avoid additional cuts in general fund spending over the next two years. We debate the idea.

  Fiat On A Roll The Italian company is on its way to creating a global automotive powerhouse - its currently involved in talks to buy up GM’s European operations and in the process of acquiring U.S. automaker Chrysler, a deal that is still pending approval by a bankruptcy court. How has Fiat been able to manage such a move in the current economy? And what’s their endgame?

  The Brave New World of Climate Change: Drought-Proof Crops There is a long running debate among the scientists and politicians watching climate change: do we invest in trying to stop the march of global warming or invest in ways to adapt to its inevitability? A researcher at UC Riverside may have unwittingly bolstered the latter argument by isolating the genes in plants that turn on tolerance mechanisms that react to environmental stress, such as preventing cells from dying of dehydration. The result: drought-resistant crops, a hugely valuable commodity in the increasingly dry areas of the world. How long before drought-proof alfalfa is being planted in the Central Valley?

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  • May 4, 2009 12:18 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: Business/Economy, Environment, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology
  • Tags: chrysler, climate change, drought resistant crops, fiat, props 1D and 1E

• The Seven Verboten Words, and Conspiracy Thinking in Epidemics

  One of you suggested we call it ”the media flu.” Would that mean every CNN anchor would have to wear a surgical mask?

  The author of ”Dread — How Fear and Fantasy Have Fueled Epidemics from the lack Death to the Avian Flu” tracked how the patterns of rumor and terror that surrounded contagious disease centuries ago still persist to this day, even to swine flu.

  Years after Cher used the f-bomb word and Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie dropped an s-bomb in live awards shows, the Supreme Court decided the FCC could indeed force the networks that carried those shows to pay big fines for letting those words slip out on the air.

  But the court didn’t speak, yet, to larger constitutional questions that might force filmmakers like Steven Spielberg and Ken Burns [both ”Saving Private Ryan” and ”Jazz” contained vulgarities as part of the matter-of-fact realities of the lives they depicted] to self-censor. The president and CEO of Fox Network Groups joined us to talk about the difficulties facing broadcasters, especially when the FCC keeps changing as its members keep changing, and there’s no clear guidelines. Loads of good calls and blog comments on this one, including Jack’s comment that the performers who utter fleeting expletives— not the broadcasters — should be fined.

  Either that, or wash their mouths out with soap.

  On Monday, researchers at UC have found a gene that helps plants cope with drought. Can Death Valley rice be far behind?

  — Patt Morrison

  Are the May Day Marches Still Relevant? It’s been three years since the massive May Day marches of 2006, where millions of people poured into the streets of cities across the country to advocate for immigration reform. With at least seven factions turning out this year, is there still a uniform message?

  Proposition 1A This prop would extend $10 billion in “temporary” sales, income, and vehicle taxes imposed as part of the 2009-2010 budget agreement for one or two years, resulting in a further tax increase of some $16 billion in order to increase a “rainy day” fund and institute budget caps and restrictions to help reduce Sacramento’s cycle of booms and deficits. We hear from both sides.

  Swine Flu and DREAD Public perceptions of epidemics are often shaped more by political or moral agendas than “objective” medical information, making them a good indicator of a group’s anxieties. Philip Alcabes joins us with his look at epidemics throughout history—from the Black Death, to AIDS, and avian flu—as the intersection of science and sociology. And Patt asks the question on everyone’s mind: what does this say about Swine Flu?

  Hulu Gets Mouse: Disney Joins Partnership Online TV options are growing in leaps and bounds and Disney movies and ABC TV shows will now be available on the popular video streaming site Hulu.com. The Walt Disney Co. is taking an equity stake in the site, joining its founders, NBC Universal and News Corp. Are the advertising dollars really there for Hulu to function long term? And if they are, is conventional, terrestrial broadcasting going the way of the eight-track?

  Watch Your Tongue! In a 5-to-4 decision this week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s right to sanction broadcast networks when anyone lets a swearword fly on a live broadcast. With a stronger FCC looking over their shoulder, how will a producer or performer avoid letting it slip on TV, while anything goes on cable and the Internet? And how might the FCC change as Mr. Obama puts his new appointees in place?

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  • May 1, 2009 12:24 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy, Education, Health, History, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture
  • Tags: Disney, Dread, FCC, Hulu, immigration, May Day, Prop 1A, Supreme Court, Swine Flu

• Patt Morrison for Thursday, April 30

  Swine Flu Habits It’s a stage 5 pandemic alert according to the World Health Organization. Okay, but what does that mean for you and me? Are you cancelling a trip to Mexico? Are you washing your hands more? Are you dousing your workspace in mercurochrome? At what point do prudent preventative measures become over-the-top? Wipe down your computer keyboard, post away below, and let us know what you’re doing differently.

  LAPD Arrests Real West Side Rapist LAPD detectives have arrested the man they believe to be the real West Side Rapist. 72-year-old John F. Thomas was taken into custody last month and held on two slayings, but police have since used DNA evidence to tie him to two waves of serial killings that spanned as far back as the 1970s and claimed the lives of as many as 30 elderly women in Westside and Claremont. We get the latest on the revival of this cold case.

  What is Media’s Role in Foreign Policy? Veteran Hollywood exec Mike Medavoy argues that cultural institutions and businesses have a part in exercising “soft power” - the ability to obtain desired outcomes without coercion. And that Hollywood should be included as “a key player in the ‘deep coalition’ required to support a ‘smart power’ foreign policy.” But can the power of movies and television shows really be harnessed to achieve specific outcomes?

  Duroville Fate Hangs in the Balance The fate of nearly two thousand people living under slum-like conditions in a desert trailer park will be decided after a U.S. District Judge hears final arguments today on whether or not Desert Mobile Home Park, known as Duroville, should be closed. If the park is closed, critics say the residents - comprised almost entirely of migrant workers and their families - would be rendered homeless. We get the latest.

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  • April 30, 2009 12:08 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: Duroville, LAPD, Mike Medavoy, swine flu, westside rapist

• Look -- Up in the Sky! It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a Monumental Screw-Up!

  You know how we feel when the earth starts to rumble and the windows start to rattle, and our first thought is, ”It’s an earthquake!” And then it turns out to be a big truck going by?

  That’s how they felt in Manhattan on Monday morning when a 747 swooping very low, trailed by an F-16 fighter jet, rattled windows and nerves and raised horrific memories of 9/11. Turns out it was a photo op with the backup Air Force One — but it was a classified maneuver, and word didn’t even get up to Mayor Michael Bloomberg until, as he said, his BlackBerry started going crazy with angry, frightened messages.

  We spent time on this today with a Wall Street Journal reporter who’s been following the story into the White House, where President Obama was said to be ”furious” about the blunder. The guy who’s falling on his sword over this — White House military office chief Louis Caldera, a former LA guy, California assemblyman and Army secretary. As the Journal put it delicately, he met with the White House chief of staff to ”hear the president’s displeasure.”

  We bade a fond farewell to the Milken Institute Global Conference, after spending Monday and Tuesday there. We came back with a couple of interviews to spare, interviews we aired today — one with influential Congressman Henry Waxman, a Los Angeles Democrat, about his new job shepherding energy and global warming legislation through Congress, and the other with practically brand-new Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA player who did indeed answer the question, is it harder to play point guard against the Lakers, or run a California city? What did he say? You’ll just have to listen — online, or via podcast.

  Tomorrow, veteran CBS newsman Roger Mudd, and renowned film producer MIke Medavoy.

  — Patt Morrison

  May 19th Measures: The Buck Stops Here? A new Field Poll shows strong opposition to five measures packaged as a budget reform cure-all on the May 19th special election ballot. But there’s support for the sixth, measure 1F, which bars legislators and state officers from pay raises during budget deficits. Are the five props’ muddled messages confusing voters or are voters sending a message that they want political leaders to solve our fiscal crisis and stop passing the buck through ballot measures?

  Henry Waxman Champions Alternative Energy A wind generator on your roof or one on the freeway catching wind from passing cars—these are just two ideas for alternative energy that caught the attention of Rep. Henry Waxman, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. In 1992, Waxman introduced the first bill in Congress to stabilize the climate and today he sits down with Patt to talk about how his new cap and trade bill will work, and how to gain both Republican and Democratic support from the coal states.

  Un-Happy Landings: Trainees Directing Planes in Southern California A Transportation Department inspector general report indicates that 32 percent of the workforce at Southern California’s Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility—which guides planes to and from airports throughout Southern California—is trainees. When more controllers retire later this year, that could go up to 40 percent. Does the high percentage of trainees endanger flights and what else can be done to assure an adequate number of experienced controllers are guiding our planes?

  Air Force Dumb Not even New York city Mayor Bloomberg knew about a planned flight for one of President Obama’s planes over lower Manhattan, escorted by a fighter jet on Monday. Justifiably panicked New Yorkers fled offices, fearing a repeat Sept. 11. It turned out the flight was a photo op, designed to get fresh photos of Air Force One with famous landmarks—in this case, the State of Liberty—in the background. But in this economy, why is the government spending tens of thousands of dollars on a pretty picture?

  Shooting Star Leads Sacramento Elected in November of 2008 as Sacramento’s first African-American mayor, Kevin Johnson, a three-time NBA All-Star, has received much praise for the way he’s handled his new job and faced controversy over the use of federal funds by his nonprofit St. HOPE Academy. Johnson talks with Patt about the challenges facing California cities in bad economic times, and his future as a rising star in state politics.

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  • April 29, 2009 12:27 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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  • Tags: cap and trade, capitol hill, Henry Waxman, House Energy and Commerce Committee, Kevin Johnson, May 19th Special Election, Sacramento, Southern California's Terminal Radar Approach Control Facility, stimulus

• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, April 28

  Obama’s Foreign Policy Starts in Our Backyard It turns out the more pressing foreign policy priorities in President Obama’s first 100 Days are in America’s backyard; while drug violence threatened the stability of Mexico and demanded the President’s immediate attention, an unthinkable change in 60 years of American policy toward Cuba was being considered. These issues came to a head at last week’s Summit of the America’s, and Patt talks to the man who navigated those diplomatic waters.

  Stem Cell Therapies: From a Laboratory to a Pharmacy Near You Research on the regenerative properties of stem cells has been going on for decades and while they aren’t quite ready for the commercial market, the promise of a medical revolution is closer than ever. Patt talks with two of the leading researchers and shapers of stem cell policies about the first therapies that will hit the market and the ethical questions that come with employing stem cells on a massive scale.

  The Thankless Job of Feeding a Hungry World Feeding the hungry people of the world has become an even bleaker task in the past year of recession, and even when there’s unanimous agreement that everyone should eat, politics make finding solutions immensely difficult. The UN World Food Programme takes on the thankless job of advocating for the world’s hungry and is on the front lines of global debates about water management, agriculture policy, and genetically modified crops. In the 21st century, with all our scientific and cultural advances, why are people still going hungry?

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  • April 28, 2009 12:00 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: Cuba, Mexico, state, UN Food Programme, Venezuela, world hunger

• Patt Morrison for Monday, April 27

  Green Shoots Are Sprouting—in the Ground, and Coming Soon to Your Wallet?
  The country’s been preoccupied with and talking “economy” for quite the extended news cycle and it’s beginning to wear—mixed metaphors of growth and “green shoots” and the economy rising out of its slump only to be scared back down by its own proverbial shadow. We sit down with Steve Forbes for a definitive answer: just what are the first signs of an economic Spring?

  Banks in Crisis: Too Big to Fail…or Deserving to go Down in Flames? The argument for the bailouts that’s been used by successive White House Administrations and hundreds of economists is that these banks are simply “too big to fail.” But what if a Wachovia, or a Bear Stearns, or an AIG, or a General Motors, was allowed to completely collapse—would the American economy survive?

  Win Forever…at USC That’s the title of Pete Carroll’s upcoming book, and rightly so: the USC head football coach has the best winning percentage of any current Division I coach with at least 5 years experience. Patt sits down with the legendary coach to talk about his new quarterback, about new NCAA rules that limit coaches’ ability to recruit high school athletes and about the prospect of an NFL team coming to LA. Go Trojans!

  NAACP at 100: Not Just a Civil Rights Organization Anymore As the NAACP turned 100 in February its president Benjamin Jealous was charting a new course for the world’s premiere civil rights organization with a future that has expanded well beyond championing the rights of just African Americans. As the NAACP tackles issues of broader ethnic and economic equality, Mr. Jealous comes to KPCC to talk about the new role of his group and the election of the first African American to the American presidency.

  The 12 Trillion Pound Gorilla in America’s Room As money flies out of the Federal Reserve for TARP, economic stimulus, more bailouts of banks, and financial institutions, our country’s obligations to foreign debt holders increases exponentially. The ultimate question is whether our short term pain will provide the long-term benefit of economic stability—not to mention the future obligations the country has to social security and Medicare payouts. Can we survive the mounting debt? Patt talks with Robert Litan, senior fellow of economic studies at The Brookings Institution—one man who might have that answer.

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  • April 27, 2009 12:35 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: Benjamin Jealous, Brookings Institute, Forbes, NAACP, Pete Carroll, Robert Litan, Steve Forbes, USC Trojans

• Comedy Congress, Frasier's ''Dad,'' and the FAA Comes Clean on Bird Strikes

  Order, order! Comedy Congress swore in a newly elected member today: Paul Provenza, who created ”The Aristocrats,” the NC-17-ish documentary. Freshman Provenza more than held his own against longtime incumbent Ben Gleib. The ayes have it!

  So much engaging stuff today, from a good chin-wag about TV, film and theatre with Frasier’s ”dad,” actor John Mahoney, who’s at the Geffen as a blind [and blind drunk] Irishman in ”The Seafarer,” to the terrific insights of both a former United pilot and the airport operations director at LAX, about the incidences of bird strikes at the nation’s airports. The FAA has just begun putting the info up on its website, but airlines are not required to report them — though that may be the next step in accountability. Bird strikes knocked out the engines of the USAirways flight that was piloted to a spectacular safe landing on the Hudson River in January.

  And President Barack Obama didn’t use the ”g” word — genocide — when he marked the anniversary today of the start of the murders of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915. He did use the word during the campaign, but dodged it today, and we spent time with Congressman Adam Schiff, the Democrat whose district includes Glendale, home to many Armenian-Americans, about the implications to Turkish-American relations of using and not using the word. The congressman was ”disappointed” that the president didn’t say it. And I was disappointed that I was floundering around to find the name that eluded me, the late 20th century genocide at … here’s the answer … Kosovo. If Dr. Oliver Sacks had been here today, as he was yesterday, he could have explained my brain freeze.

  Monday and Tuesday we’re at the Milken Institute conference, with some big thinkers. How big are they? You’ll have to listen to find out!

  — Patt Morrison

  FAA Releases Bird Strike Database For nearly two decades, the FAA’s collected information about bird strikes at the nation’s airports. Today, the FAA made public its entire bird strike database, but there’s a hitch - airports are not mandated to inform the FAA about a bird strike. So just how accurate will the data be? And will the FAA mandate the information going forward? Also, what happens if passengers decide to make travel decisions based on what airports may have more problems with bird strikes than others?

  Maverick Fire Fighters The Orange County Fire Authority released its report on the recent Freeway Complex fire and the results are not all praise for the firefighters—it cites reckless behavior and disorganization. We take a look at their findings and what went wrong.

  John Mahoney For 11 years, actor John Mahoney played Marty Crane, the pragmatic, grumpy dad of Dr. Frasier Crane. When “Frasier” ended in 2004, he went back to his theater origins - where we now find him in the Geffen Playhouse production of “The Seafarer”. Mahoney talks with Patt about his many varied roles in TV and film and his love of the stage that has brought him back to the footlights.

  Comedy Congress A miserable, sinking economy, rancorous debate in Washington D.C. over everything from torture to handshakes with controversial foreign leaders- just when politics is enough to make you cry, it’s usually best to laugh instead. In its own unique way, Comedy Congress is always up to the challenge. Who says humor can’t reign in an era of hope? Today comedians Ben Gleib and Paul Provenza join in.

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  • April 24, 2009 12:33 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: bird strike database, Comedy Congress, FAA, Freeway Complex Fire, John Mahoney

• The Supe, the Chief, and Howdy, Neighbor. An Earth-Like Planet, Only 20 Light-Years Away?

  You could hear the frustration and the dismay in Ray Cortines’ voice. The superintendent of the LA Unified School District has been battling on many fronts to try to stitch closed the nearly $600 million hole in the district’s budgets. Thousands of pink slips, much bigger class size, and what he characterized as wishful thinking in some quarters that nothing will have to change, even in the seismically altered economy. His answers to your questions in our monthly ”Big Man on Campus” is worth another listen.

  The planets were aligned — Chief Bill Bratton was here too for his once-a-month excursion into radio Q and A. Like every other department in the city, the LAPD is still trying to figure out how to cut its budget as the mayor is ordering. And with the new LAPD headquarters set to be dedicated in October, the city’s already abuzz over what to name the place. The chief joined many in predicting that it won’t be ”Parker Center”; he said it’d probably wind up as the humdrum but blandly uncontroversial ”Police Administration Building.” [At least no one’s suggest selling off the naming rights — so far.]

  About 10 to 20 percent of the universe’s myriad stars have solar systems, and some of those solar systems have ”Goldilocks zones,” orbits where the planets may not be too hot, or too cold, have the right atmosphere and gravity for water — in short, where planets may be something like earth. They’ve found another one orbiting ever 66 days around a star about 20 light-years away, which is practically next door in astronomical terms. Maybe here’s where naming rights could reap some really big bucks for science! Donald Trump, get out your checkbook — it’s a dream come true.

  Tomorrow, the head of Southwest Airlines on how he manages to hold down costs and not charge you for checked baggage or pillows, and Oliver Sacks on ”Musicophilia,” why we hear the music of our brain hemispheres.

  — Patt Morrison

  Big Man on Campus It’s our monthly sit-down with the big man on campus, LA Unified superintendent Ramon C. Cortines. Patt asks the question that’s on everyone’s mind: when are the layoffs coming, from where, and how many? Also, California is the first state in the nation approved to receive education recovery act dollars, up to $3.1 billion for the state. As the largest school district in California, how much money will go to LAUSD?

  Ask the Chief It’s your opportunity to ask LAPD Chief Bill Bratton your law and order questions. Today, Patt asks the Chief about the budget cuts he’ll have to make, the naming of the new LAPD headquarters, and for an update on the infamous backlogged rape kits. That—and your questions—with the Chief.

  FUELing up for Earth Day Director Josh Tickell’s new film “FUEL” takes its viewers through America’s complicated energy past of oil addiction—from Rockefeller’s strategy to halt Ford’s first ethanol cars, to Vice President Cheney’s petrochemical company-sponsored energy legislation—and ultimately reveals ways to “repower America,” from vertical farms that occupy skyscrapers, to algae facilities that turn wastewater into fuel. Tickell joins us to think big and green on Earth Day.

  Earth-like Planet Discovered The Holy Grail of astronomy is to find a planet capable of supporting life. Did that just happen? European scientists have discovered two planets orbiting the Gliese 581 star. One’s too hot to sustain life, but the other is in the inhabitable zone, where liquid can exist.

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  • April 22, 2009 12:45 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: ask the chief, Cortines, exoplanet, fuel, Gliese 581, josh tickell, LAPD, LAUSD, Superintendent, William Bratton

• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, April 21

  Why Banks Still Aren’t Lending Government bailout money was supposed to grease the lending wheels and get cash flowing. But according to an analysis conducted by the Wall St. Journal, lending by the banks is still negligible six months after TARP—in fact, the biggest recipients of taxpayer aid made or refinanced 23% less in new loans in February than in October. So what exactly have the banks been doing with your money?

  ConGRADulations…Now How about that Job? Graduation day is quickly nearing for the class of 2009, but after they toss those caps, where will they go? In this nearly unprecedented financial atmosphere, soon-to-be-grads may be looking away from high-paying jobs with financial firms and considering all options—forgoing the dismal job market by joining the military, continuing on to graduate programs, or volunteering. If you’re one of those soon-to-be grads, how are you weighing your next step?

  How Can Africa Advance? A Nobel Laureate Weighs In The challenges for Africa are daunting, but not insurmountable says Wangari Maathai, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate from Kenya. Africans need to believe in themselves again, “they must rise up and walk” and implement their own solutions to their problems instead of relying on foreign aid and Western visions of change. President Obama has set an example for politics on the entire continent where his father was born, but - Maathai asks - where are Africa’s Obamas?

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  • April 21, 2009 1:14 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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  • Tags: banks, college grads, job market, lending, loans, Nobel laureate, TARP, Wangari Maathai

• How Rich is Rich? And is Rich in, Say, Mississippi Just Middle Class in California?

  Mmm, don’t you just love Adam Davidson? He started out studying the history of religion and wound up telling stories about faith on NPR — faith in banking systems, faith in economic growth. Today, the international business and economics correspondent was in the studio explaining in his lucid and vivid fashion all those abstract questions that seem so impenetrable, about where those trillions of dollars vanished to, and whether the economy we’re rebuilding has got the same flaws and vulnerabilities as the one that’s derailed so spectacularly.

  Great calls for him on that, and great calls from all you SAG members and film-TV industry people. The Screen Actors Guild voted narrowly to approve the contract with the producers and send it along to members, but SAG president Alan Rosenberg says he’ll campaign against it because it doesn’t deal with the vital issue of new media compensation. SAG and AFTRA member Tess Harper used the word ”cannibalism” to describe what new media are doing to actors’ prospects.

  And one caller admitted that he’s part of the problem: his wife worked on a TV show that asked her to do extra work for the web for no extra money — he confessed that he ended up watching that show and a lot more on his computer! Dude! How could you?

  SAG members will be voting presently on this new contract, but let’s hold a blog plebiscite here and now: do you think this contract should be approved, and punt the new media issue down the road until the contract expires in two years’ time? Or do you think the contract should be voted down and producers and SAG get back to the bargaining table and make something happen in new media payments?

  The Los Angeles Times won a Pulitzer Prize today for explanatory journalism, for a series on the politics and practices of fighting fires. Our two guests, who’ve served on the Pulitzer awards committee, talked about online journalists joining the competition, and how some of the winning newspapers, like the San Diego Union-Tribune, are in dire financial straits but they’re still producing great journalism.

  — Patt Morrison

  Harman in Deep…Trouble? CQ Politics is reporting that Bush official wiretaps recorded local democratic Rep. Jane Harman promising to lobby the Justice Department “to reduce espionage-related charges against two officials of the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the most powerful pro-Israel organization in Washington.” In exchange, AIPAC officials promised to lobby Nancy Pelosi, then-House minority leader, to appoint Harman chair of the Intelligence Committee. What’s going on?

  And the Pulitzer Goes to… The Pulitzer Prize committee announced today the 2009 winners of the highest national literary award. We survey the winners and examine the board’s groundbreaking and unprecedented decision this year to permit original online content for consideration in all 14 categories.

  Foreclosures, Bank Failures, Global Downturn - YIKES! The mortgage meltdown, economic recession, worldwide globalization and trade, economic change… this is international business and economics correspondent Adam Davidson’s beat as he travels around the world for NPR. Davidson’s explanations of the web of circumstances behind the economic crisis might just help us understand this roller-coaster ride we’re all on.

  President Obama Wants to Raise MY taxes!?! During the debates, then-candidate Barack Obama promised taxes wouldn’t go up “one dime” for people earning less than $250,000. But what about people earning above that? As congress begins to debate Obama’s budget - including taxes for those earning above $250,000 - we ask, what does it mean to be rich these days? Where is the middle class cut off?

  SAG Settlement: How does it Sit? A tentative settlement’s been reached between SAG and the producers. But how do the members feel about it? It still has to be ratified, but even if it is, was it worth the fight? SAG members and producers are invited to call in to discuss.

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  • April 20, 2009 12:37 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: Arts, Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs
  • Tags: adam davidson, CQ Politics, Jane Harman, NPR, pulitzer prize, SAG

• Tempest in a Teapot? Tea Bag Protests -- Milk, or Lemon?

  Blogs gone wild!

  It’s sizzlin’ on the site today — loads of back-and-forth about the tea bag tax protest parties and my guest, Bruce Bartlett, a Republican adviser to presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He didn’t spare the tongue-lashing of protesters as ”partisans” who sat on their hands during the Republican deficit spending of the last eight years, but turned out today over President Obama’s spending and budgeting. Bartlett wrote for Forbes that when it comes to the taxes we pay — both as a share of the GDP and for the average worker — the US ranks near the bottom of 30 industrial nations, higher only than Korea and Mexico.

  Speaking of Mexico, the head of Mexico’s tourism department came in to allay concerns about drug cartel violence that have killed thousands and emptied the streets of some border cities. Many of you worried in your calls about personal safety, and questioned Mexico’s commitment to rooting out corruption, too.

  And you showed a lot of interest in the proposal by Assemblyman Mike Feuer to install an ignition interlock device in the cars of convicted drunken drivers — gizmos that will incapacitate the car if the driver is incapacitated with alcohol. Does it work? Can it be circumvented? Could it have saved Nick Adenhart, Courtney Stewart and Henry Pearson from the drunk driver who killed them in Orange County?

  Tomorrow, Christopher Hitchens with the new edition of his book ”God is Not Great,” and the author of a definitive book on Columbine, ten years after the massacre at the Colorado high school.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • April 15, 2009 3:58 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, April 15

  Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar joins Patt Morrison today for an interview. After touring the California delta and assessing the water situation in the state, Secretary Salazar pledged $260 million in federal stimulus money to help California address its water shortages and aging infrastructure. Another $135 million will be available for grants for water reuse and recycling projects.

  Terrified of Tijuana? Drug trafficking violence in Mexico has raised concerns with U.S. tourists who are thinking about traveling south of the border. Concerned that the number of visitors will decrease (last year there were 18 million from the U.S. alone), the Mexico Tourism Board wants to set the record straight on how Mexico’s war against drug cartels is not affecting safety and security for travelers. Are you convinced?

  Tea Party Protests There’s a movement afoot. Conservatives, aggravated by the Democrat’s increases in domestic spending and taxation, and spurred on by Fox News, are organizing tax protests throughout the country. Called “Tea Parties,” they’re ostensibly modeled on the 1773 “Boston Tea Party” protests against taxes. Critics point out that the Boston Tea Party was about taxes without representation, not taxes per say. Either way, the movement is getting lots of coverage - Will it have its desired effect? And what is its desired effect, exactly?

  Drunk Driver Lock? The death of Angel’s pitcher Nick Adenhart is reviving interest in a law requiring those convicted of drunk driving to pass a DUI test every time they get in their cars. They would have to install an Ignition Interlock … basically, a computer connected to a tube that will cut off the engine if it sniffs too much booze on the breath. Is this the way to save future Adenharts or are safety advocates going too far?

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  • April 15, 2009 12:34 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: Environment, History, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture
  • Tags: Drunk Driver, DUI, Fox News, Ken Salazar, Nick Adenhart, Tea Party, Tijuana

• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, April 14

  Good News on Taxes: Big Breaks for Many The tax deadline is tomorrow, that’s the bad news. The good news is there are all sorts of stimulus-related tax breaks out there, including an $8,000 First Time Home Buyer’s Credit that applies to homes bought this year. The economy may be tanking, but maybe you can make up for some of your loss on your taxes. Find out how.

  Oscar de La Hoya Retires LA Boxer De La Hoya announced today that he is retiring. It was obviously a difficult decision for De La Hoya who recently said: “I’m content with what I’ve accomplished. As an athlete who’s very competitive, you always want more, but in the back of your mind you start thinking about all the wins and what you’ve accomplished for the sport. That’s what makes it so difficult. You think, ‘I can still do this.”’ Apparently, not anymore.

  World War III…Fought on an Electric Grid? The reality of security threats in the future may well come through your computer—cyber spies have penetrated the US electrical grid and left behind software programs that, although dormant, could be activated during war to wreak havoc on our water, sewage, and electric infrastructure systems. What’s being done to prevent such an attack and could it include broadening what’s covered by our defense budget?

  State of the City of Los Angeles Later this afternoon, Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa gives his State of the City address. He is expected to focus on economics, in particular how to close the half-billion dollar gap in the city budget - without alienating the support of unions. KPCC’s Frank Stoltze gives us a preview.

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  • April 14, 2009 12:44 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: Antonio Villaraigosa, electric grid, IRS, los angeles, oscar de la hoya, state of the city, taxes

• Homeland Security, Home Shopping and Phil Spector, Not Resurrected

  You know how some days start out to be placid, and then the wheels come off?

  That was today. It was looking like a sedate day, with some serious time spent on the Obama Administration relaxing some restrictions on trade and travel with Cuba … and then a nice chat with the author of a book about infomercials — lots of insights into shopping psychology, lots of calls about the products that sucker us in.

  We did that, all right — even had Brad Pomerance, a onetime KPCC entertainment reporter, on the air talking about the infomercial he did for the now-legendary Hawaii chair.

  But then, news happened. For one, we managed to snag Janet Napolitano, the head of Homeland Security, as she was traveling from one gig to another here in LA. She’d visited both the port of LA and the airport to check out what’s being done in the name of security, and what may be left undone.Then she practically handed the phone to Congresswoman Jane Harman, the South Bay Democrat who’s made national security a specialty. Happenin’!

  And on top of that, the Phil Spector jury reached a verdict: guilty of second-degree murder in the second trial of the legendary music producer. He’s pushing 70, which means that unless there’s a new trial and an acquittal, or a court overturns the jury’s findings, the conviction means at least 18 years in prison, which includes three years’ enhanced sentence for using a gun.

  As a footnote, it’s a celebrity ”big one” win for the LA County DA’s office, which, as our guest Laurie Levenson pointed out, played this one very low key compared to the trial-by-TV proceedings of the past, notably the O.J. Simpson case.

  Tomorrow: Russian and Chinese spies are planting the equivalent of ticking timebombs in software that controls vital American infrastructure, like the power supply. It may be the new front lines in virtual warfare — but what can we do about it?

  — Patt Morrison

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  • April 13, 2009 7:16 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Monday, April 13

  Lifting Cuban Travel and Trade Restrictions Since 1959, when Fidel Castro took power in Havana, the US has maintained an embargo against Cuba. But President Barack Obama is ordering a lifting of trade and travel restrictions towards what may be an end to the embargo. Is this the beginning of a general rapprochement with Cuba? And how is the Cuban-American exile community responding?

  Secretary Napolitano Talks Security in LA Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is in Los Angeles today to talk with state and local officials, and tour air and sea ports of entry. The visit will allow Secretary Napolitano greater ground-level visibility on DHS security measures and new technologies being implemented in the Los Angeles area. We get the details.

  Phil Spector Verdict is…Coming And expected around 1:30. Spector faces at least 18 years in prison if he is convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Lana Clarkson. Guilty? Not guilty? We bring you the results from round 2.

  But Wait…There’s More! Come on, admit it! You or someone you know has ripped out that credit card at midnight and bought one of those “too-good-to-be-true” products advertised on late-night infomercials. Well, you’re not alone. Last year, one of every three Americans picked up the phone and bought a so-called miracle product, contributing to a $100 billion industry Why do we still buy this stuff if its really too good to be true?

  The (in)famous ShamWow ad:

  Brad Pomerance pitches the Hawaii chair

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  • April 13, 2009 11:29 AM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: But Wait...There's More, Cuba restrictions, DHS, fidel castro, Jane Harman, Phil Spector, secretary Janet Napolitano

• Patt Morrison for Friday, April 10

  Hostage Negotiations on the High Seas It’s day three of the standoff between Somali pirates and the U.S. military. On Wednesday, pirates attacked a U.S.-flagged cargo ship and captured its captain, Richard Phillips, who is still held hostage on the pirates’ lifeboat. Late last night, captain Richard Phillips tried to escape by jumping into the ocean, but was quickly recovered by his captors. Naval warship USS Bainbridge is close by and communicating with the four armed pirates, but how long will this standoff continue? And how exactly do these types of hostage negotiations work?

  Election Fatigue in Minnesota Senator-hopeful, Democrat Al Franken, may have increased his small lead over Republican Norm Coleman today in the protracted Minnesota Senate race by 87 votes after a court ordered more than 400 previously excluded absentee ballots to be counted, but that doesn’t mean anyone’s going home with the prize. Coleman has already said he will appeal the decision to the state Supreme Court making everyone - especially Minnesotans - wonder, just when will this five-month-long recount and election contest end?!

  True Mom Confessions When Romi Lassally started the TrueMomConfessions.com blog two years ago, she had no idea it would generate so much buzz: the confessions rushed in—from not feeling like cleaning up vomit in the middle of the night, to barking something utterly inappropriate at the children, to one mother who admitted she hadn’t yet taught her kids how to tell time so she could say it was bedtime anytime. Romi is here with a look at the hidden secrets—and dark humor—of motherhood.

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  • April 10, 2009 12:46 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: Criminal Justice, History, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture
  • Tags: coleman, franken, hostage negotiations, marian anderson, minnesota senate, the sound of freedom, true mom confessions

• A Lost Angel and Movies that Moved You

  You all lit up the phones today — and thanks for that.

  First it was about Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart, killed along with two others in a hit-and-run smash-up in Orange County early today, after he’d pitch his best-ever game in the majors. Mixed in with the tributes about a promising young athlete were questions about drunk drivers [as the driver of the hit-and-run car allegedly was] and fitting punishment.

  Then it was the former California Republican Party chair’ saying he wants to recall Assem. Anthony Adams. Adams signed a no-tax pledge but was one of the six GOP votes that passed a stalemated state budget — with taxes in it. A surprising number of you said you rather admired Adams for adhering to principle over politics — we’ll find out whether the voters in his district agree.

  And lastly, GREAT calls and blog comments [keep ‘em coming] on the book about well-known Americans and the movies that changed their lives — people like former LAPD detective Mark Fuhrman, fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, and quarterback Boomer Esiason. For all of you out there, David said ”Conan the Barbarian” taught him that ”whatever cards are dealt you, you can always win if you have enough heart and determination.”

  Tomorrow: so you’re not Supermom. Big deal. Who is? True confessions from real moms — the author of the book, and your calls.. Come on, what REALLY drives you crazy? Our ears are here.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • April 9, 2009 3:14 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Thursday, April 9

  Young Career Cut Short: Angels’ Pitcher Adenhart Dies in a Car Crash Nick Adenhart and two other people were killed this morning by a suspected drunk driver just hours after the rookie made his first start of the season. “It is a tragedy that will never be forgotten,” said manager Mike Scioscia at today’s Angel Stadium news conference. Patt speaks with Angels’ color commentator and former pitcher, Mark Gubicza.

  X-Prize Comes Back to Earth: The Race to a 100 MPG Car The X-Prize competition first gained notice when a $10 million prize was offered to the first group that could design a civilian spaceship. The new incarnation is the Progressive Automotive X-Prize, which will give that same $10 million to the first group that can build a practical vehicle capable of getting the equivalent of 100 miles per gallon of gas. What kind of practical applications can be learned from the race to 100 MPG, and would consumers buy it?

  Adams Notified of Recall: “Let the Games Begin” Assemblyman Anthony Adams was served with papers yesterday officially notifying him that he is the target of a recall attempt for breaking a pledge not to support tax increases. The papers were served on Adams by former California Republican Party Chairman Mike Schroeder who told the Pasadena Star News, “On behalf of the taxpayers of the 59th District, let the games begin.” We call time-out to digest the news and get reaction.

  The Movie That Changed My Life What movie changed your life? We’ve all been asked the question. And why? Because no two people see the same movie, and in the words of Rob in High Fidelity, what “really matters is what you like, not what you are like.” Variety’s senior editor Robert Hofler has collected public personalities’ accounts of the movie that changed their lives - you might be surprised about what inspired who.

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  • April 9, 2009 12:47 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: angels pitcher, Anthony Adams, Nick Adenhart, recall campaign, robert hofler, the movie that changed my life, variety, X-Prize

• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, April 8

  Bienvenidos Yanquis Fidel Castro has been more reclusive than Greta Garbo since he got sick, but he met unexpectedly with members of the congressional black caucus. We hear just what Castro had to say, and whether this means warmer relations between the US and Cuba. Two members of the congressional delegation, Mel Watt and Laura Richardson, join Patt.

  The Bridges of Antarctica County…are Disappearing Almost exactly a year ago Patt covered the story of an obscure ice bridge that was slowly melting away in Antarctica, and would eventually let loose an ice shelf the size of Connecticut into the south Atlantic. This week the Wilkins Ice Shelf, the aforementioned state-sized chunk of Antarctic ice, will indeed break free as the last ice bridge collapses. The accelerated pace of glacial ice melting is catching even climate change scientists by surprise. How panicked should we be?

  Recession Marketing: Selling when Nobody’s Buying Stay home and cook, mow your own yard, clean your own house - tote that barge, lift that bale! And in the process, save some money and get back to basics. That’s the message from marketers these days, as consumers limit their spending on non-essentials and bargain shop for the rest. What IS the secret to selling when nobody’s buying? We check in with the POM queen herself, Lynda Resnick, and marketing guru Marc Fleishhacker on how they do it.

  Team USA Takes on the Pirates The American crew of a hijacked U.S.-flagged ship retook control of the vessel from Somali pirates Wednesday but the captain was still being held hostage, according to Pentagon officials and a member of the crew. We get the latest on the altercation.

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  • April 8, 2009 12:39 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: antarctica, connecticut, Fidel Castro, glacier, ice shelf, linda resnick, marc fleishhacker, pirates, recession marketing, somalia

• Don't Worry, Be Happy -- Even in This Economy? Well, Maybe, Yes

  Is the economy better? Or do we just feel more certain that it’ll be better, and are taking a cue from President Obama’s projections of confidence? Loads of you called and blogged about the perception versus reality question with James Surowiecki of ”The New Yorker.” The New York Times/CBS poll that got the conversational ball rolling with findings that people feel better about the direction of the country and more confident about the prospects for the economy. There are some economic numbers that show a ”spring thaw,” but unemployment numbers are still terrible — hence the question about sunnier attitudes. One blogger said it’s all ”Pollyanna optimism,” and another believes any recovery will stall when the unemployed start losing their homes. One physician worried that the increasing millions with no health insurance will drag the economy down further; medical bills are the single biggest reason for personal bankruptcy.

  Some of you do feel better about where things are going — even if we haven’t gotten there yet!

  And some of you are still chiming in about Monday’s story concerning the raids of medical marijuana clinics that have continued into the Obama Administration, even though candidate Barack Obama had said he didn’t consider them the best use of law enforcement resources. As part of an earlier medical marijuana prosecution, the Justice Department has to weigh in by the end of the month on just what its policies are.

  Tomorrow, the Pom Queen, founder of Pom Wonderful and Teleflora, puts in her two [billion?] cents’ worth on how to market a product in an un-Pollyanna-ish economy. And what did Fidel Castro say to American members of Congress?

  — Patt Morrison

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  • April 7, 2009 4:21 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, April 7

  Obama Pleases Turks, Angers Armenians, Holds out Hope for Muslims It’s been a busy European trip for President Obama, and appropriately he ended his first diplomatic foray as president on the crossroads between East and West in Turkey. Using Turkey’s unique status as a Muslim democracy, a member of NATO and a long-time if somewhat troubled ally of the United States, President Obama has attempted to weave a delicate balance of hope and policy. Did the president fulfill his ambitious agenda?

  FCC’s National Broadband Plan The Federal Communications Commission begins work tomorrow on a strategy to spend their share of the $787 billion stimulus package to build or upgrade Internet lines across the US, which could radically change how Internet is delivered to American homes—faster, with broader access, and possibly unwelcome requirements on service providers to share their networks with the government. How will this work?

  Optimism in THIS Economy? According to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, Americans are markedly more optimistic today about the economy and the direction of the country than they were before the inauguration. In the face of the deepening recession, is this just the Pollyanna Principle at work, or are the easing of credit markets and the beginnings of investment in real estate and business ventures showing that recent actions by the administration are having a real effect?

  The Legacy of James G. Boswell II The intensely private businessman who developed the pioneering agribusiness giant J.G. Boswell Co. and greatly influenced California land and water resource policy, died Friday. We take a look back at his impact on California with Mark Arax who authored the definitive book on Boswell, “The King of California.”

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  • April 7, 2009 12:13 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: Armenians, FCC, James G. Boswell, Mark Arax, Muslims, national broadband plan, The King of California, Turks

• $50 Billion Federal Bucks for California, and a Ten Percent Pay Cut for the Mayor

  Fifteen years ago, Senator Dianne Feinstein barely got through Congress a bill banning the sale of some assault weapons. That ban expired five years ago, but now, with the assault weapon killings of five police officers, two in Oakland and three in Pittsburgh, she wants to bring it back — stronger, tougher, and this time, permanent.

  How likely is that, especially when some in her own party, like Majority Leader Harry Reid, are opposed? That’s what we talked to the senator about.

  We also talked to the Drug Enforcement Administration about why medical marijuana clinics are still getting raided when they’re legal in California and other states — and President Obama has said he doesn’t think it’s the best use of federal money. Part of it comes down to the fact that some clinics run a tight ship, and others are little more than fronts for drug sales. Some time this month, the administration’s expected to lay out its enforcement philosophy, and we spent time today on the conflicts in federal and state law.

  And yes, it’s 50 billion dollars, but it isn’t exactly like winning the lottery. The federal stimulus money for California works out to $1,358.70 for each of us, but don’t look for the check in the mail. It’s going for levees and roads and all manner of projects, and outgoing LA city controller Laura Chick’s been appointed inspector general; she said that keeping the process above-board is as important as getting the money spent in the first place, making sure that ”nobody’s nephew” gets to pull strings or pull rank to get favored treatment.

  And with a half-billion-dollar budget hole, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa is talking about ”shared sacrifice” in the city budget, like asking some employees to take an hour off without pay once a week. It could save the jobs of nearly 2,000 of their fellow employees. The mayor is doing his part — he told me he’ll take a 10% pay cut himself.

  Tomorrow, part of the stimulus package goes for putting broadband in places it’s never been — and that’s just the beginning. ”To boldly go online where no one has gone before.” Hey, don’t blame me for the split infinitive — blame the “Star Trek” writers.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • April 6, 2009 4:12 PM by Patt Morrison
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• India Rising, Nuts Recalling, Lasers Zapping -- and a Partridge in a Pear Tree?

  The big ”get” of the day — maybe the week — was today’s guest, Indian software billionaire Nandan Nilekani, He thinks this could be the Indian century, as the former British colony takes its place among the heavy hitters of the world’s economy. His book ”Imagining India” lays out the possibilities and the pitfalls for India and the world. [Did you know the word ”loot” is from the Hindustani?]

  And don’t let anyone ever tell you I’m not a risk-taker. I had pistachios for lunch.

  No one’s fallen ill, not so far, but a Fresno-area pistachio plant has recalled more than a million pounds of nuts after salmonella turned up in the plant — possibly a result of the commingling of raw and roasted pistachios. California produces 98% of the nation’s pistachios and is second only to Iran in world pistachio production, and even though, as I said, no one’s fallen ill, the FDA is taking no chances after the salmonella outbreak from that Georgia peanut company.

  And one step closer to fusion energy? The world’s biggest laser got the green light from the Energy Department, meaning the Lawrence LIvermore lab can try to reproduce the same reaction that powers those ”billions and billions of stars.” It’s a big breakthrough, and if all goes well, by ten or twelve years hence, you may be able to plug your hair dryer into a socket powered by fusion. Zap!

  — Patt Morrison

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  • April 1, 2009 6:26 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, April 1

  Pistachio Growers to FDA: You’re Nuts! Pistachio growers are up in arms this week after the FDA, in an effort to prevent a repeat of the recent salmonella outbreak from peanuts, warned consumers not to eat pistachios after a San Joaquin Valley company’s nuts tested positive for salmonella during routine checks earlier this week. The warning and recall have prompted supermarkets across the country to begin pulling a variety of pistachio laden products from shelves. Is the FDA overreacting?

  Say Hello to Modern India Indian businessman Nandan Nilekani once commented to Thomas Friedman, “Tom, the playing field is being leveled” - a remark that inspired Friedman to write “The World is Flat,” a big-think book about off shoring and globalization that sold millions. Now Nilekani has a book of his own, “Imagining India,” a definitive look at modern India, exploring what is at stake in the world’s largest democracy and answering the question on all our minds: in the showdown between the two emerging world powers - India and China - which country will come out on top?

  Worksite Immigration Raids Change Focus from Factory Floor to the Boardroom The Department of Homeland Security is about to announce a change in policy that will shift the focus of these raids from the employees to the employers that hire illegal immigrants. Will the changes placate both sides of the debate?

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  • April 1, 2009 12:48 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: department of homeland security, fda, imagining india, immigration raids, Nandan Nilekani, pistachio

• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, March 31

  LAUSD to Lay Off Almost 9,000? LAUSD Superintendent Roy Cortines suggested that he’s prepared to resign if the LA Board of Education rejects his plan to make deep cuts in the district’s central office and local districts and to lay off about 8,540 employees, including more than 3,500 teachers. The board is scheduled to vote on Cortines’ plan this afternoon. We handicap the vote with KPCC’s Adolfo Guzman Lopez.

  Backlogged Rape Kits Human Rights Watch released its “Testing Justice” report today, which revealed that more than 12,000 backlogged rape kits remain in storage awaiting DNA testing despite increases in Federal grants to address the problem. The report found 499 kits have already surpassed California’s 10-year statute of limitations for rape, and that in the time it took police to test one kit, the alleged perpetrator had attacked at least two more victims.

  Risky Business: Health Risk, Relativity, and Perception How much risk do you take with your health and how do you decide? Do you actively avoid fatty foods, but pilot small planes? Maybe you have unprotected sex once in a while, but only with someone you know. How do we perceive and gage the risks we take with our health and how do those rational and irrational forces ultimately affect us? We look deeper at KQED’s Health Dialogues report.

  Are the Wall Street Foxes Guarding the Government Henhouse? A revolving door of Wall Street executives and government officials—think Greenspan, Rubin, Paulson, among others—has some worrying that politicians in Congress and at the Treasury Dept. are perhaps too friendly toward the markets. Is lasting, meaningful regulation reform possible with the current cast of characters in Washington D.C.? A former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund is wary.

  During the interview, Simon Johnson referenced this article from the NYT’s DealBook blog

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  • March 31, 2009 12:04 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: health dialogues, health risks, kqed, LAUSD, Rape Kits, Roy Cortines, testing justice

• On Today's Program -- Cagefighting!

  Not the real kind — too icky — but the metaphorical matchup with reality. The head of the Center for Automotive Research said will probably have to happen to get General Motors and Chrysler to change how they do business or the feds will put the ferocious bankruptcy lion in that cage with them. [Last month I interviewed the head of the United Auto Workers, and a year ago I talked to Fritz Henderson, who’s now the new head of GM — you can listen to both of those interviews on the KPCC website. Ah, memories …]

  The other cagefighting segment, also metaphorical, is the matchup between MySpace and Facebook. Julia Angwin’s the author of ”Stealing MySpace: The Battle to Control the Most Popular Website in America,” and her book’s full of great details about the MySpace founders, who weren’t remotely in the Silicon Valley egghead mold. They’re the same kind of rebels whose attitudes are reflected in MySpace, a free-for-all frontier that’s now getting a run for its money [or rather, Rupert Murdoch’s money] from the more sedate Facebook.

  And don’t forget that Conficker virus that’s been hanging around Windows computer programs for months; we spent some time on how to protect yourself from Conficker, which some believe will ”trigger” on April Fool’s Day, Wednesday, and has the potential to root through your personal financial data like an online burglar. Things like this never happened with my IBM Selectric!

  Tomorrow, do you do everything you can to protect your own health? Really? Isn’t that a double-double bacon cheeseburger you’re holding? The tradeoffs and risks of tending our own health.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 30, 2009 4:10 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Monday, March 30

  Obama Gives Auto Industry Ultimatum Blaming a “failure of leadership,” Mr. Obama designated a limited time period for both G.M. and Chrysler to restructure their plans for financial recovery and justify further investment from taxpayers. Does it signal a new direction for the auto industry? We check in with the Chair of the Center for Automotive Research, David Cole, and well-known car dealer Cal Worthington.

  Listen here to Patt’s 2008 interview with GM’s Fritz Henderson
  Listen here to Patt’s interview two weeks ago with UAW President Ron Gettelfinger

  Dr. Drew: Celebrities Are Seducing America Following the antics and self-destructive behaviors of Britney and Lindsay is a guilty pleasure of many Americans, and thanks to gossip blogs and a rabid paparazzi, we can feed our craving 24/7. But Dr. Drew, host of “Loveline,” thinks our obsession is becoming so intense that we’re beginning to mimic celebrity’s bad behavior in extreme ways.

  The Real Y2K or an April Fools’ Prank? Conficker, the newest and most aggressive computer virus to catch international attention, has been creeping through computer systems across the globe since October 2008. Experts liken it to “a network of spies that has infiltrated a country. And every day, all of the spies are calling for their instructions on what to do next.” Is the fear overblown, and if not, what can you do to protect against it?

  Stealing MySpace Author Julia Angwin is here with “the defining story of the digital era”—how unsuspecting MySpace founders Chris DeWolfe and Tom Anderson developed the most popular Web site in America, wandered into a high-stakes war between media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his nemesis, Viacom CEO Sumner Redstone, and were ultimately swallowed by the Murdoch empire.

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  • March 30, 2009 12:22 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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  • Tags: Computer Virus, Conficker, Dr. Drew, Edward Montgomery, Rick Wagoner, The Mirror Effect,

• Patt Morrison for Friday, March 27

  Higher Taxes Ahead State officials announced today that higher taxes and more cuts are unavoidable. Because California won’t receive enough federal budget relief, Californians will have to sustain nearly a billion dollars in welfare cuts and $1.8 billion in higher taxes. Instead of the anticipated $10 billion in relief to avoid these cuts, the state is only receiving $8.17 in federal relief. Is this the final word or is there any hope to avoid this?

  Stacy Keach Returns to the Stage Family, friends, and fans of actor Stacy Keach can rest easy. After being hospitalized for suffering a stroke 10 days ago, the star of the play “Froxt/Nixon” is feeling well enough to return to the stage tonight. A wake-up call, Keach has said he’s going to quit cigarettes, watch his diet and exercise. He’s also easing back into his “Frost/Nixon” schedule, starting with tonight’s performance.

  The Cavalry is Coming to Afghanistan, but Will it Help? President Obama announced a change in strategy that will implement an Iraq-like surge in Afghanistan. There’s also $1.5 billion in economic aid going to Afghanistan and new demands on that country’s increasingly unstable next-door-neighbor, Pakistan. With a growing insurgency and disenchantment with the presence of American troops, will the Obama plan strike the right chord?

  How to Build a Dinosaur Remember in “Jurassic Park” when those short-sighted scientists extracted prehistoric DNA from amber to grow real dinosaurs? Well now it’s really happening—scientists hope to hatch a real dinosaur, and without DNA. But being a recession and all, they figure they’ll start out modest…with a chickenosaurus. Really. Jack Horner, world renowned paleontologist and adviser to Steven Spielberg, and James Gorman, deputy science editor of the New York Times, are here with their new book, How to Build a Dinosaur.

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  • March 27, 2009 12:50 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: Afghanistan, How to Build a Dinosaur, Jurassic Park, Stacy Keach, Steven Spielberg

• Patt Morrison for Thursday, March 26

  Spector Case Goes to Jury - Redux The jury for the retrial of Phil Spector - the music producer accused of killing actress Lana Clarkson in 2003 - began deliberations today. In 2007, the jury deadlocked on the charge of murder, but this time they are allowed to consider the lesser offense of involuntary manslaughter. Will it make a difference? Legal affairs correspondent Linda Deutsch tells all.

  Geithner Re-Writes the Rule Book Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner pulled in the reigns on freewheeling Wall Street players today when he announced details of what is being heralded as a complete overhaul of the financial business rule-book as we know it. Perhaps most significant is Geithner’s proposal to establish a single “systemic risk regulator” agency to oversee the system and major private institutions such as hedge funds. Details remain to be ironed out and reception was mixed. We check in for those details.

  When March Went Mad: Bird vs. Magic Thirty years ago today a legendary basketball rivalry was born. It all started on a court in Salt Lake City: Indiana State’s Larry Bird versus Michigan State’s Earvin “Magic” Johnson, in the 1979 NCAA championship game. When these two soon-to-be superstars of “hoopdom” faced off, they changed the sport forever.

  WATCH IT HERE: The final few minutes of the 1979 NCAA finals

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  • March 26, 2009 12:35 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: Earvin "Magic" johnson, Lana Clarkson, Larry Bird, Phil Spector, Schwarzenegger, Tim Geithner, Treasury Secretary, When March Went Mad

• This is Why There Are So Many Synonyms for Money

  — because we spend so much time ”getting and spending,” talking about it, and, lately, losing it.

  So today, it wasn’t about high-falutin’ financial instruments and tranches and credit default swaps. It was about your money, from your first checking account to your last will and testament.

  Karen Blumenthal’s ”The Wall Street Journal Guide to Starting Your Financial LIfe” is full of wisdom for just about everyone, not just those launching themselves into the world of work — because, let’s face it, so many of us are, in a way, starting our financial lives anew. [And all props to Nicki, who called from Westwood — a student who’s graduating and wanted some guidance on what to do with the $50,000 she’s managed to save while in school!]

  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s on ”spring break” in Mexico City — but you can forget about the margaritas. She’s immersed in two days of talks over the drug violence and trade matters that could define the Obama Administration’s relationship with our third-largest trading partner.

  Clinton is the first of the top Obama officials to go to Mexico; Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will follow. Roberta Jacobson, the second-in-command at the State Department on this region, briefed Clinton on the trip and gave us some insights into what the U.S. hopes to do to redefine and reshape relations with Mexico. President Obama himself goes south of the border next month to bat clean-up.

  Speaking of sports metaphors, for tomorrow, in the midst of March Madness, we hear from the author of ”When March Went Mad … The Game that Transformed Basketball,” Larry Byrd versus Magic Johnson. He shoots … he scores!!

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 25, 2009 5:14 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, March 25

  Hillary Clinton’s Spring Break: All Business, No Fun in Mexico These are not normal times in the U.S.-Mexico relationship: drugs from Mexico and cash and guns from the U.S. regularly crisscross the border, while Mexico is fighting an all out war against drug cartels in its cities. What’s on Secretary Clinton’s agenda for her Mexican spring break? We check in with her second in command in the region, Deputy Assistant Secretary Roberta Jacobsen.

  Wall Street Journal Guide: How to Start Your (New) Financial Life Making smart choices with your money is crucial, especially in the midst of an economic meltdown, but where do you begin? How do you pay off student loans, taxes, and establish good credit at the same time, let alone stay afloat in such uncertain times? Veteran financial journalist Karen Blumenthal is here with some tips on how to start, or resuscitate, your financial life.

  The End of Wall Street as We Know It “Stay Calm, Carry On,” a retro phrase that’s currently making a comeback, is probably just about the last thing anyone’s compelled to do in this economy. But financial journalist and financial crises-veteran Dave Kansas is here with an inside look at the financial wizardry, easy money and overconfidence that drove the subprime crisis, credit crunch and market meltdown, and with individual investor strategies - whether you should think seriously about “the mattress.”

  F-22 Crash Reinvigorates Debate Over Production Today’s F-22 crash near Edwards air force base may add new fodder to the brewing debate over whether to halt production of the plane, which was developed in the 1980s for air-to-air combat against the Soviet air force, but has never seen combat and has cost American taxpayers $165 billion—at $350 million apiece. What are the arguments for and against halting production?

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  • March 25, 2009 11:57 AM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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  • Tags: Dave Kansas, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Hillary Clinton, Karen Blumenthal, Roberta Jacobson, Wall Street

• Cleanup On Aisle 3 -- CSI Version

  I know, and I did warn you: the segment on ”trauma cleanup” was going to have the potential for ickiness.

  But oh it is a hot topic. The flm ”Sunshine Cleaning” opens nationwide on Friday, and Charlie Huston’s book ”The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death” deals with the same subject — the people who tidy up after the messy business of homicide, or suicide, or accidental death. The screenwriter, Megan Holley, actually got the idea from an NPR story in 2001, about people who do that job, and now there it is, on the big screen, starring Emily Blunt and Amy Adams. Huston’s character Web Goodhue has to do the job to pay back a friend for losing his cellphone, and it leads him into more trouble than he was on the job to get out of in the first place.

  Most of you were fascinated with the idea of ”what happens after the homicide squad wraps up,” but one blogger in Claremont did write, ”Not all of us are fascinated by this (post trauma) cleaning up phenomenon. I’ll hold off the balance of my lunch until these folks are finished discussing this one.”

  Another story, tough to take in a different way, was Donovan Campbell’s account of being platoon leader in Ramadi, in Iraq, in 2004. His book, ”Joker One, A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership and Brotherhood,” is a street-level account of fighting and surviving in a circumstance different from anything he and his platoon had ever known, different even from what they were trained for.

  Campbell went to Princeton and followed his faith into the Marines and to Iraq, and I’m sure you heard him choke up several times as he talked about the men he swore to their families to protect, and, if possible, bring back safely.

  Tomorrow it’s all about money — not billions but your nest egg, your income, and what you can do to learn the ways and wiles of Wall Street without riding it down to the bottom.

  *Hasta pronto *—

  Patt Morrison

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  • March 24, 2009 3:34 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Cleanup On Aisle 3 -- CSI Version

  I know, and I did warn you: the segment on ”trauma cleanup” was going to have the potential for ickiness.

  But oh it is a hot topic. The flm ”Sunshine Cleaning” opens nationwide on Friday, and Charlie Huston’s book ”The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death” deals with the same subject — the people who tidy up after the messy business of homicide, or suicide, or accidental death. The screenwriter, Megan Holley, actually got the idea from an NPR story in 2001, about people who do that job, and now there it is, on the big screen, starring Emily Blunt and Amy Adams. Huston’s character Web Goodhue has to do the job to pay back a friend for losing his cellphone, and it leads him into more trouble than he was on the job to get out of in the first place.

  Most of you were fascinated with the idea of ”what happens after the homicide squad wraps up,” but one blogger in Claremont did write, ”Not all of us are fascinated by this (post trauma) cleaning up phenomenon. I’ll hold off the balance of my lunch until these folks are finished discussing this one.”

  Another story, tough to take in a different way, was Donovan Campbell’s account of being platoon leader in Ramadi, in Iraq, in 2004. His book, ”Joker One, A Marine Platoon’s Story of Courage, Leadership and Brotherhood,” is a street-level account of fighting and surviving in a circumstance different from anything he and his platoon had ever known, different even from what they were trained for.

  Campbell went to Princeton and followed his faith into the Marines and to Iraq, and I’m sure you heard him choke up several times as he talked about the men he swore to their families to protect, and, if possible, bring back safely.

  Tomorrow it’s all about money — not billions but your nest egg, your income, and what you can do to learn the ways and wiles of Wall Street without riding it down to the bottom.

  *Hasta pronto *—

  Patt Morrison

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  • March 24, 2009 3:34 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, March 24

  Clinton Goes to Mexico Offering Help In spite of two foreign wars and an international economic crisis, there is perhaps no greater foreign policy priority for the Obama Administration than Mexico, the troubled American neighbor that is literally fighting a civil war for its survival. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travels to Mexico tomorrow offering help for the Mexican fight against drug cartels, a fight which has threatened to spill over the U.S. border. How much can the U.S. do to build up our next-door-neighbor?

  The Mystic Art of Sunshine Cleaning “It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it” goes an old adage, and lately, pop culture seems especially fascinated with the gritty detail and dark humor waiting to be mined from the lives of “trauma cleaners,” who figured prominently in this season’s offerings. We find out why and talk to a real life crime scene cleaner.

  Geithner on Another Risky Tightrope Saying, “We must ensure that our country never faces this situation again,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress that he needs new powers to regulate financial companies like AIG. Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke testified this morning in front of the House Financial Services Committee. Southern California Congressmen Brad Sherman and John Campbell - both members of the committee - give us the play-by-play.

  Joker One The marines of platoon Joker One spearheaded the “hearts and minds” strategy that would ultimately prove successful in Iraq in 2007. But it wasn’t easy. Three years earlier, these same Marines were on the front lines of the most violent battles of the Iraqi insurgency. Faced with the toughest of circumstances, they could have given up. But as decorated military officer Donovan Campbell shares stories of his men, you see how their courage and camaraderie was key to their survival.

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  • March 24, 2009 11:37 AM by Aimee Machado
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• Big Names from the Big and Not-So-Big Screen

  Today’s guests were the equivalent of the old Yankees’ Murderers Row for feature and documentary film:

  Ken Burns, the documentarian extraordinaire, whose series on the nation’s national parks airs in September … and Kevin Brownlow, the silent film historian who, back when silent film was being mocked and ignored, had the wisdom and the foresight to interview the greats like director King Vidor to preserve their thoughts about the earliest days of cinema. Incredibly, as Brownlow told me, even some of these pioneers had bought into the ”spin” that was knocking silent pictures as inconsequential. Imagine!

  Have you heard about the new film ”Sunshine Cleaning,” about two sisters who run a company that cleans up crime scenes? it arrives in theatres just as Charlie Huston’s novel on the same subject, tidying up crime scenes, arrives in bookstores — the screenwriter for the film and author Huston will both be here tomorrow. [All you fiction-writing wannabes, maybe we’ll find out the secret for getting Type O blood out of a nice silk tie…]

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 23, 2009 3:11 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Monday, March 23

  Is a Public-Private Investment Program the Answer? The market rebounded nearly 500 points today at the announcement by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner that the government is going to partner with private sector investment firms to buy up troubled assets by splitting the cost. BlackRock Inc., the biggest publicly traded U.S. asset manager, was the first taker and will raise their half from investors such as pension funds and endowments. But even supporters say it’s no silver bullet and it remains to be seen which firms will be eligible to participate. We hear from BlackRock’s managing director who’s overseeing the program.

  Ken Burns on “America’s Best Idea” From the telephone to the Internet, America has had some great ideas, but Ken Burns thinks our best was preserving our national parks for everyone to enjoy. His new PBS documentary explores this “American” concept of protecting our greatest natural treasures, and follows scientists, soldiers, artists, entrepreneurs, and the average Joe through some of the country’s most beautiful landscapes.

  Cabinet Members Gone Wild? Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Attorney General Eric Holder all head south of the border soon…but not for a body-shots-filled spring break. Rather, they’ll be attempting to quell the brewing NAFTA trade war with Mexico and get a handle on drug cartel violence after the U.S. cut funding for the Merida Initiative, an aid package aimed at helping Mexico’s drug fight—all potential speed bumps for President Obama’s visit April 16th.

  Silent, but Swashbuckling! If you’re a fan of silent films, you’re in for a treat: silent film historian Kevin Brownlow is presenting a rare screening of the1929 Douglas Fairbanks adventure classic “The Iron Mask,” tonight in Beverly Hills. Brownlow is known for restoring silent films, including the 1925 blockbuster “Ben-Hur” and the 1927 epic “Napoleon,” and as one of the most respected historians on early cinema, he has written books and made documentaries about the silent era. He’s here to talk about these rare films and the history behind them.

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  • March 23, 2009 12:12 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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  • Tags: Ben-Hur, Douglas Fairbanks, Drug Cartel Violence, Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton, Janet Napolitano, Ken Burns, Merida Initiative, Mexico, NAFTA, silent film

• Both Faith and Funny -- We Cover All the Bases

  Sometimes in the course of a two-hour program, you touch on the alpha and omega of topics, and we certainly did today.

  William Lobdell wrote for nearly 20 years for the Los Angeles Times — you heard him often on Larry Mantle’s ”Airtalk” sizing up doings in OC. He covered religion for many of those years, and what he reported and wrote about changed his own faith. The scandals of the Catholic Church and the gap between dogma and actions eventually drove him away from his born-again Christian faith. He writes about his journey in his book ”Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America —and Found Unexpected Peace.” Sitting across from him in the studio, I could feel how difficult, how sad and tormenting but ultimately how liberating his journey was. It’s a remarkable book.

  At the other end of the spectrum, we had ”Comedy Congress,” with the excellent Larry Miller [who couldn’t resist telling us about the cute new dog his family just adopted, his second rescue from a shelter in Carson — you go, Larry!] and ”Comedy Congress” first-timer Alonzo Bodden, who’s got a deadpan worthy of Buster Keaton.

  Hard to believe you could get any richer than this mix, but we did. Restaurateur and food innovator Alice Waters, the founding mother of California cuisine, the slow-food and eat-local movements, is over the moon at the news that Michelle Obama is doing what Waters had been after the White House to do for about 15 years now: plant a vegetable, fruit and herb garden.

  She’s especially pleased that D.C. schoolchildren will have a hand in tending it, because Waters has also pioneered schoolyard gardening in Berkeley and elsewhere. It teaches a lot more than gardening and helps put kids on a path to healthy eating for the rest of their lives.

  On Monday, the great silent film historian Kevin Brownlow is here, just in time for a screening of Douglas Fairbanks’ last silent movie, ”The Mask.”

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 20, 2009 3:22 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Friday, March 20

  Victory Veggies “Slow food” movement guru and Chez Panisse founder Alice Waters has long campaigned for the White House to grow a vegetable garden—to symbolize stewardship of the land and nourishment of a nation, and to set an example of eating fresh, sustainably grown food— and now she’s got her way. It’s a standing tradition for Presidents to hold press conferences from the White House rose garden…could it soon be from the compost heap?

  Losing My Religion His religion beat at the Los Angeles Times became a test of faith as he covered church sex scandals, religious figures with conspicuous amounts of money at their disposal, and bogus healers. William Lobdell joins us with the story of his journey from devout Christian to contented atheist.

  Comedy Congress A miserable, sinking economy, rancorous debate in D.C., and the endless outrage over AIG bonuses—just when politics is enough to make you cry, it’s usually best to laugh instead. From uncomfortable discussions of “sphincters tightening” across America at the news of AIG bonuses, to the embittered Duke basketball coach who got his feelings hurt when Obama didn’t pick his team for the final four, the ugly truth hurts far less when it’s told by comedians. Larry Miller and Alonzo Bodden are here.

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  • March 20, 2009 12:13 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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  • Tags: Alice Waters, Alonzo Bodden, Comedy Congress, Larry Miller, Victory Gardens, William Lobdell

• The C in C Delivers the FYI in LA

  The day before he celebrates his big two-month anniversary as president, Barack Obama wrapped up his first trip to California as commander in chief with a trip to a visit to Southern California Edison’s electric vehicle facility in Pomona, and then on to downtown LA, the Miguel Contreras Learning Complex [a high school] for a town hall.

  President Obama had the governor and the mayor, along with his new labor secretary, Hilda Solis, as his warmup acts, but the audience was already warmly disposed toward him. He tried not to sugar-coat things, emphasizing that recovery would be difficult and protracted, and he asked people ”not to be disappointed if we make a mistake here and there.”

  Then he was off to Burbank to tape ”The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno — the first time a sitting president has done a late-night show, but certainly not the last, in this era when the border between news and entertainment is fading.

  He’s back to the Beltway tonight, and we’re back tomorrow, with another razzle-dazzle round of ”Comedy Congress”!

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 19, 2009 3:11 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Thursday, March 19

  Welcome, Mr. President President Obama continues his visit to Southern California today, speaking to an eager, if anxious, crowd. As California’s unemployment rate skyrockets, we take you live to President Obama’s town hall meeting. Later in the program, we check in with KPCC reporter Adolfo Guzman-Lopez who is in Los Angeles with the President today.

  Either You’re In, Or You’re In the Way When their homeless, alcoholic father died alone in a jail cell, the twin Miller brothers vowed to make their dream film in homage to him. But without a dime to their names or a single contact in Hollywood, it took generous amounts of luck and moxie to make “Touching Home,” starring Ed Harris as their dad. They join us with their book about the amazing journey, along which they became short-lived professional baseball players, bingo callers, and models.

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  • March 19, 2009 12:19 PM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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• Maybe in This Case, They Should Be Called ''Twits'' and Not ''Tweets''

  I’d take any opportunity, any opportunity at all, to play a moment from that classic 1957 film ”Twelve Angry Men.” Henry Fonda! Lee J. Cobb!

  I loved the film but the skeptical part of me that says ”Waaaaiiiit a minute here” saw the juror misconduct right off. Henry Fonda, in his quest to back up his belief that the defendant didn’t kill his father, violated jury rules: he went out and found a knife identical to the one the killer used.

  It’s great drama but lousy justice. Turns out, as we found on the program today, that jurors all over the country are violating judges’ instructions *a la *Fonda and going out and doing some freelance investigating on their own — via Google. Judges and lawyers spend hours deciding what evidence should be put before the juries and what shouldn’t, and this messes up the whole process, resulting in mistrials and challenges.

  Jurors are not only doing their own research, some of them are Twittering and blogging about what’s going on with the jury, and what they think of the case, even before they begin deliberating. A federal drug trial in Florida had to be declared a mistrial after two months of testimony because nine jurors were doing their own ”research.” In other courthouses, jurors have been sharing their impressions of the case with the entire world on Facebook and Twitter.

  We spent a good bit of time today explaining how this destabilizes the justice system — yes, one little Google search can undo an entire case. The answer? One guest said that jury fines and even jail time are always possibilities for jury misconduct, including this. Another guest said judges are still pretty techno-clueless, and are only now starting to alter jury instructions to be specific about prohibiting jury box Twittering and the like.

  One caller said she served on a jury with a woman who was airily blogging through the whole case — and when the caller reported it to the judge, the judge kicked her off the jury!

  Tomorrow — How twin brothers with no money or connections managed to make a bigtime Hollywood film about their homeless, alcoholic father.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 18, 2009 4:29 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, March 18

  12 Twittering Men Call it mistrial by iPhone—the use of BlackBerrys and iPhones by jurors gathering and sending information about cases is wreaking havoc on trials, upending weeks-long deliberations, and infuriating judges. How much time and money is it wasting and have we reached a tipping point with modern technology?

  World Baseball Classic Lands in L.A.—Does Anyone Care? It started with 16 national teams and intense international interest, but the one place where the World Baseball Classic tournament has failed to catch on is the very birthplace of baseball: the United States. As the WBC comes to Dodgers Stadium this weekend for the final bracket, will there be any national pride in our national pastime?

  Employee Free Choice Act: The View from Both Sides Union membership’s been on the wane, but now a majority of Americans think it should be easier for workers to organize. The employee free choice act would take away corporate CEOs power to make organizing more difficult, but the opposition to that legislation is picking up steam. Union yes or union no way?

  Obama in the Southland President Barack Obama arrives in the Southland this afternoon for a two-day visit that will include two town hall meetings and an appearance on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” It’s Obama’s first Southern California visit as president, and his “Tonight Show” appearance will mark the first time a sitting president has appeared on a late-night talk show. We get a preview.

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  • March 18, 2009 12:35 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: employee free choice act, Jay Leno, mistrial, obama, Tonight Show, world baseball classic

• Gavin Newsom and the Governorship -- It's Off to the Races for the 2010 Election

  Remember those ol’ feuding days between San Francisco and LA?

  I’ve got news for you, San Francisco — LA won, though some folks in the Bay Area may not yet acknowledge it.

  The real division in California now isn’t so much north-south as it is coastal California-inland California,the more urbanized, populous and liberal coast versus the more conservative inland areas.

  So SF mayor Gavin Newsom, making his first big foray south as a likely candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, is hitting big coastal spots for his “conversation about California” in LA and Santa Barbara. He’s also venturing inland, to Palm Springs.

  Newsom was talking with me today about how his campaign isn’t about left or right or moderate, but about pragmatism and people’s need for health care and jobs.

  The political pragmatism of that is clear too, because the mayor of a city that even some Californians regard as “out there in left field” on issues like gay marriage would have to broaden his reach even in a Democratic primary.

  He’s the first candidate to come out of the gate full speed, and he’s showing up early on the turf of a likely rival, LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Newsom’s said that if Senator Dianne Feinstein does choose to run, he’ll drop out, but the likelihood is that it will be a four-man race on the Democratic side: Newsom, Villaraigosa, lieutenant governor John Garamendi, and former governor, attorney general and Oakland mayor Jerry Brown. SF Chronicle political reporter Carla Marinucci, who’s here often talking California politics, told me that as a child, Newsom once sat on Jerry Brown’s lap. [Brown had appointed Newsom’s father to a judgeship.] Carla says that if any of you has a picture of that, she is mightily interested in hearing from you.

  Always glad to welcome Chief Bill Bratton back for a good chinwag about policing Los Angeles, especially with your provocative calls and comments. More of the same, please, on the Patt Morrison blog!

  Tomorrow — a Gallup poll says Americans think it should be easier for unions to organize, and a bill that’s building up a head of steam in Congress would make that happen. Pushback? You bet.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 17, 2009 3:40 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Gavin Newsom and the Governorship -- It's Off to the Races for the 2010 Election

  Remember those ol’ feuding days between San Francisco and LA?

  I’ve got news for you, San Francisco — LA won, though some folks in the Bay Area may not yet acknowledge it.

  The real division in California now isn’t so much north-south as it is coastal California-inland California,the more urbanized, populous and liberal coast versus the more conservative inland areas.

  So SF mayor Gavin Newsom, making his first big foray south as a likely candidate for the Democratic nomination for governor, is hitting big coastal spots for his “conversation about California” in LA and Santa Barbara. He’s also venturing inland, to Palm Springs.

  Newsom was talking with me today about how his campaign isn’t about left or right or moderate, but about pragmatism and people’s need for health care and jobs.

  The political pragmatism of that is clear too, because the mayor of a city that even some Californians regard as “out there in left field” on issues like gay marriage would have to broaden his reach even in a Democratic primary.

  He’s the first candidate to come out of the gate full speed, and he’s showing up early on the turf of a likely rival, LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Newsom’s said that if Senator Dianne Feinstein does choose to run, he’ll drop out, but the likelihood is that it will be a four-man race on the Democratic side: Newsom, Villaraigosa, lieutenant governor John Garamendi, and former governor, attorney general and Oakland mayor Jerry Brown. SF Chronicle political reporter Carla Marinucci, who’s here often talking California politics, told me that as a child, Newsom once sat on Jerry Brown’s lap. [Brown had appointed Newsom’s father to a judgeship.] Carla says that if any of you has a picture of that, she is mightily interested in hearing from you.

  Always glad to welcome Chief Bill Bratton back for a good chinwag about policing Los Angeles, especially with your provocative calls and comments. More of the same, please, on the Patt Morrison blog!

  Tomorrow — a Gallup poll says Americans think it should be easier for unions to organize, and a bill that’s building up a head of steam in Congress would make that happen. Pushback? You bet.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 17, 2009 3:40 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, March 17

  Newsom and the Race for Governor In his first official visit to Southern California as a candidate for Governor, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is holding a “conversation about California’s future” tonight at Santa Monica High School. Newsom joins Patt to talk about his run for Governor, about his role in Proposition 8 and about tonight’s forum.

  The Animal Inside of You—and How It’s Affecting the Economy! Nowadays it seems people are looking to experts, tea leaves, anything to help explain the economic crisis and, more importantly, how to get us out of it. Even Nobel prize-winning economist George Akerlof and renowned economist Robert Shiller think finding the answer requires searching beyond their field. Their new book Animal Spirits explains how our psychology affects our behavior.

  Ask the Chief It’s the monthly installment of Ask the Chief - your opportunity to ask LAPD Chief Billl Bratton your law and order questions. This month, Patt asks the Chief about his need for more monies to fight terrorism and violence from Mexican drug cartels, the status of rape kit processing, Sara Jane Olson’s release from prison, and whether LA should be preparing for a crime rate increase in 2009.

  Have a question for the Chief? Starting at 2 p.m., call-in to the program at 1-866-893-5722.

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  • March 17, 2009 12:25 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: Animal Spirits, Ask the Chief, Gavin Newsom, George Akerlof, Governor, LADP, Robert Shiller, William Bratton

• Patt Morrison for Monday, March 16

  AIG Set to Dole Out Bonuses…Really?! As outrageous as it is, AIG looks set to pay $165 million in bonuses it promised before receiving a government bailout. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo of New York is demanding more information on suspicion that the payments could constitute “fraudulent conveyance,” but meanwhile National Economic Council director Larry Summers says there’s nothing the government can do to break AIG’s standing contracts. What’s the deal?

  Behind Bars with The Mexican Mafia A few weeks back Patt interviewed Chris Blatchford, author of “The Black Hand” which chronicled the life of Rene “Boxer” Enriquez who was a ranking member and regular hit man for the Mexican Mafia. Today she goes right to the source: reformed “Eme” member Enriquez talks to Patt from inside prison.

  Another New Tax Smoked Out? Cal Fire Faces its Own Budget Shortfall Last year, Gov. Schwarzenegger repeatedly promised that the state would never run out of money to adequately fund firefighting operations. It now appears that California is in danger of doing just that—with fire season about ready to begin, the Governor is asking the legislature to push through a 2.8% surcharge on property insurance that will provide $278 million to Cal Fire.

  Bear Stearns’ House of Cards One year ago today, Bear Stearns—one of the world’s largest and most aggressive investment banks—collapsed, signaling the beginning of what we now know as a global financial meltdown. Investigative journalist and Wall Street veteran Will Cohan joins us today with his insider knowledge and exclusive interviews with Bear Stearns CEO Jimmy Cayne to explain how Cayne’s hubris launched the bank from one of the most respected positions on Wall Street to the core of the corporate crisis.

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  • March 16, 2009 12:49 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: AIG, Bear Stearns, Cal Fire, Governor Schwarzenegger, House of Cards, Rene "Boxer" Enriquez

• Patt Morrison for Friday, March 13

  Michael Steele: RNC Head; RNC Headache? The new head of the RNC has already picked a fight with Rush Limbaugh, become the butt of Saturday Night Live jokes…and then there’s the interview with GQ Magazine. He said that homosexuality is a trait you’re born with, just like race. And although he said Roe v. Wade was wrong, he also stated that abortion is an individual choice. So is Steele trying to moderate or redefine the Republican platform? Or is just not picking his words as carefully as perhaps he should?

  Insured Americans: One Bad Diagnosis Away from Financial Ruin? Karen Tumulty covered health policy as a reporter for 15 years, so when her brother was diagnosed with kidney disease and discovered his insurance refused to cover the costs of his illness, she thought she’d know how to solve his problems. But the health care crisis is much more complicated and severe than she thought—especially for the under-insured, like her brother. Karen is here with her story and some advice for navigating the health care system.

  UAW President Ron Gettelfinger Ford Motor Company got concessions from the United Auto Workers this week that may set the template for GM and Chrysler’s own deals with the union. At the same time, GM has told the Obama administration it won’t need the $2 billion loan installment it had previously requested for March because its restructuring plan is starting to take hold. This news sounds like it bodes well for the auto industry’s future, but is it just a smooth spot in a very bumpy ride still to come? UAW President Ron Gettelfinger explains.

  Laid Off But Still Opinionated: Theater Critics’ Roundtable They may be out of work, but they still have opinions on the onstage offerings in southern California. From “Divorce! the Musical” at Hudson Mainstage Theatre and “Tartuffe” at Boston Court, all the way to “Frost/Nixon” at the Ahmanson, LA Weekly theater critic-at-large, Steven Leigh Morris, Frontiers Magazine’s Wenzel Jones, and Back Stage’s Dany Margolies, join Patt for a discussion (and critique) of the latest to hit the local stage.

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  • March 13, 2009 12:00 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: Karen Tumulty, michael steele, RNC, ron gettelfinger, theater

• Patt Morrison for Thursday, March 12

  Space Junk Close-Call or Why You Shouldn’t Litter, Especially in Orbit This morning, crew members of the International Space Station were moved into the escape capsule because a passing chunk of orbital debris was too close for comfort. It’s a serious side effect of sixty years of space missions—the space above the earth is filled with thousands of tiny chunks of leftover space craft. Just how dangerous is it up there?

  Congresswoman Waters’ Office is Smoking…is there an Ethical Fire? There are new details about the possible conflict of interest in Rep. Maxine Waters’, the Democratic Congressional representative of Los Angeles, request for $50 million in TARP funds for an L.A.-based bank. Rep. Waters set up a meeting between OneUnited Bank, an institution in which her husband was invested and had previously sat on the board of director, and the Treasury Department last September to request special bailout funds. OneUnited ended up receiving $12 million from TARP, and while the bank, Treasury and the FDIC claim that Rep. Waters did not influence their decision, it does look fishy. Is there an ethical fire burning under the Congresswoman?

  Bzzzzzzzzz Ah, bees - nature’s winged miracles, they keep agriculture going, they help us to sweeten our tea, and they’re in big trouble - populations of honeybees have crashed. But in the nation’s cities, urban beekeepers are working to bring back the buzz. Author Candace Savage and real-life beekeeper Russell Bates join us to talk about the incredible insects and about the rise of urban bee keeping here in Los Angeles.

  Interested in Becoming a Backward Beekeeper? Watch and Learn:

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  • March 12, 2009 11:55 AM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: backwards beekeepers, international space station, karen tumulty, space junk, time, under-insured

• Should California Get Out of the Marriage Business?

  You have to wonder — did these guys know what they were getting into?

  Two college students want to put on the ballot an initiative to change the word ”marriage” to ”civil union” in California’s laws.

  Simple, no? A neat change to render the whole battle over Proposition 8 moot, because then marriage would be an entirely private, largely religious matter, and civil unions would be available to the gay and the straight.

  Not … so … fast … Robin Tyler is the executive director of Equality Campaign and one of the first to be married in California in that June-to-November 2008 window when gay marriage was legal. Taking away the civil institution of marriage from everyone diminishes everyone, she thinks. But a lot of you called and blogged to disagree. Many of you think it’s a great idea; it delineates a brighter line between church and state. A couple of you in heterosexual relationships even said you refuse to get married because the word is fraught with religious connotations.

  The students have to collect more than 640,000 signatures to get that measure on the ballot … I hope they’re getting class credit.

  California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George presides over the court that’s considering Proposition 8 arguments. But today he was on the program talking about the sad state of California courts. He pleaded his case, for the 14th year, to the Legislature yesterday. The rough economy means more court cases — business disputes, child support, divorces, even domestic abuse — and California’s legal system is straining at the seams.

  Like just about everyone, the Chief Justice is hoping that some federal stimulus money will come the court’s way. More than $200 million for highway projects is indeed coming to the MTA, which had planned to divvy it up among the 89 cities in LA County. But when it turned out that some cities with tiny populations and no highway projects were swapping their federal money with bigger cities in exchange for cash in hand that the could spend on anything, the MTA had to put the kibosh on the deals.

  Tomorrow: bees, nature’s winged miracle, coming soon to a back yard near you!

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 11, 2009 5:46 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, March 11

  Cities Swapping Stimulus Funds The MTA is allocating $500,000 to each city in LA County as part of the federal stimulus plan, but the money can only be used for transportation-related projects, so cities who need the money for something other than transportation are swapping their stimulus money with cities that could use extra transportation funds. At first the MTA approved, but opponents say this isn’t how the federal government intended the funds to be used. Is it legal?

  Chief Justice George on the State of the Judiciary California Chief Justice Ronald M. George joins Patt with his concerns for the state courts and his ideas for meeting the challenges ahead - among them the need to cut costs and conserve resources. How dire is the situation in our state’s highest court?

  E-Verify: Kicking Up Immigration Controversy for (at least) Six More Months E-Verify is a huge database designed to certify that employees hired by companies are legally authorized to work in the U.S. There were concerns among business groups about the accuracy of E-Verify, and certain industries were worried that E-Verify would drive off most of their labor force. Yet more companies are adopting E-Verify and the program will probably be a part of future sweeping immigration reform.

  Getting California out of the Marriage Business It came up in last week’s California Supreme Court Hearing on Proposition 8: if it’s an essentially religious and personal institution, should California really be in the Marriage Business in the first place? Now even some supporters of Prop. 8 are arguing that we should strikeout marriage and replace it with “civil union” in California law. People who want a “marriage” can still do so at a house of worship. Is this the solution to the gay marriage debate?

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  • March 11, 2009 12:47 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: california, chief justice ron george, e-verify, marriage, mta, stimulus funds

• Bigger Bucks for Better Teachers? And the Dalai Lama, Spiritual and Temporal Leader and One Funny Guy

  Talk about stirring up a hornet’s nest — who knew that the phrase ”merit pay for teachers” was like waving the ol’ red flag!

  President Barack Obama reiterated today that he backs the idea, and on our program, opinions were flying all over the place. On the campaign trail, Obama got booed by teachers for airing this idea; now, as president, he wants to extend the program to another 150 school districts.

  Some of you who blogged and called think it’s too hard to account for all the variables in a classroom to award merit pay, and expressed real worries that ”merit pay” would come down to favoritism or just reflect students’ test scores — not their ability to reason and think.

  This came down the same day that the LAUSD board is considering layoffs in June — nearly 9,000, unless the federal stimulus package and state budget ballot measures come through. Some teachers are surely worrying about getting any paycheck, much less merit pay. Adolfo Guzman Lopez covered the rowdy hearing at the LAUSD, right down to certain LAUSD teachers wearing yellow wristbands identifying them as the people willing to be arrested. At last word, no one was carting them off to jail.

  My favorite part of today’s program was hearing from author Pico Iyer about his friend, the Dalai Lama. Fifty years ago, the 14th Dalai Lama fled Tibet and Chinese repression and has been operating in exile ever since, as his nation’s spiritual and temporal leader. The Dalai Lama is not the squishy spiritual Teddy bear some people take him for, but, as Iyer describes him, a formidable, determined fellow with a deep interest in science and a whimsical sense of humor — he’s been known to reach out and ruffle people’s hair to put them at ease in his presence. I do so hope he tries that with Donald Trump!

  Tomorrow, California Supreme Court chief justice Ron George is here to lay out the crisis in California’s judiciary. [He won’t be talking about Prop. 8 because that’s still before the court.]

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 10, 2009 4:14 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, March 10

  Obama Teaches Merit Pay In a speech today, President Obama gave a thumbs up to merit pay, a controversial strategy that rewards teachers by increasing their pay according to their students’ performance and would significantly expand the federal program to an additional 150 school districts. That position is expected to irk and alienate union backers. We find out why.

  LAUSD Teachers Protest Potential Layoffs LAUSD is considering laying off about 8,000 teaching employees in an effort to cover a $718 million budget deficit for the coming fiscal year starting in July. But the teacher’s union opposes any teacher layoffs, saying the district should first cut administrative and bureaucratic excess from the budget. We get the latest from both sides

  California High Speed Rail Moves Forward with Help from Feds Last November, Proposition 1A passed, paving the way for the state to issue $10 billion worth of bonds to create a European/Japanese-style high speed rail system for California. Okay. Passage of the federal stimulus bill put California on the top of the list to receive monies from the Federal stimulus package - so how much money and how soon?

  The Latest American Export: Recession It’s not surprising that the American recession is quickly spreading around the world, led by the failures of multinational banks heavily invested in the U.S. market. The sheer numbers of financial loss are staggering: one estimate says that global financial assets lost an equivalent to one year of world gross domestic product in 2008. If our recession matters to the world, does the world’s recession matter to the U.S.?

  The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama claims to be just a simple Buddhist monk, but author Pico Iyer’s new book, The Open Road, highlights a more multifaceted, global icon, who evokes both admiration and skepticism. Today marks the 50th anniversary of his exile from Tibet and discussions about who will succeed the 74-year-old monk grow more urgent.

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  • March 10, 2009 12:42 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: high speed rail, lausd, merit pay, obama, pico iyer, recession, the global journey of the fourteenth dalai lama

• Patt Morrison for Monday, March 9

  State Legislator Says Obama Housing Plan Under Serves California Assemblyman Ted Lieu is speaking out against President Obama’s anti-foreclosure plan, which limits federal refinancing assistance to people who owe 5% or less over what their homes are worth. BUT a high percentage of Californians (especially Southern Californians) owe significantly more than that. What does Asm. Lieu have in mind?

  Madoff Pleads? Stealing billions from charities? Not exactly the type of crime that endears someone to the public. That said, accused schemer Bernard L. Madoff is expected to plead guilty on Thursday to charges that he operated a worldwide $50 billion Ponzi scheme, according to court documents filed late Friday. Can he reduce his sentence? Serve it in a different location? Protect his family’s assets? Can it be true?

  The Recession’s Epicenter: Inland Empire Struggles for Survival Just as quickly as the Inland Empire rose a few years back, it fell back to earth in the past year, capped by unemployment figures released last week that show the combined jobless rate in the region is near 12%. The housing market folded in on itself and took businesses with them—is there any hope for a recovery in the Inland Empire - and from where will it come?

  Electricity: Leaner, Meaner and Greener You’ve heard of Smart Cars and Smart Boards, but what about a Smart Grid? President Obama and Silicon Valley heavy-hitters are hoping to modernize the country’s electric grid with billions of stimulus dollars. It’s an ambitious plan that Google, Microsoft, and IBM are investing in to produce and distribute electricity in cheaper, greener and more efficient ways. When will the smart grid be a reality and what will it look like?

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  • March 9, 2009 11:42 AM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: madoff, plea bargain, recession, riverside county, smart grid, Ted Lieu

• Patt Morrison for Friday, March 6

  Tarp Cop: Elizabeth Warren It seems so long ago when the government began handing out hundreds of billions to take care of troubled assets—that didn’t go exactly as planned—overpaying for assets, money spent on bonuses and private jets. Elizabeth Warren chairs the congressional panel assigned to undo some of the damage and ride herd on the tens of billions that remain—how are they being spent? Can they be spent more wisely? Are we getting a big enough bang for our buck?

  Scary News Out of the FDIC In an era where banks are failing at a remarkably high rate and volume, the guarantee of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation is the only thing allowing bank customers to sleep easy at night. That guarantee looks a little shaky after comments this week by FDIC Chair Sheila Bair, who warned that without increased bank fees “the deposit insurance fund could become insolvent this year.”

  New Metro Head for Los Angeles MTA’s CEO Roger Snoble is retiring. Yesterday the agency announced his replacement, former MTA bus driver and current Orange County Transportation Authority head Art Leahy. Leahy will take over an agency with a $3.4-billion budget and nearly 10,000 employees. He’ll also oversee several construction projects, including the Exposition line to the westside of LA, and a future subway extension. Patt sits down with him.

  Death by Leisure Leisure isn’t one of the seven deadly sins, but perhaps that should be amended. Chris Ayres is here with his story of excess, enabled by a once-burgeoning housing bubble. Complete with caviar facials, souped-up cars, and foie gras pina coladas—yes, really—his cautionary tale exemplifies how America’s spend-now-pay-later ethos of leisure is partly to blame for our current economic turmoil.

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  • March 6, 2009 12:49 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: art leahy, death by leisure, elizabeth warren, fdic, mta, roger snoble, tarp

• Prop. 8 Goes to Court, and What's the Rx for Health Care Reform?

  When all of you are as engaged in one story or another, as you were today on the Proposition 8 court case or President Obama’s health care reform, sometimes I feel I could just set down the headphones, walk out of the studio for a smoke and let you all have at it.

  Except I don’t smoke.

  The arguments you’ve been putting forth on the blog are as smart as anything I heard from the lawyers we had on the program today, right after the state Supreme Court heard three hours of argument in the case.

  And some of you simply weren’t buying the argument of Richard Scott, the conservative guest who was putting $5 million of his own money toward a conservative ad campaign opposing whatever health are reform the Obama administration is likely to come up with. [There’s no plan yet, just ideas, but the anti- ads are on the air already.]

  Scott says the free market can solve health care’s problems, but your skepticism was burning up the phone and blog lines. JohnJ posted the last question in the interview to convey his dismissal of the opposition to reform: Patt Morrison: “Is health care a right or a privilege?” Rick Scott: “Who knows?”

  This one’s only gettin’ started. The White House promises to have a plan forthcoming in double-quick time, because, as President Obama says, you can’t fix the economy without fixing health care.

  In the meantime, take two aspirin and tune in tomorrow afternoon!

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 5, 2009 10:45 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Thursday, March 5

  Proposition 8 has its Day in Court Both sides have gone at it in three hours of argument today to determine whether a voter initiative that changed the constitution to ban gay marriage is valid. They presented those arguments before the same California Supreme Court justices who less than a year ago said there is no constitutional bar to same sex marriage. We check in with the lead counsel for both sides. What were their arguments and how were they received?

  “Comprehensive Reform” by Years End President Barack Obama summoned allies, skeptics and health care figures of all stripes to the White House Thursday to debate ideas for overhauling the nation’s costly system and declared, “The status quo is the one option that is not on the table.” So, what is?

  The Long Reach of the Black Hand The Mexican Mafia, in spite of its name, is an American creation that continues to thrive and adapt to new law enforcement tactics and to the changing nature of the drug trade into the U.S. Chris Blatchford’s book “The Black Hand” traces the history of “La Eme” through the rise of Rene Boxer Enriquez, who rose from a Mexican Mafia enforcer in East L.A. to a mob leader. Chris charts the growth of a mob organization that may ultimately be more influential than the Italian mafia.

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  • March 5, 2009 12:28 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: california supreme court, health summit, obama, proposition 8, The long reach of the black hand

• PennyMac For Your Thoughts!

  Aaaannnnndddd …. the crowd goes wild!

  Not at the thought of Manny Ramirez playing for the Dodgers. Okay, maybe that floats your boat.

  But the divided opinion over one particular story today really kept me reading every blog comment all of you sent over.

  It was the New York Times story about PennyMac, the company started by a dozen former Countrywide Financial execs right there in Countrywide’s old stomping grounds in Calabasas, to take over bad home mortgages the government inherited from failed banks, and try to make a killing. They’re chirpy and chipper about it and thinking they can clear a 20% profit. It’s America, babe!

  For a lot of you, the story made your hair stand on end — these guys, back in the mortgage business? The PennyMac argument that these are the people who know how to handle these matters went nowhere. Sure, one caller wanted to point out — they knew how to handle them, all the way into ruin. Kent wanted to know, ”Why can’t the government produce a program like this instead of these crooks?”

  But there was some, well, go-for-broke sentiment out there. Brian from Long Beach wrote, ”penny mac!!!! Can I buy their stock or invest in the company?”

  Tomorrow, both sides present their arguments on Prop. 8 to the state Supreme Court. Listen in because we’ll have two of the lawyers who were right there in the courtroom, at the counsel tables on opposite sides, as the historic case was being argued.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 4, 2009 5:39 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, March 4

  SCOTUS Says Patients Can Sue Drug Makers Today the Supreme Court upheld a $6.7 million jury award to a musician who lost her arm because of a botched injection of an anti-nausea medication. The court brushed away a plea for limiting lawsuits against drug makers. The New York Times calls it “one of the most important business cases in years.” Just how far reaching is it?

  Cram-downs 101 The idea behind cram-downs are that bankruptcy judges should be empowered to force troubled homeowners and their mortgage-holding banks to negotiated modified terms of home loans. Now that President Obama is in the White House, and his mortgage relief plan relies on cram-downs, there is new pressure for Congress to act. The first vote on cram-down legislation in the House is expected Thursday. We get a preview.

  Celebrating International Women’s Day with One Cool Woman The only woman owner of three professional sport franchises, Sheila Johnson has also produced a documentary on women fighting poverty in different areas of the world. We celebrate International Women’s Day, one woman at a time.

  Countrywide Executives Posed to Profit A dozen former top Countrywide executives—united under the new firm PennyMac—stand to make millions from cleaning up the home mortgage mess they helped rig, by buying up delinquent home mortgages the government took over from failed banks, and getting a cut of what they can collect. Is this profiteering or a good model for the country’s just economic recovery?

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  • March 4, 2009 12:23 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: countrywide, cram-downs, drug makers, international women's day, SCOTUS

• Proposition 8 is in Court on Thursday, and in the Court of Public Opinion Now

  I felt like I was refereeing some boxing match where the audience wanted to climb into the ring, too!

  Thursday’s the big day — three hours of argument in front of the California Supreme Court over Proposition 8, the gay marriage ban. It will not be so much about the merits or drawbacks of same-sex marriage, but, as the LA Times pointed out, the abstractions about who can legally bestow and deny rights under California law.

  We didn’t have three hours, but in 40 minutes, our two legal minds threw some legal jabs and hooks in what was probably a very good preview of what will be going on in court. But talk about sizzle — most of you bloggers really went after an argument put forth by the the Yes-on-8 guest, the dean of Chapman Law School.

  “If marriage is all about procreation, how about outlawing marriage between seniors or those who otherwise cannot have children?” is the way Roz Teller put it, in a characteristic sentiment. And, asked Thomas Ivan Rummel, would that mean that ”married heterosexual couples that do not have children are breaking the law?”

  We’re all over this story all week. Just watch for the smoke from these rhetorical fires.

  Los Angeles has such a great cast of characters — who knew that a Westside man named James Otis is such an admirer of Gandhi’s that, over the years, he’s collected his glasses, sandals, bowl and plate and other items?

  We didn’t find out until we heard he’s putting them up for auction in New York on Thursday, with most of the proceeds to go to Otis’ favorite groups committed, as he is, to non-violence. But the government of India is livid about this, saying these are part of India’s patrimony, and it’s gone to the State Department to try to stop the auction. Otis acquired these items fair and square; shouldn’t India just bid for them like everyone else? Otis told us he’d be delighted to let India have them outright — in exchange for a commitment from India to improve health care for the poor.

  James Lally, a former head of Sotheby’s North America, was great at explaining how auctions and the publicity around them can convert objects that once were destined for the rubbish heap into cherished cultural icons. But he said auction houses draw the line at Hitler items.

  Where do you think lines should be drawn, if anywhere? Are there some items that shouldn’t go under the auctioneer’s hammer at all — icons that are beyond price, and objects that are beneath contempt?

  Tomorrow — if food commodity prices are falling, and they are, why is your grocery bill going up up up?

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 3, 2009 3:46 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, March 3

  MetroLink Commuter Rail Safety on Trial Today wraps up day-one of a two-day extended inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board into the operating conditions that lead to last September’s deadly commuter train crash in Chatsworth. We get the latest from D.C.

  Worst Water Crisis in California History….or a Scare Tactic? While most water experts agree that our state could use many more heavy storms to make the water supply situation a lot more comfortable, there is new debate about the scope of the Governor’s three-year drought scenario. It’s been called historically bad, yet California’s snow pack is starting to measure around average. Are we all going to go thirsty, or at there ulterior motives for declaring a drought disaster?

  Prop 8 in Court Again Proposition eight goes to court this week, to the same court that had earlier ruled that gay marriage is legal in California. What’ll be happening in front of the justices of the state supreme court? And could their decisions also affect the marriages that, to all appearances, were legally conducted last year. The same-sex marriage ban was voted in November; could it be thrown out on constitutional grounds by this summer?

  Gandhi’s Possessions on the Auction Block What would you pay for Gandhi’s ubiquitous round, wire-rimmed glasses? Or would you bid on them at all? The recent offering of the independence leader’s personal artifacts for sale has prompted the Indian government to step in and try to have the items taken off the auction block and preserved for the people of India. Are there things that just shouldn’t have a price tag, regardless of the benefit to a good cause?

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  • March 3, 2009 12:15 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: auction, Chatsworth, drought, Gandhi, Metrolink, National Transportation Safety Board, Proposition 8

• Four More Years for Villaraigosa? And Proposition 8 Goes to Court

  By close of the polls Tuesday, Antonio Villaraigosa will probably, again, still, be mayor of Los Angeles.

  And judging by your comments, you all still have a lot of faith and a lot of expectations that the mayor can deliver on the quality of life issues — traffic, police, pollution, housing — that he based both his campaigns on.

  [Diana blogged her objections to one listener’s call asking about the mayor’s past forthrightness in his personal life; if it doesn’t affect his work, and she says it doesn’t, voters should ”get over it!”]

  Your e-mails show that more than just the punditocracy like me would like to know whether he’d stay in City Hall or jump ship to run for governor in 2010 — I compared it to a farmer who sows a crop and certainly would want to stick around to tend it and harvest it…wouldn’t he? But as the mayor always says, he loves his job … he loves his job … he loves his job …

  [My friend and colleague Carla Marinucci at the San Francisco Chronicle, who’s often a guest here to talk about California politics, reports that the mayor’s political team has opened up a suite of offices in San Fran — right on the home turf of another Democratic mayor, a guy who really wants the gov job, Gavin Newsom.]

  I’m not a regular viewer of ”24” but it was impressive to hear how the show’s become the first carbon-neutral TV program, thanks to the urgings of Fox mogul Rupert Murdoch, who was moved by the Al Gore documentary about global warming, and ”24’s” executive producer, Howard Gordon, whose wife is a major environmentalist.

  Yes, they still make things blow up on the show, but between buying carbon offsets and making changes at every level — low-energy lightbulbs, motion-sensor bathroom lights that have left more than one person in a darkened loo, and e-mailing scripts instead of messengering them — ”24” likes to think it’s helping to slow down the disaster clock ticking away to global meltdown. [Like that metaphor? Hey, whaddya expect on deadline? Proust?]

  Proposition 8 goes before the California Supreme Court this week. It may be the biggest case the court has had in years. We’ll size it up for you tomorrow.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • March 2, 2009 3:37 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Monday, March 2

  CIA Interrogation Tapes Destroyed In November 2005, CIA officials destroyed 92 videotapes being held in a safe inside the CIA station in Thailand. Now the ACLU is filing a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the agency and asking a judge to hold them in contempt for destroying the tapes. We bring you the latest update.

  Jordan Downs to be Torn Down and Built Up LA city officials are beginning a $1 billion plan to tear down the Jordan Downs housing project and build in its place a “new urban village,” complete with coffee houses, supermarkets, and as many as 2,100 apartment units. Officials believe the project will transform the Watts neighborhood, but is such a large scale public works project realistic?

  The Lost City of Z In 1925, the infamous explorer Colonel Percy Fawcett disappeared while searching for the ancient civilization of El Dorado, or “Z”. A century later, un-phased by stories ending in death, madness, and cannibalism, New Yorker writer David Grann delved deep into the Amazon jungle and a hidden trove of Fawcett’s diaries to retrace the explorer’s steps.

  Television: The Next Green Frontier? Fox TV series “24” announced today that it is becoming the first “carbon neutral” show out there. That means offsetting its carbon-dioxide output by buying clean energy, swapping inefficient floodlights for new compact fluorescent bulbs to light sets, and sharing scripts electronically. Is this really a step in the right direction for Hollywood or just a publicity stunt for a hot TV show?

  Sit Down with the Mayor Newsflash: There’s an election tomorrow in the city of Los Angeles. Antonio Villaraigosa joins us to reflect on his legacy as mayor - his accomplishments and mistakes over the last four years, what he sees for the future of the city - and why he thinks Angelinos should re-elect him tomorrow.
  
  

  Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in our Pasadena studios

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  • March 2, 2009 12:33 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: 24, Antonio Villaraigosa, cia interrogation tapes, Fox, jordan downs, the lost city of Z

• Big Budget, Bigger Changes

  A federal budget is always big news — I mean, if you consider hundreds of billions of dollars to be big news — but President Barack Obama’s budget is about even bigger changes in the culture: a new tax structure that puts the squeeze on those widely reviled corporate tax breaks and loopholes [do I hear everybody hissing out there?] and nudges the tax burden off the middle class and back onto richer Americans, although from what I read Obama’s top marginal tax rate is still lower than what it was during most of Ronald Reagan’s presidency.

  Obama is taking big, big swings, incurring big deficits and crafting big plans to pay them off. One of the most innovative payoff proposals is a cap and trade system for greenhouse gases. Right now in this country, you can pretty much pollute the air for free. This system would charge people to emit greenhouse gases, so the oil, coal and gas industries would have to buy permits to pollute.

  My guest today said this system worked before, getting the lead out of gasoline and acid rain out of the environment, and could work on greenhouse gases. The budget calculates that something like three-quarters of a trillion dollars could be raised this way over the next ten years.

  Some of it would go to tax breaks to help consumers pay for the inevitable energy price hikes that would be passed along to them. The rest would go to create clean energy so that that pollution itself, and those cap and trade costs, would become moot.

  I hope you were as engrossed in our ”on the road” hour about small businesses and health care as we and the audience were. One business owner felt a moral obligation to offer health insurance to her employees, and another said his first obligation was to keep creating jobs, which is why he was hiring contractors and part-timers and wasn’t offering health insurance.

  Health care is a major part of the Obama budget and we’ll be bringing you updates on how that plan is progressing.

  Monday, listen in for Antonio Villaraigosa, who’s running to keep his job.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • February 26, 2009 2:37 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Thursday, February 26

  Businesses Need Sick Days Too According to a recent Kaiser Family Foundation study, only 62 percent of small businesses (under 200 employees) offer health insurance to their workers. That number drops to less than half for businesses with under ten workers. Due to rising costs, some small business owners are opting to use part-time and contract labor rather than full-time employees, or even to down-size to avoid state-mandated insurance requirements. Is the cost of health care becoming a barrier to entrepreneurship?

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  • February 26, 2009 12:31 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: entrepreneurship, health care, small business

• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, February 25

  Obama’s Mortgage Relief Program Might be in Default The two-part mortgage relief plan, which would offer refinancing to homeowners in trouble and loan modifications to people facing loan default, was mentioned in the president’s speech last night; the problem is that the two distinct elements were blended together by the President. Is the President’s plan facing its own foreclosure?

  A Pair of Supreme Court Decisions One strips the right of anyone convicted of a domestic violence crimes to own a firearm. The other is a free speech decision regarding a tiny religious sect and whether it could force a Utah city to let it erect a monument to its faith in a public space. We get the details.

  Men and Medicine Going to see the doctor has never been a “macho” thing to do, and women are much more likely than men to make that appointment. What factors cause some men to be hesitant to talk about their health, get a regular check up, or even see the doc when they’re really sick? And what are the dangers of delaying that doctor’s visit? We examine the difference and the consequences in how the sexes deal with their health.

  Big Man on Campus It’s our monthly sit-down with the big man on campus, LA Unified superintendent Ramon C. Cortines. This month Patt asks the superintendent about controversial school expansion plans in Playa Vista and Sylmar, about hazing allegations at Taft High School and the latest budget cut details—will the superintendent be forced to take back his pledge of no mid-year teacher layoffs?

  Have a question for the LAUSD Superintendent? Call-in today beginning at 2 p.m.: 1-866-893-5722.

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  • February 25, 2009 11:55 AM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: barbie and ruth, big man on campus, LAUSD, Ramon Cortines, Ruth Handler, Superintendent

• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, February 24th

  Bernanke Sets the Table, Obama Does his Magic Tablecloth Trick: Out of several hours worth of testimony came the one, small, seemingly insignificant word from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that pretty much summed up all of his points: “if.” IF the various economic recovery and stimulus programs that have emerged from the White House and Congress work; IF the global ramifications of the deep American recession stabilize; IF consumer confidence rebounds, then economic growth might return by 2010. All of these caveats demonstrated the dire economic situation that President Obama faces when he addresses Congress and the nation tonight with plans to stop the bleeding.

  Down Syndrome Screening Test to get More Accurate, Parents’ Decisions to get Tougher: Notoriously unreliable genetic tests for Down syndrome in fetuses should be getting a lot more accurate. By this Spring new screening tests will be on the market that should give doctors and parents a clear idea of whether or not their child will be born with Down syndrome. What kind of tough decisions will parents now face?

  *Guide to the Great Beyond *: Everybody dies, but most don’t like to think about death. Bestselling author and New York Times health columnist Jane Brody hopes to change that with her new book, Jane Brody’s Guide to the Great Beyond. Brody’s here with her practical primer on how we can medically, legally, and emotionally prepare for the inevitable.

  Ominous Bubbles beneath Melting Ice: It may seem that the urgency surrounding global warming has blended into the backdrop of our current financial crisis, but new research into methane pockets locked beneath melting arctic permafrost may re-prioritize our thinking. When released, the pockets could quicken a warming climate—methane has at least 20 times the heat-trapping ability of an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide, and about 55 billion tons of the gas could be released from beneath the Siberian lakes alone as warming temperatures thaw arctic soils. Are we all going to die?

  Fat Tuesday in a Fat Recession: A quick check in from Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

  Is In Vitro Fertilization Safe? One well-known complication of in vitro fertilization is the risk of multiple births, such as the Suleman octuplets born last month in California. What are the concerns beyond multiple births? Some studies indicate an increased risk of birth defects and abnormal patterns of gene expression associated with IVF. The findings are considered preliminary and researchers say IVF is not excessively risky. But there’s a lot we don’t know.

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  • February 24, 2009 12:48 PM by Jonathan Serviss
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• T.C. Boyle and Frank Lloyd Wright -- How Can You Not Listen?

  As much as you like T.C. Boyle’s books, T.C. Boyle in person is equally engrossing and entertaining, from his red high-top sneakers to his Keith Richards hair — and the nifty brain beneath that hair.

  He lives in a hundred-year-old Frank Lloyd Wright house — the first private residence Wright did in California — and his latest book, ”The Women,” is about the quartet of ladies in the architect’s life, how they changed Wright and how Wright wrought [and overwrought] them. Wright helped to shape what we think of as modern fame. If he were around now, the gossip websites would have a field day with the ”celebu-tect.” Boyle’s book brings all the grandiosity and the cold-mindedness and spark of Wright’s coterie, told through the narrative of a young Japanese architect in Wright’s trainee program.

  All of you sounded as moved as I was by our talk about the ”Dover test.” Dover AFB in Delaware is the return point for the bodies of Americans killed in military service overseas. But since 1991 the press has been banned from photographing the flag-covered coffins. President Obama is considering whether to end that ban.

  A representative from a group of families who have lost loved ones in our recent wars said there are divided opinions in her group, but many of you who called felt it is important to democracy, and to Americans, to witness the consequences of our decisions, and the uses of our military power — and by bearing witness, to honor those who sacrificed, as Abraham Lincoln said of the dead of another war, ”the last full measure of devotion.” I’d love to read more about what you think of this matter on the Patt Morrison blog.

  Tomorrow, New York Times health writer Jane Brody’s here with her new book, ”Guide to the Great Beyond,” which deals frankly with death, as it comes at last to us all. Shakespeare, as always, put it more beautifully: ”Golden lads and girls all must, as chimney-sweepers, come to dust.”

  — Patt Morrison

  I was so moved by

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  • February 23, 2009 5:39 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Monday, February 23rd

  President Obama Talks Budget: President Obama isn’t expected to pull any punches with his first federal budget: a vow to cut the country’s budget deficit—projected to total $1.3 trillion this year—in half by the end of his first term, by means of big spending cuts and a potential tax increase on the richest tax bracket, are sure to anger and please the entire political spectrum. Patt checks in with some experts to discuss the politics, economics, and potential pitfalls, as the ‘09-‘10 budget works its way through Congress.

  The Dover Test: Images of casualties have long played into the politics of war, and since 1991, the White House has upheld a ban on photographs at Dover Air Force Base, the main entry-point for American troops’ remains into the U.S. Now President Obama is considering lifting the ban. Is it respectful to photograph the coffins of fallen soldiers? And what impact might this have on public morale?

  Brazen Violence: Ciudad Juárez Under Siege: The Ciudad Juárez police chief resigned Friday in response to signs posted on officers’ bodies, promising to kill at least one local official for every 48 hours until the chief quit. Five police officers had been murdered leading up to the police chief’s resignation. Is the Mexican government powerless to stop the violence, and should U.S. authorities get involved?

  The Women and Frank Lloyd Wright: Author T.C. Boyle is here with his new book, The Women, an account of iconic architect Frank Lloyd Wright as told through the four women who loved him: the mother of his six children, a client’s wife, a morphine addict, and an exotic dancer and student of the Russian mystic Gurdjieff.

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  • February 23, 2009 11:31 AM by Janice Watje-Hurst
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• Names Make News, Big Names Make Bigger News!

  And therefore it was a big news day:

  Howard Marks is the mega-renowned chair of Oaktree Capital Management, the LA-based firm with more than $50 billion in its portfolio. His company makes money by taking chances on the right kinds of risky investments, and we snagged some exclusive air time to hear his assessment of how the private-investment part of the Obama financial rescue package might work — and might not work.

  Then Seth MacFarlane popped up, the creator-slash-writer-slash-producer-slash-voice-artist of his show “The Family Guy,” which just celebrated its ten-year anniversary as a Fox-TV hit. It was nifty to get inside the head of a polymath like him, his attitude toward animation and the family as a storytelling device. His next project is “The Cleveland Show,” which to my disappointment has nothing to do with the Ohio city whose river once caught fire.

  And Robert Osborne, the film historian and Turner Classic Movies host, warmed up Oscar night for us with a run through this year’s field, and how it compares to some of the great Oscar honorees of years past. A quick moment: he doesn’t think the Best Picture favorite, ”Slumdog Millionaire,” will hold up against the test of time, as other Bet Picture winners have.

  Hope yours is an award-winning weekend.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • February 20, 2009 4:22 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Friday, February 20th

  President Obama Wants YOU - and Bring Along Your $$$: Howard Marks is a financier with $55 billion at his disposal, and President Obama wants him, and other private investors like him, to help shore up the nation’s troubled banks by putting money into trouble assets that few others will touch. But even Marks, one of the biggest players in “distressed investing,” is not sure this is such a good deal. The risks, both political and financial, are huge, and profit-taking by “vulture” investors in this economy could be seen as a negative by stock-holders and the public. So, what are the benefits, what are the risks, and what is the answer?

  Luckily There’s a Family Guy: Seth MacFarlane’s Irreverent World: It’s a delicious irony of pop-culture—a cartoon TV show that makes its living referencing and lampooning popular culture has itself become a pop icon. Seth MacFarlane created “Family Guy” when he was only 24-years-old and it has since developed into a $1 billion franchise. Seth has an open forum Q&A session at the Carpenter Center in Long Beach on Feb. 28th and a new series coming out this fall, “The Cleveland Show.”

  The Awkward GOP Family Reunion: It’s certainly an interesting time for the State Republican Spring Convention, in the wake of budget negotiations that saw GOP legislators marginalized and a Republican governor working almost exclusively with Democrats. Much like the national party, California Republicans find themselves in the role of a minority opposition party that’s long on obstruction but so far short on alternative ideas. The CA GOP has tough decisions to make: should defecting Republican legislators who voted for the budget be punished, and who will the party hierarchy support in the burgeoning 2010 gubernatorial primary?

  80 Years of the Oscar: Critics may say the Academy is no longer the arbiter of great craft, but Oscar historian Robert Osborne is here with his new book—and homage to the awards— 80 Years of the Oscar, tracing the Oscars through its formative years of the film industry to the present.

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  • February 20, 2009 12:45 PM by Jonathan Serviss
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• Of Sacramento and Super Heroes -- Probably No Relation

  Most of official Sacramento was probably still sleeping in when we went on the air today — the Legislature pulled an all-nighter and finally pulled out a budget.

  We did hear from the governor’s press secretary, though; Schwarzenegger has some homework of his own to do, zapping a billion or so more out of the budget with his line-item ”Conan the Accountant” pen before he signs the budget this weekend. And Assembly Speaker Karen Bass gave us a few minutes to laud her colleagues for getting it done — but with $40 billion in cuts, taxes and borrowing, this budget process made a prize fight look like Swan Lake.

  For someone who first heard classical music as the soundtrack to cartoons, I loved the segment on young conductors and the revival of classical music, with guests Carlo Ponti Jr., the music director and conductor of the San Bernardino Symphony and the son of actress Sophia Loren and producer Carlo Ponti, and the deliciously acerbic culture critic from the London Evening Standard. He opined that the deaths of so many financiallly stricken opera companies wasn’t a bad thing, because all they did was stage endless revivals of old chestnuts like Carmen and La Boheme.

  And you loved the segment on the comic-book superhero exhibition that opened today at the Skirball Cultural Center. My favorite caller was William, who told us that Superman was his boyhood idol and role model. He even had a Superman costume, and so longed to fly that when he discovered dancing, he realized that was his destiny: it was the closest he’d ever get to flying around like the Man of Steel.

  Big Friday, so listen in — Robert Osborne on the Oscars,, financier Howard Marks on those toxic assets, and Seth MacFarlane, the father of The Family Guy.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • February 19, 2009 6:24 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Thursday, February 19th

  It’s Ugly, It’s Painful….At Least it’s Done: There wasn’t much to cheer for early this morning as California legislators passed the long overdue state budget, which should ostensibly close a $42 billion deficit. While the budget negotiations were an eyesore, the real pain is about to be felt as several billion dollars in tax increases and spending cuts are absorbed by Californians. What kind of hit to your wallet can you expect, and what kind of tough decision are still waiting both the Legislature and California voters?

  Crazy for Classical Out of the Box: Over the past several years, orchestras around the world have been slowly turning to younger, fresh-faced maestros. These conductors are beginning to shake up the classical scene all over the world, from 25 year old London-based Robin Ticciati, to 28 year old Gustavo Dudamel, who was recently named music director of the LA Philharmonic. How are they thinking outside the box to attract a new audience into the rarefied world of classic music?

  Just Say Enough: Latin American Leaders Want End to U.S. War on Drugs: It could easily be described as the largest and longest running foreign policy and military commitment in the history of the United States: the “war on drugs” has raged for over 40 years with no end in sight and a very dubious track record. The most recent incarnation of America’s drug war is actually being waged just south of the U.S. border, as Mexican drug cartels rampage through several of Mexico’s cities in an effort to control lucrative smuggling routes. A recent commission of Latin American leaders has dared to mention the unmentionable: perhaps the drug war is a failure and it’s time to radically rethink our approach. Is the U.S. ready to consider alternatives?

  ZAP! POW! BAM! In the midst of the economic turmoil of the 1930s and 40s, which we increasingly seem to be looking towards as a parallel to our present day, American heroes emerged from the pages of comic books to shape the values of an entire generation. The Skirball Cultural Center has two new exhibits, ZAP! POW! BAM! The Superhero: The Golden Age of Comic Books, 1938-1950, and Lights, Camera, Action: Comic Book Heroes of Film and Television, that explore cultural icons like Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman came to be.

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  • February 19, 2009 12:46 PM by Jonathan Serviss
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• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, February 18th

  Finally Homeowners Get Their Cut: Obama’s Mortgage Relief Plan: For months average Americans wondered when their financial relief would come, as they watched banks, financial institutions and even car companies receive trillions of dollars in taxpayer assistance. Now President Obama seems to be delivering on his campaign promise of help for American mortgage holders who are underwater in their home loans or struggling to make their payments. Will the plan ultimately work to curtail foreclosures? Patt gives a local taste to the foreclosure story, taking a look at some of the most heavily impacted communities in Southern California.

  Great Stethoscope Skills, Lousy Waiting Room Music—Zagat Guide does Doctors Zagat is known for its pithy reviews of meals, hotels, and spas, and might soon be the arbiter of the medical profession after a deal to license its brand name to WellPoint, one of the country’s largest commercial insurers. WellPoint is asking its customers to rate and review their doctors in categories ranging from trust to communication. The responses would then be summarized and presented online under Zagat’s name. WellPoint, however, is reserving the right to edit the reviews, which would only by available to WellPoint customers. How reliable could a system like this be?

  Ask the Chief: It’s our monthly installment of Ask the Chief—your opportunity to ask LAPD Chief William Bratton your law and order questions. This month Patt asks the Chief about the LAPD and Officers’ Union’s tangle over the collection of officers’ DNA, a recent study by the Department of Justice detailing Gang violence across the country, as well as the LA Police Commission’s release of confidential names of officers accused of misconduct such as racial profiling. Do you dare take on Chief Bratton?

  Mammoth Find: Scientists at the La Brea Tar Pits have discovered the largest known collection of fossils from the ice age. The fossils were found while workers were constructing an underground parking garage for the neighboring LA County Museum of Art. They include an almost intact Colombian mammoth, nicknamed Zed by researchers, a complete saber-tooth cat skeleton, a giant ground sloth and a North American lion. Of course, this being Los Angeles, both the mammoth and the saber-tooth cat were fined for unpaid parking fees.

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  • February 18, 2009 12:19 PM by Jonathan Serviss
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• Fixing the Common Cold and Fixing Sacramento -- Which Will Happen First?

  If only they could find a cure for the Sacramento Disease …

  It seems like figuring out the common cold is easier than fixing what ails Sacramento. When oh when will we get a budget? It all comes down to one Republican vote in the state Senate now … and as the Senate president pro tem warned his colleagues, bring a toothbrush and hunker down — no one is gettin’ outta here until we finish.

  But the common cold? Now we’re talking the realm of possibility. We heard from a researcher who was looking for the cold strains that trigger asthma attacks — he’s an asthmatic himself — and wound up decoding the genome for 99 strains of the common cold. It’s a long way from curing the bug that takes $40 billion out of the nation’s economy every year [that’s practically a Detroit bailout every year]. But it’s a start. [One tip from this segment — Vitamin C doesn’t work; chicken soup does.]

  And ”The New Yorker” writer George Packer was so moved by the stories of Iraqi interpreters who felt abandoned by the American military they’d sacrificed so much for that he had to put their stories onstage. The play, ”Betrayed,” is at the Skirball through February 22, and Packer was talking with me about how the U.S. let down those same people — literate, liberal-minded Iraqis — who would have been the very men and women to lead a new, democratic Iraq.

  Tomorrow, another thrilling episode of ”Ask the Chief,” starring Bill Bratton! Get your dialing/button-pushing finger ready.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • February 17, 2009 4:11 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, February 17th

  Into Fiscal Oblivion & Beyond: California’s Budget at the Precipice: This weekend was supposed to be the merciful conclusion to California’s painfully protracted budget negotiations to close a $42 billion deficit. Of course the Legislature was unable to reach an agreement on the budget, falling one vote short in both the Assembly and the Senate. Legislators are back at it today and while they argue over specific budget cuts and tax increases, California faces potential fiscal oblivion including halted infrastructure projects, state worker layoffs and state income tax return IOU’s. Patt looks for answers from the Speaker of the Assembly and a Republican Assembly leader—is a deal in sight, and how much will the ultimate solution hurt?

  Deadline Nears for Automakers: General Motors and Chrysler are racing to submit wide-reaching restructuring plans to the federal government today. The automakers don’t have agreements with debt holders or union workers yet, but both report progress in concession talks. GM has already received more than $9 billion in government loans. Chrysler has received $4 billion. The plans are supposed to outline how the struggling automakers intend to become viable and repay the government loans. What are the details?

  Ah-Choo! A Cure for the Common Cold? They keep saying the next new medicine is better, but nothing ever seems to really do the trick… now researchers say they may have found the secret to the common cold and may, just may, be able to develop an effective treatment for this misery. We check in with one scientist who’s decoding the genomes of 99 strains of the cold virus, exposing its Achilles heel, and another who is skeptical.

  Unsung Heroes of Iraq: The Interpreters: In a conflict such as Iraq, communications are vital; interpreters working with US forces play an essential role. Yet they often play that role to great personal risk. In 2007, veteran war correspondent George Packer published “Betrayed,” an article about Iraqi interpreters and the great risks they took helping US forces. The tragedy: they were provided with virtually no protection for their efforts. Tomorrow evening, Los Angeles Theatre Works debuts a production of “Betrayed,” Packer’s play based on his interviews with these forgotten heroes.

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  • February 17, 2009 12:18 PM by Jonathan Serviss
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• Thank God It's Friday -- We Get Chris Moore and Comedy Congress!

  Nothing lessens the pain of a $41 billion budget deficit, or a $789 billion stimulus package, like laughter. For one thing, it’s free.

  We warmed up with lit-wit and author Christopher Moore, whose only rival for whacking sacred cows is the Chicago stockyards. His new book, ”Fool,” takes Shakespeare’s ”King Lear” and turns it on its crowned head, telling a raunchy, comic version of that august play from the point of view of its lowliest character, the court jester. I tried get Chris to speak a few sentences in Shakespearean English, but he declined. Drat thou.

  How could you top that? With ”Comedy Congress”! Ben Gleib and Jimmy Dore left no comedic stone unturned, liberal or conservative, spinning and riffing on the dopey things that come out of politicians’ mouths.

  On Monday, revisit the TED conference with us — great moments like Robin Williams and the search for extraterrestrial life [Mork aside, no connection].

  — Patt Morrison

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  • February 13, 2009 4:40 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Friday, February 13

  Budget Battles Redux Both houses of the state Legislature are scheduled to vote tomorrow on a budget package to address California’s $42 billion shortfall. Gov. Schwarzenegger says he’s optimistic the compromise plan will succeed. But Republicans are still refusing to commit until they see all the details. How did we get to this point?

  Fool: A Twisted Take on Shakespeare Fool picks-up where King Lear left off—a ruined kingdom, family, and fortune. It’s 1288, and the king’s fool, Pocket, and his dimwit apprentice, Drool set out on a quest that’s sidetracked by murder, mayhem, and mistaken identities. Author Christopher Moore is here with his 21st-century twist on the King Lear Cliff Notes you wished you’d had in high school.

  Comedy Congress A miserable, sinking economy, rancorous debate in Washington D.C. and the rebirth of ugly partisanship—just when politics is enough to make you cry, it’s usually best to laugh instead. Welcome to the post-campaign Comedy Congress—the truth hurts far less when it’s told by comedians.

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  • February 13, 2009 12:40 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Money, Money, Money -- Oh Yes, And Other News

  I can’t blame you if you tuned in today and thought for a moment that you might have been hearing an early edition of ”Marketplace” - we were money money money from the get-go.

  First the story of the banking CEOs got the once-over, and then the twice-over, from members of the House Financial Services Committee. Tens of billions of dollars in bonuses were awarded to people who were steering their companies into the ground - and these guys couldn’t manage one good, remorseful, sobbing breakdown? We wanted political melodrama and we only got political theatre. But as Rep. Brad Sherman, the San Fernando Valley Democrat on the committee, told us, the very stoic nature of the CEOs’ answers told the committee a whole lot.

  Then it was on to the stimulus plan, and how it got shaved down to below $800 billion to make it through the House-Senate conference committee. It should be on President Obama’s desk by the weekend but some people are worried that it won’t be big enough to do the job. What we don’t know yet, because the devil is always in the details, is how much money California might get - ideally enough to buy some shovels to dig ourselves out of our $42 billion hole.

  Oh yes, California. John Meyers, our stalwart colleague from the California Report, says the Legislature is nearing a deal for higher car taxes, higher sales and income taxes - all temporary, and all conditional on some budget reforms Republicans wanted, like a rainy-day fund.

  Don’t you agree with me that it’s a bit embarrassing that a fractious Congress could agree on a $789 billion plan in a couple of days, and the California Legislature’s just hit the hundred-day mark to hash out a mere $42 billion plan?

  After all the grim financial news, everything else seemed like dessert, from the frothy fun of the new ”Minsky’s” musical at the Ahmanson, to the dessert ideas from the Too Hot Tamales, who also had suggestions for yummy meals for two - or solo - for your Valentine’s Day menu.

  What did I take away from all the talk of braising and caramelizing and poaching?

  That you can’t go wrong with cupcakes. Even beer cupcakes. Really.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • February 11, 2009 9:27 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, February 11

  Stimulus Achieved Key lawmakers announced agreement today on a $789 billion economic stimulus measure designed to create millions of jobs. President Obama could sign the bill within days. “The middle ground we’ve reached creates more jobs than the original Senate bill and costs less than the original House bill,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. So is the bill squeaky clean yet? We get the details - what made the compromnise bill and what was left out?

  Bankers Face the Heat Eight of the nation’s top bankers who received funds from the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program back in October faced off today against the House Financial Services Committee—and public outrage to spare—to explain how they spent tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer money and why lending hasn’t increased to higher levels. Did their defense help or hurt them?

  Israeli Centrist Party Wins the Election, Could Lose the Government The centrist party Kadima won the majority of Knesset seats yesterday but could lose the prime minister position. What does this mean for relations with the U.S. and an eventual peace deal with the Palestinians?

  Valentine’s on a Shoestring Shooting for a romantic Valentine’s Day on a recessionary budget? Have no fear; the Too Hot Tamales are here—to heat up your love fest-on-a-budget. First, let’s cut out the night out: whether you’ll be observing singles-awareness day or playing cupid in the kitchen, the tamales have some suggestions for an at-home Valentine’s Dinner that won’t disappoint, or break the bank.

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  • February 11, 2009 12:12 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, February 10

  Senator Boxer Weighs in on the Stimulus Package The differences between the $838 billion Senate version and the $820 billion House version of President Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan head to conference committee to be hashed out. What will the result look like? The stock market is responding to the news - and not very favorably.

  Zuma Dogg: Candidate for Mayor There are several candidates running for Los Angeles Mayor in the March 3 election, including the incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa. Patt spends a few minutes talking with each of his contenders. Today, David Saltsburg AKA Zuma Dogg.

  This Just in from Antarctica During what has been a comparatively cold winter across the Northern Hemisphere there’s been a lot of conflicting information about the pace, scope and even existence of global warming. Patt checks in with an oceanographer and climate scientist who has just returned from surveying the ice, weather and animal behavior patterns of Antarctica and delivers his findings to toasty Southern California.

  Smart Phone Wars They connect our voices. Our emails. We can use them to play games. Watch TV shows. Listen to music. Take pictures. Even make breakfast. Okay, not make breakfast, but “smart phones” cram more computing power and more options into our hands than anyone ever thought possible. Which one is right for you? And how many different phones can the market support?

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  • February 10, 2009 12:32 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Patt Morrison for Monday, February 9

  Mashup for the Governor’s Mansion Former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman announced today that she is forming an exploratory committee to seek the nomination for California governor. Who’s in - who’s out - and who has the best chance to win California’s widely varied voters?

  Controller Debate: Get Ready to RUMMMBLLEE! The LA city controller’s job is, among other things, to audit the books and keep the city honest - okay, more honest. Term limits is moving Laura Chick out of the job - who will be moving in? That’s for you to decide, after you listen in to the debate among the three candidates in the March 3 election.

  TARP 2.0 The Troubled Assets Relief Program has known a variety of incarnations since its inception back in October of last year. Now, in an effort to deliver a consistent plan and to fix mistakes made the first time around, President Obama’s new Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, announces tomorrow the fate of the second half of TARP funds. We get a preview

  Australian Fires “Mass Murder” While LA gets some much-needed rain, our neighbors down-under have been battling some of the worst wildfires in their history, intensified by record heat and drought, 60 mph winds, and the flammable oils contained in eucalyptus and gum trees. As the death toll from the more than 400 blazes continues to rise, we get the latest from an eye-witness account.

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  • February 9, 2009 12:53 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Are We Born to be Good?

  Far and away, today’s favorite segment with all of you was hearing from Dachner Keltner about his new book, ”Born to Be Good: the Science of a Meaningful Life.” Against the centuries of history about human selfishness and striving, he argues that self-sacrifice, compassion and altruism are in fact part of our evolutionary and genetic map. Like our primate relatives’, our own brains reward and reinforce sharing and empathy. He’s a fascinating guest, one we’ve had on before and hope to get back in front of a microphone again soon.

  Some of you were upset that we talked about the possibility of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg leaving the court or taking a medical leave after her surgery today for early-stage pancreatic cancer. She is 75 years old and survived cancer of the colon about ten years ago. Folks, this is about more than Justice Ginsberg, as she herself would no doubt acknowledge. The Supreme Court makes decisions that change the course of individual lives, from segregation to reproductive choices. Who occupies and who might occupy one of those nine seats is of vital importance to the nation, and anything affecting that is a fit subject for discussion.

  We heard from our fourth Los Angeles mayoral candidate, David Hernandez. Six more to go, before the March 3 election, counting the incumbent, Antonio Villaraigosa. If he agrees to appear, he’ll get ten minutes, just like everyone else.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • February 5, 2009 3:57 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Thursday, February 5

  New and Improved Faith Based Program? The Bush Administration favored faith based initiatives, but the office was mired in controversy. Now Obama is launching a council to oversee faith-based initiatives. How will it work? Will it avoid some of the problems that plagued Bush’s efforts?

  Justice Ginsberg Treated for Pancreatic Cancer With the news that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is battling pancreatic cancer, thoughts turn to the future of the Supreme Court. If she decides to step down because health issues, what kind of candidate will President Obama choose?

  David Hernandez: Candidate for Mayor There are several candidates running for Los Angeles Mayor in the March 3 election, including the incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa. Patt spends a few minutes talking with each of his contenders. Today, David Hernandez.

  Frustrating Furloughs Are we ready? Some workers set to be furloughed are actually paid by the federal government, so their furlough wouldn’t save the state any money. And there’s some confusion over whether some state workers might be exempt. How many people will be furloughed? How much money will the state actually save? We do the numbers.

  Born to Be Good? Dacher Keltner is here to talk about his hypothesis that humans were in fact “born to be good,” evidenced by our evolving of “pro-social” emotions, such as gratitude, amusement, awe, and compassion—all of which promote ethical action and create the fabric of cooperative societies.

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  • February 5, 2009 12:36 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: born to be good, Dacher Keltner, david hernandez, furloughs, ginzberg, pancreatic cancer

• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, February 4

  Republicans Warn of Censure for Tax Hikes The pressure is mounting to get a budget resolved. Republican Party Vice Chairman Jon Fleischman says, fine, that doesn’t mean you get to walk away from your core principles. He says if Republican law makers give in on their promise to hold spending, censure them. Will this hold-the-line philosophy work? And is it productive?

  Sports Fan? We Got News For You… A federal judge has unsealed hundreds of pages of court documents in the government’s criminal case against Barry Bonds - what’s in them? And Manny Ramirez turned down the Dodgers’ latest offer of a $25 million, one year contract - is he a greedy fool or crazy like a fox? Finally, David Beckham’s lawyers are meeting with the LA Galaxy to keep Beckham in Italy with AC Milan - Arrivederci Beckham! Will we miss him?

  Phil Jennerjahn: Candidate for Mayor There are several candidates running for Los Angeles Mayor in the March 3 election, including the incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa. Patt spends a few minutes talking with each of his contenders. Today, Phil Jennerjahn.

  I’d Rather We Got Casinos (and Other Black Thoughts) With explanations for why black weathermen make him happy (or sad), to why “brothas don’t see UFO’s,” or his quest to replace “African American” with “chocolate,” comedian Larry Wilmore is here for Black History Month, which, by the way, he thinks should be abolished, because how can twenty-eight days of trivia really make up for centuries of oppression?? In Wilmore’s own words, “I’d rather we got casinos!”

  IN STUDIO NOW: Larry Wilmore, The Senior Black Correspondent of the Daily Show:
  

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  • February 4, 2009 12:17 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Parkinson's Disease Lays Too Many Low ... and Iran's Satellite Flies High

  Look - up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s … it’s … an Iranian telecom satellite!

  Iran gave itself a happy-30th-anniversary-to-you-Islamic-revolution gift with the launch of its first homegrown satellite. Officially, it’s a telecommunications satellite, and officially, Western governments are in a swivet about what this could mean for what may or may not be Iran’s nascent nuclear program. But our guest, John Walsh from MIT, says the West shouldn’t be overly worried; what the Iranians launched was essentially a big tube of gasoline with a little satellite on top.

  We spent a good bit of time talking about tonight’s ”Frontline” documentary detailing the journey by correspondent and KQED radio host Dave Iverson to find out more about the disease that killed his father and has now afflicted him and his brother: Parkinson’s. It’s an ailment with many roots and many possible pathways to treatment and cure, and thousands more are diagnosed with it each year.

  And oh sure, Barack Obama is the first black president, but imagine the burdens of being the first - the only - black correspondent on ”The Daily Show.” Larry Wilmore will be here Wednesday to tell us how he bears up under the twin burdens of renown and comedic blackness, and shares tidbits from his new book.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • February 3, 2009 4:31 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, February 3

  Get These Guys an Accountant! Tax scandals have claimed their first political casualties as Nancy Killefer, who had been picked as the nation’s chief performance officer, withdrew her nomination this morning. Soon to follow her out the door was Tom Daschle, who, like Killefer, had been plagued by unpaid federal and local tax obligations. Putting aside the inability of officials who helped write tax laws to follow them, are Americans really troubled by these tax evasion controversies?

  Iran Launches its Sputnik Today Iran entered the small fraternity of nations that can claim an active space program, by launching Omid—a data-processing satellite. The Iranian Aerospace Industries Organization (its NASA) said they hope to launch a manned mission by 2021. What will this mean for the strategic balance in the Middle East?

  California’s Credit Rating Lowest of all 50 States Today Standard & Poor’s cut its rating on the state’s debt because of the budget impasse. S&P lowered its rating on the state’s $46 billion in general obligation bonds to “A” from “A-plus” (most states are rated either “AA” or “AAA.”) What does it mean for California?

  The Shadow Factory Rumors of the NSA’s secret programs to spy on American citizens have stoked fear and outrage over the past several years, while issues of its legality have befuddled Congress and the courts, but the sheer mechanics of the operation have remained largely unknown, until now. NSA expert and bestselling author James Bamford is here to talk about his new book and the documentary it inspired.

  My Father, My Brother, and Me Frontline correspondent and radio host Dave Iverson was given the same news heard by his father and brother years before - he had Parkinson’s disease. His documentary “My Father, My Brother, and Me,” airing tonight on PBS, is the culmination of his talks with scientists, a geneticist, and fellow sufferers.

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  • February 3, 2009 12:25 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Fifty Years Ago, the Day the Music Died, and Fifty Billion Dollars, Some of It MIA in Iraq

  Billion-dollar scams! Political underdogs! Richie Valens and Buddy Holly! We had a program with something for everyone today.

  Tuesday’s the 50th anniversary of ”the day the music died,” when Holly, Valens and the Big Bopper died in that plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa, which is why you heard ”La Bamba” coming out of your radio - along with the voice of Luis Valdez, the director, who is eight months older than Richie Valens and who directed the 1987 movie about his life and death. One caller, Jackie, remembered driving down Hollywood Boulevard as a teenager and when ”La Bamba” came on the radio, people leaped out of their cars and started dancing in the street. What are your memories of ”Valley Boy” Richie Valens? Play that tune on the Patt Morrison blog here.

  Stuart Bowen has been on the program before, but today we heard from the Iraq inspector general just after he testified to Congress about how $50 billion of your money and mine was spent and squandered in Iraq. $50 billion! He says there are lessons in this for how billions more can be spent better when it comes to rebuilding Afghanistan. But as two former high-ranking Afghan officials also told us, it sure won’t be easy.

  In a month’s time, about three dozen cities in LA County hold elections for all sorts of things: mayor, city council, bonds, charter matters. Are you ready? Rhetorical question - who is?

  So we’re helping you out by sizing up some ballot measures and candidates. Today we heard from Walter Moore, one of the nine men challenging Antonio Villaraigosa for the job of mayor. We’ll get to all of them; Tuesday’s mayoral candidate is Carlos Alvarez.

  None of the nine is named Ted, but ”Ted” will be here Friday anyway. Actually, we’ll be there, at the TED conference in Long Beach. Over its 25 years, the Technology, Entertainment, Design conference has pulled in some big fish, like Al Gore and Jane Goodall. We’ll be going fishing for big names inside the TED conference, so you don’t have to.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • February 2, 2009 4:10 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Monday, February 2

  The March Ballot After the major realignment of the political stars this last November, it’s hard to believe yet another election is coming. Locally, the March election could have profound effects on the power brokers in Los Angeles. What, exactly, will get decided?

  Walter Moore: Candidate for Mayor There are several candidates running for Los Angeles Mayor in the March 3 election, including the incumbent Antonio Villaraigosa. Patt spends a few minutes talking with each of his contenders. Today, it’s Walter Moore.

  Lessons Learned? Reviewing the Troubled Effort to Rebuild Iraq After six years and at least $50 billion in American money, what is there to show for the colossal reconstruction effort of Iraqi infrastructure? A new report from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction sums up the hard lessons learned in Iraq and attempts to follow the mysterious trails of billions of dollars that seemingly vanished in the Iraqi desert.

  Lessons Learned—What About Afghanistan? So if we can agree that the American effort to rebuild Iraq has produced, at best, mixed results, what kind of return have we seen from our investment in Afghanistan? Is it too late to learn from failures in Iraq in order to pull off a smarter, more effective rebuild of Afghanistan?

  “The Day the Music Died” Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa that killed Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens—that was “The Day the Music Died” in Don McLean’s “American Pie.” Southern California native Ritchie Valens’ career only lasted a few months, but he pioneered a legacy for Latino rock stars whose influences can still be seen.

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  • February 2, 2009 12:10 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Super Robotic Weapons and Wacky Super Bowl Betting

  My belated thanks to David Lazarus for heroically stepping in for me recently!

  High culture and low today — high culture, a trio of theatre critics talking about what’s out there on the board of Southern California’s theatres large and small, musicals and drama, the whole panoply of the stage.

  P.W. Singer’s the youngest senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and his new book shows why he deserves it. ”Wired for War — The Robotics Revolution and Conflict in the 21st Century” makes the sci-fi world real in walking us through how weaponry is becoming clinically accurate and technologically stupefying, and how devices from Predator drones high above to insect-like robots squirreling into the smallest places will change warfare.

  The very first law President Barack Obama signed is named for Lily Ledbetter, the Alabama woman who worked nearly 20 years in a tire plant - and only when she was retiring did a co-worker slip her a piece of paper showing that the men who were doing the very same job were paid as much as $1,000 a month more than she. Women on average earn 78 cents for every dollar that a man earns at the same job; our guests said that the new law essentially gives women back the rights on pay equity that they had been given in 1960s civil rights legislation, but which had been thwarted and challenged and countered until there were almost no teeth left in the law.

  Didn’t you love those nutty bets that people make on every last little thing about the Super Bowl? The color of the Gatorade they’ll dump on the winning coach, how long it will take to sing the national anthem. As our guest said, the guys who run these often illegal online gambling operations can never come back to the U.S. to actually watch a Super Bowl. I’m sure their hearts aren’t breaking; they make bazillions of bucks. Crazy betting isn’t new; English gentlemen sitting at a dinner table used to bet which sugar cube a fly would land on.

  I’m off to make my Super Bowl guacamole. That’s a sure thing!

  — Patt Morrison

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  • January 30, 2009 4:55 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Friday, January 30

  GOP Elects First Black Chairman Maryland Lt. Gov Michael Steele has outlasted all the other contenders to become GOP chairman - the party’s first black chairman. “Obviously the winds of change are blowing,” said Mike Duncan, the former chairman, as he bowed out of the race. What does this mean for the future of the GOP?

  Lilly Ledbetter and the Fair Pay Act: What now? President Obama’s first bill signed into law specifies that workers can sue 180 days after receiving any discriminatory paycheck - even one at the end of a career. Too late for Lilly Ledbetter, the Goodyear plant worker who was the impetus for the act, but how will this change work practices for people moving forward?

  Wired for War At the moment, 12,000 robots are fighting the war on terror; one day human soldiers may even be obsolete. P.W. Singer’s last two books foretold the advent of private military firms and child soldiers. Both proved to be unnervingly accurate. He joins us today with his new book, “Wired for War,” predicting the dawn of robotic warfare, the most significant development in military affairs since the atom bomb.

  The Super Bowl: Football, Booze, Food…and Ridiculous Bets From the color of the Gatorade poured on the winning coach to the length of the national anthem, prop bets offers the most degenerate of gamblers the opportunity to blow through their money in the most nonsensical of ways. What are this year’s best Super Bowl prop bets, and is there a science to winning?

  Laid Off But Still Opinionated: Theater Critics’ Roundtable They may be out of work, but they still have opinions on Southern California’s stage offerings. From “Pippen” at the Taper and “Taking Over” at the Kirk Douglas Theater all the way to “That Naked Musical” at Macha Theater, Steven Leigh Morris, Wenzel Jones and Dany Margolies discuss (and critique) of the latest to hit the local stage.

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  • January 30, 2009 12:45 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: fair pay act, Lilly Ledbetter, prop bets, super bwol, theater critics, wired for war

• Blago and Pluto -- Both Got Demoted

  Right smack in the middle of a really fascinating talk about the International Year of Astronomy and ”mysteries of the cosmos,” we interrupted to let you know that Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was … no longer Illinois’ governor. The state Senate removed him from office, punctuating - but not ending - the endless Blagojevich saga.

  One of our guests for the astronomy segment was Mike Brown, the Caltech astronomer who had a hand in demoting Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet. He’s been getting tearful hate mail from third-graders ever since. He’s working on a book about the whole matter, and he promises to come back when it’s written.

  All of you got very caught up in two segments, one about businesses that are still doing well in the poor economy. Nationally it’s McDonald’s, Verizon and Netflix, among others; locally, it’s a cloth diaper maker, jewelry repairing, lawyers, property managers and other professions and skills that have turned out to be recession-resistant - so far. Lucky you. Keep it up!

  And with the Super Bowl upon us on Sunday, there was no better time to talk about new, disturbing discoveries about ”fragile gladiators of the gridiron.” Post-mortems on a half-dozen NFL linemen have turned up evidence of brain damage like that suffered by boxers. A neurologist and a former pro wrestler [and Harvard graduate] gave us their concerns about cumulative damage and how worrying this is for contact sports from the pro level down to grade-school kids.

  I’ll ask you to keep blogging on this until the Super Bowl. Does knowing about this change the game for you? Where do you think the responsibility for stopping it lies? The coaches? The players? The teams? The owners? The fans? Suit up and have your say on the blog.

  Tomorrow, 21st-century weapons technologies, and the weird betting world of the Super Bowl. You could win or lose money on oddball stuff like the color of the Gatorade. [When did it stop being just green?]

  — Patt Morrison

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  • January 29, 2009 6:10 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Thursday, January 29

  Furloughs Verdict In A Sacramento Superior Court Judge ruled in favor today of Governor Schwarzenegger’s plan to furlough state workers two days of every month. State worker unions are already moving to appeal the decision, but how much leverage do they have?

  Blago Defends Himself Beleaguered Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich first boycotted his own impeachment hearing and then today spoke for 47-minutes to the state senate in his defense. The senate is preparing to take a historic vote on whether to make Blagojevich the first Illinois governor kicked out of office.

  Former NFL Players & Brain Injuries New research suggests that brain injuries once only seen in boxers are becoming more common among football players. As we settle in to watch the Super Bowl this Sunday, could America’s favorite pastime be much more damaging to its players than previously thought?

  Do Some Businesses Prosper in a Recession? With reports every day of more layoffs and mounting company losses, you might think that every business is taking a hit in this recession - but not so fast. McDonalds, Verizon and Netflix, among other businesses, are seeing their profit margins rise. What businesses succeed in down times and why?

  Astronomy: The Next Big Questions How do black holes affect the evolution of the universe? What lies beyond the edge of our solar system? And does life exist in other worlds? We gather some preeminent astronomers to introduce (and attempt to answer) some of the new latest big questions in astronomy.

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  • January 29, 2009 11:58 AM by Aimee Machado
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• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, January 28

  Stimulus: Pork Barrel or Progress? The stimulus package is on its way through the congress with Obama’s pen waiting to sign it. But some lawmakers and economists are very critical: they see the plan as a big ‘ol plat of pork. Others say it will raise the deficit so far that it may hurt the economy more than it helps. But with the economy in a tail spin, is any plan better than no plan?

  Government Ethics in 2009 Last week, Speaker Nancy Pelosi named California Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren to chair the House ethics committee. What issues, in addition to investigating powerful Ways and Means chairman Charles Rangel, will the committee will take on under a new administration in the coming year?

  What’s the Shake Down from the Recent Shaking? It had been a relatively quiet 15 years in Southern California as far as earthquakes go….until the past six months where there have been numerous small earthquakes, the latest coming last week in the San Fernando Valley. Does the shaking have any “big picture” implications?

  The NEW Big Man on Campus In one of his first moves as Superintendent, Ramon Cortines pledged no mid-year teacher layoffs, even though the district authorized the layoffs as it tries to cut millions from its budget. And yesterday, after the teacher’s union announced a boycott of periodic assessment testing they deem “unnecessary,” Cortines issued a statement saying that the tests “are not optional.” The new Superintendent is off and running. We catch up with him.

  Got a question for the Superintendent of Los Angeles schools? Call-in to the program beginning at 2 p.m. @ 1-866-893-5722 or post your comment below.

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  • January 28, 2009 12:04 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: earthquakes, LAUSD, Obama, Ramon Cortines, stimulus, Superintendent, zoe lofgren

• Who Let the Dogs Out?

  Sometimes we do a show where it feels like we learn something new every segment. Today’s show was like that. We opened with a lively discussion of a proposed ordinance in Lancaster to crack down on pit bulls owned by gang members. The question is: Do we blame the dogs for being “vicious” or do we blame their owners? Callers ran the gamut from people who say pit bulls and their ilk are simply too aggressive for polite society to those who say breed has nothing to do with it — it’s all in the upbringing. All I know is that when I’m out with my son and we encounter a pit bull on the sidewalk, we give it a wide berth.

  Should the ban on commercial whaling be relaxed? Incredibly, that’s exactly what negotiators are considering to bring some harmony to the International Whaling Commission. I can appreciate the political realities of dealing with an issue like this, but I agree with those callers who cited the slippery-slope aspect of the problem. Once a little commercial whaling becomes OK, how long before a lot becomes the norm? Let’s give the whales a break already.

  Fascinating discussion of the pros and cons of nationalizing troubled banks. I know this smacks of socialism, but it sure seems like we’re well down that road already. I mean, if we’re hundreds of billions of dollars into salvaging the banking industry, shouldn’t we be getting some bang for our bailout bucks? Sweden offers an instructive case study. They nationalized some banks, restored them to health, then privatized them once again. As a taxpayer, I just want to avoid feeling hosed.

  And how fun was that conversation about the demise of handwriting? The author of “Script & Scribble” made some illuminating comments (pun intended), and your calls were typically insightful. Not that I’m going to sit down and improve my handwriting any time soon. But at least I have a greater appreciation for how far my penmanship has tumbled.

  I had a great time the past few days. Patt’s back tomorrow.

  — David Lazarus

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  • January 26, 2009 4:13 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Patt Morrison for Monday, January 26

  Dangerous Dog Dilemma Dog lovers say a malevolent dog is just a product of mistreatment from a mean or neglectful owner. But Mayor Rex Parris of Lancaster isn’t buying it. Gang members, he says, like to own pit bulls and rottweilers because they’re just naturally nasty. Are they?

  An End to the Ban? The U.S. is initiating closed-door talks with Japan that could open new areas to whale hunting for the first time in decades. The invitation is an attempt to end a long-standing impasse over whaling limits with Japan, but scientists and environmentalists criticize the proposal, arguing it would increase pressure on small coastal whale stocks without ending the whaling Japan has conducted for years. We bring you the latest from both sides.

  Nationalize Me: U.S. Banks Creeping Toward Government Ownership? One could make a strong argument that the nationalization of U.S. banks has already been underway for the past six months, as troubled banks have taken in trillions in Fed loans and government cash under TARP. If the government strategy has been a de facto nationalization of banks, what should stop us from outright nationalization of the most insolvent banks?

  The Rise and Fall of Handwriting The art of penmanship has been replaced with the skill of words-per-minute, emoticons stand in for love letters, and thank you emails arriving in place of hand written thank you notes. What are we sacrificing in the electronic age for the sake of efficiency? Bestselling author Kitty Burns Florey makes her case for maintaining the tradition of handwriting.

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  • January 26, 2009 12:20 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Patt Morrison for Friday, January 23

  Make it Legal? With California economy on the skids, is it time to look for new sources of revenue? In Nevada they are thinking of legalizing prostitution in the sin capitol of Las Vegas - would new sin taxes work in the golden state? What might they look like?

  Fourth Down for Southern California Football Ed Roski, the billionaire behind the effort to build a football stadium in the city of Industry, plans to start construction as soon as a team has committed to playing there. It remains to be seen whether the NFL would sanction moving a team to Industry and whether any neighboring cities will block the action. Is football coming to LA for real?

  US Approves First Stem Cell Study The FDA has authorized California biotech company Geron Corp. to test stem cells derived from human embryos on up to ten patients with severe spinal cord injuries. The test marks the first U.S. government-approved use of stem cells derived from embryos and the world’s first study of a treatment based on human embryonic stem cells.

  Comedy Congress It’s been a long and tiresome journey for the Comedy Congress crew, from New Hampshire to Denver and St. Paul—and of course the logical conclusion is that with the inauguration of Barack Obama and the culmination of the 2008 campaign, politicians would stop saying stupid things, right? Even with the departure of the comedian-in-chief George W. Bush, humor will still reign in the Obama era. The silliness and unintentional humor flowed throughout inauguration week and we were there to capture it all, from a bumbling Chief Justice to a bumbling Vice President. Welcome to the post-campaign Comedy Congress—the truth hurts far less when it’s told by comedians.

  Comedy Congress is in session! Comedians Dave Greene and Aisha Tyler pose with guest host David Lazarus
  

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  • January 23, 2009 12:56 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Patt Morrison for Thursday, January 22

  A Leak in the Republicans’ Tax Increase Dam? After months of holding firm on a “no new taxes” pledge, some Republican lawmakers said Wednesday that they are willing to consider a tax hike as part of a wider-ranging deal to close the state’s budget gap. Is it true? And to all our Republican listeners - what do you think about that plan?

  Calm Rahm? Perhaps contrary to his reputation as “a foulmouthed showman” and a “backroom infighter,” known to “manage, motivate and intimidate by standing on a table and screaming,” Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, has run one of the smoothest presidential transitions in modern history. We take a look at how he’s directing the no-drama Obama White House.

  “To The Muslim World” “To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” Those words were spoken by President Obama in his inaugural speech on Tuesday. But how were they received? Al Jazeera Washington Bureau Chief Abderrahim Foukara offers perspective on how the Middle East and the Muslim world are reacting to Obama’s election and to his inaugural address.

  Ask the Chief It’s our monthly installment of Ask the Chief—your opportunity to ask LAPD Chief William Bratton your law and order questions. Call-in to talk to the Chief beginning at 2 p.m. at 1-866-893-5722.

  Patriotic Art or Cynical Advertising? SkyTag, a company that installs plastic “supergraphic” advertisements that wrap around skyscrapers and can even be seen from outer space, has gone to court to demand Los Angeles let it keep images on 118 buildings while federal judges review challenges to the city’s billboard regulations. Referring to an image depicting the Statue of Liberty, Skytag president Michael McNeilly calls it free speech, patriotic, and art. But the people in his wrapped buildings are furious about blocked windows and allege he takes out patriotic signs so he can eventually sell the space for advertising. We bring you the latest.

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  • January 22, 2009 12:49 PM by Aimee Machado
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• Obama, Day One

  One day in office? What’s President Barack Obama done for us lately?

  That’s what we spent a lot of today finding out — executive orders about transparency and government ethics, and slamming the brakes on a lot of last-minute Bush adminstration policies until the new administration can sort out what it wants to keep and what it wants to toss out.

  Some spirited words from financial whiz Christopher Whalen on why he thinks Timothy Geithner isn’t the right man to be Treasury Secretary — he thinks that it’s a woman who should be in that job, FDIC head Sheila Bair. Some U.S. Senators agree, and Geithner’s confirmation process has slowed down like molasses in … well, you know.

  We heard how arts and culture might fare in an Obama White House — the Democratic presidential platform of 2008 was the first time any platform had an arts plank, and artists like Quincy Jones are eager to see an ”arts czar” at that big cabinet-meeting table. Certainly there’s more hope than money, but the White House is a powerful pulpit, and callers and guests all liked the idea of restoring arts education to schools. It’s usually the first thing that gets whacked.

  I’m out for a couple of days — please be nice to my designated talker!

  — Patt Morrison

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  • January 21, 2009 7:46 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, January 21

  Down to Business In a first-day flurry of activity, President Barack Obama set up shop in the Oval Office, summoned advisers to begin dealing with war and recession and ordered new ethics rules for “a clean break from business as usual.”

  Will Obama Power up the Arts? Itzhak Perlman and Yo-Yo Ma played at the inauguration - a hopeful sign for the arts and culture in the Obama White House. Producer Quincy Jones has been promoting the idea of a cabinet-level post, maybe even a secretary of culture, for nearly ten years. Will we see a higher visibility of the arts, coordination of arts education, cultural diplomacy and support for arts organizations in an Obama Administration?

  Geithner Grilling Treasury Secretary-designate Timothy Geithner said Wednesday he was careless in failing to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes earlier this decade but declared “I have paid what I owed.” He apologized to Congress. We get the details.

  Credit Card Information Stolen Recently? This Might Explain Why… Credit card processor Heartland Payment Systems suffered a huge security breach in 2008, allowing hackers to steal credit card information on more than 100 million accounts. What damage has been done and how worried should consumers be?

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  • January 21, 2009 12:10 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Tags: arts, day 1, geithner, heartland payment services, obama, security breach

• 44

  Patt Morrison brings the Inauguration Day festivities to you with analysis of Obama’s speech and perspective from revelers on the ground in D.C. and - of course - from you, KPCC listeners, watching history happen from afar. What did you think? How did you mark the occasion? What stood out for you? Post your comments below - we’ll read some of them on the air throughout the day today.

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  • January 20, 2009 10:13 AM by Aimee Machado
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• Lights! Camera! Inauguration!

  So many adventurous Angelenos have flown to D.C. on a wing and a prayer - two wings, actually, jetting eastward for the inauguration. And the prayer? They’re praying for a lot: a ticket to one of the events, some warmer weather, and a new beginning for the nation.

  I got a vicarious thrill talking to several of you who were right there in the nation’s capital for tomorrow’s big doings. Like Bryce; this was Bryce’s very first presidential election, and he volunteered for Obama and now has a ticket to the swearing-in and one of the inaugural balls. Yes, he knows the ticket is worth a mint, but he would never dream of not using it.

  Mike in Irvine won his tickets in a lottery through his Republican congressman’s office. He figured not many people in his GOP district would be interested, but turns out he was competing against something like 11,000 other people who wanted to go, too.

  And Margarita from Imperial Beach, down in south San Diego County, had been a McCain supporter until the Sarah Palin nomination. She switched to Obama, and on Election Night, Obama hadn’t even finished his victory speech when Margarita was online booking her flight and her hotel room for the inauguration.

  One teeny little downside: she used the frequent-flier miles she and her boyfriend had been saving for their honeymoon, and she says he is not pleased - but hey, maybe they can just enjoy Obama’s political honeymoon instead, for as long as it lasts.

  KPCC and NPR’s coverage begins at 7 a.m. Tuesday - we’re on at 1 p.m., and want to hear from you about what you saw and what you thought about it.

  See you on the radio -

  — Patt Morrison

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  • January 19, 2009 4:11 PM by Patt Morrison
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• Patt Morrison for Monday, January 19

  It’s Inauguration Time Patt brings the Inauguration festivities to you with a security briefing from the Secret Service, weather updates from people on the ground in frozen Washington D.C. and reports from the first parties of Inaugural.

  Gaza Truce Seems Certain; Israeli-Palestinian Future Anything But Gaza’s streets brimmed with energy Monday as people picked up the pieces of their lives, while Israeli officials said they planned to pull all troops from the territory by Barack Obama’s inauguration on Tuesday. Will the truce hold? What are the next steps?

  The Black Girl Next Door The only black girl in her class, in her grade, and besides her sister, in her school, Jennifer Baszile grew up in the post-Civil Rights era of the 1970s and 80s in the affluent community of Palos Verdes, floating somewhere between the segregation of the past and the integration of the future. She chronicles life as part of the first generation of Americans for which racial integration became a true possibility in her new book, The Black Girl Next Door.

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  • January 19, 2009 12:10 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: History, Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture
  • Tags: gaza, inauguration, israel, jennifer baszile, secret service, the black girl next door, truce

• In Washington, In Sundance, In the Sack

  We’re warming up to Inauguration Day — and D.C. could sure use a Fahrenheit boost.

  We talked to some Californians who headed back to the Big Gig and the weather is just punishing — three Long Beach children whose mother took them as part of their home schooling civics education found they’re getting an education in meteorology too. Their mother told us they were walking backwards down Washington’s big boulevards today, to keep the freezing wind from blowing in their faces.

  More stories coming Monday and Tuesday from Californians who absolutely positively have to be there for the inauguration — even if they don’t have tickets to anything.

  It’s the 25th anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival. That’s a silver anniversary, according to the etiquette books, but as we heard, that there isn’t as much silver in evidence at this year’s festival, with lean times and lean pockets even among the mogul crowd.

  Do Mexico’s institutions — its courts, police and politicians — have the potential to become as unstable as Pakistan’s, because of pervasive drug violence and corruption? A report from the mililtary analysts at the Joint Operating Environment looks ten or twenty years down the road and ranks the two countries together in their potential for ”rapid collapse” if these problems go unchecked.

  Oh, and ”The Joy of Sex” is still joyful, with new and improved sex, 37 years after the original. So says Susan Quilliam, the British sexologist enlisted to update the original feel-good bestseller to modern attitudes and modern realities. C’mon — tell us about your first time. I mean, of course, the first time you ran across ”The Joy of Sex.” Think ”the Joy of Blogging.”

  — Patt Morrison

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  • January 16, 2009 3:50 PM by Patt Morrison
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  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Society/Culture

• Patt Morrison for Friday, January 16

  Surprise Verdict: Carona Aquitted Former Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona was acquitted today of multiple federal corruption charges that accused him of accepting cash and gifts in exchange for access to the powers and resources of the department. We analyze the verdict.

  On the Ground in D.C. Over the next few days, Patt checks in with So Cal attendees at the Inauguration - today we speak with one of the official photographers of the inauguration, among others.

  What Happens if the Mexican Government Collapses? Mexico was listed, along with Pakistan, in a U.S. Military Joint Forces Command report as the two leading candidates for “rapid and sudden collapse.” The report says that Mexico’s government and civil society are under sustained assault by criminals gangs and drug cartels. What’s going on in Mexico?

  Bush’s Legacy - World View Today we examine Bush’s foreign policy legacy with one of the main architects of the President’s aggressive approach, John Bolton, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations

  Sundance Begins! The festival turns 25 this year. What’s worth watching this time around?

  The Joy of Sex 2.0 The Joy of Sex was revolutionary when first published in 1972, but does it have a place in 2009? British sexologist, columnist, and relationship counselor Susan Quilliam is here with her completely revised version of the 70s classic, tackling new millennium subjects such as Viagra, internet pornography, and AIDS.

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  • January 16, 2009 11:58 AM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: Criminal Justice, History, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture
  • Tags: john bolton, mexico, Sheriff Mike Corona, sundance, the joy of sex

• A Week's Worth of Breaking News -- in Two Hours!

  What a wild and woolly news day.

  First, the big story is the hearings for Attorney General-designate Eric Holder in the United States Senate. Then, no! It’s the State of the State address by Arnold Schwarzenegger! Then, no! It’s the miraculous splash-landing of a US Airways jet in the Hudson River!

  And we never did get around to talking about quarterback Mark Sanchez jumping ship from the USC Trojans to go pro - and you can bet that’s big news to, what, the 20 million USC grads around LA?.

  The stories and the voices from the US Airways crash were extraordinary. I talked to a man who lives across the Hudson River and who watched it happen, as well as with a former United Airlines pilot who’s experienced birds flying into his engines, as evidently happened here. He took us step-by-step through what was probably going on in the cockpit, and talked about the preternatural calm of pilots under stress.

  This is my chance to give props here to all the producers - Aimee, Janice, Jonathan - and to Lauren, our terrific intern, for scrambling to find such great people to put on the air as all the stories were changing minute by minute. We weren’t even sure, almost until airtime, whether we’d even have a program with the Holder hearings going on and on, and when we did, the schedule kept changing with every new bit of news from New York. If what came out of your radio sounded smooth and substantive, you have them to thank!

  — Patt Morrison

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  • January 15, 2009 4:26 PM by Patt Morrison
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  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Sports/Recreation

• Closing Gitmo and Closing Down Analog TV

  Easier said than done, the millionth chapter? Barack Obama, along with scores of members of Congress, have pledged to close the prison at Guantanamo, Cuba, where nearly 250 detainees are still held on suspicion of terrorists acts or allegiances. The Bush administration’s thinking was to keep the men out of the reach of the American courts system, but the courts have reached out to Guantanamo and ruled that the detainees do have some of the same legal rights they’d have on U.S. soil. So Obama and the legislators will close the prison as part of improving the American image.

  Today, though, we talked about the mechanics of closing ”Gitmo,” of moving these men out, and into either U.S. courts and U.S. prisons, into the hands of allied governments, or even, in some cases, released for lack of evidence. It’s like the old parable of the snarling tiger: is he more of a danger to you when you’ve got hold of him, or when you let him go? We spent a good bit of time with legal experts, including a woman who directs the Guantanamo Defense Clinic at Duke University’s law school - and with Los Angeles Democratic congresswoman Jane Harman, who heads up the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Intelligence. She’s sponsoring the bill to close Gitmo and set rules on how prisoners can be interrogated henceforth.

  Dan Bartlett was a close adviser to George W. Bush since the latter’s days in the Texas statehouse, and he was counsel and communications director in the Bush White House. He was here as part of our series on the legacy of the 43rd president. Like Bush himself, Bartlett doesn’t think the job altered the president’s essential nature. And what kind of post-presidency causes might Dubya pursue, as, say, Jimmy Carter joined forces with Habitat for Humanity? Bartlett speculates that education might be at the top of the list. . About 7% of Americans aren’t yet ready for conversion from analog to a digital TV signal, the feds have a waiting list of about million people who want those $40 coupons for converter boxes. The Obama administration may postpone the changeover from February 17 to … who knows when? For now, your rabbit ears are still doing the job - just as they have since ”I Love Lucy” first went on the air.

  — Patt Morrison

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  • January 14, 2009 3:59 PM by Patt Morrison
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  • Categories: Criminal Justice, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology

• Patt Morrison for Wednesday, January 14

  RIP Guantanamo Bay? A lot remains uncertain about how and when it will be done, but President-elect Obama has pledged that the Guantanamo Bay prison has seen its last days. But even if Obama closes down a decried symbol of the war on terror, will its problems live on?

  Dan Bartlett on Bush’s Legacy We continue our series looking back at the Bush years with political consultants, historians, and those close to the President. Today Patt speaks with Dan Bartlett, former counselor to the President.

  Are you Ready to Go Digital? On February 17, old analog transmitters throughout the US will go dark as broadcasters will begin transmitting their TV signals only in digital format. The Obama team has recently urged a delay in digital transmission, concerned that the government is not doing enough to help Americans in rural, poor, and minority communities. How about you? Are you ready?

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  • January 14, 2009 12:17 PM by Aimee Machado
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  • Categories: Criminal Justice, History, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture
  • Tags: analog tv, dan bartlett, digital, guantanamo bay prison

• Hillary on the Hill, and Books on a Screen

  Hillary Clinton pretty much wowed ‘em at her confirmation hearings for Secretary of State today - not much of a surprise there, partly because she’s spent eight years in the Senate, and has won a lot of converts.

  Unlike hearings for Supreme Court nominees, there wasn’t as much embarrassingly fulsome praise from the senators, but neither was there excoriation. The only stumble was over donations to Clinton’s husband’s foundation from foreign countries, and even that isn’t likely to draw off more than a vote or two from Republican senators on the Foreign Relations Committee. Still, some GOP member had to draw the short straw to be their party’s big gesture, to remind the Democrats and Barack Obama that they are still there and still vertebrates.

  Loved hearing all about the new generation of e-books, and how some of you have become converts to reading a book on a screen instead of on paper. Kindle and its kin are still pricey, about $350, but to one caller, whose daughter at college in Colorado just told him she had to buy $700 worth of textbook, a ”reloadable” electronic device looks better and better, especially for textbooks, which weigh way too much and which you can’t wait to delete as soon as you’ve turned in that last exam.

  I completely sympathize, though, with the caller who wondered, if e-books catch on, how ever will he decorate his shelves?

  And here’s a request from our newsroom: reporters are interested in interviewing members of Saddleback Church in Orange County, as well as people whose lives have been touched by Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life.” If that describes any of you, please click on ”contact” on our website.

  Thanks!

  — Patt Morrison

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  • January 13, 2009 3:59 PM by Patt Morrison
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  • Categories: Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture

• Patt Morrison for Tuesday, January 13

  Hillary Hearings

  Hillary Clinton appeared before the Foreign Relations Committee today in a hearing to confirm her as secretary of state for the Obama Administration. There were some fireworks, mostly from Sen. David Vitter looking to nail Sen. Clinton on conflicts of interest with her husband’s Clinton Global Initiative; but the hearings were mostly a window into the future Obama foreign policy, and we wrap up the coverage.

  The College Diploma’s Waning Immunity Against Unemployment

  When compared to their none-degree-holding colleagues in the work force, college-educated workers shouldn’t be complaining: in December college grads posted a 3.7% unemployment rate compared to a whopping 10.9% rate for those workers without a high school diploma. However, this recession should bring the ranks of unemployed college grads well north of 4% sometime this year, making it the highest rate since 1983. It could suggest that the power of a college degree has been somewhat diluted, or that this recession is broader than anything we’ve recently experienced. Has your degree lost some of its prestige?

  Bush’s Legacy - from the Press Box

  9-11. Iraq. Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib. Katrina. Eight years ago, President Bush was sworn into office with a $237 billion budget surplus and relative economic prosperity. He now presides over a $438 billion deficit, two wars, and a severe economic downturn. According to a Pew survey released this month, only 11 percent of Americans rate Bush as an “above-average president,” compared with 44% for Clinton. How did the Bush Administration get here and how will history remember them? Today Patt talks with NPR White House correspondent Don Gonyea, who had an up-close-and-personal view of President Bush for eight years.

  E-Books: Niche or Future Norm - Love ‘em or Hate ‘em?

  Amazon’s wireless Kindle, which is slim, the size of a trade paperback, and retails for $359, is at the forefront of the e-book resurgence. Oprah praised it, and then Amazon sold out, with none available until February. No one knows how consumer habits will shift as people get used to the new devices, which include the Sony Reader and downloads to the iPhone, but those who already use one either love it or hate it. Patt surveys the e-book frontier and takes your calls.

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  • January 13, 2009 2:26 PM by Jonathan Serviss
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  • Categories: Business/Economy, Politics/Public Affairs, Science/Technology, Society/Culture

• The Loan Arranger and the Lone Ranger -- and Barney, the White House Dog

  We hit on two of my favorite subjects today - dogs, and football.

  Well, three. Politics, too. Why is President George W. Bush, in his last week in the White House, running interference for President-elect Barack Obama, trying to get that $350 billion into the incoming president’s checkbook right away? There’s some balance-of-power nudging and tugging between the present and future Chief Executives and Congress, which wants