Last week a runaway Prius barreling down Interstate 8 seemed to act as a speeding exclamation point on the sudden, uncontrollable acceleration problems plaguing many Toyota models. This morning the case isn’t as clear cut: federal investigators looking over the Prius belonging to James Sikes, which hit speeds of over 90 mph before Mr. Sikes and a CHP officer could bring the car to a stop, could not recreate the stuck accelerator phenomenon. When investigators from the government and Toyota pressed hard on the brake pedal and the accelerator at the same time the Prius gasoline engine shut down, according to a draft congressional memo. As the Toyota saga continues, more questions are being raised. One UCLA professor emeritus of psychology even authored an op-ed asserting that the malfunction is most likely an issue of the driver thinking they’re pressing the brake when they’re really slamming the gas pedal. Is it the car or the driver?
In her latest effort historian and artist, Nell Irvin Painter traces the roots and history of the idea of white race. Discussing beauty and invention Painter turns the lens onto how the shaping of race shifted as the European empire expanded and the concept of race was provoked.
One wouldn’t immediately associate a pitched political battle in Texas over new standards for curriculum and textbooks with what students in California will be reading in the coming academic years, and yet that is exactly the case. On Friday the Texas State Board of Education tentatively approved standards for social studies that would emphasize the superiority of American capitalism and question the Founding Fathers’ commitment to a purely secular government, among many other controversial historical positions. The Texas school board is split between conservative and liberal members that have consistently fought over how to frame the state’s curriculum, but the implications go far beyond the Lone Star borders. Because of the size of its textbook market Texas could dictate what ends up in California’s lesson plans. Are we stuck with Texas textbooks?
The average American family has secrets, but nothing like those that the Rizzo family keeps. In the new movie City Island, Andy Garcia stars as Vince Rizzo a corrections officer and aspiring actor. Vince stops at nothing to cover up his evening acting classes even if it means his wife thinks he’s having an affair. His wife is still smoking, his daughter is supposed to be in college but has become a stripper, and he has a long-lost son who just happens to be a prisoner at the facility where he works. It seems everyone has a secret and will stop at nothing to avoid the truth. Andy Garcia and director/producer Raymond de Felitta stop by the studio to chat with us about the film.
Patt Morrison is known for its innovative discussions of local politics and culture, as well as its presentation of the effects of national and world news on Southern California.
