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July 31 - August 4, 2006
Monday, July 31
Muslim-Jewish Relations in Southern California
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With the crisis in the Middle East escalating, Patt takes a look at the state of relations between Muslims and Jews here in Southern California. Guests include Salam Al Mariyati, director and co-founder of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, and Daniel Sokatch, executive director of the Progressive Jewish Alliance.
Mel Gibson: Sheriff Dept Cover-up?
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Mel Gibson and the Sheriff's Department faced public relations headaches today, the actor for an anti-Semitic diatribe allegedly unleashed during a drunken-driving arrest and the department, for allegedly trying to cover it up. Patt gets the latest from Steve Whitmore, senior media advisor for the LA County Sheriff's Department. We also take a look at the state of anti-Semitism in Hollywood with Neal Gabler of the Annenberg School of Communication.
Power Hours: What happens when the most powerful people in the world come together?
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Power elites from around the globe concluded their two-week long retreat at Bohemian Grove in northern California. "The Grove," as members call it, is the summer home of the Bohemian Club, an elite San Francisco-based club whose members include top CEOs and former presidents. Javier Hernandez, reporter with the San Jose Mercury News, and Peter Phillips, professor of sociology at Sonoma State University, join Patt to discuss what happens when the power elite get together.
Culture Clash Gets Serious
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Richard Montoya, member of the Latino performance trio Culture Clash, calls the group's latest theatre piece "modern noir." Premiering at the Center Theatre Group at the Music Center, Water and Power captures a city in constant evolution as politics and police conflict. Montoya and Clash member Ric Salinas join Patt in studio with a preview.
For information, call 213-628-2772 or go online to www.centertheatregroup.org.
Tuesday, Aug. 1
Highland Park Gang Members Convicted of Hate Crimes
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Four members of a Highland Park gang were convicted today of committing deadly hate crimes in a campaign to drive a small black population out of the heavily Latino neighborhood. The four are members of the Avenues 43, a clique of the larger
Avenues gang. They were convicted by a federal court jury in connection with the Dec. 11, 2000, shooting death of Highland Park resident Christopher Bowser and the April 18, 1999, murder of 38-year-old motorist Kenneth Kurry Wilson. Joe Mozingo, staff writer with the Los Angeles Times and Tom O'Brien, chief of the criminal division with the US attorney's office, join Patt with details.
Mel Gibson Update
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Following his arrest for investigation of driving under the influence of alcohol and subsequent reports of his anti-Semitic tirade while in custody, ABC has announced that it has scrapped plans for Mel Gibson to produce a miniseries on the Holocaust. Gibson acknowledged "there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed." John Horn, staff writer for the Los Angeles Times, talks about the impact of the actor's actions on the Hollywood business community.
Phase II of Baghdad Security Agreement Begins Today
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Gunmen dressed in military fatigues abducted 26 people from offices in Baghdad yesterday, including the headquarters of Iraqi-American Chamber of Commerce. Today, at a bank where Iraqi security forces draw their monthly salaries, a car bomb exploded killing at least 14 people and injuring 37. Around the country, bombings and shootings have taken at least 65 lives today. Prime Minister Al-Maliki has launched the second phase of a Baghdad security plan that begins today; the plan would significantly strengthen military presence in Baghdad, but will the security plan help stem the violence? Patt speaks with Borzou Daragahi, reporter for the Los Angeles Times based in Baghdad, and Dr. Larry Goodson, professor of Middle East Studies, General Dwight D. Eisenhower at the Army War college.
LA's Rap: Has Anything Changed?
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British Prime Minister Tony Blair is in town marking the first stop to Los Angeles ever by a sitting prime minister. The British press is having a field day, not only about his historic visit, but by characterizing Californians in the most cliche of terms, like how we say "dude" and "awesome" and "like" all the time. Patt discusses the reporting of the Blair visit to, ahem, La La Land with Mack Reed, publisher of lavoice.org Kevin Roderick, editor of laobserved.com and Kevin Starr, California State Librarian Emeritus, and professor at USC.
Wednesday, Aug. 2
The New Frontier for Books?
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First it was music, and then movies and television, and now books are stirring up controversy as their distribution channels are entering the digital age. The University of California may join other libraries and agree to allow Google to scan and post their library collection to the internet. While this may aid researchers, this is not without copyright controversy. Patt is joined by Eugene Volokh, professor of law at UCLA, Allan Adler with the Association of American Publishers and Brewster Cahle, founder and digital librarian at internet archives.
What's on the Table in the Middle East Negotiations?
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The best way forward to a lasting cease-fire or even a cease-fire of any kind in the Middle East is up for grabs. Negotiations continue with all sides of the conflict. But what exactly is being used as bargaining tools in the discussions? As negotiators work out details and debate with all parties, what’s on the negotiating table? Prisoner exchanges, the disputed Shebaa Farms, a reassessment of borders? Patt speaks with David Makovsky, director of the Project on the Middle East Peace at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Hollywood Escapes
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Searching for that quick summer getaway that's just like in the movies? All within a day's drive from Los Angeles you can visit the Sideways Wine Country, the Kill Bill Desert Chapel, the Planet of the Apes Forbidden Zone, or even journey to the Star Wars Sand Dunes. Hollywood Escapes (St. Martin's Griffin) provides insider information on Southern California's most cinematic mountains, lakes, deserts, and beaches. Author and So Cal native Harry Medved joins Patt Morrison to share his most memorable destinations in the Golden State's great outdoors.
Harry Medved will be signing his book on Sunday, August 13 at 2 p.m. at Vidiots, 302 Pico Blvd in Santa Monica. The event will be followed by a walking tour of the Santa Monica film locations. For more information, call 310-392-8508.
Thursday, Aug. 3
Default Notices Soaring
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Second-quarter foreclosure activity in the state rose at its fastest pace in at least 14 years, including a 45 percent jump in Los Angeles County. In Orange County, there was an 83.6 percent jump in default notices sent to homeowners over the same quarter last year, according to DataQuick. Stuart Gabriel, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at USC, joins Patt to discuss what this means and who it will affect, and Leti Vandensteen, real estate agent with Kemper-Williams, talks about the changing market in medium to low-priced homes.
Mickey the Mouse Embraces Maya the Dog
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Disney and the American Kennel Club have teamed up to warn parents that even if their children fall in love with the Siberian husky, Maya, in the Disney release on DVD of Eight Below that these dogs are in most cases, not suitable pets. Patt speaks with Gail Miller of the American Kennel Club.
Term Limits: Disaster or Deliverance
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In 1990, voters approved Proposition 140, limiting legislators to 14 years at the Capitol - six in the Assembly and eight in the Senate. Critics contend that the result has been a game of politicians doing the Sacramento shuffle, stepping around term limits by seeking other posts. The Governor is now looking to modify term limits as part of a deal to take redistricting out of politician's hands. Term limits are being revisited on a local level as well - the Orange County Supervisors and looking for change and so are the members of the LA City Council. Patt takes a look at reevaluating term limits - for better or worse. Her guests include: Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, political analyst for KNBC and senior scholar at the School of Policy, Planning and Development at USC, and former State Senator John Burton.
Star Tribute to Stella Adler
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"Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one."
Stella Adler
Over a decade after her death, legendary teacher Stella Adler"s approach to acting is still taught and practiced in Los Angeles and New York. Tomorrow she will receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a long overdue tribute to her talent and influence on film and the stage. Patt is joined by Ms. Adler's daughter, Ellen Adler, and actor Mark Ruffalo, a former student.
A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame will be dedicated to Stella Adler on Friday, August 4, at 11:30 am.
The Stella Adler Theater Los Angeles presents a benefit performance next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. of This is Our Youth. It will be an original cast reading of the award wimning production. For tickets and more information, call 323-465-4446.
The Loh Life
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Commentator Sandra Tsing Loh trades up in the "cool" department to help her Van Nuys school.
Friday, Aug. 4
Special Session Begins in Earnest
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The State legislature returns on Monday for the last month of the session. One of the big items on the agenda is the crisis of overcrowding in the state's prisons. The Governor plans to sponsor legislation next week as part of his special session on prison reform. Although there is still debate over how many bills will be introduced and who will author them, the Schwarzenegger administration fleshed out the details of the $5.8 billion bond plan earlier this week. Guest host Ted Chen talks with KPCC Sacramento reporter Tamara Keith along with Senate Majority Leader Gloria Romero and Assemblyman Todd Spitzer about the proposals.
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq
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Drawing upon hundreds of interviews from senior U.S. military officers, as well as over 30,000 pages of official documents from the war in Iraq, Senior Pentagon correspondent for The Washington Post, Thomas E. Ricks details the broad story of U.S. involvement in Iraq in his new book Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq (The Penguin Press). From the beginning of the invasion and up to what has gone wrong since, Ricks assesses the story of the insurgency and provides a definitive account of the American military's tragic experience in Iraq. Ricks joins guest host Ted Chen to discuss the failures of leadership and U.S. culpability in the Iraq war.
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