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December 31, 2007 - January 4, 2008
Monday, Dec. 31
New Year's for the Troops
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It's early afternoon in California, but it's just past midnight in Iraq. US troops don't get to drink copious amounts of Champaign or even throw too much of a party... after all, insurgents don't celebrate New Year's. That point was brought home a few hours ago when a bomb exploded at a checkpoint manned by security volunteers working to support U.S. and Iraqi forces. It killed at least 12 people and one report said five of the victims were schoolchildren. It's hard to celebrate in such circumstances, but our forces make some attempts. Patt talks with soldiers and a reporter about New Year's in Iraq.
- Major Anton Alston, a Public Affairs officer from Mount Holly New Jersey, has been there for about a year, going home end of January
Arizona Employers Beware: Crackdown on Illegal Alien Employees Begins
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A controversial and highly contested law that will crackdown on employers in Arizona who hire illegal immigrants is about to go into effect on January 1st, and the long-term ramifications on Arizona's economy and society are still anyone's guess. The state's businesses are claiming that illegal immigrant workers are already leaving jobs and that many companies are planning to scale back operations. Driving illegal immigrants out of Arizona is, of course, the point of the law so advocates are thrilled that it's already having the desired impact. When Arizona's governor Janet Napolitano reluctantly signed the bill she characterized it as "defective." What will 2008 hold for Arizona's businesses and migrant workers?
Prop 91
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Prop 91 would change the California Constitution to ensure that funds earmarked for state and local transportation systems are used only for those systems. It was backed by the California Alliance for Jobs and the labor movement. But now the very backers of the Prop are asking voters to vote "no." They say Prop 1A, which passed in November, rendered 91 redundant. So why is 91 on the ballot at all? And why are some local transportation advocates still pushing people to vote "yes" on 91. Patt and guests try to make sense of it all.
New Year Kick in the Pants: $4/Gasoline Now the Norm
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Seemingly everything is becoming more expensive: food, rents, travel, electricity and natural gas. Just when we were becoming accustomed to paying a little over $3/gallon for gasoline we can now expect a bitter New Year present: $4/gallon gasoline, at least, for the foreseeable future. Oil prices continue to flirt with $100/barrel, and even with the astronomical prices international demand for oil continue to rise while supplies are tight. With no relief in sight for gasoline prices, at one point will American drivers throw up their hands in exasperation and either stop driving as much or make dramatic switches to more fuel efficient cars?
Won't Someone Think of the Children: Smoking in the Car with Kids is Banned
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Among the many new laws that will kick into gear tomorrow, one piece of legislation originally known as SB7 has whipped up an unusual mix of emotions. Smokers have been forced out of many denizens over the years, from restaurants to bars and in some cases their own apartment buildings. Now in California if you light up while driving with young children in the car you are susceptible to a $100 fine. The smoking ban is the latest attempt by the state to shield people from the health risks created by breathing secondhand smoke. Not many people would argue against the health risks of smoking around children in the small, enclosed space of a car, but does the state go too far in dictating our personal health decisions?
- State Sen. Jenny Oropeza, D-Long Beach; sponsor of SB7 "No Smoking in Cars with Children"
- Jacob Sullem, senior editor at Reason magazine; author of For Your Own Good: The Anti-Smoking Crusade
Late Night Shows Sans Writers
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Good news for fans of late-night television and topical comedy talk-shows: Despite the writer's strike, shows such as The Colbert Report and The Tonight Show will return to television. As a result of no new agreement between writers and producers, the late-night shows are likely to look very different from what viewers are accustomed to. Because most of the hosts are guild members themselves, they are prohibited from doing anything that constitutes "writer services." Can hosts make us laugh without writers?
- Larry Gelbart, writer in film and television
- Alex Ben Block, Sr. columnist for Hollywood Today and regular contributor to KPCC's Call Sheet.
Tuesday, Jan. 1
Handicapping the Candidates
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Now that 2008 is officially here, and the Iowa Caucus is just two days away, the Presidential race is really heating up as the candidates continue to campaign across America in a fierce frenzy. But as new polls come out daily and campaign endorsements and promises fly in every which way, it can be a little difficult to keep track of who stands where on which issue. Michael Genovese joins Patt to make sense of the current crop of candidates and the swarm to the White House.
- Michael Genovese, professor of political science and Director of the Institute for Leadership Studies at Loyola Marymount University. He is the author of Memo to a New President: The Art and Science of Presidential Leadership (Oxford University Press)
Politics down the Brain?
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Ever wonder why left-wingers and right-wingers can never quite agree? A new study from NYU shows that liberals tolerate ambiguity better than conservatives because of how their brains are wired. The study is the latest in a growing body of evidence that shows liberals and conservatives think differently in a fundamental, hard-wired way. Patt talks to the lead researcher on the study about why grey matter matters in politics.
- David Amodio, professor of psychology at NYU and lead author of the study
Will the Real William Shatner Please Stand Up?
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He's best known for his role as Captain James T. Kirk, commander of the USS Enterprise, but William Shatner can't be pinned down to the iconic character he made famous in the seventies. A decade after Star Trek, Shatner became T.J. Hooker, veteran police detective. He has since worked as a director, author, recording artist and celebrity pitchman for Priceline.com. He's won two consecutive Emmy awards for his work on The Practice and Boston Legal. At 76, the Canadian-born actor shows no signs of slowing down. He's currently acting as Celebrity Ambassador for Star Trek The Trek Tour, which promises to be the largest Star Trek exhibit ever, and he has a new book out, Star Trek: The Academy – Collision Course.
I.Q. and Race: No Connection
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"I.Q. measures not just the quality of a person's mind but the quality of the world that person lives in." This is according to Malcolm Gladwell, who compares the theories of social scientist James Flynn and I.Q. fundamentalists in his recent New Yorker piece on the connection between race and I.Q. Gladwell and Patt discuss the long-used and often misinterpreted intelligence test. - Malcolm Gladwell, staff writer with The New Yorker and author of The Tipping Point: How Little Things Make a Big Difference and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking (Back Bay Books)
The Telephone Gambit
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Every time you pick up the phone to call a loved one, you can thank Alexander Graham Bell for making telecommunication possible. Or can you? A new book argues that the man credited with creating one of the modern world's greatest inventions, may not have been the brilliant inventor history has made him out to be. Using Bell's own journals, personal correspondence, and laboratory notebooks, The Telephone Gambit details the surprising and secretive story behind the invention of the telephone. - Seth Shulman, author, The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell's Secret (W.W. Norton)
Wednesday, Jan. 2
NASA Study Released
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If you're a white knuckle flyer, get ready to dig your fingernails into the arm rests a little harder next time you get on a jet. It was leaked a few months ago, but now the official pilot survey is out from NASA and it has some pretty disturbing accounts of pilot errors, including falling asleep on cross-country flights. But NASA says not to worry. Riggggght. Patt talks with experts about flight safety.
- Jim Hall, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1994 - 2001; managing partner of transportation, safety & security consulting firm Hall & Associates
- Pete Janhunen, spokesperson for the Airline Pilots Association
Oil Finally, Briefly Touches the Century Mark
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The multitude of concerns over the international oil market has finally pushed the price of oil to the feared $100/barrel mark, and the grim reality is that prices will probably hover in this area for the foreseeable future. Take your pick from a host of potential problems in the global oil supply and you'll begin to understand the rise in prices: from civil unrest in Nigeria to rough seas in the Gulf of Mexico, it's a rough time to be in the oil speculation business and soon it will be even tougher to be a motorist in the U.S., where already high gasoline prices are sure to be pushed further toward $4/gallon.
Privacy on the Web: Fuhgettaboutit... maybe
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Basically, everything you do on the Internet can be tracked, recorded, and used against you... or for you, depending who finds it. Can you protect yourself from Internet snooping? Patt talks with an Internet privacy expert about how to shroud your computer's ID.
- Paul Boutin, writer for Slate magazine...writes about what you can do to avoid inadvertently telling the world what you do on the Internet
- Evan Carter, an analyst with Setec Security, a computer security firm in Los Angeles specializing in computer forensics
Is LA Safer? LAPD Releases 07 Crime Stats
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It's one of the most important benchmarks of crime fighting: the year-end crime statistics. It gives law enforcement a chance to reflect on the year's efforts to combat gang violence, theft, etc. The results were released today at a press conference featuring Chief William Bratton, the Mayor, and members of the City Council. Patt checks in with reps from all about the state of crime fighting in LA.
- Frank Stoltze, KPCC Reporter
- Bill Bratton, Chief of the LAPD
- Eric Garcetti, City Council President and LA Councilman, District 13, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Hollywood, Glassell Park
Harbor Gateway: One Year After
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It's been just over a year since Cheryl Green, a black teenager, was killed outside a Harbor Gateway apartment complex in a hate crime. The 204th Street, a Latino gang that has terrorized the neighborhood and whose members were responsible for Cheryl's death, no longer hangs out at the complex, but their presence still lingers. Will they return when public resources are directed elsewhere? L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo says the lesson from the Cheryl Green case is that "we need to think long and hard about our land-use decisions" and how they help gangs flourish. Patt Morrison talks with L.A. Times reporter Sam Quinones about the Harbor Gateway, one year later.
- Sam Quinones, staff writer for the LA Times
. He is also author of Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream: True Tales of Mexican Migration and True Tales From Another Mexico (University of New Mexico Press)
- Randy Juardo Ertll, executive director of El Centro de Accion, based in Pasadena
Andrew Jackson: American Hero or Antihero?
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While many Americans can recognize the famous face emblazoned on the front of every $20 bill, how much is remembered about the seventh President, a man both loved and loathed by his country? Andrew Jackson was noted for opening the doors of the White House to blue-collar Americans and founding the Democratic Party, yet later reviled for forcing scores of Indian tribes from their homes. Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil, and the Presidency, is a new documentary from PBS that recounts the history of the controversial leader who shaped and divided a nation.
- Carl Byker, producer, writer and co-director of Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil and the Presidency
Andrew Jackson: Good, Evil, and the Presidency will air tonight, January 2nd at 9:00PM on KCET
Thursday, Jan. 3
First Battle in the Long War: Iowa Caucuses in Sight
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Ah, lovely Iowa: Who could imagine that a tiny state with a population just under 3 million and a goofy caucus system in which fewer than 6% of eligible voters actually participate would hold so much power in picking a president in 2008. But as Iowans flock to school gyms and living rooms this evening they hold in their hands tremendous influence in whittling down the crowded field of presidential contenders. The polls couldn't be tighter among Democrats and Republicans: Clinton, Obama and Edwards are in a virtual three-way tie for the Dems while Huckabee and Romney wrestle for the lead among GOPers. Consider this: with a deadlocked result tonight, might the Iowa Caucus raise more questions than it answers?
Homo Politicus — How Horribilus Are They?
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Teddy Roosevelt's daughter Alice used to say, "If you don't have anything nice to say about anybody - come sit by me." If Alice were still around, Dana Milbank would be sitting right next to her. The Washington Post columnist takes a step back from the beltway and observes it like an anthropologist in his new book Homo Politicus (Doubleday)...it's true tales from the wilds of Washington.
Hey! Who's running LA? Villaraigosa and Garcetti Stump for Candidates
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There may still be potholes to fix here in LA, but City Council President Eric Garcetti and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are taking a break from the humdrum of city politics and heading off to Iowa to stump. Garcetti's knocking on doors for Barack Obama while Villaraigosa's kissing babies for Hillary Clinton. So what's it like bearing the frigid temps and pressing the flesh in the Hawkeye state? Patt finds out.
- Eric Garcetti, City Council President and LA Councilman for District 13. He is in Iowa getting the vote out for Barack Obama
- Frank Stoltze, KPCC reporter, spent part of the day at a Hillary Clinton phone bank - southern Californians calling Iowans
Creating an Egg and Sperm Registry
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After a girl was born with Tay-Sachs disease to a same-sex couple who used an anonymous egg donor to conceive, members of the fertility industry have announced that they would create a national registry to track donors and birth outcomes. An article in the LA Times about a girl born with the terminal genetic disease prompted the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology to declare that they intend to document the histories of donors and surrogate mothers to prevent such cases from reoccurring. Many donation agencies and fertility doctors around the country have applauded the effort, but is it possible to track the medical history of every donor accurately?
Non-Stick Bubble Gum: Coming Soon to a Store Near You?
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How many times have you set one foot down on a sidewalk only to pull away with a gooey string of chewing gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe? What's even worse is cleaning the gluey remains off the bottom of your favorite sneaker or pump. Help may not be far off - one Professor from-Bristol, England has developed a non-stick chewing gum, Clean Gum, which he claims is less likely to adhere to the sidewalk or your shoes. Professor Terrence Cosgrove discusses his solution to a sticky situation.
- Terence Cosgrove, Professor of physical chemistry at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom
Friday, Jan. 4
Looking Ahead to New Hampshire
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Now that the Iowa caucuses are officially over and Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee have emerged victorious, all eyes have shifted over to the Granite State, New Hampshire. Candidates have already started aggressively campaigning for Tuesday's battle, but how are they making the switch from the agricultural heartland to a New England state where residents pride themselves on their fierce independence?
- Howard Ernst, Senior scholar at the University of Virginia Center for Politics and co-author of The Encyclopedia of American Political Parties and Elections
The Elusive Youth Vote: Will They Turn Out in '08?
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Barack Obama can thank the exuberant participation of young voters in the Iowa Caucus for his victory yesterday, who turned out to caucus for the first time in impressive numbers. The Illinois Senator's campaign theme of change in Washington is a natural magnet for disaffected young voters, especially after a controversial eight years of the Bush Administration and an unpopular war in Iraq. But the political graveyard is littered with earlier campaigns who pinned their success to a high turnout of younger voters, only to be disappointed when those 18-30-year-olds stay home on election day. Is there any reason to believe that the youngsters will finally fulfill their electoral promise this time around?
It's Not Jews in Space; It's Jews in America
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The American Jewish population makes up one of the smallest minorities in the United States, just 1.3% of more than 300 million Americans. Yet they were among the earliest settlers in the New World—appearing in North American beginning in the late 1600's—and have arguably been the most influential minority group in the history of the U.S. A new documentary titled The Jewish Americans, playing next week on PBS, shows how the Jews have epitomized the immigrant experience. Even as they have faced bigotry and rejections, Jews have embraced American culture while keeping their traditions and heritage. Care to guess how popular modern-day Christmas songs were written by Jewish Americans?
- Dave Grubin, Producer, director & writer of The Jewish Americans; winner of Peabody awards and nine Emmys for his documentaries
It's Crispy, It's Clear, It's Blu-ray
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The high-definition DVD war is finally dwindling down as big studios like Warner Home Video make their pick just before the start of the Computer Electronics Show. Warner, the biggest Hollywood player in the home entertainment industry, announced it is casting its lot exclusively with the Blu-ray Disc format, leaving rival HD DVD with just two studios. The reason according to Warner Bros. Home Entertainment President, Kevin Tsujihara, is the consumer; but is Blu-ray that much better than HD DVD? Patt talks with Stephanie Prange of Home Media Magazine to find out more.
Comedy Congress
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When analyzing the latest news or watching the actions of our elected officials, it can be tough to choose whether to laugh or cry. Today, Patt Morrison makes the decision: with Comedy Congress, we're taking a humorous look back at the week in politics and current events, and a look ahead at the absurdities yet to come. The first battle of the primary wars is in the books with the Iowa Caucus, where candidates did their best to stumble, bumble and embarrass themselves across the Hawkeye State—we'll cover it till you want to choke yourself with a corn stalk. The truth hurts far less when it's told by comedians.
- Marc Maron, Former host and current infrequent guest host on Air America Radio; former host of "The Marc Maron Show" on KTLK in L.A.; frequent guest on "The Late Show with David Letterman" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien"; also had his own specials on HBO and Comedy Central
Marc plays at The Fake Gallery on Melrose tonight at 9pm, and can frequently be seen at comedy clubs around L.A. and the country.
- Maz Jobrani, Founding member of the "Axis of Evil" Comedy Tour, having just returned from shows in the Middle East; starred in the ABC comedy "Knights of Prosperity"; appeared in several movies and had a recurring roles in the Fox hit "24" & Larry David's HBO show "Curb Your Enthusiasm"; appeared on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and frequently on Comedy Central
Maz plays in the Main Room at The Comedy Store on Sunset this Saturday at 9pm, and can frequently be seen at comedy clubs around L.A., the country and the world!
- Freddy Lockhart, Regular performer at the Comedy Store in Hollywood; appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on ABC; performed on comedy specials for Comedy Central, HBO and NBC; creator of his own comedy show, "Freddy Lockhart's Mixed Media"
Freddy plays tonight in the Original Room at The Comedy Store on Sunset at 9pm, and can frequently be seen at comedy clubs around L.A. and the country.
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