Patt Morrison for Wednesday, February 22, 2012

*DAVID LAZARUS IS IN FOR PATT*

 

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

1:06 – 1:30: OPEN

 

1:30– 1:58:30

Ask your Congressman: Rep. John Campbell talks to his constituents

Guest host David Lazarus continues Patt’s mini-series checking in with local Congress members. Today he welcomes Rep. John Campbell, the Republican Congressman representing California’s 48th district located in Orange County. Campbell has spoken out against President Obama’s recent 2012 budget proposal, calling it “a pretty ugly thing.” David gets Rep. Campbell’s take on the budget and its impact on the national debt. How can Congress trim government spending? Campbell, unlike many Republicans, has suggested cutting the military budget, but what should be done about the housing slump? Should Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac be eliminated? Campbell has also cosponsored legislation to freeze federal funding for California’s high speed rail project. Congress recently passed a bill banning Congress and executive branch officials from insider trading, but Rep. Campbell voted against the bill. Why? David covers everything from the economy to the recent contraception debate ignited by Obama’s birth control policy. Call in with your questions.

 

Guest:

Congressman John Campbell, (R-California's 48th District); member of the House Committee on Financial Services, the House Committee on the Budget, the Joint Economic Committee, and the House Policy Committee

IN STUDIO

 

District 48, Orange County: Aliso Viejo, Dana Point, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel)

 

 

2:06 – 2:40

Big Man on Campus: LAUSD Supt. John Deasy faces teacher misconduct and budget challenges

It’s time again for our visit with the Big Man on Campus, a.k.a. Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy.  Even if you’ve been following the headlines from a distance, it’s obvious that Deasy has a lot on his plate. Last Wednesday, the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) informed him that it believes the district posed a “potential risk to student safety” in its handling of the case of Mark Berndt, the former Miramonte Elementary School teacher charged with 23 counts of lewd conduct with children. A photolab employee reported Berndt after developing a roll of film that contained photos of blindfolded and gagged schoolchildren in the classroom. The LAUSD removed Berndt in February of 2011 but failed to notify the larger school community about the abuse – or the CCTC about Berndt’s change in status – until after the conclusion of the police investigation, months later.  Two other LAUSD teachers have subsequently been released from their teaching duties due to charges of sexual misconduct; one, Martin Springer, is also from Miramonte Elementary.  Earlier this month, the LAUSD shut down Miramonte and replaced all teachers until further notice, a move criticized by many parents as disruptive, but that Deasy viewed as necessary.  “I cannot have one more student tell me he is afraid,” said Deasy. He said that the original teachers will eventually be returned to Miramonte; United Teachers Los Angeles president Warren Fletcher has raised concerns that this will not be the case. Then, of course, there are continuing budget woes. Last month, Deasy announced a $543 million budget shortfall. Last Tuesday, the board decided to postpone the budget vote, leaving funding for adult- and early-education programs in limbo, along with possible teacher and staff layoffs. Deasy has made it clear that teachers should not expect pay raises or benefits.  Towards the end of January, the superintendent also revealed that the LAUSD plans to reduce the number of local district education service centers from eight to four, a decision that drew fire from parents and students who feel the numbers of students served by each center are already too large and the support provided by LAUSD too small. Tenure is also a subject of contention; depending on who is speaking, tenure protection is necessary but weakening, or it keeps teachers in the system who should be let go.  Also a point of concern: a number of LAUSD employees and administrators have been returning to work after retiring and thus receive both a pension and a salary.  The practice is legal, but has raised ire in the cash-strapped district.

 

How do you think that the LAUSD has handled the situation at Miramonte Elementary School and the impending budget deficit? What do you think that the LAUSD has done well and what could it be doing differently?  What questions do you have for the Big Man On Campus?

 

Guest:

John Deasy, superintendent, Los Angeles United School District

IN STUDIO

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30: OPEN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lauren Osen

Southern California Public Radio - 89.3 KPCC

626-583-5173 / 626-483-5278

losen@scpr.org @Patt_Morrison

 

Patt Morrison for Tuesday, February 21, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

1:00 – 2:00

OPEN

 

2:00 – 2:40

Does the Pledge of Allegiance discriminate against atheists?

When it comes to the Pledge of Allegiance chanted by children daily in schools across America, the critical phrase “one nation under God” is up for debate. In Acton, Mass., anonymous parents of three kids are suing the school district over the Pledge of Allegiance. They claim “one nation under God” discriminates against atheists. The parents, filing their lawsuit as John and Jane Doe, say the phrase “under God” is unfair to their kids, who they’re raising as atheists, and that it suggests people who don’t believe in God are less patriotic than others. The phrase “under God” wasn’t added until 1954 to the pledge, which was first written in 1892. On the flip side of the issue, Utah Republican Sen. Aaron Osmond has introduced a bill that would require a student to lead the Pledge of Allegiance each morning in class rather than have it broadcast over a loudspeaker. Sen. Osmond says his bill would foster a deeper respect for the pledge and make the experience more “intimate.” Do you think the Pledge of Allegiance discriminates against atheists? Should it be recited in classrooms daily?

 

Guest:

BOTH UNCONFIRMED – DO NOT PROMOTE

David Niose, managing attorney, Law Offices of David Niose (nee-OH-see); he is the attorney representing the parents of three atheist school children

CALL HIM

 

Aaron Osmond, Utah State Senator (R-Salt Lake); he has introduced a bill that would require a student to lead the Pledge of Allegiance each morning in class

CALL HIM@

 

2:40 – 3:00

A year without cash – could you do it?

How does money work – cash money, that is? David Wolman realized he didn’t know the answer to this deceptively simple question, so he decided to live one year without cash and set out across the globe to better understand the history of currency and what its future might be. Along the way he met a counterfeiter in Honolulu, ran into an anti-counterfeiter in Tokyo, landed in the Digital Money Forum in London, and witnessed firsthand how new mobile payment technology is affecting the poor in Delhi. Wolman returned from his travels convinced that services allowing you to pay from your phone, such as Google Wallet, could lead to a better, cash-free future. He looked at the ways cash can affect our health, environment, and our psychology to better understand our relationship with hard currency. Could you do as Wolman did and live a year without using cash? Should we be moving toward a future without cash? Do you think a cashless society is inevitable? What problems do you see with a transition to digital-only payments?

 

Guests:

David Wolman, contributing editor at Wired and author of “The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers—and the Coming Cashless Society”

CALL HIM on the Patt Morrison page at KPCC-dot-org and you can follow us on Twitter. You’re listening to 89.3 KPCC – Southern California Public Radio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patt Morrison for Monday, February 20, 2012 - PRESIDENTS' DAY HOLIDAY - SHOW ON TAPE

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, February 20, 2012

1-3 p.m.

PRESIDENTS’ DAY – HOLIDAY – SHOW ON TAPE

JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

1:00 – 1:30

Is the right to vote really a right?

Since the 2008 election, significant changes in voting laws have been made in some GOP-controlled states. Republicans say that the new restrictions are based on a need to “protect the integrity of the election,” but Democrats are crying foul and calling the new laws “voter suppression.” Speaking to a group of college students in July, former President Clinton said, “There has never been in my lifetime, since we got rid of the poll tax and the Jim Crow burdens on voting, the determined effort to limit the franchise that we see today." The new restrictions include reducing early voting, requiring that voters show ID at voting centers, eliminating same-day voter registration and making it harder for college students to vote away from their home districts. Election workers can be fined for breaking these rules, prompting the nonpartisan League of Women Voters to suspend their Florida voter registration drives.  Republicans in Florida justified the changes on the grounds that they believe voting shouldn’t be easy or convenient.  During debate over the changes Florida Senator Michael Bennett argued that voting “is a hard-fought privilege. This is something people died for. Why should we make it easier?” Democrats stand to suffer from the new restrictions, passed in several Republican-controlled states, because they will have the greatest effect on students, elderly voters, the poor, disabled and minorities – demographics that traditionally skew towards the Democrats. Are the new restrictions a political agenda or based on a need to streamline the voting process?  Is making it harder for people to vote a good thing? 

 

Guests:

David Savage, Supreme Court reporter for the Los Angeles Times

John Fortier, director of the Democracy Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center, a Washington think tank that promotes bipartisanship

Heather Smith, president, Rock the Vote

 

1:30 – 2:00

Journalist Erin Aubry Kaplan and the modern black experience

Erin Aubry Kaplan is a Los Angeles-based author and journalist who is renowned for addressing issues of race head on and with a deft touch.  In her new book, Black Talk, Blue Thoughts and Walking the Color Line, Kaplan turns her keen eye and unique literary voice to topics that encompass the full range of the modern African American experience.  The book features thirty-three essays about a wide range of topics that originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Salon.com and elsewhere. Subjects range from the mundane to the tragic – including stories about Hurricane Katrina, Tiger Woods and Serena Williams, as well as new essays about President Barack Obama and her personal struggles with depression. But the common thread is Kaplan’s ability to distill life in the 21st century down to its complex and beautiful absurdity.

 

Guest:

Erin Aubry Kaplan, author, “Black Talk, Blue Thoughts, and Walking the Color Line: Dispatches from a Black Journalista;” contributing editor, op-ed section of the Los Angeles Times

 

2:00 – 2:30

Ey, watcha! The linguistics of the East L.A. accent and beyond

For those of us lifelong Angelenos (an-juh-LEE-nohs), where we live doesn’t just distinguish the types of foods we eat (K-town for the best Korean BBQ), but also how we talk. We all know the, like, Valley Girl speak, but we rarely talk about the East L.A. accent. As Hector Becerra writes in a recent Los Angeles Times article, “Chicano English crosses racial and ethnic lines” and is mostly prevalent in Boyle Heights, El Sereno and City Terrace. Linguists propose that the Mexican American accent stems from an indigenous group in Mexico, Nahuatl. Distinguished by high vowels and pronouncing “ch” as “sh,” the accent is more of a regional marker than one of race or ethnicity. Of course, the thing with accents is that no one believes they’re the one with the accent. And Los Angeles is filled to the brim with languages and accents from around the world. Have you noticed the East L.A. accent? Do you speak Chicano English? What is it about our city that makes the sounds of its citizens so unique?

 

Guests:

Hector Becerra, metro reporter for the Los Angeles Times

Carmen Fought (FAWT), professor of linguistics, Pitzer College

 

2:30 – 3:00

 “Tension City”:  journalist Jim Lehrer on presidential debates

Award-winning journalist Jim Lehrer’s new book “Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain” takes a witty, behind-the-scenes look at more than 40 years of televised presidential debates. Lehrer, long considered one of the most well respected figures in broadcast journalism, has interviewed every president since Gerald Ford, and has moderated eleven presidential and vice presidential debates. He is the executive editor and former anchor of PBS News Hour and author of 20 novels, two memoirs and three plays. Lehrer’s book includes in-depth interviews with candidates and other moderators, revealing the stories behind debate blunders, snafus, off-air conversations and critical moments. From candidate hesitations to jokes gone wrong, these tiny televised details had a direct impact on presidential elections, and, of course, history. Lehrer’s lively tales from the frontlines include Ronald Reagan’s affinity for one-liners, John McCain and President Barack Obama exchanging little eye contact during one 90 minute debate and Dan Quayle comparing himself continuously to John F. Kennedy. What presidential debate moments have surprised or shocked you the most? What moments would you like Jim Lehrer to shed some light on?

 

Guests:

Jim Lehrer, award-winning American author, playwright and journalist. He is the executive editor and former anchor of PBS News Hour and author of 20 novels, two memoirs and three plays.

• Spanning a fifty-year career, Lehrer has interviewed every president since Gerald Ford and has moderated eleven presidential debates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patt Morrison for Friday, February 17, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, February 17, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:39: OPEN

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

Ron Briggs, longtime champion of death penalty, reverses course

Even if you support the death penalty, numbers show, it’s not working, and if you oppose it, then it never should work. In 1978, California voters passed the Briggs Death Penalty Initiative, which expanded the use of, and eligibility for, the state’s death penalty. The Briggs family argued the initiative would allow for swift, just punishment for crimes of murder. But today, California’s death row has ballooned to more than seven hundred prisoners, more than any other state. The state has also only executed thirteen convicted murderers since the initiative passed over thirty year ago. Now, Ron Briggs, who campaigned along with his father Senator John Briggs and brother-in-law to pass the initiative, admits it was flawed. He’s trying to replace the death penalty in the state with life in prison, without parole. Patt talks to him about his change of heart and what he learned from his father’s career. Do you support to death penalty?

 

Guest:

Ron Briggs, co-sponsor, along with his father and brother-in-law, of the 1978 Briggs Death Penalty Initiative, which sought the to expand the death penalty; he’s currently a member of the Board of Supervisors in El Dorado, CA

 

2:00 – 2:30: OPEN

 

2:30 – 2:39

And the winner… has been hacked – fears surround new digital 2013 Oscar ballot
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the accountancy firm long associated with making sure that no one knows who will go home with a golden statuette until the envelopes are opened on Oscar night, is slated to be phased out for next year’s balloting in favor of an Internet-based balloting interface. To move the Oscars securely into the Internet Age, the Academy has partnered with Everyone Counts, a company that has designed software for Internet elections around the globe. But some tech experts warn that the electronic voting system that will replace the venerable paper ballots is vulnerable to cyber attack. For example, hackers may be able to clandestinely change the winner for Best Picture, throwing the program into disarray. The Oscar balloting software will feature "multiple layers of security" and "military-grade encryption techniques" to allay the fears of the traditionally staid and conservative Oscar voter. But will it be enough? Is the convenience of at-home balloting worth the security risk? And what about members of the Academy without computers?

Guest:
Andrew Gumbel, Los Angeles-based author and reporter; author of Steal This Vote: Dirty Elections and the Rotten History of Democracy in America (Nation Books 2005)

 

COSTUME SEGMENT CAN EXTEND PAST 2:50 INTO MAKE-UP SEGMENT

 

2:41:30 –2:50
Oscar-nominated costume designers talk movies, fashion and the new FIDM exhibit

Lights! Camera! Fashion! This year’s Oscar-nominated costume designers have created gorgeous outfits for films ranging from Martin Scorsese’s kids adventure “Hugo,” to black-and-white and mostly silent film “The Artist,” set in 1920s Hollywood. Select costumes from all five nominated films are now on display through April 28 at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising’s museum in downtown Los Angeles as part of FIDM’s 20th annual Art of Motion Picture Costume Design exhibit. In person, you can see the vibrant orange, pink, and green hues of dresses and jackets from “The Artist” that appear in muted grey tones in the movie. Other nominees include designers for 16th century set "Anonymous," 19th century based "Jane Eyre" and Madonna’s 1930s royal ode "W.E." Join Patt as she talks to Oscar-nominated costume designer Mark Bridges about his silent film era costumes for “The Artist,” and fellow nominee Arianne Phillips about her couture costumes for “W.E.” What costumes in this year’s Oscar-nominated crop have captured your attention most? Which impressed you the least?

 

http://fidmmuseum.org/exhibitions/current/#20th-annual-art-of-motion-picture-costume-design

Guest:

Mark Bridges, Oscar-nominated costume designer this year for “The Artist”

Arianne Phillips (AH-ree-ahn), Oscar-nominated costume designer this year for Madonna’s “W.E.”

 

2:50- 2:58:30

Oscar-nominated make-up artist transforms Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”

Longtime make-up artist Matthew W. Mungle has worked on films ranging from “Inception” to “Schindler’s List.” He is nominated for his fourth best make-up Oscar this year for the 19th century-set film “Albert Nobbs.” He won a best make-up Academy Award in 1993 for “Dracula.” For “Albert Nobbs,” Mungle managed to transform beautiful 64-year-old actress Glenn Close into a demure, shy and stately hotel Irish waiter named Albert Nobbs, who lived as a man and concealed his female-born identity. Patt talks to Matthew W. Mungle about make-up and what goes into transforming an actress, or actor, into a character such as Nobbs. Make-up artists for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” and “The Iron Lady” are also nominated this year for the best make-up Oscar. What do you like best about Close’s make-up in “Albert Nobbs”? What make-up film tricks are you curious about?

 

http://www.matthewwmungle.com/

http://oscar.go.com/nominees/makeup/albert-nobbs

 

Guest:

Matthew W. Mungle (MUHN-guhl), Oscar-nominated this year for best make-up for “Albert Nobbs”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lauren Osen

Southern California Public Radio - 89.3 KPCC

626-583-5173 / 626-483-5278

losen@scpr.org @Patt_Morrison

 

Patt Morrison for Thursday, February 16, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Thursday, February 16, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

1:06 – 1:30: OPEN

 

1:30 – 2:00
Love and divorce in the time of recession
Conventional thinking would have you believe that divorce rates would be up in times of economic strife. Couples often fight about finances, and when there isn’t enough money to go around, couples might consider uncoupling. But the reality in our current “Great Recession” is exactly the opposite. When divorce rates between 2005 and 2009 are compared state-by-state, the number of divorces went down as unemployment went up. Divorce is expensive, and it appears that most couples have chosen to stick it out – at least until the economy turns around.  But if the pattern holds, experts are predicting a surge in divorce proceedings as paychecks get bigger and years of pent up marital discord are unleashed at once. The slow-but-steady recovery in 2011-12 is already bringing an increase in divorces as people find the means to match their desire to get out of unhappy marriages. Is it a green shoot for the economy? Will divorces increase as the economy improves? How has your marriage faired in the current recession?

Guest: Mike Konczal, Roosevelt Institute fellow; economics and finance blogger

 

2:06 – 2:30

Is it time to cut the cord on costly cable-television?

Do you find yourself spending more time on your computer than in front of the television? If so, you are not alone. For years, millions of Americans have relied on cable-television as their primary source of home entertainment, but viewers are ditching their tubes for alternative Internet-based amusement provided by Netflix, iTunes and others. According to an analysis conducted by the Associated Press of eight of the nine largest subscription-TV providers in the U.S., pay-TV providers lost a record number of customers – 195,700, in 2011. The Nielsen Co. also found, last year, that Americans who watch the most video online tend to watch less TV. Compared to traditional cable or satellite subscription services, web-based entertainment can be less expensive or even free. Some consumers, though, are weary of perceived flaws such as inferior picture quality and limited options. Other alternatives to cable include Apple TV, Hulu, streaming movies and shows from the iTunes store, and the Boxee Box, which searches for free shows and movies from legal online sources. How much money could you save by canceling your cable subscription? Are Internet-based on-demand services such as YouTube the future of home entertainment?

 

Guest: David Katzmaier (WAITING ON PRONUNCIATION), senior editor at CNET

 

2:30 – 2:39

“To Kill a Mockingbird” (the film) turns 50

The film “To Kill A Mockingbird,”  based on Harper Lee’s classic about a courtroom drama in the segregated South, appeared 50 years ago this year to instant attention and praise. It won actor Gregory Peck an Oscar for his portrayal of lawyer Atticus Finch and even Lee was delighted with Peck's performance. Many who knew him claim that he nailed the role because the character fit his own personality so well. A new edition of the film has just been released with several pages of Peck's shooting script, full of his personal interpretations and memories. Film scholar Jeanine Basinger joins Patt to talk about Peck and how some of the story’s more controversial elements were translated to the silver screen.

 

Guest: Jeanine Basinger (Bay-singer), Corwin-Fuller professor of Film Studies; chair, Film Studies Department, Wesleyan University and curator, Wesleyan Cinema Archives

 

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

A response to DGA President Taylor Hackford’s defense of internet piracy laws SOPA and PIPA

The President of the Directors Guild of America, Taylor Hackford, thinks that last month’s campaign against internet piracy laws like the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) was full of baloney. The Oscar-winning Hackford spoke with Patt yesterday [WEDNESDAY] about how internet piracy is negatively impacting Hollywood, but now voices from other sides of the debate chime in to offer a different perspective. We heard from Hackford that he believes legislation like SOPA and PIPA protects content created by filmmakers, but others maintain that these proposed laws could deprive Americans of civil liberties, undermine free speech, and hurt U.S. businesses. Organizations such as Google and Wikipedia oppose these bills and maintain that they do not support piracy. A statement appearing on Google’s “End Piracy, Not Liberty” page addressing the issue reads, “We at Google remain committed to working to address the problem of piracy without compromising our freedoms and risking our industry’s track record of innovation and job creation.” How can content creators in Hollywood and web companies in Silicon Valley work together to stop piracy without denying free speech?

 

Guests:

Jon Fox, consumer advocate, CalPirg 

http://www.scpr.org/programs/patt-morrison/2012/02/15/22540/directors-guild-president-defends-sopa-and-pipa-in

 

 

Lauren Osen

Southern California Public Radio - 89.3 KPCC

626-583-5173 / 626-483-5278

losen@scpr.org @Patt_Morrison

 

RE: Patt Morrison for Wednesday, February 15, 2012

 

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

1:06 –1:39 OPEN

 

1:41:30 – 1:58:30

Directors’ guild president defends SOPA and PIPA in fight against piracy

Google and other technology companies spread “outright lies” about anti-piracy bills, according to Directors Guild of America President Taylor Hackford. The union leader used his clout at the 64^th Annual DGA Awards Ceremony to defend the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) as part of his anti-piracy campaign. Film directors have a big stake and a big say in the battle over intellectual property online. Hackford maintains that content created by filmmakers is being stolen and given away on the Internet for free. The guild president has also emphasized that big studios, who also support SOPA and PIPA, are not suffering as much as independent filmmakers are from digital theft. Congressional voting on both bills, which incited controversial protests last month from websites such as Google and Wikipedia, has been postponed. How will Hackford’s outspoken support of SOPA and PIPA help filmmakers? How constructive is it for Hackford to speak out against Google? How much, if at all, will companies like Google influence the future of the film industry? And what is at stake for creators and the film-loving public?

 

Guests:

Taylor Hackford, Oscar-winning feature film and documentary director, writer and producer; he’s serving his second term as President of the Directors Guild of America

 

2:06 – 2:30

EMBARGOED UNTIL 11 A.M. PST TODAY

"Human Rights Watch issues new report on Saudi women in sports

 

Guests:

Christoph Wilcke, senior researcher for our Middle-East North Africa Division of Human Rights Watch; author of the report, 'Steps of the Devil': Denial of Women

Minky Worden, director of global initiatives, Human Rights Watch; spearheads HRW's efforts to align human rights more closely with the Olympic Movement

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

My dad shot my laptop!
Have you ever felt so disrespected by someone texting on his or her phone that you’ve wanted to grab the device and throw it out the window or maybe even… shoot nine bullets into it? The latter course of action is exactly what father Tommy Jordan did to his daughter Hannah’s laptop computer after he felt she insulted him in a diatribe she posted on Facebook. In what her father calls “her little rebellious post” addressed to her parents, Hannah vented her frustrations about being a “slave” and having to do domestic chores. In response, not only did father Jordan fire exploding hollow-point rounds into her computer, but recorded himself doing it along with his visceral reply to Hannah’s complaints. The video, which the Albermarle, North Carolina resident posted on his daughter’s Facebook wall, has become a YouTube sensation with 23 million viewers and counting, but his unconventional method of discipline has raised a lot of eyebrows and questions about parenting in the age of social media. Should kids be allowed to freely express their anger with their parents on Facebook? How appropriate was Tommy Jordan’s response as a father? Did he overreact by potentially humiliating his daughter or is this a case of constructive tough-love?

Guests:

Karen Sternheimer, associate professor of Sociology at USC

Karen North, director of the online communities program at USC’s Annenberg school of Communications and Journalism

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patt Morrison for Tuesday, February 14, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

 

1:06 – 1:30 - OPEN

 

1:30 – 1:58:30

Patenting plants and Monsanto’s genetically modified food industry

Biotechnology and agricultural giant Monsanto is responsible for a large percentage of all seeds sold in the U.S., but organic farms have long complained about the agri-giant’s monopolistic approach to farming. The U.S. Patent office ruled that plants were able to be patented in 1982, clearing the way for Monsanto to create proprietary seeds that need to be purchased every growing season. After years of fighting the multinational corporation’s growing control over farming in America, the a Organic Seed Growers and Trade Association’s (OSGATA) filed a law suit in 2011 challenging Monsanto’s right to patent seeds. OGSATA also believes that pollen from Monsanto’s genetically modified seed stock is contaminating organic farms and threatening the entire organic farming industry. Has Monsanto become too powerful in the agricultural industry? Should one company be allowed to patent the majority of seeds grown on American farms? Do humans have the right to choose whether or not they consume genetically modified food?

 

Guests:

TBD

 

2:06 – 2:30

Does reporting about a candidate make them a more viable candidate?
How’s this for a love letter? “Dear Newt,” wrote Washington Post political columnist Dana Milbank in his column a few weeks ago.  “You’re the only thing saving us [journalists, that is] from a long spring of despair, the only person who can, by extending the presidential race, drive up our audience and bring us the revenues we so desperately need.” Milbank spends the column poking as much fun at journalists as he does Gingrich’s candidacy itself, in the process raising questions about the ethics of (potentially) reporting on stories where stories don’t exist. Is politics really a horse race for reporters, and does the reporting influence the outcome? For instance, if Romney is really going to win, as many in the media believe he will, why bother to create such a sense of drama and conflict in his relationship with his contenders?  Is Gingrich right – are the media the problem? 

Guests:

NOT CONFIRMED:

Brooke Gladstone, co host and editor, On the Media

Nate Silver, founder of FiveThirtyEight blog at NYTimes.com

Dana Milbank, political reporter, The Washington Post

 

 

2:30 – 2:39

OPEN

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30

StoryCorps love stories

Love – you can’t buy it, or, for that matter, control its timing. It might appear in your life out of the blue, like it did for Ruben P. and Rachel P. Salazar in 2007, when an email that was supposed to go to Rachel (in Thailand) went astray and wound up in Ruben’s inbox (in Texas). Ruben and Rachel’s story is one of many recorded by StoryCorps, a nonprofit that works in partnership with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress to help Americans of all backgrounds preserve and share their lives.  Just in time for Valentine’s Day, StoryCorps has released a book of love stories called “All There Is”, and today StoryCorp founder and President Dave Isay joins Patt to share some of the highlights. Do you have a story to share about the love of your life?  Or a favorite you’ve overheard from someone else and been inspired by?

 

Guest:

Dave Isay, founder and president, StoryCorps and editor of All There Is: Love Stories from StoryCorps, a collection of personal anecdotes culled from over 40,000 interviews.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lauren Osen

Southern California Public Radio - 89.3 KPCC

626-583-5173 / 626-483-5278

losen@scpr.org @Patt_Morrison