Patt Morrison for Tuesday, February 1, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

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

 

ALEX COHEN FILLS IN FOR PATT

 

1:06 – 1:39

OPEN

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

Post Mortem: How America’s patchwork system of death investigations puts the living at risk

Over 7,000 people die in America every day, and when a death happens suddenly or under suspicious circumstances, the local county coroner is called in to investigate. We assume the investigation will be done thoroughly using sophisticated science, just like we see in television’s CSI, but the reality is very different. In a joint reporting effort, ProPublica, PBS FRONTLINE and NPR spent a year looking at the nation’s 2,300 coroner and medical examiner offices and found a deeply dysfunctional system that quite literally buries its mistakes. In 1,300 of those counties coroners are elected, many with no scientific or medical background. And the rate of autopsies across the nation has plummeted because of budget cuts to local governments. As a result, investigations are incomplete or botched, criminals go free and innocent people are incarcerated. We take a look inside the nation’s morgues with ProPublica’s A.C. Thompson and a private medical examiner who was an indirect victim of budget cuts in L.A. County. 

 

ALEX: Post Mortem was a joint investigation conducted by ProPublica, PBS FRONTLINE and NPR. You can watch the FRONTLINE documentary of the story tonight at 9pm on most PBS stations. NPR will continue to air reports today through Thursday on Morning Edition and All Things Considered.  And California Watch and the Investigative Reporting Program at UC Berkeley will have additional stories in the coming days

 

Guests:

A.C. Thompson, reporter at ProPublica

CALL HIM:

 

Vidal Herrera, medical examiner, founder of 1-800-AUTOPSY; former Field Deputy Coroner Investigator with the Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner Coroner

IN STUDIO

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Childfree – and green?

I'm childfree and proud,” says Lisa Hymas, the high-energy senior editor at Grist.org, where she writes about environmental news and green life choices. One of those choices is not having children, which she believes is a sound option for environmentally conscious people. She says, "Making the green choice too often feels like a sacrifice or a hassle or an expense, but for people who don't want to have kids, there are a lot of perks to childfree living, not to mention a lot of green good that comes from bringing fewer beings onto a polluted and crowded planet." Are you a GINK? That’s her word for “green inclinations, no kids,” and even though many raise disapproving eyebrows at the childfree choice, it just might be the making of a new cultural revolution.

 

Guest:

Lisa Hymas, Senior Editor and Cofounder of Grist.org, an online environmental news organization. She writes and blogs about the green side of being childfree as well as other environmental issues.

CALL HER:

 

 

2:30 – 2:47

OPEN

 

 

2:47 – 2:58:30

Robert Ebert’s back with a new voice

Film critic Roger Ebert, who lost his ability to speak due to damage done during treatment and surgery for cancer of the thyroid and jaw, says he absolutely won’t go through another attempt to rebuild his jaw. His voice, however, is being digitally reconstructed by a Scottish company called CereProc, using recordings from his past TV shows. With a new prosthesis, and soon with a new voice, Ebert is launching his latest TV program, Ebert Presents at the Movies. Director Werner Herzog and newsman Bill Kurtis do voice-overs of his reviews and co-host Cindy Lemire of The Associated Press adds to the mix. To find out how the customized electronic voice will work we talk with the man creating it, and to Ms. Lemire on this new experiment in programming.

 

Guests:

Dr. Matthew Aylett (EYE-lett), Chief Technical Officer for CereProc, a Scottish company based in Edinburgh that conducts advanced speech synthesis research. They are creating a digitized version of Roger Ebert’s voice using recordings from his past TV shows.

CALL HIM:

 

Christy Lemire, film critic for The Associated Press. She is co-host of the new show, Ebert Presents at the Movies.

CALL HER:

 

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM
626.583.5171, office
415.497.2131, mobile
jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org
www.scpr.org

 

Patt Morrison for Monday, January 31, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, January 31, 2011

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

 

ALEX COHEN FILLS IN FOR PATT

 

1:06 – 1:30

OPEN

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30

Are community redevelopment agencies job-creating economic saviors or corrupting corporate welfare?

For decades they acted largely in the shadows of state politics, helping to fund some of the biggest development projects in some of the most neglected areas of California’s cities.  From San Diego’s “Gaslamp” district to Old Town Pasadena and the Americana mall in Glendale, money from the state’s community redevelopment agencies have fueled basic public improvement projects, affordable housing units and massive commercial ventures, all with little insight or input from the public.  Once Gov. Jerry Brown targeted CRA’s for elimination in his tough budget proposal, part of his effort to close a $28 billion deficit, the work of CRA’s moved out of the shadows and into the spotlight, and the debate was ignited.  Critics of CRA’s argue that they forge inappropriate, and potentially corrupting, relationships between elected officials and developers, and that the claims of CRA projects creating jobs are way overblown.  CRA supporters call them the biggest single source of new jobs in California.  What is the real story and are CRA’s worth saving?

 

Guests:

Chris McKenzie, executive director of the League of California Cities

CALL HIM:

 

Simone Wilson, staff reporter for the L.A. Weekly who has written extensively on CRA’s

CALL HER:

 

Frank Stoltze, KPCC political & criminal justice reporter

Via ISDN

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

“No Child Left Behind” Left Behind—for the more flexible “Every Child Counts”?

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Obama said we need to replace No Child Left Behind with a law that’s “more flexible and focused on what’s best for our kids. “  Part of this call for flexibility is in response to the high number of schools who have received failing grades because of the law.  Perhaps, then, Senator Tom Harkin’s suggested new name for the law, “Every Child Counts,” is more appropriate.  The question of flexibility leads to the crux of the education debate in this country—how hands-on the federal government should be versus leaving it up to states and cities.  Despite a five-year freeze on government spending, President Obama plans to rewrite No Child Left Behind, and members of Congress from both sides of the aisle are ready to join him in this reform.  But there will surely be debate about what the details will look like, including national standards, Race to the Top and how states receive funding, standardized testing, emphasis on Math and English at the expense of other subjects, performance pay, and more.  Did No Child Left Behind have standards that were too high or is its goal of having “no child left behind’ feasible by 2014?

 

Guests:
Kim Anderson, Director of Government Relations, National Education Association

CALL HER:

 

Michael Petrilli, (puh-TRILL-ee) vice president for national programs & policy at the Thomas Fordham Institute for Advance Educational Excellence; formerly served in the U.S. Department of Education Office of Innovation and Improvement.

CALL HIM:

 

 

2:30 – 2:39

OPEN

 

 

2:41 – 2:58:30

Is Facebook making us unhappy?

In a virtual world where you can filter and sculpt your public persona, sociologists are increasingly finding that hours spent viewing our peers’ polished lives—their awesome vacations; their nights out partying; their above-average-children—is making us unhappy. Are they Just Like Us? Or are they happier and framed in better lighting? Recent studies say Facebook makes us underestimate how unhappy and lonely others are; it leads us to believe that our friends and family are all happier than us. Does Facebook make us less happy? Or at least force us to project a happy image with all those “Like” and no “Hate” buttons?

 

Guests:

Karen Sternheimer, sociology professor at the University of Southern California specializing in youth and media; author of Connecting Popular Culture and Social Problems: Why the Media is not the Answer

CALL HER @

 

Not confirmed:

Libby Copeland, contributing writer for Slate XX

 

 

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM
626.583.5171, office
415.497.2131, mobile
jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org
www.scpr.org

 

Patt Morrison for Friday, January 28, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, January 28, 2011

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 – 1:19

OPEN

 

 

1:21 – 1:39

Final verdict on the American financial crisis is muddled, just like the crisis itself

The bi-partisan Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) appointed by Congress issued its final report yesterday on what it believes lead to the economic meltdown.  After months of examining evidence and hearing testimony from big time players in the financial arena including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) chairman Sheila Bair, Warren E. Buffett, and executives from Citibank to Goldman Sachs, the commission dispelled the notion held by many on Wall Street and in Washington that the economic crisis that launched this country and parts of the world into a major economic recession was unforeseen and therefore not preventable.  The commission noted “systemic breaches in accountability and ethics at all levels” including the Federal Reserves inability to effectively manage the wave of toxic mortgages. The group found that legislators and regulators didn’t fully understand the economic system they were charged with overseeing and that ignorance coupled with inaction allowed too many financial firms to act “recklessly”.  The commission’s report notes that lending standards were out of control—institutions lent to too many risky borrowers, the prevalence and lack of regulation of over-the-counter derivatives and the failure of credit rating agencies to accurately reflect the value of the products they were reviewing contributed significantly to the crisis. It’s important to note however that the conclusions of the 10-person bipartisan commission weren’t unanimous.  Three conservative members of the commission released a dissenting statement lambasting the majority for presenting narratives that had a “popular appeal” but didn’t necessarily factor in the complicated nature of the global economic market.   

 

Guest:

Phil Angelides, chairman, Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission

HE CALLS US:

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other

It’s 2011 – the age of smart phones, text messaging, Facebook and Twitter. Sure, you can communicate in the blink of an eye with these electronic avenues, but it seems that as communication technology increases, actual physical interaction between human beings decreases. Just a few years ago, talking on the phone was the preferred form of communication, and while it isn’t person to person, at least there’s a real human voice involved. But now even a phone call can be considered to clunky – text messaging, instant messaging, and social media sites take the cake for communication now. So while it’s quicker and easier, is this technology dependence (and for many addiction) really giving us the lives we want to lead? How connected are you really if your main form of communication is over the internet? Sherry Turkle, a clinical psychologist from MIT, is here to talk about this phenomenon and her forecast for the future of human interaction and intimacy.

 

Guest:

Sherry Turkle, professor of social studies of science & technology at MIT and director of the MIT Initiative on Technology & Self

IN STUDIO

 

 

2:06 – 2:58:30

Patt Morrison’s Series on Homelessness—Part Two: from Safer City to Home for Good

With over 40,000 homeless living on its streets, Los Angeles is the homeless capital of the country. Over the past decade, cities like Denver, New York and San Francisco have all dramatically reduced their homeless populations by building permanent housing. But here, homelessness has grown faster than the national rate and not enough housing has been built, in part because of discordant county and city governments. Why is it so difficult for disparate systems to work together in Los Angeles County and how can that stalemate be overcome? Patt asks those questions and more to city and county officials, service providers, residents and homeless in the Skid Row community. Together, they a look at new proposals such as the Home for Good plan, which combines the social service knowledge of nonprofit sector with the private business and aims to end homelessness with permanent housing by 2016. With so many plans proposed and failed, what if anything sets this ambitious model apart from the rest? And why has homelessness proven to be such a singularly intractable issue for Los Angeles while it has motivated so many other regions to act?

 

Guests

Orlando Ward, Vice President of operations, Midnight Mission homeless shelter downtown, where he oversees strategic planning of governmental, public, community and media relations for the Mission

 

Carl Howard, Skid Row resident and director of Homeless Healthcare’s Alumni Drama Club

 

Marcus Cristy, Skid Row resident; Marcus has lived at the Lincoln Apartments in Skid Row for 3 years. Prior to moving into the Lincoln Apartments in 2007, he was homeless off and on in the Skid Row community since the beginning of 2001.

 

Becky Kanis, Director of the 100,000 Homes Campaign, Common Ground, a national nonprofit social services organization advocating for permanent and transitional housing

 

Mark Casanova, Executive Director of Homeless Health Care Los Angeles, a group working to improve the health of homeless people in Los Angeles

 

Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County Supervisor

 

-         Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky represents the Third Supervisorial District, comprising much of the City of Los Angeles

-          

-         He initiated Project 50 – getting the 50 most vulnerable and chronically homeless individuals on Skid Row into housing.

 

Jerry Neuman, Home for Good task force co-chair, representing the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce

 

-         Home for Good aims to end chronic and veteran homelessness in Los Angeles County by January 2016 by reallocating and coordinating our current resources

-          

-         Home for Good is unique in that it involves the private business community to fill the gaps where the city and county of Los Angeles fail to communicate/cooperate

 

Mike Alvidrez, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Skid Row Housing Trust, which develops, manages and operates homes for the homeless of Los Angeles. The Trust’s permanent supportive housing also provides a complete range of support services to move beyond poverty, illness and addiction.

 

- The Skid Row Housing Trust was among 227 LA City and county homeless program beneficiaries of nearly $72 million in renewed federal funding for housing announced Wednesday 1/19

 

 

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM
626.583.5171, office
415.497.2131, mobile
jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org
www.scpr.org

 

Patt Morrison for Thursday, January 27, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Thursday, January 27, 2011

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 - 1:39

Honest Abe meets dishonest Tom: does an altered date make any difference in Lincoln's legacy?

In the last hours of his life, President Abraham Lincoln signed an order pardoning a mentally incompetent Army private from the death penalty for desertion. False! It turns out the famous document discovered by amateur historian Thomas Lowry in 1998 was also altered by the very same historian. The National Archives and Records Administration revealed that the date on the document had been erased and changed from 1864 to 1865 probably to make it appear as if it was one of Lincoln's last acts and therefore a historic one. Dr. Lowry published a book the year after the find and was up until now credited with one of the most significant finds of Lincoln artifacts in the 20th Century. Luckily for Lowry, who has allegedly confessed, the statute of limitations on the case has passed, so the government cannot press charges. NARA will remove the document from circulation for the time being, and is looking into reversing the alteration - preservation officials say it will most definitely cause more damage. So even if Lincoln signed the pardon a year earlier, does it take away from the compassion displayed in the act? 

 

Guests:

TBD representative of the National Archives

 

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

John Lithgow’s Stories By Heart

John Lithgow, an actor’s actor if ever there ever was one, can be funny, poignant or seriously scary. And in every role he’s completely convincing – see his very different performances as transsexual Roberta/Robert Muldoon in the 1982 film, The World According to Garp, and as the Trinity serial killer in the Dexter series. And now this Tony and Emmy Award winning actor offers reflections on storytelling through memories of his father and two great stories that were ready to him and his siblings when they were young. Lithgow has brought his one-man theatrical memoir, Stories by Heart, from New York and London to the Mark Taper Forum in a tour de force performance.

 

PATT:  John Lithgow’s “Stories by Heart” continues at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum through February 13, 2011. It is conceived, written and performed by

Mr. Lithgow and features the works of P.G. Wodehouse and Ring Lardner.

 

Guest:

John Lithgow, Emmy & Tony Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated screen, television & stage actor

CALL HIM:

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Does America really want democracy in the Middle East?

Be careful what you wish for—the call for democracy in traditionally autocratic regimes across the Middle East has been boiler plate rhetoric of most American presidents dating back to World War II.  President George W. Bush, in particular, pushed the idea of democratic movements, from Iran to Libya, holding up Iraq as an example of what an elected, representative government could look like.  Of course, while President Bush (and other presidents of both parties) spoke eloquently of democracy they also supported and relied upon trusted authoritarian Arab regimes in Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen and beyond.  Last week protesters in Tunisia did what was thought to be nearly impossible, pushing out a long standing dictator with street demonstrations that reflected a true grass roots democracy movement.  Empowered by their fellow Arabs, and perhaps with a psychological barrier having been broken by Tunisians who exposed the weakness of an entrenched dictatorship, Egyptians have taken to the streets this week to protest the long, cruel rule of Hosni Mubarack, another reliable American ally.  Democracy in the Middle East might usher in governments that are decidedly unfriendly to the U.S. and our interests.  Do we really want democracy in the Middle East?

 

Guests:

UNCONFIRMED

Marc Lynch, director of the Institute for Middle East Studies and associate professor of political science & international affairs at George Washington University

CALL HIM:

 

Nabil Fahmy, founding dean of the School of Public Affairs at the American University in Cairo; former Egyptian Ambassador to the United States from ’99 – ’08, current Ambassador at Large in the Egyptian Foreign Ministry

CALL HIM:

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

Down and out (and depressed about it) in LA County

Diagnosed cases of depression rose by almost 50% over the last decade in LA County.  Is the traffic, smog, isolation, lack of health care and jobs to blame?  We don’t know what accounted for the sharp increase, but a new study by the LA County Department of Public Health showed that cases of depression rose from 9 percent in 1999 to 14 percent in 2007.  The study didn’t account for undiagnosed cases of depression—which may make the actual number of people suffering from depression much higher.  The study spotlighted one glaring fact: “women consistently reported higher rates of depression than men.” 11 percent of the women surveyed were diagnosed with depression in 1999, in 2007 that number rose to 17 percent.  Are people finding life a little less tolerable in Los Angeles, or is it just being reported more?

 

Guests:

UNCONFIRMED

Jonathan E. Fielding, Director of Public Health and Health Officer

 

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM
626.583.5171, office
415.497.2131, mobile
jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org
www.scpr.org

 

Patt Morrison for Wednesday, 1/26/2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

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 – 1:40

OPEN

 

1:40 – 2:00

State budget deficit strikes at CSUs, forcing deep cuts, smaller enrollment

Governor Brown proposes to cut half a billion dollars from the CSU budget, a move meant to help close the state’s $25 billion budget gap, and CSU is looking for ways to alleviate the fiscal pain. On Tuesday the finance committee of the CSU board voted to increase fees for its Doctor of Education degree programs by 10%, and will likely not be able to admit as many students in the fall as previously planned. With increasing costs and fewer dollars to support education, what will an education from our state run institutions look like in the future? 

 

Guest:

NOT CONFIRMED – DO NOT PROMOTE THIS GUEST

Charles Reed, Chancellor, The California State University

 

 

2:00 – 2:20

Why is Los Angeles still the “homeless capital of America?”—Part One: the Safer City Initiative

With over 40,000 homeless living on its streets, Los Angeles is the homeless capital of the country. The biggest cluster of those homeless men and women— nearly four thousand—lives in Skid Row, just in the shadow of City Hall, where city and county government make policy decisions about the issue. Nearly five years after Mayor Villaraigosa's ambitious Skid Row Safer City Initiative—the policing strategy that placed 50 additional officers in the fifty block area of downtown's Skid Row—we look back at whether the initiative accomplished what it set out to and what is left to be done to address homeless issues downtown and throughout the county. We begin this two-part series on homelessness by tracing the SCI from its inception as an idea on the pages of 1982 Atlantic magazine, to the streets of Los Angeles. Did SCI deliver both the policing and social service components it promised, and was it the best use of resources? Is policing a necessary but insufficient part of the solution or just a way of criminalizing homelessness? You’ll hear from the people affected by it—police, policymakers, and the homeless themselves.

 

Guests:

James Q. Wilson, senior fellow at the Clough Center, and distinguished scholar in Boston College’s Department of Political Science; he and social scientist George Kelling wrote the1982 “Broken Windows” article in The Atlantic magazine, which introduced the broken windows theory of policing, which would become Safer Cities.

 

Deon Joseph, Senior Lead Officer, Los Angeles Police Department, Central Division

 

General Dogan, Skid Row resident and activist with the Los Angeles Community Action Network (LACAN)

 

Griselda Tapia, officer, Los Angeles Police Department, Central Division

 

Clinton Popham, officer, Los Angeles Police Department, Central Division

 

Gary Blasi, Professor of Law at the University of California—Los Angeles UCLA

 

 

2:20 – 2:40

Why is Los Angeles still the “homeless capital of America?”—Part One: the Safer City Initiative (Cont’d.)

 

Guests:

Jan Perry, Councilwoman for the 9th District of Los Angeles, which includes the fifty blocks of Skid Row

 

Estela Lopez, Executive Director, Central City East Association (CCEA), which represents the businesses in the area; the CCEA’s “initial mission was to protect the area from becoming the central location for the region’s homeless services.”

 

Deon Joseph, Senior Lead Officer, Los Angeles Police Department, Central Division

 

Steve Cooley, District Attorney, Los Angeles

 

Carmen Trutanich, City Attorney, Los Angeles

 

 

2:40 – 3:00

Why is Los Angeles still the “homeless capital of America?”—Part One: the Safer City Initiative (Cont’d.)

:

Deon Joseph, Senior Lead Officer, Los Angeles Police Department, Central Division

 

Gary Boatwright, homeless man

 

Jerry Neuman (NEW-man), Home for Good task force co-chair representing the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce

 

 

 

Patt Morrison for Tuesday, January 25, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

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 - 1:39

CA GOP: Tax increases on the ballot? Over my pension reform!

The gauntlet has, unofficially, been thrown down:  without movement on sweeping pension reform for California’s public employees, Republicans in the legislature will not allow the state’s voters to decide if they want to raise taxes.  The Republican State Senator from Laguna Hills, Mimi Walters, is preparing a package of pension reform bills that she said must be addressed before taking up any proposal of a tax increase ballot measure.  While the state GOP has not officially laid out a list of conditions under which they would approve of giving voters a choice on tax increases it’s becoming clear that they will demand painful concessions from the state’s pension program.  They might have allies among the voters themselves, who have shown in several polls that they support limiting public employee pensions and salaries.  Gov. Jerry Brown has talked about pension reform, including requiring all employees to contribute more to their pensions and eliminating excessive overtime.  But in a state where political standoffs have become routine practice, get ready for another one over the tricky and complicated issue of pensions.

 

Guests:

State Sen. Mimi Walters, R-33^rd District (Laguna Hills); author of pension reform legislation

SHE CALLS US:

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

It’s Oscar time!

 

Guests:

TBD

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Obama’s halfway-point State of the Union & the road toward 2012

It’s been such an exhausting first half of President Obama’s term in office that it feels more like four years than two, but when he assumes the podium in Congress tonight to deliver his second State of the Union address he will have reached the unofficial halfway point.  What a ride it’s been—nearly $800 billion worth of stimulus, doubling the amount of American troops in Afghanistan while rapidly drawing down our forces in Iraq, passing a historic health care reform law that continues to stir up intense debate, passing financial regulation overhaul, suffering crippling job losses, reaching a tortured compromise on preserving tax increases for all Americans rich and poor, all while weathering a bitterly partisan political climate.  Even the President’s critics would agree that he’s been remarkably busy in two years, but that is where the agreement will probably end and agreement itself might be in short supply as the country moves toward what should be an epic reelection battle.  As the President prepares to lay out his vision for 2011, we preview his speech from both sides of the aisle and start down the long, winding road toward November of 2012.

 

Guest:

Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor & Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Affairs & Public Engagement at the White House

SHE CALLS US:

 

Rep. Tom McClintock, R – CA’s 4^th district; Chairman of the Water and Power Subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee; member of the Budget Committee and the Natural Resources Committee.

WILL CALL:

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

Does self-awareness or self-delusion equal happiness?

If we obtain a deeper understanding of our psychological issues will that awareness bring change and ultimately a happier more well-adjusted life?  Will the new awaking render us impervious to the grip of dysfunctional people and make our relationships with our family, friends and co-workers more fulfilling? What if we come to understand illusive parts of ourselves only to remain stagnant in our personal development and unable to change? Psychoanalysts have struggled to find a definitive answer to these questions.  In fact, studies haven’t shown much difference between the cognitive-behavioral approach (which emphasizes changing behavior over gaining insight and understanding of childhood traumas and the psychological issues they cause) and insight-oriented psychodynamic therapy.  Does insight and self understanding have a value and if so, will it make us happy or just a little less miserable? 

 

Guest:

Dr. Richard A. Friedman, professor of psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College

CALL HIM @

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3 KPCV-FM
626.583.5171, office
415.497.2131, mobile
jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org
www.scpr.org

 

Patt Morrison for Monday, January 24, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, January 24, 2011

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 – 1:58:30

Stuxnet –cyber sabotage with a laser focus and deadly potential

The Pentagon has a new Cyber Command. The government of Iran has its own Cyber Army, believed to be linked to the Revolutionary Guard. But Stuxnet might be the kind of game-changing computer worm that could outsmart them all. This cyber weapon is believed by experts to have been created by Israel or the United States -- some say China or Russia -- and targeted specifically to gas centrifuges in Iran, causing havoc in their nuclear program. Stuxnet was identified in June of this year, but the extent of its damage wasn’t clear until recently, when official downplaying of Tehran’s progress in development of an atomic weapon by the State Department and Israel’s intelligence service seems to point to success in efforts to disrupt Iran’s plans. With the ability to be focused in a very specific way, many say this most sophisticated cyber weapon signals immense consequences for global security.

 

Guests:

TBD

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Are American Muslims being radicalized?

The hearing has caused a major stir, without even being formally scheduled.  Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican who is know for speaking bluntly on matters of national security, is planning on holding a hearing, in his new role as chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, on the threat posed by radical Islam in America.  Rep. King plans to focus on the shootings at Ft. Hood and the bombing attempt in Times Square, both of which were perpetrated by American Muslims.  Just the announcement alone has caused controversy on both sides of the issues—security hawks are disappointed that more aggressive advocates against radical Islam are not being called as witnesses, while Muslim American groups are very weary that they will all be characterized as terrorists in waiting.  There does seem to be anecdotal evidence of more terrorism attempts carried out by American citizens of Muslims decent, but there’s also a sizable Muslim population in the U.S. that is well educated and very successful.  Is radicalization really a threat?

 

Guests:

TBD

 

 

2:30 – 2:39

OPEN

 

 

2:41 – 2:58:30

Zombie Spaceship Wasteland! An Oswalt perspective

What do zombies, spaceship, and wasteland all have in common?  Nothing?  Or everything!  Patton Oswalt, comedian known for his stand-up and roles in King of Queens and Ratatouille, has put together Zombie Spaceship Wasteland, a collection of comedic yet insightful essays on the widest array of issues possibly imaginable--all stories from the life he's lived thus far.  Is it that Oswalt has had a more interesting, humorous life than the rest of us or just that he is able to see the funny in our mundane?  Let's a take a nose dive into the like-none-other world of Oswalt and see what results!

 

PATT: Patton will be signing books at Book Soup at 5pm on Saturday, January 29th and will be appearing with friends at The Largo at The Coronet at 9pm that evening. On January 30^th he will be reading at Dark Delicacies in Burbank.  (time not set)

 

Guest:

Patton Oswalt, comedian and New York Times bestselling author. His most recent book is Zombie Spaceship Wasteland

IN-STUDIO

 

 

Jonathan Serviss
Senior Producer, Patt Morrison
Southern California Public Radio
NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles
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jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org
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