Patt Morrison for Tuesday, March 1, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, March 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

 

 

1:06 – 1:39

OPEN

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

March 8^th Measures I & J take aim at powerful Department of Water and Power

Two measures on the March 8^th ballot take aim at reigning in the powerful Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, which nearly unhinged City Hall last year by threatening to withhold $73.5 million in surplus from the city’s budget until the city council approved an increase in electricity rates. Measure J would prevent the DWP from using that surplus as a bargaining chip; Measure I would create a ratepayer advocate to independently assess the utility’s water and power rates. There are no formidable opponents of Measure J, but opponents of Measure I from the business community argue a ratepayer advocate position duplicates oversight that already exists at the municipal level and leaves too many details to be tied up by the city council post-election. The council argues that even though its current members unanimously opposed last year’s rate hike, a future city council may not take the same position. That outcome could become more likely if city council candidate Forescee Hogan-Rowles, a former DWP board member heavily backed by the union representing DWP workers, unseats Bernard Parks in Tuesday’s election. Does Measure I, as Council President Eric Garcetti puts it, “prevent the DWP from putting a gun to the head of L.A.” or are there too many unknowns?

 

Guests:

ANTI -MEASURES I & J

Stuart Waldman, President of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association (VICA), a Southern California business advocacy group

CALL HIM @

 

PRO-MEASURES I & J

Eric Garcetti, City Council president and councilman representing the 13^th district; he wrote both measures himself

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Can we afford mental health services in schools?

If trained professionals get the opportunity to diagnosis and treat children suffering from mental health issues early, when their symptoms first manifest, will it help prevent kids from self medicating or engaging in violent behavior later? Representative Grace Napolitano believes the answer to that question is yes.  She has introduced the Mental Health in Schools Act which allocates $200 million for schools to provide on-site mental health services.  Rep. Napolitano has implemented the program in 8 schools in her district and wants to expand the program nationwide.  But the Congresswoman faces an uphill battle given the current budget crisis and the fact that Republicans in the House want to cut $200 million in mental health services.  Rep. Napolitano believes that the recent shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords may help her garnish some political support for passage of the bill.  The stats show these programs can help, violence levels go down and grades and attendance go up after just one year in treatment, but can we afford them? 

 

Guests:

Rep. Grace F. Napolitano, D-California’s 38^th District; co-chair of the Congressional Mental Health Caucus

ON TAPE

 

Barbara Ackermann, licensed clinical social worker, Granada Hills Charter High School

CALL HER @

 

• She sees it all, abuse, neglect, anxiety, depression, and severe mental health problems. Before she was hired, the campus experienced  a rash of suicides.  Their motto is "healthy kids learn better".

Neal McCluskey, an education analyst at the Cato Institute, a libertarian Washington D.C. think tank

CALL HIM @

 

UNCONFIRMED

Miriam Brown or Tony Belize, LA County Department of Public Health

 

 

2:30 – 2:39

OPEN

 

 

2:41 – 2:58:30

Best Buy cures buyer’s remorse: should you future-proof your technology?

“In today’s world, technology changes faster than the weather.  This makes us all nervous and unable to commit to a technology purchase.  What if today’s latest and greatest is tomorrow’s not-so latest and greatest?  It’s like buying a boombox a week before mp3 players come out.”  This is Best Buy’s pitch, in a cartoon video on its web page, for its new Buy Back program.  Sounds great: pay for “future-proof” insurance so that Best Buy buys back your electronic device when a later and greater version of the device comes out.  The catch?  There’s an expiration on the insurance.  So if a newer version you actually want doesn’t come out before the insurance expires, you’ve lost the money you put down.  Also, the amount of money you get from a buy back diminishes with time, so that after 18 months, you only get back 20% of what you paid for the item.  Is this another scheme to up Best Buy’s profits and rob your wallet?  Or is this reassurance measure only going to become increasingly relevant and desired as technology rushes forward?  Would you pay to future-proof your technology – without a crystal ball revealing when the next latest and greatest will come out?

 

Guests:

Chris Morran, senior editor for Consumerist.com

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

 

LA Times Community College Bond abuse series may sink hopes of re election for Board incumbents

LA Community College $6 Billion Dollar Bond Fund Abuse: Blockbuster Series of Articles to Go Up on LA Times Website This Evening  
The Series Will Be Published Starting In This Sunday’s Edition. 
District officials and Incumbents in Board race await the bad news, activists heartened by final publication.

Contact: 323-855-0764
        Miki Jackson, Van de Kamps Coalition
        vandekamps.org

A Los Angeles Times series on bond use and waste in the LA Community Colleges may go up on the Times website as soon as tonight.

"We are told they are worried sick about what these articles may expose. We have found very alarming emails and other documents while looking into their misuse of taxpayer bonds at the Van de Kamps Campus. Mona Field, who led the Board into this mess as President during some of the worst of it, is especially scared that it could sink her chances of getting re-elected on March 8. We are saying vote for "Anybody But Mona" on Seat No. 1.  Time for a change is really overdue." said Van de Kamps Coalition member Laura Gutierrez

After two auditors from his office flew from Sacramento to Los Angeles to meet with Van de Kamps Coalition members, State Controller John Chiang’s auditors spent 20 days of December 2010 doing a preliminary forensic audit of the bond program. It remains to be seen whether the LA Times series will prod Chiang to complete his audit of alleged massive bond abuse at LACCD.

Abuses may be widespread in the large District. Late last year District Academic President David Beaulieu wrote on the LACCD web site that some $100 million was committed under questionable circumstances by the President of West Los Angeles Community College. The post was taken down within hours. Beaulieu has repeatedly raised questions about spending and oversight of the huge building program to deaf administration ears.

Failures in the bond program are already the subject of four lawsuits by the Van de Kamps Coalition concerning the building of the Northeast "Van de Kamps" Innovation Campus. The district has been heavily criticized for switching the campus from a Community College Satellite Campus to a tenant based facility.

The final outcome of the articles can only be hoped to lead to new and better leadership in the troubled District, and to focus on what is important: the education of our young adults.

Patt Morrison for Monday, February 28, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, February 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 – 1:30

OPEN

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30

Measure M’s for money: if you sell marijuana in Los Angeles… the city wants its share

Seeking new revenue streams for L.A.'s depleted coffers, the City Council voted to include Measure M on the ballot for the March 8 election. If the measure is approved by voters, medical marijuana dispensaries will pay a tax of "$50 per $1,000 of gross receipts," which amounts to an additional 5 percent tax on top of the 9.75 percent county sales tax that many collectives already pay. The measure, also known as Proposition M, calls into question the tax-exempt status of some non-profit cannabis cooperatives supposedly functioning on the barter system. For several years following the voter approval of Proposition 215 in 1996, the tax code for medical marijuana dispensaries remained a bit hazy. Several marijuana pharmacies formed neighborhood cooperatives, whereby green-thumb growers would cultivate buds with a high quantity of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) - the marijuana plant's active ingredient - and trade the fruits of their labor with each other, purportedly without making any money. At the same time cities and counties throughout the state sought a cut of the supposed cash proceeds.  Does Measure M give the city a way to skim some more profits from a semi-legal enterprise? Or does another tax on pharmaceutical sinsemilla in the City of Angels legitimize this cash crop, and bring it one step closer to legalization in California?

 

Guests:

PRO M: 

Paul Koretz, Los Angeles City Councilmember, 5^th District

CALL HIM:

 

AGAINST M: 

Don Duncan, Americans for Safe Access

IN STUDIO

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

OPEN

 

 

2:21 – 2:39

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown: not quite a conservative, not a liberal but a dedicated bipartisan

In December of 2009, Scott Brown did the unthinkable—he proved a Republican could win Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat in Massachusetts.  Sen. Brown’s victory in the special election came amidst the bitter debate over the health care reform law, and his win was hailed as proof of a popular groundswell of opposition against health care reform.  His victory was also described as the first symbolic win for the then nascent Tea Party movement.  But since taking office Sen. Brown has been a wildcard, regularly working with Democrats on legislation while never hesitating to challenge the agenda of President Barack Obama.  With just over a year in office Sen. Brown already must prepare for a reelection campaign….and before gearing up for the campaign he has written a book called “Against All Odds:  my life of hardship, fast breaks and second chances.”  The book details a hard childhood for the Senator that helped to color his political outlook on life.  From the personal to the political, Sen. Brown tells us where he’s been and where he’s going.

 

Guest:

Sen. Scott Brown, R-Massachusetts; member of the Senate Committees on Veterans’ Affairs, Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs; author of “Against all odds:  my life of hardship, fast breaks and second chances”

ON TAPE

 

 

2:41 – 2:58:30

Zero-sum future:  American power in the age of anxiety

The Information Age has given way to an Age of Anxiety, as Gideon Rachman sees it. In his new book, Zero-Sum Future, the chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times, depicts a financially stable China manufacturing most of America’s products, a potentially unstable Middle East possessing most of the world’s oil, and America exercising its military and political muscle to maintain its power position.  Rachman argues that the financial and economic crisis unleashed by the Wall Street crash of September 2008 annihilated the assumptions that globalization was a win-win for all. It is no longer clear or even likely that globalization benefits all.  We explore unrest in Egypt, melting ice caps in the Arctic, pandemic disease in the third world, and the threat of nuclear weapons from the Cold War falling into the hands of new-age terrorists.

 

Guest:

Gideon Rachman, chief foreign affairs columnist for the Financial Times; author of “Zero-Sum Future:  American Power in an Age of Anxiety”

CALL HIM: (44) 208-992-6232.

BACK-UP CELL IS 011-44-773-992-4060

 

 

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, February 25, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, February 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 – 1:58:30

Raising healthier kids in Long Beach: overcoming challenges of disparities, pollution & more

The Port of Long Beach is the economic engine of Southern California, the conduit for almost every piece of cargo that comes into the region.  The mechanisms of that engine are also responsible for churning out a lot of pollution, from idling cargo ships to a legion of trucks and trains that are on a round-the-clock parade in and out of the port.  The port is just one cause for concern for the health and welfare of the children of Long Beach, a city that deals with divisions along lines of income and race and an inequity of health care services available to its citizens, especially its most vulnerable ones.  We take a look at the health problems confronting the children of Long Beach, from obesity to pollution, and examine ways to close those lines of division.

 

Guests:

Dr. Elisa Nicholas, CEO, The Children’s Clinic serving children and their families, a system of community health centers serving the Long Beach area. She is also the founding member and project director of the Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma. 

 

Dr. Helene Calvet, city health officer, City of Long Beach Department Health & Human Services

 

Alicia Carrera, parent and a Community Partners Council (CPC) representative

 

Robert G. Kanter, Ph.D., managing director of Environmental Affairs & Planning, Port of Long Beach

           

Adrian Martinez, attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:58:30

Comedy Congress live from the Crawford Family Forum!

The only true medicine for the pain of politics is laughter—after all, if we weren’t laughing at the (mostly) unintentional humor emanating from Washington D.C. and state capitols, chances are we’d be crying. As Republicans take over the House gridlock has settled into Congress while both sides insist on refighting old fights.  Haven’t we seen this healthcare reform movie before?  Budget battles, hand-wringing over the Middle East and a half-hearted attempt at civility in politics all just means more comedic material for us.  Tomorrow we’ll probably cry about our lost jobs, but today join us in laughing at the madness of it all—the truth hurts far less when it’s told by comedians.

 

Guests:

Greg Proops, regular actor & host of TV shows, movies and game shows—he is a regular performer on the American, British-original and touring versions of the improvisational show “Whose Line is it Anyway?”; he has a new podcast available on iTunes called “The Smartest Man in the World”; he’s the voice of the popular children’s series “Bob the Builder on PBS; and he is a regularly touring stand up comedian, coming to a comedy club near you!

IN STUDIO

 

Alonzo Bodden, winner of season 3 of NBC’s Last Comic Standing and host of the Speed Channel show 101 Cars You Must Drive, regular performer and field correspondent for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and guest star on several TV shows and movies

IN STUDIO

 

Ben Gleib, regular performer at the Hollywood Improv; you’ve seen him on the CBS The Late Late Show, and on NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly & Showtime’s The Green Room; named one of "Six Comedians who Could be Comedy’s Next Big Thing" in Esquire & a regular panelist on the E! Network’s Chelsea Lately

IN STUDIO

 

 

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, February 24, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Thursday, February 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 – 1:30

OPEN

 

 

1:30 - 1:39

CIA operative Michael Scheuer’s Osama bin Laden

In a statement he issued in 2007, al Qaida leader Osama bin Laden wrote to the U.S.: “If you want to understand what’s going on and if you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your losing the war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer in this regard.” Scheuer, who spent much of his 22-year career as a CIA intelligence officer hunting down bin Laden, has thought a lot about the guy and argues in his new book that the US has fundamentally misunderstood him; this has kept us fighting and suffering casualties in Afghanistan. Is Osama bin Laden a crazy-eyed, homicidal fanatic or a man of intellect, compassion and piety? Scheuer believes he’s the latter. He doesn’t arrive at this conclusion without his critics, many of whom say he has an incentive to build up an endlessly illusive and omnipotent adversary, who’s continued to defy American intelligence—and specifically Scheuer, for much of his career. But is bin Laden still the nucleus of a global movement, or has the threat of terrorism moved beyond al Qaida to home-grown terrorists, persuaded by preachers like Anwar al-Awlake, operating in a disjointed network on the internet?

 

Guests:

Michael Scheuer, adjunct professor at Georgetown University’s Center for Peace and Security Studies; former intelligence officer at the Central Intelligence Agency where he served as the Chief of the Bin Laden Issue Station (1996-1999) and as Special Advisor to the Chief of the bin Laden unit (2001-2004). His latest book is “Osama bin Laden”

IN STUDIO

• In his 22-year career with the CIA, he served as Chief of the Bin Laden Issue Station (1996-1999) and as Special Advisor to the Chief of the bin Laden unit (2001-2004)
• He is also the author of “Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terrorism,” which he wrote anonymously in 2004 before resigning from the CIA
• Osama bin Laden acknowledged Scheuer’s book in a 2007 statement: “If you want to understand what’s going on and if you would like to get to know some of the reasons for your losing the war against us, then read the book of Michael Scheuer in this regard,”

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

OPEN

 

 

2:21 – 2:39

Younger, healthier jump to the front of the organ transplant list

 

Guests:

TBD

 

 

2:41 – 2:58:30

A man with a stammer or a dancer with demons? It's Oscar time.

The 83^rd annual Academy Award presentation is Sunday night. James Franco and Anne Hathaway are hosting.  The two are rumored to be reenacting famous movie scenes. So if you don’t want to hear their rendition of “You’re the One that I Want” from the musical Grease, you may want to locate the mute button. Oh just kidding, it could be cute.  So while Oscar tries to pull in a younger audience, will Academy voters fall in line and give The Social Network the top honors? Or will they chose a small independent film like last year (The Hurt Locker) and hand the gold statue to Winter’s Bone? As far as the top acting prize, will the Oscar go to a guy with a rock, a man with a stammer, or a dancer with delusions? The biggest question of the night for some in the art world is whether the illusive street artist “Banksy” will show up if Exit through the Gift Shop takes the top prize for best documentary.  Some of his work has been seen around town. Is it shameless self-promotion or real?   If you haven’t seen all the nominated movies yet, you’re going to be eating a lot of popcorn this weekend. 

 

Guest:

John Horn, film writer for the Los Angeles Times

IN-STUDIO

 

 

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, February 23, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Wednesday, February 23, 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

How to shut down the federal government and live to tell the tale

It was November of 1995 and the leaders of the House of Representatives, flush off their Republican Revolution victory from a year earlier, and the Clinton White House, gearing up for a reelection campaign the following year, were playing an old fashioned game of brinksmanship.  Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich and President Clinton squared off over a budget bill, vetoed by Clinton, which resulted in the shutdown of the federal government that lasted for almost two months.  Flash forward to 2011 and another new Republican majority in the House is flexing its muscles against a Democratic president that will soon be up for reelection, and another shutdown looms.  This time it’s the budget bill and the raising of the federal debt ceiling that has created an impasse and both sides, the John Boehner-lead House and the Barack Obama White House, seem as if they won’t cede any ground.  We give a review of the ’95 shutdown and a primer on how the government might survive a new version of budget brinksmanship.

 

Guests:

TBD

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

The earth is rare, in high-demand, and local

Here’s the first thing to know about rare earth elements—they’re not very rare.  Cerium, an element used in high-tech ovens, is more abundance in the Earth’s crust than copper or lead.  Gadolinite, yttrium, scandium and terbium, while not household names, are just some of the rare earth elements that help to power and process several household items, advanced electronics, and green technologies making these anonymous little elements extremely valuable.  Mining rare earth elements is costly, dangerous and extremely non-environmentally-friendly, and after the U.S. pulled out of the business in the 1990’s it was left to China to provide tons of rare earth elements to high-tech product manufacturers.  The Chinese have since clamped down on their rare earth element business and we’re jumping back into it, a California mine out in the Mojave Desert leading the way.  What does California’s rare earth element mine look like and can it be done without too much ecological damage?

 

Guests:

Jim Sims, director of public affairs, Molycorp Minerals, the only company in the US that currently produces rare earths—located in the Mojave desert, it makes 3% of the earth’s rare earths
CALL HIM:

 

UNCONFIRMED:

Jack Lifton, co-founder of Technology Metals Research, rare commodities research firm

 

 

 

2:06 – 2:30

Castles of Sand II: How should the FDA weigh timely drug access with consumer safety?

The FDA began making deals with drug companies in the early 1990s: in exchange for green-lighting their cancer drugs based only on preliminary evidence, the companies would conduct follow-up studies to ensure those early results. But many of the companies failed to conduct those studies and now some drugs, like the blockbuster cancer treatment Avastin, have been pulled. At the same time, new studies show the FDA’s 510 (k) system, an accelerated approval process, saves time and money but also accounts for the majority of product recalls. How rigorous is the FDA when it comes to approving new drugs and new medical devices? Depends who you ask—some say the process needs to be streamlined to provide patients fast access to new drugs and devices; others caution that the process needs to be slowed down until full data can be compiled; critics on both ends of the spectrum agree the process needs to be made more transparent and consistent across the board. How should the FDA weigh providing quick access to new drugs against endangering the public’s health? And for drugs and devices that have been recalled after being approved – where’s the glitch? Is the FDA too fast, too slow, or just right?

 

Guests:

ON THE MEDICAL DEVICE APPROVAL PROCESS:

David Nexon, president, AdvaMed (Advanced Medical Technology Association), the medical device trade association

CALL HIM @

 

ON THE PHARMACEUTICAL APPROVAL PROCESS:

Scott Gottlieb, M.D., a practicing physician, has served in various capacities at the Food and Drug Administration, including senior adviser for medical technology; director of medical policy development; and, most recently, deputy commissioner for medical and scientific affairs.

CALL HIM @

 

SAYING THE FDA SHOULD BE MORE CAUTIOUS:

UNCONFIRMED:

Steven Nissen, chairman of the department of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic

 

Guest TBA

 

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

OPEN

 

 

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 Tuesday, February 22, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, February 22, 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

Castles of sand:  The problem with peer reviewed research

Peer review is a staple of scientific research—work is seldom considered complete without an extensive review process by colleagues in the same scientific field.  But what if the political and sociological biases of your colleagues unwittingly prevented a truly critical review process?  Particularly in the area of social sciences research a problem has been noticed with the decided political leaning of psychologists, sociologists and anthropologists—they all tend to be fairly liberal.  Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at the University of Virginia, labels these groups united by sacred values “tribal-moral communities” and the shared values can seriously hinder research and damage their credibility.  If the peer review process is tainted by such widely shared values, can the conclusions of years worth of social science research be trusted?  We look at the peer review process and ask if it’s possible for researchers to set aside their preconceived notions.

 

Guest:

UNCONFIRMED

Jonathan Haidt, professor of social psychology at the University of Virginia

 

 

 

1:41 – 1:58:30

Christo and Jeanne-Claude: The Importance of Being Ephemeral

Christo and Jeanne-Claude, artists and husband and wife who worked together for over 50 years until her death in 2009, have wrapped or surrounded landmark structures, islands and familiar public spaces around the world with sumptuous fabrics and vibrant colors, creating temporary and magical impressions on the landscape. When “The Gates” arrived in Central Park in February 2005, more than 7,000 bright-orange metal frames were hung with shimmering saffron fabric panels along the snow-covered walking paths. “Over the River,” the artistic couple’s newest installation in which translucent panels of fabric will be suspended over 5.9 miles of the Arkansas River in Colorado, is due to be finished in 2014, after years of preparation. When asked how to describe their art, Jean-Claude said, “Christo and I believe that labels are very important, but for bottles of wine, not for artists, and we usually don’t like to put a label on our art.” Christo’s comment clarified her point: “If one [label] is absolutely necessary, then it would be environmental artists because we work in both the rural and the urban environment.” And indeed they leave indelible, amazing and wonderful images and memories long after their installations have been dismantled and the pieces taken away. Patt welcomes Christo as he talks about the vision that has guided his and Jean-Claude’s life work. 

 

PATT:  Christo will be signing books tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 at Occidental College’s Thorne Hall. He and Jeanne-Claude will receive honorary degrees from Occidental tomorrow, Wednesday, February 23, at 5pm, followed by a public lecture.

 

Guest:

Christo

IN STUDIO

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

OPEN

 

 

2:21 – 2:39

How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly—and the Stark Choices Ahead

Dambisa Moyo, the former World Bank economist who caused quite a stink with her critique of American aid to Africa and reliance on celebrities like Angelina Jolie and Bono as self-proclaimed ambassadors to the African content, is back with a thesis that’s sure to shake things up again. Her new book chronicles what Moyo characterizes as a slow decline of the west as the world’s most prominent economic and political powerhouse. How did it happen? Through a series of economic and foreign policy foibles she recounts in detail. With U.S. interest payments on debt to newer world powers like China about to explode to the tune of $2,500 a year for every man, woman and child, Moyo’s could not be a more timely conversation. By 2014 net interest payments will surpass almost all discretionary, non-defense spending; by 2018 we’ll be spending more on interest payments than on Medicare. How will Uncle Sam pay down such massive interest and is it possible that things get so bad that the U.S. defaults on some loans? Moyo addresses those questions and more as she ruffles feathers left and right.

 

Guest:

Dambisa Moyo, former consultant for the World Bank. She’s the author of Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How there is a Better Way for Africa and How the West Was Lost: Fifty Years of Economic Folly—and the Stark Choices Ahead

IN STUDIO

 

 

 

2:41 – 2:58:30

Alan Arkin:  an improvised life

The Academy-Award winner Alan Arkin has always been a supremely gifted role-player on screen, delivering deadpan comedy and harrowing realities to his audiences. Now he emerges as a charismatic storyteller, revealing in his memoir, An Improvised Life, his childhood epiphany that ever since the age of five he had wanted to be an actor. However, it wasn’t until many years later, while on a location shoot overlooking the Hudson Valley, that he discovered during an intimate conversation with one of his co-stars what he had really been doing throughout his life, in pursuit of his artistic dream. “With that one statement I realized that what she’d said about herself was the impulse behind all of my own interests, all of my needs, all of my studying, compulsions, and passions,” Arkin writes in the beginning pages of his book. “This is dedicated to everyone who wants to be the music.”

 

Guests:

Alan Arkin, Academy Award-winning actor, director, musician & singer

IN STUDIO

 

 

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, 2/21/2011 - Presidents' Day - SHOW ON TAPE

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, February 21, 2011

1-3 p.m.

 

PRESIDENTS’ DAY HOLIDAY – SHOW ON TAPE – PLEASE DO NOT CALL

 

1:00 – 2:00

Well…Ronald Reagan at 100 still looms large over the American political landscape

Love him or hate him, Ronald Reagan is an American icon that even 22 years after he’s left the White House still dominates the country’s political landscape.  His policies, domestic and foreign, are adhered to by both political parties: Bill Clinton, in a Reagan-esque declaration in 1996, said “The era of big government is over,” stealing a page right out of the Gipper’s playbook.  Republicans swear by the Reagan tax-cutting doctrine and both parties are embracing the mantle of deficit-cutters, just like Reagan did in his 1981 inaugural address.  Reagan’s military buildup of the 1980’s indirectly led to the first Gulf War and his foreign policy of strength helped to guide George W. Bush after 9/11/01.  But it’s Reagan’s style that has had the most significant lasting power, his sunny disposition and eternal optimism becoming a prerequisite to run for and be elected to office in this country.  “Morning in America” is still the guiding philosophy for political candidates everywhere 30 years later.  Ronald Reagan turns 100 on Sunday and we use the opportunity of his centennial celebration to examine the man, the myth and the legend of America’s 40^th, and arguably most influential, president.

 

Guests:

Douglas Brinkley, Professor of History at Rice University and a contributing editor at Vanity Fair. His latest book, The Quiet World: Saving Alaska's Wilderness Kingdom 1879-1960, was published in January. He is editor of The Reagan Diaries.

 

William Niskanen, Chairman of President Reagan’s Council of Economic Advisors from 1981 – 1985; Chairman Emeritus of the CATO Institute

 

Bill Galston, Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at the Brookings Institution and former policy advisor to President Bill Clinton.

 

Ron Reagan, author of “My Father at 100”; son of President Ronald Reagan & First Lady Nancy Reagan; former host of programs on MSNBC & Air America Radio

 

 

2:00 – 3:00

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

 

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 County

Carmen Trutanich, City Attorney, Los Angeles

 

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