Patt Morrison for Tuesday, 11/23/09

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

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

Cell phone doubles as coyote: phone app helps immigrants cross the border

With the ubiquitous nature of cheap, internet-enabled phones it was only a matter of time before this came along: a new cell phone application will help illegal immigrants cross the treacherous U.S.-Mexico border, with GPS guidance and directions to supplies of water and food along the way.  The app, developed by a UC San Diego professor and activist, is intended to be apolitical, focusing on the safety of those immigrants who inevitably illegally cross the desert everyday; but obviously political controversy is surrounding the effort.  Is it immoral to aid immigrants to safely break the law?

 

Guest:

Ricardo Dominguez, associate professor of visual arts at UC San Diego & principal investigator at the California Institute for Telecommunications & Information Technology; designer of the “Transborder Immigrant Tool”

CALL HIM

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

A housing market in conflict: making sense of contradictory housing numbers

On Monday numbers were released on U.S. existing-home sales, showing that they’ve surged about 25% from January through September of this year—good news, right?  On Wednesday new-home sales figures will be released, and they’re expected to continue to drop (the Commerce Dept. already announced that new-home construction sank 10.6% in October)—bad news, right?  Throw in generally stabilizing home prices mixed with an expected jump in foreclosures and we have one seriously clouded picture of the U.S. housing market.  What, if anything, can we make from the numbers?

 

Guests:

Richard Green, director & chair of the USC Lusk Center for Real Estate

CALL HIM

 

 

2:21 – 2:30

A warm holiday meal

The Los Angeles Mission has been doling out Thanksgiving meals for the homeless and disadvantaged for nearly two decades and this year is no different....except they expect to feed more (close to four thousand) with fewer resources.  We'll talk to the president of the LA Mission about need, poverty, volunteerism, and a warm holiday meal.

 

Guest:

Herb Smith, President Los Angeles Mission

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2:30 – 2:58:30

Playing “The Card Game”

Credit card companies have never been favorites in the eyes of the American public, but since the collapse of the economy and with it the consumer credit market the abusive and predatory practices of those companies have been in the crosshairs of lawmakers and an angry public.  Frontline looks into the effort to corral credit card companies, especially in light of recent Congressional action that was meant to regulate insanely high interest rates; and that same legislation might have set off a host of new profit-making measures.  Patt talks to Frontline and the major players in the war over control of your wallet.

 

Guests:

Lowell Bergman, FRONTLINE correspondent, “Card Game”

CALL HIM:

 

Nessa Feddis, Vice President and Senior Counsel for the American Bankers Association

ON TAPE

 

Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), author of the credit card reform bill signed earlier this year by President Obama; chair of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee

ON TAPE

 

 

Jonathan Serviss

Producer, Patt Morrison Program

Southern California Public Radio

NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles

89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3-KPCV-FM

626.585.7821, office

415.497.2131, mobile

jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org

www.scpr.org

 

Patt Morrison for Monday, 11/23/09

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, November 23, 2009

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

Who’s your daddy? No really, who?

Now that over-the-counter DNA tests make it easier and less expensive than ever to verify paternity, more and more men are realizing…“that’s not my baby!” While the science may confirm suspicions—and end marriages—the courts are not as quick to deny nonbiological fathers their titles. So what is fatherhood, both biologically and legally? And should “fathers” be required to take a paternity test after the baby is born, just so we’re clear?

 

Guests:

Tom Leykis, former host of “The Tom Leykis Show” which was syndicated nationwide on CBS Radio

IN STUDIO

• In Los Angeles Leykis was heard on KLSX, up until the entire station’s “FM hot talk” format was cancelled this year; he has previously been a host on KFI in L.A. and talk station WRKO in Boston.

 

Gloria Allred, feminist attorney, she is a partner at the Los Angeles law firm Allred, Maroko & Goldberg

SHE CALLS:

 

2:06 – 2:30

Andrew Ross Sorkin’s Too Big to Fail

Egomaniacs, back-room deals and billions at stake sound like the trappings of a good work of fiction, but fiction it is not. New York Times financial reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin interviewed more than two hundred key players involved in the financial collapse, including Wall Street chief executives, current and former U.S. government officials, bankers, lawyers and foreign government officials to tell this inside story of how Wall Street and Washington fought to save the financial system-and themselves.

 

Guest:

Andrew Ross Sorkin, award-winning financial reporter for The New York Times, where he also writes a column; he is the founder and editor of “DealBook,” the Times' multimedia financial journal

CALL HIM:

 

 

2:30 – 2:39

NOT CONFIRMED - DO NOT PROMOTE

Earth… the sequel

After taking thousands of years to explore our own planet, and centuries to understand the planets that surround us, we have reached a point where we are discovering new worlds weekly. To date, astronomers have identified more than 370 worlds that orbit stars other than the sun. So what does that mean? Scientists hope to discover a planet that has the same make-up as our beloved earth somewhere in the galactic abyss. With recent  technological advances, we might finally get an answer to the most elusive question of all time, is the galaxy big enough for two or more earths?

 

Guest:

Timothy Ferris, author of "Seeking New Earths," the lead article in this months National Geographic Magazine

Contact:

 

 

2:50 - 2:58:30

The Biggest Potluck in the Nation

Spreading Thanksgiving cheer to those less fortunate is the reason for the season. Volunteers from the greater Pasadena community will purchase, provide and serve more than 5,000 meals at Union Station Homeless Services’ annual Thanksgiving Dinner-in-the-Park. A star studded list of celebrities will be volunteering their time to help serve the homeless men, woman and children this Thanksgiving, to make sure that no one is left behind.

 

Guests:

Rabbi Marvin Gross, executive director of Union Station Homeless Services

IN STUDIO

 

Hector Elizondo, a Golden Globe–nominated and Emmy Award–winning actor. He is most recently seen as Adrian Monk's new therapist, Dr. Neven Bell, on the long-running TV series "Monk." 

CALL HIM

 

 

Jonathan Serviss

Producer, Patt Morrison Program

Southern California Public Radio

NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles

89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3-KPCV-FM

626.585.7821, office

415.497.2131, mobile

jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org

www.scpr.org

 

Patt Morrison for Friday, 11/20/09

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Friday, November 20, 2009

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

 

 

1:30 - 1:58:30

Pay more, pollute more? The problem with carbon off-sets

Carbon offsets, a growing multi-billion dollar global industry, is a simple premise with an altruistic motivation:  purchasing a carbon offset to cancel out the emissions generated by activities like flying or driving, and direct that money to programs that reduce emissions elsewhere.  The developing problem is that carbon offsets are discouraging pollution but rather assuaging the guilt of the polluters.  Travel company Responsible Travel just cancelled its carbon offset program because while it might help customers feel virtuous it wasn’t doing anything to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  Is this a fundamental problem with cap-and-trade, carbon offset strategy?

 

Guests:

Justin Francis, CEO of Responsible Travel, which promotes travel that respects and benefits local people and the environment.

CALL HIM:

 

Robert Stavins, professor of business & government at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government; director of the Harvard University Environmental Economics Program

CALL HIM

• Stavins also directs the Harvard Project on International Climate Agreements, where he has helped to design carbon offset and cap-and-trade programs for private businesses and governments.

 

 

2:06 – 2:19

Gross negligence: the U.S. government’s liability for failed levees

A federal court judge rules that the Army Corps of Engineers is responsible for the levee breaches which left much of the city of New Orleans underwater after Hurricane Katrina.  The decision has the potential to leave the government venerable to billions of dollars in claims from victims.  The judge gave the corps a lambasting claiming they had a “myriad” of ways to protect the Bernard Parish and the Lower 9^th Ward but showed “insouciance, myopia and shortsightedness” along with “gross negligence” in opting not to do so.  The lead plaintiff’s attorney says Katrina was not a natural disaster but a disaster caused by the Army Corps of Engineers—and apparently, the judge agreed. 

 

Guests:

Pierce O’Donnell, partner in O’Donnell & Associates PC and lead attorney for the plaintiff

CALL HIM @

 

 

2:21 – 2:30

OPEN

 

 

2:30 – 2:58:30

OBAMANOS!

Hendrik Herzberg’s byline in the New Yorker guarantees a wise, edgy and compelling   exposition of the body politic and political bodies. His new book Obamanos! is all about the year of living presidentially, offering context to key elements that defined the 2008 general election while telling the story of a reinvigoration of the Democratic Party alongside a Republican tailspin.

 

Guests:

Hendrik Herzberg, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of “Obamanos!: The Rise of a New Political Era”

IN STUDIO

 

 

Jonathan Serviss

Producer, Patt Morrison Program

Southern California Public Radio

NPR Affiliate for Los Angeles

89.3 KPCC-FM | 89.1 KUOR-FM | 90.3-KPCV-FM

626.585.7821, office

415.497.2131, mobile

jserviss@kpcc.org / jserviss@scpr.org

www.scpr.org

 

Press Release on Hate Crime Report (I think I just sent the report pdf before)

National Adoption Day on Friday

MEDIA        

ADVISORY

November 19, 2009

 

Los Angeles Superior Court Celebrates National Adoption Day

Proceedings Will Unite 246 Foster Children with Their ‘New’ Families

 

Adopting families, judicial officers, and leaders of several children’s advocacy organizations will celebrate the 10^th annual National Adoption Day on Friday,  November 20, 2009, at the Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Courthouse in Monterey Park. 

 

Juvenile Court Presiding Judge Michael Nash will open the day’s festivities with a news conference at 1:00 p.m. in the fifth floor waiting area.

 

At the news conference’s conclusion, final adoption proceedings will be conducted by judicial officers in 20 courtrooms, completing adoptions for 246 foster children who will join loving families.

 

WHO:      Judge Michael Nash, juvenile court presiding judge; Trish Ploehn, director, Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services; Karen Ullman, senior staff attorney, Public Counsel; and Janis Spire, chief executive officer, The Alliance for Children’s Rights and Nia Vardalos, National Adoption Day spokesperson.

 

WHAT:     News conference followed by completing 246 adoptions of foster children.

 

WHEN:     1:00 p.m., Friday, November 20, 2009

 

WHERE:  Edmund D. Edelman Children’s Court, 201 Centre Plaza Drive, Monterey Park  91754.

 

WHY:        Celebrating the adoption of nearly 246 Los Angeles County foster children.

# # #

 

REVISED: Regents Approve Partnership to Open New MLK Hospital

PLEASE DO NOT USE THE QUOTES FROM SUPERVISORS THAT WERE SENT WITH EARLIER RELEASE.   THEY WERE NOT OFFICIALLY APPROVED

 

                         

COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES 

                                             Contact:  William T Fujioka, CEO, County of Los Angeles

        (213) 974-1101

Nov. 19, 2009                                                                                                                                       

                                   

Supervisors Praise UC Regents’ Vote for ‘New MLK Hospital’

 

LOS ANGELES – Thursday, November 19, 2009 – The L.A. County Board of Supervisors today praised members of the University of California Board of Regents for their vote in supporting a county partnership to open a “New MLK Hospital” in Willowbrook in late 2012.

 

A non-profit corporation that is independent of the County of Los Angeles will operate “New MLK Hospital,” a new, seismically safe 120-bed medical facility. The non-profit corporation, once formed, will have an appointed Board of Directors that will have full authority and accountability over the hospital.

 

UC would provide physician services through an agreement with the hospital corporation. L.A. County will provide ongoing financial support to New MLK Hospital. UC will have a direct and substantial role in establishing and maintaining high quality standards for patient care.

 

Though “New MLK Hospital” will be independent of the county, all services provided at the new hospital will be coordinated with services provided by L.A. County at the hospital’s MLK Multi-Service Ambulatory Care Center (MLK MACC) and the nearby Hubert H. Humphrey Comprehensive Care Center.

 

The Board of Supervisors will consider a “New MLK Hospital” motion to move the proposal for the L.A. County-University of California partnership forward now that the UC Regents have voted to approve the arrangement.

 

# # #

 

Hate Crime Report 2008-

Here is the Hate Crime Report released today.