KPCC listeners near 1,000,000 meals for hungry ... new book reviews ethnic spas ... fighting bullying with jiu-jitsu ... CyberFrequencies marks the Afghanistan War's 10th anniversary ... Hard Times and child care ... Brian Watt and Frank Stoltze, KPCC reporters, get real ...
Massage tour of L.A.: "The Spa Less Traveled"
Off-Ramp host John Rabe talks with Gail Herndon and Brenda Goldstein, who tried dozens of ethnic spas across L.A. for their new guidebook, "The Spa Less Traveled."
LA Regional Food Bank as poverty barometer
The latest US Census numbers show more Americans are living under the poverty line than at any time in the last 52 years, when they started keeping track of the statistic. This was no surprise to Michael Flood, head of the LA Regional Food Bank, who met Off-Ramp host John Rabe in the warehouse of the Food Bank's South L.A. headquarters.
Want some good news? KPCC listeners are approaching 1,000,000 meals for families in need across Southern California through our partnership with the food bank. You're making a difference. That partnership continues in our upcoming membership drive.
Here's the statshot from the US Census Bureau's latest report:
– Real median household income in the United States in 2010 was $49,445, a 2.3 percent decline from the 2009 median.
– The nation's official poverty rate in 2010 was 15.1 percent, up from 14.3 percent in 2009, the third consecutive annual increase in the poverty rate.
– There were 46.2 million people in poverty in 2010, up from 43.6 million in 2009, the fourth consecutive annual increase and the largest number in the 52 years for which poverty estimates have been published.
Fighting bullying with jiu-jitsu in East Pasadena
Off-Ramp host John Rabe visits Gracie Barra, a jiu-jitsu center in East Pasadena that teaches kids self-defense skills, but – more importantly – teaches them self-respect.
Hard Times: Marshelle Mills
Marshelle Mills is a mother of three. Her husband works for LAUSD and — until recently — she worked in child development. She's been unemployed for some time, and she's even gotten a few job offers — offers that she says she was forced to decline.
“I have three kids. Rebecca, she’s seven. My son Austin is three years old — he’s autistic, really sweet, really sensitive. And I’ve got the mean one, A.J. He’s one. A.J. is bad to the bone," said Marshelle.
Marshelle was pregnant with her youngest son when she found out she was laid off. “It was heartbreaking. I don’t want to sound over dramatic, but to me losing a job was a little bit like what I imagine going through a divorce is when you love what you do. And I loved what I did,” said Mills.
The toughest aspect of unemployment for the Mills family was the lack of affordable child care, previously provided by her former employer. With three young kids, it weighs heavily on their decision making.
"For child care per week, it's about 300 dollars a week, so about 1200 dollars a month. And frankly I don't pay that much for rent," said Mills. "That's just for a child care center certified by the state of California. That just means if they do something inappropriate, there's a watchdog. There's rules on the education level, there's rules on how many adults need to be in the room. My very fist administrative job in child care was an unlicensed facility, and that meant I'd literally be alone with 50 children. There were no rules."
"I’ve gotten some offers. Not great. My husband and I sat down and did the math," said Marshelle. "What would we make? What would the expenses be? Transportation? Wardrobe? On my best offer, we find out that I would save 100 dollars a month staying home. And frankly my kids were happier when I’m at home, it just made sense."
Marshelle remains optimistic about the future, “I think I’m good at my job, and I desperately want to go back. I just know that that the only way I’m going to be competitive is to get education, and so I’ve got to bide my time,” said Mills. “And if I’m going to bide my time to get the education I need, I have to choose not to be bitter and enjoy the moments I have with my kids at home.”
Goodbye, Columbus Day. Hello #ColumboDay!
It's Columbus Day, honoring, as anthropologist Jack Weatherford puts it, the man "who opened the Atlantic slave trade and launched one of the greatest waves of genocide known in history:"
Autumn would hardly be complete in any elementary school without construction-paper replicas of the three cute ships that Columbus sailed to America, or without drawings of Queen Isabella pawning her jewels to finance Columbus' trip.
This myth of the pawned jewels obscures the true and more sinister story of how Columbus financed his trip. The Spanish monarch invested in his excursion, but only on the condition that Columbus would repay this investment with profit by bringing back gold, spices, and other tribute from Asia. This pressing need to repay his debt underlies the frantic tone of Columbus' diaries as he raced from one Caribbean island to the next, stealing anything of value.
After he failed to contact the emperor of China, the traders of India or the merchants of Japan, Columbus decided to pay for his voyage in the one important commodity he had found in ample supply - human lives. He seized 1,200 Taino Indians from the island of Hispaniola, crammed as many onto his ships as would fit and sent them to Spain, where they were paraded naked through the streets of Seville and sold as slaves in 1495. Columbus tore children from their parents, husbands from wives. On board Columbus' slave ships, hundreds died; the sailors tossed the Indian bodies into the Atlantic.
-- Anthropologist Jack Weatherford, Macalaster College
So instead of Columbus, let's honor Columbo!
Here's my 2010 interview with William Link, co-creator of "Columbo," along with "Mannix" and "Murder, She Wrote." Link explains how he and his partner came up with the idea of Columbo, and why they didn't approach it as a "whodunit."
Orff-Ramp — Music for Kids
Ilsa Setziol takes us to a music school for toddlers and little kids that uses the teachings of Carl Orff, the composer of "Carmina Burana."
Larry Mantle celebrates 25 years of Airtalk with party, Off-Ramp interview
Note from John Rabe: It's a real pleasure to work with Larry Mantle, who started hosting Airtalk on April 1, 1985 (when I was 19). We threw a party for Larry this week, with Morning Edition host Steve Julian as the MC, since he's known Larry for 27 years. I was honored to be asked to interview Larry at the party, held in the Crawford Family Forum here at the Mohn Broadcast Center. Here's some of our conversation, which covers Larry's beginnings as a would-be pastor, his love of live radio, and s-e-x.
CyberFrequencies marks Afghanistan anniversary
CyberFrequencies' Queena Kim, Tanya Miller, and guests consider the US war in Afghanistan, ten years on.