Oxnard teacher loses job over past porn work. The Reality of Love? Bachelors come in all colors. Mayor Villaraigosa on the state of Los Angeles. Oil bonanza can spell trouble for nations. Boink Boink! Nyuk nyuk nuk! The Three Stooges are back.
Oxnard teacher loses job over past porn work
Yesterday the Oxnard School Board voted unanimously to dismiss teacher Stacie Halas from her job teaching science at Richard B. Haydock Intermediate School.
Last month Halas had been placed on leave after some students found a pornographic film she had apparently starred in several years before and brought it to administrators. It turned out that Ms. Halas had worked in the adult entertainment industry in San Diego as a model and may have starred in more than one pornographic film.
According to the school board Ms. Halas would have been a distraction if she had been allowed to continue teaching at the school, although parents may have had a different view. In early March parents were invited to a school board meeting to give input to the board about Ms. Halas’ future…no parents attended. Following last night’s dismissal vote, Ms. Halas will have thirty days to appeal and will stay on paid leave until her fate is finally decided.
Does she still have a chance to retain her job? Recently another teacher in Florida who appeared in porn was allowed to keep his job. Why is this case different? And, is knowing your teacher worked in the adult industry just too distracting? Is there no way to learn when your teacher did porn?
Guest:
Jeff Chancer, Superintendant, Oxnard School District
Diane Duke, Executive Director of the Free Speech Coalition, the trade association for the adult entertainment industry
The Reality of Love? Bachelors come in all colors
ABC’s hit romance franchise “The Bachelor” may not be feeling the love, following the filing of a class action lawsuit over claims of purposeful discrimination against people of color.
Two African-American men, Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson, took part in an open casting for “The Bachelorette” in 2011, but claim they were not treated the same as the other, predominantly white, applicants. Lawyers for the men say the case is about civil and economic rights.
Do reality TV shows have a responsibility to portray racial diversity? Would you like to see more racially mixed couples on TV in general? Even if shows of this nature were racially diverse, would a man or woman from an ethnic minority be likely to stay in the contest? Should this be an issue for shows that are just about entertainment?
Guests:
Doron Ofir, Founder and Director of Doron Ofir Casting based in Los Angeles
Greg Braxton, Television Writer, Los Angeles Times
Mayor Villaraigosa on the state of Los Angeles
Today on the show, Mayor Villaraigosa said that he will propose "hundreds" of layoffs in tomorrow's budget announcement. The mayor had previously said that "a large number of employees" would be laid off under his new budget proposal, but declined to give a more specific estimate.
"I'd just say in the hundreds. We'll be eliminating a lot of positions as well. We've had managed hiring, and we had to fund certain positions, but we haven't filled them over the last few years, so we're going to eliminate those positions," said Villaraigosa. "We're going to be a much leaner government. Not because we wanted to, but because we've been in the worst budget crisis in our city's history, since the 1930s. Just as the state has and just as the federal government has and as city's have across the country."
In addition, Villaraigosa stated he will ask voters to extend Measure R, 2008’s half-penny sales tax, which is set to expire in 2039. With an extension on the tax, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) will have future revenue to bond against, thus allowing for highway improvements, transit construction and the creation of 410,000 new jobs.
By simply creating the tax in 2008, the city was able to double the size of its rail system, and several projects currently on the table would be accelerated, in some cases by nearly two decades.
He also stressed his continued support of America Fast Forward, a program he is trying to get the US House of Representatives to pass. The legislation would install a national transportation loan program which would provide flexible, low-interest loans from the federal government for road and rail projects that are locally funded. The plan has support from 188 mayors, the AFL-CIO, the Chamber of Commerce, and it has passed in the Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 74-22.
Interview Highlights
On why he wants to accelerate transit projects:
"A couple of months after we passed Measure R ... I remember a woman coming up to me at a town hall and said Mayor, where's your subway? We passed Measure R, we gave you the money.' And I said, 'Ma'am, this is a half-penny sales tax, not a ten cent sales tax.' ... in other words, we don't get that 40 mill in the first year; we get it over a 30-year period of time. But it gave me the idea .... we should try to figure out a way to accelerate it.
We developed the 30/10 plan, which is now 'America Fast Forward.' It is in both the house and senate version of the transportation bill. It would expand the tip of the program from 128 million to a billion dollars, and would allow us to loan from the federal government and accelerate our projects, creating 152 thousand jobs here in L.A. in next decade.
We just heard today that both the subway and the regional connector are going to be in next year's budget (the Senate marked it up today). This will allow us to accelerate these programs and create jobs now."
On extending Measure R:
"If we were just to eliminate the sunset on measure R, do nothing else... not raise the half-penny sales tax – we can bond against that money and accelerate our programs with very little help.
You can't tell people like me 'You've got to make job number one job creation,' and then when we put proposals like accelerating these projects, that 'Hey, we shouldn't do it.' Yes, there are some issues relating to out-year expenditures. But the fact is, this will allow us to double the size of the rail system and now.
In a couple of days, we'll be opening up the exposition line phase one to Culver City. In June, we'll open up the extension from Woodland Hills to Chatsworth of the Orange Line. We're in construction right now for the extension of the gold line to Azusa. We're in construction for phase two of the exposition line from Culver City to Santa Monica. We're going to break ground on the Crenshaw line. Look, we've got to build this transit system, this is a great way to do it, and yes we're going to ask the voters if they agree.
There were a lot of naysayers then, but now everybody is extolling Measure R.
On how its not a tax increase
"It's not a tax increase, it's an extension. It's an elimination of the sunset. We've done a poll on this; it does not impact or hurt in any way the other tax initiatives, because people understand very clearly— all it is is an extension from 2039 indefinitely until the people change it. I'm duty-bound to focus on job creation. I'm not waiting on Washington. Yes, we're hoping that Washington will pass this bill, I think they will. I think America Fast Forward will be in it, but we're not waiting on them.
On whether the subway and connector plans will get funding:
"It's never definite. But that's why I go to Washington, that's why I'm knocking on these doors. That's why... I've made this issue of infrastructure such a big part of city's agenda, not just our city's agenda. These used to be bi-partisan issues – investing in transportation and infrastructure. The fact is, job creation is job number one for us... Cities like ours are congested and gridlocked and we need to expand our public transportation systems. The fact that it's in I think is a reflection of all the hard work that we've engaged in over the last two years."
On his proposed budget:
"It will be a balanced budget. It will be a prudent and responsible budget. It will be a budget that includes layoffs. It will be a budget that asks our employees and our city council to change our retirement system to reflect the fact that we're living a lot longer. It will be a budget that has almost two-thirds in structural cuts, not just one time cuts.
You have a deficit because revenues are down. That is why I'm proposing pension reform. Civilian city employees, if they're on Kaiser, their family pays zero. Are we're asking is pay 10 percent. We're not asking for radical contributions here, we're just saying you've got to pay more for your health care at a time when you're paying zero."
On the number of layoffs he's proposing:
"I'd just say in the hundreds. We'll be eliminating a lot of positions as well. We've had managed hiring, and we had to fund certain positions, but we haven't filled them over the last few years, so we're going to eliminate those positions. We're going to be a much leaner government. Not because we wanted to, but because we've been in the worst budget crisis in our city's history, since the 1930's. Just as the state has and just as the federal government has and as city's have across the country."
Weigh In:
What can Mayor Villaraigosa do to make this proposed law a reality? What projects exactly would such loans be used for? If Measure R becomes permanent, what advances will Los Angeles see in transportation? How will it affect the timetables of specific rail or road plans? What other issues did Villaraigosa address?
Guest:
Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor, City of Los Angeles
Oil bonanza can spell trouble for nations
New York Times writer Martina Ottaway wrote that “oil and democracy do not mix.” She’s not the only one to have made the observation that most of the top ten oil-rich countries – which include Kuwait, Mexico, Brazil, Iran and Russia - are not exactly models of democracy and freedom. Nor are they, as you might expect, pastures of peace and plenty for all their citizens. The wealth that pours into nations rich in natural resources, like petroleum, tends to concentrate among the few and the powerful, rather than lifting the entire population out of poverty.
According to Michael Ross’ new book, for many countries, oil wealth can hinder democracy, inflate government budgets and stifle other industries. The resulting political, economic and societal volatility can lead a country to erupt in civil war. Yet some nations – Norway among them – have managed to avoid the so-called “oil curse” – to the benefit of all its citizens.
How did they do it? Does an abundance of oil mean an abundance of riches – and headaches? How can a nation capitalize on its natural resources without wreaking havoc within its own borders? Is the “oil curse” inevitable?
Guest:
Michael Ross, author of “The Oil Curse: How Petroleum Wealth Shapes the Development of Nations” (Princeton); Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)
Boink Boink! Nyuk nyuk nuk! The Three Stooges are back
For those who have long mourned the end of the Three Stooges franchise, great news. You no longer have to rerun your favorite moments of black-and-white stupidity over and over on your basement VCR after your wife has gone to bed. A new era in Stoogedom has begun, launched by none other than the Farrelly Brothers. Some would say there could not be a better team to carry on the Stooges’ legacy than the one that brought you “Dumb and Dumber,” “Hall Pass” and “There’s Something About Mary.”
Directors Bobby and Peter Farrelly hope that getting their slimmed-down stooges, played by Sean Hayes, Will Sasso and Chris Diamantopolous, into just the same kind of knuckleheaded trouble as their predecessors will give Stoogeanistas a new lease on life. Have you been jonesing for some good old-fashioned slapstick? Will Gen-Y-ers flock to theaters to guffaw at the lame-brained antics of their grandparents’ era? What is that we love about watching grown men poke each other in the eye?
Guest:
Peter Farrelly, co-director of “The Three Stooges” with his brother, Bobby Farrelly. The writing, producing and directing team has also helmed "Shallow Hal," "Kingpin," and "Dumb & Dumber."
Three Stooges trailer: