The state of plummeting home sales. Killing your lawn - going green by going brown. Is the egg recall all it's cracked up to be? The state of medical care inside California’s prisons. Later, Boing Boing's Mark Frauenfelder on his DIY approach to searching for meaning in a throwaway world.
Why are home sales plunging?
Home sales fell 27 percent nationwide from a month earlier, this according to numbers from the National Association of Realtors. This was a much bigger drop than expected from the expiration of the federal tax credit. What does it mean? Is the economy far worse than we think? What’s going on psychologically—are people just terrified to sell their homes? What’s it like in the trenches of the housing market? And are we seeing a fundamental shift in how we value home ownership as a nation?
Guests:
Richard Green, Director, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate
Steve Goddard, President of the California Association of Realtors
Kill your lawn, get cash
The Los Angeles County Waterworks districts of Malibu, Antelope Valley, Kagel Canyon, Acton, and Val Verde are offering cash for killing…lawns that is. The Districts will give residents a dollar for every square foot of lawn they take out and replace with drought-resistant landscaping. The per-property limit is 5,000 square feet. The County estimates that every square foot of grass people change out saves 55 gallons of water per year. But how do you get rid of your lawn and what do you replace it with?
For more information on the program, visit LA County Waterworks. And residents served by LA's Department of Water and Power or the Upper San Gabriel Valley Water District, can learn more about turf removal incentives at SoCalWaterSmart.com.
Guest:
Lili Singer, Special Projects Coordinator, Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers & Native Plants, Inc.
Egg salmonella scare: is food safety all it’s cracked up to be?
A recall is underway for almost half a billion eggs due to a salmonella outbreak, causing many to wonder, how safe is food production in America? The House passed the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act last year, and the Senate is due to take it up soon. If passed, the Food and Drug administration could issue food recalls—right now, the FDA can only ask companies to pull products from the shelves. How safe is our food? Is the egg scare an aberration? Or is it time to make major changes to food regulation?
Guest:
Christopher A. Waldrop, Director of the Food Policy Institute at the Consumer Federation of America
Prison affliction: medical care inside California’s state prisons
Ten years ago, medical care at California’s state prisons was worse than bad – it was deadly. A lawsuit by the Prison Law Office compelled the Department of Corrections to implement changes to their policies and procedures, but a few years later, inmates were still dying. This prompted a court investigation, resulting in takeover of the prison medical system by a federal receiver in 2006. Have things improved since then? KPCC reporter Julie Small conducted a year-long investigation into the state of health care within California’s prison system, speaking with corrections officials, prison medical experts, inmates and their families and more. Her findings are revealed in a five-part series airing this week.
KPCC's full prison medical coverage, including Julie's reports, photos and video is here.
Guests:
Julie Small, KPCC Reporter
Don Specter, Director, Prison Law Office
Bonnie Long, Chair of the Inmate Family Council at California Institute of Women, member of the Statewide Family Council
Searching for meaning in a throwaway world
Nerds of today don’t simply toil away in front of computer screens. Many have harnessed the information push of the internet to learn how to do—and make—just about everything from bikes to musical instruments to traditional crafts. The commercial success of sites like Etsy is only one indicator of an increasing demand for things made by hand, as communities of artisans and apprentices, buyers and sellers, find each other online. What tangible items do you treasure? Are you a tinkerer? What do you insist on making yourself? Boing Boing founder Mark Frauenfelder joins guest host David Lazarus in studio to discuss his book, Made By Hand.
Guest:
Mark Frauenfelder, author of Made By Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World (Penguin). Founder of Boing Boing and Editor in Chief of Make magazine