Kim Jong Il dies. Fewer Americans with a ring on it. From deal to debacle? The Payroll Tax cut. You shouldn’t have, really (worst gifts ever).
Is there any hope for change in North Korea?
He was 69. State media, in a "special broadcast" Monday from the North Korean capital, said Kim Jong Il died on a train due to a "great mental and physical strain" during a "high-intensity field inspection" on Saturday. His death sparked hysteria in a place where he fostered an intense adoration in the people he led.
This video compiled by North Korean state media shows mourners weeping over his death:
Kim has been a bit of an enigma on the world stage. The stories coming out of North Korea about "Dear Leader," as Kim is known, are hard to believe. There was the one about him being the world's greatest golfer. According to government documents, on his 72nd birthday, Kim hit five hole-in-ones. And to make the feat even more incredible: it was his first time playing the game.
He claimed to have invented the hamburger and written several operas. But Kim also ran, according to Human Rights Watch, one of the world's most repressive regimes with a state-controlled media, hundreds of thousands of political prisoners and many citizens living without adequate food.
In Los Angeles, many Korean Americans rejoiced, excited for change after Kim's 17 years of rule. "It's kind of morbid to celebrate someone's death," said Peter Huh, local Korean American and long-time supporter of KPCC. "But ... he was a cruel man who caused so much harm to his own citizens; I think there is no one who is going to feel sorry for his passing."
With Kim gone, Huh said that there is hope for reunification and peaceful coexistence of the North and South. But the Washington Post reports that financial disparity between North Korea's per capita income is less than 5 percent of the South's. According to Huh, the South's financial strain would be inevitable, but reunification is a must.
"These people, our people – we've been a country for 5,000 years ... This is really a blip in our history, and I think we are looking to East and West [Germany's reunification] as an inspiration that we can also do the same for our country," he said.
Young Ho Kim from Koreatown voiced the anxiousness some other local Korean Americans felt about a change in power. He said that Southern Korea should approach the situation carefully. "There are a lot of extremists in South Korea who just want to rush over and say 'This is our opportunity,'" he said. "But that can have repercussions. A lot of people in Korea don't want a war."
Amid speculation, North Korea remains tight-lipped about its information, and little is certain about what will happen after the change in power. The former North Korean leader wanted his successor to be his third son, Kim Jong Un. Not much is known about him, but he is believed to be in his late 20s, and there is speculation that he will rule with a group of advisers.
WEIGH IN:
What will the region be affected by the death of "Dear Leader?" What do we know about former North Korean leader's son, Kim Jong Un? Is there any hope for change in North Korea? And, how are Korean-Americans in the Southland dealing with today's news?
Guests:
Jim Walsh, International security expert at Security Studies Program, Center for International Studies at MIT
Dae Yoon, Executive Director, Korean Resource Center
Jihee Huh, Local Korean American, member of the KPCC Board of Directors
Fewer Americans with a ring on it
Married couples in the U.S. are at a record low, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center. The 2010 statistics say just 51 percent of adults are married, compared to 1960 when 72 percent of all adults were hitched. Young Americans in particular have heard a quiet hush of wedding bells. The median age of those walking down the aisle for the first time has never been higher: brides at age 26.5 and grooms at 28.7.
Sociologists insist that marriage is still an appealing institute. We still like it enough to put a ring on it – it’s simply that more people are delaying the commitment, and many are staying single for longer periods after divorce. The survey also showed a sharp one-year drop of new marriages between 2009 and 2010, but that "may or may not be related to the sour economy," according to Pew researchers. "Fallout from the Great Recession may be a factor in the recent decrease in newlyweds, although the linkage between marriage rates and economic hard times is not entirely clear."
Another demographic seeing a particular hit is the less-educated. Family researcher, Stephanie Coontz, said low-income people are putting off marriage as they hope to become more financially viable, which may never happen for them. She says while some of the factors in these statistics are negative, many are positive.
WEIGH IN:
What influenced when and whether you tied the knot? How have attitudes towards marriage shifted in your family and among your friends? What are individuals losing and what are they gaining with the single life or cohabitation? What are the consequences for your community and for the economy?
Guest:
Stephanie Coontz, teaches history and family studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington; Director of Research and Public Education for the Council on Contemporary Families; Author "A Strange Stirring": The Feminine Mystique and American Women at the Dawn of the 1960s (Basic Books, 2011) & “Marriage, A History: How Love Conquered Marriage” (Viking Press, 2005).
From deal to debacle? The Payroll Tax cut
Congress is in disarray this morning over a deal to extend the payroll tax cut. House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said Republican representatives will not pass the Senate's version of the bill that would have extended the cuts for two months.
Last week, the Republican-majority House agreed to a one-year extension, but tagged on spending cuts opposed by Democrats, including a pay freeze for federal workers and changes to Medicare for high-income recipients. The Senate deal found consensus by raising fees on government-backed home loans, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. It also included an expedited review of the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was optimistic his party cronies would pass the deal, but there was either a miscommunication or miscalculation by Republican leadership. It's being reported the White House was blind-sided by the upset because Boehner had reportedly told them he had the votes. Lawmakers are being summoned back from their holidays in an attempt to bridge the divide.
WEIGH IN:
What are the ins and outs of this failure? What do each of the parties want exactly?
Guests:
Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer in the DC bureau covering Congress, Politics
Mark Standriff, Communications Director, California Republican Party
Michael Linden, Director for Tax and Budget Policy, Center for American Progress
You shouldn’t have, really (worst gifts ever)
The holidays mean different things to different people. To some, it’s a deeply spiritual time. For others, it’s all about getting together with friends and family. To most of us, fair or not, the holidays also mean – PRESENTS!
As crude as the over-commercialization of Christmas can be, the thoughtful giving and receiving of gifts can be a beautiful thing. When done right, it’s a wonderful way to show our loved ones how much we care. But sometimes, things go terribly, terribly wrong.
We don’t mean to sound ungrateful. But come on, a really bad gift can definitely be worse than no gift at all. No one needs 43 nose clippers. Or something clearly grabbed quickly from the cupboard at home to fulfill a gift-giving obligation, like dish soap or a dusty, used candle (both true stories, by the way).
And don’t even get us started on re-gifting. According to a recent survey, about 41-percent of Americans have done it. On the one hand, it’s better for the environment to pass that junk on, than throw it away. On the other hand, men don’t usually dig getting sweaters meant for women. And if you hated that toilet plunger given to you, chances are your office-mate will hate it even more.
Yes, we should all count our blessings, especially in these turbulent times. But once in awhile, it’s OK to pause and ask: what the hell was s/he thinking?! So just for a bit, AirTalk invites you to put gratitude aside and let it rip.
WEIGH IN:
What’s the worst Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa gift you’ve ever gotten? What made it so bad, so awkward or so humiliating? And who was the culprit behind the abomination?