The ACLU of Southern California is suing the LA County Board of Supervisors over putting a cross back on the County's seal. Next, how to date effectively online and a look at the insurance grey area for rideshare services like Uber and Lyft. Then, a look at the Olympics kick-off in Sochi. Later, the merits of modern long-form journalism.
ACLU files lawsuit against LA County over restoring religious cross to county seal
The ACLU is suing the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors over its decision to put a religious cross back in the official county seal for violation of the First Amendment.
RELATED: ACLU sues over cross symbol on official LA County seal
The Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 in January to restore the symbol in the county emblem. Supervisors Michael D. Antonovich and Don Knabe proposed the motion. Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas also voted in favor of restoring the cross.
The county seal was redesigned in 2004, with the addition of the San Gabriel Mission. At the time, the mission was not topped with a cross because the building was being earthquake retrofitted. A cross was restored four years ago. Consequently, Supervisors Antonovich and Knabe argue that the seal should also be updated for historical and architectural accuracy.
Guest:
Mark Rosenbaum, Chief Counsel at the ACLU of Southern California
Can a few simple words turn you into a successful online dater?
If you’re trying to look attractive in your online dating profile, you may want to take up surfing.
According to WIRED’s analysis of “massive amounts of data” from popular dating sites OkCupid and Match.com, what people say in their profiles may play a role in how attractive other users find them to be.
A hard look at the 1000 most popular words on the site and how attractive the people who use them are rated shows that the “hottest” men talk about oceans, breakfast, and live music.
The women mention fitness, Radiohead, and fashion. Attractive people of both genders overwhelmingly mention surfing, yoga, and London. Another common theme for the most attractive online daters is some breaking of gender norms. Women interested in technology and men who mention crafting are rated very attractive.
Are we a culture of Radiohead-listening, surfing, Anglophiles? Is the dating pool on sites like OkCupid and Match self-selecting? Does online attractiveness translate to in-person chemistry?
Guest:
Caitlin Roper, Senior Editor at WIRED
Uber wrongful death lawsuit highlights insurance grey area for rideshares
Popular ride-sharing app Uber is facing a wrongful death lawsuit after one of the company's drivers, Syed Muzaffar, struck and killed a 6-year-old girl and injured her mother and brother in San Francisco on New Year's Eve.
This is the first wrongful death lawsuit against the company. Uber has distanced itself from the driver, claiming the company is not responsible since Muzaffar was not carrying a fare at the time. The company deactivated Muzaffar’s account after the accident. Muzaffar's attorney, Graham Archer, claims he was working for the company, was logged into the app at the time and had just dropped off a passenger.
"He's a father of 4, so he would have been at home with his family if he hadn't been working for Uber in San Francisco," Archer told AirTalk in a statement. "He was logged into the application, he had dropped off a fare and was looking for a new fare in an area."
The case highlights a grey area when it comes to how these ride-sharing companies handle insurance. Uber carries a $1 million policy, but it's only valid when the driver is carrying a passenger. That means drivers idling or cruising in search of fares may be left without coverage.
Personal insurance policies do not cover drivers if they're operating as a livery or conveyance service. In addition, ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft are not required to carry commercial insurance required of taxi companies.
The Uber Help Center FAQ page briefly addresses insurance issues stating:
If you’re taking a ride requested through uberX, some transportation providers are rideshare drivers providing transportation with their personal vehicles. Rideshare providers carry personal insurance policies. In addition, there’s a commercial insurance policy with $1 million of coverage per incident.
This policy covers drivers’ liability from the time a driver accepts your trip request through the app until the completion of your trip. This policy is excess to the driver’s own policy, but it acts as primary insurance if the driver’s policy is not available for any reason.
In addition, there is uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage (UI/UIM) of $1 million per incident for bodily injury, in case another motorist causes an accident and doesn’t carry adequate insurance. So, for example, injuries caused by a hit-and-run accident would be covered by the UI/UIM.
Should drivers for ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft be required to carry commercial insurance? If a driver for these companies is working, but not carrying a passenger, should they be covered under the company's insurance?
Guest:
Rob Wood, lawyer with Wood LLP in San Francisco, and author of the book Legal Guide to Independent Contractor Status, now in its 4th edition; he has written about Uber and ridesharing for Forbes.
Pete Moraga, Spokesman for Insurance Information Network of California
Ready or not, Winter Olympics competitions kick off in Sochi
The XXII Olympic Winter Games kick off in Sochi this week with an opening ceremony Friday.
Taking place over 18 days, the Games will bring together athletes from around the world and are poised to put Russia front and center on the world stage.
The Games have already been plagued by allegations of terrorists threats, outrage over the host country's stance on gay rights, and negative reviews about Olympic village accommodations. Most recently journalists and athletes arriving to the city have been live tweeting their experiences in unfinished hotels as the city rushes to meet its deadline. Even Sochi's abundance of stray dogs have made national news.
Negative press aside, Russia has put forth an estimated $51 billion to host the Olympics and Putin views the event as a chance to show off what his country can do, as he recently told the media:
"I would like the participants, fans, journalists and all those who watch the Games on television to see a new Russia, see its face and possibilities, take a fresh and unbiased look at the country."
Are the accommodation really as bad as some people would have you believe? What new sports are debuting this year? Which athletes are the ones with the most at stake and who are the major medal contenders? Which sports have waned in popularity over the years and why? What role does the popularity of extreme sports have in this year's Olympic Games?
Guests:
Katie Baker, Staff writer for Grantland.com, currently covering the Olympic Games in Sochi.
Phil Wallace, board member with the Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games.
Scott Reid, reporter for OC Register, covering the games in Sochi
The resurgence of long-form journalism - quantity versus quality
Think long-form journalism and you might think The New Yorker, Los Angeles Magazine, the New York Times Magazine, The Texas Monthly, but the rise in the use of tablets and smartphones has helped bring the long form to the wide open space of the web. Online publications from BuzzFeed to Business Insider to POLITICO are trying their hands at the genre, and sites like Longform.org and Atavist have sprung up to cater to and curate for readers who appreciate the form.
What kind of pieces best lend themselves to being told in the long form? What are the qualities of the genre? Given that a long word count doesn’t always mean in-depth reporting, how should writers and editors balance readability and the impulse to go long? As a reader, have you ever started a 7,000-word piece only to abandon it midway because of the daunting length?
Guest:
Gabriel Kahn, Professor at USC and the Director of the schools’ Future of Journalism project at the Annenberg Innovation Lab. Kahn was at The Wall Street Journal for a decade reporting Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Rome.