GOP debate: rivals pile on Romney as sparks fly in South Carolina. Is the Stop Online Piracy Act really dead? Should SoCal lawns turf the grass? SAG and AFTRA merger talks. Walking out during intermission. "SEALAB: America’s Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor."
GOP debate: rivals pile on Romney as sparks fly in South Carolina
As the Republican field for president winnows down to five candidates, the debates are intensifying. In last night’s event, Mitt Romney had to fend off early ambushes from his competitors. However, as has happened before, most of the time the non-frontrunners ended up attacking each other.
Ron Paul suffered the most in this round, possibly due to South Carolina’s hawkish stance on military issues and foreign policy, which are in stark contrast with Paul’s paleoconservative—some would say “dovish”— pledge to bring the troops home and close down bases around the world.
Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry fared the best of the candidates, as now having virtually nothing to lose allowed them greater rhetorical liberties than Romney, who must remain even tempered as he gears up to take on Obama’s campaign machine in the general, which is definitely paying attention to what he says in these debates.
Gingrich came off as the best alternative to Romney, and while Perry flexed his muscles by casting both Romney and Rick Santorum as political insiders, his earlier gaffes have virtually solidified him as a losing candidate.
The debate was critiqued by some analysts as being lean on actual policy discussion and heavy on campaign talking points, credited mainly to the raucous audience which booed and cheered consistently throughout the night.
WEIGH IN:
Did you watch last night’s debate? What did you think of the proceedings? Were the moderators asking poor questions, or was the audience overreacting? How did your candidate fare?
Guest:
Aaron Blake, Political Reporter for The Washington Post
Is the Stop Online Piracy Act really dead?
Yesterday came the news out of California Congressman Darrell Issa’s office that House majority whip Eric Cantor had indefinitely shelved SOPA, a controversial anti-piracy bill. According to Issa, Cantor had “assured” him that the house would not take up the bill until there was some consensus on what it contained.
However, that’s not the same as dead and Cantor’s office has made no statement about whether or not he’ll actually shelve the bill today. And, the senate has their own online piracy bill, PIPA or the Protect IP Act which is similar to the SOPA, just as unpopular and – so far – not being off the table.
Either way you slice it though SOPA and PIPA are having a tough time of it. On Saturday a team of White House technology experts came out with a memo that says while piracy is a serious issue that needs addressing, it must not come at the cost of free expression, innovation or the underlying structure of the internet. And last week Congressman Lamar Smith of Texas, the bill’s author, took out a key enforcement provision in the bill after several trade groups complained.
Issa has been a long-time and strident critic of both PIPA and SOPA and in fact a couple of weeks ago came out with his own legislation (along with ideological opposite, Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon) to combat the issue. His bill is called the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act and instead of forcing search engines and other companies to block sites with pirated material it would have the International Trade Commission shut off their funds.
So where do we really stand with both SOPA and PIPA? Does Issa’s bill have a better chance of passing…and of striking less controversy? Are there political reasons for lawmakers to start backing off these bills, and for the Obama administration to start addressing them? Also, Wikipedia and Reddit are planning to go dark for 12 hours on Wednesday in protest, did they get preempted by congress?
Guests:
Scott Fulton, Enterprise Correspondent, Read Write Web (a well-regarded tech blog)
Kitty Felde, KPCC's Washington Correspondent
Should SoCal lawns turf the grass?
In the aftermath of Occupy L.A., the lawns of City Hall Park are trampled, dry and destroyed. Restoration plans are being mulled over in earnest by the Department of Recreation and Parks. City planners, landscape designers and the public are wrestling with the same challenges faced by all gardeners in the Southern California climate.
A field of turf might be pretty, but it’s not very creative. Landscape architect Michelle Frier, said that home owners may have more options than they first think.
"We live in this Mediterranean climate. We can grow an enormous amount of different varieties of plants, both native and drought-tolerant species," she said. "Sometimes putting turf in front of your homes is a waste."
Frier said a common trend is planting edible gardens. "Using your lawn ... not only improves your food [supply] and your urban [food] shed, but it just is a healthy way of living," she noted.
She also suggested planting meadows instead of turf fields, by using a blend of three to four varieties of plants or grasses. The meadows are easy to maintain too, needing to be mowed only once a month or even four times a year.
It "gives the home owner a chance to express themselves. When you're driving along Los Angeles, the architecture is very unique. Why not make our front yards unique?" she asked.
City Hall has been warming up to a design that balances an expanse of turf with planting areas surrounding the main building. Frier, who has attended some of City Hall's design meetings, said that officials have taken that layout to the next step, analyzing how much planting area they will have to work with. According to Frier, they’re conscious of retaining enough turf space for outdoor gatherings.
It is "a civic gathering space in the center of the civic core of downtown," she said. "Retaining that gathering area is definitely still a number one priority [for them]."
Should you go native? Or do you strive for a soft blanket of green grass? Because City Hall is a public meeting space, an accommodating expanse of turf is practically a First Amendment right. But is it Californian? Drought-tolerant and native plants are also being pitched to replace all of what was a grassy mall. Incorporating low-water plants into the design would follow the lead of DWP that counsels homeowners constantly on cutting down water usage.
WEIGH IN:
What is your vision for your own yard and for City Hall Park? What gardens do you prefer in your neighborhood?
Guest:
Michelle Frier, Landscape Architect & Associate at Mia Lehrer+Associates, landscape architecture firm in L.A.; Frier has been attending design meetings about the City Hall Park restoration, including this morning’s.
SAG and AFTRA merger talks
Two of the oldest performers' unions are getting close to announcing a merger vote. The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (AFTRA) have been in talks since early last year. Leaders of the unions have even decided on a new moniker. “The Hollywood Reporter” says SAG-AFTRA would be the new straightforward name.
In past merger talks, a total rebranding of a merged union possibly helped sink the deal. SAG members have voted against a merger twice, in 1999 and 2003. Nevertheless, for decades the question has always been why are the two unions still separate? Tens of thousands of performers belong to both. And the silos have led to disputes and difficulties in studio negotiations.
Why is another merger attempt happening now? Will SAG members still be the stumbling block? If so, why? What do members have to win and lose if a merger goes forward?
Guest:
Jonathan Handel, OfCounsel at TroyGould and Contributing Editor, The Hollywood Reporter
Walking out during intermission
Have you ever left a theater performance, concert, play or opera at the intermission? Some people feel fine about getting up during the intermission and never coming back. Others stay until the bitter end no matter what, as a courtesy to the performers, even if they are deadly bored or miserable. To avoid intermission walkouts theater managers and artistic directors are tweaking their performances to eliminate the break. In most traditional opera performances there are two intermissions which gives an antsy audience double the chance to walk.
WEIGH IN:
Is it appropriate to change the structure of an opera by eliminating one intermission in order to keep folks in their seats? As a performer, when you see that people have left during intermission, how does it make you feel? When you go to the theater, do you feel duty bound to stay until the end?
"SEALAB: America’s Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor"
While images of the moon landing remain burned into America’s popular culture, and many lamented the end of NASA’s shuttle program last year, there was a far less revered attempt at exploration that has been all but forgotten. In Ben Hellwarth’s new book, “SEALAB: America’s Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor,” the author revisits this once highly vaunted excursion of Earth’s aquatic frontier.
The main thrust of the Sealab missions was to establish an underwater station allowing scientists to live, work, experiment and research for long periods of time. However, there was still the tricky issue of how the human body could handle diving to such depths, and early attempts before technology had been perfected were often fatal.
Furthermore, the Sealab program was chronically underfunded in comparison to any NASA mission, which is why at this point we know more about the far reaches of the galaxy than we do about what’s happening on our own ocean floor. Hellwarth provides the history of this program, and outlines the problems it encountered.
WEIGH IN:
Why didn’t Sealab survive? What makes it more appealing to explore outer space than the ocean? Are any future plans being made to revitalize the program? What potential advances could research in the ocean provide?
Guest:
Ben Hellwarth, Author of "SEALAB: America’s Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor" (Simon & Schuster); former Staff Writer for the Santa Barbara News-Press
Ben Hellwarth will be reading and signing copies of Sealab at Barnes & Noble on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 2pm.