On today's show we recap the King's historic Stanley Cup victory, debate the merits of a nosy neighbor in the Anthony Sanchez case, get an in-depth look at Mexico's presidential elections, discuss the billion-dollar Farm Bill in the senate and talk to legendary sportswriter Frank Deford. Plus, the latest news.
Looking back on an exciting LA Kings season and Stanley Cup win
The LA Kings kept fans waiting for 45 years, but they are now Stanley Cup champions. In a convincing 6-1 win over the New Jersey Devils, the victory was all the sweeter in front of an elated and enthusiastic home crowd at the Staples Center.
The road wasn't as smooth as it could have been: three consecutive wins, followed by two defeats at the hands of the Devils raised the blood pressure of fans, but all worth it in the end. The win puts salve on the wound of the 1993 final - the only other time the Kings came close to lifting the Cup.
Kings fans still blame Marty McSorley for an illegal stick move in game two of the series, which they say handed the Cup to the Montreal Canadiens on a platter. Now, all forgotten.
If you watched last night’s victory match, what were the highlights? Who were the standout players from the Kings? Were you worried the previous two Devils wins would push the series to a Game 7 final? How do you think this series has changed how Los Angeles views hockey in a town dominated by basketball?
GUESTS
Bob Miller, television play-by-play voice of the Los Angeles Kings
Rich Hammond, Reporter for LAKings.com
Busybody or good citizen? Man videotapes neighbor beating his stepson
No one wants to get a rap as a nosy neighbor. But if you saw or heard someone abusing a child, how would you react? One El Centro man recently videotaped his neighbor apparently whipping his stepson with a belt for dropping a baseball during a game of catch.
He posted the video online, then turned it over to sheriff’s investigators, which led to Anthony Sanchez’ arrest on suspicion of felony child abuse. Sanchez, a director with the Imperial Irrigation District, has subsequently resigned his post.
Did the neighbor do the right thing? Have you seen behavior in your neighbors that makes you uncomfortable? Would you step in if you thought a child was in danger?
GUEST
Dr. Astrid Heger, Executive Director, Violence Intervention Program at Los Angeles County & University of Southern California Medical Center; Professor of Clinical Pediatrics, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California
Mexican presidential candidates square off in debate
On July 1, Mexicans will head to the polls to choose a replacement for outgoing President Felipe Calderon, who was elected in 2006 to serve a single six-year term. The leading nominees faced-off in their final televised debate this past Sunday.
The presumed front-runner is Enrique Pena Nieto of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which ruled Mexico for 70 years ending in 2000. Pena Nieto is the polished, telegenic, married-to-a-soap-star candidate. Most polls show he’s the man to beat. But Pena Nieto’s campaign has lost a bit of ground recently as a result of student protests and several corruption scandals involving the once dominant PRI.
Gaining ground is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The fiery leftist is running as an anti-corruption, man of the people candidate. His following is fiercely loyal, but Lopez Obrador lost to Felipe Calderon by 1 percentage point in 2006 and sometimes struggles to face down accusations that he’s hot-headed and defensive. Trailing in third place in most polls is Josefina Vazquez Mota of the conservative National Action Party (PAN). The Mexican businesswoman has been part of the administrations of Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon and is PAN’s first female candidate for President.
Here in the U.S., the Spanish language television network MundoFox has been following the race closely. They carried Sunday’s debate live, with analysis moderated by anchor Rolando Nichols. What should we know about Mexico’s candidates for President? How did they fare in the debate? What’s at stake for Mexico and California?
GUEST
Rolando Nichols, Network News Anchor, Mundo/Fox
Can California stomach the Farm Bill?
Lawmakers in Washington are debating the billion-dollar behemoth that is the Farm Bill.
It's the closest thing this country has to a national food policy because it decides who, what, when and where gets money for agriculture. Critics are calling for major reforms. They argue too much money is spent subsidizing wheat, corn, rice and other grain growers, while fruit, nut and vegetable farmers are given short shrift.
Kari Hamerschlag, senior food and agriculture analyst based in the California office of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), said the proposed system isn't fair, with 4 percent of farmers getting 30 percent of crop insurance premium subsidies. She added that with farm income at an all time high (rising from $58 billion to $100 billion) and the economy still suffering, the country should rethink its investments.
"What we're saying at EWG is we can cut. We can trim some of the fat from the crop insurance companies and from the largest most profitable farms and we can redirect that money to better purposes, because California has some tremendous needs in our agricultural production system that are not being met," she said.
Anthony Bush, chair of the National Corn Growers Association’s public policy action team, said that getting larger farms to take part in the crop insurance is integral for keeping insurance prices and food prices low for others.
"Risk is risk, no matter how big or small you are. The price per acre paid for crop insurance is the same, no matter what size you are," he said. "To take those larger producers out of the program would be like taking all those good drivers off the road, and your pool of acres needs to be larger, or those higher level producers won't participate. We would not want to do anything that discourages participation and risk management."
Bush, who runs a family farm in Mount Gilead, Ohio, adds that even larger farms rely on crop insurance.
"Our risk today in farming is far greater than just my 67 year-old father ever imagined. It costs more to put an acre of corn out today than what we used to gross off of an acre just a few acres ago," he explained.
According to Hamerschlag, critics merely want to reform the crop insurance system.
"We're not at all suggesting we should eliminate crop insurance. ... We absolutely believe in a safety net for farmers. It's just that the crop insurance program has grown from $2 billion a year to $9 billion a year. This farm bill [is] inflated to invest 90 billion for the next 10 years in crop insurance. What we're suggesting is we need some payment limits on crop insurance," she continued.
Much of the billions of dollars spent on Midwest commodity crops pay for crop insurance for farmers – large and small. It's a safety net if crops fail or prices fall. In California, fruit and vegetable growers want funds to better market their product.
"Foodie" activists such as Alice Waters and Michael Pollan are getting in on the debate, too. They say America's obesity problem stems from a Farm Bill that doesn't invest in healthy food.
Hamerschlag says that the U.S. spends eight times more on commodity crops (the wheat, corn, rice and grain) than on specialty crops (fruits, nuts and vegetables) when market value of those commodity crops is only twice that of specialty crops. Though the acreage is much higher, she said that isn't the point. She joins activists with a health stance, saying investing more in specialty crops will alleviate the amount of money taxpayers have to fork over each year.
"The point is what kinds of food should we be supporting more of in our country today. Only 5 percent of Americans are getting the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. Vegetable consumption has actually declined by nine pounds per person, we're facing a major obesity epidemic in this country, and the diet-related medical costs of the major illnesses, like diabetes, cancer, heart disease and stroke are costing our nation [...] $70 billion a year. If we invested more in the healthy foods that really go directly to these illnesses, we would save the American taxpayer a lot of money," she said.
Bush says that the bill's priority to keep food in peoples' mouths overrides health concerns.
"It's important to every American that insures a safe and affordable food supply in America. Our disposable income spent on food is by far lower than any country in the world. A lot of people are diabetic because of food choices. We as consumers choose to eat things that aren't good for us, and to blame that on subsidies I don't think is really fair," he explained.
Why does the federal government allocate the biggest chunk of funding to grain farmers? How would California farmers use federal funds? Would that change nutrition for the nation?
GUESTS
Kari Hamerschlag, Senior Food and Agriculture Analyst based in the California office of the Environmental Working Group
Anthony Bush, runs a family farm in Mount Gilead, Ohio; Chair of the National Corn Growers Association’s public policy action team.
Frank Deford’s life in the game
Sportswriters spend the majority of their career covering the play-by-play action on the field. Occasionally, a unique angle to the story lets them make a poignant connection between sports and society as a whole. Very few writers, however, can accomplish both of these things and call it a memoir.
In Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter, legendary writer Frank Deford recounts his career as one of the best and most well-know authors in the field. Deford’s writing career began with a little publication known as Sports Illustrated where “The Kid,” as he was known, discovered talents like hockey pro Bobby Orr and fellow Princeton alum and basketball Hall-of-Famer Bill Bradley.
He was a good friend of tennis great Arthur Ashe; the two even roomed together on Ashe’s barrier-breaking trip to apartheid South Africa. In addition to being named U.S. Sportswriter of the Year six times, Deford is the author of numerous books. And you’re probably familiar with his weekly NPR commentaries on everything from football head injuries to the dearth of women in individual sports.
Frank Defords catalog of work is as varied as the sports he covered and the athletes involved. Who else can say they interviewed Wilt Chamberlain, Muhammad Ali and Col. Sanders of KFC?
GUEST
Frank Deford, Author of Over Time: My Life as a Sportswriter (Grove/Atlantic); Senior Contributing Writer at Sports Illustrated; NPR Commentator. His previous books include Everybody’s All-American and Alex: The Life of a Child.