Charter’s $55-billion cash and stock deal for Time Warner Cable comes a month after regulators killed Comcast’s attempt to buy Time Warner. Also, JetBlue has rolled out public service announcements reminding flyers to be on their best behavior when aboard a flight. Then, we’ll explore the psychology of littering and how new technology and social media are changing how we call people out for bad behavior.
What Charter's bid for Time Warner means for Dodgers fans
Charter’s $55-billion cash and stock deal for Time Warner Cable comes a month after regulators killed Comcast’s attempt to buy Time Warner.
The deal is having an immediate effect on Southland cable subscribers. Charter said it’s going to begin offering the Los Angeles Dodgers TV channel, among others, ending a year-long stalemate that prevented many fans from being able to watch televised games.
Charter expects to close the merger deal by the end of the year, but only if regulators don’t block the merger. Proponents of the deal say that the combined company would actually create much-needed competition against Comcast, but critics say it’s too soon to tell.
Guests:
Steve Effros, President of Effros Communications, a cable industry consultancy based in Virginia. Former president of Cable Telecommunications Association, an industry trade association.
Matt Wood, Policy Director at Free Press, a nonpartisan organization advocating for universal and affordable internet access and diverse media ownership
Lots at stake for California voters as SCOTUS to hear arguments on drawing districts
Should non-eligible voters be counted when drawing up electoral districts?
The U.S. Supreme Court will attempt to answer this question this coming fall, when it hears arguments in Evenwel v. Abbott, a case that argues only those who are eligible to vote should be counted when states draw up electoral districts for their legislatures.
Under current law, legislative districts are redrawn every 10 years based on U.S. Census data. However, the challengers say that basing electoral districts on population rather than how many eligible voters live in the district can lead to shifts in voter numbers and power. They also say it is a violation of the “one person, one vote” rule, which is based on the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution.
The case could have major implications for Southern California, where many legislative districts have large Latino populations. Many of the residents of these districts are either children or non-citizens, and therefore ineligible to vote.
If the Supreme Court were to side with the appellants, it could lead to a major swing in voter power. Two Texas voters are bringing the suit, which is being funded by an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit group called The Project on Fair Representation.
Do you think states should draw legislative districts based on population or the number of eligible voters in the district? How could a ruling in favor of the appellants affect Southern California? Do you think the current way states draw legislative districts is unconstitutional?
Guests:
Andrew Grossman, litigator with the Washington D.C.-based law firm Baker Hostetler, which shares the interests of the appellant's case. He’s also a legal fellow at the Cato Institute.
Richard Hasen, Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at UC Irvine’s School of Law. He’s also the author of the Election Law Blog
A guide on how to get along with your fellow airline passenger this summer
Less legroom and fewer amenities are the new normal of air travel. And the increased stress makes proper flight etiquette all the more important.
To that end, JetBlue has recently rolled out four in-flight public service announcements reminding flyers to be on their best behavior when aboard a flight. One video shows a passenger who opens up a can of tuna on a flight. Another features a voluble oversharer who wouldn’t leave her fellow passenger alone.
A record number of people are expected to fly this summer. How do you prepare yourself for a long flight? What flight horror stories do you have?
Guest:
Scott McCartney, author and creator of the weekly Middle Seat column on airlines and travel in The Wall Street Journal. He also writes the Middle Seat Terminal blog. His latest piece looks at flying etiquette
What happens if the Patriot Act expires this week?
Unless the Senate acts by June 1, the USA Patriot Act will expire, ending legal authority for programs such as the bulk collection of telephone metadata.
In recent weeks, the stage was set for a conflict over how to address the controversial post-9/11 legislation that fueled the debate over domestic privacy rights and security concerns. On one hand, Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell pushed for an extension of the legislation without amendments, while on the other hand Senator Rand Paul filibustered for 10 hours last week to deny the legislation even one more day of support.
The compromise has been the USA Freedom Act, a bill that would shift recordkeeping authority from the government to private telecommunications groups, end the government’s ability to collect metadata in bulk, and extend controversial provisions that allow for court-approved wiretaps and enhanced surveillance. That bill has already passed the House of Representatives 338-88.
How would you like to see the the Patriot Act changed, if at all? In what ways should the government balance privacy concerns with security interests?
Guests:
Jeffrey Addicott, Lt. Colonel (U.S. Army, ret.); Professor of Law at St. Mary's School of Law in San Antonio, where he is the director of the Center for Terrorism Law; Addicott's a 20 year JAG officer and was senior legal counsel to the Green Berets
Neema Singh Guliani, legislative counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Washington Legislative Office, where she focuses on surveillance, privacy, and national security issues
The psychology of littering: Is shaming the answer to stopping litterbugs in their tracks?
The City of Los Angeles disposes of about 3,400 tons of trash a day, and some of that trash ends up on the streets.
Back in April, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti launched an initiative to help clean up the city's trash-strewn streets. But LA’s population is only growing, which means more trash and more litter. Like LA, littering is a serious problem in Hong Kong, where its residents throw away nearly 15,000 tons of trash a day. Much of which ends up on its streets and coastlines. While Hong Kong has littering fines, they don’t seem to act as much of a deterrent for its residents. So what’s to be done to stop people from littering? How about publicly shaming them with a poster of their face plastered around the city?
The Hong Kong Cleanup Initiative recently used DNA collected from discarded cigarette butts, gum and condoms to create renderings of the faces of people who left litter in the city. The DNA samples provided enough information to determine the person’s ethnicity as well as eye, hair and skin color. The “faces of litter” were then displayed with the kind of trash that was found, to add to the humiliation of it all.
We’ll explore the psychology of littering and how new technology and social media are changing how we call people out for bad behavior. Does using people’s DNA go too far? Does litter shaming make people act more responsibly towards the environment? Could it help change environmental policies worldwide?
Guests:
Robert Cialdini, Professor Emeritus of Psychology and Marketing at Arizona State University and author of “Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion”
Jennifer Jacquet, assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at NYU and author of “Is Shame Necessary?”
Whiskey ain’t risky, but is it too expensive?
Bourbon connoisseurs will have to face a sobering truth: They’re spending too much money on high end brands that are producing the same quality as big name distillers.
That’s according to Reid Mitenbuler’s latest “Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey” (Viking 2015). It’s been a “distinctive product of the U.S.” since the ‘60s and has historically been the drink of the blue collar class since its origins. But as consumers have moved to craft beers, “craft” bourbons are also rising in popularity. Mitenbuler uncovers America’s dark history of the distilling industry, one of the most corrupt, full of deceptive marketing and unsavory business practices.
The good news? Avoid the hard to find batches in fancy packaging and go for the less expensive brands. As long as they’re aged 5 to 10 years, they’re just as good.
Guest:
Reid Mitenbuler, journalist, author of “Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America’s Whiskey” (Viking 2015)