The highest court in the land refused to grant appeals from five states seeking to ban gay and lesbian marriages today. Also, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will decide on whether to allow immigration agents in county jails tomorrow. Then, co-author Michael Stern dishes the best eats on the road from his countrywide "RoadFood" guide.
By doing nothing on same-sex marriage challenges, Supreme Court makes waves across nation
Supreme Court makes waves across nation: Today, the highest court in the land refused to grant appeals from five states seeking to ban gay and lesbian marriages. In rejecting the cases, the Court effectively made legal same-sex unions in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Soon to follow- as they are bound by the same federal appeals rulings - Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming will have legal same-sex marriage, too. That adds up to 30 states, plus the District of Columbia, with legalized gay marriage. Activists on both sides of this debate were dismayed by the Court's decision.
Gay-rights proponent Evan Wolfson told the Associated Press that the Court's "delay in affirming the freedom to marry nationwide prolongs the patchwork of state-to-state discrimination and the harms and indignity that the denial of marriage still inflicts on too many couples in too many places."
Ed Whelan of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, an opponent of same-sex marriage, also chastised the court for its "irresponsible denial of review in the cases.”
What is reaction from more conservative states such as Utah? What other states are left in limbo? Why did the Court deny the challenges?
Guests:
David Savage, Supreme Court reporter, Los Angeles Times; LA Times: Supreme Court Clears Way for Gay Marriage in Several States
Dennis Romboy, Staff Reporter, Deseret News - based in Salt Lake City and owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Synod debates whether remarried divorcees should receive communion
At St. Peters basilica on Sunday, the Pope convened a two week synod consisting of 200 cardinals and bishops from around the world to dig into many contentious issues. Pope Francis is calling for synod participants to approach the discussions with a spirit of mercy, and to listen to the “call of the people.” One controversy that’s expected to receive focus is whether or not remarried divorcees should receive communion. Currently, the church does not recognize civil divorces. In the eyes of canonical law, the first marriage is still valid until it is annulled, making the remarriage irregular, until the situation is resolved.
Should the church allow for the eucharist to be given to parishioners that remarry after a civil divorce? Or should it be denied until the first marriage is officially annulled? In your experience, how difficult or easy is it to get a Vatican-recognized annulment?
Guest:
Father Thomas Rausch, T. Marie Chilton Professor of Catholic Theology at Loyola Marymount University
Stephen White, Fellow in Catholic Studies at the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, DC
As protesters in Hong Kong pull back, a look at the future of the student-led movement
Student demonstrators in Hong Kong began to retreat to comply with an ultimatum handed down over the weekend by the city’s Chief Executive. Hong Kong’s top leader, C.Y. Leung, called on occupiers to end their demonstrations by Monday so that government workers can return to work. Protesters did not disperse, but did open up a key road to let civil servants through.
Meanwhile, one of the groups behind the protests said it had met with Hong Kong officials to set up future talks with the city’s second in command in the hope of bringing the protests to a peaceful resolution.
As the protests drag on to its 10th day, some in the city of 7 million are showing signs of frustration. A counter-protest group calling themselves the Blue Ribbons have emerged over the weekend to support the Chinese government and Hong Kong police.
What does the future hold for the student-led movement? What should protesters do? Should they withdraw?
Guest:
Lily Kuo, reporter at Quartz covering the protests in Hong Kong. She is based in Hong Kong
Digital estate planning: 5 tips on how to avoid after-death social media disaster
Whether you’re young or old, the advice is always to plan for your eventual demise. But while you may have already done the usual things — created advanced medical directives, a will, a trust — there’s one more thing you need to take into account in this interactive cloud-based era: Digital estate planning.
Simply put, it’s a plan to terminate your digital presence — including your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Flickr and Tinder accounts, not to mention that login for FurriesXtreme.org that you forgot about — so that they don’t persist after you’ve gone to your Candy Crush reward.
The issue is real: Weeks after comic legend Joan Rivers died, her Facebook status endorsed the new iPhone 6 in first-person words.
Where do you start? AirTalk speaks with Charley Moore, CEO and Founder of Rocketlawyer.com, on Monday for advice. But KPCC has a few suggestions to get started (thanks to NextAvenue.org and EverPlans.com for the advice).
1. Take an inventory of all your digital accounts.
These include ALL of your email accounts, blogs, online backup programs, photo and document-sharing sites, financial accounts, iTunes libraries, home utilities managed online, sound, video and photo files. While you may not think you have a lot of physical or financial assets, chances are you do have a bunch of digital ones.
2. Keep your digital asset information in a safe place.
One option is Google's Inactive Account Manager. C|net has published step-by-step instructions. Another is a password management program: PCMag.com has a list of some of the better ones.
3. Designate a trusted friend or family member as your digital estate executor.
This is the person who has knowledge of where you keep all your digital asset information, with instructions on what to do with it all.
4. Decide how you want your assets to be handled.
Do you want your social accounts to send out one final post, tweet, or photo posthumously? Do you want all your digital accounts closed? Do you want all your audio, photo and/or video files deleted? Leave your executor detailed instructions on a flash drive.
5. Keep in mind that estate planning varies from state to state.
Guest:
Charley Moore, CEO and Founder of Rocketlawyer.com
Do you have a digital estate plan? Please share it with AirTalk listeners in the comments below, or Tweet us @KPCC.
Board of Supervisors weighs whether to continue allowing ICE agents in county jails
Tomorrow the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors takes up the question of whether to extend a controversial program that allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to be placed in county jails.
The idea behind the program, known at 287(g), is to allow ICE agents to question inmates convicted of certain felonies about their immigration status, with the hope of possibly deporting those who are in the country illegally. Supporters of the program, such as outgoing Supervisor and City Council candidate Gloria Molina, say it’s an important tool for immigration enforcement and sends the message that “if you’re a convicted felon, you’re not welcome in our community.” But opponents argue that it erodes trust in law enforcement among immigrant communities and opens the county to legal liability by confusing criminal law enforcement with immigration enforcement.
Guests:
Gloria Molina, outgoing Supervisor and City Council candidate
Chris Newman, the Legal Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network
A survey of the best road food from coast to coast, north to south
The road trip is an unabashedly American tradition, but along the open road, sometimes you’ve got to eat, too. That’s what drove Michael and Jane Stern to put together “Roadfood: The Coast-to-Coast Guide to 900 of the Best Barbecue Joints, Lobster Shacks, Ice Cream Parlors, Highway Diners, and Much, Much More” in 1977.
Their road food guide was so complete, celebrated chef and cookbook author James Beard called it “a treasure house of information” that “you should carry with you, no matter where you are going in these United States.”
The beefier, heftier 9th edition of "Roadfood" is now out, with more than 250 new listings and updates of old favorites, featuring the best lobster shacks on the East Coast, to the most hidden barbecue joints down South.
Some Los Angeles restaurants that made the cut in "Roadfood" are Philippe's, famous for their french dips, Du-pars at the Farmers Market and Musso and Frank Grill, Hollywood's oldest restaurant.
"It's not a typical roadfood restaurant," says "Roadfood" co-author Michael Stern. "It's a taste of old Hollywood you're not going to get anywhere else. One of the things we love is the food is so square. It's unique because it's expensive ... a taste of the area and history of the area."
Guest:
Michael Stern, co-author with Jane Stern of the book "Roadfood: The Coast-to-Coast Guide to 900 of the Best Barbecue Joints, Lobster Shacks, Ice Cream Parlors, Highway Diners, and Much, Much More" (9th edition, Clarkson Potter, 2014)
What are you favorite road food joints? Let us know in the comments.