Philippine President Duterte announced that he wants to sever ties with the U.S. – but what, exactly, does that mean?; potential flooding could spell bad news for L.A. River restoration plans; LAUSD rejected an after-school Satan club in an elementary school – was this the right decision?; plus, Larry and KPCC film critics review ‘Jack Reacher,’ ‘Moonlight’ and more. TGI-FilmWeek!
Philippine president wants to sever ties with US, but is it really that easy?
A day after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced in China that he is moving away from the US to align with China, officials in the country are trying to walk back the controversial statements.
On Thursday, Rodrigo gave a speech in front of a group of business leaders in Beijing, and declared the country’s new alliance with China.
"America has lost now. I've realigned myself in your ideological flow," Duterte said in China. "And maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world: China, Philippines and Russia. It's the only way."
Duterte also said this “separation” from the US applies to both economic and military ties.
But as news of the meeting spread, government officials from the Philippines have come out to stem the political damage.
"The president did not talk about separation,” Philippine Trade Minister Ramon Lopez told CNN in Beijing today.
"In terms of economic (ties), we are not stopping trade, investment with America. The president specifically mentioned his desire to strengthen further the ties with China and the ASEAN region which we have been trading with for centuries," he said, referring to the Association of South East Asian Nations.
How realistic are Duterte’s claims? What would closer ties between China and the Philippines mean for the US?
Guests:
Vicente L Rafael, a professor in history and an expert on the Philippines in the University of Washington
Jamie Metzl, a Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council, a DC-based think tank and an expert on Asia
Will flooding put a damper on plans for the LA River?
Potential flooding may be causing trouble for neighborhoods close to the Los Angeles River.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a report that found parcels north of downtown L.A., including Atwater Village, Elysian Valley, Burbank and Glendale, could be flooded if a 100-year storm hits.
This news comes in the wake of a $1.6 billion L.A. River restoration project, which is working to naturalize an 11-mile stretch of river from Northern Griffith Park to downtown L.A. The plan would add water cleanup features and restore plant life, in part by extracting concrete walls that were originally put in place to prevent flooding.
The report prompted federal officials to require property owners with federally backed mortgages to buy flood insurance. The report also pointed to areas that could be under threat which are currently outside FIMA’s recognized floodplain.
“The cities can be going through a process with FEMA to re-map the floodplain, and the end result of that could require some [more] folks to need flood insurance,” Deputy Chief Engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District David Van Dorpe told AirTalk’s Larry Mantle Friday.
They were joined by Marissa Christiansen, senior policy director for Friends of the Los Angeles River, to discuss what effect this report will have on the restoration project.
Click on the blue playhead above to hear the full discussion, or read highlights below.
Interview Highlights
On the probability of this type of flooding
Christiansen: What we're talking about is a 1 percent chance of these levels of storms happening in any given year.
On how to mitigate flood damage and still continue the restoration project
Christiansen: There are a number of different flood risk mitigations that are far outside just channelizing the river. You can look at widening the channel...tunneling and diverting storm flows, having retention basins that are activated during storm events [...] continuing to design for the most innovative approach is what I think people should be focused on.
On whether the restoration project will affect communities downriver, where there has been devastating flooding in the past
Von Dorpe: No... when we look at a river and analyze its hydrology, we're looking at it as a whole system. Actually, the L.A. River and all its tributaries is part of what we call the L.A. County drainage area system... we're going to make sure that anything we do up here, whether it's ecosystem restoration or perhaps water conservation or flood risk management reduction, that it won't have consequences downstream.
On what the public can do to support the restoration project
Christiansen: Number one, the city is getting ready to move the G2 parcel, which is part of Taylor Yard... into escrow. When that comes up on the City Council agenda, we definitely urge the community to support that, because that really is a crown jewel of the river's restoration... The second thing that public can do - on November 8th there are a number of initiatives that will actually offer money to river or river adjacent projects. That is Measure A, which is the parks measure, and Measure M, which is a transportation measure, which would fund the bike path along the river... we support both.
Interviews have been edited for clarity.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District, will hold a public workshop on November 7th to discuss different aspects of the flood risks. Click here for more information.
Guests:
Marissa Christiansen, senior policy director for Friends of the Los Angeles River
David Van Dorpe, deputy chief engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District
Should schools permit satanic after school clubs?
The Los Angeles Unified School district has rejected the request to let After School Satan Club into a Panorama city elementary school.
As reported by the Los Angeles Times, The club’s L.A. chapter would have been one of several started in schools across the country, including Portland, Salt Lake City and Detroit. LAUSD said in a statement that the organization’s rejection was due not receiving the proper paperwork from the club. But Ali Kellog, the chapter head for The Satanic Temple Los Angeles says the club has been stonewalled by the school district.
The After School Satan Club is headed by The Satanic Temple in Salem, Massachusetts. The club has been pushing to branch out to schools across the country as a counterpart to the Good News Clubs, an after school Christian club. Officials from The Satanic Temple have said they believe the Good News Clubs to be fringe, zealous and hateful, and not representative of true Christianity.
According to the Satanic Temple, their religion “does not promote belief in a personal Satan. . . The Satanist should actively work to hone critical thinking and exercise reasonable agnosticism in all things.”
What do you think of the After School Satan Club? Is it a breach of religious freedom and First Amendment rights to prohibit them in schools?
Guests:
Ali Kellog, chapter head for The Satanic Temple Los Angeles; she created the curriculum for the After School Satan Club which was presented to the LAUSD
Barry McDonald, professor of law at Pepperdine School of Law; he is an expert on the U.S. Supreme Court, Constitutional and intellectual property law
FilmWeek: 'Jack Reacher,' 'Ouija: Origin of Evil,' 'Moonlight' and more
Larry Mantle and KPCC film critics Tim Cogshell, Charles Solomon and Peter Rainer review this week’s new releases including the promising Halloween flick, “Ouija: Origin of Evil;” Tom Cruise in the return of “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back;” the acclaimed indie “Moonlight” with Mahershala Ali; and more.
TGI-FilmWeek!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UGsRcxaSAI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0itmG80oLI
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Tim's Hits
Charles' Hits
Peter's Hits
Mixed Reviews
- Tim: "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back," "In a Valley of Violence," "The Whole Truth" & "Michael Moore in TrumpLand"
- Charles: "25 April"
- Peter: "Moonlight," "The Handmaiden" & "The Whole Truth"
This Week's Misses
- Tim: "Keeping Up with the Joneses" & "American Pastoral"
- Peter: "American Pastoral"
Guests:
Peter Rainer, Film Critic for KPCC and the Christian Science Monitor
Charles Solomon, Film Critic for KPCC and Animation Scoop and Animation Magazine
Tim Cogshell, Film Critic for KPCC and Alt-Film Guide; Tim tweets from
How Netflix's insular culture clashes with Hollywood's communal creatives
In off-the-record comments from writers and agents that work with Netflix, they complain the streaming giant clashes with Hollywood culture by concealing ratings, foregoing feedback, and shunning meetings.
The sentiments align with what animation series creator Trevor Pryce recently told entertainment reporter Kim Masters, "The first rule of Netflix: You do not talk about Netflix." Will the entertainment behemoth adapt to the needs of performers, writers, directors, and agents, or remain an outlier?
In other industry news that could have a big impact on content creators, Bloomberg News is reporting of a possible merger between Time Warner and AT&T. The report says senior executives from the two companies have been meeting in recent weeks. An AT&T acquisition of Time Warner would marry a telecom giant with a content powerhouse that includes HBO, NBA Basketball, Turner's cable-TV unit, and much more. We’ll analyze the implications of the rumored deal.
Guest:
Joe Flint, Media Reporter, The Wall Street Journal