Today on the show, we'll start with an update on the controversy surrounding alleged racist comments allegedly made by Clippers owner Donald Sterling. What role to NBA team owners play? Then, the origin of corporate buzzwords. Plus, voice recognition is getting better, Mexican drug cartels are driving up the prices for limes, and much more.
Clippers owner Donald Sterling: What's next for NBA, the city of LA
The L.A. Clippers are licking their wounds this morning after a 118-97 trouncing at the hands of the Golden State Warriors yesterday afternoon, but the wounds run far deeper this playoff season after reports surfaced over the weekend about Clippers owner Donald Sterling and his alleged views on race.
TMZ released a tape that it says came from Sterling's former girlfriend in which he allegedly asks her not to post photos with African-Americans, including Magic Johnson, on her Instagram account.
TMZ has not said how it obtained the recording and the woman on the other end of the conversation, V. Stiviano, denied through her lawyer that she leaked it, but says it's authentic. (KPCC has not independently verified the authenticity of the recording.)
The Clippers released a statement from team president Andy Roeser Saturday afternoon:
“We have heard the tape on TMZ. We do not know if it is legitimate or it has been altered. We do know that the woman on the tape -- who we believe released it to TMZ -- is the defendant in a lawsuit brought by the Sterling family alleging that she embezzled more than $1.8 million, who told Mr. Sterling that she would 'get even.'"
The statement also included Sterling's response to the allegations:
"Mr. Sterling is emphatic that what is reflected on that recording is not consistent with, nor does it reflect his views, beliefs or feelings. It is the antithesis of who he is, what he believes and how he has lived his life. He feels terrible that such sentiments are being attributed to him and apologizes to anyone who might have been hurt by them. He is also upset and apologizes for sentiments attributed to him about Earvin Johnson. He has long considered Magic a friend and has only the utmost respect and admiration for him--both in terms of who he is and what he has achieved. We are investigating this matter.”
Lakers President Jeanie Buss issued a statement in regards to alleged comments by Clippers owner Donald Sterling:
"The comments and sentiments expressed on the tape are reprehensible and disturbing, and certainly are the opposite of how the Lakers feel about the league’s players and fans. I have full confidence that Adam Silver and the NBA will handle this situation appropriately."
As did the STAPLES Center:
"We are deeply troubled by these disturbing remarks which go against everything we believe in as an organization. We support the players, the coaches, the rest of the team and their fans and we are committed to providing a safe, secure and welcoming environment for everyone at tomorrow night’s NBA playoff game."
RELATED: Clippers stage silent protest to Sterling; NAACP pulls lifetime achievement award
Among the issues raised by the unfolding scandal are the business issues involving the NBA and the role of powerful owners in a sport dominated and driven by black athletes and professional staff.
"It's just sad because not only did Donald Sterling dehumanize an entire population of people and the fans, but it really put the brakes on what has been kind of a triumph period for the NBA," said Kevin Arnovitz, who writes the TrueHoop blog for ESPN.com.
L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez has had a couple encounters with Sterling and his wife, including an awkward conversation that happened court side:
"Mr. Sterling asked me if I knew anything about basketball and I said, 'You know, I've not played in the NBA, but I know a little bit. Sure, why?' And he said please sit next to my wife. Please sit next to her so you can talk to her. She likes to talk basketball. So she proceeded to trash some of the players on her own team, the Clippers team, which I found a little bit strange, but there's a lot that's strange with this couple."
So what happens next? Lopez thinks that Sterling has only one choice in the matter if the voice on the tape can be verified.
"I think that the best thing, what I would like to see happen, is that Sterling looks at this and says, 'OK, I spent $12 million to buy this thing, it's worth almost $1 billion. I'm going to sell it and crawl into a hole somewhere and disappear,'" said Lopez on Take Two.
This scandal is overshadowing the Clippers' great season and current run in the playoffs. Players at Sunday's game against the Golden State Warriors wore their jersey's inside out to protest Sterling's alleged comments.
Lopez says Sterling is unlikely to recover his reputation after this.
"Down the line another reason why he should maybe consider selling is that...who's going to want to come and play here now?" said Lopez. "This is not something that's going to go away as long as he owns the team. There's nothing he can say to make it go away."
Corporate jargon: The top 10 (most annoying?) buzzwords
Have you "synergized" lately? Built up your "personal brand"? Took something "offline"?
If so, you are like millions around the world who use popular corporate buzzwords every day to get a point across. We've got a list of the top 10 most common, below. But first, an explanation.
"Everyone who's a cubicle farmer is eventually going to use some office speak," said Emma Green, who wrote about the history of office speak for The Atlantic.
Green says office speak comes from all around the world, and the phrases usually come from the top-down.
"Different industries had their own office words that they brought... Over time that's sort of evolved into a 'self-help' version of these kinds of office words," Green said citing books such as "7 Habits of Highly Effective People," which introduced these buzzwords to individuals trying to promote their personal brand.
Green said office speak is a way to signal a corporate tribe they're a part of and find meaning in their own work life.
"It's indicative of just how essential all of this language is to our everyday lives," Green said. "It's a way of talking to other people at work; it's a way of making sense of our work lives."
Here are some of the more popular words thrown around offices today:
- Run it up the flagpole: To involve bosses and/or management in a decision-making process.
- Ideation: The ability to come up with effective new ideas.
- Disrupt: New technologies that are powerful enough to change the way an entire industry or area works.
- Low-hanging fruit: Challenges that are easy to identify and resolve.
- Work-life balance: Creating time to both fully engage in work, as well as making adequate time to handle personal responsibilities.
- Unplug: An action used to increase work-life balance by stepping away from work (and in a sense, "unplugging" from the phone or computer linked to work information).
- Vision statement: An explanation of what someone or a company would like to accomplish in the future.
- Bleeding edge: On the very edge of the "cutting edge."
- Let's not boil the ocean: A phrase used to discourage a waste of time or resources.
- Emotional leakage: Allowing anger, disappointment, etc. from one individual to transfer to another.
Have a favorite — or most-loathed — corporate buzzword? "Sync up" and share with us on our Facebook page or in the comments below.
Voice recognition technology is better than you think it is
Will Oremus over at Slate recently decided to write an entire piece using voice recognition technology. You can see all of the mistakes that it made, here.
But even though voice tech, like Siri, does make some mistakes, Will thinks that it's gotten better. He spoke with some people and different tech companies about advancements in the technology and its importance in voice controlled devices like Google Glass, going forward.
Will joins Take Two's Alex Cohen to talk about advancements in voice recognition tech.
For the record, Siri recognized Will's last name — Oremus — as "in Uranus," or at least that's what it sounds like. When Siri's speaking your text messages back to your boss so that he doesn't have to look at the screen, that's what matters.
On The Lot: Yasiel Puig story optioned, Lucasfilm, musicals are back and more
LA Times’ Rebecca Keegan joins us for her regular Monday Hollywood update.
Jesse Katz's LA Magazine piece about Dodger slugger Yasiel Puig just got optioned by Brett Ratner's production company.
This is something Hollywood has been doing for years, mining magazine pieces and adapting them into movies, including "Saturday Night Fever," "Boogie Nights," "Top Gun," "Adaptation," and "Dog Day Afternoon."
Still, the chances of this — or any optioned property — actually ending up on the big screen pretty slim.
It's almost May, and the studios are primed to begin the big sweepstakes that is the summer movie season.
Under the heading "nerds be raging," the reaction to an announcement by Lucasfilm that upcoming "Star Wars" films won't draw on something called "the expanded universe." Along with Star Wars, an interesting little footnote regarding the Steven Spielberg classic, "ET."
Last week we talked about how Hollywood was reviving the animated musical after the success of "Frozen" and "Rio 2." Now, there's talk of reviving another genre, the biblical epic, with the announcement that Paramount and MGM are teaming up to remake "Ben Hur." It won 11 Oscars, but that was back in 1959. What makes Paramount and MGM think it will appeal to today's movie goers?
What the Sterling controversy says about race in sports and America
The NBA announced that it will hold a news conference tomorrow to talk about the its investigation into Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Sterling has been accused of making racist comments in a recorded conversation with his ex-girlfriend.
That recording came to light Friday night after the website TMZ posted the recording and attributed it to the 80-year-old. This story also comes on the heels of troubling remarks comments made recently by Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy.
Does the reaction we had as a society say anything about what we think of race? To talk about this we are joined now by Marne Campbell, assistant professor of African-American Studies at Loyola Marymount University.
Health officials must become detectives to contain measles
There have been 58 cases of measles reported in California, so far this year. Keeping the outbreak in check requires a massive amount of work by local governments.
KPCC's Rebecca Plevin reports the effort plays out like a public health detective story.
Why are hundreds of California seals and sea lions getting sick?
Several months ago, we started hearing about an alarming number of seals and sea lions washing up on California shores either sick or dead.
No one knew exactly what was causing the health crisis for these marine mammals. If last year was bad, this year so far is even worse. The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito says it's taken in nearly 400 seals and sea lions since January first.
Joining us now to discuss what's happening is the Center's director of veterinary science, Dr. Shawn Johnson.
It could be a long time before you see the Dodgers on TV; Time Warner/DirecTV can't even agree if they're negotiating
It's a sign of how bad it's gotten between DirecTV and Time Warner Cable: they two companies don't agree on whether they're still negotiating to carry the new all-Dodgers channel, Time Warner Cable Sportsnet LA.
"We are not in negotiations with DirecTV at this moment," Time Warner Cable Sports President David Rone told KPCC Friday.
RELATED: Where can you watch Dodger games in the LA area?
"That is not at all accurate," countered Dan York, DirecTV's Chief Content Officer. "We're in talks. We have made subsequent suggestions and proposals to them."
York said he or his deputies are talking every few days with representatives from Time Warner, but Rone countered that in reality, any substantive negotiations ended.
"As you can imagine, there's a lot of ways you can say that we're talking," said Rone. "If I place a phone call to you, or if I ask you a question, that can be defined as we're talking."
Bottom line: Now one month into the season, DirecTV and Time Warner Cable appear to be farther apart then ever, which isn't just bad news for DirecTV subscribers, who make up about 25 percent of Southern California pay-TV customers. It's bad for everyone else who isn't on Time Warner, too, because if DirecTV doesn't make a deal, other providers like Cox and Charter have much less incentive to make one, because customers who want the Dodgers don't have another service to switch to.
Charter cable to gain millions of subscribers in Comcast deal
Comcast and Charter Communications have just penned a $20-billion deal that would swap customers in several markets including Los Angeles. If the deal goes through, current Charter cable subscribers would soon be getting cable services from Comcast.
To break down this complicated deal, we turn the Los Angeles Times' Meg James.
High school graduation rates in US reach 80 percent for first time
The high school graduation rate in the U.S. is finally getting a B grade, or maybe a B- depending on your grading scale, according to a new report out today that finds that for the first time in history, 80 percent of high school students in the U.S. are graduating.
Despite the good news, today's "Building a Grad Nation" report finds that more improvement from California is needed to reach the goal of a 90 percent graduation rate by 2020.
Russell Rumberger, director of the California Dropout Research Project at UC Santa Barbara, contributed to the report and joins the show to talk more about it.
Theft by Mexican drug cartels pushing up lime prices
If you're a regular drinker of margaritas or gin and tonics, or maybe lime rickeys, you already know what's up: Limeaggedon is upon us.
A shortage in Mexico has made the fruit rare or, if you can get your hands on them, really expensive. It's now cheaper for you to buy a pound of crude oil from Mexico than a pound of limes.
We've already addressed some of the reasons behind the shortage, including nasty weather and a citrus bacteria, but another factor is lime crime. Drug cartels are making off with truckloads of them worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Raul Gallegos, contributor to Bloomberg View, has written about the lime crisis. He joins the show to fill us in on the latest.