Uruguay pushes legislation to fully legalize marijuana; Ozomatli: Getting to know the band behind Take Two's theme song; Mexico's sex trafficking networks working with drug cartels; Saying goodbye to the X-Games in LA, plus much more.
Uruguay pushes legislation to fully legalize marijuana
Legislation is expected to pass soon in Uruguay to fully legalize marijuana, making the South American nation the first country in the world to create a government-regulated marijuana industry.
The bill could become law as soon as this month, allowing citizens to grow their own as well ask buy from pharmacies. The bill has been opposed by many in the country, but President José Mujica supports the bill, and believes ti would shift focus towards limiting the trafficking of other drugs
Ethan Nadelmann is the Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance, and joins the show to explain how the possible policies for legalization in Uruguay would work.
Mexico's sex trafficking networks working with drug cartels
Mexico's drug cartels are notorious worldwide for the drug trafficking and violence they inflict day in and day out upon their fellow citizens. Drugs aren't the only horror perpetrated by the cartels' vast network of illegal activity, though.
Time magazine reports in its latest issue on the heavy role of drug cartels in sex trafficking. It's a $32 billion business worldwide, according to U.N estimations. The article is a sad and eye-opening look into the illicit industry, its author, Ioan Grillo, joins the show to tell us more.
CORRECTION: On air, we incorrectly stated that Ioan Grillo's article, "The Mexican Drug Cartels’ Other Business: Sex Trafficking," is in the latest issue of Time. It is only online and will not be in the print edition of the magazine.
Friday Flashback: Job Numbers, Obama on tour and more
Americans struggle to find work, while Congress takes a vacation. Just a couple of topics we'll dig into now, on the Friday Flashback, our look at the big events and news of the week.
Joining us again from Washington, Nancy Cook of National Journal, and LA Times columnist Robin Abcarian back in the Flashback chair.
Job numbers are out this morning, weaker than expected. The operative word seems to be sluggish. After so many years, why can't we seem to get the jobs machine out of first gear?
One data point in the jobs report could be seen as pretty disturbing. The average number of hours worked by employees has fallen. Again. It's now down to 34 hours a week. Are we now living in part-time America?
President Obama has been kind on tour, visiting cities, and sounding a little like he's joined Occupy Wall Street. What's behind this new message from the White House?
Congress is adjourning for their long summer recess, and there is every indication of a big mess when they return in mid-September. There's been no progress on a budget. The government will run out of money on October first. And, unless Congress raises the debt ceiling, we'll be in danger of defaulting on our debt shortly after that. How do you think this is going to play out over the fall?
When you look back at the winter and spring, there's not much that came out of Congress. They were able to agree on dealing with student loans. Beyond that, not much. Any other accomplishments of note, or is this really one of the least productive Congresses ever?
There have been some interesting stories about Kentucky senator and minority leader Mitch McConnell. He's facing re-election next year, and not only does he have what could be a pretty tough Democratic opponent, he's also facing a primary challenge from a rival Republican.
A lot of people here in California think of Mitch McConnell as an arch conservative, but maybe not conservative enough for Kentucky.
Let's talk about something a little closer to home: San Diego mayor Bob Filner. Last night the Fox affiliate in San Diego interviewed yet another woman who said she'd been groped by Filner. The latest woman joins eight other women who have gone on record complaining about sexual harassment by the mayor.
It's hard for a lot of people to understand why this man just doesn't resign. Is it something specific to Bob Filner, or is the instinct to hold onto office at all costs just sort of a common one for politicians?
Anthony Weiner is refusing to give up as well, even though he's dropped in the polls, and a host of Democrats, including two named Clinton, really want him to go away. Doesn't it seem like there's little chance of this having a happy ending?
Saying goodbye to the X-Games in LA
This weekend marks the last time that the Summer X-Games will be hosted in LA.
It's called Los Angeles "home" for the past decade, and it could be argued that during that time it's matured into a massive, worldwide event.
"This is the home of action sports, this is where the industry chooses to reside," says VP of X-Games, Chris Stiepock. "This is where a lot of these athletes live, and I would say it got us access to these guys."
But Steipock says that, now, it's too big for LA.
"We're taking non-traditional sports and trying to slam them into traditional sporting arenas," he says. "If we're in a facility where we're not confined by the venue, I think we can grow ourselves even bigger."
Next year, the X-Games will call Austin, Texas, its new home.
Yesterday, Angelenos who showed up to the games were disappointed that it wouldn't be local anymore.
"Very disappointed," says Brian Miyamoto. "This is why we came this year: it's the last time.
And Paul Simonson puts it more simply: "Austin? Too far. No."
It's also bittersweet for superstar street skateboarder Paul Rodriguez (who's also the son of comedian Paul Rodriguez.)
His first X-Games was LA's first time hosting the event in 2003.
"Literally my whole X-Games career is here in LA, so it's a little sad," says Rodriguez, "I think it really developed its identity here because it didn't stay anywhere half as long as they were here."
But when the X-Games moves to Austin, Rodriguez says he'll still be excited to compete.
"It's still going to grow," he says, "but it's just going to have a new vibe, the vibe of a new city."
Your last chance to catch events are this weekend at LA Live in downtown LA and in Irwindale.
Get more info on how to attend here.
Ozomatli: Getting to know the band behind Take Two's theme song
All summer, we've been telling you about a new project involving some very old songs. "Songs in the Key of LA" is a collection of sheet music from the LA Public Library, compiled by USC professor Josh Kun and his students.
A part of that project, the band Ozomatli, will be perfoming tonight at Cal Plaza in Downtown L.A.
We like to think the band is best-known for our theme song, which they wrote, but of course they're known for much more. The band's Will Abers and Ulises Bella joined Kun and host Alex Cohen in the studios in July, to talk about their music and Kun's ongoing project.
Security trumps environment in border fence building
Congress is considering building hundreds of miles of new fencing along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of immigration reform.
Jill Replogle from the Fronteras Desk reminds us of the last big fence-building push, and the fight that centered on the fence's potential effects on San Diego's fragile border ecosystems.
World-class boxing finds a home in Macau
Macau long ago overtook Las Vegas as gambling's top location. Now it seems it's jockeying for position in the "sweet science," otherwise known as boxing.
This year, Macau is hosting a series of high-profile fights featuring Philippine superstar Manny Pacquiao and Zou Shiming, a former Chinese gold medalist and rising star. Titled "The Clash in Cotai", the November fight between Pacquiao and Brandon Rios will take place at the Venetian resort in Macau, following in line with American boxing usually taking place at casinos.
"I think there's a good match demographically between people who like to watch boxing and people who like to go to the table and shoot craps. And a high-profile brings a certain level of electricity," said Bill King, a senior writer for the Sports Business Journal.
Boxing is by no means the most popular sport in China, but the recent success of Shiming has given it popularity in the country.
"Boxing percolates in any country when a fighter has success," said King. "You see it in England with Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao in the Philippines, who took boxing from relative obscurity to top of the line."
King says that despite this rise, success could be fleeting if Chinese boxing fans become bored or no other home-grown boxers emerge on the international scene. Plus, the time of the live fight could be an issue for the Chinese market.
"The television money in the United States, and that's not changing any time soon," King said. "A fight in Macau has to be on in primetime in the United States, and when Pacquiao fights, it's going to be ten in the morning [in China]. That's fine for Pay-Per-View over here in the States, but does the resort in Macau want to consistently put big events on in the morning?"
The largest boxing purses are still in the United States, and this international trend could also just be part of promoter Bob Arum's plans. Arum is the CEO of Top Rank, a boxing promotion company who represents Pacquiao.
King believes Arum wants to leverage his fights abroad in order to get more money hosting fights at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. "With Macau, Bob can say 'we want somewhere else', but long-term I don't see fights there (Macau) becoming a thing."
Plus, a big feature of boxing overseas might not be quite as feasible in the States. A plan to stream the Pacquiao-Rios fight for $5 on hand-held devices in China wouldn't find the same success domestically.
"There's not an establish Pay-Per-View business in Asia, so streaming becomes the alternative," said King. "Why would you compete with yourself on hand-held devices when you're trying to sell the Pay Per View for $75? It doesn't make sense."
What is a Roller Derby wedding?
If you like major adrenaline in your sports but two people punching each other in the face isn't your thing, you might like the dangerous punk rock sporting event on tap in Vegas this weekend: Roller Derby.
It's the annual convention of skaters and derby aficionados known as Roller Con. Competitors from throughout the world will participate in specialized training seminars and face off in bruising bouts.
As you may know, our own Alex Cohen — Axles of Evil — is a former Derby Girl. She competed for LA's Derby Dolls.
This week, before she took off, Alex told us about a little something extra special that happens at this event: The Derby Wedding.
Yes, it's a union between two women, aka Your Derby Wife.
It's not romantic. It's not even about being best friends. It's about choosing -- and celebrating -- your partner in skates.
"Here is this woman that I've met one time who's kind of like, I choose you, you're going to be my buddy. No matter what happens in this, I choose you, we're a team," said former skater Jennifer Barbee, aka Kasey Bomber, describing what it was like meeting her Derby Wife:
Barbee co-wrote the book "Down and Derby" with our host and she also wrote the vows still used at the weddings:
Ah, true love. The 10th annual derby wedding will take place at the Riviera Resort Friday night at 9 a.m.
How to protect your personal information online
Yesterday, Edward Snowden's life may have gotten a little more private. He left his temporary in the Moscow airport after finally being granted asylum for one year in Russia.
Since the revelations about the NSA's data gathering program surfaced, there have been plenty of discussions about privacy online. Citizens wonder if they can trust the government or the giant online companies that handle their personal information.
In light of this, Take Two producer Jacob Margolis joins the show to tell us how people are making sure their info stays private.
Beachcombing: Loss of isopods raises questions about beach health (photos)
You remember pill bug, those little roly-polys that curled up in the palm of your hand as a kid.
Their scientific name is isopods and they have cousins that burrow into the sand along the coast, but those isopods have disappeared from a number of southern California's beaches.
In the latest installment of our Beachcombing series, KPCC's Molly Peterson explores why we're losing isopods, and what it might mean for the health of our coast.
Shark population under attack from human hunters
The Discovery Channel kicks off its annual Shark Week on Sunday, bringing us Great Whites, Hammerheads, Leopards and Reef Sharks all week. The viewers are excited as usual, but all is not well in shark land.
The public tends to think of as fearsome predators on the attack, but it's actually the sharks who are under attack from humans. Their numbers continue to dwindle.
Michael Skoletsky is the Executive Director of Shark Savers, an organization dedicated to what its name might indicate, and joins the show.
Preview of LA Magazine's 'Best of LA' issue
If you want to have the best weekend ever you might want to pick up the Best of LA guide from Los Angeles Magazine. They've got all the basics covered from the best cold-brewed coffee and dog beaches to some more obscure categories, like where to buy premium dirt.
Here with a little preview of some of their picks is Lesley Bargar Suter, dine editor for Los Angeles magazine who helped put the list together.
Dodger Stadium to host LA Galaxy, Real Madrid soccer matches (Photos)
For the first time in its 51-year history, Dodger Stadium will host a soccer match. Two, in fact.
But if you think seeing soccer at the stadium on Saturday is stranger, wait until the place transforms into a hockey rink. KPCC's Ben Bergman went to the historic ballpark to find out why the Kings and the Galaxy are switching venues.
Those stinky corpse flowers not as rare as they used to be
Last week, royal watchers awaited the royal baby; this week, California botanists counted down the hours to the corpse flower bloom at UC Santa Barbara.
The equatorial plant has long drawn big crowds to botanic gardens with its rare blooms and famed scent, a smell that's often compared to rotting flesh.
When the first corpse flower, or Amorphophallus titanum, bloomed in captivity in London in 1889, police had to be called in to control the crowds of people who came to see it.
Californians got their first whiff in 1999 at the Huntington Library, where Kathy Musial, curator of the library's gardens and living collections, has since had a hand in cultivating three more blooms. She refers to it as "the holy grail of horticulture," because it blooms only once every four to five years and requires precise care in order to get it to flower.
RELATED: People are dying to see the 'corpse flower' bloom in Santa Barbara
When Musial cultivated her first bloom back in 1999, there wasn't much information about how to care for the plants. So she dreamed up a way for her colleague to artificially speed up the release of pollen.
"He took the pollen out, took it home to warm it up on his stove. I had the thought that if we got lucky. To fertilize the females when they were receptive. And it worked," said Musial. "He came back at 6 a.m., crawled down in there — it's not easy to pollinate this thing either — crawled down in there, pollinated it, and we just waited."
Musial and her colleague got 10 fertile fruits from what she refers to as "the surgery."
Thanks to curious botanists like Musial, corpse flowers have become more common in captivity, as rainforest destruction makes them less common in their natural habitats. Musial even had a hand in helping to pollinate UC Santa Barbara's plant that flowered this week.
Botanists there nicknamed the plant "Chanel." Musial says the running joke in her department is that soon you'll be able to pick up a corpse flower at Home Depot. But for Musial, her years in rearing corpse flowers have lessened some of that first-time magic.
"The allure of the rare — whether it's a panda, or a sticky plant, or whatever it is — the allure of the rare to the public will always be there," she said. "Now, it's like, 'Oh, another one's blooming.' A little bit of the allure has worn off for us jaded botanical folks."
But that isn't the case for the public yet — more than 1,900 people have turned out for a look, and smell, of Chanel.
Woman who kept the Huntington's 18th century clocks ticking for 25 years says goodbye
How many clocks do you think you wind each week? The answer is probably zero, unless you've got a bunch of 18th century clocks hanging around your house.
For Jacqueline Dugas, registrar at the Huntington Library, that number can sometimes reach as high as 25. As the official clock winder of the Library, she has been responsible for keeping all 25 of the organization's precious timekeepers running.
This week marks the end of her run, as she's finally retiring after 25 years of winding clocks (among other things of course).
"I inherited that honor and I've enjoyed it all this time," Dugas told KPCC. "I loved the objects and I was ready to try my hand at it so to speak, and we've become very, very good friends over the 25 years."
Though Dugas is bittersweet about leaving the post she's held for a quarter century, she knows she can always come back and see them at the Huntington.
"It's somewhat sad and I will have to say goodbye to them and wish them the very best and come back and visit as an admirer, rather than a caregiver," said Dugas.
One particularly special clock in the Huntington's collection is a 19th century French piece believed to be connected to Marie Antoinette.
"It is one of the most beautiful and impressive pieces in our collection because it features a portrait of the Archbishop of Saxony, who was a brother of Marie Antoinette," said Dugas. "It's just a very beautiful object and it is one of the most accurately running clocks in our collection. One that Versailles would be very proud of, but we're lucky because we have it here at the Huntington."