Sen. Marco Rubio warns of immigration reform executive order; America's drug czar Gil Kerlikowske is moving on; Researchers say too much praise creates unmotivated children (poll); New $100 bills delayed further due to another production snafu; This year marks the 100th anniversary of the T-shirt. We take a look at the fashion icon's SoCal roots, plus much more.
Sen. Marco Rubio warns of immigration reform executive order
The immigration debate has lulled as Congress members return home for the August recess, but this week Senator Marco Rubio issued a strong warning to House Republicans: Fix the immigration system soon, or the Obama White House will.
In an interview with Tallahassee radio host Preston Scott, Rubio said:
“I believe that this president will be tempted, if nothing happens in Congress, he will be tempted to issue an executive order like he did for the DREAM Act kids a year ago, where he basically legalizes 11 million people by the sign of a pen. Now, we won’t get an E-Verify, we won’t get any border security. But he’ll legalize them.”
Here to tell us more is Politico reporter Everett Burgess.
LA considers free citywide Wi-Fi, but is it worth the cost?
Yesterday, the L.A. City Council committee discussed installing free wi-fi across Los Angeles.
Councilman Bob Blumenfield introduced the motion last week, saying that free Wi-Fi in L.A. would help businesses, tourists and people who can't afford internet access on their own. If the plan is approved, L.A. would be the largest city in the U.S. to offer the service. Nearby cities like Riverside and Burbank have free citywide wi-fi.
Dan Ackerman, senior editor with CNET, is with us to talk about the plan.
Commission scrutinizing SF's City College is itself being investigated
Earlier this year, the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges decided to revoke the accreditation of San Francisco City College for the upcoming school year. Warnings were also issued to colleges in Southern California.
But now the accrediting commission is in hot water with the U.S. Department of Education. Officials are finding fault with the group's review of the San Francisco College.
The California Report's Education Reporter Ana Tintocalis has the latest.
Civil rights giant John Lewis becomes comic book hero
Georgia Congressman John Lewis is the son of Alabama sharecroppers. He went on to speak alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington, and later became a politician to continue his fight for civil rights.
Now he's turned his life experience into a graphic novel titled, "March."
The first in a three-book series was unveiled a few weeks ago at Comic-Con. From the Fronteras desk, KPBS reporter Sandhya Dirks has this story.
Marking the one-year anniversary of Obama's deferred action plan
This week marks the one-year anniversary of the start of President Obama’s deferred action program. It's goal was to simplify the immigration pathway for people who were brought to the country illegally as children.
More than 400,000 immigrants received temporary legal status.
We speak to one of them, Ivan Ceja, a biochemistry student at Long Beach State, as well as Audrey Singer, who's researched the program for the Brookings Institution.
Sports Roundup: The Dodgers, Kobe Bryant and more
The King might become the president, Major League Baseball might be be dragging itself into the 21st century and the Dodgers can't seem to lose. That means it's time for sports! We're joined by Andy and Brian Kamenetzky; they've covered sports for the L.A. Times and ESPN.
The Dodgers are still in first place in the National League. What's the reason for their continuing success?
The Dodgers may be for real, but it looks like an interview with former Yankees outfielder Shane Spencer wasn't. A supposed interview Spencer did with Mike Lindsey of ESPN Radio on Monday has been exposed as a hoax.
On the topic of baseball, the MLB is finally considering expanding its use of instant replay. How will this affect the game and its viewers?
Last time we saw Kobe Bryant on the court, he was limping off with a torn achilles tendon. He says it feels good now. What might next season look like for him?
Back in April, NBA player Jason Collins made history by coming out as the first openly gay athlete in America's most popular sports. He's a free agent now, but could that change soon?
Lebron James is arguably the best player in basketball right now. He's a two-time champ and four-time league MVP, but it looks like he won't be adding Players' Union President to that list.
Texas A&M quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel is still in the hot seat following allegations that he violated NCAA rules by selling his autograph. More people are coming forward with the same story.
Researchers say too much praise creates unmotivated children (poll)
As a parent, it might be difficult not to praise your kids for everything they do, but researchers say constant praise is a bad thing. As KPCC's Deepa Fernandes reports, unfortunately, parents are not listening.
New $100 bills plagued by another production snafu
The first batch of shiny new $100 bills that we've been promised are set to go into circulation in October, more than two years late.
The new bills that show a more dapper Ben Franklin have been plagued by printing problems and production snafus; 30 million $100 bills are currently sitting in boxes waiting to be destroyed.
Now, yet another printing problem might delay the release of the bills even further.
David Wolman wrote about the $100 bill drama for the New Yorker. He's also the author of "The End of Money: Counterfeiters, Preachers, Techies, Dreamers--and the Coming Cashless Society."
App Chat: Apps that can predict your future...kind of
Now it's time for App Chat, a new segment where regular contributors come on to give you their app recommendations.
Today we're talking about apps that know what you're going to do before you actually do it. These apps are designed to help make your life easier by organizing and managing your data in a helpful way. Devindra Hardawar, national editor for Venture Beat, joins the show with his list of apps that can predict your future...in a way.
Tempo is an example of an app that's trying to make your calendar smarter. With typical calendar apps, you can open them up on your phone and glance at them and you'll have a sense of your schedule. Tempo actually finds information that you need. If it's a conference call that you have, Tempo can dial the number for you and type in PINs and passwords. If it's a meeting somewhere far-off, it can find you directions automatically and find parking for you as well. It can even look at relevant documents so you can get yourself prepared without fishing through your email or files.
Foursquare (seriously)
A couple of years ago, Foursquare started out as an app that let you check into places. You could earn fun badges and stuff. It was nice for a while, but that buzz has died down. Most recently, though, they've updated their apps on iPhone, Android and a couple other platforms to focus more on location discovery.
Now, with Foursquare, it uses that data it knows about you, where you've checked in before, to find places you'd like automatically. This is one of those things that will get smarter the more you use it. I found it to be really useful. The first time I opened it up after it was updated, I was able to find new restaurants in my neighborhood that I didn't even know about. That's something Yelp and other services didn't do for me.
Google Now is, at this point, pretty much a core feature of the Android operating system, but Google just released a new version of its iPhone and iPad search apps that brings it to those platforms as well. It's basically a very smart virtual personal assistant. A lot of random information that you're normally dealing with, your stocks, local weather, how long is it going to take to get to work, even how long it will take to get to your next meeting, Google Now finds this information for you and lets you access it easily. You don't have to do anything, and that's what I really like about it.
America's drug czar Gil Kerlikowske is moving on
America's Drug Czar Gil Kerlikowske is moving on.
Don't know who that is? You're not alone. One McClatchy reporter writes he was, "forgotten long before he was ever known to most Americans."
He's been largely under the radar since he was tapped to head the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in 2009. His main job was to lead the nation's fight on drug abuse, but Kerlikowske may soon be heading to a post overseeing the country's customs and border agency.
While we wait to hear back from him for an exit interview, we do want to examine his time in office and where that department might be heading.
Kevin Sabet is a director of the Drug Policy Institute at the University of Florida. He's also a former senior advisor to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and worked directly for Gil Kerlikowske.
The T-shirt turns 100: A fashion icon's SoCal roots
If you look in your closet right now, how many T-shirts would you find? If you're like most people the answer is probably, "quite a few."
This year marks an important milestone in the life of the T-shirt: its 100th birthday.
The T-shirt has been a staple of American culture for so long, we don't give a lot of thought to its origins. Where did it come from, and why did it get so popular?
Fashion blogger Michelle Tyree has the answers, saying the T-shirt traces its roots back to the U.S. military.
"The first T-shirt as we know it came into being around 1913," says Tyree, "That's when its first inception began, when the U.S. Navy made it regulation for all of its sailors. After that the Army followed suit, and it became a go-to piece for blue collar workers everywhere from farmers to machinists to miners. It was a very, very practical item."
Back then, the T-shirt was seen primarily as a uniform for laborers. So why did it make the jump from the blue collar worker to the fashion world? Like many other fashion trends, the T-shirt got its big break from Hollywood.
According to Tyree, the T-shirt, "catapulted to fame when Marlon Brando wore it in '51 in 'A Streetcar Named Desire.' It became the must-have item, and soon, teens and cool kids everywhere wanted to wear it," said Tyree.
Tyree says the popularity of the T-shirt was really cemented into American consciousness after James Dean wore one for his role as in "Rebel Without a Cause."
Around this time, the demand for the T-shirt exploded. According to some reports, during the year 'A Streetcar Named Desire' was released, $180 billion worth of T-shirts were sold. From there, the T-shirt has only increased in popularity. But with this increase in popularity came an increase in price.
When the first real T-shirt design company, Michael Stars, began production in the early '90s, the shirts were priced in the $40-$50 range, an unheard of price for a T-shirt. Today, that's the low end of Michael Stars' products.
What's next for the T-shirt? Well, Tyree says the baggy style of the '80s is on the rise, but there are a lot of other options.
"That's been the great thing about a trend like this," she says, "It trickles down, and now everybody does a fashionable, wearable version."
Web article by Kyler Jae
Are Crocs going extinct? Shoe company reports 43 percent drop in profits
Since they first hit the streets in 2002, more than 200 million pairs of Crocs have been sold worldwide. But now it seems those colorful foam clogs appear to be on their way out, soon to join the ranks of saddle shoes, Tevas and jellies.
Crocs' stock fell sharply last month after reporting a 43 percent decline in second-quarter profits. Some places have even started banning them for safety reasons.
For more on the rise and fall of the Croc, we're joined now by L.A.-based fashion writer and author Melissa Magsaysay.
Grand Performances: Why 21st Century libraries are anything but dull
L.A.'s library system is huge. Really huge. There are more than 70 branches, which are home to nearly 6.5 million publications, 3 million photographs and 30,000 electronic volumes.
For the past year now, John Szabo has been the man in charge of all those libraries. The chief librarian has received a lot of help though from Ken Brecher, president of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.
To many, the notion of librarians may bring to mind fastidious, pedantic sorts, or book nerds. And though John Szabo and Ken Brecher do love books, they are anything but dull.
Alex Cohen recently had the chance to spend some time chatting with the two of them as part of the Grand Performances series in downtown LA. She began the conversation with John Szabo, who told me about his earliest memories of the library.