The IRS is looking into taxing tech company meals, Joe Domanick's new book, how much longer can California last in the drought?
Joe Domanick’s ‘Blue’ tackles troubled history of policing in LA and beyond
Joe Domanick has been covering the LAPD for over three decades. Now, he takes an in-depth look at the force in his new book, ‘Blue: The LAPD and the Battle to Redeem American Policing.’
Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed and Something Blue
Domanick uses a classic wedding analogy to describe each chapter in the history of the LAPD. He says, prior to the 1950s, the department struggled with corruption and scandal.
“Pre-1950, it was a corrupt department in the old sense of the word, the way most big city police departments were at that time. That is, cops were on the take, they had bag men going around collecting money from gambling establishments, from houses of prostitution, curbside payments for tickets, etcetera.”
The department hit a turning point when Bill Parker became chief of police.
“He said, ‘we are not going to do this anymore,’ and he did indeed stop that.”
Unfortunately, Parker’s reforms only went so far. Domanick says one form of corruption was soon replaced by another: one that often involved ‘street justice.’
Changes for the LAPD
Joe Domanick says a major turning point for the LAPD came after the Rodney King riots. He says the unrest led the department to hire its first black chief of police.
“After the ‘92 riots, the police commission and mayor Bradley were absolutely determined that they would have an African American chief for the first time. If you ever met Willie Williams, you would immediately like him … but he was way Peter Principle -- out of being able to govern the Los Angeles Police Department.”
Domanick describes Williams as a ‘curiously incurious person,’ who didn’t take the time to learn the nature of the city.
The more things seem to change ...
In his conversation with Take Two, Domanick shared his thoughts on the two most recent scandals to rock the LAPD under the watch of chief Charlie Beck.
“If you recall, the Los Angeles Times did an extraordinary piece of investigative journalism and discovered that the LAPD was lying about their serious crime numbers -- that in fact, the kind of crimes that we fear the most, personal assaults, beatings, really really violent felonies, were being deliberately misclassified as misdemeanors, so that they wouldn’t show up in the serious crime report … That was a terrible breach of trust with the people of Los Angeles ... “
Domanick is also concerned about the recent rise in officer involved shootings.
“I also think that now, he’s doing a really terrible job of dealing with all of these shootings that have been happening in Los Angeles. Twenty-five people shot, 13 of them dead, many of them in situations where you would say, ‘Oh my god, how did this unarmed person get shot?’”
Domanick says, though much has improved in the LAPD, there is still more work to be done.
“The shootings that are happening are as bad as the shootings in the 70s and the 80s that really got me interested in the LAPD in the first place.”
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Should Google's lavender cornbread and other employee meals be taxed?
The IRS says it's looking into taxing the meals that tech giants, such as Google and Facebook, have long promoted as perks for workers.
The crux of the argument comes down to who really benefits from these kinds of perks more: the employer or the employee?
Victor Fleischer, a professor of corporate tax and tax law at the University of San Diego Law School, joined the show with more. His latest op-ed, "Stop Universities from Hoarding Cash," was published in the New York Times.
Sports roundup: Rams train in LA, trophies in youth sports
The Rams visit L.A. for summer training – could it portend a return to their former home? Plus, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison stirs a controversy on trophies and youth sports.
For all this and more in the world of sports,
joined the show.
Impatient: To HMO or to PPO... that's the question
There are certainly a lot of things to consider when deciding between an HMO and a PPO.
It's an issue Southern California Public Radio's Rebecca Plevin has been pondering as part of a project she's been working on called Price Check.
She's been fielding plenty of emails from our listeners, about their childbirth experiences and from what she's seen, HMOs may be the way to go, at least when it comes to price.
To find out the whole story click on the audio embedded at the top of the post or swing on over to Rebecca's blog for her breakdown.
Rebecca joins us every week to talk about our consumer health segment, "Impatient."
A look at Addyi, the 'female Viagra'
The FDA has approved the drug Flibanserin, or the "female Viagra." It will be marketed with a much cuter name, Addyi, and is expected to be available in a few months.
Dr. Jennifer Berman is a sexual health expert, urologist and female sexual medicine specialist. She is also a co-host on the Emmy Award-winning television show, "The Doctors." Berman says the new drug is not like the traditional male Viagra, designed to increase blood flow.
"This drug, Flibanserin, works within the brain and central nervous system through an entirely different mechanism for an entirely different type of sexual function completely, that being for low sexual desire," she said.
Berman says female sexuality and sexual response is very complicated. "There isn't going to be a little pink or blue pill that's going to solve all aspects to this problem," she said.
While sexual health is directly associated with general health, it's tough to measure the benefits of the drug, Berman says. Someone’s libido is a subjective event. "It's like asking somebody how you feel when asked what is God," she said.
Addyi is expected to be available to the public by mid-October.
To listen to the full interview, click on the blue audio player above.
Is California really 'winning' the drought?
UC Davis issued a report Monday looking at the financial impact of the drought on agriculture in California.
According to the study, the drought is costing California $2.7 billion this year. Farmers are, of course, some of the hardest hit. But surprisingly, the state's agriculture industry is actually growing.
Broaden out to the picture for the entire state, and things are still looking good. California's economy is growing, job creation is up, and people are still moving to the state.
In a recent essay for The New York Times titled "How California is winning the drought," journalist Charles Fishman argues that California has been remarkably resilient in the face of the drought. But, he warns, it won't last long.
To hear the full interview with Charles Fishman, author of "The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water," click the link above.