A wall street firm pulls out stake in Bushmaster gun maker after Sandy Hook shooting, plus we'll see whether Craig Whitney thinks the shooting will result in gun control policy change. Then, Librarian Mara Alpert offers her favorite children's book of 2012, Russian Parliament may ban adoptions from the U.S., and much more.
Private equity firm drops investment in Bushmaster gun maker
In rapid response to criticism, a large private equity firm says it's selling its holdings in the company that makes the rifle used in Friday's Sandy Hook School shooting.
Cerberus Capital Management Group says it will sell its stake in Freedom Group, a conglomerate of gun companies that includes brands such as Remington and Bushmaster.
The firm issued this statement:
"It is not our role to take positions, or attempt to shape or influence the gun control policy debate. That is the job of our federal and state legislators. There are, however, actions that we as a firm can take. Accordingly, we have determined to immediately engage in a formal process to sell our investment in Freedom Group... Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and communities impacted by this tragic event."
This comes after California state treasurer Bill Lockyer suggested the state's public pension funds should pull investments in gun firms. The move also happened very shortly after the New York Times Dealbook published a piece about Wall Street's investments in arms companies.
Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times joins the show.
Will the Sandy Hook shooting result in actual policy change?
In Newtown, Conn., students in schools other than Sandy Hook return to class for the first time since last Friday's tragic shootings. Meanwhile funerals for those slain in the massacre continue today.
We last spoke to Craig Whitney, author of "Living With Guns: A Liberal's Case for the Second Amendment," just before the terrible tragedy hit the news.
Now that Friday's mass killing has put the debate on gun control on the front burner, we wondered whether this time he thought it more likely that the debate will actually result in change.
Many new faces in Sacramento when legislature reconvenes
When the state legislature returns from holiday break next month, it will mark the start of a new era shaped by voter approved reforms and dozens of brand new members. The California Report's Scott Shafer spoke with some members of the freshmen class.
Librarian Mara Alpert's favorite children's books of 2012
Christmas is just a week away, which means it's gift giving time. It also means parking problems and long lines and the painstaking mental task of determining what children want. One easy solution might be children's book, but which ones are the best?
Well, we've brought in our favorite children's librarian Mara Alpert to share some book recommendations for the holidays.
Mara Recommends:
Picture Books
Moustronaut by Mark Kelly
K-Grade 2
Authored by Mark Kelly, the last commander of L.A.'s own space shuttle Endeavour and husband of Gabby Giffords. Besides all that it's actually a good astronaut and/or moue themed read-aloud, about a little mouse on board a shuttle mission who shoes he has the "right stuff."
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs
K-Grade 3
Unlike the bears of the original tale, these dinosaurs are actively plotting to get a visit from young Goldilocks (using clever signage and chocolate pudding). Hysterically Funny from start to finish!
Fiction
The Fire Chronicle
Grades 4-7
15-year-old Katie, almost 13-year-old Michael and 12-year-old Emma don't know why Dr. Pym send them back to the dreadful orphanage at the end of their first adventure (The Emerald Atlas, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2011), but Kate, who learned to control the power of the Atlas to travel through time, knows they need to leave as soon as possible. Knowledge of the first book is suggested; readers who start here will definitely want to backtrack. Fans of the first book won't be disappointed and will eagerly anticipate the next one. The Emerald Atlas was good. This one is even better.
Eve and Adam
Grades 7-12
The accident was horrific. 17-year-old Evening Spiker should have lost her leg, if not her life. But mere hours after being rushed to the hospital, he mother, the uber-powerful owner of Spiker Biopharmaceuticals, arranges for her to be transported to the SB campus. She meets a mysterious boy named Solo, who fights his fascination with her even as he plots to destroy her mother. The book is funny, thought-provoking, emotionally wrenching, romantic and all above entertaining. Includes some violence, references to alcohol, drugs and sex, but nothing overt. Ethical and moral questions abound and will spark spirited debate.
Non-Fiction
Create with Maisy: A Maisy First Arts-and-Crafts Book
Pre K - Grade 1
Everyone's favorite rodent shares some of her favorite crafts in this well laid out, lavishly photographed craft book. Includes 17 simple projects, mostly using glue sticks, paint, simple craft supplies, and items from the recycling bin. Parents and preschool teachers will LOVE this one.
Looking At Lincoln
Pre K - Grade 3
A lovely picture book introduction to our 16th president; an excellent read-aloud, filled with quirky details, Kalman's trademark illustrations, and a true sense of appreciation and admiration toward a man who was deserving of both.
Bill The Boy Wonder: The Secret Co-Creator of Batman
Grade 3-6
Picture book bio (presented in comic book style) about Milton (Bill) Finger, who helped create and wrote most of the classic Batman comics between 1939 and 1965, uncredited until near the end of his career. Batman fans will especially enjoy.
Venice becomes Silicon Beach as tech companies move in
When it comes to bang for the buck, high tech is a great way to jump start your local economy, according to a recent report from a UC Berkeley economist.
That could be good news for Los Angeles, where Google is recruiting with the phrase, "Who needs Silicon Valley when you can have Silicon Beach?"
The company opened an office in Venice Beach last year, leading a wave of tech and media companies setting up shop there. But as the tech boom grows, some longtime residents are wondering if Silicon Beach will wipe out the rough edges they say makes Venice unique.
The California Report's Valerie Hamilton has the story.
New Music Tuesday: The best songs of 2012
We have just about two weeks left in 2012. Where did the time go? Well, the good news is that we have a very special New Music Tuesday. Today, we look back at the best in pop, R&B and hip-hop in the year that was.
NPR music critic Ann Powers and Oliver Wang from Soul-Sides.com join the show to run down their list of the year's best tunes.
Oliver Wang:
Artist: BJ the Chicago Kid feat. Kendrick Lamar
Album: PineappleNow-Laters
Song: His Pain
Summary: Kendrick Lamar had the best year of any rapper, and this may very well have been his best song, albeit a cameo, on crooner BJ the Chicago Kid's song from February 2012. The song masterfully uses a sample from James Brown's version of "Sunny."
Artist: fun.
Album: Some Nights
Song: We Are Young feat. Janelle Monae
Summary: One of the breakout bands of 2012, this is destined to be a "last call" classic at bars and clubs everywhere. It's also worth noting that even though fun. is ostensibly a "rock" band, the two main producers on it (Emile + Jeff Bhasker) came from the world of hip-hop
Artist: Psy
Song: Gagnam Style
Summary: Year of the viral song/video taken to new levels never seen before.
Artist: Frank Ocean
Album: Orange
Song: Sweet Life
Summary: Ocean made the leap from cameo singer to center stage with an R&B album that's neither hyper-contemporary nor purely throwback. You could call the vibe on here "West Coast" — certainly, Ocean's geographic references are — but Ocean nails the essence of "cool" that's understood regardless of what city you're listening from.
Ann Powers:
Artist: Melanie Fiona
Album: The MF Life
Song: 4AM
Summary: Melanie Fiona is a Canadian R&B singer who hasn't quite made it big yet, but should. This wide-ranging album somehow fell between the categories of cult favorite and mainstream hit, but this very current spin on melismatic soul, grounded in Fiona’s vocal blend of passion and sultry grace, rewards repeated listening: its strong songs bear emotional insights that reveal themselves as more and more complex over time.
Artist: Gregory Porter
Album: Be Good
Song: Real Good Hands
Summary: The only jazz hands this young titan of a vocalist wields are the ones that swipe away the boundaries too-often put around that genre. Masterful vocalese and instrumental swing meets soulful declamation meets a mighty pop ear in these irrepressible songs.
Artist: The Very Best
Album: MTMTMK
Song: Moto
Summary: Traditional grooves meet every shiny thing the dance floor has to offer in this cross-cultural celebration of the 21st-century African diaspora built around the joyful, urgent exhortations of Malawian singer Esau Mwamwaya.
Artist: Sinead O’Connor
Album: How About I Be Me (And You Be You?)
Song: Old Lady
Summary: One of pop’s greatest living vocalists returned to her classic ‘90s sound on an album so revealing, virtuosic and plain gorgeous that it should have been at the top of most critics’ lists. Her personal struggles got in the way of its reception, but please dig it out of the tabloids bin; it’s just fantastic.
PHOTOS: Russian officials to vote on whether to ban US adoptions
Over the last several years the number of children adopted by Americans from Russia has sharply declined, from 5,800 in 2005 to less than 1,000 last year. If some Russian politicians have their way, that number could drop all the way to zero.
On Wednesday, members of Parliament will consider a bill that would ban Americans from adopting Russian children. The legislation is the latest move in a battle between the U.S. and Russia over human rights. Just last week President Barack Obama signed into law a bill that imposes sanctions on Russians found to be connected with human rights abuses.
"In the last few years, it's been the second most popular choice for American families, it's been a historic program for the families to go through, there's been a lot of confidence in the status of the orphans no concerns about child trafficking," said Chuck Johnson, President and CEO of the National Council for Adoption. "Inter-country adoption seems to be a pawn sometimes that Russian politicians will use to further their nationalistic agenda, so you had a number of politicians who routinely introduced legislation that will ban inter-country adoption."
Though Russia and the U.S. have had a tumultuous relationship since the Cold War days, this latest threat of barring adoption with the U.S. stems from issues associated with the Jackson-Vanik Amendment from 1974 and the Magnitsky Bill, which was signed into law by President Obama on Dec. 14, 2012.
The Jackson-Vanik Amendment was passed in the 1970s to impose trade sanctions on the Soviet Union to pressure them to allow Soviet Jews to leave the country. Eventually the Soviet Union fell and its emigration policies changed, but Congress didn't get around to repealing the amendment until this year when Russia joined the World Trade Organization.
The existence of the amendment would have meant a disadvantage for American businesses, but the U.S. was not ready to give up all sanctions. That's where the Magnitsky Bill comes in.
The bill is named after Sergei Magnitsky was a Russian whistleblower who died in police custody under suspicious circumstances. The bill imposes sanctions on individuals associated with the suspicious death of Magnitsky. However, Russia has responded negatively, accusing the U.S. of also being involved in multiple human rights abuses.
"That has really upset the Russians, and in retaliation they're saying they're going to suspend the regime of adoptions because they think certain human rights violations are occurring on this site," said Charles Kupchan, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. "They also point to Guantanamo and the treatment of prisoners during the so-called "War On Terror" to say 'Don't lecture us about human rights, look what's happening in your own country.'"
While banning the adoption of Russian children in the U.S. would put somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 families in a lurch, Kupchin stresses that those who bear the brunt of the pain in this proposed ban are the orphans.
"It's barking up the wrong tree in the sense that who's being punished here are children who might otherwise might be adopted by American families, but the Russians feel that the United States is meddling in its internal affairs," said Kupchan. "I think its safe to say that this whole issue is still lodged in a kind of post-Cold War hangover where standing up to Russia plays well on Capitol Hill and standing up to Uncle Sam plays well in Russia."
Medical companies mining social media to track illnesses
Online viral videos and posts aren't anything new, but what if the thing going viral is an actual biological virus? One that health professionals can track in real time?
Medical companies are researching ways to mine the tweets and Facebook posts you make about your health and use them as data points to track outbreaks, analyze drug side-effects, and more.
April Dembosky reporting on this development for the Financial Times, says that most companies — medical companies included — already use social media as a customer satisfactory vehicle. While many companies are looking for negative reactions to a product, pharmaceutical companies will look at social media to find negative side effects of certain drugs so they may tailor or change the makeup of that drug.
The information offered by people on social media outlets is voluntary and therefore the claim that companies are intruding on private information is actually incorrect.
“What research has also found, though, is that people are in some cases more willing to share on social media information about their health than they are with their own doctors,” said Dembosky. Additionally, she says that other research proves, people are willing to be more honest and open when supplying personal data if there is some type of reward or retribution offered after complying.
Many companies, like Kaiser Permanente, an integrated health system that has 9 million members across the country, will look at social media to see if people are happy with certain services provided. Some hospitals can monitor channels in real time in order to find immediate results to possible problems, like ER wait times.
Essentially Dembosky thinks that the more health care providers can understand their members needs, background, and socioeconomic demographics, the more the companies will be able to better implement preventative healthcare.
Public Health officials have also been involved in monitoring social media channels. Even more so, many scientists and doctors are interested in using digital media as an indicator for health changes and outbreaks of communities.
“[The Google Flu Tracker], became an early indicator that something was going on in a particular community,” said Dembosky. “People are now very interested in how social media sites could serve a similar purpose, as people just start complaining about not feeling well to their friends.”
Dembosky is certain that while many hardships lay ahead for the healthcare industry to flush out before success, the potential is there. She claims that the industry has historically been behind other industries in terms of retail and advertising and banking.
“It’s still several years out in terms of how much they’ve successfully harnessed this information. Of course, the privacy concerns are enormous, and so especially, you know, hospitals want to tread very carefully here,” said Dembrosky. “So it could be some time before we see the kind of application in healthcare that we’ve seen in other industries. That being said, the other industries do indicate, you know, some of the future of where this could be headed.”
Campaigns mine Twitter, Facebook & other social media profiles for votes
There's been a lot of hand-wringing about how companies mine the personal information of social media users to deliver targeted advertising. That strategy is now increasingly being used by political campaigns.
KPCC's Sharon McNary reports what you "like" may end up affecting whom you vote for.
LA pro-sports team rivalries heat up over pursuit of best players
When you think of an L.A. sports rivalry, the conversation usually begins and ends with the Bruins and Trojans.
That is changing as the city's two established sports powers, the Lakers and Dodgers, are being challenged on and off the field by the Clippers and Angels.
While the Lakers and Dodgers have combined to give L.A. 16 championships, sports is a "What have you done for me lately" kind of business. Right now its the Clippers and Angels that are stealing the L.A. headlines.
Updated: Instagram's policy about the commercial use of user photos
UPDATE: In response to public concents, Instagram has released a statement clearing up confusion about their new policy. Read the statement here.
100 million people use the mobile phone app Instagram, meaning 100 million people are constantly taking photos of babies and food and clouds. Yes, clouds.
This parody song pretty much sums up Instagram (Warning: Song contains strong language):
But Instagram users are breaking away from taking pictures of their cats to voice their outrage about the company's new user policy. Instagram says, starting January 16, if you take a photo, Instagram can use it for whatever purpose they want. Stick it in an ad. Sell it as a stock photo. Here'sa snippet of their official statement:
"You agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you."
Angry Instagram users are threatening to shut down their accounts, but Sam Biddle, a writer for Gizmodo, says users should quit complaining.
“If say a cable television that we’re paying for put in a stipulation ‘you know, we’re actually going to monitor everything you watch and sell that information to marketers and we’re going to put a camera in your cable box and watch you at home and see what you’re wearing,'" said Biddle. "Obviously that’s an exaggeration, but you might be angrily outrageous there because you’re already giving the cable company money. Whereas in Instagram, it’s free. You’ve been getting a free fun thing for years.”