According to a new report, 2012 was the hottest year on record for the U.S. On the other side of the world, Australia has been suffering from a longterm heat wave and dangerous brush fires. Then, Latin American countries are reconsidering the legalization of marijuana after similar measures get voted through in the U.S. A new article explains how Tide detergent became a hot commodity in the drug trade. Florida readies for it's annual Python Challenge, where hunters from all over the country compete to rid the Everglades of the overpopulous Burmese Python, plus much more.
Australia burns as NOAA reports 2012 was hottest year on record in US
According to a report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2012 was the hottest year on record for the U.S. But in California, the snowpack is well above normal, so what's going on with the weather?
An intense heat wave along with high winds has triggered scores of wildfires — or bush fires as they like to call them — across Australia. One of the hardest-hit areas is New South Wales, the country's most populous state, and home to its largest city, Sydney.
The country has been so hot that the weather service had to add new colors in order to capture temperature at or above 130 degrees.
Matt Inwood, superintendent at the headquarters of Australia's Rural Fire Service just outside Sydney, joins the show to tell us how his team is coping.
How is California coping?
While Australians battle heat and bush fires, and much of the United States is still dealing with drought conditions, things are looking pretty good for California.
As we mentioned, the snowpack is well above average levels, and California ski resorts are attracting lots of visitors that might normally head for places like Colorado, where the snowfall has been exceptionally sparse this year.
Then there's that new record. 2012 was the hottest year on record for the lower 48 states, and the temperatures were more than three degrees above the average temperature for the 20th century as a whole.
Here to break down what this means is Jeff Masters, a meteorologist and the founder of the popular weather site Wunderground.com.
Latin America reconsiders pot legalization after ballot wins in US
Recent marijuana legalization measures in Washington and Colorado have sparked an international dialogue on drug policy, and how to change it.
This is especially true in Latin American countries, where the drug trade has had deadly consequences. So might legalizing marijuana diminish the power of the violent cartels?
Here to talk about that is Sylvia Longmire. She's the author of "Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico's Drug Wars."
How Tide detergent became a hot commodity in the drug trade
One thing the cartels aren't dealing yet is laundry detergent, but they may start. U.S. law enforcement officials have noticed a curious trend of Tide detergent being used to buy drugs
That's right, the same soap that is tough on stains is now being traded for pot or crack. This story broke last year when there was a rash of Tide thefts across the country.
This week, New York Magazine profiled Sergeant Aubrey Thompson, one man who's been investigating this strange crime wave. He's the head of the Organized Retail Crime Unit for Prince George County Police in Maryland.
Is California's prison crisis coming to an end?
Governor Jerry Brown is stepping up his campaign to end federal oversight of the state's prison system and quash a court order for further cuts in the inmate population. KQED's Michael Montgomery says Brown's message is simple: California's prison crisis is over.
Jack Black on 'Bernie,' his Golden Globe nom and the future of Tenacious D
Seventeen years ago in East Texas, a former mortician named Bernie Tiede killed a wealthy 81-year-old woman named Marjorie Nugent. He confessed to the crime, but because she was so unliked many people in the small town of Carthage, Texas that many of the folks living there rallied to his defense.
This strange, but true, story is the subject of Richard Linklater's newest film, "Bernie," starring Jack Black, who was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance.
Interview Highlights:
How did you first hear about the story of Bernie Tiede?:
"I didn't hear about the story when it happened. This was a real Texas take that everybody in East Texas knew about but not really many people in Southern California heard about it. It was only a couple years ago when Richard Linklater who I worked with on 'School Of Rock' said Hey I have a part for you in this script that I wrote based on a true story… I thought it was compelling because of its peculiarity. You don't' hear about that kind of crime very often where everybody in the town loves the person who has confessed to a murder and doesn't want to convict them because they were such a sweet person. Very interesting stuff."
Why do you think director Richard Linklater chose you for this role?:
"I think he thought that I could pull off the likeability quotient, apparently. I don't want to tweet my own horn, but people like me. Although it's not heavy metal its very musical, he wanted someone who could pull off all the singing. He was a real musical theatre buff and was very active in the community theatre. Even though it seems like a much different character than I've played before it fit in my wheelhouse very well. it felt like while I was doing it I was born to play this character, which was strange. Its very far away from me, this gay mortician from East Texas, why does it fit like a glove?"
Why was Bernie so popular among senior women?:
"I got a chance to meet the actual Bernie Tiede, we went to the prison and spoke to him before we started shooting, and I asked him what his life was like before he met Marjorie [Nugent] and what was growing up in East Texas like, and he said that his parents died when he was very young and his grandma raised him, and maybe that explains why he had such a way with the older ladies. Maybe there was a grandmotherly comfort there. "He was really good at his job, he was a fine mortician and went beyond that. he didn't just make sure the corpses looked presentable and respectable, but also he took great pains to make sure the ceremonies were beautifully appointed and that the whole experience of the passing of a loved one was smooth and made to be meaningful. As is the case, women usually outlive their male counterparts and there were lots of widows in this small town of Carthage that loved him because he gave their husbands these great funerals and he knew he would do the same for them some day."
What did you learn from Bernie when you visited him in prison?:
"Just got to see his day to day thing and see how all the other inmates related to him and he was indeed very popular there. He was the most loved guy in the prison as I could see. And he was making the best of it, he was working on some crochet memorials for people who had lost family members back in his home town of Carthage. So he was keeping emotional connections to people he knew back home. "I got to talk to him a little bit about some personal things that I felt the audience was going to want to know the answer to. Mainly just why. Why did you kill her? Why didn't you just leave? What gathered was it was very similar to the reason why married couples don't leave. Why sometimes there will be a murder in a family. Why does that end tragically and violently instead of separations? Because there's a codependence there. It's not that simple. There's love there mixed in with the hate."
What was the reaction like from the people in Carthage, Texas, where the murder took place?:
"It is tricky. Whenever you're telling a true story and there's tragic elements its a touchy subject. I didn't go to Carthage, we shot mostly in a town called Bastrop that had similar architecture and scenery. But Rick did go to Carthage to shoot some exteriors and to interview some people from the town. You know how churches sometimes will have a message of the day on the board outside? It said "Murder is dark, not comedy." So yeah, message received, but that's the courage of Richard Linklater is he found something moving, and also funny, and sometimes those two come together and he wasn't afraid to explore that."
Can you tell us about Tenacious D's "Simply Jazz EP"?:
"It just came out of our sound checks in-between songs…Our drummer Brooks Wackerman, who is an incredible musician, just started playing a little Jazz just messing around with the Jazz drums…me and Kyle just looked at each other and thought, this is so wrong, we started playing Jazz. There shouldn't be anything so funny about that but it just felt hilarious, and we explored that and then sad we've got to do this in front of the audience and that night I said this is a taste of the new direction of Tenacious D, it's a new direction, its Jazz. The audience at first booed and then they laughed and then they loved it. There's something titllating about testing the boundaries of what's expected."
Trailer for "Bernie":
A young Jack Black in a commercial for Pitfall:
The economic effects of fewer immigrants, more retirees in the Golden State
The shrinking number of immigrants coming into California means fewer children are born here. That, combined with an oncoming tidal wave of retirees could have serious consequences for the Golden State, according to a new report out this week.
For more on these shifting demographics and what they could mean for the state's financial outlook, we're joined by Stephen Levy, Director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, an independent research organization which focuses on the long term trends in this state.
What the Affordable Care Act means for multi-status families
When the Affordable Care Act goes into effect, millions of new patients will have access to health care. But the law excludes undocumented immigrants, estimated to be about 11 million people nationwide.
What does that mean for families with mixed immigration status? Some will be covered under the act, others will not.
Megan Burks from KPBS and the Speak City Heights project in San Diego reports.
Suspended Houston Rockets rookie Royce White's struggle with anxiety
The Houston Rockets selected power forward Royce White for their first pick in last June's NBA draft. White has refused to play a minute with the Rockets as he's locked in a bitter dispute with the team over how to handle treatment for his anxiety disorder.
White has OCD and a fear of flying, which for a professional athlete could be a tough issue to find a solution for. The Rockets have suspended White for " refusing to provide services as required by his contract."
White talks about his disorders in this video by Grantland:
Where does this leave White in his basketball career and how much responsibility does his employer, the Rockets, have in helping him work through his mental health issues?
To help us sort this out, we talk to Henry Abbott, who covers basketball for ESPN, and sports psychiatrist Jack Stark.
Royce White joined Slate's Hang Up and Listen podcast to talk about his struggle with anxiety:
Hugo Chavez inauguration postponed to allow for further recovery
President Hugo Chavez was scheduled to be inaugurated for a fourth term on Thursday, but the Supreme Court ruled that the celebration could be postponed so Chavez could recover from the "respiratory insufficiency" he suffered after emergency cancer surgery on December 11.
We take a look how this leader achieved near-mythical status, even while he's been out of the public eye.
2013 Python Challenge kicks off this weekend in Florida
This Saturday will not be a good day for Burmese Pythons in Southern Florida. That's when the Python Challenge starts, a government-sponsored, month-long snake hunt, complete with cash prizes for catching the most and longest pythons.
For answers to all the questions you have about this, and we do too, we turn to Frank Mazzotti, professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Florida who helped design the Python Challenge.