On Friday Take Two discusses an announcement President Obama is set to make about an executive order regarding immigration, how vets have been affected by Don't Ask Don't Tell and how African American communities use the camera for social change.
President Obama expected to take executive action on immigration
The powers of the President of the United States are fodder for debate once again.
Despite protests from Republican leaders, President Obama is expected to make a big announcement in the coming week to take executive action to tackle immigration reform.
Many news outlets have reported that the Commander-in-Chief will assert his executive authority to enforce immigration law as he sees fit. For more on how far the President can go and how his actions might put a nail in the coffin of bipartisan agreement come the new year, Justin Levitt joins Take Two. He's a Constitutional Law Professor at Loyola Law School.
Friday Flashback: The politics behind immigration policy, what Republicans might do and SCOTUS takes up Obamacare
It's Take Two's weekly look back at the week in news, joining guest host Deepa Fernandez is
, political reporter with the LA Times, and
, senior political reporter and blogger with La Opinion.
According to a report from the New York Times, the President is planning a dramatic change in current immigration policy. Take Two talks about the validity of the report, and what the proposed executive action may be.
And on the other side of the argument - conservatives warn that if Obama does issue an executive order, they'll respond with a move of their own.
The Supreme Court is taking up another challenge on the Affordable Care Act. But meanwhile one big player in health care reform has been taking a lot of heat for his comments related to it.
I'm not talking about the President - but rather Jonathan Gruber - an MIT economist, and an advisor on the health care law.
The reason? Because of comments Gruber made, like this one below - that were uncovered by an amateur researcher.
We'll find out who Jonathan Gruber is and what his statements might mean for the Obama Administration.
Finally, the attempt by reality star Kim Kardashian to BREAK the internet. Well, she didn't break it - but she got what she wanted, for people to talk about her. But why do we still care about the naked female form?
LGBT vet: The military's culture didn't change when Don't Ask Don't Tell ended
Many LGBT service members had to serve in the closet under the policy Don't Ask, Don't Tell for almost two decades. It wasn't until September 2011 that it was repealed.
But that doesn't automatically mean the armed services became a welcoming place.
"For me it's about trust," says Air Force veteran Brad Badgley," and that could be a difficult thing for people who've had their entire career in the military experience discrimination."
Badgely served from 2004 to 2010 and, as a gay man, was closeted during that entire time.
"It all started for me at boot camp," he recalls. His superiors said that if you want to get out of the military, just say that you're gay and your career is over.
"That sort of gave a picture right off the bat that this was not a welcome, opening environment and it sort of came off as you're weak or less than because you're gay," he says.
Photographer Jeff Sheng says that was a common theme among many of the people he met. Starting in 2009, he created a series with pictures of Badgley and many other service members, all with their faces and identities hidden.
"It was interesting to meet somebody who had a lot to lose," Sheng says, "but they wanted to be seen and they wanted to be heard."
However, despite the policy, many of those same people were committed to staying in the military.
"I believe in serving my country and community," says Badgley.
But after six years staying closeted had become an emotional drain for him and he decided to leave. Sheng says it was a familiar story he heard from others.
"There's a lot of emotional energy that gets spent having to deal with this," he says. "For some of these service members, even though the fear of being formally kicked out was gone, some still feel pressure to live up to some sort of ideal."
Sheng is now revisiting with many of those people he photographed years ago for an opportunity to take their pictures again, except this time to proudly show their faces.
"For myself, it's this huge reward to be able to mark progress in this country in a way that you can show visually," he says.
But Badgley says that there are still inequities for LGBT veterans, and many are treated differently.
For example, he says that seeing doctors at the VA can be stressful for veterans who've been accustomed to lying when talking about their partners and sexual history. Badgley says it would be helpful for medical staff to be trained in LGBT sensitivity.
"It's probably because of people not thinking that far ahead, so it's not their intention," he says. "We are making some great progress there, but I look forward to seeing where we can go."
This piece is part of KPCC's ongoing coverage of issues affecting veterans for Veterans Day 2014. See more of our coverage at KPCC.org/vets.
Lab Notes: Benefits of bilingualism, mental cost of smoking pot, controlling mice with your mind
Here's a few things to chew on this morning: The benefits of bilingualism, the mental cost of smoking pot and controlling mice with your mind.
It's wild stuff and Take Two talks about the science of all of it on "Lab Notes" with Southern California Public Radio's Sanden Totten.
'Doc' Paskowitz passes: Son remembers his surfing legend father
Surfers have been mourning the passage of a legend this week.
Dorian Paskowitz - better known as "Doc" - died on Monday at the age of 93 in Newport Beach, California.
In the mid-1950's Doc abandoned a successful medical practice and set out with his wife Juliette on what he called an odyssey - raising their nine children in a 24-foot camper, traveling the world and surfing every day.
His life was chronicled in the 2008 documentary "Surfwise."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r54wo_WMzfo
Josh Paskowitz, the youngest of Doc Paskowitz's children, said his father should be remembered for "his passion for life and people and the sport of surfing and spirit of aloha and of the Hawaiian people."
Josh Paskowitz shared more with Take Two about his father and upbringing.
'Through a Lens Darkly' explores African American 'self invention' through photographs
Photographs are the keepers of our histories, from life changing moments to times we'd rather forget.
But images also tell larger stories of social and political change.
A new documentary "Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People" does just that.
The film, which is being considered for the short list for a Documentary Academy Award, is the first to explore the role of photography in shaping the identity, aspirations and social emergence of African Americans from slavery to present day.
Photographer Thomas Allen Harris is the creative force behind the project. He told Take Two that, growing up, there were very few affirmative images of African Americans. He was, therefore, drawn to photos of "all kinds of things that affirmed our humanity and our self invention." Now he shares those types of images -- of the ordinary and the extraordinary -- in "Through a Lens Darkly."
Watch the trailer:
"Through A Lens Darkly" premieres in Los Angeles on Friday, Nov. 14 at Laemmle Playhouse 7.
Join Thomas Allen Harris for a discussion at the West Hollywood Library on Saturday, November 15 for TALKING CLOUD: (RE)MEMORY, DIS-MEMORY, AND THE NEW-OLD ARCHIVE(S). Click here for more information.
Lightning could increase dramatically as temperatures rise
New research suggests that as temperatures rise, lightning will increase as much as 50 percent over the next century all across the United States.
It was all compiled by a team at UC Berkeley and published in this week's issue of Science.
Climate Scientist David Romps joins Take Two to talk about his findings. To hear this segment, click on "Listen Now" above.
Traces of radiation from Fukushima found off the West Coast
Almost four years after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan, traces of radiation have been detected off the West Coast.
Scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have detected traces of the radioactive isotope cesium-124 about 100 miles off the coast of Eureka, California.
But not to worry— scientists say the levels of radiation don't pose a threat to humans. WHOI senior scientist Ken Buesseler joins Take Two for more on the findings.
Homeland Security targets Southern California to deter radical Islam
Despite their ultra-conservative ideology, the radical Islamic group known as ISIS is very modern when it comes to messaging.
They've produced videos and used social media to spread their message and win converts to their ranks.
And the U.S. government is taking action to try divert the small percentage of American Muslims who might be attracted to radical Islamic movements.
Thursday, the Secretary of Homeland Security was in Southern California, spreading the message about a new effort to Muslim leaders and law enforcement officials.
The California Report's Steven Cuevas has the story.
Canine veterans honored in new 'War Dogs' book
As Take Two rounds up its week long series on veterans, there's one group of service members that has not been talked about - canines on the battlefield.
Rebecca Frankel has written a whole book on these four-legged soldiers called "War Dogs: Tales of Canine Heroism, History, and Love." She's also a Senior Editor at Foreign Policy Magazine and she joins Technical Sargent Justin Kitts, who speaks with A Martinez about his own experience with his Military Working Dog - Dyngo - while stationed in Afghanistan.
To hear this segment, click on "Listen Now" above.
The race to become the Starbucks of marijuana
In Washington State, many fledgling marijuana businesses have been struggling with short supply and complex regulations since sales became legal last summer.
Still, some have high hopes. They're gearing up to expand, and maybe even cross state lines.
From public station KUOW in Seattle, Amy Radil reports on the race to become the Starbucks of cannabis.
Food waste also an issue in China
Americans love to eat - and often overeat.
But we also end up wasting a tremendous amount of food - the USDA estimates as much as 30 percent of the groceries we buy and meals we purchase end up in the trash.
Other countries have similar problems.
The BBC's
reports from China.
Weekend on the cheap: Ice skating in SoCal, sequels we wish existed and Jeff Garlin talks with Jon Favreau
The weekend is just hours away, and Southern California Public Radio's social media producer Kristen Lepore explains some of the top contenders for what you should do with our free time.
This week, we're ice skating in sunny Southern California, drinking free (and high-end) coffee in Culver City and imagining our favorite movies had sequels at iam8bit gallery in Echo Park.
Here's a full guide of stuff to do, including everything we mentioned above.
Los Straitjackets collaborate with Deke Dickerson on new album
The luchador mask-wearing surf rockers, Los Straitjackets are coming to Southern California to play some of their signatures.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1H75hBXvjsw
But this time, they have another artist in tow - Deke Dickerson, who laid down vocals on top of all of their tracks.
Their newest album is called "Deke Dickerson Sings the Great Instrumental Hits," and guitarist Eddie Angel, from the band, is in to chat about it.
Here is the iconic "Hawaii Five-O" theme with lyrics.