On Tuesday Take Two will discuss Bay Area faults, a new Vatican document about attitudes towards gays and lesbians, if you can catch Ebola on a plane, a "Les Miserables" song becoming an anthem in Hong Kong, Tuesday Reviewsday and more.
Vatican's shifting views on gays and lesbians causes push back
A document released by the Vatican Monday addressed the quote - "gifts and qualities" gays can offer and asked if Catholics could recognize the positive aspects of same-sex couples.
This move builds on Pope Francis' call for a more "merciful" approach to family issues.
But some say the document is a betrayal of the church.
John Allen, associate editor for The Boston Globe and the website Crux, weighs in.
El Salvador expands community policing to combat crime
El Salvador has a population of just over 6 million people.
But since last October, almost 16, 000 Salvadorean children have arrived at the U.S. border.
The country is struggling to rein in crime and gain control over powerful gangs.
El Salvador's new president has announced a strategy to expand community police units.
Reporter Jude Joffe-Block of Fronteras Desk went out on patrol with some officers and reports back.
Victor Hugo in Hong Kong: Why street protesters adopted a 'Les Misérables' song
Tuesday in Hong Kong, hundreds of police used chainsaws and sledgehammers to tear down barricades built by pro-democracy protesters. Authorities were clearing the way on a major road which has been blocked off for two weeks.
Demonstrators, many of them students, have been demanding full democracy for Hong Kong.
To illustrate their point, they've adopted the anthem, "Do You Hear the People Sing" from the musical "Les Misérables."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4mgmFAeesA
The choice isn't surprising, said Shaoling Ma, professor of comparative literature at Penn State.
"It's a very stirring song with a very simple message," said Ma. "It's simply, that a unified people – an image of all of France in the case of 'Les Mis,' but in this case Hong Kong, too – who can possibly unite and march behind one cause."
Of course, the situation on the ground is more complicated, with different groups expressing varying goals or missions. Some protesters have even championed a Cantonese translation of the popular tune, which adds a new layer of meaning, one which is both more tentative and radical, said Ma.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh8UfrMw8wM
"The song ends with [a line that says] no one has the right to remain silent," said Ma. "And therefore really calling people who have yet to join the protest to join in the ranks."
Tuesday Reviewsday: Flying Lotus, Radio Ridler and more
It's time for Tuesday Reviewsday, Take Two's weekly new music segment. Joining A Martinez in the studio this week is
from Soul-Sides.com.
Oliver Wang
Artist: Flying Lotus
Album: "You're Dead"
Songs: "Never Catch Me," "The Boys Who Died In Their Sleep"
Notes: Flying Lotus's fifth album is inspired by the musical idea of what the journey from death to after life is like, very much influenced by Lotus's great-aunt Alice Coltrane and "Lord of Lords," which was also about musically thinking through the journey of the spirit after death. The album features his frequent musical partner, the bassist Thundercat, along with guests like Kendrick Lamar, Herbie Hancock and Miguel Atwood-Ferguson.
Artist: 6ix
Album: "I'm Just Like You: Sly Stone's Stone Flower 1969-70"
Song: "I'm Just Like You"
Notes: Stone Flower was Sly Stone's short lived, self-owned label that put out some pretty experimental funk/soul in the late '60s just as Sly and the Family Stone were heading to the height of their commercial success. Sly did a lot of the experimentation that would end up on the "Riot!" LP via Stone Flower releases first, including many songs that used drum machines ahead of mostly anyone else.
Artist: Barbara Lynn
Album: "The Complete Atlantic Recordings"
Song: "Why Can't You Love Me?"
Notes: Lynn is best known for her early '60s hit, "You'll Lose a Good Thing" but was poised to achieve big things when Atlantic had her record with them in 1968. She did ok - the album yielded a few Top 40 hits - but she never achieved the superstardom that her contemporaries, including Aretha Franklin, ever saw. Great great music though, especially "Why Can't You Love Me?" which is this beautiful, haunting ballad.
Artist:
Album: "Purple Reggae"
Song: "Purple Rain"
Health workers need more training to handle Ebola outbreak
There’s been much concern among hospital workers after a Dallas nurse who had contact with Eric Duncan tested positive for Ebola. Death rate in the outbreak has now risen to 70 percent, according to the World Health Organization.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a “breach in protocol” led to the infection of the worker. But a recent survey conducted by National Nurses United found that 85 percent of health workers have not been provided with educational training sessions in their hospitals.
Dan Diekema, president of the society for healthcare epidemiology of America, joins Take Two to talk more about this.
Can you catch Ebola while riding in an airplane?
Flights in Los Angeles, Boston and Las Vegas all faced Ebola scares in the past few days when passengers on board became sick with flu-like symptoms.
None of those travelers actually had the virus.
But the holiday travel season is fast-approaching and more passengers will start heading to airports, bringing common colds and viruses with them.
Barbara Peterson, senior aviation correspondent for Conde Nast Traveler, says airports and airlines face a balancing act keeping people safe while also not inducing a panic.
"There are lots of precautions in place, which should reassure passengers that this is something the airlines don't treat casually," she says, "but as far as Ebola, however, this is a whole different story."
For example, a person who harbors the Ebola virus but is not yet contagious may not show any symptoms whatsoever. When they are being screened at the airport, then, there might not be any visible signs that they are infected.
"Most people who would be well enough to get on a plane are not going to be in the contagious stage of the disease," says Peterson, adding that any screening procedures there are just amount to security theater.
That said, Peterson reminds people that airplanes are very safe, clean environments that pose little threat to transmission of any illness: the enclosed cabin's air is filtered and circulated so frequently that it can catch most airborne infections (and Ebola isn't airborne).
However, it's important to remember germs can lurk on surfaces for several hours, and armrests, light switches and overhead compartment doors all get touched by many people.
"Passengers can best protect themselves by just doing the routine, common thing: bring some alcohol-based sanitizer," she says. "But with the flu-season coming up, keep it in perspective. There is no serious threat of catching something simply because you're in an airplane cabin."
Bay Area poised for major quake, study finds
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake, the magnitude 6.9 quake that shook San Francisco's Marina District in 1989.
A new study published Tuesday in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America finds that fault lines under the Bay Area are now poised to unleash earthquakes that could match or rival the Loma Prieta quake.
The report's lead author Jim Lienkaemper, a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey, joins Take Two for more.
Preschool teachers some of California's lowest paid workers
The debate over state and federal minimum wages is far from over.
Some, like LA hotel workers and school custodians, recently got increases.
Southern California Public Radio's Deepa Fernandes has been following one group - preschool teachers - who are some of the state's lowest paid workers.
Related: Preschool teachers among lowest paid despite degrees
In a high-tech world, the humble campaign mailer endures
For the consultants who help run political campaigns, the campaign mailer has stood the test of time in a world full of flashy technology.
Consultants say the campaign mailer remains one of the most reliable and effective communication tools in an election.
California Report Sacramento Bureau Chief Scott Detrow takes a look at the humble mailer’s lasting impact.
Read more: Mail May Not Be Flashy, But It Helps Win Campaigns
Why the 405 isn't any faster with more lanes
Maybe you thought Carmageddon and Jamzilla were worth it: trade in weeks and months of pain on the freeway so that new lanes could be constructed, and that would make traffic better for years to come, right?
But your commute says otherwise.
Drivers on the 405 spent about one minute more in traffic than last year despite the addition of a new carpool lane.
That outcome is probably not surprising to economist Matthew Turner.
Turner co-authored a study that showed a one-to-one correlation in road capacity and the amount of drivers on the road.
"There's a lot of trips that you don't take because you don't want to drive when it's congested," he says, "and if it's little bit less congested there's a lot of trips people are willing to take."
Increase the number of roads out there and drivers think it's less crowded. But once they head out, the roads get just as clogged as they were before.
And mass transit isn't an answer either, he says.
"If you take people off the road for transit, then you expect other people will drive," says Turner. "So these transit projects are good for moving people around, but you should not think of them as solutions to the problem of congestion."
Turner says he's only encountered one tactic that successfully tackles that problem: congestion pricing.
In Los Angeles, it's already in effect on the 10 and 110.
"If you charge people to get on the road, they will change their behavior so they get on the road at less congested times," he says.
Turner says it's worked well in Stockholm, London and Singapore.
In the meantime, you'll have to settle for tuning into your favorite radio station (like SCPR!) as you slowly chug along in your car.
Yelpers give Los Angeles 4 stars: How would you rate LA?
Los Angeles may be filled with stars, but it only gets four of them online.
Yes, amid the restaurants, stores, and dog walkers, whole cities are being reviewed on Yelp, too.
Now, New York still beats LA with its 4.5 star rating. But Los Angeles still has a lot going for it, according to Yelpers.
- "I always feel like I'm on vacation here," says Jolene in her glowing review. "Endless entertainment. Jumbo's Clown Room, outdoor movies galore, music, shopping, Jumbo's Clown Room...oh wait, I already said that."
- "I get to rate the city? It ain't bad, but the traffic and the air quality kills what should be the ideal place to live," posted Andrew in his 4-star write-up. "If they ever manage to fix their horrible public transit, I might just move back."
- In her one star review, Soo writes, "I think K-town is a perfect example of a larger problem. (And yes, I am Korean). There are so many individuals of any given ethnicity that people self-segregate. I think it defeats the purpose of living somewhere so diverse if you only hang out with people who look/act like you in the end anyway."
- Joe gives the city just two stars, saying, "Santa Monica is the area's only redeeming quality. But good Lord if it isn't a hassle to get to. The 10? No thanks. Santa Monica Blvd? Pass.
- Dan says, "LA deserves 5 stars! The haters can leave now. Our freeways could use the extra space. :)"
KPCC asked listeners on facebook how they would rate Los Angeles:
https://www.facebook.com/kpcc/posts/10152390178983016
How would you rate the city, and why?