On Tuesday, Take Two discusses how the new bike buffer law will be enforced and what that means for drivers. Also, we look at how the city of San Francisco is using shame as a way to encourage people to retrofit buildings and homes.
Just how big is the ISIS threat to United States?
As airstrikes rain down on targets near Baghdad and northern Iraq, the U.S. Congress is set to vote on a plan that would give President Barack Obama authority to train Syrian rebels to fight the terror group that calls itself the Islamic State, or ISIS. The group has murdered thousands of Iraqis, captured territory from Syria to Iraq and carried out the beheading of three westerners.
Congress' move has many Americans wondering how much of a threat ISIS poses to U.S. soil. Elias Groll, an associate editor at Foreign Policy, discussed what the public can glean from Washington.
"It’s unclear exactly what kind of message the White House wants to send, but I think the bottom line from the White House at this point is that there isn't an imminent attack coming from the Islamic State directed towards the United States, or the U.S. homeland," Groll says. "But, if the United States doesn’t pursue the strategy that the president has now proposed, that might be a likely outcome."
In terms of resources, Groll says the group's ability to take over a large area of Iraq shows their capability. On the other hand, he says those efforts have the group of about 30,000 spread thin.
"Now we see the United States pushing back against them, in conjunction with Iraqi and Kurdish forces," Groll says. "So I think they're now somewhat more on the back heel, but we don't have any indication that right now, they're plotting to attack outside Iraq, or outside of Syria. They appear to be, in fact, quite occupied."
Should schools be responsible for introducing news to children?
The story and images of James Foley's beheading by Islamist militants were shared by many news outlets — including Channel One News, a digital content provider aimed at bringing news to young people.
Although the channel only aired stills from the video, many parents were outraged their children were exposed to such gruesome news to students as young as 8.
Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, says kids should be exposed to current events, but teachers in classrooms should be mindful of their students' ages when talking about the news.
"You don't want to be dishonest. You don't want to say anything like 'This will never happen again,' or 'There's absolutely nothing to worry about,'" Lempert says.
On the other hand, he says it's important to comfort the child.
"In the case of the terrible ISIS incidents, it is important to give the child context and let them know it happened far away and that this is not something they need to be worried about happening in their neighborhood," Lempert says.
Adrian Peterson arrest draws debate across racial, cultural, ideological lines
Ever since NFL star Adrian Peterson was charged with child abuse, the incident has sparked a lot of discussion and debate.
Monday on Take Two, we heard from Washington Post reporter DeNeen Brown. Back in 1998, she wrote an article that looked at the roots of spanking within the African American community. The article was republished over the weekend in response to the Peterson news.
In it, she made the case that the command for a child to go pick a switch and prepare to get beaten is "part of a cultural tradition that sought to steel black children for the world, forge their characters, help prepare them for the pure meanness that waited out there, just because of the color of their skin."
Take Two listeners found this characterization unfair — as did Khadijah White, an assistant professor in journalism and media studies at Rutgers University. Her recent piece for the Atlantic is titled "Adrian Peterson is not a Racial Symbol."
Existing studies show that about 89 percent of black parents say they spank their children, but that's not much more than the 80 percent of all Americans who say they discipline their children in this way, according to White.
Many Americans embrace "the ‘spare the rod’ ideology" or an "imaginary castle doctrine... where everything that happens in my home is under my purview and it’s nobody else’s business," she said, adding that there are perils inherent in talking about spanking as specifically part of black culture in this country.
"When it comes to the black community, there is the legitimate feeling of always being under a microscope when to comes to parenting,” she said, pointing out that black parents are more likely to lose their children when presented with allegations of abuse and are more likely to have their children stay in foster care longer than their white peers.
White, who says she was spanked as child, said “using violence and intimidation to teach children to comply with you is the worst possible lesson one can teach their child.”
A high-profile case like Peterson's, White says, presents an opportunity for Americans to ask: ‘What is it about our society that says spanking is OK, that says beating people who are weaker and [more] vulnerable is OK?’”
El Segundo mayor: Raising minimum wage 'not the right thing' for any city
Mayor Eric Garcetti has been pushing a plan to raise the minimum wage in Los Angeles. He's been lobbying for a gradual increase to an hourly wage of $13.25 by 2017.
The success of his plan may depend on what path nearby cities chooses to take on the issue amid the fierce competition for businesses and jobs. So, Garcetti has been reaching out to mayors from Lancaster to Long Beach to see if they will follow suit.
But some, like El Segundo Mayor Suzanne Fuentes, say cities should play a different role.
"It's not up to the city to tell an employer what they're going to pay an employee, that's up to the employer and the employee," said Fuentes. "An employee doesn't need to take a job that she or he feels doesn't pay enough."
Workers will go where they feel they're being treated and paid well and can choose to go elsewhere, Fuentes says.
"It's not mandatory that any employee has to stay anywhere, that's the beauty of the free market," she said.
Supporters of raising the minimum wage point to San Jose, where the unemployment rate has dropped since voters agreed to raise the wage to $10 in 2012. Critics say the situation is complicated by economic growth driven by the tech sector.
Poverty drops slightly for Hispanics and children, but overall rate holds steady
Latino families' household income has increased slightly — leading to lower poverty rates for the group.
"Hispanics were the only group among the major race and ethnic groups to experience a statistically significant change in their poverty rate and the number of people in poverty," according to findings from the Census Bureau's annual income and poverty report released today.
The report also found that child poverty rates have declined for the first time since 2000 to 19.9 percent from 21.8 percent in 2012.
"We still have nearly 1 in 5 kids living in poverty, so [child poverty] is still a concern," says Marybeth Mattingly, research director at the Center on Poverty and Inequality at Stanford University. "It's concerning because those kids aren't evenly distributed and a lot of them live in very poor places where there are very few resources to deal with such poverty."
But, the broader economic picture is mixed with about 45 million Americans still living in poverty — a number that has held steady for the past few years. In Los Angeles, the poverty rate rose to nearly 27 percent when factors such as the high cost of living were taken into account, says Mattingly.
A separate report from the Center also found that wealth inequality continued to increase in recent years.
Income and Poverty in the United States: 2013
Emotional trauma inescapable for migrant children who escape violence in home country
Thousands of unaccompanied minors from Central America have been reuniting with family and settling into the U.S. — at least until their cases are heard in immigration court.
Though they escaped violence in their home countries, KPCC's Leslie Berestein Rojas says it's hard to escape the emotional trauma that follows such an experience.
Read the full story: For migrant kids, past traumas are hard to escape - and early intervention is key
Why Urban Outfitters retails controversial products
Urban Outfitters found itself in a bit of controversy this week when it offered a $129-vintage Kent State University sweatshirt that had the appearance of blood stains.
Critics said it was an unfortunate reminder of the Kent State protests in 1970 that resulted in the deaths of four students. Urban Outfitters apologized and took the item off its shelves.
"The company claimed that it was totally an honest mistake and that the fading on the shirt was a result of this vintage garment and that it was not intended to look like blood or anything else," says Sapna Maheshwari, business reporter for Buzzfeed. "A lot of people didn't really buy that explanation."
That's probably because this is not the first time people have been offended by products at Urban Outfitters.
"Back in 2012, they brought on an old executive to be the head of the Urban Outfitters brand, and they were worried they weren't edgy enough... Since then, we've seen a lot of these controversies pop up," Maheshwari says.
Some questionable products of past include:
- Lord Ganesh on duvet covers
- Pens shaped like hypodermic needles
- Shirt of Jesus holding a beer saying, "Jesus, I'm drunk"
The controversies, Maheshwari says, are an effort to bring attention to the company, but "interestingly enough, sales haven't been increasing for the past three quarters, so you kind of have to wonder if it's working."
Scottish vote for independence would impact country's sports
The people of Scotland will vote this week for independence from the rest of the United Kingdom. The decision would affect all walks of life, including athletes.
As the BBC’s Chris McLaughlin found out, a vote for independence could mean big decisions for Scotland’s top athletes. For example, Olympic athletes would have to choose between playing for Scotland or Great Britain.
"We must make sure that every Scot who’s participating now has the same opportunities in the future, but more importantly, we reassure and give confidence to young athletes coming through the system that their chances of victory will not be affected," says Scotland First Minister Henry McLeish, who was commissioned to compile an independent report into the implications.
San Francisco 'shames' building owners into adhering to seismic laws
There’s been many efforts across the state to get property owners to retrofit buildings at risk of collapse in case of a major earthquake. Yet, several commercial and apartment buildings have still not complied with seismic safety laws.
Officials in the City of San Francisco have begun approaching this problem in a new way, by publicly shaming building owners.
Los Angeles Times reporter Rong-Gong Lin recently wrote about this and he joins us now to talk more about it.
E-cig companies pay for product placement in films
Paid product placement for tobacco products in films has been prohibited for more than 15 years, but e-cigarettes are an exception to the rule — for now.
As Wall Street Journal reporter Erich Schwartzel explains, e-cigarette companies are now paying to get their products seen on the big screen before any regulations are put in place.
Read the full story: Coming Soon to Theaters Near You: E-Cigarettes
New Calif. law: Drivers must give bikes 3 feet of space before passing
A new law takes effect in California Tuesday: Drivers must give bicyclists three feet as they pass them on the road.
"Prior to this law, there was no clearly defined safe passing distance," says Colin Bogart from the LA County Bicycle Coalition.
But most people don't hold a yard stick out their passenger side window. So, what's three feet anyway?
"I think people have a good sense of what three feet looks like without realizing it," says Bogart.
One way to think about it is if a biker can reach out his or her arm and touch your vehicle, you're probably closer than three feet.
Here's how the law works:
- The law applies to any place a vehicle passes a bicyclist, regardless of whether there's a bike lane in the road.
- A law enforcement officer must witness a violation to issue a fine. Bystanders' accounts or video recordings made by the bicyclist — on a GoPro, for example — aren't admissible.
- Violators face at least a $35 fine, and a $220 fine if a collision occurs. Both can increase when court fees are added.
- There is one exception to the new law: If there's not enough room for a driver to give three feet of space. In that case, they must first slow down before safely passing.
Here are a few more examples of laws, some specific to LA County, that Bogart says more people should be aware of:
- Bikers must obey traffic signs and signals like every other vehicle.
- Many cities have different rules. Biking on the sidewalks in Los Angeles is permitted, for example, but cross into the cities of Beverly Hills or Santa Monica and it's illegal.
- You can wear earphones or headphones, but must have one ear open to traffic at all times.
- Riding while talking on a cell phone is permitted.
- If you're a driver and need to make a right turn on a road with a bike lane, safely cross into the right turn lane if there is one. Otherwise, merge into the bike lane before the intersection. Never turn across lanes.
For more info on bicycle safety, the California DMV publishes its own guide and the California Bike Coalition has a list of rules that apply across the state.
We went for a bike ride with Bogart to navigate the new law. Have a listen at the link above.
Tuesday Reviewsday: Jackson Browne and Jessie J
, music editor at Billboard Magazine, is back from New York to join Take Two in studio and talk about the latest in new music on this week's Tuesday Reviewsday.
Artist: Jackson Browne
Album: "Standing in the Breach"
Songs: “Birds of St. Marks,” “The Long Way Around”
Notes: We start with Jackson Browne, a tremendous — and locally-bred — talent who’s closing in on five decades years of making music. We of course know him for such timeless hits as "Somebody's Baby" and “Running on Empty,” among a slew of insta-classics from the 70s and 80s. And I’m happy to report that, even 40 years on, he’s still making highly personal, incredibly musical albums. In fact, on Standing in the Breach, his 14th studio album, he’s revisiting songs that first formed in the 60s. The lead off track “Birds of St. Marks,” for example, he wrote while playing guitar with Nico in the East Village in the late Sixties. Indeed, you can hear the Byrdsian jingle jangle guitar all over the song.
On Jackson Browne’s last album, "Time the Conqueror," which came out six years ago, he took on some heavy topics like the Iraq War. This album seems to focus more on modern sociology than politics. On the song “The Long Way Around,” for instance, he sings about “Seeing people change in the strangest ways” and even describes his younger days cavorting around Tinsel-town. About half the record is sparse and incredibly intimate, particularly the title track, but it also has a lot of contrasts — especially the apocalyptic cover art of a couple walking atop doomsday rubble. Jackson Browne, however sounds better for the wear. You can see for yourself when he headlines the "Way Over Yonder festival" in Santa Monica on Sept. 27. And his latest album doesn't come out until October.
Artist: Jessie J
Album: "Sweet Talker"
Songs: “Bang Bang,” “Loud”
Notes: Admittedly, I wasn't a big fan of Jessie J when she first broke out with the song “Price Tag” — perhaps you remember it from 2011?
Also not necessarily adding to her currency, she co-wrote Miley Cyrus' “Party in the U.S.A.” But before you write her off as that girl who sang that annoying song and wrote that other annoying one, bear in mind that Jessie J graduated in 2006 from the BRIT school in London alongside Adele and Leona Lewis and there is genuine talent there.
Now there’s an antiquated notion in the music business called Artist Development, which once upon a time meant that a record company would spend years and multiple albums nurturing and growing an artist. It doesn’t happen as often these days, mostly for reasons of costs and impatience, but in this case, the three years Jessie J spent in quasi-isolation since that first hit, has paid off in dividends.
First, let’s go to the new hit, “Bang Bang,” which is currently No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It's a classic banger, hence the title, “Bang Bang.” Vocally, Jessie J is often put in the same sentence as Katy Perry and it’s an apt comparison. They’re both these sort of bellowing belters. But throughout the record, you can also hear nods to Britney Spears and Mariah Carey throughout the record, which clocks in at 15 tracks. Dare I say it, this is a deep dive of an album.
So, “Bang Bang” features Nicki Minaj and Ariana Grande, who certainly helped catapult it up the charts, 2 Chainz is on the second single, “Burnin’ Up,” but other guests on Sweet Talker, which is Jessie J’s third album, include De La Soul and violinist Lindsey Stirling plays on the song “Loud” which I think is among the strongest.
In it, she protests the haters determined to knock her down. Take a listen. All of this makes me think, was I one of the haters? Maybe I should just shut up.
How a conflict photographer documented a war against zombies
Ashley Gilbertson has been embedded as a photographer in conflict zones such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. For his latest assignment for Time, he embedded himself in the video game "The Last of Us," taking pictures of the action sequences with the game's photo mode.
The game is an action/adventure survival zombie horror video game that saw Gilbertson experiencing some of the same feelings that he had when in conflict zones in real life.
"You know, the more I immersed myself in this game, the more... I hate to admit this, but the more I freaked out," Gilbertson says.
Gilbertson said that reaction came from the game's realistic graphics and the amount of gratuitous violence that accurately represented plenty of the things that he'd seen in real life. Despite that, Gilberston says:
"You can go through a small city environment and perpetrate a massacre where you've killed hundreds of people and come out of that completely unscathed without any emotional reaction... That's where I really... had an interesting realization while I was playing it. You know, my job as a photographer isn't to graphically represent, you know, in a beautiful manner, all of these things that I see around me, it's to emotionally represent that."
To hear our interview with Gilbertson, click on "Listen Now" above.