Text messaging on a cellphone Credit: iStockphoto

Twenty years ago today, the first-ever text message was sent to a mobile phone from a software engineer at European cell carrier Vodaphone. From its humble beginnings, text messaging has expanded into a primary mode of contact – a peak of over six trillion texts were sent worldwide in 2010, an average of 200,000 texts each minute.

But with smartphones and mobile data plans rapidly taking over the cell phone market, mobile messaging is changing. The text message may only be 20 years old, and it may already be aging out of the market. Comprehensive data plans make email and apps for instant messaging cheaper, easier, and more appealing – text messaging packages still carry an additional fee.

How do you do your mobile messaging? Can the text message hold onto its youth, or will it be eclipsed by other modes of communication?

Janet Sternberg, Ph.D., Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham University

Superintendent John Deasy walks through an economics classroom at Los Angeles High School. Credit: Tami Abdollah/KPCC

Should student test scores be used in teacher evaluations? The Los Angeles Unified School District and its teachers union have come to a tentative agreement to allow the use of student test scores in end-of-year evaluations.

The decision follows months of negotiations between LAUSD and the teachers union, which has consistently opposed the use of student scores in grading teachers, calling the results unreliable.

Although the union has provisionally agreed to incorporate test scores into evaluations, the decision still needs to be ratified by members of United Teachers Los Angeles.  As part of the new system, test scores will contribute to less than 25 percent of individual teacher performance reviews. LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy has long been a proponent of using scores in evaluations.

How much weight should student’s testing carry in teacher evaluations? Are test scores a reliable assessment of a teacher’s abilities? Of a student’s? What is the best way to measure a teacher’s success? Should assessment be focused more on individuals, or should they be school-wide?

Dr. John Deasy, Superintendent of LAUSD

Warren Fletcher, President, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)

LAUSD-UTLA December 2012 Evaluation Procedures Supplement to Article X

French film composer Alexandre Desplat poses outside a hotel in Paris. Born in 1961 from a Greek mother and a French father, Alexandre Desplat, composed the music for more than 50 European movies and Hollywood movies. Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

What do several of this year’s Oscar contenders have in common? Scores by Alexandre Desplat, who composed for “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Argo,” “Rust and Bone,” “Zero Dark Thirty,” and “Rise of the Guardians.” Desplat burst onto the American film scene in 2003 as an established French composer.

His works include several Oscar nominated scores, and music for blockbusters from the “Twilight” and “Harry Potter” series. Desplat began playing the piano at the age of five – throughout his career he has composed over 50 scores. Although most of his recent work has been in the U.S., he still composes for European films.

Desplat has won several awards for his music, including Golden Globes, Grammys, and BAFTAs – will this be the year he brings home an Oscar? Desplat joins Larry in the studio to discuss composing and the films he’s worked on this year.

Alexandre Desplat, French film composer who wrote the original score and original song for Rise of the Guardians; his other recent credits include Moonrise Kingdom, Argo, Rust and Bone and Zero Dark Thirty

Grandson Miles reads with his grandfather, Chuck Leavell. Credit: Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Doubletree

 “G’night, Grandma.” “G’night, Mary Ellen.” G’night, John Boy.” Those who grew up watching ‘The Waltons’ remember that big house in the Blue Ridge mountains, filled with children, grandparents, and the smell of bacon frying. Those days could be on the way back, as Boomer families take in aging parents, adult children, grandchildren and sometimes all three.  A Pew research study this year noted that over 50 million Americans are living in multigenerational homes, a 10 % increase over 2007.

The influx includes young singles and newlyweds struggling to get through college and into the workforce and seniors who aren’t ready for a nursing home, but may not be able to live on their own – leading to three or even four generations under one roof. This way of life is far from new, of course.  

Prior to World War II, it was common to find extended families making up a household. Recessionary times seem to be fueling a return to those days, but there are benefits other than financial ones – having grandparents around to share in the childcare and cooking can be a boon to busy families and enrich family life for everyone. Homebuilders are taking notice, and are starting to offer designs that include built-in, semi-private living spaces for cohabitating family members – so-called “granny flats,” over garages or tucked behind the main house.  Some people have opted to remodel an existing home to make room for extra bodies.

If you’re considering having your parents move in with you, what are the pros and cons?  Can everybody get along in close quarters? How do you carve out digs that provide both privacy and family interaction? Do you worry about loss of independence, or would you welcome the chaos of a big family homestead, á la The Waltons?  Is it possible to have the best of both worlds?

You can see some creative ways people have remodeled their homes to allow for extra family members here.

Michael Litchfield, author of Inlaws, Outlaws and Granny Flats: Your Guide to Turning One House Into Two Homes (Taunton Press, 2011)

Linda Perlman Gordon, MSW, clinical social worker with a private psychotherapy practice in the Washington, DC area; author of  "Mom, Can I Move Back in With You?" (Tarcher/Penguin)


       

US President Barack Obama speaks before Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner (3rdR) and other cabinet members during a meeting on November 16, 2012 in Washington, DC. Credit: AFP/AFP/Getty Images

The federal government has less than one month until the United States falls off the so-called “fiscal cliff” of automatic tax hikes and deep spending cuts, which will occur on January 1 unless Congress agrees on a strategy to avoid the potential economic calamity.

The primary point of contention among members of Congress is that of balancing the budget through increasing tax rates on those who earn over $250,000 per year, limiting the amount of tax deductions, or a combination of the two. Democrats want to raise tax rates for the wealthy, while Republicans want to focus on closing tax loopholes and on capping the amount of deductions that Americans can take.

It is unclear if cutting back tax deductions alone would be an effective strategy. According to the Tax Policy Center, capping deductions at $50,000 per household would raise an extra $749 billion over a decade. That would be $300 billion more than the government would get from raising the top two income tax rates, as proposed by President Obama. Lower caps on deductions would raise even more.

What kind of long-term strategy might President Obama and Congress agree on before the Bush era tax rates expire in 2013? Are they letting cutthroat politics get in the way of our economic well-being?

Robertson Williams, senior fellow, The Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center

A converted U.S. flag displays rainbow colors. Credit: Michael Smith/Getty Images

Homophobia or no homophobia? That is the question currently being debated among journalists after the Associated Press recommended against the use of “phobia” in “political and social context.”AP editors say the suffix, in cases such as “homophobia,” or Islamophobia,” can be presumptuous because it ascribes mental disability to someone who may or may not have one. 

The AP is opting for something that it sees as more neutral, such as “anti-gay,” to describe a comment or action, but avoid attributing a motive. The National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association agrees, opting for something like “LGBT rights opponents.”

Do you agree or disagree? What do you think might be a better alternative? Or do you think such actions should be labeled in the traditional way?

A bicyclist rides along a path running along the cement-lined Los Angeles River in Los Angeles. Credit: AP Photo/Ric Francis

The water cycle is pretty simple - rainfall flows down mountains in streams and rivers, through cities in pipes and culverts, to end up in the ocean.  But the Los Angeles water story is more complicated than that.  L.A.’s water comes from nine watersheds, flowing through miles of interconnected pipes, channels and drains to the ocean.  

Along the way it picks up pollution, channeled into the waterways from storm drains, sewers and along the concrete-lined L.A. river.  By the time it reaches the sea it’s a fetid soup of bacterial, metal, oils and human and animal waste.  So who’s responsible for the cleanup?  The county, who manages the storm sewer system through the flood control district?  The more than 80 individual cities, each with their own flood control system that contributes to the overall mess?  

The municipalities share a permit with the county to operate the stormwater system, issued by the LA Regional Quality Control Board. The county has been sued by environmental groups including the Natural Resources Defense Council for not taking responsibility for cleanup.  The county maintains that what pours out of the stormwater system is not their doing; the system only picks up and conveys pollutants, rather than creating them.  The case has made its way all the way to the Supreme Court, where arguments are being heard today, but that may not be the end of the story.  

The county wants to levy a parcel tax on the 2 million property owners along the stormwater system, with the proceeds paying for programs aimed at capturing and reclaiming rainfall. No matter what the court decides, stormwater runoff is a critical problem for Los Angeles. How can we change the way we use our water system to both maintain this precious resource and ensure cleaner oceans?

Mark Pestrella, assistant director, L.A. County Public Works Department

Steve Fleischli, director, Natural Resources Defense Council’s water program

"How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed" by Ray Kurzweil Credit: Viking Adult

Science fiction has long predicted a future where the line is blurry between human and machine, and the results don’t always turn out well for the humans. But there are thinkers among us today who believe that the integration between human and artificial intelligence will not only become a beneficial new reality, but that the event – referred to as the “singularity” – has an arrival date derived by applying the law that technology is progressing at an exponential rate.

Before he became known as a champion of the technological singularity, inventor, author and futurist Ray Kurzweil had already racked up an impressive list of accomplishments, among them being a principal inventor of the first flat-bed optical scanner and the first synthesizer to mimic the grand piano, as well as spearheading significant advances in optical character recognition and text-to-speech synthesizers for the blind. Along the way he has been honored by three presidents, earned nineteen honorary doctorates and written four best-selling books.

Now, Kurzweil has returned with his newest book, “How to Create a Mind,” and it delves deeply into how the latest developments in neuroscience reveals how closely technology is drawing to mimicking human thought patterns. As far as we’ve come with artificial intelligence, Kurzweil believes that by 2030, we won’t just be talking to our phones – we’ll be backing up our biological brains to hard drives and fixing our bodies with nanobots in our blood. How will future technology help or hurt humankind? What ways can artificial intelligence improve our lives?

Ray Kurzweil, inventor, futurist and author of numerous books including "How to Create a Mind: the Secret of Human Thought Revealed" (Viking)

Michael Shermer, founding publisher, Skeptic magazine; Executive Director of the Skeptics Society; monthly columnist for Scientific American; host of the Skeptics Distinguished Science Lecture Series at Caltech; and Adjunct Professor of Economics at Claremont Graduate University

Striking clerical workers at Pier 400 walk the picket lines at the Port of Los Angeles. Credit: Brian Watt/KPCC

Freight ships unable to unload cargo have anchored offshore from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach as the local 800-member clerical workers unit of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union continues an eight-day strike. Union leaders claim that management is not protecting future clerical jobs and planning on outsourcing to China and Taiwan.

According to both sides, the primary point of contention is the differences in how to fill temporary and permanent jobs down the road after current employees retire. When 10,000 members of their sister union, which represents dockworkers, refused to cross picket lines last week, 10 of the ports’ 14 terminals quickly shut down. Port clerks have been working without a contract for over two years.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa sent letters to negotiators for both sides on Monday urging them to bring in a mediator to help resolve the dispute and to stay at the bargaining table around the clock until an agreement is reached. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the busiest and second busiest container ports in the United States.

Is it unacceptable for shipping companies to maximize profits at the expense of American jobs? Is it fair and reasonable for the unions to shut down one of the country’s busiest ports in an effort to gain leverage? How damaging is such a strike to the U.S. economy?

Wendy Lee, KPCC business reporter joining us from the Port of Los Angeles

Craig Merrilees, Communications Director, International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)

Steve Getzug, spokesman for the Harbor Employers Association

Prescription drugs Credit: Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

A federal appeals court in New York overturned the conviction of a man accused of selling drugs for off-label purposes. In a 2-1 ruling on Monday, the judges ruled that a law banning the sale of drugs for purposes not approved by the FDA violates free speech.

Doctors frequently and legally prescribe drugs for off-label effects. Drug companies, however, are bound by the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which gives the FDA power of regulation – the sale of a drug for off-label uses is prohibited. Misbranding regulations have long plagued pharmaceutical companies, many of which pay millions, or even billions of dollars in fines for marketing their product for unapproved purposes.

Is pharmaceutical marketing  a free speech issue? Who benefits most from this ruling, drug companies, or consumers? How much power should the FDA have over pharmaceutical marketing? Who should decide what a drug is for: the manufacturer, or the government? Have you ever taken a prescription drug for an off-label purpose?

Scott Gottlieb, practicing physician and resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute; He was deputy commissioner of the FDA and a senior adviser at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

Allison Zieve, Director, Public Citizen Litigation Group where she focuses on public health litigation, regulatory law, open government,  the First Amendment and more; Public Citizen is a nonprofit advocacy group that focuses on citizen rights and consumer safety

Rachel Sorrow, at left, a transgender woman, attends a therapy session with Dr. Dan Karasic, a psychiatrist with the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health, at San Francisco General Hospital in San Francisco, Friday, July 20, 2012. Credit: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

The American Psychiatric Association has released approved changes to be published in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Among the most significant modifications to the new edition is the reclassification of the diagnosis for transgender and gender-variant individuals from “Gender Identity Disorder” to the less-stigmatizing “Gender Dysphoria.”

Another big change is the removal of “Asperger’s Disorder” from the DSM-5 – symptoms of Asperger’s will now be included in the newly added “Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Other additions and changes to the DSM include binge-eating disorder, adult attention deficit disorder, and major depressive disorder, which has been criticized for medicalizing normal grief and emotional reactions.

Are all of the changes to the new DSM positive ones? Will changing “gender identity disorder” to “gender dysphoria” help transgender individuals receive affirmative treatment? Is including Asperger’s in the autism spectrum the right decision? Which DSM updates are helpful, and which should be reconsidered?

Dr. Allen Frances, MD,  professor emeritus at Duke University and former Chair of its Department of Psychiatry; he was chair of the DSM IV Task Force

Commuters wait for the A train at Penn Station November 4, 2012 in New York City. Credit: Allison Joyce/Getty Images

This Monday, Ki Suk Han was struck and killed by a train New York City’s Times Square subway station. The incident was documented by R. Umar Abbasi, a freelance photographer for the New York Post who happened to be waiting for the same train.

Han was pushed onto the tracks, and struggled to escape for over a minute before the train hit – Abbasi photographed his doomed final moments. The New York Post controversially printed his pictures on the cover of their Tuesday issue, inciting a deluge of questions about the ethics behind the photo.

Should the New York Post have published the documentation of Han before his imminent death? Why didn’t witnesses help him out of the tracks – and why, especially, did Abbasi, who had the time to snap several well-composed photos, instead use that time to help save Han?

The incident brings to light the predicament so many photojournalists face – their job is to document, but if they can help, should they? Did Abbasi, in taking the photos, or the Post, in publishing them, cross a line in ethical journalism, or were they just doing their jobs?

Alisa Solomon, Professor, Columbia Journalism School

This is a rendering of the streetcar planned for downtown Los Angeles. (Image from Los Angeles Streetcar Inc.) Credit: Los Angeles Streetcar Inc

This week, voters in downtown Los Angeles approved crucial financing to fund a streetcar project. Seventy-three percent of residents voted to raise $62.5 million in funding with a property tax on local housing. The money will go towards the $125 million project, a streetcar which would run along three of downtown’s busiest streets and connect several neighborhoods, including South Park, Civic Center, the fashion district, and the old banking district.

If everything goes according to plan, the streetcar will be completed by 2015. Supporters see the streetcar, which would run seven days a week, 18 hours a day, as the missing link in Los Angeles transportation. The project would make much of the heart of downtown truly car-optional. While there has been some criticism of the voting process, which allowed residents of downtown to vote, but excluded non-resident property owners, there is no organized opposition.

How would a downtown streetcar change local life? Would the project make downtown neighborhoods more accessible? Are you looking forward to the changes to L.A. public transportation, or are you committed to car culture?

Michael Smart, lecturer in urban planning at the University of California Los Angeles Institute of Transportation Studies

Below is the alternative alignment for the Downtown L.A. Streetcar. Learn more about the Alternatives Analysis process and the Locally Preferred Alternative at Metro’s Streetcar page, located here.

Interfaith relations inspire fresh dialogue at Pasadena's All Saints Church. Credit: Stan Rohrer/iStockphoto.com

Pasadena’s All Saints Episcopal Church and the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) announced yesterday that they will hold a press conference Thursday to address recent criticisms of the church inspired by their decision to host a national American Muslim convention.

Interfaith clergy and religious leaders will come together on Thursday to voice their shared commitments in the light of anti-Islamist disapproval from the right. Since 2007, All Saints has hosted an interfaith study group with the Pasadena Jewish center and the Islamic Center of Southern California, but following the announcement that the it would host the American Muslim convention, the religious right has accused the MPAC and Islamists in general of “taking advantage of naïve Christians.”

How should religious organizations handle disputes over interfaith outreach and education? In what ways might both organizations be affected by collaboration, or by the backlash from critics? MPAC President Salam Al-Marayati and Right Side News contributor Ryan Mauro join Larry to discuss interfaith relations.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Salam Al-Marayati, president, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC)

Ryan Mauro, national security analyst, fellow with RadicalIslam.org

Michelle Paolino, vice president of global girls marketing for Hasbro explains the differences in the company's newest version of their "Easy Bake Oven" in Pawtucket, RI on Sept. 8, 2011. Wayne Blatchley vice president of Fuzion Design, a company which worked in conjunction with Hasbro on the Easy Bake Oven's new design looks on. Credit: Stephan Savoia/AP

An online petition from a New Jersey teen has sparked new discussion about the use of gender in marketing for children. The petition, which now has over 18,000 signatures, is accompanied by a video featuring the 8th grader’s 4-year-old brother, who wants an Easy Bake oven for Christmas, but is deterred by the marketing, geared towards young boys.

Easy Bake is hardly the only children’s company to be criticized for gendering its product. Lego recently released a line of pink toys geared towards girls as a response to demand for inclusion.

Should marketing geared towards children continue on a gender-specific path, or should products strive for more inclusive, gender-neutral advertising? Parents, do you buy toys with gender in mind, or do you buck the trend? Do you resent products with marketing geared only towards one gender?

Andrew Rohm, Associate Professor of Marketing at Loyola Marymount University. He teaches a specialist class in social media marketing

The moon rises behind wind turbines on May 5, 2012 near Palm Springs, California. Credit: David McNew/Getty Images

In a report released Monday, government watchdog agency the Little Hoover Commission raised concerns about California’s ambitious alternative energy plans.  The state is legally mandated to ensure that one-third of our energy be derived from renewable sources by 2020.

The commission’s concern is that we’re mired in a patchwork of incompatible programs and policies to develop wind and solar power, and that those programs are mismanaged, disorganized and ultimately unsustainable.  The report also points fingers at the California Public Utilities Commission for not being forthcoming about the long-term costs of power agreements that they say lock in “unnecessarily high prices.”  The LHC recommends that the Governor’s office create an integrated and comprehensive office to prioritize and address the state’s various energy policies. If not, they warn, Californians can expect soaring energy costs and depletion of natural resources.

How realistic is it to achieve 33% renewable energy by 2020?  Are we on the right path? Or does California need an alternative energy overhaul?

Stuart Drown,  executive director, Little Hoover Commission; The Little Hoover Commission is an independent state oversight agency whose mission is to investigate state government operations and – through reports, recommendations and legislative proposals – promote efficiency, economy and improved service.

Edward Randolph, energy division director, California Public Utilities Commission

Egyptian protesters shout slogans in Cairo's landmark Tahrir square on November 30, 2012, as they protest against a decree by President Mohamed Morsi granting himself broad powers that shield his decisions from judicial review. Credit: GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images

It’s been characterized as the worst protest in Egypt since the revolution in early 2011. Fierce clashes erupted outside the presidential palace between supporters and opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood party. The opposition to President Mohammed Morsi are demanding an aboutface a week after he gave himself powers to push through work on the country’s constitution.

Morsi sought to appease critics by scheduling a referendum, but today’s violence show the political crisis to be deepening. AirTalk speaks with a reporter who witnessed the worst of today’s demonstrations.

Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Independent Journalist who was at the scene of today’s protests in Cairo

Co-Founder and Head of Product Design at Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks onstage during Tesla Worldwide Debut of Model X on February 9, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Credit: Jordan Strauss/Getty Images for Tesla

Who is the best of the best in L.A. business?

Los Angeles plays host to 14 Fortune 500 companies and an incredibly successful collection of small businesses, but KPCC reporter Matt DeBord has narrowed the field down to two worthy contestants: much maligned former Dodgers owner and parking lot savant Frank McCourt, and “businessman of the future” Elon Musk, who made his fortune investing in innovative technologies from Tesla, SpaceX, and SolarCity. In many ways, the two men embody some of L.A.’s most distinguishing qualities – where would the city be without its electric cars and plenty of space to park them.

So, who is the savvier businessman, Musk, or McCourt? Is there someone else in L.A. business who should be considered for the top spot?

Matt DeBord, KPCC Reporter; writes the DeBord Report KPCC.org

Follow Matthew DeBord and the DeBord Report on Twitter. And ask Matt questions at Quora.

Striking workers carry placards December 4, 2012 at the Port of Los Angeles in southern California. The strike by clerical workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which handle more than 40 percent of ocean-shipped US imports from Asia, cost the local and wider US economy billions. Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images

An eight-day strike that shut down the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach ended late Tuesday. Union leaders and management reached agreement before the arrival of federal mediators, who had been called in by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The agreement is said to protect most clerical jobs from being outsourced over the next four years, according to union spokesman Craig Merrilees.

Protecting jobs for future generations was the strikers’ primary objective; they claim that their employers were replacing retirees with non-union employees, or eliminating those jobs altogether. Harbor employers were seeking to cut costs through attrition, saying some positions were becoming redundant or obsolete due to technology and retaining them would put L.A.’s ports at an economic disadvantage. The two sides compromised on the elimination of 14 jobs over the next 3-1/2 years.  The deal will not be final until it is ratified by the full union membership.

Port clerks from International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 63 Office Clerical Unit walked off the job on November 27 after working without a contract since 2010, but are now back to work. The LA and Long Beach ports are the two largest in the nation and together account for 40 percent of the value of all U.S. imports.

Is it unacceptable for shipping companies to maximize profits at the expense of American jobs? Should management be required to preserve jobs for the future, at greater cost to the company? Is it fair and reasonable for the unions to shut down two of the country’s busiest ports in an effort to gain leverage?

Joe Buscaino, Los Angeles City Councilman for the 15th District, which includes San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway and Watts

 Chris Thornberg, Principal, Beacon Economics

'Other Desert Cities' will play at the Mark Taper Forum until January 6, 2013.

Tony Award-nominated play “Other Desert Cities,” by Jon Robin Baitz, opens December 9th and is showing at the Mark Taper Forum until January 6, 2013. The Center Theatre Group’s production stars Jeannie Berlin, Robert Foxworth, Robin Weigert, Michael Weston, and JoBeth Williams as a SoCal family spending the holidays together in Palm Springs.

Tensions run high for this family of Hollywood politicos, especially after black-sheep daughter Brooke announces the imminent publication of her memoir, which is focused on the most tumultuous time in the Wyeth’s past. Subtle and resonant, Baitz’s play is perfect for the holiday season in Southern California. Baitz joins Larry in-studio to talk about writing, politics and Christmas in the desert.   

Jon Robin Baitz, playwright, screenwriter, television producer and writer of “Other Desert Cities,” which opens December 9 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles