EU Commisioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard (R) talks with Alice Akinyi Kaudia from Kenya prior to the opening of the High-level Segment of th UN Climate Change Conference in Warsaw on November 19, 2013.; Credit: JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images

A big point of contention at the ongoing UN climate change summit in Warsaw, Poland this week has been who should be picking up the tab for damages related to climate change.

Developing countries such as Brazil and Bolivia argued at the conference that wealthier industrialized nations, who are responsible for the bulk of emissions leading to climate change, should have to pay more when natural disasters arise.

Bolivia accused rich, developed nations of refusing to discuss aid or compensation for developing countries struggling with rising sea levels and desertification. Industrialized nations pledged to increase their share of climate aid to $100 billion a year by 2020 from the $10 billion a year pledged a decade earlier. 

Total spending on climate aid has dropped since the economic slowdown hit. The Climate Policy Initiative estimates that global climate spending fell 1 percent last year to $359 billion.

Should the bigger polluters be responsible for paying more of the share of climate aid? What is the best use for the money that has already been raised? Can wealthier countries afford to dramatically cut their emissions while at the same time spending billions more in climate aid?

Guests:

Brandon Wu, Senior Policy Analyst at ActionAid USA, focusing on international climate finance and adaptation policy.

Pat Michaels, Director, Center for the Study of Science at Cato Institute

SACRAMENTO, CA - NOVEMBER 13: Covered California Executive Director Peter Lee speaks during a press conference regarding the number of new healthcare enrollees through CoveredCA.com.; Credit: Max Whittaker/Getty Images

For those who lost their health insurance plans in the wake of healthcare reform, California has just one word for you: "sorry."

The five-member board of Covered California, the state’s health insurance marketplace, voted unanimously on Thursday to stay the course and reject President Obama's promise to extend the canceled policies. The board argued that all health insurance plans need to meet ACA requirements for essential benefits, and that changing up would further confuse consumers and disrupt the enrollment momentum already underway throughout the state.

About 1 million Californians are set to have their plans canceled in 2014; however, according to Families USA, only about one percent of Californians face rate increases without subsidies.

Did the state make the right decision in defying the president's request to extend health insurance plans? What tone does the refusal set for other states? Will Democrats feel the bite of this decision further down the line?

Guest:

Sarah Varney, Senior Correspondent, Kaiser Health News, and Contributing Reporter to NPR 

Bettie Page in Mark Mori's "Bettie Page Reveals All" (Music Box Films); Credit: Bettie Page Reveals All

Bettie Page was described by many as the girl next door. She was always smiling and went to church every Sunday. She was also one of America’s best and most popular pinup models of the 1950’s and a pioneer of feminism and sexual freedom.

The film “Bettie Page Reveals All” takes a look at Page’s life from her troubled childhood to her illustrious career as a pinup model and sudden retirement at the peak of her career. Audio recordings from years prior to her death in 2008 help to narrate a personal look at one of America’s most popular sex symbols.

Guest:
Mark Mori, director, “Bettie Page Reveals All”

Bettie Page Reveals All will be playing at the Landmark NuArt Theater in Los Angeles and the Westpark 8 in Irvine starting November 29. 

A new study suggests that long commutes can make us more apathetic when it comes to politics.; Credit: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

No one knows better than an Angeleno the soul-sucking nature of the daily commute. Battling the freeway maze can leave you exhausted at the end of the day, and according to a recent study, it might also leave you politically apathetic -- especially if you’re poor.

Results from a survey of 590 working adults revealed that those who reported longer commutes also said that they were less involved in politics -- an effect that becomes more magnified the further down the socioeconomic ladder you look.

And it’s not just a matter of having less time to be involved, the study’s authors say. If it were, those who worked longer hours would experience a similar decline in political engagement (they didn’t).

Instead, the study points to the unique mental burden of commuting as a cause for political disengagement, and commuters who are poorer to start have less psychological resources at the end of the day to engage.

Children play with a toy gun at the Liberty Festival on July 4, 2012 in Liberty, New York. ; Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

California State Senator, Kevin de Leon has announced plans to re-introduce a bill to modify replica guns.

It follows the accidental shooting of a 13-year old boy by a law enforcement officer in Santa Rosa last month.

Under the Imitation Firearms Safety Act, pellet, BB and other toy guns would be painted in bright colors to avoid confusion with real firearms weapons. A similar bill was introduced by de Leon in 2011, but failed to make it through the legislature.

Supporters of the proposal say it will help officers to quickly distinguish between real and imitation guns in high pressure situations. Airgun manufacturers argue that coloring imitation guns may impact on their business.

Do you allow your children to play with imitation guns? Would you feel more comfortable letting your little one play with a brightly colored toy gun? For adults who take part in role play games using imitation, would the fun be taken out of your pastime if the gun no longer looked real?

Guest:

Kevin de León, State Senator (D) representing California’s 22nd District  which includes the Cities of Los Angeles, Alhambra, Maywood, San Marino, South Pasadena, Vernon and parts of unincorporated Los Angeles County

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, US Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius react during a statement on early November 24, 2013 in Geneva. World powers on November 24 agreed a landmark deal with Iran halting parts of its nuclear programme in what US President Barack Obama called 'an important first step'. According to details of the accord agreed in Geneva provided by the White House, Iran has committed to halt uranium enrichment above purities of five percent. ; Credit: FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/Getty Images

The U.S., along with five other members of the United Nations, have reached an interim agreement with Iran over the country's nuclear development program. Certain economic sanctions against Iran will be lifted in exchange for a six-month stoppage in Iran's nuclear enrichment program.

The deal was met with relief and joy in Iran, which has been crippled by economic sanctions enacted since 2006. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been vocal about his opposition to the negotiations from the beginning, has called the deal a "historic mistake."

A few U.S. lawmakers are also critical, saying that the agreement doesn't do enough to ban Iran from enriching uranium altogether. A formal agreement still needs to be worked out, even as some hardliners in the U.S. Senate threaten to impose a new round of sanctions against Iran.

Guests:
Rebecca Sinderbrand, Deputy White House Editor for POLITICO

Michael Rubin, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute (AEI); Author of the forthcoming book Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes (Encounter Books, February 18, 2014)

Hussein Ibish, Senior Fellow at the American Task Force on Palestine; weekly columnist for The National, leading English-language paper in the Middle East; proprietor of the weblog "Ibishblog.com"

IN SPACE - JULY 10: In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), NASA space shuttle Atlantis in Earth orbit.; Credit: NASA/Getty Images

It's all eyes to the sky this evening as the widely-anticipated Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida. If successful, the mission would put a SES communications satellite into orbit, but the implications extend far beyond the expected increase in television and cable services in Asian markets.

The Falcon 9 is the baby of Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, a private company founded by Elon Musk (the same Musk who founded Tesla). Today's mission, the first-ever commercial satellite launch, would position SpaceX as a serious player in a multibillion dollar industry dominated by just a handful of companies and NASA.

With more ambitious, private companies like SpaceX entering the space race, will established space transportation companies like Boeing and Lockheed be able to keep up?

Guest:
Joel Achenbach, National Reporter at the Washington Post

Kobe Bryant sits on the bench during their game against the Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena on October 30, 2013 in Oakland, California. Bryant has been out all season as he recovers from an Achilles injury. ; Credit: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The Black Mamba has signed a two-year contract extension with the Lakers, which pretty much ensures that he will finish his gilded career with the team. The deal was announced today by General Manager Mitch Kupchak.

"This is a very happy day for Lakers fans and for the Lakers organization," Kupchak said Monday in a statement. "We've said all along that our priority and hope was to have Kobe finish his career as a Laker, and this should ensure that that happens."

Terms of the extension were not released, but the Los Angeles Times reports that Kobe Bryant will make between $40 million and $50 million for the two years. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the deal could make Bryant the first player in the history of the NBA to play 20 seasons with a single team.

That’s great for the 35-year-old Bryant, who is still recovering from a torn Achilles injury, but is it a smart business decision for the Lakers?

Guest:
Eric Pincus, who writes the Lakers 24/7 via Lakers Now blog at the Los Angeles Times.

An investigation by the Hollywood Reporter found that animals often sustain injuries on movie sets despite the "No Animals Were Harmed" assertion.; Credit: Paul D'Ambra/Flickr

“No animals were harmed during the making of this film.” Those words from the American Humane Association (AHA) are a relief for audiences to see at the end of movies that feature animals. But an investigation by the Hollywood Reporter found that that assertion displayed at the end of films isn’t always true.

According to THR, there are times when “no animals were harmed” means “no animals were harmed intentionally.” The article includes examples of some of the harm done to animals in films which were awarded the “No Animals Were Harmed” credit by the AHA. One example included a tiger on the set of “Life of Pi” that nearly drowned during filming.

It also cites an example of an AHA representative refusing to investigate a case during which more than 20 animals died during the filming of “The Hobbit.” 

What needs to be done to ensure the safety of animals during film production?

Guests:
Gary Baum, Senior Writer, The Hollywood Reporter

Karen Rosa, Senior Advisor, "No Animals Were Harmed" unit, American Humane Association

Allen Salkin's 'From Scratch: Inside the Food Network'

Twenty years ago, the Food network was a scrappy TV startup with a newfangled plan to broadcast cooking shows around the clock. In "From Scratch: Inside the Food Network," writer Allen Salkin shows readers how the network has tweaked its recipe over the years to become a billion-dollar media monolith. 

From the origins of Emeril Lagasse's "Bam!" catchphrase to the latest Paula Deen scandal, Salkin dives into controversies, rivalries and a host of little known facts that shed new light on the celebrity chef-fueled cable powerhouse.

With all of its larger than life personalities, the Food Network has been home to its fair share of drama. Which stars got along and which clashed?

Do you watch the Food Network? How do you think it has changed TV--and the way you look at food?

Guest:

Allen Salkin, Author, “FROM SCRATCH: Inside the Food Network”; former New York Times reporter

By: Juliet Williams

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A Sacramento County Superior Court judge is blocking the sale of bonds to build California's bullet train and has rejected the state's funding plan, jeopardizing the future of the project.

In rulings issued Monday, Judge Michael Kenny rejected a request from the California High-Speed Rail Authority to sell $8 billion of the $10 billion in bonds approved by voters in 2008. He says state officials were wrong to determine it was "necessary and desirable" to start selling the bonds.

In a separate lawsuit, he ordered the rail authority to redo its $68 billion funding plan before continuing construction, a process that could take months or years.

The lawsuit claimed that the project's current plan no longer complies with what voters were promised, and the judge agreed.

Guest:
Ralph Vartabedian, National Correspondent, Los Angeles Times

From the Associated Press

Should doctors perform aggressive end-of-life treatments at a patient's request even if the doctor feels the patient won't recover?; Credit: John Moore/Getty Images

How to deal with a late-stage illness is a sensitive topics for most patients and families. Deciding whether to pursue aggressive treatment or stop treatment in favor of pain management and palliative care is a very personal decision that is fraught with emotion.

According to new data from the Pew Research Center, a growing number of Americans are choosing to be far more aggressive in treating end-of-life illnesses. The percentage of Americans who say a physician should always do everything possible to save a life has more than doubled between 1990 and 2013, from 15% to 31%. One third of adults, 35%, said they would tell their doctors to do everything possible to keep them alive - even if they had a disease with no hope of improvement and were in a great deal of pain.

Because of the internet, patients now have access to more information than ever and they're more willing to ask doctors for specific treatments and courses of care.

But does that lead to unnecessary treatments that prolong suffering? Should doctors perform aggressive end-of-life treatments at a patient's request even if the doctor feels the patient won't recover? How do doctors decide which patients should get aggressive end-of-life care and which should not?

Guests:
Cary Funk, senior researcher with the Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project and lead researcher for the “Views on End-of-Life Medical Treatments” study

Dr. Paul Schneider, MD, president of the Southern California Bioethics Committee Consortium   

Have toys become increasingly gendered in recent decades?; Credit: DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images

Walk down just about any toy aisle and you’ll see two colors – blue for boys and pink for girls. The boy’s side has the building blocks, erector sets and tool belts. The girl’s section is dominated by ponies and princesses. Now, there’s a new toy company on the horizon that aims to “disrupt the pink aisles.”

GoldieBlox is a startup that makes and markets toys that aim to introduce girls to the joy of engineering at a young age. The Oakland-based company started on KickStarter, with an initial goal of $150,000, which they raised in less than five days.

A new commercial advertising their wares seems to have struck a chord. It was posted to YouTube on November 17 and already has over 8 million views. It’s set to the Beastie Boys' 1987 hit "Girls," with new lyrics, and features three enterprising girls engineering a Rube Goldberg-type contraption. 

The company’s founder, Debbie Sterling, is an engineer herself. But she says she didn’t discover her passion until high school and points out that a mere 11 percent of engineers in the United States are women – something she wants to change.

Can one, small company make a difference in the way toys are marketed to boys and girls? Why is the pink aisle so very pink? Have toys become increasingly gendered in recent decades? Could this represent a tipping point? Are companies giving kids what they want or reinforcing gender stereotypes and biases?

Guests:
Andrew Rohm, Associate Professor of Marketing at Loyola Marymount University. Director of M-School at LMU (Modern Marketing Program)

Lisa Wade, Ph.D, Professor of Sociology at Occidental College and author of the blog Sociological Images 

Protesters stand together as they hold a protest to ask their congress people to make immigration reform a reality on August 16, 2013 in Miami, Florida. ; Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Despite a new call by the president for immigration reform, all signs are pointing to a strategic shift by the White House on the divisive issue. After lengthy stalls by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, President Obama has essentially endorsed a piecemeal approach to achieving comprehensive immigration overhaul -- something that Democrats had long considered an all-or-nothing issue.

“It they want to chop that thing up into five pieces, as long as all five pieces get done, I don’t care what it looks like,” the president said. Still, Mr. Obama reassured a San Francisco audience yesterday that the country’s immigration system would eventually be “fixed.”

Does the president’s change in approach suggest a shift in benchmarks for immigration reform? How will Democrats and Republicans handle the issue in light of impending election years?

Guests:
Alan Gomez, Immigration reporter, USA Today

Manu Raju, Senior Congressional Reporter for POLITICO

US President Barack Obama stands with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius (L) as he announces that religious employers will not be mandated to offer free contraceptive coverage for workers at the White house in Washington, DC, February 10, 2012.; Credit: JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images

The Supreme Court today agreed to hear two legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act dealing with whether companies can refuse to pay for coverage of contraceptive drugs that violate the religious beliefs of the companies’ owners.

In taking on Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Sebelius, the Court will weigh if corporations have the same First Amendment rights and religious liberties as individual citizens.

The Affordable Care Act mandates that most employers pay for a range of contraceptives—including the so-called morning-after-pill, which some consider “abortion-inducing.” Most religious organizations were exempted from this requirement after Catholic bishops objected, but that exemption does not cover private, for-profit companies with religious owners.  

Oral arguments will be held in March, and a decision is expected in June.

Should companies have the right to operate according to religious convictions? Or should they be required to provide a full range of coverage to employees? Does this challenge to the Affordable Care Act present even more problems for President Obama’s beleaguered health care law?

Guest:

Greg Stohr, Supreme Court reporter, Bloomberg News

Does a period in a text message mean something different from one on paper?; Credit: ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP/Getty Images

An American University study found in 2007 that college students use sentence-ending punctuation marks only 39 percent of the time in texts and 45 percent of the time during instant messaging.

That was six years ago and the safe bet is that our punctuation-skipping habits have only become more ingrained over time. This gradual disappearance, some linguists and language observers argue, has changed the meaning of certain punctuation points.

A story editor at The New Republic, for instance, has recently written about how the commonplace period at the end of a text message now communicates anger or dismay, as opposed to just the end of a thought.  

Others have called for (though in jest) new punctuation to be invented to help better communicate emotions, or sarcasm. At issue is how to retain the nuance and complexity of language when we are communicating through a new technological medium.

Guest:

Geoffrey Nunberg, Linguist and Professor in the School of Information at UC Berkeley; Author of numerous books including “Ascent of the A-Word” (PublicAffairs 2013) and “The Linguistics of Punctuation”

The North Lawn of the White House ; Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images

Yesterday, USA Today became the latest major media outlet to boycott photos officially issued by the White House. The paper joins the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) and 37 other media outlets, including The Associated Press, Reuters, The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, ABC, CBS, and Fox News, in protest.

In a letter sent to White House Press Secretary Jay Carney last Thursday, the WHCA board decried the Obama Administration’s policy of banning photographers from covering the president at certain events, only to have official White House photos of those very same events released later.

The letter continues, “As surely as if they were placing a hand over a journalist’s camera lens, officials in this administration are blocking the public from having an independent view of important functions of the Executive Branch of government.” 

It’s not uncommon for the White House to bar photojournalists from covering the president, but the WHCA claims that previous administrations have have granted greater access than the current administration.

Is the Obama Administration’s approach to image control overly restrictive? Can the photo ban actually amount to a policy change by the White House? Do you care to see photographs of the president other than those issued officially?

Guest:
Jeremy Mayer, Associate Professor of Public Policy at George Mason University

How will you survive the holidays this year?; Credit: Ruocaled/Flickr Creative Commons

Thanksgiving is a time for families to come together and be thankful. For many of us, it’s also extremely fraught with unresolved family issues. The differences between us, whether they’re political, culinary or semantic can come with us to the table – whether we like it or not.

Often, the results are explosive and exhausting. But being blood relatives doesn’t have to mean bloody battles.

Take for instance, the escalating public feud between the Cheney sisters. Liz Cheney, who is running to become the next senator of Wyoming, recently told “Fox News Sunday” that while she loves her openly gay and married sister Mary, the matter of same-sex marriage “is just an issue on which we disagree.”

Mary Cheney’s wife, Heather Poe, responded via Facebook posting that “Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children…To have her now say she doesn't support our right to marry is offensive to say the least.” Their father, Dick Cheney, has come out supporting Liz, but has called for compassion.

Sounds good, right? Check your baggage at the door and serve up a big helping of compassion. But what if you’re the only one playing nice? What if your mother simply insists, over and over again, that you eat some of that turkey she “slaved over” even though she knows you’ve been a vegetarian for years? What if your knee-jerk lefty brother won’t stop trying to provoke your father over his conservative political beliefs and you’re caught in the middle -- again?

Good news! Advice Goddess Amy Alkon is here to help you navigate the rude people in your life and survive the holidays intact.

Guest:
Amy Alkon, nationally syndicated advice columnist and author of the upcoming book, "Good Manners For Nice People Who Sometimes Say The Eff Word" (St. Martin's Press 2014)

Have you discussed the details of your will with your loved ones?; Credit: Tim Boyle/Getty Images

As if a death in the family weren't already enough to deal with, cases of unexpected inheritance can often lead loved ones into fights, fallouts, and even lawsuits. To prevent such familial discord, some personal finance experts are advising their clients to take a different path when it comes to inheritance: In short, leave out the surprise part.

RELATED: Prepare loved ones for handling inheritances

Not only will advance notice and frank conversation alleviate infighting, these experts argue, but they'll also prepare heirs to make better financial decisions with the gift that they receive, no matter the amount.

According to a national study by Ohio State University last year, adults who were given an inheritance only saved about half of what they gained.

Have you discussed the details of your will with your loved ones? Do you think that transparency is effective in preventing a blowout, or does it simply start the fight sooner rather than later? Have you yourself been caught up in the drama of a surprise inheritance? Do you even expect to be the subject of an inheritance?

Guest:
Robert Powell, Editor of Retirement Weekly

Rotating globe at entrance to Leisure World in Seal Beach, CA. Leisure World is a gated retirement community with 9000 households.; Credit: Don Barrett

A Florida grandfather living in the age-restricted community of Vero Beach looked out his window one recent morning and saw that he and his wife’s two vehicles had been vandalized with yellow spray paint. The vandal’s message: “No Kids.”

Turns out, one of Bhaskar Barot’s neighbors wasn’t too pleased with how often Barot’s 4-year-old granddaughter had been visiting the home. Vero Beach, like many communities around the country catering to retirees, requires residents to be at least 55 years old. Overnight stays for the under 55 crowd are limited to 30 days per year, though there is no limit on daily visits.

Barot says the mystery vandal isn’t the first community member to have a problem with the toddler tourist. Several neighbors have filed complaints to the Homeowners’ Association about Barot’s granddaughter.

How common and strict are rules like these in retirement communities? How strongly do folks who choose to in these communities feel about kids stealing their peace and quiet? And how do rules like this impact intergenerational family dynamics?

Guest:

Andrew Scharlach, Eugene and Rose Kleiner Professor of Aging, School of Social Welfare, University of California, Berkeley