Patt Morrison Mon, 12/4

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, November 24, 2008

1-3 p.m.

 1:00 – 1:40

 OPEN

 

1:40 – 2:00

"Loot: The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the World"

Why are the Elgin Marbles in London and not the Acropolis or why are there seemingly as many mummies in France as Egypt? Over the past two centuries the West has pillaged the treasures of the ancient world. Recently, however, once-colonized nations have begun reclaiming their history through restitution, taking high-profile museums to court and prosecuting curators for pillaging art and artifacts. Former New York Times culture reporter Sharon Waxman opens a new window into the politics of cultural exchange with this objective look at how several high-profile museums built up their antiquities collections.

 

Guest:

Sharon Waxman, former culture reporter for the New York Times and author, "Loot:  The Battle over the Stolen Treasures of the World"

IN STUDIO

 

2:00 – 2:30

401(k) Overhaul?

Your golden years might not be so golden if you were planning to retire anytime soon. The average worker’s 401(k) has fallen between 20 and 30 percent so far this year. Some analysts and politicians are calling for an overhaul of the 401(k) retirement system, which currently has workers almost completely dependent on the health of the economy. Some proposals for change include government backing to prevent large losses in a down economy.  But with more than half of American workers relying solely on a 401(k) for retirement living, should the government help to protect retirement investments or look to a new system?

 

Guests:

Congressman George Miller, Democrat from the 7th District, the Richmond area.  He is Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee.

 

Pamela Perun (PAIR-uhn), Policy Director of the Initiative on Financial Security at the Aspen Institute

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2:30 – 3:00

“The Unwanted, Doing the Unforgivable, For the Ungrateful”

Pulitzer prize-winning Washington Post correspondent Steve Fainaru said of his time embedded with thousands of ‘private security contractors’ in Iraq, “I felt like I had seen a ‘hidden part of the war’… one with its own rules, its own language and subculture, its own secret battles. To me, in many ways, it summed up what Iraq was about: War without pretext. War without ideology. War without planning. War as a paycheck.” Fainaru’s new book “Big Boy Rules: American’s Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq,” tells of his time with these mercenaries who have become essential security for any official wishing to move around Baghdad. He unsparingly documents the brutality and callousness with which they operate—knowing they are exempt from Iraqi law and oversight by the U.S. government, which doesn’t bother to record their casualties—while sympathizing with these often inexperienced individuals as they grapple with their humanity in dehumanizing situations.

 

Guests:

Steve Fainaru is a foreign correspondent for the Washington Post, where he covered the war in Iraq from 2004 to 2007. He is the recipient of a 2008 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting and the Overseas Press Club’s Hal Boyle Award.

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