Patt Morrison for Monday, November 28, 2011

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Monday, November 28, 2011

1-3 p.m.

 

CALL-IN @ 866-893-5722, 866-893-KPCC; OR JOIN THE CONVERSATION ONLINE ON THE PATT MORRISON BLOG AT KPCC-DOT-ORG

 

1:06 – 1:30: OPEN

 

1:30 – 1:58: Against Thrift: Why Consumer Culture is Good for the Economy, the Environment, and Your Soul

Americans who bought stuff like crazy in the ‘90s began to swear off spending in the great recession, discovering that less stuff can mean more life. Now there’s an author arguing that spending is just as good as saving. In his new consumer polemic, historian James Livingston argues that the way to promote economic growth is to up our consumer spending. He also takes aim at that “moralistic” belief that Americans should spend less and save more—that attitude, he argues, will only prolong our current economic pain. According to Livingston, it’s consumer spending—not jobs—that will restart our country’s economic engine. Were you a spender or a saver on Black Friday? What about today, any Cyber Monday deals enticing you to spend? Do you agree with Livingston? Do you think your spending or saving is helping or hurting the economy?

 

Guest: James Livingston, professor of History at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and author of Against Thrift: Why Consumer Culture Is Good for the Economy, the Environment, and Your Soul

 

2:06 – 2:30: No license, no car? LA considers changing 30-day impound on cars of unlicensed drivers

No license, no car—that policy, which activists have long complained unfairly punishes illegal immigrants who cannot get driver’s licenses, may be about to change. Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Police Department began allowing unlicensed drivers at sobriety checkpoints a free pass from having their car towed and impounded if a licensed driver was available to take it. Since then, Mayor Villaraigosa has been developing a new policy with the LAPD that would expand that change to include traffic stops and reduce the number of 30-day impounds, which can cost hundreds of dollars in fees. The police union says the new policy “puts politics above public safety” and “will result in innocent people being injured and killed,” but activists maintain that the current situation continues to unfairly punish illegal immigrants. Are these fees unfairly punitive, do they target illegal immigrant drivers, or do they serve a purpose in keeping unlicensed drivers off the road?

 

Guest:

Paul Weber, president, Police Protective League

 

NOT CONFIRMED:

TBA, Los Angeles Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild

 

NOT CONFIRMED:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa

 

 

2:30 – 2:39: Former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton leads UC Davis pepper spray inquiry

Patt checks in with former LAPD chief Bill Bratton, who’s been tapped by the University of California to lead an official inquiry into the use of pepper spray by UC Davis police on passive student protesters. UC Davis chancellor Linda Katehi and Assembly Speaker John Perez reportedly urged the creation of an outside panel; Speaker Perez has also scheduled a December 14 hearing to look into UC police handling of student protests. With a wealth of experience to draw from, Bratton has already drawn parallels with this incident to the report into the LAPD's 2007 May Day melee at MacArthur Park, saying "I am looking for a similar report that will give a truthful and objective, candid account of the events" at Davis.

 

Guest: Bill Bratton, former Los Angeles Police Chief

 

2:41:30 – 2:58:30: America the Vulnerable: are we just one, big porous and penetrable network?

“Rabid” and “relentless” are just two of the adjectives that Joel Brenner uses to describe the daily attacks on intellectual property produced in the United States. According to Brenner, a former senior counsel at the National Security Agency, the leakage of personal information that occurs online is nothing but “a sideshow” compared the “the systematic theft” of marketable ideas, which are usually expensive to produce, and stolen and used for free by other governments and individuals from around the world. Brenner specifically points to Russia, China and Iran, though his overall point is that because all of us in the U.S.—“citizens, corporations, the military, and the government—live on the same porous networks, personal secrets corporate secrets and national secrets are all up for grabs.” Brenner’s language is dire, but it matches his message: the U.S. government continues to be uncoordinated and resource-poor when it comes to these attacks, and even the officials invested in setting up protections are beginning to feel like Sisyphus rolling his stone uphill.  Do you share Brenner’s concern and do you see any effects of this poaching in your day-to-day life?  Do we need to quickly clamp down on what information is available and to whom? 

 

Guests:

Joel Brenner, a former senior counsel at the National Security Agency and author of America the Vulnerable: Inside the New Threat Matrix of Digital Espionage, Crime, and Warfare

 

 

 

Lauren Osen

Southern California Public Radio - 89.3 KPCC

626-583-5173 / 626-483-5278

losen@scpr.org @Patt_Morrison