RE: Patt Morrison for Thursday, March 8, 2012

PATT MORRISON SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 8, 2012

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 – 1:50

There oughta be a law – against too many laws 

In Alaska it’s illegal to give a moose alcohol.  Ladies in Owensboro, Kentucky are prohibited from buying a hat without their husband’s permission.  In Texas, criminals must give their victims 24-hour notice of the crime they’re planning to commit (it’s not specified whether it should be written or oral notice).  These are just a few examples of the more ridiculous laws on the books, leftover from another time.  And as Philip K. Howard writes in the Atlantic this month, it’s time to clean house.  “America is mired in a tarpit of accumulated laws,” says Howard, “…at this point, Democracy is basically run by dead people…by policy ideas and political deals from decades ago.”   Our legislative process makes it much easier to create a law than to get rid of it, with the result that many once-critical regulations don’t match current priorities. One example? Farm subsidies, enacted by Congress to help struggling farmers during the depression.  These days, with most farms run by wealthy corporations, the policy is hardly necessary; in fact, thanks to cotton subsidies, the U.S government now pays $150 million a year to Brazil because it was found to be in violation of the World Trade Organization.  These outdated, unnecessary and often downright ridiculous laws and regulations, buried beneath layers of subsequent laws and regulations, have created a legal tangle that stymies progress, misallocates resources and chokes our courthouses with litigation. What can be done about it?  Should Congress enact a law against making more laws?

Guest:
Philip K. Howard, lawyer, author and chair of Common Good a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that researches and advocates for governmental law reform. He is the author, most recently, of Life Without Lawyers: Restoring Responsibility in America, and wrote the introduction to Al Gore's Common Sense Government

Stan Collender, budget expert and partner at Qorvis Communications (a corporate communication consulting firm), he has worked on the House and Senate Budget Committees, and edited Federal Budget Report, a newsletter that was published for almost two decades.

1:50 – 1:58:30

LACMA’S “rock star” is en route to L.A.

Get ready because the “Levitated Mass” is rolling your way! The big art rock that's 340 tons of gorgeous granite, designed by sculptor Michael Heizer, is rocking the art world as it is moved along a 105-mile journey from Riverside, California to The Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Wilshire Boulevard. Once the mass arrives at the museum, it will be installed as part of a highly anticipated outdoor sculpture. Get ready because it will rock you!

Guest:
Michael Govan, CEO and Wallis Annenberg Director, Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

 

2:06 – 2:30

“Miss Representation” in the media

The documentary “Miss Representation” explores the way women in powerful positions in America are portrayed—Hillary Clinton is described by one female commentator as looking “haggard” and a guest on the O’Reilly Factor says the downside of having a woman in the White House is the “PMS and mood swings.”The preponderance of images in the media glorify and exploit the physical.  Through interviews with women in film and television, the news media, the political arena and more – including Condoleezza Rice, Katie Couric, Margaret Cho and Geena Davis – the documentary challenges the media’s limited portrayal of womanhood and what the objectification of women says to young girls. On International Women’s Day, Patt explores whether women have really come a long way, baby.

 

Guests:

UNCONFIRMED

Pat Mitchell, president & CEO, Paley Center for Media, former President and CEO of PBS

Jennifer L. Pozner (POSE-ner), founder and executive director of nonprofit organization Women In Media & News (WIMN), and author of the book “Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth about Guilty Pleasure TV”

Jim Steyer, CEO, Common Sense Media, lawyer, professor of civil rights, Stanford University

Caroline Heldman, associate professor of Political Science, Occidental College

 

 

2:30 –2:58:30 OPEN