We'll review the Senate's decision on gun control and Obama's dissatisfied response. Also, we'll discuss if military should be able to review their superior officers, if California should pass legislation restricting revenge porn, and if the Colorado theater bears any liability for the Aurora massacre. Then, we look at the facets of the tragic explosion in West, Texas, and how the Lakers made it to the playoffs. Lastly, which food trends do you think are here to stay?
What’s next for gun control?
When the Manchin-Toomey bill to expand background checks on gun buyers failed to make it through the Senate yesterday, gun control advocates were left angry and frustrated and wondering where to go from here. The vote on the amendment fell six votes short of passing with a final tally of 54 to 46.
President Obama gave an impassioned speech from the Rose Garden, calling it a "shameful" day in Washington. Emotions on both sides of the aisle are running high as negative ads and name calling are taking the place of reasoned dialogue.
Do gun control advocates have a new strategy to move forward? How can both sides tone down the rhetoric in order to come to an agreement?
Guests:
Adam Winkler, law professor at UCLA and author of "Gun Fight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America" (W. W. Norton & Company, 2011)
Roger Pilon, Director of the CATO institute’s Center for Constitutional Studies
Should Generals and Admirals face review by subordinates?
If one thing is undeniable about the U.S. military, it's the power of hierarchy. If a brigadier general tells a full-bird colonel to jump, the only answer is "how high?" But as part of an effort to reform the training of top military brass -- generals and admirals, specifically -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, has put into effect a review system similar to that used on much of corporate America to root out some of the recent scandalous behavior of high-ranking military officers. This will include taking into account the opinions of lower-ranking soldiers and sailors about how their boss does his/her job.
Should the military adopt the way of corporate America? Is the political correctness enforced by HR review processes useful in a military constantly engaged in bloody conflict?
Guests:
Tom Ricks, Senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security; contributing editor to Foreign Policy magazine; author of “The Generals: American Military Command from World War II to Today” (Penguin Press, 2012)
Jeffrey Addicott, Professor of Law and the Director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas; he's a retired Army Lt. Colonel.
Florida may pass legislation making revenge porn illegal
Revenge porn websites, where an angry ex posts sexually explicit photos or videos of a former lover, have fallen into a legal gray area for decades. Victims often find private photos of themselves posted on websites with their name, links to social media sites and even their address or phone number. But because current law protects the right to post these photos, there is often no recourse to get the content removed.
Now, Florida is close to passing a bill to make it illegal to post nude pictures of someone online along with identifying information without written consent. The bill would subject violators to a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison, five years of probation and a $5,000 fine.
Would a bill that bans this type of post online be violating the constitutional protection of free speech? What can victims of revenge porn do if this kind of content was posted without their consent? How can you protect yourself and your personal information so you don’t end up a victim of revenge porn?
Guest:
Mary Anne Franks, Law professor at the University of Miami School of Law
Should Cinemark be responsible for the James Holmes massacre?
A federal judge declined to dismiss lawsuits against Cinemark, the owner of the Aurora, Colo. movie theater where 12 were killed and 70 injured in a shooting last summer. Judge R. Brooke Johnson ruled that wrongful death and liability suits against Cinemark could move forward, but dismissed separate suits claiming negligence.
"Cinemark owed a duty to the invitees to not unreasonably fail to protect them from dangerous conditions about which they knew or should have known," said Heather Salg, a personal injury attorney at Harris, Karstaedt, Jamison & Powers, P.C. in Englewood, Colo. "So the question here is going to be can the plaintiffs come forward with evidence that Cinemark should have known this could occur because that door was allowed to be propped open?"
Three of the injured victims of the shooting brought the suit against the property, arguing that the unlocked, unmonitored exit through which alleged shooter James Holmes entered is cause for a suit.
"Plaintiffs in these types of cases have to overcome two hurdles. First they have to prove that the defendant knew or should have known of this potential danger," said Salg. "Then they have to show that the defendant failed to use reasonable care."
The judge says that the cases against Cinemark, "present difficult questions of interpretation and application of law," and noted that the decision to proceed was “a close call.”
"We generally feel that it's harder for plaintiffs to prove a premises liability case than just a general negligence case," said Salg. "Part of that is because our premises liability law has been subject to very thorough investigation by our courts … we have a lot of case law on this."
Should the theater be liable for death and injury? What responsibility do property owners have in these types of situations?
Guest:
Heather Salg, a personal injury attorney at Harris, Karstaedt, Jamison & Powers, P.C. in Englewood, Colorado
Texas factory explosion destroys a hundred homes
A massive explosion at a fertilizer plant in Texas leveled a four-block area and sent a mushroom cloud into the sky. Authorities say between 5 and 15 are dead and more than 160 injured. It's not known how the initial fire started last night at the West Fertilizer Company plant in West, Texas. Amateur video shows the fire raging then a powerful explosion that registered as a small earthquake.
Here's the audio of the dispatch call:
The town uses volunteer firefighters - three to five are missing after responding to the emergency. According to the Associated Press, the plant was cited in 2006 by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for failing to obtain or to qualify for a permit - the citation came after a complaint about strong ammonia odor. Explosions at fertilizer plants are rare. In 2001, a similar plant in Toulouse, France killed 31 and injured more than 2,000.
How are firefighters trained to handle chemical accidents? Do volunteer firefighters have the same expertise? How common or rare are industrial explosions? Should there be a wide perimeter around such plants prohibiting residential buildings?
Guest:
Rick Jervis, Staff Reporter, USA Today reporter from West, Texas
Reversal of fortune: Clippers win division, Lakers squeeze into playoffs on last day of the season
After a wild ride of a season for Angelino basketball fans, both Lakers and Clippers qualified for the NBA playoffs, though in an unusual order. The Lakers, who’ve only missed the playoffs a handful of times since moving to Los Angeles, limped into the NBA postseason last night, beating Houston by two baskets in overtime, while the Clippers, historically the doormat of the league, won their seventh game in a row, clinching home-court advantage for the playoffs.
Though they barely made postseason play, the Lakers showed mettle in the final games of the 2013 season, battling back from a mountain of adversity, including injuries, win droughts, the death of their iconic owner Jerry Buss, and the loss of Kobe Bryant to an injury that could sideline him for as long as half a year.
With both teams in the postseason, talk has turned to a Clippers-Lakers “hallway series,” (which would happen in Round 3 of the playoffs), but with both teams facing stiff opposition in the first round, and Oklahoma City and Miami waiting down the road, could a hard-fought season end unceremoniously for Los Angeles’ teams?
Guest:
Mike Bresnahan, Los Angeles Times sports reporter
Cupcakes and Kogi, Baconators and Pom: when the bubble bursts on food trends
The cupcake bubble has burst, or so say dropping stock prices for gourmet bakery Crumbs, which fell from $13 a share in 2011 to under $1.50 this year. The decline in cupcake popularity may be a reflection of changing taste – in recent years fad foods have come and gone. Are morphing American appetites a sign of moral and ethical shifts?
Trends towards local, organic, and sustainable foods have made things like raw, cold pressed juice immensely popular. Other fad foods – gourmet coffee, bacon, grilled cheese, ice cream sandwiches – have become increasingly sought after. Health fads have introduced coconut water, acai berries, and kombucha to wider audiences, and childhood favorites and traditional cultural foods have been revived and reappropriated with creative, whimsical touches.
American chefs are ushering in an era of ever-changing menus, pop-up shops, and roving restaurants on wheels, how are tastes adjusting to trend? Why do we eat the things we eat? What drives food culture? What will replace the craft cupcake?
Guest:
Allison Carruth, author of “Global Appetites: American Power and the Literature of Food” (Cambridge University Press), assistant professor in English at UCLA and faculty member at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and Institute for Society and Genetics