Three Homeland Security buses carrying women and children immigrants were rerouted to a customs and border facility in San Diego yesterday after protesters blocked the group from reaching a processing center in Murrieta. Also, how free is free speech at Citrus College? Then, should headers in youth soccer be banned?
Border Patrol detainees blocked by Murrieta protesters
Three Homeland Security buses carrying about 140 mostly women and children detainees were rerouted to a customs and border facility in San Diego yesterday after about 100 to 150 American flag-waving protesters chanting "Go home" and "We want to be safe" blocked the group from reaching a processing center in Murrieta.
The undocumented immigrants had been flown to Southern California for processing to help alleviate a crunch on the border in Texas after thousands of Central American children and families crossed over the border.
Murrieta Mayor Alan Long urged residents in his city to protest the arrival of the migrants and according to the mayor, Murrieta has defeated two previous attempts to send migrants to the facility.
Does the government need to rethink the plan? Should there be stronger enforcement to let these buses through?
Guests:
Ricardo Cano, reporter for the Desert Sun, author of the articles on the Murrieta protests
Angelica Salas, Director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA)
Kimberly Davidson, spokesperson for Murrieta City Council
How free is free speech at Citrus College?
Four colleges and universities in California, Ohio, Illinois and Iowa are being sued by students for what they claim is an infringement of their free speech rights.
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education coordinated the filing of lawsuits to eliminate unconstitutional speech codes through targeted First Amendment lawsuits. Here in California, the student, Vincenzo Sinapi-Riddle, at Citrus College in Glendora, is saying his First Amendment rights are being violated by restricting his petitioning activities to a far too small “free speech” zone on campus. He claims he was having a discussion with another student about his campaign against spying by the National Security Agency.
The other lawsuits are taking on different issues including expression via blogs and messaging on t-shirts.
Should universities enforce “civil decorum” on campus? Should free speech on campus be relegated to only a certain part of campus? Should free speech encounter any kind of restrictions at all? Should universities allow themselves to be vulnerable to the complaints of “hate speech” or other kinds of offensive communication?
Guest:
Robert Shibley, Senior Vice President at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a Philadelphia based group that promotes free speech and due process rights at colleges and universities.
The legacy of the Civil Rights Act, 50 years later
Fifty years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, ending unequal voting registration requirements and racial segregation. This historic legislation outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or nationality and was a milestone victory in a long fight to end racial discrimination and segregation.
Today, even as the African American community and many others celebrate how far civil rights have come in the last half-century, civil rights leaders say there is still work to be done. What did the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 mean to Americans? What does it mean today? How has this landmark law affected the United States?
Guests:
Joe Hicks, Vice President of Community Advocates, Inc., a nonprofit organization that advocates innovative approaches to human relations and race relations in Los Angeles city and county; He is former Executive Director of the L.A. City Human Relations Commission (1997 - 2001) under Mayor Richard Riordan
Jamelle Bouie, staff writer in Washington D.C. for Slate, where he covers politics, policy and race
July 4th gas prices highest since 2008, but not throwing a wrench in holiday plans
Gas prices for this holiday weekend are expected to reach a higher average than they have since 2008, but Southern Californians aren’t dissuaded from July 4th road trips. An Auto Club forecast predicts that 2.88 million Californians will travel this weekend.
The 1.5% increase in travelers may be a result of higher confidence in finances and willingness to increase credit card debt. High gas prices have been a concern for California all year -- the summer pricing may be at its highest in four years, but compared to spikes in past years, including a peak in Fall 2012, this year’s prices are less concerning.
What is driving up gas prices in California and across the U.S.? Why are consumers willing to spend more on gas -- are Fourth of July road-trippers indicative of an improving economy? How does the steady rise in gas prices compare to increases in other markets?
Guest:
Marie Montgomery, spokesperson for the Automobile Club of California
Should headers in youth soccer be banned?
Families are watching the World Cup, and some of those stunning headers inspire young athletes to get their heads in the game as well. But, a campaign called Parents and Pros for Safer Soccer (PASS), are asking for an elimination of headers from youth soccer until kids are high school age. PASS consists of soccer stars, Brandi Chastain, Cindy Parlow Cone and Joy Fawcett, along with the Sports Legacy Institute and the Santa Clara Institute of Sports Law and Ethics. They’re concerned about the long-lasting impact of repeated hammering of the brain.
Advocates argue banning headers for the young will safeguard kids from brain trauma and will actually allow them to focus more on footwork, making them more nimble players. But others say more research is needed in order to prove headers are the real culprit for long-lasting brain damage born of concussions. Hockey and Lacrosse are instituting rules to protect young players.
Is it time for soccer to do the same? Should there be a one size fits all decision banning kids from doing headers? Or, do we need to wait for more scientific proof showing headers pose a real neurological threat to America’s youth?
Guests:
Dr. Robert Cantu, Co-Director Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University School of Medicine, and Medical Director and concussion expert at Sports Legacy Institute (SLI) -- a non-profit organization wanting to ban headers in soccer until kids are high school age. He is also the author of Concussions and our Kids.
Dr. Michael Lipton, a neuroradiologist and neuroscientist at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center. He is currently working on a study on the effects of repetitive head injury in sports, including from heading in soccer.
Amid drought, should CA consider banning sales of fireworks?
Fireworks are as much a tradition on the 4th of July as barbecue and a nice picnic, but they are also the cause of a number of fires in the state.
Currently, only "safe and sane" fireworks are allowed to be sold in the state, and it's up to each individual city to decide on legalization. A number of cities--Alhambra, Montebello, San Gabriel, to name a few--allow "safe and sane" fireworks to be sold, but just as many cities (Los Angeles, for example) forbid their sales.
The state's fire marshal is the person that determines which fireworks are considered safe and sane. Despite the seal of confidence, many cities say that even those fireworks can be dangerous. LA County Fire Chief Deputy Mark Bennett told Fox KTTV LA that 90% of fireworks injuries come from safe and sane.
But there’s an economic argument to be made for their sales: proceeds from safe and sane fireworks benefit a range of charitable organizations in the state. Native Sons of the Golden West, a San Bernardino charity, gets 10 percent of its annual operating budget from safe and sane fireworks sales.
Given that California is in the midst of the worst drought in many years, should the state entertain a wholesale ban of all fireworks?
POLL:
Guests:
Daniel Berlant, spokesperson, Cal Fire
Jim Smith, financial secretary, San Bernardino chapter of Native Sons of the Golden West, a charitable organization dedicated to historic preservation in California with 8,300 members statewide