Gun-rights supporters are arguing that lives could have been saved in last week’s shooting of four unarmed Marines in a “gun free zone” in Chattanooga, TN if soldiers were permitted to carry weapons. Also, while Trump’s stance on immigration may have won him fans in the conservative segment of the Republican Party, Trump’s latest statements could have sunk his presidential bid for good. Then, how do you defeat writer's block?
Wake of Chattanooga reignites debate over military ‘gun-free zones’
Gun-rights supporters are arguing that lives could have been saved in last week’s shooting of four unarmed Marines in a “gun free zone” in Chattanooga, TN if only soldiers were permitted to carry weapons.
They’re currently not, thanks to a 1993 directive that was generated by the H.W. Bush administration and tweaked by the Clinton administration, and allows only military police to carry weapons on bases and reserve centers.
Gun rights activists argue that the military police often can't respond to an attack instantly, and those few minutes could mean the difference in how many people survive and that the gun-free policy also makes military facilities bigger targets last week’s shooting -- points that were made after the Fort Hood shooting in 2009 and the Washington Navy Yard shooting in 2013.
After an onslaught of criticism from gun-rights activists and Donald Trump, on Friday, Gen. Ray Odierno, chief of staff of the Army, pledged to review security procedures at military bases and recruiting centers.
Do you think military bases and reserve centers should remain gun-free zones?
Guests:
Brian Lepley, spokesperson for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command Center
Jack McCauley, Fellow with the Crime Prevention Research Center; retired Captain with the Maryland State Police
Ari Freilich, staff attorney with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Affluent View Park neighborhood struggles with identity
The affluent neighborhood of View Park between Crenshaw and La Brea, is 84 percent African-American.
It's loaded with 2,500-5,000 square foot homes, often with pools and maids' quarters, and architecturally beautiful. These days, whites are moving in, causing residents to take notice of the impact this demographic shift has on the culture of the neighborhood. The LA Times reported there's effort to put View Park on the National Register of Historic Places. This is seen to many as a tactic to make the neighborhood even more desirable to those with the money to live there.
Others, see the potential historic designation as a way to preserve the architectural integrity of the neighborhood and to improve property values. Ironically, in the 1960s, View Park was white, but when the Supreme Court lifted covenants that barred non-white owners, educated, monied black professionals started moving in. That's when the whites moved out en masse. Now they're returning.
Is that a problem? Is wanting to preserve the current cultural identity of View Park okay? What are the pros and cons of putting View Park on the National Register of Historic Places?
Guests:
Angel Jennings, Staff Reporter at the LA Times
Lance Freeman, Professor and Director of the Urban Planning Program at the Graduate School of Architecture at Columbia University and author of, “There Goes the Hood: View of Gentrification from the Ground Up”
Joe Hicks, VP of Community Advocates and former head of L.A. City Human Relations Commission
With McCain dig, Trump turns already wary GOP establishment against him
If the Republican establishment’s reaction is anything to go by, presidential candidate Donald Trump has finally crossed the line with his remarks on Senator John McCain’s military service.
While fighting in Vietnam, McCain was captured by the North Vietnamese and spent five years as a prisoner of war.
“He’s not a war hero,” Trump said of McCain at a campaign speech on Saturday.
“He’s a war hero because he was captured,” Trump continued. “I like people that weren’t captured.”
The backlash came swift and strong, particularly among the Republican establishment that has stayed mum on incendiary comments over Mexican immigrants that the celebrity businessman had previously made. GOP presidential hopefuls from Jeb Bush to Scott Walker to Marco Rubio have also joined the fray to voice their condemnation.
Senator McCain, for his part, responded by calling Trump to apologize to all military veterans.
While Trump’s stance on immigration may have won him fans in the conservative segment of the Republican Party, his latest statements could have sunk his presidential bid for good.
Has Trump crossed the line? What’s the impact of remarks about McCain on his campaign going forward?
Guests:
Philip Rucker, reporter at the Washington Post who’s been covering the story for the paper
Noah Bierman, reporter at the Los Angeles Times who covers California politics. His latest piece for the paper looks at how the California Republican Party has responded to Trump’s latest comments
Calling all writers, artists, musicians: How do you overcome your creative block?
Gin was the supposed cure of choice for F. Scott Fitzgerald.
John Steinbeck told a blocked George Plimpton working on a story on Marianne Moore that he needed to pretend he wasn’t writing to his magazine editor or a reader, but to someone close to him, like a friend, a sister.
Then there are others, who cannot sit down to create without first engaging in some sort of ritual. Take Salman Rushdie, who had a day job while writing “Midnight Children” and took a bath every Friday night before hitting his desk to, he said, “wash the week’s commerce away, and emerge - or so I told myself - as a novelist.”
Call us at 866 893 5722 and let us know what’s your cure for defeating writer’s block - or do you think it’s a myth?
Guest:
Kate Maruyama, novelist whose novel “Harrowgate” came out in 2013. She teaches fiction writing at Antioch University Los Angeles, Writing Workshops Los Angeles, as well as Inspiration2Publication, an online writing workshop
Dissecting Bon Iver founder’s comments on commercialization of big music festivals
“F*** Lollapalooza. That isn’t rock and roll.”
This was the response from Bon Iver founder Justin Vernon when he was asked by Grantland writer Steven Hyden about the lineup for his music festival, Eaux Claires. Vernon went on to lament about how he feels big music festivals like Coachella and Bonnaroo book the same acts, and that the focus of the promoters is more on making money and less on sharing and spreading new music.
There has been discussion of bringing a big music festival to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, but so far the only progress on that front was the Rose Bowl Operating Company entering into a non-binding letter of intent with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) back in April to run a weekend-long music and arts festival at the famed stadium. The catch? Last time the Rose Bowl had a concert series, residents complained about the noise and activity level, and having multiple weeknight events.
Have major festivals thrown music to the wind in lieu of money or are concert promoters simply booking the acts people want to see? How commercialized have big music festivals become? Do you think it hinders new musicians from getting exposure? How so?
Guests:
Dave Brooks, founder and editor of Amplify, which covers all aspects of the music business
Steven Hyden, staff writer for Grantland. He interviewed Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon for an article called “Lost in the World: Justin Vernon on His New Music Festival and the Uncertain Status of Bon Iver,” which was published on Grantland July 8