A new initiative found its way to the November ballot, adding fuel to the ongoing rent control debate in California. We also dive into the psychological impact of family separation; discuss Trump's announcement to create a sixth branch of military; and more.
Deep dive into immigration: pending legislation on the Hill, psychological impact of family separation and how we got here
President Trump is scheduled to meet House Republicans on Tuesday to discuss two GOP immigration bills that are expected to get a floor vote this week.
The first bill is a conservative measure written by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), the other is a “compromise” among Republican leaders, moderates and White House staffers.
Meanwhile, backlash is growing over the current border crossing policy where more than 2,000 immigrant children were separated from their parents in recent weeks. The new policy sparked a conversation about the effect separation has on children. Health experts, notably pediatricians and psychologists, called the effect catastrophic. As a reaction to the trauma, the body releases a flood of stress hormones that can start killing off dendrites, the branched extensions of a nerve cell in the brain that transmit messages. Such trauma can kill off neurons in the long run especially in children.
The effect is so damaging that thousands of mental health professionals have signed a petition urging the president to end the separation policy. We explain the scientific research that is driving such move.
If you experienced child-parent separation that affected you till this day, call us at 866-893-5722 and share your experience with us.
Guests:
Arit John, a congressional reporter for Bloomberg; she tweets
Ted Hesson, immigration reporter for POLITICO Pro; he tweets @tedhesson
Charles Nelson, pediatrics and neuroscience professor at Harvard Medical School; director of research in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Boston’s Children Hospital; he tweets
The final frontier: Trump directs Pentagon to establish ‘Space Force’
On Monday, at a National Space Council meeting, President Trump said he would direct the Pentagon to create a sixth branch of the military – a “space force” which would protect the goals of the U.S. in space.
The conversation about establishing a military presence in space has been around since the Cold War. Last year, Congress decided to kick the can down the road on a decision to create a space corps. (They asked for an independent study on the decision, which is due in August.)
Realistically, it would take some time and an act of Congress to establish a new, separate military branch. There has been pushback from some lawmakers who think this would create further bureaucracy at best, and an arms race at worst.
We get the latest on Trump’s announcement. What does it mean, realistically? What previous efforts have there been to establish a U.S. military presence in outer space? And what are the potential benefits and drawbacks?
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guest:
Todd Harrison, director of the Aerospace Security Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank
With new CA ballot initiative, the rent control debate continues
A new initiative found its way to the November ballot, adding fuel to the ongoing rent control debate in California.
As the Los Angeles Times reports, the statewide initiative would repeal legislation that keeps most new rent control laws from passing. Currently, city leaders may not change rent control rates on apartment buildings built before October 1978, per the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act.
This initiative would repeal Costa-Hawkins, giving local governments the power to pass additional rent control measures. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which is behind the initiative’s campaign, says this will help the state’s growing housing crisis.
But opponents, including gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, say the plan is too aggressive. There is also fear that rent control could lead to a drop in home building. The California Apartment Assn., a landlord advocacy group, is en route to spend upwards of $60 million to squash the initiative.
Guest Host Libby Denkmann speaks to CALmatters housing reporter Matt Levin for a breakdown of what this could mean for landlords and renters.
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guest:
Matt Levin, data and housing reporter for CALmatters, a nonprofit news site; he is also host of the site’s “Gimme Shelter” podcast; he tweets
California’s high housing costs and its impact on employment
Plenty of workers still move West each year for a new job in California.
But the state's high cost of housing may be deterring many other job seekers from moving into the state. Business leaders up and down the state say California's expensive housing makes it challenging to recruit new workers -- and to keep existing employees here.
Read David’s full story here.
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guest:
David Wagner, KPCC’s business reporter whose latest story looks at the impact of the state’s high housing costs on employment; he tweets
World Health Organization classifies ‘gaming disorder’ as a mental health disorder
Playing hours of video games has now been deemed pathological, at least by the World Health Organization.
In its latest revision to a disease classification manual, the U.N. health agency said Monday that compulsively playing video games now qualifies as a mental health disorder. In classifying "gaming disorder" as an addiction, WHO hopes to spark funding and studies to better understand a behavior that is becoming all too common.
But some psychologists believe the new designation may be rooted more in alarmism than objective research. They argue that WHO did not base their decision on a wide enough range of academic study, and that the results of current research are still preliminary and have yet to be replicated.
If you are an obsessive gamer, do you feel it’s due to an addiction or to something else?
If you are an obsessive gamer, do you feel it’s due to an addiction or to something else? Have playing too many video games interfered with your daily life at all? Or is it just a hobby you greatly enjoy? Call us at 866-893-5722 and let us know.
With files from the Associated Press.
With guest host Libby Denkmann.
Guests:
Hilarie Cash, mental health counselor and co-founder of reSTART, an inpatient treatment program for video game addiction in the Seattle area
Michelle Colder Carras, psychiatric epidemiologist and public mental health researcher at Johns Hopkins University; she specializes in normative and problematic use of media and technology