Terror Alert! No more furlough Fridays? Handicapping the November election with NPR’s Ken Rudin. CEO pay. Elena Kagan takes the bench as the Supreme Court season gets underway. Chasing the lightbulb - where do good ideas come from? And the latest news.
U.S. and other countries issue travel alert for Europe
The State Department has issued an alert for Americans traveling in Europe. This after the arrest of a German of Pakistani origin, who reportedly has provided information on increased activity among a small cell of potential terrorists hiding in a remote region of Pakistan. This is just short of a warning, which might trigger cancellations of hotel bookings and airline reservations. Japan and Britain have joined in the alert as well. If you have travel plans to Europe, should you be wary?
Guests:
Jason Campbell, Project Associate at The Rand Corporation in Washington
California Supreme Court upholds furloughs for state workers
Today, the California Supreme Court ruled to uphold Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s mandated furloughs for state workers. Since February of last year, over 200,000 public employees have been forced to take unpaid days off. The moved trimmed $3 billion from state payroll costs and, the Governor argues, prevented massive layoffs. Yet, employees don’t like the 14% pay cut. Order in the court: the decision in the matter of California Government, et al. v. Schwarzenegger, et al. is in. What do you think of the court's ruling?
Guests:
Julie Small, KPCC's State Capital Reporter
Bruce Blanning, Executive Director for Professional Engineers in California Government
Handicapping the November election with NPR’s Ken Rudin
Election Day is coming and races nationwide will decide the future of President Barack Obama’s agenda. Will we see a 2008 energy among young voters? Will the Tea Party be an asset or liability for conservatives? Will Barbara Boxer return to the Senate? And which party will control the House? Ken Rudin, political editor for NPR, makes his projections.
Guest:
Ken Rudin, political editor for NPR; writer of the Political Junkie blog
Executive pay - how much are CEOs worth?
CEO paydays have become the stuff of legend. Exorbitant salaries and lavish perks are the order of the day for the heads of the world's largest corporations and efforts to curb the skyrocketing salaries of CEOs have invariably failed. Is there a connection between CEO compensation and the pay of elected officials who vote themselves into the gold circle? The ongoing scandal in the City of Bell could be a bellwether for the abuse of power, public and private. Are CEOs worth their pay scale? What can be done to curb this trend?
Guest:
Michael Hiltzik, Business Columnist for the Los Angeles Times
Diane Brady, Senior Editor, Bloomberg Business Week
Elena Kagan takes the bench as the Supreme Court season gets underway
As the 2010 Supreme Court term begins today, several important cases are on the docket. Elena Kagan dons her robes, but because of her 14-month tenure as solicitor general, she’ll be recusing herself from nearly half the cases slated for argument. Among the major cases on the docket: should protestors be allowed to demonstrate at funerals? After Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder was killed in Iraq, members of Westboro Baptist Church held up signs reading “God hates fags” at his funeral. California’s attempt to ban the sale of violent video games to minors was struck down on free-speech grounds; a case on the docket attempts to overturn the ruling for this and other states. And a Texas execution was recently halted while lawyers argue for the defendant’s right to obtain DNA evidence not previously considered. As these and other cases are presented, how will Kagan’s recusals skew the court?
Guest:
Adam Liptak, Supreme Court Correspondent, New York Times
Where do good ideas come from?
Where do good ideas come from?: How does innovation happen? In his new book Where Ideas Come From, Steven Johnson explores how world-changing ideas surface. Johnson argues that a series of shared properties and patterns show up consistently in certain very creative and fertile environments. By embracing these patterns and incorporating them into our work and personal lives, we will increase our capacity for innovative thinking, the bestselling author and media guru suggests. Are connectivity and openness may be more valuable to innovation than competitive markets mechanisms? Ideas, he says, “want to complete each other as much as they want to compete.”
Guest:
Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From: the Natural History of Innovation