A new Republican pledge to America. With so many city officials under arrest, who should run Bell now? What are the rules of engagement in cyber warfare? And, the story of Navajo lands contaminated by uranium mining.
GOP unveils ‘Pledge to America’
House Republican leaders unveiled a new party plan in a Virginia lumber store this morning, called a Pledge to America. The agenda focuses on repealing the federal health care law passed last year, maintaining Bush-era lower income taxes for wealthy Americans and cutting other government spending. Is there anything new in the plan? Will the GOP succeed in peeling off the ‘party of no’ label slapped on by Democrats? And do you support the proposals?
Guests:
Kitty Felde, KPCC’s Washington correspondent
Mark Standriff, Communications Director for the California Republican Party
Eric Bauman, Chair, L.A. County Democratic Party
Who should ring, err, run Bell now?
Following the arrest of eight Bell city leaders, the LA County Board of Supervisors voted to push for a court-appointed receiver to take over day-to-day management of the city. Currently interim City Attorney Jamie Casso and interim City Administrator Pedro Carrillo are in charge, but both were appointed by Robert Rizzo, Bell’s former city manager who is facing 53 counts of misappropriation of public funds and conflict of interest. Experts on city governance say they’ve never encountered a crisis of this magnitude. What can and should be done to fix Bell?
Guest:
Paul Pringle, Reporter, Los Angeles Times
Should laws of war apply to cyberspace?
An all-out cyberattack could disable a nation’s power, water, financial and transportation systems – all of which depend on computers. But it’s unclear how the established rules of war might apply in this new area of conflict. At issue: protecting citizens and defining a cyberattack. Meanwhile, security experts say they have identified the world's first known cyber super weapon designed specifically to destroy a real-world target. How should nations deal with these very serious threats? Should the laws of war apply to cyberspace? If so, how?
Guests:
Tom Gjelten, Correspondent, covering a variety of global security and economic issues, NPR
James Andrew Lewis, Director and Senior Fellow, Technology and Public Policy Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Adam Segal, Senior Fellow for Counterterrorism and National Security Studies, Council on Foreign Relations
Yellow Dirt
Whether it’s gold or coal, mining minerals strains the environment and can pose health risks to workers. What about mining uranium? A thick vein runs under Navajo lands near the four corners in the American southwest—where Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona meet. From the 1930s to the present day, uranium extraction there has fueled weapons development and production, and often tribal leaders accepted the jobs mining presented but were never properly warned of the risks of all that yellow dust. Judy Pasternak joins Larry Mantle with the history of uranium mining in America.
Guest:
Judy Pasternak, author of Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed