War Powers

Should the President of the United States be required to seek the consent of Congress before going to war? After studying the issue for a year, former secretaries of state James Baker and Warren Christopher say no. Their commission unanimously agreed in a report out today that the President should only be required to consult congress. We speak with Julian Barnes, Pentagon reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

Who Gets to Declare War?

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Should the President of the United States be required to seek the consent of Congress before going to war? After studying the issue for a year, former secretaries of state James Baker and Warren Christopher say no. Their commission unanimously agreed in a report out today that the President should only be required to consult congress. We speak with Julian Barnes, Pentagon reporter for the Los Angeles Times.

Mexico’s Drug War – America’s Guns

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Six bodies were found along the Mexico-California border today, after a weekend of drug violence. It’s a familiar story because more than a thousand people have already been killed this year from drug violence. Most of the killing is done by guns and most of the guns come from the US. By some estimates as may as 2,000 guns a day pass from the United States into Mexico. We speak with James Verini, whose article “Arming the Drug Wars” appears in this month’s Conde Naste Portfolio Magazine.

Subconscious Racism

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Are caricatures of Barack Obama as a puppet or a monkey necessarily racist? Overt racism isn’t socially acceptable anymore, but do we harbor racist caricatures in our sub-conscious? We’ll speak with UCLA psychology professor Phillip Goff, who’s done research showing that people still link African Americans to apes, and that does lead to discrimination and violence.

Guitarist Ry Cooder

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The legendary guitarist, who brought Cuban music to our attention with the Buena Vista Social Club, is out with a new CD called “I, Flathead.” It’s the end of a trilogy of CDS about his homestate, California. The music harkens back to a bygone California that really doesn’t exist anymore.