News Cut: June 15, 2009 Archive

Five at 8 - 6/15/09

Posted at 7:33 AM on June 15, 2009 by Bob Collins

First, the Monday Morning Rouser:

5) It's a tribute to the respect I accord the BBC that I bother to post a link to its story "The Truth About Roswell?" with the comment that I find headlines that ask a question, tend not to answer it in the story. But did you really expect to wake up this morning to find out for sure whether the U.S. captured an alien flying saucer? If so, another question: Why can't we keep a secret for 17 seconds in the U.S. now, and whoever was involved (or not) in Roswell kept it for 62 years? I'll hang up and listen.

4) Headlines that still get my attention. Exploring Gay Iowa. The legalization of gay marriage has made it a destination, says the Chicago Tribune. "That sudden, and some would say surprising, development makes the Hawkeye state a travel destination for gay people and their supportive friends, particularly Chicagoans, who have never heard wedding bells so close to home."

3) Whatever happened to Daniel Hauser, the Sleepy Eye teen with cancer whose mother who fled the state (then returned) rather than undergo chemotherapy treatments? "A recent x-ray revealed that his tumor has shrunk," Daniel Zwakman, a family friend and spokesman from Cottage Grove tells the New Ulm Journal.

2) Census data suggests Asian immigrants are using sex selection to increase the number of boys. Might this paragraph in the New York Times story change the abortion debate here?

In China, sex selection is usually achieved by aborting female fetuses, which doctors say also occurs in this country, although few parents were willing to be interviewed about it.

1) Last week the generational split flared here with a post on baby-boomer graduation apologies to the graduating kids. Maybe this will stir the coals, too. Generation Next, a PBS and NPR project looking at how 18-to-25 year olds are starting their careers in one of the worst economies ever. Judy Woodruff has the story about the generational weaning off old ideas -- oil vs. wind.

The latest project is actually an update to a 2007 effort. 2007, when things were (comparatively) idyllic.

How times change dept: The Pew Center conducted a poll for the project in January 2007. It showed people overwhelmingly thought young people have more educational opportunities, access to higher-paying jobs, and live in more exciting times than their counterparts 20 years ago.

Your turn:

WHAT WE'RE DOING

Midmorning - First hour: Gloria Steinem talks about the battles won and what still needs to change for women to this day. Second hour: Is black poverty a result of racism or other cultural forces?

Midday - First hour: TBD . Second hour: An America Abroad documentary, "Interrogating Torture," considers the history of torture in the U.S. and abroad, and investigates whether torture prevents terrorism. Recommended reading: CIA director Leon Panetta's assertion that he thinks Dick Cheney is almost "s wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point." That ought to get the cable TV talk shows moving past David Letterman vs. Sarah Palin.

Talk of the Nation - It's hard to follow in your father's footsteps -- but there are moments of grace. Neurosurgeon Josh Ammerman and the daughter of Muhammad Ali talk about following in their father's footsteps.

All Things Considered - MPR's Tom Robertson considers wetlands, specifically their abundance in the International Falls area and whether that fact is dampening economic development in the region. We'll go on a job interview with Alix Spiegel, who's been unemployed for 8 months, and we'll hear about how artists are using Twitter and Facebook to get feedback about their work, and how that work is subsequently influenced.

One guy and a crowd

Posted at 12:31 PM on June 15, 2009 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)

The images arriving out of Tehran this afternoon are stunning. Thousands of supporters of Mir Hossein Musavi gathered to protest his apparent election loss in presidential elections. The Associated Press is reporting gunfire broke out and an AP photographer reports seeing at least one person dead.

It's interesting to see how comparatively young the crowd is. Does this signal a generational split in the country?

Click on the image above if you want to play "Where's Waldo?".

The image of Musavi rallying his supporters against the government ...

... is reminiscent of times when one guy in a crowd represented the beginning of a changing nation.

Boris Yeltsin atop a tank thwarting a conservative coup...

... or Lech Walesa in a shipyard in Poland (New York Times)

It's too early, of course, to know how this uprising is going to go.

Twitter is providing "tweets" at an astonishing rate, although it's very difficult to separate the first-hand information from the noise. A crescendo of anti-CNN fever is threatening to drown the voices in Tehran, however.

Update 1:40 p.m. Recommended: Boston Globe's Big Picture blog from Iran. Also, plenty of pictures at cryptome.com. (h/t: @PoliticsMN)

(Photos: Getty Images)

(7 Comments)