News Cut: August 28, 2009 Archive

Five at 8 - 8/28/09: Seeing red

Posted at 7:22 AM on August 28, 2009 by Bob Collins (7 Comments)

1) Without question, the darkest days in our nation's history were the early '80s. Everyone wore yellow ties. They were the "power ties" of the day. Yellow! I lapsed to that trauma reading today's article in the New Scientist, "Winners Wear Red; How Colour Twists Your Mind." It's all about red, my friends:

In one experiment, volunteers were asked to carry out a 5-minute IQ test. They were assigned a bogus "participant number", written in either red or black, on the corner of the test paper. Volunteers whose numbers were written in red scored consistently lower on the tests. Elliot also gave the students different coloured folders and asked them to choose their preferred level of difficulty for an IQ test. Students given red folders tended to choose easier tests

But the research also shows that just viewing something red can make you more timid.

More science: Farmers are destroying the ozone layer.

Who says science isn't cool? The chemical structure of a single molecule has been photographed for the first time.

2) Good grief, has there ever been a bigger understatement in the news than this one? "She was in good health, but living in a back yard for 18 years does take its toll." That's El Dorado County Undersheriff Fred Kollar describing the recovery in Sacramento yesterday of Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was abducted on her way to school 18 years ago, and kept in the backyard of a sex offender's home. There are so many angles here, it's hard to know where to begin. How does a guy sentenced to 50 years for rape get parole so quickly? How does the world make it right for the girl's stepfather, who was convicted of the abduction in the court of public opinion? How does someone who steals a girl, and keeps her isolated for 18 years end up handing out religious material? But the BBC program, World Have Your Say, has the best question: Should we be nosier neighbors?

Have we become a 'look-away' society? In an effort to respect each other's privacy, have we gone too far in keeping to ourselves? Should we all be nosier neighbours?

Think carefully about this because there's an extreme to getting involved in what your neighbors are up to.

3) Why can't Iowa get some love? People in Cedar Rapids, hard hit by a flood a year ago, are feeling neglected. "The recovery here is only limping along as waterlogged buildings are still being gutted, thousands of displaced families remain in temporary housing, and large-scale demolition to make way for a new downtown has just begun," the New York Times reports. The city manager says "we're the forgotten disaster."

Lisa Kuzela, who lost her home in the flood, writes on a blog that residents who've lost their homes have gotten property tax bills recently.

I was born, apparently, with the curse of good memory. So I couldn't help but think about the comments that were posted in this News Cut post I made during the Iowa floods, based on this comment by a Star Tribune letter writer:

The difference is our fellow Midwesterners are picking themselves off the ground, brushing themselves off, and getting to work. Their first instinct is not to blame government; their first instinct is to help each other out and try to put their lives back together.

4) It's the end of Reading Rainbow! LeVar Burton has been getting kids excited about reading for 26 years. The third-longest kids' show in PBS history is getting snuffed out today. The show assumed kids already knew the basics of reading. That might've worked 26 years ago, but not anymore. Efforts are being redirected toward teaching kids how to read.

5) Is it obscenity or is it art? A woman posing nude was arrested this week at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. "There are nude sculptures and paintings all over the museum. It's the height of stupidity accusing a live model of showing the same thing in a house of art," her lawyer said.

In other arts news, The Naked Woman, a Picasso painting found in Iraq, may be a fake.

Bonus:: The son of a quilter is collecting quilting/crafting supplies to be sent to northern Iraq. This week, he's getting inundated with "Bundles of Love". (h/t: Heather Heimbuch)

TODAY'S "SHOW ME YOUR AUGUST!" PHOTO

"For a Minnesota expat in Jerusalem, here's what August looks like," Allison Schmitt writes. "During Ramadan, the annual Muslim month of fasting and celebration, the plazas around the Old City acquire a carnival-like atmosphere. Vendors sell treats, housewares and trinkets. Sidewalks are packed with celebrants. Lights that rival any Christmas display are strung from lamp posts, door frames and, in the case of Damascus Gate, ancient stone walls. It's a welcome diversion from daily life under occupation. "

Send your photo that screams "August!".

TODAY'S QUESTION

Health officials are urging people to take precautions because of a likely outbreak of H1N1 flu this fall. The precautions include such common-sense strategies as handwashing and covering your mouth when you cough. How seriously do you take the threat of H1N1 flu?

WHAT WE'RE DOING

Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) - First hour: Did Cash for Clunkers work? The government's $3 billion Cash for Clunkers program was wildly popular, but plagued with problems. Two auto industry analysts assess the program that one car dealer called "the best program we all hate."

Related: Toyota is closing a union auto plant in California.

Second hour: The history of national parks.

Midday (11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) - First hour: Michael Osterholm will be in the studio to answer questions about the flu. He is director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Disease Research and Policy.

Second hour: Remembrance of Sen. Edward Kennedy in reports and speeches.

Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) - It's Science Friday! First hour: The perils of multitasking, curing genetic disease by swapping DNA in eggs, the latest on the ozone layer, and the video pick of the week.

Second hour: One anthropologist's idea that boiling, roasting and grilling our food may have given humans an evolutionary edge.

All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) - A St. Paul inventor says electric vehicles don't have to be expensive and are practical for our climate. He's showing off his converted pick up truck at the State Fair. MPR's Stephanie Hemphill has had a look.

A Blue Cross Blue Shield agent in Willmar encouraged an elderly woman to call her senators' offices to oppose a public option in health care. Is that ethical? Health insurers say they merely encourage people to get involved in the debate, and don't advocate a specific position. MPR's Ambar Espinoza will sort it out.

From NPR, Robert Smith is exploring Our Lady of Perpetual Hope, where Ted Kennedy's funeral will be held. John McDonough looks at a debate that played out on the radio about health care options... 50 years ago. And Greg Allen reports that many Hispanic migrant workers in New Orleans are alleging wage theft.

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