News Cut: April 6, 2010 Archive

Five by 8 - 4/6/10: Target Field's 'red pepper' mystery

Posted at 7:25 AM on April 6, 2010 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)
Filed under: Five by 8

1) Sports and drug wags in the Twin Cities are wondering whether an unvetted CNN iReport about marijuana use at Target Field is iTrue. An iReporter claims a man spent part of the game carving out a red pepper and then used it to be "the first person to smoke marijuana at Target Field." Alerted, the security guards reportedly did not throw the man out. It's either a great example of the best of citizen journalism, or a great example of the worst of citizen journalism. The "iReporter" had never posted anything before. It has the whiff of a hoax to it.

2) A priest in India now says he'll leave India if the U.S. extradites him for allegedly sexually assaulting a teenager in northern Minnesota. How is it a bishop overruled a Vatican recommendation to remove Rev. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul? "Unless guilt is proved, we cannot take any strong action," said the Most Rev. A. Almaraj of the Diocese of Ootacamund in southern India.

Does celibacy lead to sexual abuse? "The "celibate lifestyle can attract people who have an abnormal sexuality and cannot integrate sexuality into their lives," an auxiliary bishop in Germany said.

3) There has been a lot of CO2 generated by discussions about bullies in the last week or so, but what's it like to find out your kid is the bully? Are they to blame? PRI's The Takeaway has the answer.

Lisa Belken, who writes a parenting blog for the New York Times, wrote more about it after the show.

This morning's conversation also connected some dots for me about why children become bullies. The experts disagree on the reasons. Some, like Allan Beane of the Bully Free program, say they believe that kids who bully often have low self-esteem or suffer from a sense of social isolation. Others, like those at the Stop Bullying Now campaign run by the Department of Health and Human Services, say that "youth who bully have average or above-average self-esteem" and have "an easier time making friends than children and youth who do not bully."

In South Hadley, Massachusetts, three students will be arraigned today on charges that they inspired the suicide of a fellow student because of bullying.

4) Here's the full version of the most controversial video in the world today:

The video, released by Wikileaks, shows the killing of a photographer who was working for Reuters, which has been trying to get the video released for years. It doesn't get much uglier than this description from the New York Times:

A short time later a van arrives to pick up the wounded and the pilots open fire on it, wounding two children inside. "Well, it's their fault for bringing their kids into a battle," one pilot says.

Here's how the video came to be released.

5) I wish I knew how Steve Hartmann does it. He's found a championship hockey game that was postponed for 21 years.

TODAY'S QUESTION

Signs that direct travelers to the respective terminals of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport are being changed to make them less confusing. What other signs in Minnesota need to be fixed?

WHAT WE'RE DOING

Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) - First hour: A day after the earthquake destroyed Port au Prince, Dr. Joia Mukherjee was on the ground caring for the injured. Now she says it's time for her organization and others to restore and improve the health care.

Second hour: The passage of the health care bill has brought out attacks on both sides. The U.S. Senate's failure to agree on extending unemployment benefits, passed by the House is just one example of the partisan divide that appears to widening as the midterm elections approach.

Midday (11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) - First hour: The Minnesota Legislature returns from its Easter-Passover break. MPR political editor Mike Mulcahy, along with reporters Tom Scheck and Tim Pugmire, join Midday for a look at the major issues lawmakers will tackle yet this session.

Second hour: Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, speaks to the National Press Club about the health care overhaul.

Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) - First hour: A road map for the looming debate over immigration.

Second hour: In federal prison, Piper Kerman, author of "Orange is the New Black," learned to clean her cell using maxi pads, wire a light fixture, tell at a glance whether a duo were best friends or girlfriends, when and how to curse someone in Spanish, learned to fly Con Air, and mastered a recipe for prison cheesecake.

All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) - State education leaders and lawmakers are meeting today to decide whether to pursue federal money in the second phase of Race to the Top grants. MPR's Tom Weber will have details.

NPR will report on the latest efforts to prevent the failure of one giant company from bringing down the nation's financial system.