Bob Collins1) Monday is Martin Luther King Jr., Day. What would MLK think about the U.S. today?
(h/t: Open Culture)
2) What’s worse than not hearing anything from a loved one in Haiti? Hearing that she’s OK and then getting a call later that it was bad information. It happened to a family in Massachusetts. Aid is starting to get into Haiti. The airport has reopened but there’s no air traffic control system, NPR reports. Yesterday, a planeload of medical personnel almost collided with another.
This Associated Press reporter has uploaded this (graphic) video:
We’ve reached the “unheeded warnings” portion of the story. Officials warned authorities in Haiti two years ago that an earthquake was likely.
None of that matters, of course, to people who are suffering now. Miriam Castaneda of the Canadian Red Cross was in Haiti when the earthquake struck. She tells Dick Gordon of American Public Media’s The Story about what she saw that day, and the pressures the survivors face now. Gordon also talks to Mecca a.k.a. Grimo, a poet based in Miami. He says since the earthquake hit on Tuesday he’s been moving non-stop, using events and social networking to help unite Haitian-Americans.
The underlying tragedy, David Brooks says, is that the disaster is about poverty:
The first of those truths is that we don’t know how to use aid to reduce poverty. Over the past few decades, the world has spent trillions of dollars to generate growth in the developing world. The countries that have not received much aid, like China, have seen tremendous growth and tremendous poverty reductions. The countries that have received aid, like Haiti, have not.
Brooks walks a pretty fine line between a theoretical discussion of poverty and blaming Haitians for being entombed.
3) Minnesota is prepared to close down for several hours on Sunday when the Vikings play the Cowboys in the NFC playoffs. But how much actual football is there during a game? About 11 minutes, the Wall St. Journal has calculated.
4) What if the difference between a soldier with post traumatic stress syndrome and one without it, is a quick shot of morphine?
5) A pilot on a fishing trip in Alaska left some fresh bait in his plane. A bear tore up the plane to get at it. Behold, the power of duct tape! (h/t: David Allen)
Which is harder? Landing on a lake or landing on the tip of a mountain? (hint: the mountain)
Bonus: In Mankato, Hayley the dog climbs ladders and hangs out at construction sites.
TODAY’S QUESTION
The Haitian earthquake has taken an immense toll on a country that was struggling already. On Thursday President Obama announced an initial pledge of $100 million to support relief efforts. What are you doing to respond to the catastrophe in Haiti?
WHAT WE’RE DOING
Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) – First hour: Three Minnesota specialists on stem cells and heart research talk about new ways to repair hearts and prevent future heart problems.
Second hour: Ice dams on your roof? Frozen pipes? Windows letting in too much of that cold winter air? Midmorning’s home repair experts will answer your questions about those vexing winter home problems.
Here’s what not to do:
Midday (11 a.m. – 1 p.m.) – First hour:Paul Eisenstein, of the DetroitBureau.com has spent the week at the Detroit Auto Show and answers questions about new developments for cars, and the future of the auto industry.
Second hour: The American RadioWorks documentary “What Killed Sergeant Gray?”– winner of the DuPont Columbia Award, announced this week. Here’s the Web site.
Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) – It’s Science Friday. First hour: A celebration of the laser.
Second hour: What can science tell us about race.
All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) – A winner of the Nobel prize for economics weighs in on what happened during the recession.
Is the Prairie Island nuclear power plant safe enough to provide more power to Minnesota? MPR’s Stephanie Hemphill provides an assessment.
Chris Roberts reports on the slightly absurdist play “Everything Must Go,” by Mischka Productions at the Red Eye Theater. It’s about two people at the bottom of the economic ladder who are so-called human directionals or sign carriers, and how they overcome their monotonous, boring existence.
MPR’s Tom Weber notes today is the deadline for school districts to reach teacher contract settlements or face fines from the state. He’ll have the latest information.
Cyril Paul has been on the Twin Cities music scene for more than 40 years since moving here from the Caribbean, performing his uptempo blend of calypso. He appears at an MLK Day event Sunday night in Minneapolis. MPR’s Dan Olson will have a profile.
