Bob CollinsThe kid and the ball, Band Aid art, you are the jury, whose flood is it, and what happens on the farm stays on the farm.
1) THE KID AND THE BALL
Today’s “awww” moment comes courtesy of the Minnesota Twins via their Facebook page (you may have to “like” them in order to see it, and from what I can tell by the bandwagoners on Twitter, that might be difficult for some of you). It’s a typical play, really.A batter hits a foul ball to the third base coach, who tosses it to a kid in the stands. The kid gives it to another kid. (Find the video here)
I’ve probably told this story before, but it’s the rerun season so….
It was 1985, Yankee Stadium. A foul ball reaches the stands and there is the usual scrum. An adult gets the ball and a kid in the row behind me is doubled over in apparent pain, injured in the scramble.
The chant starts, softly at first, then with New York gusto. “Give the kid the ball!” they chant. “Give the kid the ball.”
There’s not much you can do in Yankee Stadium 1985 when most it is yelling at you to give up the foul ball you’ve always wanted to catch at a baseball game. So the gentleman reluctantly gave the kid the ball. The crowd erupts.
As everyone sits down, the “injured” kid behind me turns to his friend. “That’s the fourth ball I got this week doing that,” he whispered.
2) DO YOU STILL NEED THAT?
That’s the “awww” story of the day but the Pioneer Press has the “ewwww!” story of the day. It’s a profile of a St. Paul artist who collects and uses Band Aids in her art — used Band Aids…
How come it is not so easy to heal, really, as it is when we just put a Band-Aid on a kid?”
She picked it up — then another, and another. They were signs that someone, somewhere, had healed from an injury.
“It never occurred to me that this was weird or gross. One museum curator said, ‘That is what makes you an artist.’ “
3) YOU ARE THE JURY
A Massachusetts woman who withheld at-home chemotherapy medications from her autistic, cancer-stricken son was convicted of attempted murder Tuesday by jurors who dismissed her claim that she thought the side effects of the treatment could kill him.
Kristen LaBrie also was found guilty of child endangerment and assault and battery for failing to give her son, Jeremy Fraser, at least five months of cancer medications after the boy was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2006. He died in 2009 at age 9.
Read the story here, then issue your verdict.
4) WHOSE FLOOD IS IT?
The Fargo Forum has called out the people — mostly farmers and people in rural communities — for objecting to Red River diversion plans that will impact their areas to save the two cities. In an editorial today, the paper says the flood comes from the farmers’ fields, not from the cities.
Critics of Fargo’s flood plans claim the city has not sacrificed as rural areas would if a diversion and holding ponds were built. Where have they been for the past decade?
Fargo and Moorhead have sacrificed hundreds of homes – entire neighborhoods – to flood buyouts. Acres of prime land have been taken out of potential development to accommodate huge in-city water-holding basins and deeper and wider flood-control channels. The Fargo channels, by the way, carry floodwaters that flow north from rural lands outside the city.
Fargo has taxed itself in order to pony up tens of millions of dollars for flood-control projects, which demonstrated their efficacy by again protecting the city from a catastrophic flood this spring.
It might be a tad unfair to criticize farmers who seek to protect their interests by clinging to land- and water-management protocols that are as old as settlement itself. However, when they blithely proclaim that Fargo’s water problems are not theirs, they are being, at best, disingenuous.
5) WHAT HAPPENS ON THE FARM STAYS ON THE FARM
A Minnesota lawmaker has filed a bill to make it illegal to film — or distribute — video or audio on a farm. It’s aimed primarily at animal rights groups who have exposed the mistreatment of animals. Supporters say that would help prevent activists from fraudulently being hired.
VIRAL VIDEO OF THE DAY
SF to Paris in Two Minutes from Beep Show on Vimeo.
TODAY’S QUESTION
A stopgap budget deal that cuts $38 billion from the federal budget prevented a government shutdown for now. However, budget problems are likely to confront the federal government for years to come, as economic growth remains a challenge and the American population grows older. Today’s Question: What’s the long-term solution to budget deficits?
WHAT WE’RE DOING
Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) – First hour: A new study from Yale University suggests that, for some, food may be as addictive as alcohol or drugs. Is food addiction real, and what distinguishes food addicts from overeaters?
Second hour: Can flexible workplaces change the way we do business?
Midday (11 a.m. – 1 p.m.) – First hour: Congressional analyst Norm Ornstein from the American Enterprise Institute previews the president’s major budget address. At 11:40 a.m., MPR’s chief economics correspondent Chris Farrell discusses the impact of the debt on the U.S. and global economy.
Second hour: Sen. Al Franken on the budget and deficit. At 12:30, President Obama’s budget speech at George Washington University.
Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) – First hour: Substantial excerpts from the
president’s speech, analysis and reaction, in a news special from NPR News.
Second hour: Caroline Kennedy on her collection of favorites, “She Walks In Beauty.”
