Bob CollinsWhy men with breast cancer get the government’s cold shoulder, on the death of Elizabeth Mulay, bring back Washington’s birthday, the new financial picture, and Keillor at 69.
1) BREAST CANCER ISN’T A MAN’S WORLD
Men can get breast cancer, but don’t tell that to the federal government. Two-thousand men develop breast cancer every year. Raymond Johnson of South Carolina is one of them. But unlike a woman, Johnson is being denied Medicaid coverage for his cancer because of his gender.
According to ABC News:
Though Johnson wouldn’t normally qualify for Medicaid in the state of South Carolina because he is a single, non-disabled man with no children, he was advised to apply for a special supplementary program created specifically for those diagnosed with breast cancer whose income is 200 percent of the poverty line ($21,780 per year) — even those with no dependent children. What Johnson didn’t know is that the program, created by the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act, is women’s only.
2) FAREWELL, ELIZABETH MULAY
Elizabeth Mulay died Friday after suffering severe burns last month in a Minneapolis house fire, started by a suspected gas explosion, MPR’s Curtis Gilbert reports. She was 43, and, no doubt, accomplished a few things in her time on earth, although the headline around her death noted her contribution to Minnesota history as the woman who accused Jon Grunseth of molesting her just three weeks before the election for governor. He was the Republican nominee. She was 13.
Did she really bring Grunseth down? His decision to drop out of the race, actually came after a woman came forward to say she had an affair with him.
But in Minnesota lore, when you say “Grunseth,” “hot tub” usually follows.
Arne Carlson took his place on the ballot. Was history changed? Would there have been a significant difference between a Grunseth administration and a Carlson administration?
We can’t know, of course. But we know 43 is too young to die. And spending much of your life defending your story wasn’t all that fair, either.
3) GIVE GEORGE HIS DAY BACK?
Would you be willing to give up a three-day weekend in February in exchange for a better lesson about George Washington’s character? Congress may restore the February 22nd Washington’s birthday, US News reports, because the current President’s Day has been hijacked by car dealers and retailers.
Historian Richard Brookhiser suggests that early Americans would be shocked by the lack of respect for GW. “Washington has become disconnected from his own birthday,” he wrote to Wolf. “Celebrating it on the most convenient Monday, and calling it by the lazy shortcut ‘President’s Day,’ creates the impression that it honors everyone who made it to the White House, or maybe car and furniture sales.”
4) THE FINANCIAL PICTURE
It didn’t get any better overnight in the financial markets. And maybe the domestic markets will burp again today. The head of the European Central Bank says it’s the worst financial crisis since World War II there.
But being the “half-full” blog we are, NewsCut bears good news, citizens. Newspapers all over the country have found an alternative to images of stock traders with their head in their hands.
This is appearing on front pages this morning…
What is this man in Times Square thinking?
Just try to keep laughing…
5) KEILLOR AT 69
It was back to Avon — the birthplace of Lake Wobegon — yesterday for Garrison Keillor, who celebrated his 69th birthday at the club he owns there.
Bonus: Save the Children released this video this week…
TODAY’S QUESTION
Does the media’s approach to news about the economy make the economy worse?
WHAT WE’RE DOING
Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) – First hour: Is Google affecting our memory?
Second hour: The bloodshed in Syria.
Midday (11 a.m. – 1 p.m.) – First hour: APM’s Chris Farrell joins discusses Monday’s stock plunge and the condition of the U.S. and global economy.
Second hour: James Fallows, speaking at the Chautauqua Institution about China and the global economy.
Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) – First hour: TBA
Second hour: Measuring the impact of the last recession.
All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) – Worried about declining enrollment in the wake of the May 22 tornado, north Minneapolis schools are aggressively courting families to make sure their kids return in the fall. An unknown number of families are displaced, many of them living with relatives or in hotels outside of the district. David Branch, an elementary-school principal who is living with his family in a one-bedroom hotel in Maple Grove, says the experience has given him empathy to what many of his transient, low-income students go through. MPR’S Laura Yuen also visits a Head Start program that is helping children who are still homeless and shaken by severe storms.
One of Mississippi’s poorest counties is also one of the most obese. And the young generation there is not immune. Some overweight people in their 20s are suffering from medical conditions normally seen only in people their grandparents’ age. NPR will look at a crisis of obesity and economics and the grassroots efforts to slim down.
