Midtown Manhattan Erupts, The GOP Begs the Prez, RECALL!, Flies In His Head and Chocolate Rain
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"Morning Meeting" is a recap of our daily editorial meeting. If we had a show today, these are some of the stories you would probably hear.
Morning everyone, Matt here. We're sure you don't care about our woes this morning, but let's just say that yesterday's steam pipe explosion in Midtown Manhattan did not make our commutes easy. Packed, slow trains along with closed streets and air so muggy there was no need to shower made for grumpy and put-out BPP staffers. Oh, woe is us! That said, New York's aging infrastructure wasn't enough to stop The BPP's Morning Meeting. Let's go...
NEWSCAST: As mentioned above, a steam pipe exploded on 41st St. and Lexington Ave. in New York, leaving a huge crater. One person is dead, dozens injured -- two critically. Russia expels four British diplomats because of a row over the murder investigation of Alexander Litvinenko. The president says he will veto a proposal to boost funding for an insurance program for poor children. Two suicide bombers kill more than thirty-three people in Pakistan. Florida ends temporary halt to executions. New Zealand bans using images from Parliament to satirize lawmakers. The Emmy nominations were announced, Sopranos get 15 nods. (I still haven't forgiven them.)
MIDTOWN EXPLOSION: We were enjoying the fine feeling of finishing our third pilot when the wires started to cross: URGENT - Midtown Explosion. NPR studios are just a few blocks away from the explosion heralded by the wires. We stuck our heads out of the window and gawked at the plume of smoke made by a huge steam pipe explosion. The pipe blew a hole right in the middle of 41st St. NPR staff immediately deployed to the scene. Producer Win Rosenfeld headed out with his video equipment, which immediately died on him. Refusing to be foiled by his failing equipment, he popped into a Duane Reade drug store and bought a cheapo portable camera. We have his images from the scene later on today. We also wanted to break this story out a little bit and talk with someone about NYC's aging infrastructure. A friend of the show emailed a fine suggestion this morning: Kate Ascher. She's the author of "The Works: Anatomy of a City." It's all about what's happening under the streets. We'd want a little background on all of these old systems. They usually work just fine, but when they fail it can be catastrophic.
THE PREZ SEZ NO: The Washington Post has a great story in this morning's edition about how Congressional Republicans are urging the president to compromise with Democrats on a proposal to increase funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. It provides health insurance coverage for 6.6 million low-income children. The president objects to the program on philosophical grounds, saying it would enlarge the role of the federal government at the expense of private insurers. He says he will veto the bill. Guest: A political reporter on the ins and outs of the bill and why GOP leaders on the Hill want the president to compromise instead of veto.
PAKISTAN ATTACKS: Alison is interested in a conversation about U.S.-Pakistan relations in light of the recent suicide bombings in that country. The relationship is strained to say the least. While President Pervez Musharraf has allied himself with the U.S. to root out al-Qaida, he is receiving harsh criticism from the Administration about how he's handling the situation in his country. Musharraf set up a "peace-pact" with militant groups which basically says, "We don't bother you, you don't bother us." It's obviously much more complicated than that and, according to the White House, doesn't seem to be working very well. A dip into the intricacies of unraveling Pakistan-U.S. relations.
I'VE GOT FLIES IN MY HEAD: This is something that you would probably see on Animal Planet or The Discovery Channel: A guy named Aaron Dallas comes back to the States after a trip to Belize with some weird bumps on the back of his head. Five weeks go by and the bumps get bigger. And they start to hurt. And they start to move. And then they start making noise! Turns out they were botfly larvae -- and they could have been prevented if he would have been using bug spray. There's the lesson for the day everyone: Wear bug spray or you'll get flies growing in your head. Guest: Aaron Dallas, to talk about the kind of buzz no one wants.
RECALL! More recall news: This time it's botulism in hot dog chili sauce. There's been so much recall news lately that Alison wants a branded segment called RECALL!!! with a huge booming voice that shouts out "RECALL!!!" at the top. We then proceed to scare the hell out of you with the latest FDA recall. Anyway -- the recall on the botulism chili applies to 10-ounce cans of Castleberry's, Austex and Kroger brands with "best by" dates from April 30, 2009, through May 22, 2009.
FAIRUSE4M: Hackers have found a way to crack Microsoft's digital rights management (DRM) code -- again. The Buzz at Gizmo Cafe has a clear write up about the program that hacks the DRM, it's called FairUse4m. The Microsoft system allows people to subscribe to music and video libraries. As long as you subscribe to the music service of your choice you have access to the entire library. But when you cancel your subscriptions the songs are deleted. Guest: Someone who can break down the battle between hackers and Microsoft -- and how this will, if at all, change the rights management systems used not only by Microsoft, but Apple as well.
HE'S GOING TO MAKE IT RAIN, CHOCOLATE RAIN: We've got a new Internet crush and his name is Tay Zonday -- and we want him on our show NOW. Tay has written and recorded a song called, "Chocolate Rain." A warning: There are several stages you will go through when you first see the video: Confusion, shock, confusion again, slight uncomfortableness, even more confusion and then absolute, unconditional love. He's an Internet sensation. We'll take a walk in your chocolate rain any day, Tay. All you have to do is ask.
COMING UP: We've got a short video post of yesterday's steam pipe explosion in New York. We're also doing another show tomorrow. We aim to get it out by 2:30 ET, but our plans are always foiled by our computers. ("Computer says no.") Stay tuned, more to come...oh, man...the back of my head is really itchy...
10:19 AM ET | 07-19-2007 | permalink
