Filed under: Tomorrow's BPP
Here's Matt and Trish on what's cooking for tomorrow's show:
Win Rosenfeld
4:04 PM ET
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01-30-2008
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Filed under: News
Earlier today, Morning Edition ran a piece on the Phraselator, a new handheld device L.A. police officers are using to issue vocal commands in several different languages. This $2,500 crime-fighting tool allows officers to translate phrases such as "Hands behind your back!" or "Show me which way the suspect ran" on the fly.
"The main idea is for police to use the Phraselator for crowd control. A language barrier played a role in the chaos that ensued last year during the May Day immigration rights march in MacArthur Park, when police in riot gear used batons and rubber bullets to disperse crowds," says Capt. Dennis Kato of the LAPD.
The Phraselator has found its way into many hands -- first as a help for the military, then as way for linguists to translate and preserve Native American speech, and now with the LAPD. Kind of cool for one little gizmo.
Will Hoffman
2:39 PM ET
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01-30-2008
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Filed under: Election 2008
Voting in Clearwater, Florida
Courtesy of @kittydew
Voters in Florida went to the primary polls Tuesday. Or some of them.
Turnout was reported to be "brisk in Clearwater," the town where these photos were taken. More after the jump.
Continue reading "Photo Evidence: Voting in Florida" »
Laura Conaway
1:14 PM ET
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01-30-2008
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Filed under: News, Video
Pinchas Isaak tells the story of his unlikely escape.
Today marks the 75th anniversary of Hitler and the Nazi party coming to power in Germany. That's the news peg for an interesting story in the New York Times about how modern-day Germans continue to confront and process Nazi history. The reporter was surprised to find that young Germans don't attempt to put the past behind them, but rather immerse themselves in it -- building new monuments to honor the dead, using their difficult history as the inspiration to become activists for human rights.
When I was growing up and going to Hebrew School, milestones like today's anniversary -- and there have been many markers like that, in my lifetime -- were always used as teaching opportunities: on the 50th anniversary of this, or the 55th of that, we were somberly told to never forget that human beings have the power (and, sadly, the instinct) to commit extreme evil. These days, of course, we've got more than one model for that disappointing lesson, and American Jewish kids are as likely to rail against genocide in Rwanda, Darfur, or the Congo as they are against the Holocaust.
For the Jews of my generation, though, discussions of the Holocaust have always and instantly turned personal. I was surrounded, growing up, by members of my father's family -- all from Germany -- who lost brothers, sisters and parents in concentration camps. There are great-uncles and great-aunts I didn't get to know because they were killed. The survivors aren't immersed in sadness and pain now, but that era in history has shaped their lives, and their faith, totally.
But it's my grandparents' story that I think of first and last whenever I hear or read about the Holocaust. I've been lucky enough to grow up with them, and know them well; my two sons have lit Chanukah candles with their great-grandparents for many years. I've been sorting through my memories a lot recently, because my grandfather, Pinchas Isaak, died a few weeks ago at the age of 91. I've marveled at his strength, who he is and what he stood for, and how he spent his time on earth. And I've re-learned the fairly breathtaking story of how he and my grandmother, Martha, survived the Holocaust themselves by the skin of their teeth. It's pretty dramatic, especially the part when they finally get out of Germany and into Italy. There, they waited six weeks for the papers that would allow them to fly to meet family in (the relatively safe haven of) London. Finally, the papers arrived -- but with a hitch. On video above, recorded by volunteers for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation in 1996, Pinchas Isaak tells what happened next. You can read the rest of my grandfather's story here.
Sharon Hoffman
11:05 AM ET
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01-30-2008
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Filed under: Music, Video
A year ago, Rolling Stone called the the Whigs "the best unsigned band in America." With the combination of ink like that and their trademark ear-blistering live shows, it wasn't long before Dave Matthew's ATO Records took notice and signed the Athens, Georgia, band to a multi-album deal. Their second record, Mission Control, has drawn gleeful comparisons to both Nirvana and Superchunk by critics and fans alike.
Here's a (rare) unplugged rendition of the first track off of Mission Control, "Like a Vibration":
Win Rosenfeld
10:45 AM ET
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01-30-2008
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Filed under: City Living
For a long time, girlfriend Nora and I used a French press to make coffee in the morning. I, wanting to minimize time between waking up and drinking coffee, would take hot water from the faucet, put it in the kettle, get it to a boil and make coffee from there.
We lived in an old house with old pipes, and Nora would argue that we shouldn't be drinking from the hot water side, saying that it was likely to have more bad stuff in it than the cold water.
I responded that even if it did have more bad stuff, we were boiling it so it didn't matter. Turns out, as usual, I was wrong.
Continue reading "Burned! Urban Lead Legend Is True" »
Ian Chillag
9:28 AM ET
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01-30-2008
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Filed under: Stuff We Love
Confession: I love High School Musical. Love it hard. I know I'm not alone, but I'm realizing I'd grossly underestimated the reach of the Cult of Troy and Gabriella. Dubbed versions of HSM2 were a success around the world, so much of a success that it was worth it for Disney to film videos of the song "All for One," with local actors doing local versions for local markets. Montage above.
The version from the Philippines uses Filipino actors, but they're singing in English. The Indian version makes one thing clear: High School Musical was Bollywood to begin with. I got goosebumps somewhere between Norway and Hungary, which means nothing but is humiliating nonetheless.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year is out here in the USA in October. You'd think the fact that the subtitle is Senior Year would do something to temper my excitement, given that I'm 29 years old, but no.
Ian Chillag
8:39 AM ET
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01-30-2008
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Filed under: Links From the Show
In a small corner of southwestern Pennsylvania, police say an enraged grandmother created a homemade prison -- actually, it was more like a homemade torture chamber, for her 10-year-old grandson.
Rhonda Lehman, the 51-year-old grandmother, "locked her 10-year-old grandson in a feces-filled dog crate for about 90 minutes because he told his family he had been spiking their drinks with lamp oil and household cleaner," police said.
If a dog cage filled with poop sounds too harsh, consider this. Police say that when Lehman called the Mental Health/ Mental Retardation office, she threatened to bury the boy alive in the back yard if an official didn't come to handle the situation.
It's the BPP's Most.
The homemade prison/ 71-year-old climbs seven summits/ Eli Manning and his mom/ Air purifiers emit pollution
Will Hoffman
8:27 AM ET
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01-30-2008
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Filed under: Links From the Show
Some people rob banks, others rob storefronts and many pick pockets, but police in Charleston, W.Va., say William David Salisbury robs parking meters. The 44-year-old was recently arrested a fourth time for breaking into parking meters.
How much money can these things hold? I mean, it's a tall skinny pole with a football sized collection chamber that holds coins. It's like a piggy bank on a pole. According to police, Salisbury pocketed about $170 from breaking into seven double-headed meters -- but he had some misadventures along the way.
It's the BPP's Ramble.
An alleged parking meter thief/ Town fines out-of-town drivers for car accidents/ Nose means new Thai PM in sign language/ Middle age makes you miserable
Will Hoffman
8:03 AM ET
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01-30-2008
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Filed under: Links From the Show
Jill Stevens is a nurse, a great cook...oh yeah, and the first Miss America to have served in a combat zone. Jill Stevens spent two years in Afghanistan as a medic. We will talk to her today on the BPP!
Alison Stewart
5:30 AM ET
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01-30-2008
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