Blogger Finds Flaw in SCOTUS Facts

Filed under: News

A major Supreme Court ruling last week on the death penalty was based, in part, on a factual error.

The New York Times reports this morning that the decision, barring execution for people who rape children, drew on a belief that the convicted would now face capital punishment in only six states and not under the federal government. The Times writes:

This inventory of jurisdictions was a central part of the court's analysis, the foundation for Justice Anthony M. Kennedy's conclusion in his majority opinion that capital punishment for child rape was contrary to the "evolving standards of decency" by which the court judges how the death penalty is applied.

But as the folks over at CAAFLOG soon pointed out, Congress added child rape to the list of capital offenses in the Uniform Code of Military Justice back in 2006. So now what? The losing side has 25 days to ask the court to look again at the June 25 ruling.

Laura Conaway

1:00 PM ET | 07- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Giant Squid! Giant Squid!

Filed under: News

Researchers have found the carcass of what they're pretty sure is a giant squid floating in Monterey Bay off the California coast.

The carcass is in rough shape -- researchers were alerted to it by the sight of a flock of gulls feeding on it. They're still excited, because giant squid carcasses are rare, and each one offers a chance to learn more about the biology of the mysterious deep-water invertebrate.

This squid, they estimate, was probably about 25 feet long. There are pictures of it on the San Jose Mercury News website.

They're not 100 percent sure it's an architeuthis, but they think they'll know later today after a necropsy.

So while it's not as cool as that time Japanese scientists photographed a live giant squid for the first time ever, it's good news for the squid watchers.

Tricia McKinney

1:35 PM ET | 06-26-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

FEMA Gave Away Supplies Meant for Katrina Victims

Filed under: News

CNN reports that FEMA gave away $85 million in household goods were intended for people left homeless by Hurricane Katrina. I was amazed to see how much it cost to keep the stuff around:

James McIntyre, FEMA's acting press secretary, told CNN that FEMA was spending more than $1 million a year to store the material and that another agency wanted the warehouses torn down, so "we needed to vacate them."

"Upon review of our assets and our need to continue to store them, we determined that they were excess to FEMA's needs; therefore, they are being excessed from FEMA's inventory," McIntyre wrote in an e-mail.

And then, of course, there's the whole idea of something being "excessed." A charity group in New Orleans says it has been pleading with FEMA for the same supplies it turned loose.

Full read: FEMA gives away $85 million of supplies for Katrina victims.

Laura Conaway

2:28 PM ET | 06-11-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

Farewell, Bo Diddley

Filed under: Luncheonette, News

The news: JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Spokeswoman: Rock and Roll hall of famer Bo Diddley has died at 79 in Florida.

What it's so much more than: "I'm a Man." Bo Diddley had his own beat, for pete's sake, sort of "clave goes to Mississippi and eats a ton of catfish."

Makes me homesick just thinking about it. Sing it, McComb.

Bonus: 13 songs that use the Bo Diddley beat

Laura Conaway

12:19 PM ET | 06- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Former Bush Aide Says Iraq War 'Not Necessary'

Filed under: News

Tony Judt talks about America and the meaning of war.

In a book coming out on Monday, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan says that President Bush misled the nation to war in Iraq and that the president wanted to create for himself a "legacy of greatness." For the record, the White House calls McClellan "disgruntled."

McClellan certainly sounds displeased, at any rate. He writes:

"No one, including me, can know with absolute certainty how the war will be viewed decades from now when we can more fully understand its impact. . . . What I do know is that war should only be waged when necessary, and the Iraq war was not necessary."

McClellan's argument reminds me of a conversation I had recently with someone from the other end of the political spectrum. Writer Tony Judt describes himself as a Socialist Democrat, the kind of political thinker you might find in Scandinavia. Judt has been a vocal critic of the Bush Administration and the war in Iraq, but he's no pacifist. He considers war a valid branch of foreign policy, but only as a last resort.

Judt stopped by a few weeks ago to talk about his new book, Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten Twentieth Century. Among his central ideas is that American policymakers reach for war too quickly, because we have forgotten what war really means.

Laura Conaway

11:35 AM ET | 05-28-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

 

Like a Ski Slope: Juneau's Energy Use

Filed under: News

Our old pal Jill Homer has been having a world of fun in Alaska, going on 150-mile bike rides, etc. Jill works at the local paper, the Juneau Empire, where lately the news has been all about the city's precipitous decline in electric use.

An avalanche last month wiped out Juneau's hydroelectric power. The electric company has been powering the city on diesel, at $4 a gallon. After the utility warned people about outsize bills -- something like three or four times the usual -- residents went around unplugging every possible appliance. Jill and her housemates just got their bill; she writes that they came in under $100, when they'd expected to pay more than twice that.

Laura Conaway

3:05 PM ET | 05-27-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Sydney Pollack, Smart Like That

Filed under: Luncheonette, News

The news:
Film director Sydney Pollack died Monday of cancer at his home in Los Angeles. He was 73.

The clip: Pollack gives a lesson in making movies.

Bonus: The agent scene in Tootsie.

Laura Conaway

12:55 PM ET | 05-27-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Students Video the China Quake

Filed under: Luncheonette, News

The YouTube summary for this video clip says it was filmed by a student at Sichuan University, in Chengdu, during China's May 12 earthquake.

The 3,500 comments are peppered with arguments about the Chinese government and the question of outsider aid. One person writes: "why do you blame the innocent victims for wat the government does?i know other countries out there arent getting ALL the help they need but right now people are being buried and need to be found in less than a week."

More:
Surveillance camera footage in Chengdu
China needs a million tents

Laura Conaway

12:42 PM ET | 05-21-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

'A Self-Sealing Wound:' Photog Gets Javelin in the Leg

Filed under: News

A harrowing day at the track meet.

On Saturday, photo intern Ryan McGeeney showed up at the Brigham Young University stadium to cover Utah's high school track championship. McGeeney spent seven years in the Marines, including six months in Afghanistan, and now he's interning for the Ogden Standard. Now he stationed himself in the neutral zone between the discus and javelin throwers.

McGeeney says he watching the discus thrower when he heard officials start shouting at him to look out. He'd wandered into the field of play for the javelin toss and a javelin was coming straight at him. It pierced the skin just below his left knee. McGeeney kept taking pictures. He calls it the rational thing to do.

The veteran and photographer says he takes full responsibility for what happened. When he got out of the hospital later that day, he went back to the meet to say as much to the Provo High thrower who pinned him, Anthony Miles. I'll let McGeeney tell you the rest -- including the amazing result for Miles -- and I'll drop the key image after the jump.

Continue reading "'A Self-Sealing Wound:' Photog Gets Javelin in the Leg" »

Laura Conaway

8:28 AM ET | 05-20-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

MySpace Mom Indicted by Federal Grand Jury

Filed under: News

From the AP:

"A Los Angeles federal grand jury has indicted a Missouri woman for her alleged role in a MySpace online hoax played on a 13-year-old girl who committed suicide.

"Lori Drew of suburban St. Louis was indicted today on one count of conspiracy and three counts of accessing protected computers without authorization to obtain information to inflict emotional distress."

Drew helped create a fake MySpace persona, that of the handsome Josh Evans, to woo a neighbor girl, Megan Meier. After a few weeks, "Josh" turned on Megan, telling her the world would be a better place without her. Megan hanged herself.

Flashback:
Blogger takes on Lori Drew
Lori Drew's lawyer checks in

Laura Conaway

2:58 PM ET | 05-15-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

 

New York Announces Winning Subway Buskers

Filed under: City Living, News, Video

A big thanks to everyone who voted in our best subway busker contest. Tomorrow on the BPP, winner Balla Tounkara will perform during our broadcast. Tune in to hear his beautiful voice and intricate picking on the kora, a Malian instrument with 21 strings.

And moments ago, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced the winners of the Music Under New York auditions. All four of the musicians in our contest were accepted into the Music Under New York Program. Kip Rosser, the theremin player in the audition story, was also accepted.

So next time you're in New York City, you might see these great musicians performing in the most coveted spots in the subway system.

Congratulations to all.

Zena Barakat

2:33 PM ET | 05-15-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

California Supreme Court Opens Way to Gay Marriage

Filed under: News

Full disclosure: I care.

And now the news, from the AP: "California Supreme Court overturns voter-approved gay marriage ban, though more challenges loom."

The court published its 4-3 decision on that 2000 citizen referendum here. A key portion of the majority ruling:

[I]n contrast to earlier times, our state now recognizes that an individual's capacity to establish a loving and long-term committed relationship with another person and responsibly to care for and raise children does not depend upon the individual's sexual orientation, and, more generally, that an individual's sexual orientation - like a person's race or gender - does not constitute a legitimate basis upon which to deny or withhold legal rights. We therefore conclude that in view of the substance and significance of the fundamental constitutional right to form a family relationship, the California Constitution properly must be interpreted to guarantee this basic civil right to all Californians, whether gay or heterosexual, and to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples.

The ruling takes effect in 30 days. Opponents of same-sex marriage say they've collected enough signatures to place a constitutional ban on gay nuptials on the ballot in November. State officials are now reviewing the more than 1.1 million signatures submitted; of those, 694,354 must be deemed to belong to currently registered state voters.

Bonus: L.A. Times report.

Laura Conaway

1:10 PM ET | 05-15-2008 | permalink | comments (10) | e-mail post

 

Food, Clothing, Shelter: Caring for Kids in China

Filed under: News, Slideshow

We've seen a lot of painful, horrifying images from China this week, with parents mourning children lost in Monday's earthquake. Reports suggest the death toll from the 7.9 magnitude quake is at least 12,000, perhaps even 15,000. Authorities say thousands more remain buried in the rubble. Mothers and fathers will be grieving in China for a long while yet to come.

For other families, the question now is how to get through the hazy limbo that follows close behind the moment of disaster. This morning, the latest pictures out of China documented the beginnings of that journey.

Full read:
Rescuers reach city at epicenter of Sichuan quake
Art Silverman describes the scene

Laura Conaway

8:13 AM ET | 05-14-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

The News from China: Twittering the Earthquake

Filed under: News

Before the big earthquake stopped Monday in China, people were getting the news out on Twitter. In posts no longer than 140 characters, they've been finding the news, describing what they see, reckoning with how it all feels.

"Just got a telephone call from my friends telling me that they expecting an other big one in the next half an hour," Trusip wrote on Monday.

Twitter pals @marilynm, @robpatrob and @acarvin have followed the tweeting from China closely.

With thanks to them, three recommendations for people to follow: @trusip, @dedlam and @chengdoo.

Also:
@dedlam on his big day
NPR reports from the scene
The BPP on Twitter

Laura Conaway

8:27 AM ET | 05-13-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

After the Earthquake: Reporting from China

Filed under: News

The death toll in China has topped 8,500 today after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck in Sichuan province.

NPR correspondent Melissa Block was in the middle of an interview when the shaking started. She continued out into the street, rolling tape of the scene around her. It's scary, and it sounds it.

An early major report is here. The group is continuing to cover the story on its blog.

Laura Conaway

1:18 PM ET | 05-12-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

My War-Cursed Country

Filed under: News, Personal/Private

I was born in Lebanon in 1980, in the midst of the civil war, and my family moved to Nashville when I was six years old.

From time to time, I remember flashes of my childhood in Beirut, and this morning, they came back to me as I read the Washington Post article about the street fighting in Beirut.

"Hezbollah militants, some carrying assault rifles or rocket-propelled grenade launchers, patrolled outside Starbucks and other shops in the mostly deserted commercial strips of neighborhoods normally controlled by Sunnis loyal to the U.S.-backed Lebanese government. Masked armed men in civilian clothes set up checkpoints and asked passersby for their identity cards..."

It's a different time -- but it's a disturbingly familiar scene. That mention of Starbucks tells the story of the brief period in last few years when things seemed hopeful, open, and safe in Lebanon. No more.

Continue reading "My War-Cursed Country" »

Zena Barakat

9:02 AM ET | 05- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Exit the Dragon: New Views of China

Filed under: News

Don't you love it when you meet a cool person doing cool things at a cocktail party? At a recent fête I met Karin Chien, a New York-based film producer who's launching her own company called dGenerate Films. Her goal is to bring more images of contemporary life in mainland China to the U.S. -- not like the films we usually see out of Hong Kong or Taiwan that feature martial arts or Dynastic-era glorifications. This summer she'll debut 15 independent Chinese films that show a slice of everyday life in the PRC.

We spoke to her and one of the filmmakers she works with on the show today. If you happen to be in New York City tonight, you can catch dGenerate's free screening of contemporary films from China at New York's Center for Architecture.

After the jump, check out a clip from another independent flick coming soon to the States called Raised from Dust, by Gan Xiao-Er.

Continue reading "Exit the Dragon: New Views of China" »

Angela Ellis

8:44 AM ET | 05- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

'Super Girls' in China: Holy Gender Bending!

Filed under: News

Jian Yi on gender-shifting in Chinese culture.

On the show today, we spoke to Jian Yi, independent filmmaker and director of Supergirls!, a documentary following 10 of the 80,000 teenage girls trying out for China's most popular TV show ever, a version of American Idol. Contestants in the Super Girl Singing Contest represent an amazing cross section of China's young population -- urban, rural, rich and poor.

But what's most striking about of a lot of these girls is how much they look like boys. Jian Yi told us one reason for the cropped hair, baggy jeans and big shirts is that most of the call-in voters on the show are girls, and looking like a cute boy in this all-female competition can make a performer more appealing. But he also says there could be a deeper cultural motivation behind it. Take a listen to the clip from our interview with him.

Angela Ellis

8:34 AM ET | 05- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Is This Better Than a FEMA Trailer?

Filed under: News

Found this in my hometown paper today. After Hurricane Katrina, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency got a $280 million grant to see if it could design something better to live in than a FEMA trailer.

You're looking at what the state came up with, the so-called MEMA cottage. Now the agency is considering letting at least some of the cottage residents keep the little homes, because they're good housing in an area that sorely needs it. The numbers involved are relatively small. All told, the cottage program will top out at about 3,100. In coastal Jackson County, 139 cottages may be up for keeps.

One blog, Katrina in Mississippi, takes issue with the idea of spending so much on the question whether a MEMA cottage is better than a FEMA trailer:

MEMA just needs to talk with those who suffered or still continue to suffer the confines of a trailer and the mold and toxic formaldehyde issues with those trailers. . . . That $280 million would house a lot of people in cottages! Just get on with solving the problems and stop messing around!

Bonus: "Katrina Cottages" Wait to Become Homes.

Laura Conaway

11:29 AM ET | 05- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Myanmar Update: Death, Flooding, Destruction

Filed under: News

Yesterday I posted some of the first pictures out of Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis passed through. They came from the city Yangon, where people were clearing roads and drying out their possessions.

Judging from news reports, the scene in Yangon was far from representative. Officials are describing damage on the scale of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, with at least 22,000 dead and hundreds of thousands homeless after the weekend storm.

Full read: AFP report on ReliefWeb

Laura Conaway

10:18 AM ET | 05- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Gallery: Scenes from Myanmar After Cyclone Nargis

Filed under: News, Slideshow

Reports coming in from Myanmar after Cyclone Nargis suggest thousands of people -- even as many as 10,000 -- were killed by the storm.

The nation is set for a constitutional referendum next week. Now the storm has some wondering whether the vote will go ahead as planned.

Another blogger says Nargis hit a major farming region in Myanmar, the Irrawaddy Delta. "The northern and central parts of the delta are major rice-growing areas, producing 40 percent of the national total," writes Jotman. He adds that Nargis struck as farmers are getting ready to plant next year's crop.

Bonus: Global Voices compiles citizen reports from the scene.

Laura Conaway

1:02 PM ET | 05- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

High School Friend Calls 'D.C. Madam' Shy, Serious

Filed under: News

Debbie Hudspith Blozik recalls her friend Deborah Jeane Palfrey.

When the news broke Thursday that "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey had been found dead in mother's Florida home, an apparent suicide, Debbie Hudspith Blozik was home in Alabama sorting through papers. Blozik looked up to see that her high school friend was gone.

Blozik and Palfrey grew up together. They attended Charleroi Area High School in Pennsylvania's Mon Valley. "I wouldn't say that we were at the top of the class," she remembers, "but our grades were important to us."

Blozik describes her friend as caring and loyal. Palfrey was convicted last month on federal racketeering charges stemming from what prosecutors described as a high-end prostitution ring. Palfrey told her friend she didn't know the women who worked for her were trading sex for money. Blozik expected her to appeal. "She felt like she didn't do anything wrong," Blozik says. "She truly believed that. I felt that she would be one that would want to prove that, and I felt that this was where this was headed."

Laura Conaway

5:27 PM ET | 05- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

Report: D.C. Madam Palfrey Kills Self in Florida

Filed under: News

No confirmation from NPR yet, but Fox News in Tampa Bay, Fla., is reporting that the so-called D.C. Madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, has killed herself.

In a story with a Tarpon Springs dateline, the Fox affiliate reports:

Police were called to the home of DC Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey's mother on Thursday to investigate her apparent suicide.

Police have confirmed that the dead person is Palfrey who was 52.

Fox is seconded by a bulletin from the Associated Press.

Palfrey was convicted on April 15 of running an escort service in the Washington, D.C., area. Palfrey called it a "high-end erotic fantasy service." She argued that she hadn't known her escorts were trading sex for money. The Washington Post reported:

In a gray suit and black boots, her lips and nails stoplight-red as always and her dark hair swirled into a familiar bouffant, Palfrey stood, hands clasped at her waist, maintaining the poise she showed throughout her week-long trial. Then the clerk spoke, and she swayed a bit, lowering her chin ever so slightly and emitting a barely audible groan.

"Guilty," the clerk said four times -- guilty of racketeering, money laundering and two counts of using the mail for illegal purposes. The U.S. attorney's office said that under sentencing guidelines, Palfrey probably faces a prison term of four to six years.

Her list of clients contained the names of Beltway movers and shakers. In July, Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana admitted to using her escort service and issued a public apology.

Laura Conaway

1:24 PM ET | 05- 1-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

The Fukang Meteorite

Filed under: News

Today's a big day for Marvin Killgore. If all goes as planned, the plumber-turned-meteorite hunter will see the most prized piece in his personal meteorite collection auctioned off at Bonham's for nearly $3 million. Six months ago a similar auction failed to find a buyer for two pricey meteorites. But Marvin says his space rock is different. It's special. It's the Fukang Meteorite, named after the town in China near where the meteorite was found. Marvin and his wife Kitty joined us on the BPP today. There's a pic of the whole meteorite after the jump...

Continue reading "The Fukang Meteorite" »

Dan Pashman

8:34 AM ET | 04-30-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post

 

Beetle Bailey on the Mess at Fort Bragg (Sort of)

Filed under: News

As we reported in today's Ramble the father of an Army sergeant has documented the dirt, mold and general decrepitude of the army barracks at Fort Bragg. Well, just as LBJ knew he had lost Vietnam when he lost Cronkite, there are signs that a once stalwart supporter of the U.S. military is cracking.

Mort Walker's Beetle Bailey, an estimable document of the life of the U.S. service man, has never wavered in its support of military doctrine. Until now. In what can scarcely be seen as a coincidence, today's strip slyly comments on the deplorable conditions at Fort Bragg. In the first panel, or "set up," Corporal Yo informs Sarge that there is dirt on his door, desk and Jeep. In the second panel, or "pay off," Sarge wonders how this could be? Who could hate Sarge so much?

Now, we all know that Mort Walker is FAR too subtle to draw a tear running down Sarge's cheek, Indian chief in a junkyard style, but that is the implication. Like all Beetle Bailey strips, today's is hilarious, but the undercurrent of ennui and strain is hard to miss. Mort Walker's message is unmistakable -- that in a way, by allowing these conditions to persist, ALL OF US hate Sarge that much. And FYI: a tipster informs us that Boner's Ark will soon be beset by gulls, in a storyline that closely mimics the issue of Somali pirates. You may never look at Cupcake the same way again.

--Mike Pesca

Win Rosenfeld

12:20 PM ET | 04-29-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Scalia Talks to NPR

Filed under: News

In the first of a planned three-part interview with NPR's, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia talks about his more than a quarter century on the nation's top bench.

Totenberg reports that Scalia has carried the conservative banner and often been in the minority. "Though he has failed to persuade a majority of his colleagues on many high-profile cases, supporters and critics alike agree that he has changed the terms of the debate," she writes.

She argues that Scalia and fellow conservative Clarence Thomas do not actually march in lockstep -- despite what liberal observers might say. For one thing, Scalia is far more reluctant to undo an old law.

"I'm an originalist and a textualist, not a nut," he tells her.

And no, he's not a likely running mate for John McCain.

Check it out: Justice Scalia, the Great Dissenter, Opens Up

Laura Conaway

1:01 PM ET | 04-28-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Your Turn: On the Sean Bell Verdict

Filed under: News, Sound Off

A New York judge today found three undercover detectives not guilty in the police shooting of Sean Bell. The unarmed man died in a hail of 50 bullets a few hours before he was to be married.

On the show today, Delores Jones-Brown of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice cited a nationwide trend of police either not being indicted or being acquitted when they kill civilians in the line of duty. Police are generally firing fewer bullets -- those aimed at Bell and his friends accounted for nearly 10 percent of the NYPD's total that year -- but Jones-Brown says that doesn't matter to the loved ones left behind.

"When you're the family members of the victims, you could care less what's going on in other parts of the state or in other parts of the country," she says. "And on an individual basis, a case such as this one where you've got at least one officer shooting 31 times, his shooting alone exceeds the average of the department by almost 10 times."

Laura Conaway

11:28 AM ET | 04-25-2008 | permalink | comments (58) | e-mail post

 

Pie as Protest

Filed under: News

In case you missed it, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman got a pie in the face while he was speaking at Brown on Earth Day. An environmental group called Greenwash Guerillas has taken credit, calling Friedman's idea of green "as fake and toxic to human and planetary health as the cool-whip covering his face."

Friedman got a little messy but wasn't hurt. Here's how it went down:

The LA Times has a great video index of some classic political pie-ings past and present. Check it out.

Is there someone from your life past or present whose face you'd like to introduce to a pie? If so, please explain.

Dan Pashman

9:02 AM ET | 04-25-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

No Soap Operas in Afghanistan!

Filed under: News

Saad Mohseni on the state of Afghan society

On the show today, we told you we'd post an interview with the head of an Afghan national TV network that has refused to abide by a new government ban against airing Indian soap operas.

Saad Mohseni, the head of Tolo TV, says international allies have sat by as religious fundamentalism again takes hold. "They have allowed the re-Talibanization of Afghanistan to happen right under their noses," he says.

Rachel Martin

12:20 PM ET | 04-23-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post

 

Trish McKinney Smells a Segment

Filed under: News

This weekend marks the annual Interstate Mullet Toss, in which contestants compete to throw a mullet from Alabama as far as they can into Florida. Want to know what a mullet is, all y'all who didn't grow up where I did?

A mullet is one of the more popular and plentiful fish indigenous to this area. It is the only fish with a gizzard and is said to possess mystical properties.

Laura Conaway

10:15 AM ET | 04-23-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Chillag Finishes Boston, Eats Pizza

Filed under: Inside The BPP, News, Sports

BPP Producer Ian Chillag finished the Boston Marathon in about 3 hours and 50 minutes -- all the while Tweeting and taking pictures. Ian ran with his friend Amby Burfoot who, 40 years ago, won Boston. I caught up with him as he was boarding a train back to New York. (For the record, Robert Cheruiyot won the marathon in 2 hours, 7 minutes and 46 seconds. It's his fourth win and second in a row. Dire Tune of Ethiopia won the women's race in 2 hours, 25 minutes and 25 seconds.)

Ian will have a full report on tomorrow's show, in the meantime here's a post-race lowdown:

Ian talks about finishing the Boston Marathon..

Matt Martinez

4:16 PM ET | 04-21-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post

 

Al Qaeda's Interoffice Memos

Filed under: News

From today's Los Angeles Times, Penalty for Crossing an Al Qaeda Boss? A Nasty Memo:

"I was very upset by what you did," Atef wrote. "I obtained 75,000 rupees for you and your family's trip to Egypt. I learned that you did not submit the voucher to the accountant, and that you made reservations for 40,000 rupees and kept the remainder claiming you have a right to do so. . . . Also with respect to the air-conditioning unit, . . . furniture used by brothers in Al Qaeda is not considered private property. . . . I would like to remind you and myself of the punishment for any violation."

Laura Conaway

12:44 PM ET | 04-16-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post

 

Pope Benedict Trivia Challenge Thinking Funtime XVI

Filed under: News

In honor of Pope Benedict XVI's arrival in the U.S. (and his birthday today), the BPP presents the Great Papal Trivia Challenge. Of course, you could look up most of these answers online, but that's no fun. So no Googling allowed! Answers are after the jump...

1. What is Pope Benedict XVI's birth name?
2. What number pope is he?
3. He was drafted into the German Army in 1943 but never learned to shoot. Why not?
4. What does Pope Benedict's brother do?
5. What percentage of Americans are Catholic: 14 percent, 24 percent, or 34 percent?
6. What does the pope's fisherman's ring symbolize?
7. What happens to the fisherman's ring when the pope dies?
8. What brand of car is the popemobile?
9. According to PopeBenedictXVIFanClub.com, what kind of music does the Pope like?
10. Which of the following contests actually took place and was officially sanctioned by the Catholic church: Design a Skateboard for the Pope, Decorate the Pope's Blackberry, or Name the Pope's Fish?

Continue reading "Pope Benedict Trivia Challenge Thinking Funtime XVI" »

Dan Pashman

8:51 AM ET | 04-16-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

Sunglassgate

Filed under: News

So much internet buzz over what's reflected in Vice President Dick Cheney's sunglasses. Some say it's a naked lady. A Cheney spokeswoman says it's just a fishing rod. I think it looks like a deformed turnip. What do you see in the VP's sunglasses?

Ian Chillag

7:50 AM ET | 04-14-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post

 

Friend Recommends: 'The Things That Carried Him'

Filed under: News

BPP friend Andy Carvin (@acarvin) says that if you read only one article about the war in Iraq, it should be Esquire's "The Things That Carried Him." Chris Jones writes:

First, the soldiers folded the flag twice lengthwise, with a slight offset at the top to ensure that the red and white would disappear within the blue. "Their hands were shaking," [Sergeant Kenneth Dawson] would remember later. "I could see that they were feeling it." "

Laura Conaway

12:37 PM ET | 04- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post