How The Government Decides Who Lives, Who Dies

Plus: Guess which U.S. Mayor Rush Limbaugh mistook for a “shoeshine guy"? ... This is your legal system on drugs...the shocking statistic about vet suicides....Playing God — doctors deciding which women to help have a baby and which to ignore...why we say Whoo Hoo, Florida!...celebrity testimonials for Tom Cruise sound totally made up...why you’re more stressed out than ever before...Al Franken just wants to give you some boots...and our obsession with the bionic eagle. It’s Tuesday, May 6 and this is Mic Check. Stay gold, Ponyboy.

Celebration Excuse

No more Hindenburg or plural marriages, but we’ll raise a glass to open-heart surgery and refrigeration. It’s May 6th, and MicCheck’s got your back.

1851

In a move applauded by icecream lovers everywhere, the first patent for a mechanical refrigerator/freezer is granted.

1861

North v. South: Jefferson Davis approves a bill declaring War between U.S. and Confederacy.

1882

Chinese Exclusion Act goes into effect; hundreds of Chinese pretend to be Mexican in order to cross the southern border now that they’re banned from legal immigration.

1890

Mormon church renounces polygamy; Warren Jeffs doesn’t get the memo.

1937

The Hindenburg goes up in flames in a mere 34 seconds after a failed landing attempt, killing 35 passengers and crew.

1953

First open-heart surgery performed, although the technique took years to perfect.

1960

President Eisenhower signs Civil Rights Act of 1960, culminating years of civil rights activism.

1962

First nuclear warhead fired from Polaris submarine.

I’m warning you, we’re growing old.

1915: Orson Welles, actor from Citizen Kane, War of the Worlds

1962: Lori Singer, actress in Jurasic Park

1977: Gabriela Aguilar, Miss Costa Rica Universe (1997)

Daybook

POTUS

President Bush delivers remarks on Military Spouse Day.

STUMPIN

Barack Obama: Campaigning in Indiana.

John McCain: Speech in Winston-Salem, NC, at 8am.

Hillary Clinton: Campaigning in Indiana.

CONGRESS

SENATE

10:00 AM

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee: Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard Subcommittee hearing on oversight of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

HOUSE

10:00 AM

House Labor and Education Committee: Full committee hearing on “Do Federal Programs Ensure U.S. Workers Are Recruited First Before Employers Hire From Abroad?”

WATCH MORE TV

TIVO

Oprah: Barbara Walters tells all.

Tyra: Party Girl rehab.

The View: Jo Frost from Supernanny.

Ellen: Going to Chicago! Also Robin Williams.

Regis & Kelly: Actress Melina Kanakaderes from CSI NY.

LATE NIGHT

Kimmel: Robert Downey Jr, Iron Man.

Letterman: Ashton Kutcher

Conan: Actor Jason Lee.

Leno: Christina Ricci from “Speed Racer”

 

Eavesdrop

STEAL THIS AUDIO

Former Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, at the Center for American Progress

Who: Bruce Babbitt

What: Keynote address at CAP on the role of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Why You Should Care: Global warming, seven years of an administration that actively ignores federal laws, and increasing concerns about climate change set a bleak stage for the future. Babbitt wants to be realistic about the challenges, and lay out a roadmap for the next President in terms of environmental policy.

The Audio:

  • On how modern projects ignore the realities of climate change: “In terms of the effects of global warming, and that EIS, what it says is, those projects are meaningless. Its a complete waste of 14 billion dollars because of advancing sea level and about a four foot total change in that delta. None of these projects will last or have any significance in this century.”
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  • On how current environmental information does not adequately address coming challenges: “10,000 square miles of the delta region, in which two million people are currently living, requires an EIS. The Corps puts out a monstrous set of documents, in which nothing is said about sea level rise in the coming century.”
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  • On realities of climate change for folks living in the delta region: “What we are missing is the human factor. Whether or not we as a government have the capacity to tell the compassionate truth to several million people, in the delta region, as defined outside of New Orleans, across the Cajun country and the entire country. Whether or not we have the honesty and compassion as a government to talk to our citizens about their future and how it is we will inevitably need to, in a compassionate and thoughtful way, plan a managed retreat from that delta country.”
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Popularity Contest

Become brilliant in an instant with these, the most popular stories on the top news sites.

ABC: New Details Emerge About Austrian Incest Case

CBS: CBS Poll: Support For Obama Rebounds

NBC: Bush: No quick fix for gas prices

CNN: Secrets of horror cellar revealed

FOX: PETA Wants Eight Belles’ Jockey Suspended After Filly’s Death

NYT: For the Elderly, Being Heard About Life’s End

WP: Too Solemn for Her Generation?

USAT: Death of Eight Belles leaves cloud over race track

LAT: California superdelegates’ wavering bodes ill for Hillary Clinton

REUT: “Grand Theft Auto” simplifies song purchasing

BBC: Passenger ‘moons’ at speed camera

Masthead

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Mic Check is produced every weekday by Christy Harvey, Sara Langhinrichs and Nicole Murphy, and is a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Read more about Mic Check.

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