Terry Gross of Fresh Air did a recent interview with the director of the docu Murderball and Mark Zupan, one of the film’s featured athletes. I listened to it today and Gross does a good job of eliciting responses from Zupan on a range of issues including the sport itself, adjusting to life with a disability, society’s perceptions of disability, and sexuality.
I may have been a bit overly optimistic when I wrote that a partial state government shutdown in Minnesota would be averted. There has been some progress towards a deal, but even if there was an agreement tonight, there isn’t enough time to get the appropriate bills drafted, passed, and signed before midnight Friday. A lot of legislators have expressed frustration at being shut out of negotiations, which are being conducted in private between the governor and three or four legislative leaders. I can’t help but agree, at least to some extent. It makes little sense to have a special session if 95% of the legislative body has nothing more to do than sit in their offices and check their e-mail. I’m not sure a partial shutdown will hurt anyone politically, especially if it’s over by the end of the holiday weekend. But if July 5 comes around and state offices are still closed, people might start to take notice.
I’ll certainly notice, especially since I only put in for enough vacation time to cover me through July 6. There’s no way I’m going to use up all my vacation time to accommodate the truculence of a few politicos in St. Paul.
