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Strollerderby
Is the reward of setting a record worth the risk?
There’s a new balloon boy in town, and unfortunately the hoopla surrounding this one isn’t much more auspicious than his predecessor.
Bobby Bradley, 9, just finished third grade and tomorrow at dawn he’s scheduled to take a solo balloon flight over the New Mexico desert near Albuquerque.
If all goes well, he will be the youngest pilot every to fly an ultralight hot air balloon. Is that a distinction you’d be willing to risk for your 9-year-old?
The public was shouting “hoax” shortly after the balloon hit the ground, and his own son confirmed that they “did it for the show” on national TV.
But even after pleading guilty to a felony count of attempting to influence a public servant, Balloon Boy dad Richard Heene told Larry King Live that he never intentionally deceived the public. He really believed that his six-year-old son, Falcon, was floating away in that balloon.
With just four days left in 2009, the time has come to look back on the year that was. It was a year dominated by headlines, one that began with the inauguration of America’s first African-American President and ended in a massive run on robotic hamsters. In between there was swine flu, the finding of Jaycee Dugard, Jon Minus Kate, and Balloon Boy.
Watch as Whirled Interactive “waves” goodbye to 2009 on Google Wave. Considering our collective addiction to all things social media, it’s an appropriate way to bid adieu to the year that was:
$42,0000. That’s the amount of restitution that Balloon Boy hoaxers Richard and Mayumi Heene are required to pay local, state and federal agencies to make good.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or have been extremely lucky), you’ll remember that on October 16th, the Heenes led the world to believe that their 6-year-old son was trapped aboard a homemade craft mistakenly set loose on a 50-mile flight from their Fort Collins home. Balloon landed…no boy. Turns out the parents staged the stunt to pitch a reality t.v. show and the kid was in the attic the whole time.
It comes as no surprise that the Heene’s attorney, David Lane, objects to the $42K tab. “Let’s see the bills,” he said. “They’re not paying anything until they see some receipts.”
According to the Denver Post, the Heenes reached a plea deal on criminal charges and are to be sentenced today in Larimer County. Further compensation to the agencies that responded to the emergency, from the police to the National Guard to the Federal Aviation Administration may be determined then.
After an investigation, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office concluded that the Heenes concocted this hair-brained scheme and acted alone.
Image: Reuters
The balloon parents reportedly plan to plead guilty tomorrow morning on a variety of offenses linked to the hoax.
So I thought the Fromage app was cool. I mean, what’s not to like about a tool that can identify over 380 cheeses? And the Surf Report will surely satisfy my inner Gidget, but, this…this is an app we can ALL use:
Come on – you saw this coming, didn’t you? The parents of Balloon Boy (aka Falcon Heene – but Balloon Boy has such a better ring to it) will be facing charges.
This from the Sheriff who just the other day said the Heene’s emotions were real during the “ordeal” of watching their son float off in a weather balloon. Oh how the tables have turned. Continue reading »
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