Families say babies' births predicts Cardinals World Series win

The Lipcaman family of Perry, Illinois believes that the birth of their son Kase this year assures a 2013 St. Louis Cardinals World Series win. Since 1982 when Kase’s father was born, the family has had a baby born in a year the Cards took the fall classic. Sarah Lipcaman, Aaron’s mom, explained to KHQA what happened during labor, "When we got to the hospital, the doctor and my husband were about to have a fit, because the Cardinals were playing in the World Series and heaven forbid, they couldn't be in labor with me. So they had to get me going and luckily I had the baby, had Aaron, before the ballgame that evening." Aaron was even named after The Redbirds’ announcer, Mike Shannon’s son Aaron Michael.

The family’s ties to the Cardinals goes even further. Aaron and his wife Annette welcomed twin boys Lane and Wyatt in 2006 when the club defeated the Detroit Tigers. Again in 2011, the Lipcaman’s had a World Series birth with son Mason. With fourth son Kase born this month, Aaron has confidence in his favorite team’s chance for the title saying, "We're feeling pretty good about the Cardinals."

As amazing as that seems, other families also share similar connections to the Cards. Mike and Barb Stafford of Waterloo, Illinois had son Drew in 2006, then daughter Claire in 2011, and now Cole born this summer. If the streak continues Barb told KSDK, "It just will be a really cool thing that you know we will have known about the family." Also reported, a family from Scott County, Missouri can claim seven family members from multiple generations that were born in years that the Cards took the championship. Leah Faringer’s infant son Rhett born this year could be the eighth member of the family born in a title winning year. The tradition stretches back to 1926 with Leah’s grandmothers, then her mother and father in 1946, a brother in 1967, Leah in 1982, and Seth in 2011. So it’s no surprise that Leah told KFVS, “We think we have the ultimate good luck charm.”

At the time of publication the St. Louis Cardinals and Boston Red Sox were tied 2-2 in the World Series.

More info: KHQA,KSDK, KFVS

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Babies given away live on air in Pakistani talk show

By Katharine Houreld and Mehreen Zahra-Malik

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani television is screening what many call its most controversial content yet in a ruthless quest for ratings: a talk-show host who gives away babies live on air.

Aamir Liaquat Hussain, a bespectacled 41-year-old with a neatly trimmed beard, gave away two abandoned infant girls to childless families last month and plans to give away a baby boy this week.

"If we didn't find this baby, a cat or a dog would have eaten it," Hussain proclaimed during one broadcast, before presenting a tiny girl wrapped in pink and red to her new parents. The audience erupted with applause.

Hussain is one of Pakistan's most popular talk-show hosts. During his marathon broadcasts he cooks, interviews clerics and celebrities, entertains children and hosts game shows.

He usually gives prizes like motorbikes, mobile phones and land deeds to audience members who answer questions about Islam.

But at the beginning of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, when television stations battle fiercely for ratings, Hussain astonished Pakistan when he presented two families with babies.

"We were told that we had passed all the interviews and had been selected to adopt a baby," said Riaz Uddin, 40, an engineer. "We got our baby on live TV."

The abandoned babies were rescued by the Chhipa Welfare Association, a Pakistani aid organization.

"In a day or two, the next baby will be given away, God willing," its head, Ramzan Chhipa, told Reuters on Thursday.

While the Chhipa teams scour the garbage dumps and other sites for discarded newborns, Hussain is also appealing for babies directly.

"If any family cannot afford to bring up their new born baby due to poverty or illness then instead of killing them, they should hand over the baby to Dr Aamir," a notice on his website reads. The children would be given to deserving couples on air, the notice said.

The show's producers did not return Reuters calls seeking comment. It was not clear if poor families wishing to keep their children would also be helped.

FIGHTING FOR VIEWERS

Many Pakistanis expressed disgust that abandoned babies were being given away in what they see as an attempt to boost ratings. Chhipa insisted thousands of people wanted a baby and all potential parents were properly vetted.

The true outrage, he said, was the poverty forcing families to abandon children.

Hussain's show is one of many such broadcasts. The Pakistani media has flourished over the past decade or so following the liberalization of the industry, particularly broadcasting, after decades of tight state control.

Now, instead of battling state restrictions, presenters fight for audiences and advertising by seeing who is most outrageous.

Recent episodes include a female anchor stalking couples in a park to challenge their morality, and a news program which once ran a live broadcast showing a staff member bleeding to death in an operating theatre after he was shot in a riot.

Even among this company, Hussain stands out. In 2008, he hosted scholars who called for the deaths of Ahmadis, a persecuted religious sect in Pakistan. Within a day, two prominent Ahmadis had been shot dead.

The year before, he had to resign from his post as junior minister for religious affairs after denouncing author Salman Rushdie for blasphemy, a crime punished by death in Pakistan.

Since then, his university degree has been exposed as a fake and a video showing him making crude jokes with clerics between takes of his show has leaked onto YouTube.

"There is nothing they won't do to get viewers," said comedian Sami Shah. "If I was a cynic, I'd say this can only end badly. But since I'm a realist, I'll say it's already ended terribly."

(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Ahmed; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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