Bob Collins
Is there room for peace in a holiday that memorializes soldiers who died in war?
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for May 2014
Theodore Johnson III heard from plenty of people when he wrote his NPR Code Switch blog post about the racist origins of the song that has made generations scamper for the neighborhood ice cream truck. Read more →
Despite the best efforts of his students to keep him around, the Rochester teacher who swore in class is resigning. Read more →
In a case that seemed to pit laws to protect domestic abuse victims against those designed to protect other drivers from drunks on the road, the Minnesota Supreme Court has sided with the latter.
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Happiness is vulgar in Iran. Six Iranian young people have been arrested for making a video featuring Pharrell Williams’ “Happy,” a song that people the world over have used to do something similar in breaking down the walls that humanity erects. Tehran Police Chief Hossein Sajedinia ordered the arrests, calling the video “obscene” and “vulgar.” Read more →
Without a hint of irony, the Star Tribune today pegged the economic impact of the Minneapolis Super Bowl in 2018 between $80 million and $500 million. There’s no indication whether the calculation includes the impact of being portrayed as a winter hell hole between now and then.
Let’s step back a little bit, America. The NFL’s warm-weather choices haven’t been without problems. Read more →
You’ve probably seen this video — 21 million have — of Tara the cat chasing a dog away from attacking a little boy. Last night, the cat threw out the first pitch at the Bakersfield Blaze game in California. Well, I gave it my best shot, but my humans really got in the way. Everyone Read more →
While some people in the U.S. have been focusing on the disparate treatment of women in the workplace — specifically, the newsroom — over the last week, another inequality has broken out in the open in Europe: Women in classical music, NPR reports. Read more →
This might well be the spark that leads to the end of racist Native American mascots. This is NOT ok and something needs to be done #und #siouxperdrunk pic.twitter.com/v4vaIdlAmQ — PaoPao (@QuechuaPride) May 13, 2014 In the wake of the University of North Dakota “Siouxper Drunk” party outrage, Native American leaders have finally found a Read more →
Minnesota doesn’t get to be the last “team” standing very often when it comes to the NFL, so there might be a certain joy in watching the also-rans bite their lips with disappointment for a change. Sorry, Indianapolis. That's it. Indy is eliminated. New Orleans, Minneapolis fight it out. Disappoint ensues pic.twitter.com/qFKXXwFlfr — Stephen Holder Read more →
As MPR cancels Tell Me More, can public radio, long linked with upscale white Americans, make significant progress in appealing to communities of color? Read more →
Minneapolis is trying mightily today to woo the National Football League to the city for the Super Bowl in 2018. Odds are that by then, the league will still be the most popular sport in America despite every scandalous piece of evidence that could give a person a reason to turn away. Coincidentally, the latest Read more →
Steve Kandell of BuzzFeed lost his sister in the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings and decided to check out the Museum. In particular, he gives a different sort of voice to the issue of the Museum also being a cemetery. Read more →
Researchers at Tufts University have released a study — Don’t Call Them Dropouts — based on interviews in more than a dozen cities, including Minneapolis and Saint Paul, showing that there is no single cause driving most students to leave school. Read more →
Delta has now posted fare and schedule information for the new service out of Rochester and while there are some opportunities for some saving, it doesn’t seem to be as big a boon for the budget shopper. Read more →