Bob CollinsA local non-profit in Seattle wants to compost dead people. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
By Bob Collins
Bob Collins retired from Minnesota Public Radio in 2019 after 12 years of writing NewsCut and pointing out to complainants that posts weren’t news stories. A son of Massachusetts, he was a news editor 1992-1998, created the MPR News regional website in 1999, invented the popular Select A Candidate, started several blogs, and every day lamented that his Minnesota Fantasy Legislature project never caught on.
A Brainerd rental housing inspector is a hero for doing his/her job, demanding that a landlord install the carbon monoxide detector required by Minnesota law in the apartment of a couple.
Read more →
Oh, swell. Another cloudy, foggy, soul-crushing bucket of gloom is being served up by the weather gods. So, here. Yes, it’s an Apple ad. The company has a tradition of sweet ads at Christmas. Here’s last year’s. Sainsbury’s, the UK chocolate company, has released this Christmas ad, reaching back 100 years for inspiration. John Lewis, Read more →
It was an awful game for fans of the Cleveland Browns yesterday afternoon. But a returning-soldier promotion picked things up a bit. Read more →
There was some good humor — at least we think it was humor — from Minneapolis City Hall this morning. Read more →
If the assassination of President Kennedy happened today, the Zapruder film would show people taking selfies. What is it with people? Terrorism and tourism are going hand in hand. Buzzfeed today notes that in Sydney, the scene outside the cafe where a gunman is holding an undetermined number of people, is almost as ugly as Read more →
We welcome the South Dakota intentional masturbation double entendre to a permanent place in the Museum of Marketing Campaigns That Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time. Read more →
What kind of weird economy do we have when we have to start rooting for higher oil prices? Read more →
Climax-Fisher beat Bagley in double overtime and doing so with just three players on the floor.
Read more →
Sophie Fellows, 9, was playing in a holiday concert in Vermont last week when she suddenly was overcome by a headache. She couldn’t finish the performance.
Sophie is in love with music and, in particular, the violin.
And her friends and music teacher are in love with her. Read more →
But 44 percent of the men in the survey said there were jobs in their area, but they’re not willing to take them. Read more →
In the event there was still any doubt, a couple of researchers today say they’ve got proof men are stupider than women. Read more →
Remember that post I wrote this morning that with the Serial podcast we have to constantly recalibrate ourselves to remember that a real person died and other lives have been ruined, despite our entertainment with the subject?
Best Buy didn’t read it. Read more →
Is our obsession with photographing everything we see making flying less safe? Read more →
Another area businesses has prevailed in its refusal to cover contraceptive costs in its health-care plan because of the owners’ religious beliefs. Read more →