Bob CollinsThis 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 →
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.
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 →
At one point during the winter, we wondered whether all of the ice would ever leave Lake Superior. About 10 percent of the lake is still covered with ice, but the Coast Guard has ended its ice-breaking operations for the year. According to sources, summer is coming. Lake Superior Magazine has put together a time-lapse Read more →
Other nations are noticing that the people of the United States and science aren’t on good terms.
In a scathing article in Maclean’s, writer Jonathan Gatehouse asks if the most powerful nation on Earth has lost its mind? Read more →
Art can provide an escape from the daily stress but it’s got its own kvetching and politics to mire itself in.
Art-A-Whirl, the tremendous northeast Minneapolis art festival, is at the heart of the discussion about whether art has to be oh so serious, and, sometimes, artsy. Its growing, becoming hugely popular and, like everything else, changes, to the consternation of some who want it to always be what it always was. Read more →
It was no surprise, really, when the hucksters and street vendors showed up around the site of World Trade Center buildings while the holes in the ground were still smoking in 2001. We don’t expect much in the way of decency when there’s a quick buck to be made. But the new 9/11 Museum that opened last week is also cashing in on the collapse, to the consternation of family members of those killed. Read more →
For a country that thumps its chest and talks tough every time its feelings get hurt, there’s been precious little reaction to the reality that the manned spaceflight program in the United States is in serious decline, and the country is becoming a second-rate space power. Read more →
Today’s regulatory filing by Target provides a good opportunity for the business world to see the same thing differently. Read more →
In Minnesota it’s a crime to refuse to submit to chemical testing when a police officer thinks you’re driving under the influence. Read more →
Leif Enger, of Aitkin County, makes a great case for spring in all of its frustrating slowness.