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NewsCut

MPR News Reflections and observations on the news

By Bob Collins

Bob Collins
bcollins@mpr.org • @newscut

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.

Battle continues in home loan modification effort

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 5, 2011, 2:13 PM Jan 5, 2011
1

Trying to get a bank to renegotiate a mortgage to prevent foreclosure is an exasperating experience.

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Homeless man gets job, house

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 5, 2011, 11:43 AM Jan 5, 2011
2

The Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team has hired the Internet sensation fulltime and, he says, given him a house.

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‘The noise of democracy’

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 5, 2011, 10:27 AM Jan 5, 2011
4

Mark Dayton holds one of the most unusual news conferences in the history of Minnesota.

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Five by 8

Random talents of the homeless (5×8 – 1/5/11)

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 5, 2011, 7:05 AM Jan 5, 2011
8

Why is one homeless guy getting so much attention, your walking speed indicates how long you’ll live, the Internet is more popular than TV, who’s on steroids, and President Michele Bachmann?

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Are you getting anything out of the health care bill?

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 4, 2011, 3:52 PM Jan 4, 2011
15

Have you carried your over-age-21 students on your health insurance? If not, why not?

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Another look at Twain

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 4, 2011, 3:51 PM Jan 4, 2011
4

Should Huck Finn be sanitized?

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One photo: A burial at Arlington

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 4, 2011, 12:01 PM Jan 4, 2011
1

Cpl. Sean Osterman, 21, of Princeton was buried at Arlington National Cemetery today.

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The optimism gap

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 4, 2011, 10:06 AM Jan 4, 2011
1

Are we more glum about the future because we are connected to more information that tells us we should be glum about the future?

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Five by 8

Reporters with opinions (5×8 – 1/4/11)

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 4, 2011, 6:56 AM Jan 4, 2011
5

Reflections on partisan journalism, why have efforts to muzzle Michele Bachmann failed, more blizzard wars, what to do with drivers who don’t know how to drive in the snow, and all the world’s air traffic in one day.

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Is water the next oil?

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 3, 2011, 3:29 PM Jan 3, 2011
4

People are moving into areas where there’s no water.

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Surveys and trivia

There’s something about Sophia

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 3, 2011, 2:09 PM Jan 3, 2011

Sophia emerges as the most popular baby name in 2010.

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The Dayton word cloud

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 3, 2011, 1:20 PM Jan 3, 2011
5

Here’s Gov. Mark Dayton’s inauguration speech as a word cloud.

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Bullying and the ’empathy gap’

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 3, 2011, 12:17 PM Jan 3, 2011

Why isn’t “bullying” being taken more seriously? There’s an ’empathy gap,’ according to a study out from Northwestern University today.

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Guess the inaugural speaker

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 3, 2011, 11:39 AM Jan 3, 2011
1

Whatever Mark Dayton has to say in his inauguration speech today, history says few people will remember it years from now.

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What the airline-online reservation war means

Bob CollinsBob Collins January 3, 2011, 10:58 AM Jan 3, 2011
4

This is the kind of thing that could put travel agents back in business.

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