Bob CollinsA member of the U.S. Air Force was denied re-enlistment last month because he crossed out the words ‘so help me God’ on his papers.
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Arts & Culture
Well, here we are. The opening Sunday of football season for the NFL. A chance to follow through on the off-season promises not to support the NFL because you don’t like the owners holding up local taxpayers for a new stadium, or the meager punishment handed out to those players who beat their wives and Read more →
In an editor’s note, The Economist acknowledged a slavery-sympathetic bood review shouldn’t have been posted. It also reposted the review ‘in the interest of transparency.’ Read more →
Today’s installment of “why can’t things be the way they were back in the day” comes from NPR, where Juan Vidal asks a good question: Where’s the poetry? In generations past, poets have fought brutality and injustice with the power of the word. There’s still a lot of poetry out there, but it’s not being Read more →
It’s probably just as well that the book reviewer for The Economist didn’t sign the review in this week’s edition of Cornell professor Edward Baptist’s book, “The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism.” The magazine has never believed in bylines. The unsigning writer makes a case, apparently, that slavery Read more →
I saw a couple of tweets over the weekend from some male funny people who couldn’t understand why Joan Rivers, who died today, was getting Twitter love as she lay in a coma. Sure, she was a funny person and all, but her act was “mean.” Maybe. Maybe not. Comedy is subjective. Humanity shouldn’t be. Read more →
OK, Millennials. We’ll bite. What have you got against leaving voicemails? Read more →
The Rochester Post-Bulletin says it will not be joining a movement by some newspapers to stop using the word “Redskins” when writing stories about Washington’s NFL team. Read more →
We flew down to Rushford on Monday and it was impossible to mistake what the summer rain has done this year compared to previous years. It’s green in a way that makes you feel selfish for keeping the beauty the state can offer to ourselves.
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We’re seeing a generational change for the news media, an industry where relationships and practically everything else was sacrificed for what traditionally constituted “success” in the business. Read more →
Faricy worked on the restoration of Saint Paul’s Landmark Center in the ’70s, which was saved from destruction in what would’ve been an everlasting “what on earth were they thinking?” moment for the city. Read more →
One observation about working the MPR booth at the State Fair again this year pretty much mirrors the observation from previous years: We need to be more like kids. P.O.S. (Stefon Alexander) had just started his performance with Mary Lucia on The Current yesterday afternoon when he stopped and told a young lady she could Read more →
Football is deeply American and reflects our values and likes. And that’s the problem. We love us a good war or two. Read more →
You didn’t miss much if you missed the Emmys last night, with one exception: Billy Crystal’s tribute to Robin Williams, who took his own life a few weeks ago. “I used to think if I could just put a saddle on him and stay on for eight seconds I would be OK,” he said.
That was quite a PSA that ran during this evening’s MTV video music awards tonight. The network said it wanted to start a discussion on race among those who still watch it, which makes it hard to believe there wasn’t one already. But the PSA is part of a larger campaign called “Look Different.” “Eighty Read more →