Bob CollinsThe issue of suicide is, indeed, a complex one without simple answers. But the sudden increase in suicide rates is less alarming than the fact too many people were already taking their own lives in the state which mostly shrugged about it.
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MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Health
Back when I was in the sixth grade, I thought that 60 would be a good time to die. What’s the point, I reasoned, of living to be so old?
This year I turned 60. I long ago realized that sixth graders aren’t that bright on matters of longevity.
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The Ebola outbreak, which has spread to the United States by way of a man in Dallas, is likely to test the power of the government to force us to stay inside our homes.
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Has America gone too far in protecting its children from the concussions of youth sports such as football, hockey, and soccer?
Some doctors apparently think so.
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There’s more to define Jenna Vancura’s life than her battle with cancer. But her illness has consumed a lot of it. The 27-year-old New Ulm native spent much of her senior year in high school at the Mayo Clinic. Read more →
In the health care system, the wishes of a dying patient and his daughter don’t matter. There’s money to be made.
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Devon Still’s NFL career is in jeopardy and his daughter has cancer. But his Instagram account is good for whatever ails you.
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The family of a Minnesota Marine is alleging the local Veterans Administration clinic falsified its records to cover up delays in providing treatment. Read more →
It’s been almost 25 years since Ryan White died. He was the Kokomo, Indiana teen who was shunned by his school — expelled from middle school — after it was revealed he became infected with HIV from a contaminated blood treatment. We’ve come a long way from our ignorance then. Read more →
If the United States ever thinks it needs something more to be outraged about, it always has the one thing it’s ignored for generations: the treatment of Native Americans. Read more →
Some parents in the Stillwater area worry that a a cellphone tower at a junior high school will harm their kids. Read more →
The news today that the owners of Bachman’s Floral Gift & Garden Centers are interested in getting into the medical marijuana business will certainly present a challenge to the company, whose brand isn’t usually associated with pot, even if it’s legal. Read more →
This video is burning up the Internet this week. It’s tragic and lovely at the same time, and it comes with a troubling question: Why is Alzheimer’s so much more common in women? Of the more than 5 million people in the United States who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, two-thirds are women, the Washington Read more →
Banker White, a San Francisco producer, moved back to Boston to care for his mother after she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. During the time of her decline, he did what filmmakers do. He filmed. “One of the most striking things that Alzheimer’s has revealed is the strength of my parents’ marriage, even as it alters Read more →
I haven’t posted audio of my daily conversation with Mary Lucia on The Current in months, but I’ve gotten a number of messages this afternoon asking me to do so. The subject, of course, is Robin Williams and it relates to the post I wrote this morning on the subject. I got a nice note Read more →