Bob CollinsBill Aldridge, 80, wasn’t homeless when he died a month ago. But he was alone. He had no family and nobody stepped forward to make any funeral arrangements. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for November 2015
We’ve reached another predictable stage in the coverage of a terrorist attacks: the ‘how to talk to your kids about Paris’ articles are starting to populate the InterTubes.
Here’s an idea: Don’t bother. Read more →
There are many things I don’t know about the shooting this week in Minneapolis that has sparked days of protest. And while I’d love to provide some contextual words to frame a news story, I can’t. Maybe you can. Read more →
You’re in a train station in Atlanta when your wife notices a young man struggling to tie a tie.
What do you do? Keep walking or stop to help? Read more →
Given the times, there are probably things we needed more than hearing Ode to Joy performed by a flash mob (the Wayzata Symphony Orchestra and the Edina Chorale) in the IDS building lobby in Minneapolis this afternoon. But we can’t think of any offhand. Read more →
When is a Confederate flag not offensive? When it’s a memorial to a family member and friend who liked the Dukes of Hazzard, according to a Minnesota school district. Read more →
Many news media organizations insisted after the beginning of the war in Iraq that they’d learned the lesson that they’re not supposed to set the agenda when it comes to the urge to rush to war.
So it was at least a little significant today when CNN’s Jim Acosta got his chance to ask President Obama a question about why the U.S. isn’t ready to go back to war in Syria and Iraq? Read more →
In hindsight, it’s, perhaps, not too surprising that the ‘local company’ that wants subsidies to add jobs in St. Paul is one of the largest corporations in the country. Read more →
A new online ad for toilet paper — toilet paper! — feels like a revolutionary acknowledgement that society has changed. The Cleavers are dead. Read more →
There are few sports stories around these parts better than Minneapolis North’s football team’s march to the state championship game, which the squad lost over the weekend.
The school was on the verge of being closed a few years ago, but the community saved it and the football team turned its fortunes around.
Then a player wiped all of that away with one stupid moment. Read more →
The Dixie Chicks announced today they’ll play the Minnesota State Fair next August. It’s the first tour of the United States in 10 years for the group that paid a terrible price for having an unpopular opinion.
Read more →
The social media aftermath of last week’s attacks in Paris has followed a predictable route. People have reposted without questioning a news media slight of Lebanon, where a double suicide attack on Thursday killed dozens.
Read more →
It must’ve been a big moment in the life of a football fan in Green Bay on Sunday during a moment of silence for the people killed in the attacks in Paris.
He had the stadium to himself, the rest of the fans smart enough to respect the silence.
‘Muslims suck!’ he shouted.
Read more →
The Metropolitan Opera stands up to evil the way the patrons of Rick’s American Cafe did. Read more →
Undeterred by the warnings from officials that attacks in the city may not be over, the people of Paris lined up to donate blood to victims of Friday’s terrorism. Read more →