Bob CollinsPoor Norway. They’ve got a real crisis and all the world can do is chuckle. Norway has no butter.
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.
The secrets of Madison, NPR and coverage of Catholics, no transplants for noncitizens, the morning broadcaster, and what’s really happening in those Christmas card scenes.
Farewell to a Scrabble fan
About a month ago, I asked whether a city — in this case, Duluth — can assign away First Amendment rights in a public space by renting it to a private organization which then seeks to ban certain expression. Now we know. It can’t, a federal judge has ruled.
Brian Rosenberg, the president of Macalester, stars in this Christmas video released this week.
The Koch affair, fantasy election, the danger of Twitter, the best pictures of 2011, and Minnesota’s mascots.
There isn’t really any informed comment I can make after viewing this video from North Korea, showing the reaction of people to the death of Kim Jong Il, but it’s incredible, and a bit scary.
Late last Friday night, Tiga Stevenson finished ringing her bell at a Salvation Army kettle at a Coborn’s in St. Cloud. She set a Minnesota bell-ringing record of 36 hours and 1 minute.
The Iraq war is over. Now what? Also, the SOPA story, the disappearing post office, closing airport control towers, and Roy Babcock’s lousy year.
Of all the cities where officials have dismantled the Occupy protesters, Boston may be the most symbolic, it being the home of the Freedom Trail and the place where patriots took a stand against a system they considered unjust.