MPR News Reflections and observations on the news

By 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.

Your message from the great unknown (5×8 – 8/3/11)

Bob Collins August 3, 2011, 6:58 AM Aug 3, 2011

12

The message-in-a-bottle mystery, the retirement crisis, leadership qualities of the mentally ill, forgiveness in Olivia, and the problem with ‘Wigger Wednesday’.

Financial community to politicians: ‘Your deal stinks.’

Bob Collins August 2, 2011, 3:30 PM Aug 2, 2011

11

Did the politicians ever talk to the financial ‘experts’ before coming up with the ‘solution’ to the debt crisis?

The subway Sinatra

Bob Collins August 2, 2011, 2:51 PM Aug 2, 2011

Saint Paul light-rail-construction workers, you’re not going to let Gary Russo of New York outshine you, are you?

Overloaded brain may be cause of air disaster

Bob Collins August 2, 2011, 1:16 PM Aug 2, 2011

2

Cockpit transcripts in the Air France crash raise questions about whether humans can handle situations the pilots of the doomed jetliner faced.

Should left turns be banned?

Bob Collins August 2, 2011, 11:41 AM Aug 2, 2011

17

A solution to crashes at intersections.

Hell in Somalia

Bob Collins August 2, 2011, 10:24 AM Aug 2, 2011

6

A front page still can force us to confront something we’d rather not confront.

Congressional inspiration (5×8 – 8/2/11)

Bob Collins August 2, 2011, 7:45 AM Aug 2, 2011

9

Giffords returns to Congress, Minnesota as an ATM, how to bully a teacher, the inside story of the death of bin Laden, and your dinner shouldn’t dance.

Storm video

Bob Collins August 1, 2011, 5:20 PM Aug 1, 2011

1

A few videos have surfaced documenting today’s monsoon that hit the Twin Cities.

What MTV says about us

Bob Collins August 1, 2011, 3:33 PM Aug 1, 2011

3

How today’s commemoration of MTV missed the point.

On Randy Moss

Bob Collins August 1, 2011, 2:32 PM Aug 1, 2011

2

Randy Moss played on teams that went 15-1 and 16-0 and still came up empty for Super Bowl championships.

Why do cops hate cameras?

Bob Collins August 1, 2011, 2:22 PM Aug 1, 2011

4

Yet another case of police ordering someone to stop videotaping them has surfaced.

Minnesota’s eugenics past

Bob Collins August 1, 2011, 1:05 PM Aug 1, 2011

3

Few aspects of U.S. history have the ability to make a rational 2011 person ask ‘what were they thinking?’ than America’s eugenics laws.

Court: School board shouldn’t have spent money campaigning for referendum passage

Bob Collins August 1, 2011, 12:17 PM Aug 1, 2011

3

School boards can spend money to inform voters about issues, but it’s a fine line between providing information and politicking.

A perilous world for a retweeting journalist

Bob Collins August 1, 2011, 11:31 AM Aug 1, 2011

3

Twitter’s use by mainstream media comes with journalistic growing pains.

Farewell, ‘lady of the house’

Bob Collins August 1, 2011, 10:30 AM Aug 1, 2011

9

The Nielsen company finally ditches the ‘housewife.’