Photo: Bob Collins Dear Minnesota: I’m sorry. I got angry with you and, really, it was my fault. For someone who spends most of the winter posting about embracing you, I turned away from you when you needed me most — spring. We all have our little tantrums and when I said in April that Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Archives for July 2013
Would you take your dog to the symphony? After his dog — a 15-year-old poodle — died, composer Steve Mercurio wrote a four-movement classical symphony for orchestra, vocalist, and gospel choir. The 80 members of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia will perform it in August, at an event called Woof Fest. Dogs are invited. It Read more →
The U.S. economy added 195,000 new jobs in June, the government reported today. The economy is adding an average of 200,000 jobs a month over recent months. It’s going to take more than that, judging by a check of job fairs around the country in the last couple of weeks. In Clay County, Florida, a Read more →
It had to come to this. People are now paying to go places where they’re forced to unplug/disconnect from the wired world, NPR reports. And, they’re calling it “a movement.” All Tech Considered says people pay, by one example, $350 to be forced to unplug… But for many of the participants, the most exciting activity Read more →
Oh, it’s on now between charcoal and gas, my friends.
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Why people drown, the amazing climbing airline fee, dispatches from the battlefield, now this message from real life, and free art Friday. Read more →
The NewsCut 4th of July tradition… The annual posting of the official News Cut July 4th observation: And here’s why there’s a 4th of July, and why we should be off all week. When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them Read more →
On the Fourth of July, and many other times of the year, people love the flag. And they prove it by not loving it, or at least not enough to respect it under the U.S. Flag Code, which is a pretty simple document that explains proper respect for the nation’s icon. Every year around this Read more →
Save me a parade space? I don’t think so. Read more →
Stunning NASA photo of the Egyptian protest? No. Read more →
Paid time off — PTO — always seemed like a dastardly idea, given that it seems designed to make taking a break from work come straight out of the wallet. In each check, a few dollars are set aside for PTO and when you take time off, the money is deducted from the accumulated pot of cash. Read more →
Was the storm a ‘federal disaster,’ that thing that good people do, the Hotshots on climate change, how to be your own big brother, and North Dakota’s crime boom. Read more →