Monthly Archives: May 2014

Guilty and charged, NPR’s devastating series on the criminal injustice system, describes the insanity of charging court fees to indigent defendants and then sending them to jail for failing to pay. Continue reading →

Jill Abramson, executive editor of the New York Times, was fired on May 9. Why? While neither Abramson nor publisher Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. gave much explanation, plenty of other people jumped in to offer explanations that centered on gender. Continue reading →

Giving unsolicited advice is silly, but just for today, I’m going to do it anyway. Graduates, especially, probably have much better things to do than reading my advice, such as finishing those final papers, basking in the sunshine, or enjoying free food at a succession of graduation parties. No matter. I’m going to unleash my hard-earned wisdom on the world whether anyone reads it or not. Continue reading →

With rental rates rising and transit-oriented development booming along the almost-ready-for-prime-time Central Corridor, what’s happening to poor people in the Twin Cities? Two recent articles sound distress signals, but there’s a ray of hope from the legislature. Continue reading →

Ron Meador — longtime and trusted environmental journalist — reported today on the latest study on honey bee die-offs, and the news is not good. The Harvard study adds to the evidence that neonicotinoid insecticides are the chief, and perhaps the only, factor in the die-offs known as Colony Collapse Disorder. Moreover, the neonicotinoids cause harm at a lower level than previously believed, and persist in soil and water for years. Continue reading →

UPDATED 5/22/2014 – A patriotic criminal, a fearful daughter, and a fraud preying on fear: three stories show three views of just how crazy our immigration system is. Continue reading →

1700 onion sets and 40 pounds of blue potatoes — such is the stuff that springtime dreams are made of! Continue reading →

A Native American group says the Sandpiper crude oil pipeline will endanger land protected by treaties. Will the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission and, ultimately, state and federal courts consider the treaty claims? Continue reading →

Rents go up, long-term unemployment persists, and hard work is “just not enough” to get out of poverty. Continue reading →

276 girls kidnapped from their school in Nigeria. Oromo students shot down by police in Ethiopia. What do these tragedies have to do with Minnesota? Continue reading →