Category Archives: Uncategorized

Today, a lot of national attention focused on a front-page photograph of a man trapped in the path of an oncoming subway train. Was publishing that photograph good journalism, ethical journalism? Or does the question of the ethics of publishing the photograph miss a larger point? Continue reading →

“Forty years ago, a teenager leaving high school—with or without a diploma—could find a job in a local factory. Twenty years ago, even as manufacturing jobs moved offshore, young people could still gain a foothold in the workforce through neighborhood stores and restaurants. Amid the housing boom of the past decade, youth with some training could find a career track in the construction field. but today—with millions of jobs lost and experienced workers scrambling for every available position—America’s young people stand last in line for jobs.” Youth and Work: Restoring teen and young adult connections to opportunity Continue reading →

The Education Department released new high school graduation data November 26, and the news isn’t good. Overall, Minnesota doesn’t do well, with an overall 77 percent four-year graduate rate placing us in the lower 50 percent of all states. Even worse, Minnesota has the biggest graduation gap, with 35 percentage points separating the African American graduation rate of 49 percent from the white graduation rate of 84 percent.  Only Nevada has a lower African American graduation rate than Minnesota. Continue reading →

To hear the pundits tell it, the nation is roaring toward a fiscal cliff on January1, and likely to run right off the edge of the cliff like the Wile E. Coyote, plunging back into recession. Luckily for all of us, that pundit picture is just as much a cartoon as the original Road Runner. Continue reading →

My brother Kenny uses turkeys as a mental health tool. Not only turkeys — also potatoes, pumpkins, onions, other vegetables, fruits, and most of all, DIRT. He also uses family, friends and lots of heart. Continue reading →

Yeah, I know — President Obama’s record on war, peace and human rights is disappointing. Maybe appalling. Our prison in Guantanamo is still open. We are killing people, including lots of civilians, by remote control, with a continuously expanding drone war. The former constitutional law professor has expanded the Patriot Act and other legal inroads on civil liberties, and has gone after whistleblowers in government. Continue reading →

In this week’s Marvel Comics Superman edition, Clark Kent quit the Daily Planet. Superman writer Scott Lobdell told USA Today: “Rather than Clark be this clownish suit that Superman puts on, we’re going to really see Clark come into his own in the next few years as far as being a guy who takes to the Internet and to the airwaves and starts speaking an unvarnished truth.” Continue reading →

Minnesota Compass on high school completion rates
http://www.mncompass.org/economyworkforce/key-measures.php?km=Educationalattainment#7-6895-g

I listened to The Daily Circuit on MPR Friday, with local “experts” debating what we should do about education (starting at about 37:16.) Peter Bell criticized Minnesota schools and repeatedly said, “The dropout rate in some districts is 50 percent.” He is absolutely, 100 percent dead wrong on the dropout rates, but nobody challenged him on the facts. Not the host. Not the other guests. Continue reading →

Saving girls from prostitution is a noble and worthy cause, as well as a bandwagon that many nonprofit groups and politicians are happy to ride. Unfortunately, the statistics offered by various groups are often self-contradictory and unsupported by research. Using unverified, contradictory and exaggerated numbers is a disservice to the cause of combating juvenile prostitution and human trafficking. Continue reading →

Among all the wild-eyed charges thrown about by Voter ID proponents, one stood out last week. That was the charge made by Ramsey County Commissioner candidate Sue Jeffers in a KFAI interview (about the 13-minute mark.) Continue reading →