News Day

How does Minnesota treat you? Instead of asking what immigrants do for Minnesota, a new report asks how Minnesota treats immigrants. Minnesota, we have problems. Continue reading →

The Urban Dictionary defines “inside baseball” as a “term used in American politics to utilize a means to an end through evil practices.” That seems an appropriate metaphor for today’s Supreme Court ruling eliminating one more of the few remaining restrictiosn on big-money campaign contributions.  Continue reading →

Last week marked the 25th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Remember that one? It was the big oil spill off the Alaskan coast that taught us all about the incredible danger to the environment posed by oil. The awful photos of oil-soaked birds and devastated coastline taught us that we needed to exercise the utmost care to safeguard our waters and coastlines so that such a terrible disaster could never happen again. Continue reading →

Once again, the media has discovered that women are missing. Women are missing from reporting and opining on foreign policy and war and Big Issues. Instead, look for women writing op/ed pieces about “pink topics,” such as family, gender, style and food, according to The Op/Ed Project’s research. Continue reading →

I always thought that Dad would keep urging me, “Go get those Republicans!” long after Alzheimer’s stole his memory of my name. Now I don’t know. He doesn’t talk about politics any more. His favorite topic of conversation during my whole life has disappeared. Continue reading →

“Tell me your zip code and I’ll tell you how long you are going to live.” Four years ago, at an Annenberg conference in California, that statement came as a shock. Not any more. Continue reading →

I’ve never watched the Oscars before. Oh, I’ve tuned in for a few minutes, or skipped through on my way to something else or maybe even looked for Billy Crystal telling jokes, but I’ve never watched the Oscars on purpose. And what a night — Lupita Nyong’o’s night! Continue reading →

From racial justice to dentistry, everybody’s issues seem to get a day at the Capitol while the legislature is in session. If you’re a social justice type, the day probably starts out either in a church basement or in the Capitol rotunda. If your organization has a little more money, you may kick off the day at Embassy Suites and maybe end it with a cocktail party. Here are seven opportunities to see and be seen, advocate and be persuaded next week at the Capitol.  Continue reading →

I love my coffeehouse. But — it has way too many of those business-intense people hunched over computers, so focused that they forget to drink their (carefully crafted, best-in-town) latte until it gets cold. Since I’m one of them, why is that a problem?

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“Unmasking the past in order to reveal the present”  is a goal of this year’s theater productions at Macalester. When the morning, noon and nightly news seems like too much to bear, perspectives from the past can help us face today’s horrors. Evil that has been defeated once can be defeated again, and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui urges us to meet the challenge in every political generation. Continue reading →