Working twice as hard to get half as far (Five by 8 - 9/02/10)

Posted at 8:00 AM on September 2, 2010 by Nate Minor (2 Comments)
Filed under: Five by 8

1) Racial disparities. Speaking in the Twin Cities last night, sociologist Algernon Austin said the metro area has the biggest disparity in black-white unemployment rates of any major metropolitan area in the country, the Twin Cities Daily Planet reported.

He narrowed the reasons why down to three, the first of which is discrimination. The final two, he went on to explain, are more specific to the Twin Cities.

The Twin Cities has a higher high school dropout rate for African Americans and lack of education is a major contributor to unemployment.

and...

The relatively young age of the African American labor force in the Twin Cities is also a factor, because younger people have higher unemployment rates.

So where do we go from here? One solution offered by members of the panel following Austin's speech was a proposition to ban private employers from asking about the criminal record of job seekers in the first steps of the application process (it's currently banned by public employers, apparently). Good idea? Bad idea? Tell me what you think.

2) The gold rush. Journalism school, unfortunately, doesn't teach its students a whole lot about personal finances, but it does teach you how to spot B.S.:

As tempting as the sound of gold coins clinking in my hand is, forgive me, Gordon Liddy, if I don't pick up the phone right this minute.

But wait, you say, doesn't gold offer a secure investment? It certainly has in recent months, David Moon said on Marketplace last night. "It only makes money as long as people move their money into gold," he said. "The reason we pay attention to it is because marketing works."

3) Manny being Manny. Slugger Manny Ramirez is now with the hated Chicago White Sox, and he's speaking Spanish in press conferences, even though speaks English fluently.

Hey, if we get to see him pulling stuff like this in Target Field, I'm all for the excitement it could bring to our very own AL Central pennant race.

As long as it doesn't get too exciting, that is. Respected Twins blogger Aaron Gleeman warns that he is not as over the hill as we'd all like to think.

4) Getting into the holiday spirit. Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, will wrap up next week. Since early August, more than a billion Muslims across the world have been abstaining from water, food and sex during the daylight hours to teach themselves about patience and spirituality.

There's more to it than that, Dr. Bushra Dar, a Family Medicine physician at Allina Medical Clinic told a Startribune blogger. Dr. Dar has been raising funds to send to flood-stricken Pakistan.

"Removing worldly distractions such as food and other petty affairs allows the believer to spend their time immersed in remembrance, thankfulness, and repentance before God. Likewise, during this time Muslims strive harder than usual to do good deeds, as the reward for righteous acts is multiplied many times over in Ramadan, through God's mercy."

If anyone needs mercy now, Pakistan does.

It's been noted before that aid to Pakistan is no where near as much as the aid Haiti received after the January earthquake, and Pakistan's links to terrorism are often named as a reason why. A BBC reporter in Pakistan says those fears are unfounded:

These areas are of no strategic interest to anyone because they have neither exported terrorism nor do they have the ambition to join a fight against it. Their only export to the world outside is onions, tomatoes, sugar cane, wheat and mangoes.

5) It's not duck or rabbit season; it's bear season. And according to the Ely Timberjay, it's looking like this will be a good year.

The latest population estimate from the Department of Natural Resources does point to an upswing, mostly as a result of lower bear permit numbers the past few years.

Needless to say, please know what you are doing, like these guys do, before you head for the woods.

Comment on this post

My State Fair vacation

Posted at 11:19 PM on September 1, 2010 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Life

As I mentioned last week, I don't actually see much of the State Fair. I get all the entertainment I need at the Minnesota Public Radio booth, which is why I've taken a week's vacation to work -- double shifts -- at the booth. You can tell who I am because I'm the guy who dies a little bit each time I have to tell someone we're sold out of the women's-cut Current Rocks The State Fair T-shirt. I also got to pinch hit as a "radio personality" to a desperate group of people who needed one for a group picture. They seemed surprised when I knew right off the bat that they were probably on a scavenger hunt. The moral: Bloggers are smarter than radio personalities.

The takeaway in two days of chatting with people -- sometimes they know I'm a blogger; usually not -- is this one: an overwhelming number of conversations I'm having this year involve people who tell me about the job they've lost.

A gentleman, for instance, told me about the end of his career as a pharmaceutical salesman. He's working parking cars for the State Fair this week. "I'm happy to have the work," he said.

See you Thursday: 12:30-9.

Comment on this post

Big Ten splits up Minnesota, Wisconsin

Posted at 4:25 PM on September 1, 2010 by Drew Geraets (1 Comments)
Filed under: Sports

Minnesota and Wisconsin will play in separate divisions, according to the Associated Press and ESPN.

But, don't fret football rivalry fans. Paul Bunyan's Axe will still be up for grabs as the two teams are expected to play a crossover game.

Ohio State and Michigan will also play each other once during the regular season despite being placed in separate divisions.

Division 1 Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern

Division 2 Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana

Thankfully, Iowa will still be in our division. I'm hoping to get our goalpost back.

The official Big Ten announcement is expected at 6 p.m.Update: It's official.

What do you think about the divisions?

Comment on this post

Drop in illegal immigration

Posted at 12:47 PM on September 1, 2010 by David Cazares (1 Comments)

A new report by the Pew Hispanic Center concludes that the number of immigrants entering the United States illegally dropped by nearly two-thirds in the last decade.

The Pew report notes that between 2000 and 2005, an average of 850,000 people a year entered the United States without documents, but as the nation's economy worsened the number dropped to 300,000. Federal authorities also have stepped up their efforts to control the nation's borders, at times even searching trains.

The report comes during a time of heated debate over federal immigration policy and over a controversial Arizona law that would allow police to identify and deport people not legally in the United States. Gov. Tim Pawlenty and other Republicans have defended the law.

The Pew study follows a Minneapolis Foundation study that shows immigration in Minnesota grew more quickly than the national average over the last two decades, but the state is only now beginning to catch up with the opportunities and the challenges of having a diverse international population.

Comment on this post

A heartbreaking change (Five by 8 - 9/01/10)

Posted at 8:00 AM on September 1, 2010 by Nate Minor (2 Comments)
Filed under: Five by 8

1) A heartbreaking change. Being that I grew up outside of Duluth, I've spent my share of summer vacations in the Boundary Waters in northeast Minnesota. I learned how to paddle a canoe in the BWCAW's icy clear waters, and more recently, taught others how to do the same.

Pine trees along (and in) the Isabella River this spring.

While the lakes of the Boundary Waters aren't going anywhere anytime soon, its tall pine trees very well could be on their way out. As U of M ecologist Lee Frelich told a reporter in yesterday's Star Tribune, a "perfect storm" of wind storms, invasive species (including earthworms), and climate change will lead to the "'savannafication' of many northern areas, which will become grasslands with scattered trees and brush rather than forests, and will resemble parts of central Iowa or even Missouri."

Not exactly what I think of when I get the itch to drive north again.

In an earlier, similar study (pdf), Frelich warns:

"Letting nature take its course would likely lead to a scrubby, species-poor landscape. If maintaining a diverse, tree-dominated landscape is a priority, then large-scale regional assisted migration of new species into the BWCAW will be required."

Paradoxically, wilderness management policies do not allow for the large-scale intervention Frelich calls for. When the wilderness acts were passed that protected the BWCAW in the 1960s and 1970s, "...it was widely believed that natural processes and species would remain intact within wilderness area," Frelich writes.

So what is a conifer-loving outdoors enthusiast to do? Appreciate the change we apparently will see in the coming years, Frelich told Minnpost last month.

Related: I can't leave you on that down note. Here's some BWCAW-related humor, via the Duluth News Tribune's Sam Cook.

2) Anti-social behavior on social media. President Barack Obama addressed the nation last night, saying that it is "time to turn the page" on Iraq. Seems like a topic ripe for conversation, yes?

I recommend you avoid the Facebook pages of a few major news organizations if you are looking for worthwhile discussion.

What is the key to starting a good discussion online? In my experience, it's asking a direct, relevant question and staying involved in the ensuing conversation. Bob likes to brag that News Cut readers are a smart bunch, so let's give it a try. Is combat really over for troops in Iraq? Read the AP's take, then leave a comment below.

3) The continued rise of the tea party. Last night, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, conceded the Republican primary to tea party-backed Joe Miller, The Washington Post reports. Miller was relatively unknown until Sarah Palin offered her endorsement.

By conceding, Murkowski becomes the third incumbent senator to lose re-nomination this year and the second to lose a primary. Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) lost a primary in April, while Sen. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) fell at his party's May convention.

I'm no expert as to what is going to happen in Minnesota's political races this November, but if you'd like to go beyond the horse race coverage and learn a little bit about each candidate's stance on issues, keep an eye on MPR's Select a Candidate. We have a good list of issues in the governor's race, and will be adding more races as the election nears.

4) For the thrift-store shopper. From PRI's The World:

"Many of the things we buy come fresh out of the box, new and glistening. But get something second-hand, and that object has lived out at least one life with somebody else before you even see it. What would it be like to get a glimpse of that other life?"

Go ahead, give it a listen.

5) It's a good thing that power outage at the Minnesota State Fair happened yesterday, and not last week. That's when Duluth roots musician Charlie Parr sat down with The Current's Mary Lucia.

Photo from Flickr user Kmeron

Parr plays a free show in Duluth most every week; if you want to find out where and when, you'll just have to listen:

And you really should. After all, he's huge in New Zealand.

Bonus: Bob is continuing his dutiful work at the State Fair today; make sure you stop by and say hello to him and the rest of the MPR crew if you find yourself at our booth at the corner of Judson and Nelson.

Comment on this post

A 'Race to Nowhere'?

Posted at 2:37 PM on August 31, 2010 by Drew Geraets (1 Comments)
Filed under: Schools

No Child Left Behind. Race to the Top. Race Your Child to the Top Before They're Left Behind? School's just starting and the debate over education policy already sounds more intimidating than AP chemistry.

Is our culture of learning and definition of success driven mostly by these policies? How large of a role do teachers, parents or other forces play?

"Race to Nowhere," a documentary film by Vicki Abeles, looks at the pressure to perform in schools today. Here's the trailer:

What is/was your school experience like? Are students today under too much stress?

Related:
- Homework: A burden or learning tool? (Midmorning)
- Teachers offer back-to-school advice (Midday)
- Challenge Success (Stanford University School of Education)

Comment on this post

Longing for island food

Posted at 12:30 PM on August 31, 2010 by David Cazares (7 Comments)

I haven't been to the Minnesota State Fair yet -- still avoiding the crowds. Still, as a newcomer to Minnesota, I should go, for no other reason to explore the food booths.

Now, I've been warned that fair food can be unhealthy and if not eaten soon, less than appetizing. But I might find something good there -- and I'm not talking about corn dogs.

Tim Nelson's story on fair food has me wondering whether at the fair I might find the Caribbean food I grew accustomed to in Florida: Cuban, Jamaican, Haitian and Puerto Rican cuisine -- though I kind of doubt it.

And since this is Independence Day in Trinidad & Tobago, roti is in order.

Can anybody help a newcomer out?

Comment on this post

Lost and found (Five by 8 - 8/31/10)

Posted at 7:55 AM on August 31, 2010 by Julia Schrenkler (7 Comments)

Today is Tuesday. What do you fight for on this day honoring a god of war?

1) While working at the MPR booth yesterday afternoon I found myself wondering how many items get lost at the fair. People agree to meet at our booth, reconvene at our booth if they're separated, or even jokingly offer to leave their children in our care so they don't get lost. (Please don't try this) So I started consider, what gets lost? Turns out Nikki Tundel found out last year: The Minnesota State Fair's Lost and Found. This is from 2009, don't bother placing a claim.

2) Don't you feel badly for hikers? They seem to stumble upon more than beautiful vistas. Discoveries such as... Climber discovered after perishing in ice 21 years ago:

EDMONTON, Canada -- A melting Canadian glacier has given up the well-preserved body of an American climber missing 21 years, Canadian media reported Saturday.
Two hikers on a day trip found the body of William Holland, 38, of Gorham, Maine [...]

The CBC reported that the family has been notified.

3) Again, it's enough to make one reconsider a walk.

Updated: Ninth human foot found washed up on West Coast, Tourist makes grim discovery on Washington state beach.

A tourist strolling on a beach in Washington state discovered a human foot Friday, the ninth to wash up on the West Coast in the last three years.

The detached right foot -- likely belonging to a woman or child, based on the size -- washed up on Whidbey Island Friday just before 11:30 a.m., according to Det. Ed Wallace of the Island County Sheriff's office.

4) What if you got credit for showing up? Or penalized for not checking in? Hard to go missing if you're missed in the amount of time it takes to register a proximity card.

Northern Arizona University will have a little extra incentive to roll out of bed for that 8 a.m. calculus class.The school is installing electronic scanners outside some large lecture halls to track attendance. NAU may be the first American educational institution to try the technology.

University Attendance Scanners Make Some Uneasy

5) Your real self will be found. 2nd UPDATE: 3M Agrees To Acquire Cogent For About $943 Million. What do they get for $430 million (to account)?

The deal will strengthen industrial conglomerate 3M's offerings in high-security ID systems and law-enforcement products.

That's a lot of fingerprint, palmprint, face and "iris biometric" systems.

Unrelated Bonus: Goodbye, Polinaut. Hello, astronauts! Welcome NASA to the Commons Flickr hosts "The Commons" collecting the world's public photography archives.

Comment on this post

Mothers who aren't against drunk driving

Posted at 3:40 PM on August 30, 2010 by Eric Ringham (2 Comments)

A state trooper at the scene of an accident last June asked a 5-year-old boy whether he'd been hurt in the crash. The boy's mother, with a preliminary blood-alcohol reading of .286, pulled the child to herself and clapped a hand over his mouth.

The word "heartbreaking" would apply to this story, but let's give the good news its due: Nobody died. The bad news is that, in four separate incidents, somebody could have died -- namely, five children between infancy and age 15. Not to mention the mothers who put their children's lives in danger. Also not to mention any other drivers who might have been in the way.

Writing in the Park Rapids Enterprise, Sarah Smith reports: "Four women have been arrested drunk this summer in Hubbard County, driving with their children in the car. All four incidents resulted in a crash. None of the children was seriously injured physically."

One woman was arrested in Akeley, trying to sleep in a phone booth with her baby, after running her car into a ditch along Hwy. 64. (I know, I know: Since when did Akeley have a phone booth? Let's focus on the story, here.)

To state the obvious, it's no worse for mothers to drive drunk with kids in the car than for fathers to drive drunk with kids in the car. But there's something within us that wants to believe otherwise -- that while men might stoop to anything, mothers would never willingly endanger their children.

But there's no meaningful difference between male alcoholics and female alcoholics: They're all victims of a disease that brings all manner of grief. There's also no meaningful difference between drunk drivers who've been caught and those who haven't -- with the possible exception being that those who have been caught are less likely to keep putting lives in danger. In that sense, the story out of Hubbard County is good news.

It's also heartbreaking.

(Hat tip: Nancy Lebens)

Comment on this post

Real apples and fake pot

Posted at 10:52 AM on August 30, 2010 by Eric Ringham (3 Comments)

These two stories, which you can read on MPR's Minnesota Today website, have a strange synergy. Two lawsuits, threatened against public entities, over organic materials being grown for public consumption, each said to induce delight in the consumer.

Further, until recently nobody had heard of either synthetic marijuana (aka K2, Yucatan Fire, Bayou Blaster) or SweeTango apples. And both of them, judging from the anecdotal evidence, are seriously addictive.

So here's a prediction: Soon someone will produce a synthetic form of SweeTango apples, probably with a name like Pepin Powerball or Crookston Crunch. In the meantime, hats off to the Duluth City Council for addressing faux dope, which the state should have dealt with by now but hasn't.

Comment on this post

Discussion points to ponder (Five by 8 - 8/30/10)

Posted at 7:55 AM on August 30, 2010 by Julia Schrenkler (1 Comments)
Filed under: Five by 8

Good morning, I'm Julia Schrenkler in for Bob Collins. Without Bob we'll have to make our own conversation, so you'll find "wonder" statements attached to the discussion-worthy links throughout today's Five by 8. Your answers - or your own questions - are most welcome.

Since it is a Monday, a rouser is imperative. Here we have Trampled by Turtles performing "Feet and Bones" for The Current's Local Show:

Not exactly the most uplifting lyrics, but contentment inspires precious little art. Let the local players (the band formed in Duluth) work blow your mind here online or come visit us at the fair on Wednesday, 9/1 to see them live. For free. Besides, Bob Collins will be cashiering.

Contentment, that makes a good transition.

1) Someone somewhere studies that elusive something.

[Paul J. Zak, director of the Center for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University in California] says he conducted a preliminary experiment indicating that posting messages on Twitter caused the release of oxytocin, a neurotransmitter that evokes feelings of contentment and is thought to help induce a sense of positive social bonding. He is now testing those ideas in research on a group of 40 people.

Granted, the piece (Neighborly Borrowing, Over the Online Fence, New York Times) is less about Twitter giving us a hit of pleasure as it is about our social selves, and concludes that our online reputation will continue to be more important in real life.

I wonder...Do you feel socially bonded to people online? Bonus wonder... How exactly did Zak conduct that experiment?

2) Geese flying high in state. Well, based on population, anyway. Star Tribune outdoors editor and columnist Dennis Anderson delivers good news for hunters and perhaps unsurprising news for residents near water or fields.

From a breeding population of almost none -- zero -- resident Canada geese in the late 1960s, Minnesota's flock has grown to about 300,000 of these fowl.

Quite the turn around. I wonder...How this species' success impacts the rest of the ecosystem.

3) How panhandlers use free credit cards:

What would happen if, instead of spare change, you handed a person in need the means to shop for whatever they needed? What would they buy? Can you spare your credit card, sir?

I found this piece (which mentions The New York Post's A Bum you can trust, honest!) from the Toronto Star via Fark.com.

I wonder... Would you trust an absolute stranger with your credit card?

4) Label Those Vacation Photos! Not because Facebook asks you to, but because Shannon Thomas Perich, an associate curator of the Photographic History Collection, from Smithsonian's National Museum of American History begs you to do so:

Despite all of these great images that are culturally and historically valuable in and of themselves, the one thing missing from the albums is personal history: there are few, if any, dates, names, or locations, and certainly no written stories. Do give your family and friends (and, potentially, future historians) something to go on by putting some words down and letting your memories linger a little when you aren't there to regale us with your stories.

I wonder... If you can't determine the facts or details behind a personal photo, how do you handle the picture?

5) HBO's biopic "Temple Grandin" took the Outstanding Made For Television Movie Emmy. Emmys: The live blog from CNN. Grandin has been a guest on Midmorning and draws dozens of questions seeking advice or her particular perspective.

This is a leap but based on caller reaction to Grandin I wonder...How do we recognize the remarkable istories of people around us?

Bonus: Last Friday's Dinner Party Download included a bit about an illegal grilled cheese dealer in New York City. I wonder... if that bread butter cheese delivery would fly here in Minnesota.

Extra credit (and extra thanks) go to Bob Collins for making sure these next listings are good to go:

TODAY'S QUESTION

Each Monday from now until the election, we'll pose a question on an issue that's pertinent to the race for Minnesota governor. Today's Question: Do you support an expansion of gambling to generate revenue for the state?

WHAT WE'RE DOING

Midmorning (9-11 a.m.) - First hour: President Obama will mark his self-imposed deadline to draw down U.S. combat troops from Iraq with a speech from the Oval Office tomorrow night. How has the deadline shaped the last days of the war?

Second hour: Once a month, in a Victorian dining room in Philadelphia, the members of the Vidocq Society, a collection of detectives and forensic specialists, gather to examine cold case murders. Writer Michael Capuzzo, author of a new book on the group, calls it a CSI to the 10th power, only real.

Midday (11 a.m. - 1 p.m.) - First hour: Live from the State Fair. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

Second hour: MPR political commentators Todd Rapp and Maureen Shaver.

Talk of the Nation (1-3 p.m.) - First hour: TBA

Second hour: Family doctors are in short supply- a problem that's likely to grow worse. Why?

All Things Considered (3-6:30 p.m.) - TBA

Comment on this post

A responsibility to win?

Posted at 8:18 AM on August 29, 2010 by Bob Collins (3 Comments)
Filed under: Sports

These are fairly good times for Minnesota sports fans. The Vikings won last night and some people think they're Super Bowl bound. The Twins look like division winners. The Wolves are... well, let's just forget about the Wolves for now; everyone else has.

But a revelation in the sports business world this week has rekindled a debate in the world of sports and the cities and states who often throw millions of dollars at them for sports stadiums: What responsibility do teams have to win?

A study this week revealed that the Pittsburgh Pirates -- the worst team in baseball for an entire generation -- are making money.

"They appear to be putting profits ahead of winning," he tells NPR's Audie Cornish, describing some financial documents leaked to The Associated Press that detail the team's 2007-2008 finances. According to those documents, the Pirates made nearly $29.4 million in profit in 2007 and 2008.

They make money because of revenue-sharing. Other teams give them money and it's up to the Pirates to pocket it, or spend it to present a better product.

Here's the whole story.

Comment on this post

Katrina

Posted at 3:35 PM on August 27, 2010 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Disasters

There'll be plenty of Hurricane Katrina remembrances over the weekend, the fifth anniversary of the deadly storm that still makes us shake our head when we look back at the pictures.

When I was in New Orleans in January, Frank Vardeman of St. Paul, who spends most of his time working in disaster services in New Orleans for the Presbyterian Church, took me on a tour of the Lower Ninth Ward. One of the pieces of information he gave me that I found most surprising is that the city is still assessing taxes on the heavily damaged homes.



It's clear that New Orleans has come a long way. NPR's Picture Show blog accompanies Getty Images photographer Mario Tama's return to the city. He tells the story not with pictures of buildings, but with pictures of faces.

(Update 8:46 a.m. Sat.) - Here are more images from Tama's new book.



In the immediate aftermath of Katrina, about 800 residents of New Orleans ended up in Minnesota. Many returned, but if you know a few people who didn't, please let me know. I'd like to talk to them.

Comment on this post

La Tomatina

Posted at 1:15 PM on August 27, 2010 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)
Filed under: Life

Our State Fair is a great state fair, but if it's ever looking for a pick-me-up, a festival in Spain this week might provide some inspiration.

In just a few hours, the good people of Bunol, throw 150,000 tomatoes at each other as part of the La Tomatina festival.

We'd have to change it a bit. Instead of tomatoes, what would we use? Cheese curds? Walleye?

But maybe the people in Bunol are sitting at their computers now, looking at how we're spending the week and wishing they were us.

Comment on this post

Timewasters: The answering machine message

Posted at 12:59 PM on August 27, 2010 by Bob Collins (0 Comments)
Filed under: Surveys and trivia

Every around this time every year, this answering message begins appearing in inboxes and on Facebook, allegedly a real message placed on the answering machine of a school in Australia. Judging by my e-mail in the last two days, it's making its appointed rounds, again.

Funny but not really true.

According to Snopes.com, it actually originated at the Pacific Palisades School District in California, where officials adopted a policy that 10 unexcused absentees in a semester would result in failing grades. This was a spoof that was created during the subsequent parental reaction.

That, of course, is not to say there are plenty of teachers and school officials going back to work soon that wouldn't like to add a few items to the list.

Comment on this post