News Cut: March 17, 2008 Archive

Song for a Monday

Posted at 7:26 AM on March 17, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

Happy St. Patrick's Day. Sorry about the weather. 'tis a special day for me because on March 17, 1991, I set foot on Minnesota sod for the first time.

Last night, Bruce Springsteen played at the Xcel Energy Center(Star Tribune review | Pioneer Press review) and ended the concert with a nod to St. Patrick's Day with American Land, which he recorded as part of the Seeger Sessions.

Grab your office mates, turn up your speakers, and good luck getting it out of your head.

What is this land of America, so many travel there I'm going now while I'm still young, my darling meet me there Wish me luck my lovely, I'll send for you when I can And we'll make our home in the American land

Over there all the woman wear silk and satin to their knees*
And children dear, the sweets, I hear, are growing on the trees*
Gold comes rushing out the river straight into your hands*
If you make your home in the American land*

There's diamonds in the sidewalks, there's gutters lined in song
Dear I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who will make his home in the American land

I docked at Ellis Island in a city of light and spire
I wandered to the valley of red-hot steel and fire****
We made the steel that built the cities with the sweat of our two hands
And I made my home in the American land

There's diamonds in the sidewalk, there's gutters lined in song
Dear I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who will make his home in the American land

The McNicholas, the Posalski's, the Smiths, Zerillis too**
The Blacks, the Irish, the Italians, the Germans and the Jews
The Puerto Ricans, illegals, the Asians, Arabs miles from home***-*****
Come across the water with a fire down below******

They died building the railroads, worked to bones and skin
They died in the fields and factories, names scattered in the wind
They died to get here a hundred years ago, they're dyin' now
The hands that built the country we're all trying to keep down

(Bob notes: this was changed "keep out" last night)

There's diamonds in the sidewalk, there's gutters lined in song
Dear I hear that beer flows through the faucets all night long
There's treasure for the taking, for any hard working man
Who will make his home in the American land
Who will make his home in the American land
Who will make his home in the American land

Posting will be sporadic today. As I am old and unable to stay out late for concerts anymore, I took the day off.

Magnuson to the Supreme Court

Posted at 11:14 AM on March 17, 2008 by Bob Collins (5 Comments)

We're awaiting the reviews from the legal community now that Gov. Tim Pawlenty has appointed a new chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court. (Update: Minn. Lawyer blog calls it a "John Roberts type 'difficult-to-assail' appointment")But this much we know: it helps to be close to Tim Pawlenty if you want a gig on the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Pawlenty today appointed Eric Magnuson of Inver Grove Heights to replace outgoing justice Russell Anderson. Magnuson was a partner in the same firm -- Rider Bennett -- that employed both Pawlenty and his wife, Mary. He was also in charge of screening judicial candidates for Pawlenty. Minnesota Lawyer says the move was "anticipated."

Prior to Magnuson's appointment, Pawlenty's most recent pick for the Minnesota Supreme Court was Christopher Dietzen in November. Dietzen was Pawlenty's campaign lawyer.

For his part, Magnuson steps onto the court that might still be considering an important case in June, one in which he just argued a position before the court. According to Minnesota Lawyer, Magnuson argued a sexual harassment case before the court this month in which his client, Carlson Marketing Group, is being sued by a woman who says she was physically and sexually assaulted.

The case, heard earlier this month, will determine the extent to which the Minnesota Human Rights Act holds an employer liable for the actions of an employee in matters of sex harassment.

You can watch the March 4 hearing before the high court here. Magnuson's presentation begins at 25:28 (download the video to your computer to be able to fast forward).

The state of the American news media

Posted at 1:19 PM on March 17, 2008 by Bob Collins (1 Comments)

The Pew Center is out today with its annual report on the state of the American news media. I know what you're thinking, but let's break it down the Pew way, anyway.

Last year, the "democratization" of the media was a big topic. It still is, of course. This notion that you don't have to be a big media outlet to be in the "news business" is one, according to Pew, that has turned out to be a bit more complicated.

Looking closely, a clear case for democratization is harder to make. Even with so many new sources, more people now consume what old media newsrooms produce, particularly from print, than before. Online, for instance, the top 10 news Web sites, drawing mostly from old brands, are more of an oligarchy, commanding a larger share of audience, than in the legacy media. The verdict on citizen media for now suggests limitations. And research shows blogs and public affairs Web sites attract a smaller audience than expected and are produced by people with even more elite backgrounds than journalists.

Blogs attract a smaller audience than expected? Shoot.

Here's the whole report.

The $11.2 billion taxi

Posted at 6:52 PM on March 17, 2008 by Bob Collins

What do you suppose could be done with $11.2 billion? That's the cost of the mushrooming VH-71 project, the next generation of presidential helicopters. After 9/11, the White House decided it needed twenty-eight helicopters with more bells and whistles.

The chief mission of the helicopter -- it's Marine One when the president is aboard -- is to take him to the airport. The new helicopter -- at $400 million -- will cost more than the current Air Force One did. Harvard prof and occasional aviation writer Philip Greenspun notes that a handful of cheap (comparatively) everyday helicopters could accomplish the same task as safely.

Because the cost has nearly doubled, the Washington Post says, the program may bescrapped.

Red-light cameras: What's the point?

Posted at 8:18 PM on March 17, 2008 by Bob Collins

There's new data to consider on the question of whether those red-light cameras -- struck down by Minnesota courts after they were installed in Minneapolis -- actually help safety. Unfortunately, the data comes down squarely on both sides of the issue.

First, a study by the University of South Florida College of Public Health said they don't work.

Thus, even if red light cameras could be effective in the long run, which is debatable, they are associated with an added cost, consisting of fines, crashes and injuries that could have been avoided by using engineering solutions, which are effective in both the short term and the long run.

Meanwhile, Dallas has found they work and work, perhaps, too well. It turns out people are changing their behavior and not running red lights, which is resulting in fewer traffic fines for running red lights.

And that, of course,has sparked a renewed debate over whether government's interest is in public safety, or making money.

A bill making it way through the Minnesota House of Representatives would put the red-light cameras back in action in Minnesota.