April 2011
16 posts
4 tags
WatchWatch
Google Video is shutting down, which means you’ve only got a day or two left to watch Todd Haynes’s semi-legendary, suppressed Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, a sympathetic telling of the ’70s pop singer’s life using Barbie and Ken dolls. (via IFC’s Stephen Saito, who recommends this film and six others)
Apr 27th
4 tags
Apr 24th
mplsmitch asked: So, um, where is the best park? It's lookin' pretty good in the picture, I wanna go there.
Apr 20th
4 tags
Surprise! MNGOP still hasn't paid its recount... →
Brought to you by mnpublius and the party of fiscal responsibility.
Apr 14th
1 note
3 tags
Apr 13th
2 notes
5 tags
Apr 11th
13 notes
5 tags
“Why can [Raul Castro] sit and talk with a person who was of the...”
– Cuban perspectives on Carter via Global Voices Online
Apr 10th
3 notes
3 tags
“…the costs of the Iraq war alone could have kept every foreclosed family in...”
– Paul Craig Roberts (via edkohler) The best/worst thing I ever saw along these lines was War or Car?. Last entry: “For the price of the Iraq War, we could’ve bought enough confectioners’ sugar to reach from Earth to Alpha Ursae Majoris (also called Dubhe), the farthest star of the...
Apr 9th
124 notes
5 tags
Now that they haven't balanced the budget, MNGOP... →
mnpublius: Now that the MNGOP has passed a budget plan that doesn’t balance the budget, costs us 20,000 to 30,000 jobs, and will be promptly vetoed, they’re ready to move on to other pressing matters, like taking away your right to vote. I know, they said they were going to be all about “jobs, jobs, jobs,” but I’m sure they’ll get to that once they’re sure they’ve reserved the right to vote to...
Apr 8th
2 notes
4 tags
“This is all dressed up as a way to help solve the budget problem, but what...”
– Hennepin County Commissioner Peter McLaughlin, from “In seeking to cut transit, Legislature is out of step with new trends.”
Apr 8th
17 notes
7 tags
It’s a good night for socially conscious film in the Twin Cities. The Trylon is screening Urban Roots, “a powerful story of a group of dedicated Detroiters working tirelessly to fulfill their vision for locally-grown, sustainably farmed food in a city where people have found themselves cut off from real food,” and Lunch Line, about some Chicago kids “out to fix school...
Apr 7th
1 note
4 tags
Apr 6th
4 notes
3 tags
Twin Cities jobless gap worst in nation →
I keep thinking about this: “Newly released figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics place Minnesota’s 2010 black jobless rate at 22 percent. That’s 3.4 times the white rate of 6.4 percent, giving the state the largest gap in the country.”
Apr 6th
4 tags
A worthy campaign – free SMS in Ivory Coast during... →
Ethan Zuckerman: “At moments of crisis, mobile phones are critical sources and transmitters of information. They bring news out of war zones and to international audiences. They allow families who’ve fled violence to reconnect and avoid separation. In Ivory Coast, mobile phones and Twitter are turning into a network to help people communicate urgent humanitarian and medical needs, using the...
Apr 5th
5 tags
Assessing food insecurity in Saint Paul (pdf) →
freshmn: Discusses the results of an assessment of food needs in four Saint Paul neighborhoods, conducted by the Neighborhood Food Project. It’s only a two-pager. Give it a read. I’m pretty food-secure, but this struck me: Among some focus group participants, the cost of food is perceived to be higher in Minnesota than in other states. I’m not sure about groceries, but...
Apr 2nd
3 notes
4 tags
Apr 1st