Minn. House weighs in on unallotment case

Former University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof, who now heads the University of California, is in the middle of controversy there over steep hikes in student tuition.

Andrew Sullivan at the Atlantic’s Daily Dish continues his critique of Sarah Palin’s “Going Rogue.”

AUJA, WEST BANK — The Hmoud family once prospered in this arid Palestinian farm village by cultivating banana and eggplant crops, earning enough to send a son abroad for medical school and to build a house with a showy staircase and a two-story window.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair lost his shot at the European Union presidency Thursday, when the UK withdrew its support for his nomination at a meeting of the group’s 27 leaders in Brussels. Current Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy won the job.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Washington’s struggle over healthcare reform — President Obama’s top domestic priority — now is within days of a historic turning point.

Spinoff Custom Fab Solutions learns new tricks to survive the recession

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Pentagon will undertake a 45-day review to find out if there are "internal weaknesses or procedural shortcomings" across the department that could have allowed the shootings at Fort Hood to occur, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Thursday.

TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS — For months, ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya - with the backing of the world community - has demanded that Roberto Micheletti step down as the interim president of this Central American nation roiled in political conflict.

NEW YORK — A record percentage of Americans are now late in paying their mortgages, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Remembering JFK, the nation's first pop-culture president

St. Thomas kick returner casts his spell with 'magical' runbacks

MinnPost photo by Bill KelleyKatherine Kersten

Katherine Kersten on conservatism and religion

LIBERIA, Costa Rica — Franklin Chang Diaz has great aspirations for his rocket: a mail-carrier for outer space, a garbage truck for orbital debris and, the ultimate goal, a shuttle to Mars. The Costa Rica-born physicist speaks nonchalantly about the day humankind will have moved entirely to outer space, while our precious Earth becomes "a protected park."

MADRID, Spain — No fangs, no shrieking boy-crazy teenagers, and not a drop of blood to spare. Opening day was overwhelmingly disappointing.

"We Live in Public" is about you and me and the dark side of social networking

The teenagers break your heart with their candid storytelling — about the difficulty of doing well in school while drifting between homeless shelters and attending 15 different schools, about the chronic anger of dysfunctional and impoverished families, about the irresistible appeal of street life, about ending up in kid prison.

Overthinking It has an interesting chart that pits the declining quality of rock music against the declining amount of oil production in the lower 48 states. (via)

The Star Tribune's "Deadly Falls" series is all about Minnesota nursing homes. But the most prominent photo on the biggest circulation day was a stock image that wasn't from a nursing home, or, in all likelihood, Minnesota. How misleading is that?

By David Brauer

Paul Demko, a staff reporter for the lefty news site Minnesota Independent, has quit. According to editor Paul Schmelzer, the site is looking for a contract reporter to cover state, local and county politics, so get those applications in, job-seekers.

By David Brauer

Sarah Chayes mythbusts on Afghanistan

By Eric Black

Trust me, I had this little item on my list before Mike Bonafield's Katherine Kersten interview today ... though it somewhat informs that.

By David Brauer

The cash (which may not be as much as you think), won't change everything, but if it makes MPR bolder and more enterprising, it will be money well spent.

By David Brauer

Expanded daily financial report shows we mean business

A photo-interview collection promises "Glimpses of Daily Life in Minnesota," but the selections stay with you a lot longer than that.

By David Brauer

At Gettysburg, What did Lincoln Mean?

By Eric Black

Katherine Kersten on liberals, same-sex marriage and life at the Star Tribune

For those concerned with human rights, there is a never-ending assortment of countries to which to direct one's attention. From the Congo to Chinese occupation of Tibet, to Slovakian treatment of the Roma, governments oppress and commit human-rights abuses and unimaginable horrors against vulnerable civilians. One of the purposes of the United Nations is to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. But the U.N., the Geneva Conventions, human-rights organizations and foreign governments have had, at best, mixed success in protecting the human rights of noncombatants.

A relatively new open-door policy for comments has the n-word all over a City Pages blog post.

By David Brauer

Senate version of health bill may be unveiled today

By Eric Black

The newspaper understated public radio web traffic by a factor of 17.

By David Brauer

Following Monday's teeth-baring Future of News Conference, where the Strib and MPR faced off, newsies and fellow travelers should check out this take from Ken Doctor — one of the conference's presenters, and a former Pioneer Press news exec and now an industry analyst and author.

By David Brauer

I don't think I'm the only person who was puzzled by the outrage expressed by a number of politicians and pundits with regard to the bow President Barack Obama recently presented to Japan's emperor and empress.

Two Dems announce for Congress

By Eric Black

No more annual mammograms? U.S. Task Force reverses its former recommendations

Why one political scientist thinks Pawlenty will be the 2010 GOP nominee

Technology can be absolutely amazing. If you want a great example, try Skype, the online video telephone service. It used to be when someone would send my kids a gift, the best they could hope for is a photo of the kids opening it. But with Skype, I am able to have my kids' godparents in Ireland watch live as their godkids open their birthday and Christmas gifts. That alone, in my opinion, easily justifies the price of the computer and Internet service.

The unallotment hearing is over, for now

Such lessons schoolchildren could supply Minnesota academics and policy-makers, if the latter would peel their eyes from the data sheets long enough to spend regular time volunteering with students.

Court hears 'unallotment' case: How much power does the governor have?