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John Reinan

Minneapolis, MN
Commenter for
5 years 15 weeks

Recent Comments

Posted on 10/10/11 at 01:00 pm in response to Where is our Ferdinand Pecora? And other unexpected signs of the occupation

More famously, of course, Eisenhower also coined the term "military-industrial complex" and warned against its growing influence. This from one of America's most revered military officers.

Posted on 10/10/11 at 05:12 pm in response to Where is our Ferdinand Pecora? And other unexpected signs of the occupation

William, re Malcolm Moos: You're correct, but Ted Sorensen probably wrote "Ask not what your country can do for you..." for JFK, yet it's JFK who gets the credit. When you're a speechwriter (and I've written a few) you get your satisfaction from turning a good phrase that resonates. But the expectation is that the person who delivers the speech will get the public credit for the words.

Posted on 10/10/11 at 05:17 pm in response to The death of a business legend (not Steve Jobs)

Mike -- yes, I should have put the reference to Kodak's possible bankruptcy farther up in the story. They've been in the spiral for years, as you say, but it was just a week ago that they finally hired a bankruptcy law firm.

Posted on 10/05/11 at 02:51 pm in response to Some signs of business confidence surface in burst of Hennepin Avenue activity

Brad, thanks for this detailed and informative report. I really love this kind of news story -- it's very granular yet ties things back to larger trends.

It also helps that I take that stretch of Hennepin to and from work every day!

Posted on 09/30/11 at 02:11 pm in response to Some 'news songs' for us optimists to celebrate National Newspaper Week

How about "Want Ads?"

Posted on 09/28/11 at 04:36 pm in response to Star Tribune CEO Michael Klingensmith: 'Daily print is not going anywhere'

What does Klingensmith know? He's only the publisher of a top-10 newspaper, while I'm a guy who pulls a column out of my ass every week.

But seriously, I'm glad he took the opportunity to give the "State of the Strib." A lot of people care deeply about that (I being one of them). And I'm glad he has positive things to say.

I'll point out that the New York Times just announced that its third-quarter print revenue will be down about 10 percent and -- this is more striking --...

Posted on 09/27/11 at 01:07 pm in response to Long-running Vikings stadium debate could drag on for years yet

This deal could settle the fate of the Star Tribune. That sounds overly dramatic. But the paper emerged from bankruptcy with about $100 million in debt.

According to MinnPost's David Brauer, a good year in 2010 allowed the paper to pay off about $15 million of its longterm debt.

If the paper were able to sell its downtown land for $45-50 million, you can see what a tremendous impact that would have on its long-term financial picture.

But from everything that's been...

Posted on 09/28/11 at 04:23 am in response to Long-running Vikings stadium debate could drag on for years yet

Paul (#25) makes an interesting point about a pro sports bubble -- I think he may be onto something.

Pro sports has expanded to the point that I think they've run out of prime markets and they're more often getting into unsustainable markets. Jacksonville has only had an NFL franchise for 15 years or so, yet there's been talk of moving the team for at least the last 5 years. Several other teams (not even including the Vikings) are struggling in their markets.

Several NHL teams...

Posted on 09/26/11 at 09:09 am in response to End of newspapers is closer than you think

And closer to home, Craig -- I should have realized that KARE 11, another Gannett property, would also have photo galleries of Vikings cheerleader tryouts. They've got 3 or 4 of them:

http://twincities.metromix.com/events/standard_photo_gallery/...

Posted on 09/28/11 at 09:01 pm in response to End of newspapers is closer than you think

That's a great, perceptive comment, James. Your faith that *something* will bubble up to replace newspapers is probably well-founded. But that something has not bubbled up yet. If you figure out what it is, let me know so I can put some money into it.